Big governments lead to lower levels of short-term economic growth. But is the size of this negative effect the same in different nations? I argue that big government matters less for growth in small countries than it does in large ones, because large countries are more dependent on domestic sources of production and consumption for their economic growth than are small countries. I find support...

A number of recent studies have attempted to identify the determinants of government size. It is well known that the size of government has implications for welfare and economic growth. This paper shows that the size of the fixed cost involving public good provision affects the magnitude of capital inflow induced changes in government size and welfare. By making use of a simulation exercise, it...

Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Recent Experiences with Consolidation ...................................................................................................................... 4 Consolidation and the Costs of Delivering Government Ser...

The relationship between women's attitudes toward gender equality and their fertility aspirations has been researched extensively, but few studies have explored the same associations among men. Using recent Demographic and Health Survey data from five high fertility East African countries, we examine the association between young men's gender attitudes and their ideal family size. Whereas sever...

This paper aims at testing the existence of yardstick competition by estimating a fully specified votefunction on a panel data set of 104 French local governments from 1989 to 2001. When comparing the performance of their incumbent to the one of their "neighbours", voters might consider their close geographical neighbours but also the nearby cities that are similar according to some socio-econo...

People of all ages are increasingly consuming larger portions of food. Governments worldwide are involved in the regulation of many aspects of the food supply; however, policies and programs related to serving sizes for children vary or are not clearly communicated. This paper reviews U.S. federal and state government recommendations, policies, and laws related to serving size for children and ...