This paper develops new methods for studying the adoption of technologies that, at the time of their introduction, are of uncertain profitability. We focus on the rols played by learning in the evolution of a diffusion path and present a model that allows learning from the behavior of others as...

A rich array of institutional diversity makes the United States an excellent place to study the relationship between political institutions and public policy outcomes. This essay has three main aims. First, it reviews existing empirical evidence on the relationship between institutional rules,...

This paper develops a model of the political economy of tax-setting in a multijurisdictional world where voters' choices and incumbent behavior are determined simultaneously. Voters are assumed to make comparisons between jurisdictions to overcome political agency problems. This forces...

This paper uses data from U.S. states to investigate whether electoral accountability affects economic policy choices. We set up a model in which the possibility of being re-elected may curtail opportunistic behavior by incumbent governors. We find that facing a binding term limit affects...

The US federal system provides great potential for estimating the effects of policy on behavior. There are numerous empirical studies that exploit variation in policies over space and time. In pursuing this line of enquiry, the issue of policy endogeneity is central. If state policy making is...

A rich array of institutional diversity makes the United States an excellent place to study the relationship between political institutions and public policy outcomes. This essay has three main aims. It reviews empirical evidence on the relationship between institutional rules, political...

There are numerous empirical studies that exploit variation in policies over space and time in the U.S. federal system. If state policy making is purposeful action responsive to economic and political conditions within the state then it is necessary to identify and control for the forces that...

This paper develops new methods for studying the adoption of technologies that, at the time of their introduction, are of uncertain profitability. We focus on the rols played by learning in the evolution of a diffusion path and present a model that allows learning from the behavior of others as...