This paper looks at how individual preferences for the allocation of government spending change along the life cycle. Using the Life in Transition Survey II for 34 countries of Europe and Central Asia, we find that older individuals are less likely to support a rise in government outlays on...

The allocation of resources between education and health is an important and puzzling decision for the governments in countries with high mortality rate. We build a three-period overlapping generation model with mortality risk and show that if public education expenditure exceeds a critical...

UNICEF initiated a multi-country initiative to better understand the dynamics of investing in human capital in the Eastern and Southern Africa region (ESAR). The project sought to identify potential opportunities for governments to increase expenditure on the sectors that matter most for...

Enrollment in state-optional Medicaid expansions has significantly exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts. The open-ended federal financing of new adult Medicaid enrollees at elevated match rates — in excess of 90 percent — creates incentives for states and healthcare providers to...

We address the problem of how to investigate whether economics, or politics, or both, matter in the explanation of public policy. The problem is first posed in a particular context by uncovering a political business cycle (using Canadian data for 130 years) and by taking up the challenge to make...

The model developed here postulates that learning through experience plays a critical role in raising labor productivity over time, with three major consequences. First, the steady-state growth rate (of output) becomes endogenous and is influenced by government policies. Second, the speed of...

An improvement in the quality of public expenditures is needed in many countries, given binding macroeconomic and fiscal constraints, and poverty reduction and distributional objectives. This process involves a reassessment of methodology used for this purpose by countries and international...

This paper discusses major fiscal issues faced by the previously centrally planned economies in their transition to market economies. It focuses on three main topics: (a) the extent to which the budget deficit should be a guide to policy; (b) the reforms that must be carried out in tax...