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Tax Havens And Fdi Spillovers: Implications For Ldcs, Luisa Blanco, Cynthia Rogers Nov 2011

Tax Havens And Fdi Spillovers: Implications For Ldcs, Luisa Blanco, Cynthia Rogers

School of Public Policy Working Papers

Tax competition and spillover models offer ambiguous predictions concerning the economic impact of tax havens on non-tax havens. The implications of tax havens for less developed countries (LDCs), in particular, are not well understood and are little studied. This paper investigates the impact of tax havens on non-tax haven countries in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI). We investigate the importance of agglomeration effects by accounting for the level of FDI inflows as well as the role of geography by measuring proximity to the nearest tax haven. Our analysis yields several interesting findings. First, using panel data for 142 countries, …


Competition Between Tax Havens: Does Proximity Matter?, Luisa Blanco, Cynthia Rogers Nov 2011

Competition Between Tax Havens: Does Proximity Matter?, Luisa Blanco, Cynthia Rogers

School of Public Policy Working Papers

We study whether proximity to the nearest tax haven affects FDI and the number of American affiliates in a tax haven. Our results show that distance to the nearest tax haven is positively related to FDI inflows and the number of American affiliates in tax havens. These findings suggest that there is a harmful competition between tax havens. We also find evidence of positive spillovers: the number of American affiliates in a tax haven is positively related to the number of in its closest neighboring tax haven. This suggests the presence of agglomeration benefits given there is an affiliate in …


The Finance–Growth Link Revisited And The Role Of Institutions As A Source Of Finance In Latin America, Luisa Blanco Oct 2011

The Finance–Growth Link Revisited And The Role Of Institutions As A Source Of Finance In Latin America, Luisa Blanco

School of Public Policy Working Papers

In a panel framework that includes 18 countries, this paper studies the short and long run effect of financial development on economic growth and the determinants of financial development in Latin America. Financial development shows a positive effect on economic growth in the long run, but a negative effect in the short run for the full sample. When the sample is divided by income levels, this result holds only for the high income group. For the low income group, financial development has no significant effect on economic growth in the short run or in the long run. In the analysis …


The Impact Of Insecurity On Democracy And Trust In Institutions In Mexico, Luisa Blanco Oct 2011

The Impact Of Insecurity On Democracy And Trust In Institutions In Mexico, Luisa Blanco

School of Public Policy Working Papers

Using survey data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) and Encuesta Nacional Sobre la Inseguridad (ENSI) for Mexico during the period 2004-2010, this paper analyses the impact of insecurity and crime victimization on support and satisfaction with democracy and trust in institutions. With the LAPOP data, perceptions about higher insecurity decrease support and satisfaction with democracy. Perceptions of insecurity and crime victimization have a negative significant effect on trust in institutions, and this finding is robust to using LAPOP and ENSI data. Perceptions of insecurity and crime victimization have a larger negative effect on trust in institutions that …


Do Tax Havens Really Flourish? Accounting For Endogeneity In Growth Regressions, Luisa Blanco, Cynthia Rogers Sep 2011

Do Tax Havens Really Flourish? Accounting For Endogeneity In Growth Regressions, Luisa Blanco, Cynthia Rogers

School of Public Policy Working Papers

That tax haven policies contribute to favorable economic growth in tax haven countries is commonly accepted. There is, however, minimal empirical evidence to substantiate this assertion and empirical investigations are subject to endogeneity bias. Using a sample of 155 countries from 1982 to 2003, we find that the standard tax haven variable is endogenous to the error term in a typical growth regression. We offer land area measures as valid instruments for tax haven status. Results based on two-stage least squares estimation with heteroskedastic standard errors and controls for initial conditions provide support for the claim that tax havens “flourish” …


Verifiable And Non-Verifiable Anonymous Mechanisms For Regulating A Polluting Monopolist, James Prieger, Nicholas J. Sanders Aug 2011

Verifiable And Non-Verifiable Anonymous Mechanisms For Regulating A Polluting Monopolist, James Prieger, Nicholas J. Sanders

School of Public Policy Working Papers

Optimal regulation of a polluting natural monopolist must correct for both external damages and market power to achieve a social optimum. Existing non-Bayesian regulatory methods require knowledge of the demand function, while Bayesian schemes require knowledge of the underlying cost distribution. We introduce mechanisms adapted to use less information. Our Price-based Subsidy (PS) mechanisms give the firm a transfer that matches or approximates the incremental surplus generated each period. The regulator need not observe the abatement activity or know the demand, cost, or damage functions of the firm. All of the mechanisms induce the firm to price at marginal social …


Deployment Of Mobile Broadband Service In The United States, James Prieger, Thomas V. Church Aug 2011

Deployment Of Mobile Broadband Service In The United States, James Prieger, Thomas V. Church

School of Public Policy Working Papers

Broadband deployment in the United States is expanding rapidly but unevenly. Using new FCC census data on wireline and wireless broadband providers, we study mobile broadband provision within the United States. Although rural areas lag non-rural areas in the availability of residential access to both mobile and fixed broadband, mobile broadband is at least partially filling in geographical gaps in fixed-line broadband coverage. Multiple regression results indicate that population density and growth, and the fraction of blacks, Hispanics, and youth in an area are positive predictors of the number of mobile broadband providers. The fraction of Native Americans, Asians, and …


Oust The Louse: Does Political Pressure Discipline Regulators?, James Prieger, Janice A. Hauge, Mark A. Jamison Jun 2011

Oust The Louse: Does Political Pressure Discipline Regulators?, James Prieger, Janice A. Hauge, Mark A. Jamison

School of Public Policy Working Papers

We consider a possible determinant of regulatory decisions by public utility commissioners: the desire to remain in office. We examine regulatory exit, where a regulator leaves a commission during a term or is not re-appointed/re-elected. With data from US states, we empirically investigate several hypotheses motivated by a political agency model of regulatory decision-making. Our empirical results generally support the hypotheses, including that higher electricity prices lead to ousting, that ousting is less common where it is more costly for the principal to whom the regulator reports, and that ousting is more likely where regulators are more accountable or are …


A Dreadful Emancipation: Walter Lippmann’S Critique Of Modernity, Ted Mcallister Jan 2011

A Dreadful Emancipation: Walter Lippmann’S Critique Of Modernity, Ted Mcallister

School of Public Policy Working Papers

As the 1920s came to a close, Lippmann had abandoned most of his progressive shibboleths and had come to understand the great emancipation brought about by science, technology, and intellectual transformations as a particularly dangerous episode in western civilization. The liberation of the many in the great democratic transformation of the modern era did not promise wisdom or the triumph of reason. The rise of science, and particularly of social science, did not prepare the way for an age of objective knowledge and dispassionate debate. In an age of almost unprecedented personal liberty, the dissolution of inherited forms of authority …


The (Non) Effect Of Natural Resource Dependence On Capital Accumulation In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Robin Grier Jan 2011

The (Non) Effect Of Natural Resource Dependence On Capital Accumulation In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Robin Grier

School of Public Policy Working Papers

In a simultaneous model of human and physical capital accumulation for 17 Latin American countries from 1975 to 2004, we show that overall resource dependence is not significantly related to physical and human capital. Disaggregating the natural resource variable into subcategories, we find that petroleum export dependence is associated with higher physical capital and lower human capital, while agricultural export dependence is often associated with lower levels of physical capital. All of these effects are quantitatively small, however, casting doubt on the idea that natural resource dependence has stifled the accumulation of capital in the region.


Immigration Regulation, Luisa Blanco, Odinakachi Anyanwu Jan 2011

Immigration Regulation, Luisa Blanco, Odinakachi Anyanwu

School of Public Policy Working Papers

Immigration regulation is defined here as any policy that has the objective of encouraging or discouraging immigration. There are two major categories of immigration regulation: those policies that directly affect the inflow of immigrants and those that influence the everyday lives of immigrants and processes related to the acquisition of legal permanent residency or citizenship. Immigration regulation is quite diverse across time and space; immigration policy is fluid and dynamic and is affected by socioeconomic, cultural, and political factors. Thus, immigration regulation evolves in response to current conditions in a specific country. The role of race in immigration regulation also …


Material Support: Counternarcotics Vs. Counterinsurgency In Afghanistan, Jonathan D. Kulick, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Mark A. R. Kleiman Jan 2011

Material Support: Counternarcotics Vs. Counterinsurgency In Afghanistan, Jonathan D. Kulick, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Mark A. R. Kleiman

School of Public Policy Working Papers

Microeconomic analysis of counternarcotics strategies in Afghanistan suggests that current policies lend material support to the enemy. Vigorous enforcement can increase the flow of funds to insurgents and other parties that profit from trafficking. Rural-development programs, promoted as elements of a counternarcotics strategy, are open to some of the same objections. The benefits of drug-fighting in Afghanistan for consumer countries in Europe and North America are likely to be modest. Anti-corruption efforts in Afghanistan and demand-reduction programs both in Afghanistan and in consumer countries, insofar as they are feasible, could serve both counternarcotics and counterinsurgency objectives.


The Impact Of Spatial Interdependence On Fdi In Latin America, Luisa Blanco Jan 2011

The Impact Of Spatial Interdependence On Fdi In Latin America, Luisa Blanco

School of Public Policy Working Papers

This analysis considers whether spatial interdependence is an important determinant of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Latin America. Two types of spatial interdependence are explored: 1) surrounding market potential and 2) spatial autocorrelation of FDI. Using a sample of 17 Latin American countries, with observations from 1986 to 2006, we find that spatial interdependence matters for world net FDI in the region. Surrounding market potential has a positive effect on FDI of significant magnitude, but there is no evidence that FDI is spatially autocorrelated. Other contributors to FDI in this analysis include governance, specifically control of corruption, and exports of …


The Impact Of Fdi On Co₂ Emissions In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Fidel Gonzalez, Isabel Ruiz Jan 2011

The Impact Of Fdi On Co₂ Emissions In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Fidel Gonzalez, Isabel Ruiz

School of Public Policy Working Papers

This paper uses panel Granger causality tests to study the relationship between sector specific FDI and CO2 emissions. Using a sample of 18 Latin American countries for the 1980-2007 period, we find causality running from FDI in polluting intensive industries (“the dirty sector”) to CO2 emissions per capita. This result is robust to controlling for other factors associated with CO2 emissions and using the ratio of CO2 emissions to GDP. For other sectors, we find no robust evidence that FDI causes CO2 emissions.


Explaining The Rise Of The Left In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Robin Grier Jan 2011

Explaining The Rise Of The Left In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Robin Grier

School of Public Policy Working Papers

Latin American politics has taken a left-hand turn in the last decade, with an increasing number of chief executives hailing from left-of-center parties. We investigate the political and socio-economic factors explaining political ideology of the chief executive in a sample of 100 elections taking place between 1975 and 2007 in eighteen Latin American countries. We find that the commodity booms in agricultural, mining and oil are positively and significantly related to the probability that a country will have a chief executive from a left-of-center political party. However, for oil exports, we observe that this effect only holds for Venezuela. We …


In The Aftermath Of The Financial Crisis Of 2008: What Have We Learned?, Luisa Blanco, Michael Crouch Jan 2011

In The Aftermath Of The Financial Crisis Of 2008: What Have We Learned?, Luisa Blanco, Michael Crouch

School of Public Policy Working Papers

In the aftermath of the financial crisis and economic recession of 2008, it is important to reflect not only on its causes, but also on specific policies that can help countries to move towards sustained economic growth. This publication provides a compendium of lectures that intend to do this. The focus of the discussion is around the U.S. (first two chapters) and Latin America (last chapter), which enhances our understanding of the forces at play and the necessary policies that need to be implemented in different regions of the world. Dr. Lee Ohanian points to the strange differences between the …