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1. Effective community mobilization: evidence from Mali

Author:
Maria Laura Alzúa, Juan Camilo Cardenas, and Habiba Djebbari
Publication Date:
03-2025
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
Experts argue that the adoption of healthy sanitation practices, such as hand washing and latrine use, requires focusing on the entire community rather than individual behaviors. According to this view, one limiting factor in ending open defecation lies in the capacity of the community to collectively act toward this goal. Each member of a community bears the private cost of contributing by washing hands and using latrines, but the benefits through better health outcomes depend on whether other community members also opt out of open defecation. We rely on a community-based intervention carried out in Mali as an illustrative example (Community-Led Total Sanitation or CLTS). Using a series of experiments conducted in 121 villages and designed to measure the willingness of community members to contribute to a local public good, we investigate the process of participation in a collective action problem setting. Our focus is on two types of activities: (1) gathering of community members to encourage public discussion of the collective action problem, and (2) facilitation by a community champion of the adoption of individual actions to attain the socially preferred outcome. In games, communication helps raise public good provision, and both open discussion and facilitated ones have the same impact. When a community member facilitates a discussion after an open discussion session, public good contributions increase, but there are no gains from opening up the discussion after a facilitated session. Community members who choose to contribute in the no-communication treatment are not better facilitators than those who choose not to contribute
Topic:
Development, Sanitation, Behavior, Public Goods, and Community Initiatives
Political Geography:
Africa and Mali

2. A conceptual framework for the identification and governance of European public goods

Author:
Gregory Claeys and Armin Steinbach
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
The challenging current policy environment has raised the question of which policy decisions should be taken at national level and which at European Union level. As a general rule, the EU should be responsible only for the provision of European public goods (EPGs), while countries are better placed to provide national public goods. However, in practice, the situation is rarely that simple. We offer a framework for identification of EPGs with three main insights. First, a decision to provide a public good at national level, EU level or a combination of both depends on the degree of heterogeneity of preferences across countries and the efficiency case for EU-level provision. When preferences vary and the efficiency case is weak, goods should be provided at national level. When preferences are similar and the efficiency case is strong, goods should be provided at the EU level. When preferences differ but there is a strong efficiency case, a trade-off arises. Second, institutional and legal instruments exist already to manage this trade-off. These include: competence transfers, decision-making modalities, variable participation of countries, centralisation of delivery and funding, and compensating negatively affected countries to achieve greater alignment of preferences. Third, both the efficiency case for EPGs and the distribution of preferences over their provision may change over time. This could be because the world around the EU changes (for example, giving greater weight to an efficiency case, eg in areas related to defence) or because preferences change, for example, as result of a pandemic, or because a particular institutional or compensation practice convinces dissenters that they can be better off inside than outside a multi-country arrangement governing the provision of a public good. An implication is that the question ‘should public goods be provided at the national or European level?’ may be the wrong question to ask. The right question is how to find institutional arrangements for public-good provision, to maximise the benefits of public goods for EU members.
Topic:
Governance, European Union, Institutions, and Public Goods
Political Geography:
Europe

3. An uphill struggle: a long-term perspective on the European public goods debate

Author:
Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
The historical track record of centralisation of public expenditures at European Union level is patchy, and the prospects of agreement on future common spending are not good. However, Russia’s attack on Ukraine, NextGenerationEU, ensuring the stability of the euro and the climate crisis have been cited as justifying a further step-up in public spending at EU level. In recent years, the economic debate over the definition and provision of so-called European public goods (EPGs) has also revived and has put upfront the question of what to spend at EU level, based on an economic interpretation of where spending would be more efficient. To provide a counterpart to the more abstract debate on EPGs, this paper analyses major discussions that have taken place since the beginning of European integration about increasing the EU’s fiscal capacity. It shows how heavily EU agreements on what public expenditure should be centralised have relied on political considerations, in addition to, or instead of, reasoning about economic efficiency. These precedents should inform today’s discussions. In particular, it should be remembered that: (a) very specific historical and political contexts made proposals to centralise expenditure at EU level convincing and successful; (b) the notion of ‘fiscal federalism’ was and is occasionally invoked but rarely put into practice; (c) progress depends on clearly delineated issues; and (d) a political agreement on a ‘non-market definition of the common interest’ remains crucial to any change.
Topic:
Governance, Budget, European Union, Public Spending, and Public Goods
Political Geography:
Europe

4. Seguridad y defensa,de bienes públicos puros aun enfoquede bienes comunes

Author:
Valente Tallabs
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:
International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:
Frente a la crisis de Estado moderno derivados de cambios globales y amenazas emergentes, frente a las limitaciones y vacíos que actualmente tiene para poder proveer seguridad y defensa, frente a la desvalorización y crítica que sociedades contemporáneas tienen respecto a estas funciones por ser poco democráticas y usualmente unilaterales, conviene hacer una análisis que considere una comprensión más amplia de estos conceptos como bienes públicos puros, para comenzar a contemplarlos como bienes comunes, lo que permitiría un nueva relación entre Estado y sociedad.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Public Goods, and Commons
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. European Union debt financing: leeway and barriers from a legal perspective

Author:
Sebastian Grund and Armin Steinbach
Publication Date:
09-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
We explore legal leeway for two approaches to debt-financing European Union spending: creation of extra-budgetary, one-off and temporary EU funds to finance European public goods (similarly to NextGenerationEU), and debt-financing the EU’s regular budget, hence creating an on-budget, permanent borrowing capacity at EU level. We find that NGEU could in principle be replicated. This would require an amendment to the Own Resources Decision (ORD) – a unanimous Council decision that designates the main sources of EU financing and requires ratification by each member state – to authorise borrowing and specify how the borrowing proceeds are to be used. However, this approach would be constrained by the legal requirement that financing EU spending through ‘other revenues’ (as opposed to ‘own resources’ designated as such in the ORD) remain exceptional. As a result, no permanent EU tasks could be financed through NGEU-like funds and NGEU-like financing could not exceed financing through ‘own resources’. We also find that, while EU primary law does not stop the EU from debt-financing its budget, the scope for EU borrowing would remain severely limited compared to a sovereign state. The permissible amount of borrowing must be specified in the ORD and the EU must be able to meet its debt service in any year, which must be secured by a sufficient amount of (non-borrowed) own resources. Finally, considerable flexibility exists for the spending of borrowed funds, regardless of whether this occurs through new NGEU-like extrabudgetary funds or on budget. Borrowed funds could be allocated to climate funding, cohesion policy, infrastructure or research. In the event that borrowing proceeds are established as an ‘own resource’ in an appropriately amended ORD, borrowed funds could even be used for general financing of the EU budget.
Topic:
Debt, Markets, European Union, Finance, and Public Goods
Political Geography:
Europe

6. Protection of Whistleblowers by Making Public Disclosures (Alerting the Public) – Tendencies and Examples from the Practice

Author:
Sofija Mandić
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP)
Abstract:
Can whistleblowers in Serbia exercise their guaranteed rights? How do their attempts to alert the public look like in practice? Read the answers to these questions in the text written by Sofija Mandić. The protection of whistle-blowers addressing the public in Serbia, directly or after internal and external whistleblowing, is under extremely restrictive rules. The legal requirements are set forth in such a way that sounding alarm to the public is almost impossible. Practice has shown that the cases of public whistleblowing, especially those with salient political component, are quickly prevented by prosecution of the whistle-blowers, who have no protection mechanism related to whistleblowing during the criminal proceedings. Domestic case law fundamentally resists the public whistleblowing in two ways. On the one hand, it does so by stipulating conditions extremely difficult to meet for direct public address. On the other, it does so by invoking the non-disclosure of secret data to the public. The latter leads to criminal proceedings against whistle-blowers, exhausting to the defendants and extremely deterrent for other whistle-blowers.
Topic:
Crime, Judiciary, Whistle Blowing, and Public Goods
Political Geography:
Europe and Serbia

7. Country Platforms and Delivery of Global Public Goods

Author:
Daouda Sembene, Nancy Lee, and Mark Plant
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
This paper discusses three potential requirements for country platforms to facilitate effective delivery of GPGs. We propose that existing country platforms be repurposed to coordinate the contribution of domestic and external stakeholders to GPG delivery efforts at the country level. For this proposed approach to be successful, an explicit link must be introduced between country-level efforts and global initiatives to provide GPGs. There is also merit in setting up country and global coordination mechanisms, with relevant agencies assigned to operate them both at the national and international levels. Using relevant country platforms, we suggest that international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the IMF and multilateral development banks (MDBs) be mandated with helping developing countries meet the financing needs associated with the provision of GPGs. In addition, technical support from the IFIs should be put on the table to improve the effectiveness of developing countries’ contribution to GPG delivery. In this regard, MDBs can and must play a central role in developing capacities in these countries as part of their own contribution to GPG delivery. At the same time, securing the contribution of civil society and the private sector to GPG delivery efforts is essential given the magnitude of potential financing needs.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Finance, Multilateralism, IMF, and Public Goods
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. Regional Deprivation and Populism - Evidence from Germany and the U.S.

Author:
Michael Bayerlein
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
Abstract:
A widely held view is that increasing globalisation and inequality are fostering support for populist actors. Surprisingly, when focusing on Germany and the U.S., populist voting is highest in less globalised regions with rather equal income distributions. Addressing this puzzle, I ask how the regional variance in populist voting can be explained. In my answer, I introduce the concept of spatial inequality, which describes the regional inequality within countries, and construct a measure of public goods scarcity. I argue that the spatial inequality induced feeling of being left behind is positively correlated with populist voting and that this effect is mitigated by public goods provision. Using county level data to develop spatial inequality and public good scarcity indices, I can provide empirical support for these arguments. The findings have important implications for understanding the sub-national variance in populist voting and the role of relative economic deprivation as well as public goods provision.
Topic:
Globalization, Inequality, Populism, Voting, Regional Economy, and Public Goods
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, North America, and United States of America

9. Financing the Humanitarian Public Good: Towards a More Effective Humanitarian Financing Model

Author:
Emmanuel Saez, Jeremy Konyndyk, and Rose Worden
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
The international humanitarian system provides a global public service but is financed on a voluntary basis. The way official donor funding is mobilised and allocated is unpredictable and haphazard, reducing efficiency and effectiveness. Donors should overcome the collective action problem that is inhibiting change and reach a critical mass of finance delivered through collective mechanisms. This paper outlines the case for - and obstacles against – change. It suggests three ways to make some progress: a multi-year common replenishment model for protracted and predictable crises; rebalancing country-level pooled mechanisms; and aligning core funding to agencies with agreed core functions.
Topic:
Humanitarian Intervention, Humanitarian Crisis, Donors, and Public Goods
Political Geography:
Global Focus

10. The value of air quality in Chinese cities: Evidence from labor and property market outcomes

Author:
Xuan Huang and Bruno Lanz
Publication Date:
11-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
Using a dual-market sorting model of workers’ location decisions, this paper studies the capitalization of air pollution in wages and property prices across Chinese cities. We exploit quasi-experimental variations in particulate matter (PM10) concentration induced by a policy subsidizing coal-based winter heating in northern China, specifying a regression discontinuity design based on cities’ location relative to the policy boundary. We estimate that the elasticity of wages and house prices with respect to PM10 concentration is 0.41 and -0.71 respectively. Our results are robust to the use of an alternative source of exogenous variation in PM10 concentration (sandstorms), supporting the view that the local effect we measure provides policy-relevant information on the value of air quality improvements in China.
Topic:
Housing, Labor Market, Air Pollution, and Public Goods
Political Geography:
China and Asia