Public Goods Research Articles

Navigating public goods: Chilean public universities and their transformative role in Latin America

Navigating public goods: Chilean public universities and their transformative role in Latin America

Transport infrastructure: Adaptive choice modelling for deliberative appraisal judgments

Political representation is responsible for choices regarding the supply and the management of transport infrastructure, but its decisions are sometimes in conflict with the will and the general interest expressed by citizens. This situation has progressively prompted the use of specific corrective measures in order to obtain socially sustainable decisions, such as the deliberative procedures for the appraisal of public goods. The standard Stated Choice Modelling Technique (SCMT) can be used to estimate the community appreciation for public goods such as transport infrastructure; but the application of the SCMT in its standard form would be inadequate to provide an estimation that expresses the general interest of the affected community. Hence the need to adapt the standard SCMT on the basis of the operational conditions imposed by deliberative appraisal procedures. Therefore, the general aim of the paper is to outline the basic conditions on which a modified SCMT with deliberative procedure can be set up. Firstly, the elements of the standard SCMT on which to make the necessary adjustments are identified; subsequently, modifications and additions to make to the standard technique are indicated; finally, the contents of an extensive program of experimentation are outlined.

The relationship of the source of punishment and personality traits with investment and punishment in a public goods game

In this study, we investigated the motivations behind punishing individuals who exploit common resources, a phenomenon crucial for resource preservation. While some researchers suggest punishment stems from concern for the common good, others propose it is driven by anger toward free riders. To probe these motivations, we developed a modified public goods game in which participants had the option to use their own money or the money from the common pool to punish free riders. The analysis included choice behavior, mouse trajectories, and personality traits like anger, empathy, and altruism. According to our results, investments were highest, and punishment was strongest if participants could punish using credits from the common pool, indicating that this is the preferred option to diminish free riding and maintain cooperation in public goods and common good contexts. Also, punishment was highest if the punisher’s own investment was high, and the investment of others was low. Concerning traits, highly altruistic individuals tended to invest more and punish less in general but gave harsher punishments when they did choose to use the common pool punitively. Conversely, trait anger and trait empathy were linked to low investment while trait empathy also tended to be related to lower punishment. Taken together, these findings underscore the role of situational factors and personality traits in fostering cooperative behavior and shaping societal norms around costly punishment.

The Environmental Land Management Scheme: Public goods and levels of ambition

The Environmental Land Management Scheme is now established as the central plank of financial assistance for farmers in England post-Brexit. Early articulations of policy directed the focus of the Scheme to the delivery of public goods, with a high level of ambition. More recently, however, greater weight is being accorded to food production and food security, with particular reference to the Sustainable Farming Incentive component, which is achieving broad coverage and accounting for the majority of the Scheme budget, but the environmental actions which it requires to unlock payment would not seem materially to be raising the bar. By contrast, the Landscape Recovery component remains ambitious in terms of scheme design, collaborative approach, emphasis on outcomes, duration and implementation at landscape scale, with the consequence that good reasons may be presented for its expansion within the policy mix.

Effect of CO2 emissions, Renewable Energy Consumption and General Government Final Consumption Spending on Moroccan Economic Growth: ARDL Approach

The empirical studies have shown that there is difference in association among depend and independent variables. Supported by framework’s Keynesian theory of EG (Economic Growth), present research aims to examine how economic growth (EG) Morocco is influenced by REC (renewable energy consumption), general government spending, and CO2 emissions. This research used the method of least squares ordinary assess the short- and long-term relationships between the model's variables, using an autoregressive approach for stationarity and distributed degradation. For the years 1993 to 2020, the research has gathered yearly data from WDI. According that empirical results, none independent variable were stationary at the first difference, but dependent variable was. A long-term association between the independent and dependent variables was shown by the model simulation utilizing the bound test. The White test revealed that there was no evidence of heteroscedasticity in the model residuals. The residuals have a normal distribution, as determined by the Shapiro-Wilk test, and the model exhibits stability throughout the time span with no structural fractures. The study's conclusions suggest that while the use of renewable energy sources and carbon dioxide emissions both exhibit notable positive trends, government spending on public goods has a substantial adverse association with economic growth.

Experimental evolution of yeast shows that public-goods upregulation can evolve despite challenges from exploitative non-producers

Microbial secretions, such as metabolic enzymes, are often considered to be cooperative public goods as they are costly to produce but can be exploited by others. They create incentives for the evolution of non-producers, which can drive producer and population productivity declines. In response, producers can adjust production levels. Past studies suggest that while producers lower production to reduce costs and exploitation opportunities when under strong selection pressure from non-producers, they overproduce secretions when these pressures are weak. We challenge the universality of this trend with the production of a metabolic enzyme, invertase, by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which catalyses sucrose hydrolysis into two hexose molecules. Contrary to past studies, overproducers evolve during evolutionary experiments even when under strong selection pressure from non-producers. Phenotypic and competition assays with a collection of synthetic strains - engineered to have modified metabolic attributes - identify two mechanisms for suppressing the benefits of invertase to those who exploit it. Invertase overproduction increases extracellular hexose concentrations that suppresses the metabolic efficiency of competitors, due to the rate-efficiency trade-off, and also enhances overproducers’ hexose capture rate by inducing transporter expression. Thus, overproducers are maintained in the environment originally thought to not support public goods production.

Cost misperception and voting for public goods

AbstractPublic good provision is often determined through referendums by voters, who weigh benefits against costs. However, perceptions of benefits and costs may be incorrect, which could in turn lead to voter error and misallocation of public goods. Using real‐world referendums, we evaluate voter perceptions of the private costs of providing public goods by conducting three exit polls of New England voters and an online survey of California voters. By comparing cost perceptions to actual tax incidence, we find pervasive evidence that voters misperceive costs. Fewer than 20% of voters in our samples reported perceived costs within 25% of estimated actual costs. These findings are unsurprising given the ubiquity of opaque language explaining the financial consequences of public good referendums. In addition, our analysis suggests that actual costs have no statistical bearing on voter choice, but at least in the New England sample, voter approval is affected by perceived costs. Thus, a substantial proportion of voters are making decisions based in part on inaccurate costs, which in some cases lead to people voting against their preferences and potential misallocation of public funds. Further, researchers who match voter approval with estimated actual cost are unlikely to obtain accurate cost responsiveness or valuation estimates.

Central Bank Independence and Inflation Under Asymmetric Information: Delegation vs. Seesaw Effects

Abstract Recent empirical research finds little or mixed evidence in favour of a negative relationship between central bank independence and inflation. In this paper, we construct a theory where the relationship between inflation and central bank independence depends on the extent of informational asymmetry regarding the government’s efficiency in its provision of public goods and also provide some empirical support for it. In the theoretical part of the paper, we introduce the degree of central bank independence as a fixed cost that is paid when the government (whose objective is to minimize output gap via inflation or costly fiscal expansion) rejects the monetary policy proposal of the central bank (which aims to minimize inflation) and determines both fiscal and monetary policies itself. Government efficiency in providing public goods, i.e. the cost of fiscal expansion, is the private information and the source of informational asymmetry in our model. In this setting, increasing the fixed cost of rejecting the central bank’s offer creates two opposite effects on inflation: delegation effect and seesaw effect (since fiscal and monetary expansion are substitutes for the government, now it relies more on fiscal expansion). We show that while the magnitude of the delegation effect is equal to or higher than the seesaw effect, the magnitude of each effect depends on the current level of the fixed cost. If the current fixed cost is not high enough, then a small improvement in central bank independence creates a relatively smaller delegation effect compared to the case where fixed cost is high enough and both efficient and inefficient government types accept the offer.

A double-edged sword: diverse interactions in hypergraphs

Abstract Interaction diversity and interaction identity, as two classic interaction patterns in real-world systems, are frequently employed to probe into the cooperative dilemmas among participants with diverse interaction identities within groups. Considering the influence of factors such as hyperlink configurations on the evolution of cooperation within complex networks, this study particularly focuses on the organic integration of hypergraphs and diverse interaction modes. Employing the public goods game model in uniformly stochastic hypergraphs, we explore the effects of synergy factors and diverse interacting individuals on the cooperation rate and strategy consistency within hyperlinks. We emphasize that the diverse interacting individuals are a double-edged sword, and the controlled number of such individuals is conducive to the evolution of cooperation. The findings of this study reveal the significance of these two typical interaction patterns and provide valuable insights for coordinating them to achieve social optimality in cooperation.

Higher-order interactions and zero-determinant strategies in the public goods game

Abstract Since the ingenious discovery of zero-determinant (ZD) strategies by Press and Dyson, many efforts have been devoted to the evolutionary performance of ZD strategies. Recently, the effects of higher-order interactions on evolutionary games have attracted widespread interests, whereas it remains unknown how higher-order interactions affect the evolutionary performance of ZD strategies. This paper focuses on the role of higher-order interactions on evolutionary ZD strategies in iterated public goods game (IPGG), where the baseline payoff is a key parameter to describe nodes' extent of reciprocity in both first-order and second-order interactions. Through the adaptive-like dynamics, we found that there is a critical value of each network, above which the networked game will converge to a consensus state where all the nodes obtain the same payoff. This critical value is significantly affected by the relative strength of higher-order interactions with a U-shaped trend. Numerical simulations are carried out to explore how the network structures affect the dynamics. The results in networks with different sizes indicate that networks with higher average degree are more easily to converge to the consensus state. The simulations on a real-world network further support the theoretical conclusions.

Evaluation of the potential of infrastructure funds: The case of inland waterways in Germany

Given the critical need for sustainable transportation solutions, inland waterways (IWs) constitute a crucial yet underfunded mode of transport. This study examines deficiencies in current infrastructure funding and analyzes infrastructure funds (IFs) as an alternative funding mechanism and potential means to revitalize German waterways.Central to this investigation is the analysis of the German population's willingness to pay (WTP) for such funds. To this end, a comprehensive online survey of German households was conducted, and multivariate regression analysis was employed to identify key factors influencing public support for various fund designs.The results reveal that personal experiences with flooding significantly affect WTP and underscore the role of socio-economic variables in shaping public attitudes toward infrastructure funding. The findings indicate that well-designed IFs, combined with effective communication strategies to raise awareness of the importance of waterways, could significantly enhance public support. The study demonstrates that IFs have significant potential as a strategic tool for mobilizing public funding, thereby supporting the sustainable development and maintenance of essential yet underfunded infrastructure. IFs present a promising solution to the financial challenges facing critical public goods such as waterways.

상업가로 공간 특성에 관한 연구 - 부산시 광복로를 사례로

In this study, we aimed to collect data through literature review, digital geographic information, and field surveys to analyze the characteristics of the street space and propose improvement measures for Gwangbok-ro in Busan Metropolitan City. Gwangbok-ro exhibited the characteristics of a commercial street, featuring many facades with high permeability and various types of signs. Through the analysis of D/H ratio and vertical angle, it was observed that Gwangbok-ro generally has a high sense of enclosure, while the openness of the Changseon Samgeori Plaza stood out relatively. The pavements, with their excessively varied sizes and colors, led to a complex spatial composition, and various facilities, including 241 plant boxes and sculptures, failed to create a sense of unity with the surrounding facilities. Since highly permeable facades and signs, commonly observed in commercial streets, are important elements defining the space's characteristics, administrative guidance and the inducement of participation are essential to enhance awareness of these elements as public goods. Furthermore, the physical space survey of buildings and streets suggests that improving Changseon Samgeori Plaza, known for its openness, along with the entrance plaza, could significantly symbolize Gwangbok-ro. On the other hand, it appears there was a lack of integrated guidelines or coordinators for street facilities, including sculptures. The aesthetic principle of unity in diversity is difficult to achieve through indiscriminate installation of facilities by various entities, so a long-term comprehensive plan involving users, building owners, tenants, and administration is necessary for the improvement of Gwangbok-ro space.

The impact of dynamic reward on cooperation in the spatial public goods game

Debates persist regarding how different forms of rewards influence public cooperation. In many real-world scenarios, individuals who consistently honor multiple commitments receive higher credit scores than those who fulfill only one commitment. Inspired by this, herein dynamic reward is introduced into the spatial public goods game, wherein the probability of receiving a reward increases with the number of consecutive cooperations by individuals. To illustrate the role of the dynamic reward mechanism, fixed reward is used as a comparison to investigate the impact of dynamic reward on the evolution of cooperation. Through extensive simulations, we find that the phases presented by dynamic reward are more than those by fixed reward. Moreover, it is more conducive to cooperation than fixed reward, indicating that dynamic reward can more effectively resolve social dilemmas. Additionally, the higher initial probability of reward promotes the earlier emergence of cooperation. This research broadens the form of reward, enhancing our understanding of dynamic reward in promoting prosocial behaviors in the spatial public goods game.

A case Study on the Impact of Public Goods Market Distortion and Government Intervention on the Profitability of Public Companies : Focusing on the Electricity Market

A case Study on the Impact of Public Goods Market Distortion and Government Intervention on the Profitability of Public Companies : Focusing on the Electricity Market

Free-rider or contributor: A dilemma in spatial threshold public goods games

Late movers refer to individuals who adjust their strategies after observing the choices of others in a public goods game, can significantly impact the likelihood of public goods provision. This creates a social dilemma: late movers act as free-riders to rely on others to contribute, yet they also risk the public good not being provided if contributions fall short. To address this dilemma, we utilize a spatial threshold public goods game model to examine how the behaviors of late movers influence overall cooperative levels within a population. We propose a probabilistic rule for late movers that captures the dilemma between cooperating to enhance the collective good and free-riding to maximize individual benefits. Our findings indicate that strategic late movers can significantly enhance cooperation by adapting to local cooperation levels. However, an excessively high proportion of late movers may reduce the overall level of cooperation. Additionally, the formation of clusters by late movers results in higher cooperative levels compared to random distribution. Our study provides novel insights into the dynamics of cooperation within the framework of spatial threshold public goods games. By incorporating the role of late movers, we highlight how adaptive strategies can mitigate the free-rider problem and promote cooperative behaviors.

Gender difference in leaders framed with responsibility or authority: An experimental study

The underrepresentation of women in top leadership positions may result in a potential loss in efficiency. In this study, we examine gender differences in leadership emergence and efficiency when a leadership task is framed as authority or responsibility. In a public good game, the group leader is entitled to punish low contributors among the group members in order to increase the group welfare. The experimental design includes a basic treatment—framing the leader's task as authority or responsibility—in occasions where group leaders emerge through self-promotion or voting. We find a more pronounced framing effect among females compared to males. Although women are generally less willing and less voted to lead than men, the responsibility framing enhances female leaders' effectiveness to a larger extent than male leaders': they contribute more to the public good, and are more inclined to punish low contributors when they are voted as leaders. Therefore, when leadership tasks emphasize responsibility, female leaders could enhance social welfare in the provision of public goods.

Success story or tall tale? Discursive cooperation and economic restructuring in Iceland

Political economists have long recognized the power of ideas to influence economic adjustment by shaping public policy and fostering inter-firm coordination. This article extends this argument, demonstrating how ideas can have a direct and unmediated impact on economic restructuring. More specifically, it identifies discursive cooperation, or collective storytelling, as a distinct logic of collective action, separate from policy concertation and inter-firm coordination. Examining twenty first century Iceland, this article illustrates how shared narratives accelerated the country’s movement into financial services and tourism by facilitating the diffusion of new business models and attracting external resources. Absent inter-firm coordination, policy concertation, or supportive public policies, however, stakeholders struggled to invest in public goods. Instead of incremental upmarket movement, Iceland was characterized by volatile boom-bust dynamics. In illustrating the transformative power of storytelling in small open economies, this article simultaneously highlights the perils of relying on discursive cooperation alone.

Financing health in sub-Saharan Africa 1990-2050: Donor dependence and expected domestic health spending.

In 2021, global life expectancy at birth was 74 years whereas in sub-Saharan Africa it was 66 years. Yet in that same year, $92 per person was spent on health in sub- Saharan Africa, which is roughly one fifth of what the next lowest geographic region-North Africa and Middle East-spent ($379). The challenges to healthy lives in sub-Saharan Africa are many while health spending remains low. This study uses gross domestic product, government, and health spending data to give a more complete picture of the patterns of future health spending in sub-Saharan Africa. We analyzed trends in growth in gross domestic product, government health spending, development assistance for health and the prioritization of health in national spending to compare countries within sub-Saharan Africa and globally.We found that while gross domestic product was projected to increase through 2050 in sub-Saharan Africa, the share of gross domestic product that goes to health spending is only expected to increase moderately. Our exploration shows that this tepid growth is expected because the percent of overall government spending that is dedicated to health 7·2% (6·3-8·3) compared to average of 12·4% (11·7-13·2) in other regions) is expected to stay low. Even if the amount, of resources provided from donors climbs some, it is not expected to keep pace with growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa and may transition towards other global public health goods. Critically, development assistance for health provided to sub-Saharan Africa is expected to decrease in some countries, and the expected growth in government health spending might not be enough to cover this expected decline. Increases in spending with a concordant prioritization of health and the appropriate health system governance and structural reforms are critical to ensure that people who live in sub-Saharan Africa are not left behind.

Statistics for the public good: What it means and why it matters

Official statistics are widely considered to be public goods, however this paper explores a higher aspiration: that they also serve the public good. To achieve this goal, and provide value to societies worldwide, there is a need for discussion around what it truly means for statistics to serve the public good. This paper shares initial perspectives on the matter from the United Kingdom Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) before demonstrating how serving the public good fits with customer-centric perspectives on value, and calling for interested parties to join this discussion so that we may work together in service of statistics for a global good.

Changes in the Supply of Public Intermediate Goods, Fixed Wage, and the Relative Price in the Harris-Todaro Model

Since the Harris-Todaro model was proposed in 1970, it has played a crucial role in analyzing various environmental and trade issues in developing countries. This paper analyzes the effects of the amount of public intermediate goods provided by the government, the increase in the fixed wage rate in the urban sector, and the changes in the relative international prices of agricultural and manufacturing goods on labor employment, unemployment, and the economic welfare in the context of a small open economy. It also proposes relevant policies to reduce the unemployment rate while improving national welfare.