Voluntary Cooperation in Local Public Goods Provision: An Experimental Study

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrej Angelovski ◽  
Daniela Di Cagno ◽  
Werner GGth ◽  
Francesca Marazzi ◽  
Luca Panaccione
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Public Goods ◽  
Local Public Goods ◽  
Public Goods Provision ◽  
Voluntary Cooperation

The effect of regional income inequality and social diversity on the provision of local public goods in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-126
Author(s):  
Matondang Elsa Siburian
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Equal Access ◽  
Local Public Goods ◽  
Policy Recommendation ◽  
Social Diversity ◽  
Public Goods Provision ◽  
Regional Income ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regional Income Inequality

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to quantify the effects of regional income disparity and social diversity on local public goods delivery in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach Using Indonesian provincial data over the period 2001–2014 and by way of System GMM, this paper circumvents endogeneity and persistence of key variables over time which may bias the estimated impact of the critical variables. Findings The result provides no significant evidence on the influence of regional income inequality on the provision of local public goods. The result reveals that ethnic diversity is associated with the more extensive provision of local public goods. A large difference in preferences toward public goods provision in a fragmented society such as Indonesia forces the local government to deliver a greater mixed of public goods to accommodate various preferences for public goods and ensure that each group has equal access to public goods. Political fragmentation within an ethnically heterogeneous society also encourages local politicians to provide a larger provision of public goods to form an inter-ethnic coalition to gain local political access. Practical implications The significant effect of ethnic diversity on public goods provision implies a set of policy recommendation for Indonesian Government in order to maintain peace within the country. The central government should establish a clear-cut standard of local public goods provision for local governments to ensure that that anyone has equal access to public goods regardless of ethnicity. This will mitigate the possibility of ethnic conflict in an ethnically plural society. Originality/value This paper extends its analysis using both fractionalization and polarization indexes to measure the social diversity in Indonesia to obtain a comprehensive knowledge regarding the influence of ethnic diversity on the public good provision. This paper proposes a set of policy recommendation for Indonesian Government to manage the effect of social diversity on the provision of local public goods. To the author’s knowledge, this has never been done before for Indonesia. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2018-0661

Public vs. Private Ownership of Firms: Evidence from Rural China

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingyi Qian
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Local Public Goods ◽  
Private Enterprises ◽  
Public Goods Provision ◽  
Public Firms ◽  
Rural Income ◽  
Rural Enterprises ◽  
Nonfarm Employment

Why are many of China’s successful rural enterprises publically owned by local communities? Using a set of provincial data, we find that the share of community public firms (Township-Village Enterprises, or TVEs) relative to private enterprises is higher where the central government’s influence is greater, the community government’s power is stronger, and the level of market development is lower. We also find that TVEs help achieve the community government’s goals of increasing government revenue, rural nonfarm employment, and rural income. However, TVEs do not increase rural income given the levels of non-farm employment and/or local public goods provision, indicating possible inefficiency as compared to private enterprises.

Surrounded and threatened: how neighborhood composition reduces ethnic voting through intimidation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Ted Enamorado ◽  
Svetlana Kosterina
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Health Survey ◽  
The Political ◽  
Local Public Goods ◽  
Alternative Mechanism ◽  
Public Goods Provision ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Geocoded Data ◽  
Ethnic Geography

Abstract Ethnic voting is an important phenomenon in the political lives of numerous countries. In the present paper, we propose a theory explaining why ethnic voting is more prevalent in certain localities than in others and provide evidence for it. We argue that local ethnic geography affects ethnic voting by making voters of ethnicity that finds itself in the minority fear intimidation by their ethnic majority neighbors. We provide empirical evidence for our claim using the data from round 4 of the Afrobarometer survey in Ghana to measure the voters’ beliefs that they are likely to face intimidation during electoral campaigns. Using geocoded data from rounds three and four of the Afrobarometer, as well as data from the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, we find no evidence for local public goods provision as an alternative mechanism.

Segregation, Ethnic Favoritism, and the Strategic Targeting of Local Public Goods

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (9) ◽  
pp. 1111-1143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Ejdemyr ◽  
Eric Kramon ◽  
Amanda Lea Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Local Public Goods ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Ethnic Segregation ◽  
Public Goods Provision ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Water Wells

This article demonstrates that ethnic segregation is a key determinant of local public goods provision. We argue that this results from politicians’ strategic engagement in ethnic favoritism: Only when ethnic groups are sufficiently segregated can elites efficiently target coethnics with local public goods. We test this expectation with fine-grained data from Malawi on the spatial distribution of ethnic groups, geolocated distributive goods (water wells), and the ethnic identities of political elites. We find that members of parliament provide more local public goods to their electoral districts when ethnic groups are geographically segregated but that this increased investment is primarily targeted toward coethnics. Thus, while segregation promotes overall public goods provision, it also leads to greater favoritism in the distribution of these goods. Our logic and evidence provide an elite-driven explanation for both the considerable variation in ethnic favoritism across contexts and the underprovision of public goods in ethnically diverse settings.

Ethnic Diversity and Ethnic Discrimination: Explaining Local Public Goods Provision

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (10) ◽  
pp. 1351-1383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Lee
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Ethnic Discrimination ◽  
Local Public Goods ◽  
Public Goods Provision ◽  
Northern India ◽  
Local Problems ◽  
Using Data

Numerous studies have found that ethnic diversity is negatively associated with the provision of local public goods. However, these accounts neglect both the strong role of central institutions in the provision of many “local” public goods and the frequently positive correlation between diversity and the presence of less politically powerful ethnic groups. These factors suggest that existing diversity findings may be explained in some cases by central governments discriminating against areas inhabited by less powerful groups. This hypothesis is tested using data in village-level public goods provision in Northern India, supplemented by data on service provision in Kenyan villages and American cities. While there is evidence that the presence of socially powerful groups is positively associated with service provision, evidence for the diversity hypothesis is weak. The results suggest that failures of public services in diverse areas may reflect larger inequalities within the political system rather than local problems in cooperation.

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