Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Economics

Selected Works

1994

Articles 1 - 30 of 30

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Primogeniture, Monogamy, And Reproductive Success In A Stratified Society, Ted Bergstrom Oct 1994

Primogeniture, Monogamy, And Reproductive Success In A Stratified Society, Ted Bergstrom

Ted C Bergstrom

This paper explores the workings of stratified societies in which there is primogeniture and where the nobility practice monogamous marriage with a double standard of sexual fidelity. We model a simple stratified society and define the reproductive values of the male and female nobility relative to that of commoners. We then explore implications of the hypothesis that preferences have evolved to favor maximization of reproductive value. The hypothesis is tested against fragmentary data from ancient civilizations and quite detailed information about the British aristocracy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Go to article

Donohue Senate Testimony On Job Corps 1994, John J. Donohue Sep 1994

Donohue Senate Testimony On Job Corps 1994, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

Testimony of John J. Donohue III, Class of 1967 James B. Haddad Professor of Law, North-western University and Research Fellow, American Bar Foundation, before the Senate Labor Committee.

Go to article

Public Information Arrival, Thomas Berry, Keith Howe Aug 1994

Public Information Arrival, Thomas Berry, Keith Howe

Thomas D Berry

The authors develop a measure of public information flow to financial markets and use it to document the patterns of information arrival, with an emphasis on the intraday flows. The measure is the number of news releases by Reuter's News Service per unit of time. The authors find that public information arrival is nonconstant, displaying seasonalities and distinct intraday patterns. Next they relate their measure of public information to aggregate measures of intraday market activity. The authors' results suggest a positive, moderate relationship between public information and trading volume but an insignificant relationship with price volatility. Copyright 1994 by American …

Go to article

On The Economics Of Polygyny, Ted Bergstrom Aug 1994

On The Economics Of Polygyny, Ted Bergstrom

Ted C Bergstrom

About 80% of all societies recorded by anthropologists are polygynous (men have many wives). Even our own society is less monogamous than claimed. This paper attempts to explain such mysteries as why bride prices and dowries are not ``opposites'', why polygamous societies are usually characterized by positive bride prices and dowry is mainly confined to monogamous societies, why polyandry (women having multiple husbands) is rare, but not extinct, and why the more you have to pay for a wife the better you will treat her.

Go to article

'Once-Off' And Continuing Gains From Trade, M. Scott Taylor Aug 1994

'Once-Off' And Continuing Gains From Trade, M. Scott Taylor

M. Scott Taylor

Most Economists are familiar with the static or once-off welfare gains created by opening an economy to trade. Much less is known about how the resource reallocations necessitated by this move affect long-run growth, and hence whether they provide dynamic or continuing welfare gains in future periods. This paper employs a dynamic Ricardian trade model to provide a decomposition of the gains from trade into "once-off" and continuing categories. In one version of the model, trade is always welfare enhancing; in the other, "once-off" losses may occur alongside dynamic gains. In both versions the magnitude of the once-off and continuing …

Go to article

North-South Trade And The Environment, M. Scott Taylor, Brian A. Copeland Aug 1994

North-South Trade And The Environment, M. Scott Taylor, Brian A. Copeland

M. Scott Taylor

A simple static model of North-South trade is developed to examine linkages between national income, pollution, and international trade. Two countries produce a continuum of goods, each differing in pollution intensity. We show that the higher income country chooses stronger environmental protection, and specializes in relatively clean goods. By isolating the scale, composition, and technique effects of international trade on pollution, we show that free trade increases world pollution; an increase in the Rich North's production possibilities increases pollution, while similar growth in the poor South lowers pollution; and unilateral transfers from North to South reduce worldwide pollution.

Go to article

National Defense And The Public-Goods Problem, Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, Don Lavoie Jun 1994

National Defense And The Public-Goods Problem, Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, Don Lavoie

Jeffrey Rogers Hummel

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Trips, Trade, And Growth, M. Scott Taylor May 1994

Trips, Trade, And Growth, M. Scott Taylor

M. Scott Taylor

A two country model of endogenous growth is employed to assess the importance of intellectual property rights to trade, growth and technology transfer. The paper provides theoretical results linking the intellectual property rights regime to trade patterns, aggregate R&D, worldwide growth, and aggregate welfare measures. Failure to provide patent protection for foreign made innovations forces innovators to employ less than the best practice research technologies, reduces aggregate R&D activities worldwide, effectively eliminates technology transfer across countries, and reduces worldwide growth.

Go to article

Entry Deterrence In The Commons, Charles F. Mason, Stephen Polasky Apr 1994

Entry Deterrence In The Commons, Charles F. Mason, Stephen Polasky

Charles F Mason

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Judicial Legitimacy: An Interpretation As A Repeated Game, Eric Bennett Rasmusen Apr 1994

Judicial Legitimacy: An Interpretation As A Repeated Game, Eric Bennett Rasmusen

Eric Bennett Rasmusen

If society wishes to maintain an independent judiciary, it faces the problem of how to restrain judges from indulging their personal whims. One restraint is the desire of judges to influence future judges. To do so, they may have to maintain their own or the system's legitimacy by restraining their own behavior. This situation is usefully viewed as an equilibrium of an infinitely repeated game.

Go to article

Cheap Bribes And The Corruption Ban: A Coordination Game Among Rational Legislators, Eric Bennett Rasmusen, J. Mark Ramseyer Apr 1994

Cheap Bribes And The Corruption Ban: A Coordination Game Among Rational Legislators, Eric Bennett Rasmusen, J. Mark Ramseyer

Eric Bennett Rasmusen

Legislators in modern democracies (a) accept bribes that are small compared to value of the statutes they pass and (b) allow bans against bribery to be enforced. In our model of bribery, rational legislators accept bribes smaller not only than the benefit the briber receives but than the costs the legislators incur in accepting the bribes. Rather than risk this outcome, the legislators may be willing to suppress bribery altogether. The size of legislatures, the quality of voter information, the nature of party organization, and the structure of committees will all influence the frequency and size of bribes.

Go to article

Imperfect Product Testing And Market Size, Charles F. Mason, Frederic P. Sterbenz Jan 1994

Imperfect Product Testing And Market Size, Charles F. Mason, Frederic P. Sterbenz

Charles F Mason

No abstract provided.

Go to article

In Search Of A Monetary Anchor: A "New" Monetary Standard, Warren Coats Jan 1994

In Search Of A Monetary Anchor: A "New" Monetary Standard, Warren Coats

Warren Coats

This discussion of monetary rules generalizes "commodity" standard/currency board rules in a new way to target the CPI.

Go to article

Wage Bargaining With Time-Varying Threats, Peter Cramton, Joseph Tracy Jan 1994

Wage Bargaining With Time-Varying Threats, Peter Cramton, Joseph Tracy

Peter Cramton

We study wage bargaining in which the union is uncertain about the firm's willingness to pay and threat payoffs vary over time. Strike payoffs change over time as replacement workers are hired, as strikers find temporary jobs, and as inventories or strike funds run out. We find that bargaining outcomes are substantially altered if threat payoffs vary. If dispute costs increase in the long-run, then dispute durations are longer, settlement rates are lower, and wages decline more slowly during the short-run (and may even increase). The settlement wage is largely determined from the long-run threat, rather than the short-run threat.

Go to article

The Determinants Of U.S. Labor Disputes, Peter Cramton, Joseph Tracy Jan 1994

The Determinants Of U.S. Labor Disputes, Peter Cramton, Joseph Tracy

Peter Cramton

We present a bargaining model of union contract negotiations, in which the union decides between two threats: the union can strike or continue to work under the expired contract. The model makes predictions about the level of dispute activity and the form the disputes take. Strike incidence increases as the strike threat becomes more attractive, because of low unemployment or a real wage drop during the prior contract. We test these predictions by estimating logistic models of dispute incidence and dispute composition for U.S. labor contract negotiations from 1970 to 1989. We find empirical support for the model's key predictions, …

Go to article

Relational Investing And Agency Theory, Peter Cramton, Ian Ayres Jan 1994

Relational Investing And Agency Theory, Peter Cramton, Ian Ayres

Peter Cramton

This Article analyzes how, and when, corporate governance could be improved by utilizing "relational investing." The term relational investing is just coming into vogue and there does not yet seem to be a consensus on what it means. Although the term has been trumpeted on the cover of Business Week, before the Conference on Relational Investing at Columbia University, relatively little legal writing had been published on the subject. For the purposes of this Article, we define relational investing to encompass commitments to buy and hold significant blocks of a corporation's stock. And it is particularly important that the relational …

Go to article

Inventory, Business Cycles And Monetary Transmission (Ed.), Riccardo Fiorito Jan 1994

Inventory, Business Cycles And Monetary Transmission (Ed.), Riccardo Fiorito

riccardo fiorito

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Stylized Facts Of Business Cycles In The G7 From A Real Business Cycles Perspective, Riccardo Fiorito, Tryphon Kollintzas Jan 1994

Stylized Facts Of Business Cycles In The G7 From A Real Business Cycles Perspective, Riccardo Fiorito, Tryphon Kollintzas

riccardo fiorito

This paper investigates the basic stylized facts of business cycles in the G-7 countries using quarterly data (1960-89). The methodology is based on Kydland-Prescott (1990). The evidence suggests that the RBC model can account for several major stylized facts for all seven countries. In particular, consumption is procylical and fluctuates more than output; net exports are countercyclical; prices are countercyclical; government consumption and money do not have a clear cut pattern.

Go to article

Regional Unemployment In Italy: Sources And Cures, Maurizio Baussola, Riccardo Fiorito Jan 1994

Regional Unemployment In Italy: Sources And Cures, Maurizio Baussola, Riccardo Fiorito

riccardo fiorito

A regional model of Italy analyzes unemployment responses to supply and demand shocks in the market for labor and goods. Both supply and demand components of unemployment are endogenous. Employment has low elasticity to output in Southern Italy where labor force increases more because of demographic and participation changes. This also makes it difficult to close the gap between this region and the most developed areas of the country.

Go to article

Alternative Fishery Management Policies: Monitoring Costs Versus Catch Limits, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton, Dwight R. Lee, Steve Jackstadt Jan 1994

Alternative Fishery Management Policies: Monitoring Costs Versus Catch Limits, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton, Dwight R. Lee, Steve Jackstadt

PHILIP E GRAVES

There was no abstract for this brief note.

Go to article

Food Quality: Safety, Nutrition, And Labeling, Julie Caswell Jan 1994

Food Quality: Safety, Nutrition, And Labeling, Julie Caswell

Julie Caswell

This paper discussed food quality issues associated with both food safety and food nutritional content. Policy approaches to satisfying consumer demands for safe, nutritious food are described from administrative as well as economic perspectives. Current priority issues include instituting better ways of reducing risks from microbial pathogens, from agricultural chemical residues, and on the nutritional front enhancing the nutritional profile of consumers' diets. Nutrition labeling changes have been achieved. Thus, dietary change must be attained primarily through effective means of enhancing nutritional knowledge, changing attitudes and, ultimately, behavior. The paper concludes by considering the development of the next agricultural/food legislation …

Go to article

Creating Successful Partnerships In Export Promotion, John R. Mullin, Zenia Kotval, Maureen Moriarty Jan 1994

Creating Successful Partnerships In Export Promotion, John R. Mullin, Zenia Kotval, Maureen Moriarty

John R. Mullin

Until recently, many small firms had little or no interest in exporting as the complexities of working within the international marketplace proved to be a deterrent for many of these companies. However, the steady erosion of the U.S. share of total world exports during the 1960's and 1970's has been important not only from a statistical point of view, but from its impact on the national economy. According to the Department of Commerce, it is estimated that an additional one billion dollars of the trade activity creates close to 40,000 jobs and generates 400 million dollars in State and Federal …

Go to article

Employer Recruitment And The Integration Of Industrial Labor Markets, 1870-1914, Joshua L. Rosenbloom Jan 1994

Employer Recruitment And The Integration Of Industrial Labor Markets, 1870-1914, Joshua L. Rosenbloom

Joshua L. Rosenbloom

The substantial shifts in the sectoral and geographic location of economic activity that took place in the late nineteenth-century United States required the reallocation of large quantities of labor. This paper examines the response of labor market institutions to the challenges of unbalanced growth. Based on previously unexploited descriptive evidence from the reports of the Immigration Commission it argues that employer recruitment was crucial to the adjustment of labor markets to shifting patterns of supply and demand. Because individual employers could capture only a fraction of the benefits of recruitment, however, investment in this activity may have been less than …

Go to article

What Should The Federal Government Be Doing About Urban Economic Development?, Timothy Bartik Dec 1993

What Should The Federal Government Be Doing About Urban Economic Development?, Timothy Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.

Go to article

The Effects Of Metropolitan Job Growth On The Size Distribution Of Family Income, Timothy Bartik Dec 1993

The Effects Of Metropolitan Job Growth On The Size Distribution Of Family Income, Timothy Bartik

Timothy J. Bartik

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Race, Poverty, And Enlistment: Some Evidence From The National Longitudinal Survey Of Youth, Michael C. Seeborg Dec 1993

Race, Poverty, And Enlistment: Some Evidence From The National Longitudinal Survey Of Youth, Michael C. Seeborg

Michael Seeborg

This paper explores the determinants of enlistment for a large sample of male youth drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Logit results indicate that the probability of enlistment is directly related to minority and poverty status while controlling for ability and a number of other socioeconomic background variables. In addition, an analysis of poverty transitions show that a very large percentage of enlistees in the early 1980s who were living in poverty at age 17 were successful in escaping poverty by 1990. An important conclusion is that the military can serve as a mechanism of upward economic mobility …

Go to article

Economics And Rational Conservation Policy, Gilbert E. Metcalf Dec 1993

Economics And Rational Conservation Policy, Gilbert E. Metcalf

Gilbert E. Metcalf

Energy analysts have long been concerned with the apparently low level of energy-efficient investments and have suggested the presence of various market barriers and failures that hinder investment. The concept of a barrier as defined here is some force that is working against investment in energy-efficient technologies. Market failures, on the other hand, are failures of the competitive paradigm that lead to economically inefficient outcomes. Market barriers require no particular response on the part of government while market failures may call for some policy response.

Go to article

Prometheus Born: The High Middle Ages And The Relationship Between Law And Economic Conduct, David J. Gerber Dec 1993

Prometheus Born: The High Middle Ages And The Relationship Between Law And Economic Conduct, David J. Gerber

David J. Gerber

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Heterogeneous Demand And Order Of Resource Extraction, Ujjayant N. Chakravorty, Darrell Krulce Dec 1993

Heterogeneous Demand And Order Of Resource Extraction, Ujjayant N. Chakravorty, Darrell Krulce

Ujjayant Chakravorty

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Aggregate Convergence And Sectoral Specialization In Innovation, Mario Pianta, Daniele Archibugi Dec 1993

Aggregate Convergence And Sectoral Specialization In Innovation, Mario Pianta, Daniele Archibugi

Mario Pianta

Over the last 20 years OECD countries have converged in terms of their innovation, in parallel to the process of economic convergence and catching-up in technology. However, this has not led to a similarity in the sectoral strenghts of the majority of countries. Applying a measure of "technological distance" between pairs of countries based on patents, it is shown that nations have increased their technological specialization (i.e their sectoral differences) over the 1980s. An apparent paradox is pointed out, as countries converge by becoming more different and grow by becoming more specialized.

Go to article