User charges and bureaucratic inefficiency.: An article from: Atlantic Economic Journal

This digital document is an article from Atlantic Economic Journal, published by Atlantic Economic Society on June 1, 1998. The length of the article is 6528 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: This paper develops the theoretical reasons why user charge finance leads to improved government efficiency and reduced expenditures. It is argued that user charges constrain bureaucratic behavior, thus forcing the bureau to operate closer to the true demand curve for the service. Further, it is argued that user charges reduce consumer demand by connecting use and payment and by breaking fiscal illusion. This analysis leads one to expect that greater reliance on user charge finance would lead to lower government expenditures. An empirical test is performed which supports this hypothesis. The theoretical results combined with this empirical test suggest that user charges do generate lower government expenditures and a more efficient government.

Citation Details
Title: User charges and bureaucratic inefficiency.
Author: Edward J. Bierhanzl
Publication:Atlantic Economic Journal (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 1998
Publisher: Atlantic Economic Society
Volume: v26 Issue: n2 Page: p175(15)

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