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Channeling the final say in politics: a simple mechanism

Author

Listed:
  • Hans Gersbach

    (ETH Zurich
    CEPR)

  • Stephan Imhof

    (Swiss National Bank)

  • Oriol Tejada

    (ETH Zurich)

Abstract

We examine public project provision and redistribution in a model of legislative bargaining and provide a foundation of how to channel the say. We consider a large and heterogeneous legislature and show that socially optimal outcomes are obtained by a mechanism based on the majority rule that involves two proposal-making rounds, with the minority moving first and the majority moving second.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans Gersbach & Stephan Imhof & Oriol Tejada, 2021. "Channeling the final say in politics: a simple mechanism," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 71(1), pages 151-183, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecth:v:71:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s00199-019-01236-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s00199-019-01236-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Anne Villamil & Xiaobing Wang & Ning Xue, 2021. "A political foundation of public investment and welfare spending," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 23(4), pages 660-690, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Legislative bargaining; Majority rule; Incomplete social contracts; Public project provision; Transfers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General

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