This paper investigates the normative criteria that guide the allocation of a policy task to an elected politician versus an independent bureaucrat. The bureaucrat is preferable for technical tasks for which ability is more important than effort, or if there is great uncertainty about whether...

What explains the range of situations in which individuals cooperate? This paper studies a model where individuals respond to incentives but are also influenced by norms of good conduct inherited from earlier generations. Parents rationally choose what values to transmit to their offspring, and...

The internal market in Europe will greatly increase the international mobility. How will this affect fiscal policy in different countries? The authors consider taxation of capital in a two-country model where a democratically chosen government in each country chooses tax policy. Higher capital...