Description
Book SynopsisAt a time when there is growing concern in many countries over the funding of expanding public sectors, this important new book brings together leading specialists in public finance to re-examine the economics of public sector growth. Several chapters document changes in the size of the public sector over recent decades for major OECD and Third World economies. Subsequent chapters then explore prominent explanations including public choice perspectives, bureaucracy models, relative price effects and Wagner's Law, and assess their contribution to current knowledge. The book also provides a number of new case studies of specific government activities - education, health and social security.
Trade Review'. . . provides a useful and readable overview of developments in this area . . .' -- Peter Else, The Economic Journal
'One leaves this volume with a better understanding of the multifaceted nature of public sector growth'. -- David Schap, The Southern Economic Journal
'This important collection offers new insights into the growth of the public sector (especially changes in public expenditure) that has fascinated economists from the time of Adam Smith.' -- Abstracts of Public Administration, Development and Environment
'Those working with the development of the public sector should certainly add the book to their library. . .' -- Martin Paldam, The World Economy
Table of ContentsThe public sector - definition and measurement issues, Norman Gemmell; recent trends in the size and growth of government in OECD countries, Peter Saunders; recent trends in the size and growth of government in developing countries, David Lim; the Peacock-Wiseman hypothesis, Magnus Henrekson; public expenditure and political progress, Alan Hamlin; the economics of bureaucracy, John G. Cullis and Philip R. Jones; Wagner's Law and Musgrave's Hypothesis, Norman Gemmell; modelling public expenditure growth - an integrated approach, Peter Jackson; government consumption - effects on productivity, growth and investment, Steve Dowrick; social security expenditure, John Creedy; health care expenditure, David K. Whynes; higher education expenditure, Paul Ryan; the political economy of public sector growth in the United States, Terry L. Anderson and Thomas Stratmann; the public sector in Australia - a quantitative analysis, Franz Hackl, Friedrich Schneider and Glenn Withers.
