We study, in a model with unemployment, how labour market status affects the preferences for public spending, whether in the form of a public good or subsidies. We then derive the implications for the dynamics of government expenditures, under the hypothesis of majority voting.

Economic policymaking in modern democracies generates a great deal of special-interest politics. In policy areas such as finance, trade policy, and regulation, policy decision create benefits for well-defined groups with the cost borne by society at large. Given the difficulties with the...

The question addressed in this paper is the order of magnitude of the difference between the Borda rule and any given social choice function. In this paper, a simple measure of the difference between the Borda rule and any given social choice function is proposed. It is given by the ratio of the...

The act of choosing can influence maximizing behaviour for at least two distinct reasons: (1) process significance and (2) decisional inescapability. These influences can require systematic departures from the regularities assumed in standard models of rational choice, but they can be fully...

What could explain the emergence of parliament and its ascendancy? I argue that dictatorial kings encountered difficulties in securing the cooperation of their subjects because they could not commit not to confiscate subjects' gains. Where the gain from cooperation increased and kings were more...

What could explain the emergence of parliament and its ascendancy? I argue that dictatorial kings encountered difficulties in securing the cooperation of their subjects because they could not commit not to confiscate subjects' gains. Where the gain from cooperation increased and kings were more...

We consider a Society which as to make a finite dimensional collective decision, and study the "stability" of the public arrangements made in the Society when considering the threats that potential coalitions may generate. We refer for that to the standard cooperative approach based on the...