Replaced with revised version of paper 01/30/06.

Scholarly societies in economics (and many other professions) are clubs that provide members with a range of club goods, many of which have broader and economically significant spillover consequences for society at large. Yet surprisingly little is known about the historical evolution or current...

The 1996 Farm Bill, now known as the FAIR (Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform) Act of 1996, has been portrayed as reforming U.S. agricultural policy. Gone are set aside and base acreage controls over farm planting decisions. Gone, too, are deficiency payment programs that provided...

Alchian and Allen hypothesized that a country will export high rather than low quality goods. Here we show that if the inherent attributes of the commodities are identical the country will only export the high-quality good.