Economic models of politics typically use the expected value of a candidate's vote share to proxy electoral probability. In this paper, the authors introduce a risk calculation to augment the evaluation of a candidate's (or party's) expected vote share and they divide this risk element into its...

A number of recent studies attempt to measure the productivity of public capital. Some estimates indicate that government investments are a potential wellspring for economic progress, while others indicate that public infrastructure has a negligible effect on private sector output. This article...

The current debate over models of self-selectlon in Congress--whether Congressmen by-and-large find themselves on committees which most closely correspond to their constituents' interests - has implications for theories of Congressional organization. Building on recent findings which question a...

In the voluminous literature on fiscal policy, there is little evidence about the impact of legislative organization on shaping fiscal decisions. By comparing different organizations of committee structure to control tax and spending policies, this article presents such evidence. Regarding...