Abstract
While conventional agreements on international public goods require bilateral or multilateral cooperation, we show that unilateral action through matching mechanisms with a self-commitment device
can possibly generate Pareto-improving outcomes. Even without commitment, unilateral matching may also benefit both players at corner situations. We further characterize the conditions under
which this desirable outcome is achieved, particularly highlighting the role of the income distribution and its interplay with the preferences. Moreover, we propose a variant of unilateral matching that can generate Pareto-improving outcomes regardless of the preferences and the income distribution, indicating that income inequality may not be an obstacle for improving public good provision through
unilateral matching.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 338-354 |
Journal | Journal of Public Economic Theory |
Volume | 22 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |