In all highly industrialized countries public expenditures are a substantial and growing share of total economic activity. The authors integrate normative and positive theory and empirical analysis of public expenditure, concentrating on the optimal provision of public goods and the estimation of their costs and effects. This volume emphasizes the techniques that are available for reaching collective decisions about the provision of public goods and stresses the importance of income distribution and intergovernmental fi scal relations. In a mixed economy, where the public sector is growing faster than the private sector, the nature of public expenditures must be closely evaluated and studied. This book is designed to focus on and delineate controversies about public expenditure-to defi ne what it is, analyze its function, show how it operates, and fi nally to evaluate research on this important subject.