Topics in Public Economics

This volume presents recent developments in urban geography, club theory and local public finance, and international trade that contribute to the explanation of the modern opposing trends of integration and segregation. Part I explores the role of transportation costs, crowding, and preferences for a large variety of goods in shaping the main features of urban geography. Part II contains four contributions on fundamental issues associated with the provision of collective goods (club goods and local public goods) using a game-theoretic approach. Part III investigates features of the production, pricing, and consumption of congested public goods. Part IV covers key tax issues arising in a world where economic borders are gradually being removed.

"This fine collection of essays, most of them dealing with issues of local public goods and clubs, should be the main selection of the Public-Economics-Book-of-the-Month Club." Avinash K. Dixit, Princeton University

"This book is a fitting tribute to the memory of Eitan Berglas, who was largely responsible for initiating the study of the theory of clubs as a market phenomenon, and for seeing its potential as an approach to understanding issues in fiscal federalism, urban public finance, and transportation economics. The contributors to this volume include some of the most renowned scholars working in this tradition. They have put together a diverse and highly original set of papers spanning the many areas where issues of decentralization and integreation must be appropriately balanced, a task that draws heavily on Berglas's legacy." Robin Boadway, Queens University