TY - BOOK ID - 11260174 TI - The Size of Government and U.S.-European Differences in Economic Performance AU - Bell, Gerwin. AU - Tawara, Norikazu. PY - 2009 SN - 1451916744 1462337619 1282843125 9786612843129 1451872399 1452702659 PB - Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, DB - UniCat KW - Business & Economics KW - Economic Theory KW - Economic development KW - Economic stabilization KW - Political aspects. KW - Econometric models. KW - Adjustment, Economic KW - Business stabilization KW - Economic adjustment KW - Stabilization, Economic KW - Economic policy KW - Labor KW - Macroeconomics KW - Taxation KW - Fiscal Policy KW - Demand and Supply of Labor: General KW - Labor Economics: General KW - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue: General KW - Labor Economics Policies KW - Labour KW - income economics KW - Public finance & taxation KW - Labor supply KW - Labor markets KW - Marginal effective tax rate KW - Labor market policy KW - Tax policy KW - Labor market KW - Labor economics KW - Tax administration and procedure KW - Manpower policy KW - United States KW - Income economics UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:11260174 AB - An influential strand of recent research has claimed that large governments in European countries explain their weaker long-term economic performance compared to the U.S. On the other hand, despite these alleged costs, large governments have been popular with electorates. This paper seeks to shed light on this apparent inconsistency; it confirms an adverse effect of taxes on labor supply, but also finds evidence of efficiency-increasing government intervention. However, and especially in the core "Rhineland-model" European countries, actual government policies often depart from such efficient interventions, pointing to the possibility that voters prefer redistribution even at the cost of allocational efficiency. ER -