This paper reports on the 2009 update of the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) research project, covering 212 countries and territories and measuring six dimensions of governance between 1996 and 2008: Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism,...

Water policy experts contend that the United States is heading toward a water scarcity crisis in the coming years. Global climate change is likely to make water scarcity much worse in the long run. This article argues that demands of current and projected water management challenges can best be...

It is well recognised that the issue of the social rate of discount applies only to the gains from public investment that accrues to the public sector. When it comes to measurement, however, there is a problem: Public investment in infrastructure and the like does not usually yield direct...

Reasonable and equitable water resource decision-making is at the core of good governance around the world. Sustained water collaboration is an antidote to foreign relations disintegration. Lack of water quality and quantity policies can lead to water insecurity for everyone, yet bureaucratic...

The authors report on the latest version of the worldwide governance indicators, covering 213 countries and territories and measuring six dimensions of governance from 1996 until end-2005: voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory...

In 2002, New Zealand's government-funded primary health care payments were changed from a fee-for-service basis to a capitation basis as part of a change towards a population-based, managed care style of primary health care provision. However, some specific differences characterise the New...

Economic inequality is rising globally and due to developments in information technologies and globalization, nowadays individuals are more exposed to this inequality than ever. Recent studies show that exposure to inequality may shape economic decisions. In this article, we test whether...

To avoid the dangerous consequences of climate change, humans need to overcome two intertwined conflicts. First, they have to deal with an intra-generational conflict that emerges from the allocation of costs of climate change mitigation among different actors of the current generation. Second,...

This chapter discusses the relevance of Tocqueville's insights about the importance of civil society, as a foundation for democracy and as a counter-force to both government and market power, in the context of the challenges and opportunities created by the internet. What role does civil society...

We consider a dynamic game of private provision of a discrete public good. In our model, a group of agents contributes to a project over time, which is completed once the cumulative contributions reach a threshold. Provided that this occurs prior to a prespecified deadline, each agent receives a...