U.S. military contracting has been plagued by systematic corruption, fraud, and waste during both times of peace and war. These outcomes result from the inherent features of the U.S. military sector which incentivize unproductive entrepreneurship. The military sector is characterized by an...

We provide a new framework to account for the diverging paths of political development and state building in China and Japan during the second half of the nineteenth century. The arrival of Western powers not only brought opportunities to adopt new technologies, but also fundamentally threatened...

I study the link between the choice of rule-based contracts and political competition through the municipal bond market. I provide evidence that when the probability of losing office is high, mayors are more likely to issue revenue bonds over general obligation bonds and to choose competitive...

This paper focuses on some of the overlooked costs of war-related public research. We discuss two unseen consequences of war-related public science. The first is the distortionary effect of government-influenced research on academic disciplines. The second is the opportunity cost of the...

This paper focuses on some of the overlooked costs of war-related public research. We discuss two unseen consequences of war-related public science. The first is the distortionary effect of government-influenced research on academic disciplines. The second is the opportunity cost of the...

What role do whistleblowers play in democratic politics? This paper answers this question by analyzing the political economy of whistleblowing within democratic political institutions. Democratic politics is characterized by numerous principal-agent problems creating significant space for...

James Buchanan's protective state emerges at the constitutional level and protects the core rights of citizens via internal security, contract enforcement, and defense against external threats. This paper focuses on the potential for the protective state to produce anti-liberty outcomes. I...

This paper explores the interventionist mindset required for success under the U.S. government's foreign policy strategy of liberal hegemony. This approach to foreign policy contains an inherent tension. Its adherents claim a commitment to liberal values but successfully implementing the...

Economists model state-provided defense as a value-added, public good. The actual government provision of defense, however, is a “black box” that is rarely analyzed. This chapter contributes to opening this black box by analyzing the U.S. defense budget. We provide an institutional...