The Size of Nations

這本及時和具有挑釁性的書，作者使用經濟分析工具來檢驗政治邊界的形成和變化。他們認為，雖然這些問題一直是歷史分析的核心，但國際經濟學家傾向於將一個國家的規模視為“外生的”，或者不再比山脈的位置或河。 Alesina和Spolaore認為一個國家的邊界要與其他任何人造機構進行相同的分析。

在“國家規模”中，他們認為一個國家的最佳規模取決於規模收益與異質性之間的成本 - 收益權衡。在一個大國，人均成本可能很低，但是大量人口的異質偏好使得難以提供服務和製定政策。較小的國家可能會發現以民主方式更容易回應公民的偏好。

Alesina和Spolaore用簡單的分析模型證實了他們的分析，這些模型顯示了過去兩百年的全球化、國際衝突和民主化模式如何能夠解釋國家形成。他們的目標不僅是“規範性的”而且是“積極的” - 這不僅是為了在理論上計算一個國家的最佳規模，而且也是為了解釋現實中的國家規模現象。他們認為，現實世界條件的複雜性並不排除系統分析，這種分析，綜合經濟學、政治科學和歷史，可以幫助我們理解現實世界的事件。

The authors of this timely and provocative book use the tools of economic analysis to examine the formation and change of political borders. They argue that while these issues have always been at the core of historical analysis, international economists have tended to regard the size of a country as "exogenous," or no more subject to explanation than the location of a mountain range or the course of a river. Alesina and Spolaore consider a country's borders to be subject to the same analysis as any other man-made institution.

In The Size of Nations, they argue that the optimal size of a country is determined by a cost-benefit trade-off between the benefits of size and the costs of heterogeneity. In a large country, per capita costs may be low, but the heterogeneous preferences of a large population make it hard to deliver services and formulate policy. Smaller countries may find it easier to respond to citizen preferences in a democratic way.

Alesina and Spolaore substantiate their analysis with simple analytical models that show how the patterns of globalization, international conflict, and democratization of the last two hundred years can explain patterns of state formation. Their aim is not only "normative" but also "positive"-that is, not only to compute the optimal size of a state in theory but also to explain the phenomenon of country size in reality. They argue that the complexity of real world conditions does not preclude a systematic analysis, and that such an analysis, synthesizing economics, political science, and history, can help us understand real world events.

   Alberto Alesina (Autor)

Publisher:The MIT Press 

ISBN:    978-0262511872 

原價   US 18 台幣價 NT$650