Most publicly provided services are multi-dimensional. This paper distinguishes between quantity and quality. In a model of majority voting with two competing political parties, the income effects with respect to quantity, quality, and other elements in the utility functions of the voters have...

Fiscal federalism implies a challenge of holding fiscal discipline at the local level. Recent analyses of fiscal adjustment have addressed the design of fiscal and political institutions for the U.S. states, and have shown how tax limits and anti-deficit rules strengthen immediate shock...

Governments struggle with rising service spending, and user charges represent a possible incentive mechanism to control costs. This paper investigates the relationships between costs and user charges in the sewage industry in Norwegian local governments. The analysis addresses the following...