This paper assesses the effectiveness of democratic systems in preventing individuals with criminal backgrounds from holding political office. Unlike many countries, Norway has no legal restrictions against felons running for office. We analyze local election candidates from 2003 to 2019, paired...

This paper uses several historical data-sets from Germany to show that influenza mortality in 1918-1920 was correlated with (i) lower per-capita spending, especially on services consumed by the young, in the following decade and (ii) the share of votes received by extremist parties in 1932 and...

In 2019, the Spanish government published a Presidential Order approving the General State Administration’s Green Public Procurement Plan. This plan covers all public administrations including the General State Administration, its autonomous bodies, and social security management entities. Its...

The Japanese Ministry of Environment is promoting green purchasing policies across all levels of Japanese government. A primary reason is that green purchasing policies have the potential to significantly reduce carbon impacts across the globe and can help Japan achieve its carbon emissions...

There is considerable regional variation in incomes and poverty in the Czech Republic and gaps have grown over time. With the highest number of municipalities per head in the OECD, subnational government is very fragmented and the resulting lack of capacity at the local level reduces the quality...

Czech municipalities keep a substantial and growing volume of bank deposits. An analysis of determinants of unreserved deposits in 2021 suggests that municipalities are precautionary and accumulate fiscal reserves if they can and do so to stabilize their budget management. Signs of low activity...