Alesina, AlbertoBaqir, RezaEasterly, William2010-11-092000Alesina, Alberto, Reza Baqir, and William Easterly. 2000. Redistributive public employment. Journal of Urban Economics 48(2): 219-241.0094-1190http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4553013Politicians may use “disguised” redistributive policies in order to circumvent opposition to explicit tax-transfer schemes. First, we present a theoretical model that formalizes this hypothesis. Next, we provide evidence consistent with the prediction of the model, namely that in U.S. cities, politicians use public employment as such a redistributive device. We find that city employment is significantly higher in cities where income inequality and ethnic fragmentation are higher.en-USJournal Article2010-11-0910.1006/juec.1999.2164