Technology differs from other features of culture in that the Boasian stance of cultural relativism seems less binding: one can argue that the technology of one society is superior or inferior to the technology of another. This comparison is possible because technological change—as described...

Some land uses are considered incompatible. When a parcel is bordered by parcels with incompatible land uses, external costs will impact the property owner. Collective action by property owners then results in land use regulations designed to restrict neighboring parcels from incompatible uses....

Microfinance provides saving and lending services to the poor. It is not conceptually different from banking in the USA. People are able to save money at and borrow money from microfinance institutions. They are compensated for saving and charged for borrowing by an interest rate that compounds...

There is growing concern, particularly in policy circles, that rural manufacturing plants may be less likely to export than metro area plants, and that this may exacerbate the economic difficulties of rural America. A variety of reasons have been offered to expect this export gap, but little...

This paper compares some specifications for estimating current sub-state (county or MSA) income. A large number of trials are generated, using the data for Tennessee, in a procedure akin to a series of Monte-Carlo experiments. The out-of-sample forecast errors are examined to see which...

Since the days of Walter Bagehot, a number of economists have described how financial development facilitates economic growth. An extensive empirical literature has subsequently established that the relationship between financial development and economic growth is conditioned by the cultural and...

An important area of consumer choice is time allocation and its role in dictating behavior. For the typical student worker, the time allocation decision involves three primary activities: paid employment, academic pursuits, and leisure pursuits. Exogenous factors such as the wage rate, price of...

The neoclassical perspective, exemplified by Bertil Ohlin, predicts the fact of interregional per capita income convergence and is therefore often invoked in explaining its causes. However, convergence is also explained by other perspectives, such as Gunnar Myrdal's circular and cumulative...

Middle Tennessee is growing rapidly: two Midstate counties rank among the top 100 counties nationally for population growth, and Rutherford County ranks at the top nationally among other large counties for payroll employment growth. Middle Tennessee is growing, but what are the implications for...

In view of the sizable increase in recorded migrant workers’ remittances to developing countries from $70 billion in 2000 to $167 in 2005, this study investigates the long-run relationship between remittances and financial services development (FSD) and control variables including exchange...