The terms objective and subjective are considered antonyms, and yet "objectivists", associated with the ideas of Ayn Rand, and "subjectivists", associated with the ideas of Ludwig von Mises, are both associated with the same political philosophy: classical liberalism. There are however important...

Previous research has shown that Tiebout-style fiscal competition among local governments reduces the likelihood of adopting income taxes. This literature has not yet considered the impact of yardstick competition on tax instrument choice. This article uses spatial econometrics to test for...

The international development community has encouraged investment in physical and human capital as a precursor to economic progress. Recent evidence shows, however, that increases in capital do not always lead to increases in output. We develop a growth model where the allocation and...

Research on zoning typically assumes city planners aim to maximize housing prices with their land use decisions, either explicitly for public choice reasons or implicitly through the approval of land uses that create local net benefits. Noncongruence of school district and municipality borders...

We touch on three major pieces of syllabus language that we think can help young economists manage their economics classes in a liberal arts environment. Like the writing of a constitution, it is not enough to just copy the words on the page in order for them to be effective. Instead they must...

School district and municipal borders do not always align. Non-congruent borders can create a fiscal commons problem where new development does not entirely "pay its way." In response, frustrated citizens often respond by voting for lower school spending. Using GIS data on Ohio school districts,...

There has been considerable public debate surrounding the efficiency of higher education in the United States. Using Data Envelopment Analysis, we look at the efficiency of a majority of the institutions of higher learning in the United States. Using two different approaches, we find some...

We revisit the relationship between informal institutions and income levels. The empirical literature on institutions finds that indices of "informal institutions" such as trust, respect, respect, self-determination, and obedience are more important than "formal institutions" such as...