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This study investigates some of the macro-determinants of commercial gambling in 21 industrialized nations. Of the possible economic determinants, two seem particularly important: the per capita income of the country since gambling represents a larger share of the income of low-income people than high-income people; and the general uncertainty of the economic environment, as measured by annual fluctuations in the GDP. Of the possible cultural determines, two also seem particularly important: the values held by the population, as measured by a factor analysis of a number of questions from the World Value Study; and the degree to which the society insures against risk through social welfare expenditures. For the OECD nations in the early part of the 21st century, all four variables prove to be significantly related to the ratio of gambling expenditures to disposable income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to quantify the effect independent central banks may have not only on the rate of inflation but also on the behavior of the fiscal authority [6]. The empirical analysis uses pooled cross-section data for twelve industrialized countries over the 1960-1983 period. The international nature of the study permits the effect of different institutional arrangements to be evaluated directly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the political business cycles in industrialized democratic countries. Influence of the real income and inflation on the rejection of random walk model; Reconciliation of the traditional hypothesis of business cycles with pure random walk patterns; Effects of the development of rational expectations on economic development.

Following the economic decline in most industrialised countries after the second oil crisis in 1979 public expenditure generally shows smaller growth rates than in the seventies. In some subsectors, such as public higher education, absolute reductions of real expenditure are implemented, leading to absolute decreases in the level of manpower and other inputs [OECD, 1985]. In this article, an explanation of the allocation of declining budgets to organisational subunits is sought using hypotheses from public choice theory. Section II describes the basis of the theoretical model that has been developed. Section III gives some results for the empirical tests of the model. Finally, section IV draws a few conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]