Bribery: Who Pays, Who Refuses, What are the Payoffs?

Bribery : Who Pays , Who Refuses , What Are The Payoffs ? ∗

We provide a theoretical framework for understanding when an official angles for a bribe, when a client pays, and the payoffs to the client’s decision. We test this framework using a new data set on bribery of Peruvian public officials by households. The theory predicts that bribery is more attractive to both parties when the client is richer, and we find empirically that both bribery incidence...

The costs of caring: Who pays? Who profits? Who panders?

Avastin, a widely used colon cancer drug manufactured by San Francisco-based biotech company Genentech, has proven a somewhat effective treatment for lung and breast cancer when administered at twice the normal dose. In February, the New York Times carried a story about Avastin's extraordinarily high price when used in this alternative way: $100,000 for one year's treatment--a figure fully twic...

Medicare reform: who pays and who benefits?

As Medicare's share of federal spending and gross domestic product (GDP) rises, the program may have increasingly important consequences not only for the health of Americans but also for their net income and financial well-being. We use incidence analysis to study payments and benefits in Medicare to various generations and income groups. We find that Medicare actually provides larger net dolla...

Who Pays for Disinflation?

Many economic observers applaud the current rate of inflation in the United States, claiming that the rate is so low that inflation has ceased to matter much in the decisions of individuals and businesses. Some, such as Martin Feldstein (1997), want to see inflation fall still further--to zero--arguing that such a reduction would yield substantial gains by allowing resources to be allocated mor...

Migrants' healthcare: who pays?