Investment In Public Goods Research Articles

Punishment in public goods games leads to meta-stable phase transitions and hysteresis

The evolution of cooperation has been a perennial problem in evolutionary biology because cooperation can be undermined by selfish cheaters who gain an advantage in the short run, while compromising the long-term viability of the population. Evolutionary game theory has shown that under certain conditions, cooperation nonetheless evolves stably, for example if players have the opportunity to punish cheaters that benefit from a public good yet refuse to pay into the common pool. However, punishment has remained enigmatic because it is costly and difficult to maintain. On the other hand, cooperation emerges naturally in the public goods game if the synergy of the public good (the factor multiplying the public good investment) is sufficiently high. In terms of this synergy parameter, the transition from defection to cooperation can be viewed as a phase transition with the synergy as the critical parameter. We show here that punishment reduces the critical value at which cooperation occurs, but also creates the possibility of meta-stable phase transitions, where populations can ‘tunnel’ into the cooperating phase below the critical value. At the same time, cooperating populations are unstable even above the critical value, because a group of defectors that are large enough can ‘nucleate’ such a transition. We study the mean-field theoretical predictions via agent-based simulations of finite populations using an evolutionary approach where the decisions to cooperate or to punish are encoded genetically in terms of evolvable probabilities. We recover the theoretical predictions and demonstrate that the population shows hysteresis, as expected in systems that exhibit super-heating and super-cooling. We conclude that punishment can stabilize populations of cooperators below the critical point, but it is a two-edged sword: it can also stabilize defectors above the critical point.

Death and the Media: Asymmetries in Infectious Disease Reporting During The Health Transition

In the late 19th Century, cities in Western Europe and the United States suffered from high levels of infectious disease. Over a 40 year period, there was a dramatic decline in infectious disease deaths in cities. As such objective progress in urban quality of life took place, how did the media report this trend? At that time newspapers were the major source of information educating urban households about the risks they faced. By constructing a unique panel data base, we find that news reports were positively associated with government announced typhoid mortality counts and the size of this effect actually grew after the local governments made large investments in public goods intended to reduce typhoid rates. News coverage was more responsive to unexpected increases in death rates than to unexpected decreases in death rates. Together, these facts suggest that consumers find bad news is more useful than good news.

Assessment of Various Policy Regimes towards Agricultural Export Growth in Nigeria

The performance of the agricultural export in Nigeria has been decimally, declining from 75 percent in 1960 to 1.63 percent in 2010. In response to this scenario, this study assessed the performance of various policy regimes that managed the resources of Nigeria from 1961 to 2010. This is with the goal of identifying the regime that is the best in growing the agricultural export sector for recommendation. The study estimated the exponential trend of the agricultural export and analyzed such growth under different policy regimes. Time series data were used. Data analysis involved the use of exponential or log-linear trend. The result of the trend analysis showed that Nigeria’s agricultural export did not fare well under the policy regimes except during structural adjustment Original Research Article Udah et al.; AJAEES, 6(2): 94-101, 2015; Article no.AJAEES.2015.066 95 (1986 – 1994) and liberalization (1995 – 2010) where acceleration was recorded in the short run. However, structural adjustment policy regime manifested positive characteristics which indicated that it has the best structure, among other regimes, in growing Nigerian agricultural export. The study advocated for policy of accelerated investment in public goods that supports agricultural production and marketing. This policy could be made possible through instituting Agricultural Trust Fund (akin to Educational Trust Fund) where certain percentage of proceeds from oil is saved towards agricultural development. This can be used to fund human capital development in agriculture, rural infrastructure, irrigation and power supply. The study further recommended a revisit of the Bretton Woods supported Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) with caution.

Do Couples Bargain over Fertility?

Neoclassical theory predicts that opportunity costs depress fertility. This view may be oversimplifying. In a household bargaining framework, wages also affect the intra-household distribution and, thus, the investment in household public goods like children. We demonstrate in a standard collective model the interplay of child preferences with opportunity cost and bargaining power effects. Theory provides the seemingly counter-intuitive result that, under certain conditions, female wages can increase fertility. In the empirical analysis, we present results consistent with the prediction that for couples with discordant child preferences bargaining power affects fertility choices.

Cooperative investment in public goods is kin directed in communal nests of social birds.

The tragedy of the commons predicts social collapse when public goods are jointly exploited by individuals attempting to maximize their fitness at the expense of other social group members. However, animal societies have evolved many times despite this vulnerability to exploitation by selfish individuals. Kin selection offers a solution to this social dilemma, but in large social groups mean relatedness is often low. Sociable weavers (Philetairus socius) live in large colonies that share the benefits of a massive communal nest, which requires individual investment for construction and maintenance. Here, we show that despite low mean kinship within colonies, relatives are spatially and socially clustered and that nest-building males have higher local relatedness to other colony members than do non-building males. Alternative hypotheses received little support, so we conclude that the benefits of the public good are shared with kin and that cooperative investment is, despite the large size and low relatedness of these communities, kin directed.

Determinants of public goods investment in rural communities in mountainous areas of Sichuan Province, China

This study aims to investigate two important issues: what are the determinants of public goods investment and what is the government's investment behavior in mountainous areas. The impacts of natural conditions, target, and demand elements on public goods investment are analyzed with statistical method, and the determinants of public goods investment in the areas are obtained by using population-weighted and stepwise regression models with Eviews6.0 software with survey data in 2008 and calculated data based on GIS of 20 typical villages in mountainous regions in Sichuan, China. The results showed: (1) natural conditions are the important determinants of public investment. Mountainous villages with steep slope have relatively high levels of investment; (2) concentration of population and the educational levels of the village leaders also have important impacts on public goods investment; (3) the government is more concerned with public investment resources particularly in areas characterized by fragile ecological environment and poor agricultural output. These results suggest that the current investment strategy helps to reduce disparities in regional development.

Inequality, Community Participation, and the Allocation of Collective Profits

This study analyzes the relationship between inequality in land holdings and participation in community assemblies in Mexican villages. Our identification strategy is unique in that it exploits contemporaneously exogenous variation in inequality due to historic and legal restrictions on the subdivision and sale of parcels in the communities we study. The data show that at an aggregate level, villages with more inequality in land holdings have lower participation rates. Individuals with greater land holdings relative to other community members are more likely to participate. This relationship intensifies with increasing inequality. We also consider how participation influences the allocation of public funds. We find greater investment in public goods where inequality is lower and participation higher. Finally, we demonstrate that those who are less likely to attend meetings are also less likely to receive government subsidies and benefits.

Does government investment crowd out private investment in China?

This paper asks whether government investment “crowds out” or “crowds in” private investment in China. We divide government capital expenditures into two types: (1) investment that serves to provide public goods and infrastructure, and (2) investment in private industry and commerce. The results of structured vector auto-regressive analysis suggest that government investment in public goods in China “crowds in” private investment significantly, while government investment in private goods, industry and commerce, mainly through state-owned enterprises, “crowds out” private investment significantly.

Subsidies, public goods, and external benefits in fisheries

The fisheries subsidy discussion has largely overlooked the increased welfare for society from Pigouvian subsidies that increase the supply of and investment in public goods when there are external benefits and free riding. Important fisheries public goods and external benefits include knowledge associated with new technology for “target” species and “bycatch” reduction, research and development for new technology, and ecosystem services and biodiversity. Careful definition of subsidies also requires consideration of the counter-factual or what would have happened without the action to which the fishery “subsidy” is attributed. Subsidies in the Western and Central Pacific tuna fishery are evaluated according to these and other criteria.

Monetary and Fiscal Policies for a Finite Planet

Current macroeconomic policy promotes continuous economic growth. Unemployment, poverty and debt are associated with insufficient growth. Economic activity depends upon the transformation of natural materials, ultimately returning to the environment as waste. Current levels of economic throughput exceed the planet’s carrying capacity. As a result of poorly constructed economic institutions, society faces the unacceptable choice between ecological catastrophe and human misery. A transition to a steady-state economy is required, characterized by a rate of throughput compatible with planetary boundaries. This paper contributes to the development of a steady-state economy by addressing US monetary and fiscal policies. A steady-state monetary policy would support counter-cyclical, debt-free vertical money creation through the public sector, in ways that contribute to sustainable well-being. The implication for a steady-state fiscal policy is that any lending or spending requires a careful balance of recovery of money, not as a means of revenue, but as an economic imperative to meet monetary policy goals. A steady-state fiscal policy would prioritize targeted public goods investments, taxation of ecological “bads” and economic rent and implementation of progressive tax structures. Institutional innovations are considered, including common asset trusts, to regulate throughput, and a public monetary trust, to strictly regulate money supply.

Overcoming the dual liability of foreignness and privateness in international corporate citizenship partnerships

Responding to increased demands from stakeholder groups, many companies have instituted corporate citizenship programs in recent years, leveraging their specialized resources to create public goods and services at home and abroad. Significant suspicion nonetheless remains about the motives and impact of corporations acting in domains traditionally served by government and “third-sector” organizations. We argue that such ambivalence undermines the perceived legitimacy of private investments in public goods, and that this fundamental liability of privateness (LOP) constitutes a significant obstacle to corporations acting in the public domain through corporate citizenship initiatives. For multinational corporations (MNCs), the challenges stemming from the LOP are further amplified by the liability of foreignness (LOF) commonly associated with international business operations. We discuss the origins of the LOP and derive implications of the “dual liability” of LOP and LOF for partnering choices in MNCs’ corporate citizenship programs. We highlight limitations on the set of credible governance mechanisms available to participants in these partnerships, describe a set of alternative governance arrangements that serve to realign incentives among alliance partners, and link these to the severity of the LOP in a particular setting. We illustrate our arguments with a case description of Microsoft's Partners in Learning program.

Anti-social tax practices and social economic development in Nigeria: the stakeholders' perceptions

The tax system is at the heart of an effective state. Although tax revenues are crucial to enable the state to redistribute wealth and to provide public goods, such aspirations are increasingly checked by tax evasion and tax avoidance practices and fiscal corruption. The paper examines the role of these practices on social economic development in Nigeria. It locates the role of taxpayers within the political economy theory to argue that the anti-social tax practices are shaped by socio-political and economic structures in the society. Using results from 24 interviews, the paper argues that social structures have influenced and [re]shape the attitudes and behaviour of actors towards committing anti-social tax practices. This has adversely affected government revenue thereby undermining investment in public goods, which has eroded the quality of life of Nigerian citizens and led to a decline in life expectancy. The paper advocates a radical reform of the tax system to curb these attendant problems.

Shifting Fiscal Control to Limit Cadre Power in China's Townships and Villages

AbstractIn contrast to its decentralized political economy model of the 1980s, China took a surprising turn towards recentralization in the mid-1990s. Its fiscal centralization, starting with the 1994 tax reforms, is well known, but political recentralization also has been under way to control cadres directly at township and village levels. Little-noticed measures designed to tighten administrative and fiscal regulation began to be implemented during approximately the same period in the mid-1990s. Over time these measures have succeeded in hollowing out the power of village and township cadres. The increasing reach of the central state is the direct result of explicit state policies that have taken power over economic resources that were once under the control of village and township cadres. This article examines the broad shift towards recentralization by examining the fiscal and political consequences of these policies at the village and township levels. Evidence for this shift comes from new survey data on village-level investments, administrative regulation and fiscal oversight, as well as township-level fiscal revenues, expenditures, transfers (between counties and townships) and public-goods investments.

Images of Eyes Enhance Investments in a Real-Life Public Good

A key issue in cooperation research is to determine the conditions under which individuals invest in a public good. Here, we tested whether cues of being watched increase investments in an anonymous public good situation in real life. We examined whether individuals would invest more by removing experimentally placed garbage (paper and plastic bottles) from bus stop benches in Geneva in the presence of images of eyes compared to controls (images of flowers). We provided separate bins for each of both types of garbage to investigate whether individuals would deposit more items into the appropriate bin in the presence of eyes. The treatment had no effect on the likelihood that individuals present at the bus stop would remove garbage. However, those individuals that engaged in garbage clearing, and were thus likely affected by the treatment, invested more time to do so in the presence of eyes. Images of eyes had a direct effect on behaviour, rather than merely enhancing attention towards a symbolic sign requesting removal of garbage. These findings show that simple images of eyes can trigger reputational effects that significantly enhance on non-monetary investments in anonymous public goods under real life conditions. We discuss our results in the light of previous findings and suggest that human social behaviour may often be shaped by relatively simple and potentially unconscious mechanisms instead of very complex cognitive capacities.

Fiscal Decentralisation, Local Institutions and Public Goods Provision: Evidence from Indonesia

Using data from the Indonesian Family Life Surveys, this paper studies the impact of fiscal decentralisation in Indonesia on local public spending across communities with different types of local institutions. Our results provide evidence of heterogeneity in access to public goods across communities in the period prior to fiscal decentralisation; with significantly greater spending on schools and health centres in communities which observe traditional adat laws (which promote an ethic of mutual cooperation), and less spending on roads, public transport, communications etc. in communities which have a democratic electoral system. Fiscal decentralisation led to an increase in the share of spending on physical infrastructure, as well as a convergence in spending across communities with different types of local institutions. We develop a theoretical model to argue that communities which enjoy a higher level of mutual cooperation would benefit less from investment in public goods which facilitate communication and exchange with outsiders – as these improve the outside options of community members and therefore makes it more difficult to sustain intra-community cooperation. Surprisingly, investment in communications and transport infrastructure in these communities were more restrained during the period of centralised fiscal control.

The PRISMA Symposium 3: Lessons From Beyond Europe. Why Invest in Research and Service Development in Palliative Care? An Australian Perspective

Hospice and palliative care services need to be able to compete with finite health care resources. To compete for such funding, the sector needs to continuously improve the evidence base that demonstrates improved outcomes, or else funding will continue to be at the level of a “social good” rather than as services that deliver improved health outcomes. Three questions need to be answered for policy makers and health funders: 1) Why invest health care spending in hospice and palliative care?, 2) Why invest research monies in hospice and palliative care clinical research and health service development?, and 3) How can emerging evidence be more effectively implemented to improve patient outcomes? No single measure captures the net benefit of hospice and palliative care services. By patient-defined parameters, hospice and palliative care services have demonstrated benefits, including physical symptom control. To meet patients’ concerns, greater emphasis needs to be placed on maintaining physical independence for a longer period of time. Targeted investment of research funding can deliver further improvements in patient outcomes and models of service delivery. Rigorous studies are feasible and necessary if each patient is going to receive the best possible support. Benchmarking and service development strategies can deliver improved patient outcomes. With routine point-of-care data collection and feedback loops to individual services, patient-valued outcomes and resourcing can be improved in hospice and palliative care. Public-good investments in hospice and palliative care research are vital to building the evidence base for improving the quality of care offered.

Performing Research Capability Building in New Zealand's Social Sciences: Capacity–Capability Insights from Exploring the Work of BRCSS's ‘sustainability’ Theme, 2004–09

Many governments are seeking to ‘mature’ social science through research capability. The Building Research Capability in the Social Sciences (BRCSS) experiment gave New Zealand's social science community a chance to mature itself through capability building. We examine the emergence of BRCSS's ‘sustainability’ research theme. Selected as one of five key research themes because of its public good investment priority and the level of social science interest, the meanings and purpose of the theme emerged in practice. We present the theme as a series of performances through the life of BRCSS, itself an emergent assemblage of changing theoretical projects, research and policy priorities, and research capability. Reading the experiment reflexively from the inside, we consolidate the experience of performing new research practices into existence to reconceptualise and theorise research capability. We conclude that any fresh engagement in substantive issues must confront how knowledge production might be done differently, and that experimentation around capacities and capabilities for knowledge production begins to open up substantive concerns in fresh and generative ways.

Blood incubation infectivity test (BIIT): usefulness as compared to the SRAPCR in the identification of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in animal reservoirs

This investigation is aimed at comparing the Blood Incubation Infectivity Test (BIIT) with the Serum Resistance Associated gene Polymerase Chain Reaction (SRA-PCR) techniques as tools that can be used to detect the presence of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense parasites in domestic animals reservoirs. Blood samples from 4754 animals (cattle, pigs and small ruminants) were screened for the presence of Trypanozoon parasites by microscopy and in total, 109 samples (98 T. brucei sl isolates from domestic animal and 11 known T. b. rhodesiense) were analysed. There was 81.6% agreement between the results from the BIIT and the SRAPCR, with Cohen Kappa of 0.63 suggesting a substantial agreement between the two tests. When SRA-PCR was taken as the reference standard, the BIIT test had a sensitivity of 82.1% and specificity of 81.4%. The positive and negative predictive values were 74.4% and 87.3% respectively. Therefore, although the BIIT still remains a feasible test for detecting human infective trypanosomes in many African laboratories, SRA-PCR offers a quicker method for the identification of the animal reservoir for T. b. rhodesiense to enable Governments make firm decisions on public good investment on treating infected animals for the purpose of controlling the zoonotic sleeping sickness.

Do Cash Transfers Crowd Out Community Investment in Public Goods? Lessons from a Field Experiment on Health Education

This article discusses voluntary contributions to health education in Peru, using a new experimental setup to identify voluntary contributions to local public goods. The experiment enables individuals to contribute to a health education meeting facilitated by an NGO, which they know will only be organized if the cumulative investment level exceeds a certain threshold value. In contrast to expectations of aid distributors, individuals contributed a substantial amount of money, despite the supposed long-term nature of the benefits. The result suggests that donor paternalism, undermining the agency of beneficiaries to exercise control over funds, is not always necessary to guarantee investment in local public goods. We explore multiple interpretations, suggesting that “unaccounted for” short-term benefits from participation as well as liquidity and paternalistic altruism add to explaining the relatively high investment. More in general, the article shows the potential for using experimental research methods in the area of nonprofit management.

The Limited Local Impacts of Ethnic and Racial Diversity

The United States has more immigrants than at any time since the 1920s and immigration rates remain high. Past research unequivocally predicts that the resulting increase in ethnic and racial diversity will reduce local investments in public goods. By analyzing a new, comprehensive data set on U.S. cities from 1950 to 2002, this article challenges those predictions. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the percent Black had no strong impacts on local public goods. Since the 1970s, the impact of diversity has been limited chiefly to criminal justice, an issue that has remained racially coded, nationally salient, and relevant to localities. Contrary to past work, diversity’s influence on local public goods is neither pervasive nor consistent. These findings challenge static conceptions of local ethnic and racial divisions, and they suggest a connection between diversity’s local impacts and trends in national politics.