This exploratory note empirically investigates determinants of the annual percentage rate of return on commercial bank assets over the period 1959-1998. The findings indicate that this rate of return has been an increasing function of the average annual interest rate yield on three-year U.S....

This paper evaluates a study by Robert Crandall that empirically examines the shift in manufacturing employment and output from the so-called “Rust Belt” states – the states from Wisconsin to New York – to the South and West [the “Sun Belt”]. Crandall finds that differences in labor...

This study investigates whether there is empirical evidence that federal budget deficits in the U.S. actually lead to the crowding out of private investment in new plant and equipment. Several specifications are undertaken. Each of these estimations finds that private investment is apparently...

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of federal budget deficits upon the nominal long term rate of interest in the United States when, in addition to the usual potential interest-rate-influencing factors such as monetary policy, short term interest rates, the budget deficit, and...

This theoretical model investigates the implications of the slopes of LM curves and positively sloped IS curves for the size of policy multipliers. It is shown that the effectiveness of monetary policy is greater if the slope of the IS curve is greater. It also is shown that fiscal policy...

Based on the empirical estimation in this study, for the period 1962-1980, it appears that the underground economy in the United States was sensitive to the federal personal income tax rate, inflation, and the percentage of filed tax returns audited by the IRS. Presumably, the problem associated...

This theoretical note proves a theorem on income tax rates. In particular, it proves that if the marginal utility of income is declining as income rises and if the relationship is represented by a rectangular hyperbola, under the equal proportional sacrifice principle, the tax rate will always...

This empirical investigation applies a hedonic pricing model to determine whether property taxes have been capitalized into housing prices of single-family homes in city of St. Augustine, Florida housing market for single family homes. There were sufficient data in this context to study a total...

Although the case for treating human capital as a productive factor is clear, its introduction presents complications since ownership of (or property rights in) human capital cannot be separated from the ownership of (or property rights in) labor itself. Consider a two-region economy. When labor...

This empirical study seeks to broaden the interpretation of the “rational voter model” so as to include the potential effects of “direct democracy” on the voter participation rate. Direct democracy is assumed to take two forms: initiatives and referendums. This study tests the hypothesis...