Is capitalism contagious? Since WWI, global foreign policy has treated economic freedom/repression like a virus that spreads between countries. Most recently, the ?domino theory? of freedom has played prominently in U.S. foreign policy toward Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean during the...

This paper analyzes the issues of immigration and outsourcing in a general-equilibrium model of international factor mobility. In our model, legal immigration is controlled through a quota, while outsourcing is determined both by the firms (in response to market conditions) and through...

With outsourcing comes a perceived tension between the competitive pressures faced by domestic firms and the effect that outsourcing has on domestic workers. To address this tension, we present a general-equilibrium model with an oligopolistic export sector and a competitive import-competing...

Recent studies debate the effect of a permanent productivity shock on hours per capita within a structural VAR context. This paper examines the issue using a correlated unobserved components (UC) framework. The estimates show that permanent shocks to productivity are negatively correlated with...

Could bad weather be responsible for U.S. corruption? This paper argues that natural disasters create resource windfalls in the states they strike by triggering federally-provided natural disaster relief. Consistent with the theory that natural resource and foreign aid windfalls increase public...

Utilizing data from the U.S. Census survey (2000) and the North American Economic Freedom Index (Karebegovic, McMahon, and Samida, 2004), this study evaluates the outcome of economic freedom on gross migration flows within the United States. The estimation process is to use a gravity model....

This paper considers asset pricing from the production side. It differs from earlier approaches to production-based asset pricing in that the pricing kernel is derived by replacing the marginal rate of intertemporal substitution with an amended version of the marginal rate of intertemporal...

This paper estimates the responsiveness of aid to recipient countries’ economic and physical needs, civil/political rights, and government effectiveness. We look exclusively at the post-Cold War era and control for the political, strategic, and other considerations of donors with fixed...

This paper analyzes the issues of immigration and outsourcing in a general-equilibrium model of international factor mobility. In our model, legal immigration is controlled through a quota, while outsourcing is determined both by the firms (in response to market conditions) and through...

This research analyzes determinants of growth across U.S. labor market regions,using a production function approach based on four inputs: labor, manufacturing investment, human capital investment, and public capital investment. We find significant differences in the relative influence of growth...