This paper explores, both formally and empirically, the political accountability mechanisms that lie behind the varying levels of public corruption and of effective governance taking place across nations. The first section develops a principal-agent model in which good governance is a function...

During much of the previous era of globalization, from the 1860s until the First World War, U. S. tariffs were surprisingly high. Present-day economic historians have suggested that U. S. protection as the result of a backlash against globalization that was the beginning of its decline. They...

In this paper we propose the use of an alternative methodology to track low incomes based on Atkinson`s (1970) family of equally distributed equivalent income functions, which are called general means here. We provide a new characterization of general means that justifies their use in this...

While at least a dozen state legislatures are considering bills to allow the consumption of marijuana for medicinal purposes, the federal government has recently intensified its efforts to close medical marijuana dispensaries. Federal officials contend that the legalization of medical marijuana...

We compare older workers' plans for work and retirement with their subsequent work and retirement outcomes using panel data from the Health and Retirement Study. Among those with retirement plans, about half indicate they would like to cut back on their work hours or otherwise change the type of...

During its early and formative years, the U.S. tire industry was heavily concentrated around Akron, Ohio. We test the extent to which entrants in Ohio were attracted to the Akron area by agglomeration benefits, contributing to a self-reinforcing process envisioned in many modern theories of...

Persistently rising energy prices have revived interest in the economic impact of changing energy costs. We explore the effects of these costs on sectoral change, particularly in relation to the rise and future prospects of the service economy. Following Baumol's cost disease hypothesis,...

Despite increasing knowledge on its adverse consequences, obesity prevalence across the U.S. has been rising markedly over the past three decades. The private and economic costs of this development are substantial, and it has been estimated that its direct and indirect costs now sum to over 1%...