Several recent empirical studies have challenged the conventional wisdom that deficits cause a higher interest rate. Many economists are, however, critical of the seemingly implied theoretical justification--that every individual fully recognizes the size of the deficit and the extent to which...

This paper presents time-series evidence on the voting behavior of members of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1990. The empirical results indicate that voting behavior of individual congressmen is remarkably stable over time. The authors find no evidence of economically...

Many recent game-theoretic models suggest that, with asymmetric information, it can be profitable for firms to acquire a reputation for toughness to discourage later entry. The authors identify institutional arrangements that firms must undertake if predatory commitments are to be credible. For...

This paper examines the sizes of the fines, damage awards, remediation costs, and market value losses imposed on companies that violate environmental regulations. Firms that violate environmental laws suffer statistically significant losses in the market value of firm equity. The losses,...