We analyzed whether, in democratic open societies, economic and demographic conditions allow sporting success at the aggregate level to be predicted. Theoretical considerations led to the hypothesis that the population size and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita should be important...

We analyze the Celebrity 100 annual list of the world's most “powerful celebrities†compiled and published by Forbes Magazine. The lists provide an interesting collection of people, that includes their earnings, and the perception of citizens concerning the attributes that made them...

Using data from whisky tastings and fixed effect regressions, we find that net of any composition effect, experts report different tasting scores on average. This indicates that consumers have little to learn from absolute scores.

A Japanese General Social Survey is used to re-examine how voluntary giving is associated with inequality aversion, and how the relationship differs between high- and low-income groups. This paper also investigates how social capital influences that relationship. The key findings are that (1)...

Algan and Cahuc (2010) argue that “inherited trust†is a key factor in explaining growth rates across countries. They derive a measure of inherited trust by linking respondents' “home countries†in the United States General Social Survey (1972-2004) and the 2000 wave of the...

Kahn (2005) found that ethnic heterogeneity reduces the number of deaths caused by natural disasters, a finding that is contrary to theoretical predictions. This paper casts doubt on this finding and conducts a re-estimation. To control for measurement problems, I have used not only an ethnic...

This paper investigates the attendance and efficiency of state theaters in Turkey. It is found that public theater attendance is price inelastic since theater expenses occupy a small space in theatergoers' budget sets. This is true since theater tickets are subsidized by almost 97 percent....

By using a sample of 77 countries the analysis applies several nonparametric techniques in order to reveal the link between national culture and corruption. Based on Hofstede΄s cultural dimensions and the corruption perception index, the results reveal that countries with higher levels of...

Using prefecture level data of Japan for the years 1979 and 1996, I explore the extent to which inequality, age heterogeneity, and social capital have an effect upon interpersonal trust. The major finding is that inequality is associated with low trust, while generational heterogeneity is...

This paper examines the influence of relative income position on individuals' attitudes by analyzing ISSP 1998 microdata from 25 countries along four different dimensions. Our results provide evidence for a sizeable relative income effect while also suggesting that absolute income level may be...