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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Research Note: Assessing Household Service Losses With Joint Survival Probabilities, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade Dec 2006

Research Note: Assessing Household Service Losses With Joint Survival Probabilities, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade

Economics Department Working Papers

Traditional analyses of household service losses in personal injury and wrongful death litigation calculate the losses over the expected lifetime of the injured or deceased individual. In fact, the losses to the surviving family members are more accurately described by using joint survival probabilities of the injured or deceased person and their survivors, or a “joint life expectancy.” The use of joint probabilities will always serve to reduce expected household service losses and these reductions can be especially significant when the deceased is significantly younger than the surviving spouse or if the survivor has a relatively low remaining life expectancy.


Mega-Events: The Effect Of The World’S Biggest Sporting Events On Local, Regional, And National Economies, Victor Matheson Oct 2006

Mega-Events: The Effect Of The World’S Biggest Sporting Events On Local, Regional, And National Economies, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

This paper provides an overview of the economics of sports mega-events as well as a review of the existing literature in the field. The paper describes why boosters’ ex ante estimates of the economic impact of large sporting events tend to exaggerate the net economic benefits of these events and surveys the results of a large number of ex post studies of exploring the true impact of mega-events.


Gamblers’ Love For Variety And Substitution Among Lotto Games, Victor Matheson, Kent Grote Sep 2006

Gamblers’ Love For Variety And Substitution Among Lotto Games, Victor Matheson, Kent Grote

Economics Department Working Papers

This paper considers the whether offering multiple lotto games within a state by joining a multi-state lottery increases total ticket sales compared to offering a single state game. The question is considered from two different perspectives, which both lead to the conclusion that states do tend to benefit from increased ticket sales overall by joining a multi-state lottery association. There is, however, a noted difference in the magnitude of that effect depending on the size of the average jackpots of the previously existing state games.


A Tale Of Two Stadiums: Comparing The Economic Impact Of Chicago’S Wrigley Field And U.S. Cellular Field, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade, Mimi Nikolova Aug 2006

A Tale Of Two Stadiums: Comparing The Economic Impact Of Chicago’S Wrigley Field And U.S. Cellular Field, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade, Mimi Nikolova

Economics Department Working Papers

Supporters of sports stadium construction often defend taxpayer subsidies for stadiums by suggesting that sports infrastructure can serve as an anchor for local economic redevelopment. Have such promises of economic rejuvenation been realized? The City of Chicago provides an interesting case study on how a new stadium, U. S. Cellular Field, has been integrated into its southside neighborhood in a way that may well have limited local economic activity. This economic outcome stands in stark contrast to Wrigley Field in northern Chicago which continues to experience a synergistic commercial relationship with its neighborhood.


Environmental Contamination And House Values: A Study Of Market Adjustment, Katherine Kiel Aug 2006

Environmental Contamination And House Values: A Study Of Market Adjustment, Katherine Kiel

Economics Department Working Papers

In many communities throughout the United States, contaminated sites are identified and addressed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In each of these communities, the EPA presents a plan of action and provides the community with information about progress being made. Does the housing market adjust quickly after announcements by EPA concerning the existence and toxicity of Superfund sites? Other studies have shown that the levels of house prices fall when people suspect there is a problem, and again when the EPA announces that the site is toxic (e.g. Kiel, 1995), but how can we tell when or if the …


(Much) More On The Collateral Source Rule, David Schap, Andrew Feeley Jun 2006

(Much) More On The Collateral Source Rule, David Schap, Andrew Feeley

Economics Department Working Papers

The collateral source rule is a common law norm that permits recovery of accident-related damages from both the victim’s insurer and the injurer. Many jurisdictions have modified the rule through statutory reform during the last twenty-five years. Forensic economists in assessing damages need to be aware of the variations in the application of the rule in the jurisdictions in which they practice. The authors present a tabular summary of the statutory variations that exist in the collateral source rule across state jurisdictions and the detailed status of the statutory modifications to the rule for each state.


The Collateral Source Rule: A Common Law Norm Under Special Interest Attack, David Schap, Andrew Feeley Jun 2006

The Collateral Source Rule: A Common Law Norm Under Special Interest Attack, David Schap, Andrew Feeley

Economics Department Working Papers

According to Posnerian law and economics, common law (i.e., judge-made law) tends to promote efficiency. Public choice teaches that statutory (legislated) law need have no such efficiency property because, unlike appointed judges, legislators are subject to short election cycles and are beholden to special interests for election and re-election. The collateral source rule is a common law norm that permits an injured party to recover damages from both the tortfeasor (injurer) and from private insurance. Published work in the law and economics literature indicates that despite an appearance that the rule permits unwarranted double recover, the rule is indeed generally …


The Economic Consequences Of Professional Sports Strikes And Lockouts: Revisited, Robert Baade, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson Apr 2006

The Economic Consequences Of Professional Sports Strikes And Lockouts: Revisited, Robert Baade, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

Professional sports franchises have used the lure of economic riches as an incentive for cities to construct new stadiums and arenas at considerable public expense. An analysis of taxable sales in Florida cities demonstrates that none of the 6 new franchises or 8 new stadiums and arenas in the state since 1980 have resulted in a statistically significant increase in taxable sales in the host metropolitan area. In addition, using the numerous work stoppages in professional sports as test cases, again no statistically significant effect on taxable sales is found from the sudden absence of professional sports due to strikes …


Can New Orleans Play Its Way Past Katrina? The Role Of Professional Sports In The Redevelopment Of New Orleans, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade Feb 2006

Can New Orleans Play Its Way Past Katrina? The Role Of Professional Sports In The Redevelopment Of New Orleans, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade

Economics Department Working Papers

Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans in late August 2005, and debates are now underway across the country concerning strategies for reconstructing the City. A key to redevelopment involves encouraging former citizens and businesses to return. Both of New Orleans’s professional sports teams, the National Football League Saints and the National Basketball Association Hornets, have taken up residence in other cities, and the question of what the city should provide in the way of financial accommodation to encourage them to return should be considered in devising a reconstruction plan. Infrastructure to facilitate professional sports and mega-events constitutes a …


Environmental Contamination And House Values, Katherine Kiel Jan 2006

Environmental Contamination And House Values, Katherine Kiel

Economics Department Working Papers

A house is a bundle of many goods: The number of bedrooms, bathrooms, the quality of local public services, the tidiness of a neighbor’s yard, and the quality of the local environment. If transactions in the housing market reflect the interaction of informed buyers and sellers, then the price that the house sells for is the sum of the prices the buyer is willing to pay for each individual characteristic of the house. It is this notion that motivates environmental economists to study property values. If individuals consider the local environment as a component of the house they purchase, then …