Book Description
This book represents a considerable revision and expansion of Public Choice II (1989). As in the previous editions, all of the major topics of public choice are covered. These include: why the state exists, voting rules, federalism, the theory of clubs, two-party and multiparty electoral systems, rent seeking, bureaucracy, interest groups, dictatorship, the size of government, voter participation, and political business cycles. Normative issues in public choice are also examined. The book is suitable for upper level courses in economics dealing with politics, and political science courses emphasizing rational actor models.
Download Description
This book represents a considerable revision and expansion of Public Choice II (1989). As in the previous editions, all of the major topics of public choice are covered. These include: why the state exists, voting rules, federalism, the theory of clubs, two-party and multiparty electoral systems, rent seeking, bureaucracy, interest groups, dictatorship, the size of government, voter participation, and political business cycles. Normative issues in public choice are also examined. The book is suitable for upper level courses in economics dealing with politics, and political science courses emphasizing rational actor models.
Customer Reviews:
Good Review Text on Rat-Choice Politics and Public Choice.......2003-05-22
This is a great book! As a political-science graduate student I've been exposed to a great deal of game-theory and rat-choice in my seminar classes, but, unfortunately, it has come in the form of numerous papers, piles of books, and several classes that did not build off of one another. I was left with the feeling that it was a very, very important subject, but it was presented in a manner that left me, as a student, with an incomplete picture of the topic and the breadth of work that has gone on in this field.
Mueller's achievements in this volume have been three:
1. Coherent presentation of the theory of public choice / rational politics.
2. Discussion of the most important empirical work that has gone on in this field in a unified fashion that leads one naturally into further inquiry in this area.
3. Logically organizes and presents the material in a way that reinforces concepts, logic, and thinking in the book.
These three things make this book a great review or introductory text to the field of public choice / rational politics that should be on the "must have" list of every serious student of politics and economics. Moreover, not being terribly skilled at mathematics myself, the material is presented both through intuitive written discussions, fairly simplistic "example" equations that are pretty easy to follow if you've had a "principles" microecon course with calculus, and, which I greatly appreciate, a fair amount of graphs. Moreover, the bibliography that the book draws on is very, very extensive...meaning that it has the additional utility of being a handy jumping off point if you're doing research in this area.
My only complaint, and this is a minor one, is that I would like a bit more math in the book either at the end of each chapter or in an appendix that works out, step-by-step, some of the additional concepts he runs over that aren't dealt with mathematically in the main text of the chapters themselves.
This, at least in my opinion, is an excellent book for the graduate student interested in learning about public choice / rational politics.
Average customer rating:
|
Readings in Public Choice Economics
Manufacturer: University of Michigan Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Theory
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Law
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Law
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0472030213 |
Book Description
Based on the key idea that social protection in a modern economy, both inside and outside the state, can be understood as protection of specific investments in human capital, Torben Iversen offers a systematic explanation of popular preferences for redistributive spending, the economic role of political parties and electoral systems, and labor market stratification (including gender inequality). Contrary to the popular idea that competition in the global economy undermines international differences in the level of social protection, Iversen argues that these differences are actually made possible by a high international division of labor.
Customer Reviews:
Good analysis but ideology sometimes gets in the way.......2007-02-18
This book provides a good, accessible introduction to the study of "public choice" - essentially, the study of government using economic techniques. The book is admirably clear, and if you haven't seen this approach at work before, I heartily recommend this book as an introduction to the field. It helps explain in a simple framework many of the dysfunctions of politics and public policy that might otherwise seem mysterious, or a failure of "political will."
Like many (or most) economists, they assume that behavior in markets its ethically better than behavior in politics. On the one hand, that's a useful corrective for those people who think that politics consists of the noble pursuit of the public interest. On the other hand, this sort of economist unrealistically idealizes the market.
For example, Chapters 5-10 all have the same title - "Political Pursuit of Private Gain" - with different subtitles. Mitchell and Simmons act as if pursuing private goals through the political system is odd or reprehensible. Yet they would applaud people who pursue private goals through the market. It's not at all clear to me that there is an ethical distinction to be made here. Shouldn't the problem of the public and private good in both economics and politics be the real subject of political economy?
As another example, they count as "perverted incentives" the fact that politicians aks "how many people" want something, not "how badly do they want something" (which is what the market does). Is it so obvious that one of these two standards is better than the other?
I'll conclude with a final example. Mitchell and Simmons assume uncritically that defense, law and order are truly public goods. If they had thought more carefully about dictatorships, they would see ways in which law and order can be private goods, paid for by taxpayers. Even if national defense is public (which I doubt), it is produced by contractors that receive private benefits from its production. They might also think about what makes some politicians run for office on law and order or defense platforms.
It's not obvious to me what the answer is, but I think the method here could be helpful when applied in a nonpartisan, nonideological way that recognizes imperfections in both politics and economics. Mitchell and Simmons don't quite achieve that.
Explaining Government Failure.......2000-06-10
The traditional response to apparent failures of the free market is to create new government policies, as well as bureaucracies to implement them. Mitchell and Simmons explain why the usual result is "government failure."
Simply put, transferring an issue from the market to government does not eliminate self-interested behavior. Those who have the most at stake will make the necessary effort to have the most influence. Government policies frequently confer large benefits on a small number of people, while spreading the costs among many. Those many, therefore, each have too little at stake to make large investments in influence. The result is rent-seeking - the economists' term for using government to create markets that are distorted in favor of producers.
The other crucial problem with government policymaking is that decision-makers do not have to compare costs and benefits and make economically wise decisions. In fact bureaucrats have a strong incentive to overstate the magnitude of problems and to avoid seeking real solutions, because doing so allows them to continue to request funding - thus creating job security.
My view is, of course, somewhat biased, because I am Bill Mitchell's student. But knowing him personally, I also know that his intent is not to demonize government employees (who are all acting rationally in response to the distorted incentives they face). Nor is he a right-winger intent on helping businesses oppress consumers and destroy the environment. In fact the best parts of the book, in my opinion, are the chapters showing how the incentive structure in government results in policies that actually hurt consumers and the environment.
Parts of this book are easy to read, but other parts, including the opening chapters, are likely to be difficult for anyone without some background in economics. If the book has one flaw, it is that the authors assume the reader will understand the more technical terms. The book is brief enough that they could have easily included vivid examples to make the meanings clear.
Nevertheless, this book is by far the best available on the problem of government policy failure. Most are either interminably long and academically complex, or shallow and polemical. This book is that rare blend of true intellectual analysis in a readable format.
Average customer rating:
|
Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare Volume 1 (Handbooks in Economics)
Manufacturer: North Holland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Labor Policy
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Policy & Current Events
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Development & Growth
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Economic Policy & Development
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Labor & Industrial Relations
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Theory
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Urban & Regional
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Social Services & Welfare
| Poverty
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Social Theory
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Social Choice and Individual Values, Second edition (Cowles Foundation Monographs Series)
ASIN: 0444829148 |
Book Description
The Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare presents, in two volumes, essays on past and on-going work in social choice theory and welfare economics. The first volume consists of four parts. In Part 1 (Arrovian Impossibility Theorems), various aspects of Arrovian general impossibility theorems, illustrated by the simple majority cycle first identified by Condorcet, are expounded and evaluated. It also provides a critical survey of the work on different escape routes from impossibility results of this kind. In Part 2 (Voting Schemes and Mechanisms), the operation and performance of voting schemes and cost-sharing mechanisms are examined axiomatically, and some aspects of the modern theory of incentives and mechanism design are expounded and surveyed. In Part 3 (structure of social choice rules), the positional rules of collective decision-making (the origin of which can be traced back to a seminal proposal by Borda), the game-theoretic aspects of voting in committees, and the implications of making use of interpersonal comparisons of welfare (with or without cardinal measurability) are expounded, and the status of utilitarianism as a theory of justice is critically examined. It also provides an analytical survey of the foundations of measurement of inequality and poverty. In order to place these broad issues (as well as further issues to be discussed in the second volume of the Handbook) in perspective, Kotaro Suzumura has written an extensive introduction, discussing the historical background of social choice theory, the vistas opened by Arrow's
Social Choice and Individual Values, the famous "socialist planning" controversy, and the theoretical and practical significance of social choice theory. The primary purpose of this Handbook is to provide an accessible introduction to the current state of the art in social choice theory and welfare economics. The expounded theory has a strong and constructive message for pursuing human well-being and facilitating collective decision-making.
Average customer rating:
|
Population Issues in Social Choice Theory, Welfare Economics, and Ethics (Econometric Society Monographs)
Charles Blackorby ,
Walter Bossert , and
David J. Donaldson
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
History
| Subjects
| Books
| Africa
| Americas
| Ancient
| Arctic & Antarctica
| Asia
| Audiobooks
| Australia & Oceania
| Europe
| Gay & Lesbian
| Historical Study
| Large Print
| Middle East
| Military
| Military Science
| Russia
| United States
| World
Comparative
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Economic History
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Theory
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Social Services & Welfare
| Poverty
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Demography
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Social Theory
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0521532582 |
Book Description
This book presents an exploration of the idea of the common or social good, extended so that alternatives with different populations can be ranked. Basing rankings on the well-being, broadly conceived, of those who are alive (or ever lived), the axiomatic method is employed. Topics investigated include the measurement of individual well-being, social attitudes toward inequality of well-being, the main classes of population principles, principles that provide incomplete rankings or rank uncertain alternatives, best choices from feasible sets, and applications.
Average customer rating:
|
Public Choice (Cambridge Surveys of Economic Literature)
Mueller
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Economic History
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Theory
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0521295483 |
Book Description
This is a new edition - with a substantial new introduction - of a book which has had a significant impact on economics, philosophy and political science. Robert Sugden shows how conventions of property, mutual aid, and voluntary supply of public goods can evolve spontaneously out of the interactions of self-interested individuals, and can become moral norms. Sugden was among the first social scientists to use evolutionary game theory. His approach remains distinctive in emphasizing psychological and cultural notions of salience.
Book Description
Choice, Welfare and Measurement contains many of Amartya Sen's most important contributions to economic analysis and methods, including papers on choice, preference, rationality, aggregation, and measurement. A substantial introductory essay interrelates his diverse concerns, and also analyzes discussions generated by the original papers, focusing on the underlying issues.
Books:
- Punishment and Inequality in America
- Rampage: The Social Roots Of School Shootings
- Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results
- Small & Decentralized Wastewater Management Systems
- State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future (State of the World)
- Strategic Human Resource Management (with InfoTrac )
- Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise
- Telecommunication Policy for the Information Age: From Monopoly to Competition
- The Analysis of Household Surveys: A Microeconomic Approach to Development Policy (World Bank)
- The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- Witness of the Stars, The
- Leading Residential Landscape Professionals
- Seeing Forests for Trees: Environment and Environmentalism in Thailand
- Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease
- Why Didn't I Learn This in College
- The Siren Queen
- Jean Prouve: Compact Design Portfolio
- Romanesque Churches of France: A Traveller's Guide
- Recent Advances Of Plant Root Structure And Function
The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (Tullock, Gordon. Selections. V. 2.)
The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups, Second printing with new preface and appendix (Harvard Economic Studies)
Perspectives on Public Choice: A Handbook
Political Economics: Explaining Economic Policy (Zeuthen Lectures)
Analyzing Politics: Rationality, Behavior, and Institutions
