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Citizens' Information and the Size of Bureaucracy

Author

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  • Maria Alessandra Antonelli

    (Institute of Economics and Finance, “La Sapienza” University of Rome, Italy)

Abstract

This paper analyzes, in a traditional public choice perspective, the political-bureaucratic relationship starting from the idea that citizens' information is a random variable whose distribution can change because of institutional elements. As in Niskanen's model, we assume that political preferences represent citizens’ preferences, but unlike the traditional theory we consider a stochastic political demand function whose variables are the quantity of the public good and a random variable representing the available citizens' information on the public good. Additionally, political competition as well as mass media competition can affect the distribution of the information. Using the Rothschild and Stiglitz (1970) theory, we show that the size of bureaucratic activity decreases as the dispersion of information among citizens increases, thus improving the efficiency of the system.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Alessandra Antonelli, 2009. "Citizens' Information and the Size of Bureaucracy," Annals of the University of Petrosani, Economics, University of Petrosani, Romania, vol. 9(1), pages 17-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:pet:annals:v:9:i:1:y:2009:p:17-26
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aghion, Philippe & Tirole, Jean, 1997. "Formal and Real Authority in Organizations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 1-29, February.
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    6. William A. Niskanen, 1994. "Bureaucracy And Public Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 333.
    7. Varian, Hal R, 1985. "Divergence of Opinion in Complete Markets: A Note," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(1), pages 309-317, March.
    8. Jean-Jacques Laffont & David Martimort, 1998. "Collusion and Delegation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(2), pages 280-305, Summer.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    bureaucracy; information; public organizations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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