We model the symbiotic relationship between criminals and a partnership of protection providers - the Firm. In the absence of state authority, insecurity and crime generate a demand for protection. When the protection providers themselves are recruited among criminals, the prospect of graduating...

Infrastruktur ist eine zentrale Vorleistung, die in jede wirtschaftliche Aktivität eingeht. Für eine entwickelte Volkswirtschaft ist eine funktionierende Infrastruktur daher unverzichtbar. In Deutschland galt die Infrastruktur über Jahrzehnte hinweg als wichtiger Standortfaktor. Doch nach der...

This paper uses data on juvenile offenders released from correctional facilities in Florida to explore the effects of facility management type (private for-profit, private nonprofit, public state-operated, and public county-operated) on recidivism outcomes and costs. The data provide detailed...

Two recent failures of the United States intelligence system have led to thecreation of high-level investigative commissions. The failure to prevent theterrorist attacks of 9/11 prompted the creation of the 9/11 Commission, andthe mistaken belief that Saddam Hussein had retained weapons of...

How is rule of law established? We address this question by exploring the causal effect of increases in fiscal capacity on the establishment of well enforced, formal, legal standards in a pre-industrial economy. Between 1550 and 1700 there were over 2,000 witch trials in France. Prosecuting a...

Infrastruktur ist eine zentrale Vorleistung, die in jede wirtschaftliche Aktivität eingeht. Für eine entwickelte Volkswirtschaft ist eine funktionierende Infrastruktur daher unverzichtbar. In Deutschland galt die Infrastruktur über Jahrzehnte hinweg als wichtiger Standortfaktor. Doch nach der...

We model the symbiotic relationship between criminals and a partnership of protection providers - the Firm. In the absence of state authority, insecurity and crime generate a demand for protection. When the protection providers themselves are recruited among criminals, the prospect of graduating...

In 1838 Augustin Cournot defined the concept of a “complementary oligopoly,” where two (or more) independently held inputs are required in order to produce a single output. He also showed that efficiency was achieved when the complementary inputs were supplied by a single firm, rather than...

Most German states amended their local constitutions during the 1990s and now allow for the direct election of mayors, initiatives and referendums, and vote aggregation, as well as vote splitting. We ask whether these reforms had any effects on local fiscal policies. We show that the direct...

During the tabulation of votes in the 2000 presidential election, the world was shocked at the technological inadequacy of electoral equipment in many parts of the US. In reaction to public dismay over "hanging chads", Congress quickly enacted the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), legislation to...