A large literature has sought to determine whether smoking bans help or hinder restaurants. Much of the literature improperly specifies its econometric equations, and thus mistakenly infers causality. Examining the relationship between restaurant smoking bans and restaurant revenues in 267...

Throughout most of history, women as a class have possessed relatively few formal rights. The women of ancient Sparta were a striking exception. Although they could not vote, Spartan women reportedly owned 40 percent of Sparta's agricultural land and enjoyed other rights that were equally...

This paper seeks to provide an improved understanding of the origins of democracy. It begins by developing a theoretical model to demonstrate how exogenous economic conditions can influence both the incentives to establish democratic institutions and the likelihood that such institutions...

Poorly governed (e.g., repressive) countries tend to be located near other poorly governed countries, and well governed countries near other well governed countries. The previous literature, by identifying country characteristics (e.g., ethnic fractionalization) that may influence government...

For scholars seeking to understand political transitions, ancient Greece – the birthplace of democracy and home to dynamic political entrepreneurs – represents a potentially invaluable source of information. Until recently, however, that information was too dispersed topermit systematic...

We develop a theoretical model to analyze the role of judicial review in preventing tyrannies of the majority. The model identifies conditions under which the optimal role of the court may be to allow tyranny of the majority – and the tyrannized minority will be better off as a result. This...

"A large literature has sought to determine whether smoking bans help or hinder restaurants. Much of the literature improperly specifies its econometric equations and thus mistakenly infers causality. Examining the relationship between restaurant smoking bans and restaurant revenues in 267...