The paper starts with a theoretical reinterpretation of some classical topics in the public choice literature, where specific elements of contract theory and the theory of the firm are introduced. By putting into contact these completely different fields of economics, it defines a general...

Going beyond the deeply examined non-distribution constraint, which refers to the right to residual income, the paper investigates the other side of ownership, i.e. the right to residual control, to discover a general economic rationale for what we call “democracy”: a collective...

A classic argument in economic theory is that in a world of zero transaction costs the free bargaining among parties spontaneously leads to an efficient allocation of resources. Attempts have been made by many economists to apply such an argument to the field of politics. In contrast to market...

This article retraces the steps taken by an Italian foundation committed to improving its system of evaluation and social reporting. This has been done by taking a close look at the newly designed strategy of the foundation, as the theoretical and empirical literature suggests. The importance of...

Integrating many different elements from the main theories about nonprofit organizations, we define a model that leads to new results for the economic rationale of nonprofit firms. Specifically, we examine the conditions under which these firms can provide efficient levels of production in...

These notes offer an unusual perspective on democracy by interpreting key categories of political science through the lens of economics, specifically drawing from the ‘theory of the firm’ literature. Due to incomplete contracts, political power is conceptualized as a variable quantum that...

The paper starts with a theoretical reinterpretation of some classical topics in the public choice literature, where specific elements of contract theory and the theory of the firm are introduced. By putting into contact these completely different fields of economics, it defines a general...