TY - JOUR
T1 - Political kludges
AU - Kawai, Keiichi
AU - Lang, Ruitian
AU - Li, Hongyi
N1 - Funding Information:
* Kawai: School of Economics, UNSW Business School, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia (email: k.kawai@unsw.edu.au); Lang: Research School of Economics, The Australian National University, Acton ACT 2601, Australia (email: ruitian.lang@anu.edu.au); Li: School of Economics, UNSW Business School, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia (email: hongyi@hongyi.li). This paper was previously titled “The Dynamics of Policy Complexity.” We thank Robert Akerlof, Alessandro Bonatti, Steve Callander, Heng Chen, Sven Feldmann, Robert Gibbons, Gabriele Gratton, Richard Holden, Anton Kolotilin, Jin Li, Hodaka Morita, Carlos Pimienta, Eric van den Steen, Peter Straka, Birger Wernerfelt, the University of Auckland Economics Seminar, the Hitotsubashi Theory Workshop, the MIT Organizational Economics Lunch, and the UNSW/UQ Political Economy Workshop for valuable discussions; and Adam Solomon for excellent research assistance. Kawai thanks the Australian Research Council for financial support via DECRA Grant RG160734.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, American Economic Association.
PY - 2018/11/1
Y1 - 2018/11/1
N2 - This paper explores the origins of policy complexity. It studies a model where policy is difficult to undo because policy elements are entangled with each other. Policy complexity may accumulate as successive policymakers layer new rules upon existing policy. Complexity emerges and persists in balanced democratic polities, when policymakers are ideologically extreme, and when legislative frictions impede policymaking. Complexity begets complexity: simple policies remain simple, whereas complex policies grow more complex. Patience is not always a virtue: farsighted policymakers may engage in obstructionism, deliberately introducing complex policies to hinder future opponents.
AB - This paper explores the origins of policy complexity. It studies a model where policy is difficult to undo because policy elements are entangled with each other. Policy complexity may accumulate as successive policymakers layer new rules upon existing policy. Complexity emerges and persists in balanced democratic polities, when policymakers are ideologically extreme, and when legislative frictions impede policymaking. Complexity begets complexity: simple policies remain simple, whereas complex policies grow more complex. Patience is not always a virtue: farsighted policymakers may engage in obstructionism, deliberately introducing complex policies to hinder future opponents.
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U2 - 10.1257/mic.20150242
DO - 10.1257/mic.20150242
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85056616260
SN - 1945-7669
VL - 10
SP - 131
EP - 158
JO - American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
JF - American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
IS - 4
ER -