Mulligan and Shleifer (2005) put forward a theory of regulation in which a fixed cost of regulating leads larger polities to regulate more. This follows a prediction made in Demsetz (1967) that because institutions have fixed costs associated with their establishment, introducing an institution...

Every US state requires private health insurers to cover certain conditions, treatments, and providers. These benefit mandates were rare as recently as the 1960s, but the average state now has more than forty. These mandates are intended to promote the affordability of necessary health care....

The average US state has 40 benefit mandates, laws requiring health insurance to cover particular conditions, treatments, providers, or people. We investigate the extent to which these mandates increase the health insurance premiums paid by employers, and the extent to which these higher...

Hospitals and other health-care providers in 34 states must obtain a Certificate of Need (CON) from a state board before opening or expanding, leading to reduced competition. We develop a theoretical model of how market concentration affects health-care spending. Our theoretical model shows that...

By 2010, the average US state had passed 37 health insurance benefit mandates (laws requiring health insurance plans to cover certain additional services). Previous work has shown that these mandates likely increase health insurance premiums, which in turn could make it more costly for firms to...