Political Economics: Explaining Economic Policy

by Torsten Persson, Guido Tabellini

What determines the size and form of redistributive programs, the extent and type of public goods provision, the burden of taxation across alternative tax bases, the size of government deficits, and the stance of monetary policy during the course of business and electoral cycles? A large and rapidly growing literature in political economics attempts to answer these questions. But so far there is little consensus on the answers and disagreement on the appropriate mode of analysis. Combining the best of three separate traditions—the theory of macroeconomic policy, public choice, and rational choice in political science—Torsten Persson and Guido Tabellini suggest a unified approach to the field. As in modern macroeconomics, individual citizens behave rationally, their preferences over economic outcomes inducing preferences over policy. As in public choice, the delegation of policy decisions to elected representatives may give rise to agency problems between voters and politicians. And, as in rational choice, political institutions shape the procedures for setting policy and electing politicians. The authors outline a common method of analysis, establish several new results, and identify the main outstanding problems.

Genres: Economics, Politics, Textbooks, Nonfiction

560 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Sergio Medinaceli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro que, me parece, es el resultado de muchas horas de clases universitarias. Por ello es un libro teórico que podría servir como puerta de entrada a la teoría de la elección social. Sin embargo, esta lectura debe acompañarse por evidencia empírica.