AN ASSESSMENT OF THE UNITED-NATIONS SCALE OF ASSESSMENTS FROM A DEVELOPING-COUNTRY STANDPOINT

The United Nations apportionment of its expenses among its member coun tries is examined in a public-choice context. The special nature of UN -produced public goods, the UN voting rules, and its zero-sum method o f allocating expenses all act to reduce the size of UN output and to e xacerbate country-group conflict. The developing-country groups throw a disproportionate burden of UN financing on the developed countries. This result is captured by a model of UN burden-sharing both more rati onal and simpler than the UN practice.