In an overlapping generations model, capital and labor produce two tradeable goods. A kleptocratic government spends the tariff revenue. Trade liberalization, which lowers the relative price of the importable to the private sector, benefits the retired generation if and only if the relative...

We consider an economy (e.g. Chile 1973-83 or modern Turkey) with a minimum wage sector and a free sector, and a tax on labor earnings. We ask can a minimum wage hike raise employment and economic efficiency?

We examine every TDS Bill introduced by the House of Representatives and approved by the U.S. International Trade Commission in the last six years. The significant relationship between these bills and campaign contributions coupled with the personal characteristics of proponents and sponsors...

Milton Friedman has suggested that the political power of the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association (the two major teachers unions) has been instrumental in defeating the adoption of educational vouchers. We test this hypothesis. We find that a campaign...

To perform well, public officials must be confident enough about the future, to be able to see a relationship between their efforts, and an eventual outcome. Their expectations are shaped by their institutional environment. If the rules are not credible, or are unlikely to be enforced, of if...

We examine the major interest groups in the debate over allowing the re-importation of prescription drugs by utilizing a logit model and instrumental variables. Consistent with political support approach, the evidence suggests that Representatives are maximizing their electoral prospects:...

We consider an economy with a tax on all labor earnings. We discover that a slightly binding minimum wage on one sector can enhance efficiency. The minimum wage attracts high-reservation wage workers into the minimum-wage sector. If the labor demand curve in the free sector is quite flat, the...

For the steel import quota bill of 1999, each word in the Congressional Record costs $39 in campaign contributions from the steel industry. Consequently, our answer is "Yes, talk is cheap!"

This study empirically tests the hypothesis that trade liberalization increases capacity utilization. It calculates capacity utilization for the Turkish rubber industry by using a production theory framework. More specifically, plant-level capacity utilization levels are calculated using a...