The Elgar Companion To Public Choice

'This is a comprehensive set of essays on myriad facets of public choice by many of the leading contributors in the field. The coverage is excellent and the essays are terrific. I highly recommend this book for researchers and students.' – Todd Sandler, University of Texas at Dallas, US The Elgar Companion to Public Choice, Second Edition brings together leading scholars in the field of political economy to introduce readers to the latest research in public choice. The Companion lays out a comprehensive history of the field and, in five additional parts, it explores public choice contributions to the study of the origins of the state, the organization of political activity, the analysis of decision-making in non-market institutions, the examination of tribal governance, and to modeling and predicting the behavior of international organizations and transnational terrorism. With broad and up-to-date coverage, this second edition will appeal to politicians and policymakers, academics and researchers in public and social choice and political science as well as graduate students in economics, political science and public administration.

Attiat Ott and Richard Cebula have recognised the need to present, in an accessible and straightforward way, the voluminous literature in the public economics arena. Advances in econometric techniques and the spillover of knowledge from other disciplines made it difficult, not only for students but also for lecturers, to accurately find the information they need. This major Companion addresses a wealth of topics common to the study of both public economics and public choice including questions such as: How does one structure the whole spectrum of public finance in a manageable framework? What is Wagner s Law really about and what does empirical testing tell us? How binding is the budget constraint? How encompassing is a dictator s interest? How do veto powers of the executive, institutional structures and regimes affect public sector outcomes? Do voters behave rationally? Do conflicts yield benefits? Is war cost effective and does secession offer a viable exit option? The contributions, both theoretical and empirical, shed light on some contentious issues in the public economics literature and provide readers with insight into issues that are at the forefront of discussions about the public economy. The empirical analysis utilizes recent econometric techniques to validate or refute empirical findings based on older vintage econometrics. The diversity of coverage ranges from traditional models of the public economy to the incorporation of defence spending as a significant and often neglected function of the public sector. The contributors include many pioneers and leading lights in the field. The Elgar Companion to Public Economics will be required reading for academics and scholars at many levels in the fields of public economics and public choice but mainly graduate and above. The Companion will also be of value to scholars in the wider social sciences in general and political science in particular.

. . . there are many first-rate contributions here. Those contributions make this collection valuable especially to readers who are already knowledgeable about the various areas in which the interests of philosophers and economists overlap. Daniel M. Hausman, Journal of Economic Methodology The Elgar Companion To Economics and Philosophy is a very good read. Every library should buy it now. John King, History of Economics Review The volume collects articles surveying developments in such related fields as economic methodology, ethics, epistemology, and social ontology. Many of the articles are forward-looking, and as such constitute substantive and original (and at times provocative) contributions to the literature. The volume as a whole is a success; the editors are to be congratulated for their efforts. Bruce J. Caldwell, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, US This Companion is called economics and philosophy but actually it is about the philosophy of economics and all the great questions in the subject are here. The weather in the philosophy of economics has been stormy lately and the climate continues to this day to be unsettled. Will the storms soon settle down to give way to calmer days? Read this excellent collection of informative papers in the field to stimulate your own answer to that question. Mark Blaug, University of London and University of Buckingham, UK The Elgar Companion to Economics and Philosophy aims to demonstrate exactly how these two important areas have always been linked, and to illustrate the key areas of overlap. The Companion is divided into distinct parts, each of which highlights a leading area of scholarly concern: political economy conceived as social philosophy; the methodology and epistemology of economics; and social ontology and the ontology of economics. The contributors are well-known and distinguished authors from a variety of disciplines, who have been invited both to survey and to provide a personal assessment of current and prospective future states of their respective areas of philosophical interest. Academics and students who have an interest in economics and philosophy, political philosophy and the history of ideas will find this book of great appeal, as will researchers working in the field and readers interested in the nature of the discipline of economics.

ÔThe Elgar Companion to Health Economics is a comprehensive and accessible look at the field, as seen by its leading figures.Õ Ð Joseph Newhouse, Harvard Medical School, US Acclaim for the first edition: ÔThis Companion is a timely addition. . . It contains 50 chapters, from 90 contributors around the world, on the topical and policy-relevant aspects of health economics. . . there is a balanced coverage of theoretical and empirical materials, and conceptual and practical issues. . . I have found the Companion very useful.Õ Ð Sukhan Jackson, Economic Analysis and Policy ÔThis encyclopedic work provides interested readers with an authoritative and comprehensive overview of many, if not all, of the current research issues in health economics. Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above.Õ Ð R.M. Mullner, Choice This comprehensive collection brings together more than 50 contributions from some of the most influential researchers in health economics. It authoritatively covers theoretical and empirical issues in health economics, with a balanced range of material on equity and efficiency in health care systems, health technology assessment and issues of concern for developing countries. This thoroughly revised second edition is expanded to include four new chapters, while all existing chapters have been extensively updated. The Elgar Companion to Health Economics, Second Edition intends to take an audience of advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers to the current frontier of research by providing concise and readable introductions to key topics.

Comprehensive reference work introducing readers to the field of feminist economics. It addresses key concepts as well as feminist economic critiques and reconstructions of major economic theories and policy debates.

Social economics is a dynamic and growing field that emphasizes the key roles social values play in the economy and economic life. This second edition of the Elgar Companion to Social Economics revises all chapters from the first edition, and adds impo

This volume contains a selection of Anthony Downs' essays, written since the 1950s, on politics and political theory. The articles address such issues as democracy, public choice theory, rational political decision-making and political policy.

Using public choice economic methods, this Advanced Introduction presents a focused narrative about political decision-making based on the work that has defined the discipline. Each chapter ends with a Notes section to discuss the research on which the chapter is based, with an emphasis on the pioneering work that has shaped the development of public choice. Randall G. Holcombe emphasizes the theoretical foundations of public choice, with the idea that it offers a context within which empirical research can be understood. This book successfully explores the political decision-making process for readers and ensures that they understand how preferences of citizens are aggregated to produce public policies.