Originally published in 1968, this book was an important contribution both to the economics of the public sector and to the study of comparative economic systems and remains of historical interest. In contrast to many expenditure specialists who deal primarily with aggregated data, the author presents a combination of a theoretical and statistical analysis of a number of individual public expenditures. This enables him to take advantage of the special properties of each expenditure. In comparing economic systems the author studies many nations including Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy and the USA and clarifies the differences between their systems by empirical comparisons of the behaviour of each country.

This classic book was among the first extensive studies in the field of comparative economic systems using modern economic theory and statistical methods.