Digital Commons Network^™

Raising Revenues For Charity: Auctions Versus Lotteries, Bart Wilson, Douglas Davis, L. Razzolini, R. Reily

Bart J Wilson

No abstract provided.

Equilibrium Price Dispersion, Mergers And Synergies: An Experimental Investigation Of Differentiated Product Competition, Bart Wilson, Douglas Davis

Bart J Wilson

No abstract provided.

Patent Political Economy - Indian Lessons On Pharmaceutical Patent, Julien L. Chaisse, Samira Guennif

ExpressO

The Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime adopted by any country is essentially a tool that strives to ensure both the growth of the domestic pharmaceutical industry and people’s access to medicines. But, contrary to the very easily advanced theory, there is no paradox between the two. From this perspective, the Indian experience has shown that it is precisely the relaxation of its national IPR regime that promoted the growth of its domestic industry, thereby ensuring a better patient access to medicines. However, the globalisation process does not overlook any sector, which means that medicines too are submitted to the new …

A National Estimate Of The Cost Of Illness In Parkinson's Disease Using Retrospective Data Analysis, Katherine Anderson

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to estimate the cost of illness of Parkinson’s disease in the United States. Direct medical expenditures, with the exception of nursing home costs, were estimated using data from the 1999-2003 Medical Expenditures Panel Survey Household Component (MEPS-HC). Nursing home costs were estimated using the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey Nursing Home Component (MEPS-NHC). Indirect costs for lost productivity due to missed work or bed-days (morbidity) were estimated using the MEPS-HC and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Indirect costs for lost productivity due to death (mortality) were estimated using the National Vital Statistics System.

Direct …

What Is The Cost To Employers Of Direct Medical Care For Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease?, Tursynbek Nurmagambetov, Adam Atherly, Seymour Williams, Fernando Holguin, David M. Mannino, Stephen C. Redd

David M. Mannino

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. In 2000, an estimated 10.5 million people had COPD, of which more than 7.2 million were from the under-age 65 employed population. The prevalence of COPD in the workforce population was substantial with 46.5% of current employment among adults having the disease. However, the cost burden in the employed population is unknown. We examined COPD prevalence and costs in a large employment-based population. Using claims data from 1999 to 2003, we estimated the cost associated with COPD-related hospitalizations, emergency department visits, outpatient services, …

Market Assessment And Feasibility Analysis For Small Scale Aquaculture Development In The Southside Of Virginia Aquaculture Cooperative Feasibility Study, Thomas J. Murray

Reports

No abstract provided.

Economic Evaluation Of Air Pollution Reduction Of Phase I Power Plants In West Virginia: An Output Distance Function Approach, Huilan Li

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Air pollutants from coal-fired power plants are nonmarket environmental bads. Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) sets the stage for the dirtiest power plants to reduce emissions of SO2 and NO x in two phases. Title IV allocates plants SO2 allowances as a variation of "pollution rights" based on averaged historical emission levels and allows free-trade of allowances. This is the world's first large scale pollutant trading market. Trading allows for improved efficiency, flexibility, and reduced pollution.;This study employs the output distance function approach to evaluate the pollution reduction behavior and efficiency of West Virginia power …

A Socioeconomic And Spatial Analysis Of Obesity In West Virginia: Policy Implications, Anura Kumara Amarasinghe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This dissertation integrates both theoretical and empirical insights to facilitate understanding of the current obesity epidemic in WV given heterogeneity in socioeconomic, demographic and built environment characteristics of the state. In meeting this objective, county-level and individual-level health demand analyses using secondary data sources were conducted. County-level obesity differences were studied using spatial and non-spatial random and fixed effects frameworks under a panel data structure. Individual health demand was investigated by recursive estimation of individual health responses to ordered self-assessed health (SAH) in terms of lifestyle choices, socioeconomic, demographic and built environment characteristics using Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) …

The De-Gentrification Of New Markets Tax Credits, Roger M. Groves

ExpressO

This article provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the New Markets Tax Credits program established by Congress. The purpose of the NMTCs is to use tax credits as incentives for investors to provide equity funds into low income areas. The article reveals that over $2 billion of federal tax subsidies that have been allocated to gentrified projects for the wealthy, rather than the intended beneficiaries – low income residents in the urban core – as Congress intended. The article proposes amendments to the statute and regulations to close unintended loopholes.

Tradeoffs In Formulating A Consistent National Policy On Adoption, Mary Eschelbach Hansen, Daniel Pollack

ExpressO

Just as the courts must consider the tradeoff between the best interest of the child and parental rights in involuntary termination of parental rights, policy on international adoption must consider the tradeoffs between the best interest of the child and the long-term interests of the nation. We argue that countries that suspend international adoptions do not maximize social welfare. A consistent national policy to maximize the well-being of the children and society at large would be to devote resources today to the oversight of international adoption in accord with child protections under the Hague Convention, while at the same time …

Contractarianism, Contractualism, And The Law Of Corporate Insolvency, Riz Mokal

ExpressO

What is the appropriate way of theorising about corporate bankruptcy law? That lies, argues this paper, in rejecting Pareto and Kaldor-Hicks efficiency in favour of a particular conception of transaction cost efficiency, and in rejecting the ‘contractarian’ Creditors’ Bargain Model in favour of the ‘contractualist’ Authentic Consent Model. The paper vindicates these arguments with an analysis of the automatic stay which characterises the collective liquidation regime, of the pari passu principle often said to be at the heart of this regime, and of the liability imposed in some jurisdictions on the managers of terminally distressed companies for failing to take …

The Rise And Fall Of Private Sector Unionism: What Next For The Nlra?

Jeffrey M. Hirsch

In this Article, we ask whether the National Labor Relations Act, enacted over 70 years ago, can remain relevant in a competitive economy where nonunion employer discretion is the dominant form of workplace governance. The best opportunity for the NLRA’s continued relevance is the modification of its language and interpretation to enhance worker voice and participation in the nonunion private sector, without imposing undue costs on employers. Examples of such reforms include narrowing the NLRA’s company union prohibition; implementing a conditional deregulation system that relies on consent by an independent employee association; changing the labor law default to some form …

Privatization And The Law And Economics Of Political Advocacy, Alexander Volokh

ExpressO

A common argument against privatization is that private providers, motivated by self-interest, will advocate changes in substantive policy. In this Article, I evaluate this argument, using, as a case study, the argument against prison privatization based on the possibility that the private prison industry will distort the criminal law by advocating incarceration.

This “political influence” argument applies at least as well to public provision: Government agencies, too, lobby for changes in substantive law. In the prison industry, for instance, it is unclear whether private firms advocate incarceration to any significant extent, but public guard unions are known to do so …

Vat? A Look Inside Canada's Experience With The Goods And Services Tax, Brandon A. Ketterman

San Diego International Law Journal

Consumption taxes have been and continue to be utilized as a staple revenue producer within systems of taxation. The value-added tax (VAT) is one form of consumption tax that has grown in popularity among nations over the last several decades. In fact, after the passage of a goods and services tax (one type of VAT) in Australia in 2000, the United States now stands alone as the only remaining OECD nation, among its 30 members, without some form of a value-added tax on consumption. As the massive topic of tax reform continually appears at the forefront of the political landscape, …

Is There Propitious Selection In Insurance Markets?, Tsvetanka Karagoyozova, Peter Siegelman

Economics Working Papers

The theory of adverse selection in insurance markets has been enormously influential among scholars, regulators, and the judiciary. But empirical support for adverse selection has been much less persuasive, and several recent studies have found little or no evidence of such selection in insurance markets. "Propitious" (advantageous) selection offers an alternative mechanism that is consistent with these empirical findings. Like adverse selection, the theory assumes that insureds have an informational advantage over insurers. However, propitious selection relies on the plausible assumption that risk aversion is negatively correlated with the riskiness or probability of loss across insureds - the more risk-averse …

Are Shirking And Leisure Substitutable? An Empirical Test Of Efficiency Wages Based On Urban Economic Theory, Stephen L. Ross, Yves Zenou

Economics Working Papers

Recent theoretical work has examined the spatial distribution of unemployment using the efficiency wage model as the mechanism by which unemployment arises in the urban economy. This paper extends the standard efficiency wage model in order to allow for behavioral substitution between leisure time at home and effort at work. In equilibrium, residing at a location with a long commute affects the time available for leisure at home and therefore affects the trade-off between effort at work and risk of unemployment. This model implies an empirical relationship between expected commutes and labor market outcomes, which is tested using the Public …

Is The Compensation Model For Real Estate Brokers Obsolete?, Thomas J. Miceli, Katherine A. Pancak, C. F. Sirmans

Economics Working Papers

This study examines the traditional compensation model for real estate brokers under which both the listing and buyer brokers are paid by the seller based on a percentage of the property sales price. We argue that this model has not evolved to reflect contemporary legal agency relationships and technology-driven information availability. It therefore creates substantial transactional inefficiencies for buyers and sellers at both the matching and bargaining stages of a transaction. While there is evidence that market forces are pushing for a change in the status quo, there is also evidence that the brokerage industry is resisting this change by …

Economic Analysis Of Price Determinants In Pharmaceutical Industry In United States, Vikas Singh

Vikas Singh

Executive Summary: In recent years increase in spending for prescription drugs in US has outpaced spending in every other category of health expenditures. Expenditure on the prescription drugs in recent years has grown more rapidly then any other component of health care. National prescription drug spending rose by about 4 ½ (inflation adjusted rate of 14.5% since 1997) times from $40.3 billion in 1990 to $179.2 billion in 2003. Prescription drug expenditure growth galloping by about 17% per year is the fastest growing item in health care inflation. It accounted for 11% of total healthcare spending (which was only 5.8% …

November 2006, Syracuse Department Of Economics

Economics - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Opportunity In A Democratic Society: Race And Economic Status In Higher Education, Patricia Pelfrey, Richard Atkinson

Richard Atkinson

In July 1995, the University of California\'s Board of Regents voted to ban consideration of race and ethnicity in admissions and employment—a ban that was extended to all state agencies when the voters of California approved Proposition 209 in November 1996. This paper discusses the national controversy over affirmative action and analyzes the experience of the University of California as a case study in how an elite public university responded to the end of nearly three decades of affirmative action. It concludes that profound social and demographic change in American society since the 1960s, especially the growth of income inequality, …

Medical Behavior: An Application To Cesarean Section Delivery In Uruguay, Maximo Rossi, Patricia Triunfo

Maximo Rossi

No abstract provided.

Hit And Miss: Leverage, Sacrifice, And Refusal To Deal In The Supreme Court Decision In Trinko, Nicholas Economides

ExpressO

Under the rules of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, incumbent local exchange carriers, including Verizon, were obligated to lease parts of their local telecommunications network to any firm at “cost plus a reasonable profit” prices which could combine them at will, add retailing services and sell local telecommunication service as a rival to the incumbent. AT&T, an entrant in local telecommunications, leased parts of Verizon’s network. Trinko, a local telecommunications services customer of AT&T, sued Verizon alleging various anti-competitive actions of Verizon against AT&T, including that Verizon raised the costs of AT&T, its downstream retail rival. The Supreme Court held …

A Neo-Chicago Perspective On The Law Of Product Tying: Exposing The Last Sanctuary Of The Harvard School, Alan J. Devlin

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Compulsory Labor In A National Emergency: Public Service Or Involuntary Servitude? The Case Of Crippled Ports, Michael H. Leroy

ExpressO

The 13th Amendment ban on involuntary servitude has new relevance as the U.S. grapples with national emergencies such as catastrophic hurricanes, flu pandemics, and terrorism. This Article considers work refusal and coerced work performance in life-threatening employment contexts. Overwhelmed by fear, hundreds of police officers and health care workers abandoned their jobs during Hurricane Katrina. Postal clerks worked against their will without masks in facilities with anthrax. A report by Congress worries that avian flu will cause sick and frightened medical personnel to stay away from work, thus jeopardizing a coherent response to a crisis.

How far can the U.S. …

The Conditional Effects Of Ideology And Institutional Structure On Judicial Voting In State Supreme Courts, Jeff L. Yates, Paul Brace, Brent Boyea

ExpressO

Two enormously influential perspectives on courts offer fundamentally different predictions about court outcomes and the effects of judge ideology on those outcomes. Well-known to political scientists studying courts, the ideological voting (IV) literature argues that judge ideology is a strong predictor of court outcomes and that those outcomes should be proximate to the policy preferences of courts. Less known to political scientists but highly influential, the law and economics perspective (LE) focuses on settlement behavior of litigants who try to minimize costs and thus estimate likely outcomes in court, and settle simpler cases pre-trial. In this case selection process litigants …

Through The Looking Glass: Runaway Productions And "Hollywood Economics", Adrian H. Mcdonald

ExpressO

This paper uses the issue of runaway production as a looking glass into the complex world of Hollywood economics and politics. As such, a broad overview of Hollywood's business practices, history, and technology are discussed so the reader can understand how runaway production (a major issue itself) is one piece of the Hollywood puzzle. Specifically, this paper attempts to study runaway productions from the Law and Economics approach described in Judge Richard Posner's text on the subject. Events in 2006 illustrate the continuing importance of runaway productions and CEIDR's August 2006 report is discussed in this paper.

Recently expanded, this …

Price Discrimination With Contract Terms: The Lost Volume Problem, Barry E. Adler, Alan Schwartz

ExpressO

In a common commercial pattern, the seller of a standard product contracts with one buyer and then sells to another at the contract price after the initial buyer breaches. Sellers argue, and courts largely agree, that the seller could have served the contract buyer as well as the later buyer; hence, the seller is entitled to retain a down payment to the extent of, or sue to recover, the profit – price less cost – that it would have realized on the initial sale had that sale been completed. Some courts and many scholars disagree, arguing that resale of the …

Rent Concessions And Illegal Contract Penalties In Texas, James P. George

ExpressO

This article discusses penalty damages in residential leases in Texas. The sales pitch is a rent concession which is later reimposed if the buyer breaches. In contracts where the reimposed penalty reimburses the seller well beyond the consideration anticipated in the normal performance of the agreement, the reimposed discount is an illegal penalty. These contracts are pervasive but for the most part go unchalllenged.

A Time To Act Anew: A Historical Perspective On The Energy Policy Act Of 2005 And The Changing Electrical Energy Market, Brad Sherman

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.