Overview
- Explains economic models of government in a non-technical and user-friendly way
- Examines the normative assumptions of economics and their implications for public policy
- Provides an even-handed analysis of the value of economic methods to the study and administration of government
Part of the book series: Foundations of Government and Public Administration (FGPA)
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About this book
“Dowding and Taylor offer student and scholar alike a clear and compelling perspective on the foundations of political economy. Their narrative coherently frames the scholarship of the last half century, and persuasively applies it to the recurring problems facing groups, markets, and whole societies.”
—Kenneth A. Shepsle, Harvard University, USA
This book introduces and applies the economic way of thinking to public policy and public administration. It provides a non-technical introduction and assumes no prior economic or mathematical training but looks closely at the methodological and normative assumptions underlying economic analysis. It provides a deep understanding of the method than a simple technical presentation would allow. After introducing the basic assumptions of the economic method, the book considers the analysis of market failure, the role of government in a market economy, behavioural economics, bargaining in government, bureaucracy, interest groups, and levels of government. By providing a balanced introduction to and overview of economic approaches to government, the book will be useful to undergraduate and postgraduate students in public administration and public policy, as well as academics and practitioners in these fields interested in the application of the economic way of thinking.
—Kenneth A. Shepsle, Harvard University, USA
This book introduces and applies the economic way of thinking to public policy and public administration. It provides a non-technical introduction and assumes no prior economic or mathematical training but looks closely at the methodological and normative assumptions underlying economic analysis. It provides a deep understanding of the method than a simple technical presentation would allow. After introducing the basic assumptions of the economic method, the book considers the analysis of market failure, the role of government in a market economy, behavioural economics, bargaining in government, bureaucracy, interest groups, and levels of government. By providing a balanced introduction to and overview of economic approaches to government, the book will be useful to undergraduate and postgraduate students in public administration and public policy, as well as academics and practitioners in these fields interested in the application of the economic way of thinking.
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Keywords
- Public choice
- voluntary trade
- marginal analysis
- incentives
- opportunity costs
- rationality assumptions
- revealed preference theory
- Pareto efficiency
- asymmetric information
- monopoly
- Coase theorem
- externalities’ government failure
- market failure
- market competition
- behavioural economics
- heuristics
- biases
- framing effects
- irrationality
- libertarian paternalism
Table of contents (6 chapters)
Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
Keith Dowding is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Political Philosophy at the Australian National University, Australia. His latest books are Power, Luck and Freedom: Collected Essays (2017), Policy Agendas in Australia (with Aaron Martin, 2017) and The Philosophy and Methods of Political Science (2016).
Brad R. Taylor is Lecturer in Economics and Political Economy at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. He is co-author (With Andrew Hindmoor) of Rational Choice, 2nd Edition (2015).
Brad R. Taylor is Lecturer in Economics and Political Economy at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. He is co-author (With Andrew Hindmoor) of Rational Choice, 2nd Edition (2015).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Economic Perspectives on Government
Authors: Keith Dowding, Brad R. Taylor
Series Title: Foundations of Government and Public Administration
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19707-0
Publisher: Palgrave Pivot Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-19706-3Published: 19 July 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-19707-0Published: 09 July 2019
Series ISSN: 2523-7624
Series E-ISSN: 2523-7632
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 135
Number of Illustrations: 27 b/w illustrations
Topics: Public Policy, Governance and Government, Legislative and Executive Politics, Economic Policy, Public Administration, Social Choice/Welfare Economics/Public Choice/Political Economy