EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • Montana is the fourth largest state in the U.S. (147,138 sq. miles), with a population of 902,195. Smoking use is 21.2% among adults and 23% among high school students. In 1999, the health cost of smoking related illness in Montana was $216 million and the total number...

There is an intensive dispute in political economics about the impact of institutions on income redistribution. While the main focus is on comparison between different forms of representative democracy, the influence of direct democracy on redistribution has attracted much less attention....

There is an intensive dispute in political economics about the impact of institutions on incomeredistribution. While the main focus is on comparison between different forms of representativedemocracy, the influence of direct democracy on redistribution has attracted much lessattention. According...

How a sustainable fiscal policy can be performed in a federal system is not only a Swiss problem but is also discussed in other federal countries like Germany and Austria, and in the European Union. Contrary to most other countries, the Swiss Fiscal system is characterised by an extensive fiscal...

New government spending must be approved by a referendum of citizens in many Swiss cantons. This decisionmaking procedure seems like a simple way to address citizen-legislator agency problems, but little systematic evidence is available concerning its effect on spending outcomes. We estimate...