Vouchers and the Provision of Public Services

(Paperback)

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Description

For decades, the use of vouchers has been widely debated. But often lost in the heat of debate is the fact that vouchers are another tool in the government's tool chest, a restricted subsidy that falls somewhere between the extremes of cash and direct government provision of services. This volume, which grew out of a conference sponsored by the Brookings Institution, the Urban Institute and the Committee for Economic Development, offers a framework for the comparative analysis of specific policy issues related to vouchers. It contains 16 essays, which address the economics, politics and legal issues of voucher use, and explore how vouchers are employed in the USA and abroad for education, child care, job training, housing and health care.

Reviews

"The four editors and three institutional sponsors of 'Vouchers and the Provision of Public Services' have given us a much needed update of research on this little-known sliver of service delivery.... 'Vouchers and the Provision of Public Services' is intelligently organized, and covers far more topics, including the use of vouchers in other countries, than I can relate here. If readers want to learn the last word on vouchers, this is the book that I would recommend." Nicholas Henry, Georgia Southern University, Public Administration Review, 5/1/2002

"... collects 17 solicited papers covering the economic, political, and legal aspects of vouchers. Their use in food stamps, housing, child care, job training, education, and health care is examined.... This collection is intended to fill a void in the literature, especially in the textbook treatment of vouchers, an objective it accomplishes admirably.... Contributors clear up some of the misconceptions about vouchers and their uniqueness. An especially timely publication given the general trend in society toward less big governent and more decetralized decision making." J.F. O'Connell, College of the Holy Cross, Choice, 2/1/2001

Author Bio

C. Eugene Steuerle is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. Van Doorn Ooms is senior vice president and director of research for the Committee for Economic Development. George Peterson is a scholar at the Urban Institute. Robert D. Reischauer was a former director of the Congressional Budget Office.