Readership: PhD and graduate students of political economy, economics, and political science. Professional economists who want to keep up-to-date on this piece of the political economy literature.
Timothy Besley, Professor of Economics and Political Science, London School of Economics
"Besley's book has great strengths and is recommended to all modern students of political economy." - Peter J. Boettke and Christopher J. Coyne, The Review of Austrian Economics
"Masterful...Principled Agents will be an essential resource for scholars" - Scott Ashworth, Economica
"'A wonderful and important book, that combines state of the art analysis and deep knowledge of real world institutions to obtain novel insights about a fundamental issue. It should be read by all those who want to understand what it is that brings about good government.'" - Guido Tabellini, Professor of Economics, Bocconi University
1 Competing Views of Government The issues This book Background Economic Policy Making Political Economy Incentives and Selection in Politics Concluding Comments 2 The Anatomy of Government Failure Introduction Three Notions of Government Failure The Basic Model Government Failure Democratic Political Failures A Dynamic Model Government Failure in the Dynamic Model Responses to Political Failure Concluding Comments 3 Political Agency and Accountability Introduction Elements of Political Agency Models The Baseline Model Extensions Discussion Concluding Comments 4 Political Agency and Public Finance Introduction The Model Three Scenarios Implications Restraining Government Debt and Deficits Governments versus NGOs Competence Conclusions
