The Political Economy of Benefits and Costs: A Neoclassical Approach to Distributive Politics Export

@article{citeulike:3003154, abstract = {This essay offers a rational political explanation for the notorious inefficiency of pork barrel projects with an optimization model of legislative behavior and legislative institutions. The model emphasizes the (economically arbitrary, from a welfare point of view) importance of the geographic incidence of benefits and costs owing to the geographic basis for political representation. We explore the implications of a legislator's objective function and derive conditions under which a representative legislature will select an omnibus of projects each of which exceeds the efficient scale.}, author = {Weingast, Barry R. and Shepsle, Kenneth A. and Johnsen, Christopher}, citeulike-article-id = {3003154}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1833029}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/1833029}, doi = {10.2307/1833029}, journal = {The Journal of Political Economy}, keywords = {fiscal\_policy, legislature, political\_economy, redistribution}, number = {4}, pages = {642--664}, posted-at = {2008-07-15 13:47:25}, priority = {4}, publisher = {The University of Chicago Press}, title = {The Political Economy of Benefits and Costs: A Neoclassical Approach to Distributive Politics}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1833029}, volume = {89}, year = {1981} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:3003154 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3003154 N2 - This essay offers a rational political explanation for the notorious inefficiency of pork barrel projects with an optimization model of legislative behavior and legislative institutions. The model emphasizes the (economically arbitrary, from a welfare point of view) importance of the geographic incidence of benefits and costs owing to the geographic basis for political representation. We explore the implications of a legislator's objective function and derive conditions under which a representative legislature will select an omnibus of projects each of which exceeds the efficient scale. IS - 4 JF - The Journal of Political Economy EP - 664 TI - The Political Economy of Benefits and Costs: A Neoclassical Approach to Distributive Politics PB - The University of Chicago Press VL - 89 SP - 642 KW - fiscal_policy KW - legislature KW - political_economy KW - redistribution AU - Weingast, Barry AU - Shepsle, Kenneth AU - Johnsen, Christopher PY - 1981/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1833029 ER -