This study visits the role of shareholder proposals in the governance of public corporations by studying withdrawn shareholder proposals. Among all shareholders, unions are the most likely to withdraw proposals. Furthermore, firms with a record of poor performance, lower insider ownership and...

This study empirically finds, using ECM, that the primary federal budget deficit shares a bi-directional relationship with the ex ante real interest rate yield on long term municipal bonds. That is, the primary budget deficit acts to raise the real municipal bond yield whereas that yield also...

This note provides a modern story for principles instructors to use as a supplement to textbook accounts of problems associated with externalities and the applicability of the Coase theorem. Our story begins in July of 1988, when Larry Ellison paid $3.9 million for a home in the Pacific Heights...

The issue of environmental sustainability is a controversial and extremely diverse multi-faceted topic that ranges from questions as to how to ensure that adequate investment in energy R&D and infrastructure will be undertaken, to state level renewable portfolio standards, to the impact of...

This study empirically investigates three hypotheses. The first is that higher levels of economic freedom in an economy promote a higher growth rate of economic activity and hence yield a higher growth rate of per capita real GDP in that economy. The second hypothesis is that higher quality...

This note empirically investigates the impact of various factors on income tax evasion in the U.S. over the 1973-1997 period. The estimate indicates that income tax evasion is an increasing function of the average effective federal personal income tax rate and the public's dissatisfaction with...

This note comments on a misconception that yield to maturity from holding a coupon bond until maturity is only promised, but not really received, unless coupon payments are reinvested at the same rate as the (original) yield to maturity. It shows that yield to maturity is always earned no matter...

Unaccounted for currency in the U.S. has been argued to reflect the presence of widespread income tax evasion. In turn, income tax evasion is especially problematic in this era of large government budget deficits and growing national debts which have led to debt crises. This empirical study...

This theoretical analysis develops a model for analyzing public policy in interdependent economies. The model allows for feed-backs between the commodity, money, and labor markets in all of the economic systems. Regionally oriented monetary policies are fully analyzed, as are regional oriented...

This study empirically estimates the determinants of aggregate voter participation rates between 1960 and 1996 using instrumental variables. Other things equal, an increase in the public’s dissatisfaction with politicians decreases voter participation, an increase in the highest marginal tax...