TY  - JOUR
AU  - Stiglitz,Joseph E.
TI  - Public Goods in Open Economies with Heterogeneous Individuals
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 802
PY  - 1983
Y2  - November 1983
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w0802
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w0802.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Joseph E. Stiglitz
Uris Hall, Columbia University
3022 Broadway, Room 212
New York, NY  10027
Tel: 212/854-0671
Fax: 212/662-8474
E-Mail: jes322@columbia.edu
AB  - This paper formulates a simple model of "perfect community competition." It is shown that (1) the equilibrium is Pareto optimal; (2) communities will, in general, be heterogeneous; not all individuals will have the same tastes; but (3) all individuals of a given skill within the community will have identical preferences; (4) in spite of the heterogeneity of tastes, there is complete unanimity with respect to tax and expenditure policy, and there is no scope for redistribution at the local level; (5) under certain circumstances, everyone's expected utility can be increased by introducing a particular kind of unequal treatment of individuals who are otherwise identical with respect to tastes and production characteristics; (6) when there is not "perfect community competition, " the equilibrium will, in general, not be Pareto optimal, and benefit taxation may be desirable.
ER  -