Recent revelations on the use of fiduciary services by the wealthy and political leaders raise concerns regarding the use of such services for tax and creditor evasion. Yet given the secrecy shrouding much of the fiduciary industry, we do not know which fiduciary services are used for such...

This paper is about unification of commercial contract law. Showing that the legal rules preferred by the ‘dominant economy’ frequently end up in uniform commercial contract laws does not show that those legal rules are inherently superior to any other legal rules. It will be argued that...

This paper argues that homeowners, if sufficiently influential, may attempt to manipulate housing prices. The paper presents an instance of, and sets out the political economy behind, one particular homeowner-made housing price bubble (in East Germany). Yet ultimately the paper suggests that...

In this Reply, I respond to comments by Bill Bratton, Larry Cunningham, and Todd Henderson on my recent paper - Trapped in a Metaphor: The Limited Implications of Federalism for Corporate Governance. I begin by reiterating my basic thesis - that state competition should be understood to have...

Interactions and overlap of social assistance programs across clients interest policymakers because they affect client well-being and program efficiency. Connections between receipt of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are discussed in policy...

In the standard rhetoric of the corporate law literature, federalism is quot;the genius of American corporate lawquot; - an engine of efficiency, motivating a race (or at least a leisurely walk) to the top. Some have dissented, suggesting that the prevailing wisdom is wrong as to either the...

Vacant housing and even housing demolition have recently become an issue in a number of countries. Given this renewed interest in demolition, this paper contributes to the literatures on housing demolition and policy coordination. The paper extends Sweeney (1974a)'s analysis of demolition and...

We propose that outcome utility and process utility can be distinguished and empirically measured. People gain procedural utility from participating in the political decision-making process itself, irrespective of the outcome. Nationals enjoy both outcome and process utility, while foreigners...

The main features of China’s current sub-national finance arrangements date back to the 1994 tax reform. China has a multi-level government structure that shares national tax revenues through a system of tax sharing and transfers, and divides spending assignments and responsibilities. Local...

The aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of regional economic disparities on the fiscal decentralisation processes in 21 OECD countries over the period 1981-2005. We use novel and robust measures of fiscal decentralisation based on differences in the degree of both expenditure and tax...