Whatever the theoretical attractiveness of certain policy options, the fact that public employees are people who make independent decisions about their careers and lifestyles can set bounds on how well government agencies can deliver promised services, such as universal health care, including in...

This paper presents calculations of the efficiency with which value-added taxes are collected in five transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe. Actual VAT revenues in 1994 are compared with those that would have resulted if the statutory VAT rates had been applied without any revenue...

There may be a price to pay (in terms of inefficient coverage) if competition among health insurers is encouraged as a way to give patients greater choice and to achieve better control over insurance providers

Voters in India are more vigilant in monitoring government at the local than at the national level. In state assembly elections voters reward incumbents for local income growth, and punish them for a rise in inequality, over their entire term in office. But in national elections voters behave...