Active and Passive Waste in Government Spending: Evidence from a Policy Experiment
区分了政府支出中的主动浪费（决策者从中获益）和被动浪费（无获益），利用意大利公共机构采购标准化商品的数据，发现价格差异主要源于被动浪费，占总浪费的83%。
We propose a distinction between active and passive waste as determinants of the cost of public services. Active waste entails utility for the public decision maker, whereas passive waste does not. We analyze purchases of standardized goods by Italian public bodies and exploit a policy experiment associated with a national procurement agency. We find that: (i) some public bodies pay systematically more than others for equivalent goods; (ii) differences are correlated with governance structure; (iii) the variation in prices is principally due to variation in passive rather than active waste; and (iv) passive waste accounts for 83 percent of total estimated waste.