The paper is intended to provide a theoretical contribution to the analysis of central government's normative economic policies in a framework where regional provision of goods with negative spillovers, and public goods used to reduce related externalities, are considered. Firstly the range of...

We examine the case of decentralization in Colombia in order to explore its effects on poverty indicators, and on public sector responsiveness to real local demands. We first summarize economic data on the effects of decentralization. Colombian municipalities increased investment significantly...

The effects of decentralization on a number of important policy goals is much debated but little agreed upon. This paper examines the cases of Bolivia and Colombia to explore decentralization's effects on government responsiveness and poverty-orientation. In Bolivia, decentralization made...

Does decentralization change policy outputs at the local level? If so, for better or worse? Do such changes reflect deep changes in the policy-making process itself, or are they related to technical parameters in the flow of funds? Why do some local governments respond well to decentralization...

This paper discusses how taxation may affect migration, economic efficiency and income distribution. The institutional framework is a federal system, in which local authorities are responsible for the supply of public services and the financing of these services, and where the central...

The recent, much remarked upon decentralization in Bolivia produced four important changes in the nation's public finances: (1) a sharp fall in the geographic concentration of investment; (2) a sea-change in the uses of investment away from infrastructure towards the social sectors; (3) a...

This paper uses econometric models of public investment to investigate the institutional and political determinants of central vs. local government decision-making. I use a remarkable database from Bolivia's recent, radical decentralization program. I find that local government policy decisions...

This paper examines whether decentralization increases the responsiveness of public investment to local needs using a unique database from Bolivia. Empirical tests show that investment patterns in human capital and social services changed significantly after decentralization. These changes are...

Recent research on autonomous vehicles (AV) has shown a substantive dive into the technical aspects of AVs, but our understanding of the secondary effects of AVs is minimal in comparison (Glancy, 2015; Mitteregger, Soteropoulos, Bröthaler, & Dorner, 2019; Terry & Bachmann, 2019). This article offers a...

This chapter reviews the theory of the voluntary public and private redistribution of wealth elaborated by economic analysis in the last forty years or so. The central object of the theory is altruistic gift-giving, construed as benevolent voluntary redistribution of income or wealth. The theory...