We quantify the increasing use of complex mathematics and show that the increase is unique to economics in the social sciences. Over half a century ago Donald F. Gordon hypothesized that mathematics was most likely to be useful in manipulating long chains of relationships, but these were the...

The risk preferences of three-person groups and individuals are compared using a non-sequential repeated-measures lottery experiment with $20 per-player win percentages varying from 10% to 90%. Analysis based on independent samples of certainty equivalent ratios (certainty equivalent/expected...

Across many forms of rent seeking contests, the impact of risk aversion on equilibrium play is indeterminate. We design an experiment to compare individuals’ decisions across three contests which are isomorphic under risk-neutrality, but are typically not isomorphic under other risk...

This paper uses responder pre-commitment and psychological type, as measured by the Myers- Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), to gain insight into subject behavior in a laboratory ultimatum bargaining experiment. Three experiment design details are noteworthy: (1) one design requires responders to...

This paper investigates the impact of the regulation prohibiting physicians from prescribing drugs without a prior physical examination on health outcomes. This requirement should improve health by reducing illegal access to prescription drugs. On the other hand, it hampers the practice of...

More progressive taxes, holding tax liability constant, generate disincentives for health investment by decreasing benefits for additional working time and, thus, decreasing returns to health. On the other hand, progressive taxation may induce individuals to invest more in health for the purpose...

In Gary Becker’s (1991) theory of bandwagon effects, a portion of market demand is positively sloped. In this, he ignores Harvey Leibenstein’s (1950) hypothesis that market demands for bandwagon goods are everywhere negatively sloped (stemming from scarcity imposed constraints). A...

It is generally agreed that the price-output correlation in the United States was positive prior to the Second World War, but became negative during the postwar period (at least by 1972). This paper offers evidence that the price-output correlation changed signs because of a decrease in the...

In a simple double-blind dictator experiment, systematically removing subjects’ levels of power and entitlement increases their choice of an income distribution generally consistent with Rawls (1971) concept of distributive justice, although choices are less unanimous and risk-averse than...

This paper studies the relationship between universal banking and firm performance. With 40 developing and developed countries, I find that the overall effect of universal banking on firm growth is negative. This suggests that the negative effect of conflicts of interest dominates the positive...