scholarly journals Retrospectives: James Buchanan: Clubs and Alternative Welfare Economics

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-256
Author(s):  
Alain Marciano
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Public Goods ◽  
Public Economics ◽  
Social Welfare Function ◽  
Welfare Economics ◽  
Individual Utility ◽  
James Buchanan ◽  
The Public ◽  
Goods And Services

James Buchanan wrote “An Economic Theory of Clubs” and invented clubs to support a form of welfare economics in which there is no social welfare function (SWF) and individual utility functions cannot be “read” by external observers. Clubs were a means to allow the implementation of individualized prices for public goods and services and to allow each individual to pay exactly the amount he wants to pay. He developed this project to answer and counter Paul Samuelson's analysis of public goods, in which social welfare functions play a crucial role. Buchanan and Samuelson disagreed over the allocation of the costs of the public good to each individual. To Buchanan, it was by relying on individual's preferences. To Samuelson, by using a SWF. Buchanan's clubs are thus foreign and incompatible with the traditional Samuelson-style public economics in which they are used.

The Early Mathematics of Welfare

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-707
Author(s):  
Mario Pomini
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Social Welfare Function ◽  
Welfare Economics ◽  
Economic Planning ◽  
Mathematical Tool ◽  
Early Mathematics ◽  
Subjective Theory ◽  
De Finetti ◽  
Laissez Faire

Bruno de Finetti (1906–1985) is well known as the founder of the subjective theory of probability. Less known is his contribution to economic theory. The article presents the contributions of de Finetti in the field of welfare economics. He advanced a new mathematical tool: the theory of simultaneous maxima. On this base, he criticized the laissez-faire interpretation of the Paretian theory and advanced the idea of a social welfare function, reflecting the debate on economic planning among Italian corporatist economists.

scholarly journals Optimal Policy with Heterogeneous Preferences

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Kaplow
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Public Goods ◽  
Optimal Policy ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Social Welfare Function ◽  
Income Taxation ◽  
Heterogeneous Preferences ◽  
Commodity Taxation ◽  
Policy Rules ◽  
The Social

Abstract Optimal policy rules—including those regarding income taxation, commodity taxation, public goods, and externalities—are typically derived in models with homogeneous preferences. This article reconsiders many central results for the case in which preferences for commodities, public goods, and externalities are heterogeneous. When preference differences are observable, standard second-best results in basic settings are unaffected, except those for the optimal income tax. Optimal levels of income taxation may be higher, the same, or lower on types who derive more utility from various goods, depending on the nature of preference differences and the concavity of the social welfare function. When preference differences are unobservable, all policy rules may change. The determinants of even the direction of optimal rule adjustments are many and subtle.

Does Foundation Giving Stimulate or Suppress Private Giving? Evidence from a Panel of Canadian Charities

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 382-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iryna Khovrenkov
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private Giving ◽  
Unique Data ◽  
Private Donations ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Canadian Charities

As non-governmental providers of public goods, charities are funded by governments and also by individuals and foundations. How do foundation grants to charities affect private donations to these organizations? The standard economic theory on voluntary contributions to the public good hypothesizes that foundation giving will crowd out private donations. An alternative giving dynamic may arise whereby foundations act as complements to private donations because they can provide a signal of charity quality to individuals and thereby influence their decisions to give. This article offers a rigorous empirical analysis of the relationship between foundation and private donations by utilizing a unique data set on Canadian social welfare and community charities matched with their foundation donors. Empirical findings confirm that an additional dollar of foundation grants to charities crowds in private giving by three dollars on average, suggesting that private donors may look to foundation grants for information on charities to make informed giving decisions.

Symposium on Amartya Sen's philosophy: 2 Unstrapping the straitjacket of ‘preference’: a comment on Amartya Sen's contributions to philosophy and economics

2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Welfare Economics ◽  
Individual Behavior ◽  
Microeconomic Theory ◽  
Individual Preferences ◽  
Individual Welfare ◽  
Philosophy And Economics

The concept of preference dominates economic theory today. It performs a triple duty for economists, grounding their theories of individual behavior, welfare, and rationality. Microeconomic theory assumes that individuals act so as to maximize their utility – that is, to maximize the degree to which their preferences are satisfied. Welfare economics defines individual welfare in terms of preference satisfaction or utility, and social welfare as a function of individual preferences. Finally, economists assume that the rational act is the act that maximally satisfies an individual's preferences. The habit of framing problems in terms of the concept of preference is now so entrenched that economists rarely entertain alternatives.

scholarly journals Difficulties of municipalities in the cearense metropolitan region in adhering to the public accounting convergence process: a multi-study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thaís da Silva Moura ◽  
Roberto Sérgio do Nascimento ◽  
Ricardo Viotto
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
The Public ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Public Investments ◽  
Convergence Process ◽  
Accounting Convergence

Objective: The purpose of this multi-case study is to evaluate the perceptions of Brazilian municipalities regarding the process of convergence of public accounting to international standards, initiated in 2008, considering the importance of these federated entities in the primary provision of public goods and services to society. Methodology: It was based on the application of a questionnaire with structured questions applied to the finance departments in 7 (seven) municipalities of the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza. In addition to this aspect, the municipalities were selected based on the state’s GDP and the level of public investments made by them. Results: The results were considered consistent by emphasizing that 71% of the municipalities started the convergence process within the deadline established by the National Treasury Secretariat (STN), however only 43% stated they were prepared to apply the NBCASP. One of the main related difficulties refers to the lack of investment in training for the technicians involved and of their own systems to operate the changes determined by the STN. Contributions of the Study: Effectively, the research proved real difficulties experienced by part of the surveyed municipalities that can compromise the progress of the convergence process in Brazil, aspects which were not considered in the researches previously carried out.

scholarly journals Managing for Citizen Satisfaction: Is Good Not Enough?

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian K. Collins ◽  
Hyun Joon Kim ◽  
Jie Tao
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Citizen Satisfaction ◽  
The Public ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Public Managers ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Public Economy

Citizen satisfaction is a popular means of performance management. It underscores a common conception that citizens are customers who are concerned about the quality of public goods and services. We offer a theory that suggests the quantity of public goods and services is also important. We develop our theory based on democratic models of the public where citizens are concerned about equity and accessibility to public goods and services. Using data from two municipal surveys and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), we test three hypotheses and find that both quality and quantity of public service provision are significant antecedents to citizen satisfaction. In our conclusion, we explain how these results call for a more complex conceptualization of the performance associated with managing for citizen satisfaction, and we recommend public managers develop and employ skills that recognize the complex consumptive and democratic attributes of citizens in a public economy.

Micro-Foundations of Religion and Public Goods Provision: Belief, Belonging, and Giving in Catholicism and Islam

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 718-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramazan Kılınç ◽  
Carolyn M. Warner
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Public Goods ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Public Goods Provision ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Micro Foundations

AbstractWhile debates continue about the relationship between state-provided social welfare and religious charities, and whether organized religions are more capable of providing social welfare than is the public sector, less attention has focused on the question of what motivates religious adherents to contribute to the charitable work of their religions. In this article, we examine how adherents of Catholicism and Islam understand their generosity and its relationship to their faith. Through 218 semi-structured interviews with Catholics and Muslims in four cities in France, Ireland, Italy, and Turkey, we find systematic differences between the two religions. Catholics emphasize love of others and Muslims emphasize duty to God. We also find, contrary to expectations of the literature that emphasizes monitoring and sanctioning within groups to obtain cooperation, that Catholics and Muslims see their generosity as also motivated by the positive affect they feel towards their respective communities.

scholarly journals Assessing ‘good governance’:‘scientific’ measurement and political discourse

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Gregory
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Goods ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
State Authority

The idea of governance – as distinct from government – has become intellectually fashionable in academic circles over the past decade or so, constituting a new conceptual paradigm that embodies ideas about the dispersal and fragmentation of formerly centralised state authority, the increasing involvement of civil society in the delivery of public goods and services, and the networked collaboration of a wide range of governmental and nongovernmental bodies in the pursuit of public purposes and the public interest.

Maximizing Happiness?

2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno S. Frey ◽  
Alois Stutzer
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Social Welfare Function ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Revealed Preferences ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Individual Utility ◽  
Institutional Approach ◽  
Decision Utility

Abstract The measurement of individual happiness challenges the notion that revealed preferences only reliably and empirically reflect individual utility. Reported subjective well-being is a broader concept than traditional decision utility; it also includes concepts like experience and procedural utility. Micro- and macroeconometric happiness functions offer new insights on determinants of life satisfaction. However, one should not leap to the conclusion that happiness should be maximized, as was suggested for social welfare function maximization. In contrast, happiness research strengthens the validity of an institutional approach, such as reflected in the theory of democratic economic policy.

Whose Ethos for Public Goods in the Global Economy?

2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georges Enderle
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Public Goods ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Public Economics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
Market Economic ◽  
High Urgency ◽  
International Setting ◽  
Great Relevance

Abstract:The discussion of the global economy and worldwide expansion of the capitalist and market economic system barely deals with the topic of public goods, although they are of paramount importance precisely in this international setting. Fortunately, the theory of public economics systematically developed the central concept of the public good with its far-reaching implications so that this knowledge can be applied also to global issues. In order to treat these often vaguely discussed issues, a typology of international relations is proposed. These and other considerations prepare the way to ask the question about the implied ethos. Because a common and sustainable ethos for public goods in the global economy is of great relevance and high urgency, both religious and non-religious ethical traditions are called for making their necessary contributions to this foundation.

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