Corruption and mismanagement of public resources can affect the quality of government services and undermine growth. Can citizens in poor communities be empowered to demand better-quality public investments? We look at whether providing social accountability training and information on project...

Deficiency of urban infrastructure facilities is one of the main problems behind the lower rate of urbanization in India. It has also unfavorably affected the realization of the full potential of the urban sector's contribution to national gross domestic product in India. From this perspective,...

This study was inspired by the desire to contribute to literature on performance management from the context of a developing country. The guiding research questions were: How do managers use performance information in decision making? Why do managers use performance information the way they do?...

Welfare services are an important part of the Nordic welfare states both financially and for welfare state redistribution. Baumol's cost disease, Wagner's law, and population ageing are often said to bring challenges for the future provision of welfare services. While none of the three poses an...

Die Frage nach der angemessenen Höhe der Staatsausgaben nimmt eine zentrale Stellung in der öffentlichen Diskussion ein. Die Beantwortung der Frage erfordert ein Grundverständnis darüber zu schaffen, welche Aufgaben der Staat übernehmen sollte als auch welche Wirkungen von staatlicher...

In this paper we argue that different preferences in a decentralized system lead to under provision of public goods. We analyze the provision of public primary education in nineteenth-century Prussia which was characterized by a linguistically polarized society and a decentralized education...

Human society is full of would-be 'change agents', a restless mix of campaigners, lobbyists, and officials, both individuals and organizations, set on transforming the world. They want to improve public services, reform laws and regulations, guarantee human rights, get a fairer deal for those on...

Introduction: public finance and the origins of inequality -- The municipal ideal -- The fiscal state -- Nickels and dimes: funding municipal projects -- Bricks and mortar: building essential infrastructure -- Pests and pestilence: paying for public health -- Order and progress: investing in...