Coups and regime transitions are events that typically are intended to change the basic institutional framework of a country. Which specific policies change and the consequences of these changes nevertheless remains largely unknown. Change after a coup or transition implies that some form of...

This paper examines the effect of state level corruption on state beer taxes in the United States. Our lobby group model predicts that corruption reduces the beer tax, but this effect is conditional on the level of alcohol-related vehicle deaths. Using a panel of state level data from 1982 to...

We use a choice experiment to examine public support for minimum wages. We first elicit respondents' moral assessment of two labor market systems: one with a minimum wage and one without. Then, we present four pairs of hypothetical employment outcomes and ask respondents to "vote." Our estimates...

We use the model developed by Murphy, Shleifer and Vishny (1991) to examine the causal relationship between institutions as measured by economic freedom and industry employment, and then given the causality, examine how the amount of employment in these causal industries influences economic...

We use a survey-based experiment to examine public support for minimum wages. We first elicit respondents' moral assessment of two labor market systems: one with a minimum wage and one without. We find that gender and political affiliation are the strongest predictors of moral assessments, where...

Recent empirical literature finds that greater economic freedom at the state level tends to have a positive effect on entrepreneurial activity and economic growth generally. However, state boundaries are relatively arbitrary, and the level of economic freedom in local economies can vary widely...

This study compares the Canadian and US health care systems on the provision of Pap smears for women. Probit estimates show that American women are more likely to receive the screening. A question arises as to whether differences in the estimated probability of the Pap smear are the result of...

This paper examines the influence of local alcohol prohibition on the prevalence of methamphetamine labs. Using multiple sources of data for counties in Kentucky, we compare various measures of meth manufacturing in wet, moist, and dry counties. Our preferred estimates address the endogeneity of...