Economic Policy Commons^™

Residential Choices And Prospective Risks Of Nursing Home Entry, Kenneth A. Couch, Duke Kao

Center for Policy Research

Nationally representative estimates of the prospective risk of entry into a nursing home and the likelihood of residing in a nursing home are obtained using data from the Longitudinal Study of Aging: 1984-1990. The roles of demographic characteristics, kin availability, and health status in determining entry into and residence in nursing homes is examined. Caregivers facilitate community residence and reduce the risk of nursing home entry for those with functional limitations. Dementia in combination with functional limitations increases the risk of nursing home entry.

Trends. The Political Psychology Of Economic Policy: Is The Emperor Wearing No Clothes? Is There An Emperor?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the global economic crisis.

Intergenerational Co-Residence And Children's Incomes, Thomas A. Dunn, John W. Phillips

Center for Policy Research

This paper examines co-residence arrangements between older parents and their adult children. We sketch a model of the co-residence choice that accounts for the preferences of the parent and the child and incorporates parental altruism and demands for housing, goods, and privacy. The model predicts that poorer, unmarried or childless siblings are more likely than their siblings to co-reside. The empirical analysis exploits the information provided by respondents in the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) survey about all of their children living in and outside their household. Indeed, we find that poorer siblings are more likely …

Estate Taxes, Life Insurance, And Small Business, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, John W. Phillips, Harvey S. Rosen

Center for Policy Research

One criticism of the estate tax is that it prevents the owners of family businesses from passing their enterprises onto their children. The problem is that it may be difficult to pay estate taxes without liquidating the business. A natural question is why individuals with such concerns do not purchase enough life insurance to meet their estate tax liabilities. This paper examines whether and how people use life insurance to deal with the estate tax. We find that, other things being the same, business owners purchase more life insurance than other individuals. However, on the margin, their insurance purchases are …

When Random Group Effects Are Cross-Correlated: An Application To Elderly Migration Flow Models, Karen S. Conway, Andrew J. Houtenville

Center for Policy Research

Incorporating random group effects has proven important to making correct statistical inferences about factors that only vary across groups. We note that it is possible to have more than one random effect in models using cross-sectional data and that these random effects could be correlated, unlike in the typical panel data situation. Extending the standard multiple random effects model in this way is greatly simplified by using the two-step estimator we develop. Our application to an elderly migration flow model provides an intuitive example of cross-correlated random group effects and demonstrates the ease of our estimator, as well as highlighting …

Reflection Moderation In The U.S. Senate On Economics, Social, And Foreign Policy, Brian E. Russell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates reelection moderation in the U.S. Senate on economic, social, and foreign policy between 1983 and 1994. I test 3 hypotheses based on the assumption that senators moderate their voting records when seeking reelection to appeal to the median voter. My hypotheses are: (1) Both groups of senators will moderate on economic policy, but a larger percentage of Democrats will moderate than Republicans (2) A majority of Democratic senators will moderate on social policy, but only a small percentage of Republicans will moderate. (3) Less than a majority of both groups of senators will moderate on foreign policy, …

Elderly Migration And State Fiscal Policy: Evidence From The 1990 Census Migration Flows+, Karen S. Conway, Andrew J. Houtenville

Center for Policy Research

The elderly’s unique economic situation makes some government expenditures more attractive and some forms of taxation less burdensome than others. This research investigates whether elderly migration is affected by state fiscal policies and discusses the possible consequences, both of which likely differ between younger and older elderly. Using state-to-state migration flows, we identify which states are gaining and losing younger versus older elderly people. We then estimate the migration flows as a function of the states’ amenities, cost of living, composition of government spending and alternative specifications of the tax system. We find that elderly migration is influenced by state …

Regional Economic Integration: From Independence To Interdependence, C T Selvarajah

IIMB Management Review

Liberalisation has seen many economies, especially in Asia, opening their hitherto sheltered domestic markets to global competition and providing greater opportunities to trade and foreign investment. The spinoffs of liberalisation bring in new implications, opportunities and challenges for the governments as well as the organisations involved. Round Table features some of the issues discussed in the conference on 'Managing Economic Liberalisation in South Asia : Directions for the 21st Century' held in Chennai, India, from August 10 -13. Selvarajah examines the realignment of economies towards globalisation as a development of regionalism. The shift in economic forces away from multilateral arrangements …

Fiscal Support For India’S Liberalisation - Is It Adequate?, Shyamal Roy

IIMB Management Review

For assessing fiscal policy support to India's economic liberalisation process, the quality of fiscal management is far more important than just monitoring the aggregates. Going by this framework of analysis, government expenditure and borrowing patterns have had a negative impact on the liberalisation process. In fact, the fiscal management of the economy over the years was so complete that it left little room for manoeuvrability in the fiscal variables in the budget 1998-99. Shyamal Roy examines budget 1998-99 and finds that though it may fail to achieve the fiscal targets, it does contain some ideas which if pursued vigorously can …

Horatio Alger Meets The Mobility Tables, Douglas Holt-Eakin, Harvey S. Rosen, Robert Weathers

Center for Policy Research

The question of how entrepreneurship relates to income mobility is cogent given the current public debate about the sources of income inequality and mobility in United States society. We examine how experience with entrepreneurship has affected an individual’s place in the earnings distribution. Our basic tack is to follow individuals’ positions in the income distribution over time, and to see how their mobility (or lack thereof) was affected by involvement with entrepreneurship. Our main finding is that for low-income individuals there is some merit to the notion that the self-employed moved ahead in the earnings distribution relative to those who …

Income Taxes And Entrepreneurs' Use Of Labor, Robert Carroll, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Mark Rider, Harvey Rosen

Center for Policy Research

This paper investigates the effect of entrepreneurs’ personal income tax situations on their use of labor. We analyze the income tax returns of a large number of sole proprietors before and after the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and determine how the substantial reductions in marginal tax rates associated with that law affected their decisions to hire labor and the size of their wage bills. We find that individual income taxes exert a statistically and quantitatively significant influence on the probability that an entrepreneur hires workers. Raising the entrepreneur’s “tax price” (one minus the marginal tax rate) by 10 percent …

Where Does The Money Come From? The Financing Of Small Entrepreneurial Enterprises, Zsuzsanna Fluck, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Harvey Rosen

Center for Policy Research

Using data from the Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Climate Study, we study the sources of firms’ finance during the very early stages of their lives. Our focus is the evolution of the mix of financial capital from “insiders” and “outsiders” as firms age. We find that at the beginning of firms’ life cycles, the proportion of funds from internal sources increases with age, while the proportion from banks, venture capitalists, and private investors declines. There is also evidence that these patterns eventually reverse themselves, with the proportion of insider finance ultimately declining and the proportion of outsider finance increasing with age. We …

Financial Capital, Human Capital, And The Transition To Self-Employment: Evidence From Intergenerational Links, Thomas Dunn, Douglas Holtz-Eakin

Center for Policy Research

The environment for business creation is central to economic policy, as entrepreneurs are believed to be forces of innovation, employment and economic dynamism. We use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) to investigate the relative importance of family financial and human capital in the transition into self-employment. Specifically, we estimate the impacts of own wealth and human capital and parental wealth and self-employment experience on the probability that an individual makes the transition from a wage and salary job to self-employment. We find that young men’s own financial assets exert a statistically significant, but quantitatively modest effect on the …

Apocalypse Now? Fundamental Tax Reform And Residential Housing Values, Donald Bruce, Douglas Holtz-Eakin

Center for Policy Research

Using a simulation model crafted to integrate the short-run and long-term impacts of tax reform on the housing market, we find modest impacts from fundamental reform of the Federal income tax. These results suggest that concerns over the impact of tax reform on housing values and household net worth are overstated. To the extent that reform is otherwise desirable, fears of drastic effects on the housing market should not stand as an impediment to reform. Donald

Entrepreneurs, Income Taxes, And Investment, Robert Carroll, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Mark Rider, Harvey Rosen

Center for Policy Research

This paper investigates the effect of entrepreneurs’ personal income tax situations on their capital investment decisions. We examine the income tax returns of a sample of sole proprietors before and after the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and determine how the substantial reductions in marginal tax rates for the relatively affluent associated with that law affected their decisions to invest in physical capital. We find that individual income taxes exert a statistically and quantitatively significant influence on investment decisions. In our sample, a 5 percentage point increase in marginal tax rates would reduce the proportion of entrepreneurs who make new …

Discrimination In Qualitative Actions By Real Estate Brokers, Jan Ondrich, Alex Stricker

Center for Policy Research

Discrimination occurs when people in a particular class are systematically treated less favorably than other equally qualified people. This study focuses on racial and ethnic discrimination in qualitative actions by real estate brokers, such as showing a customer a housing unit that was advertised in the newspaper. The data come from the Housing Discrimination Study, which conducted over 2,000 fair housing audits of real estate brokers in 25 metropolitan areas in 1989. Each audit consists of a visit to a real estate agency by a white person and either a black or Hispanic person with similar socio-economic characteristics. Using Chamberlain’s …

Industrial Policy: Federal, State, And Local Response, Zenia Kotval

New England Journal of Public Policy

During the past twenty years, many economists and policymakers have strongly advocated that the United States formulate a national industrial policy to improve the competitiveness of American firms in the global marketplace. These proposals call for both direct and indirect assistance to specific industrial sectors. Some would contend that U.S. industrial policies are being challenged by newer growth theories that shift the focus from the nation as the basic unit of industrial geography to regions and municipalities. There is little argument about the need for industrial policies that tie national, state, and local initiatives together. However, confusion and disagreement exist …

Armut : Der Mensch Lebt Nicht Vom Brot Allein : Wege Zur Soziokulturellen Existenzsicherung, Isidor Wallimann, Susanne Schmid

Books

While the usual discussion about the poverty of the minimum financial security speaks, the authors ask what it could mean for to be living in a secure socio-cultural minimum. The fact is that poverty can be both "caused" by various forms of exclusion, as well as the socio-cultural exclusion promotes or "causes".

Introduction (The Middle East And Development In A Changing World), Donald Heisel

Faculty Book Chapters

[abstract not provided]

Egypt's Economic Reform And The Challenges Of Globalization, Gouda Abdel-Khalek

Faculty Book Chapters

[abstract not provided]

Private Capital Flow In The Development Of The Arab Countries, Mohamed A. El-Erian, Shahpassand Sheybani

Faculty Book Chapters

[abstract not provided]

Differentiating Regulation Of Public And Private Institutions: A Preliminary Inquiry, Jonathan G.S. Koppell

Publications from President Jonathan G.S. Koppell

Twenty years ago, James Q. Wilson and Patricia Rachal argued that government cannot regulate itself. In an era of revived federalism, increased reliance on contractors, and proliferation of quasi-public organizations, the importance of government self-regulation is greater than ever. This paper tests an underlying assumption of Wilson and Rachal's claim: that regulation of public and private organizations can be differentiated. Employing a meta-research design, this pilot study uses existing regulatory case studies to create "regulatory relationship profiles" for public and private organizations. These profiles include information on the structure of the regulator, the intent of the regulation, the enforcement tools …

Industrial Clusters And Ssi Development, Mukesh Gulati

IIMB Management Review

Since Independence, Small Scale Industries (SSIs), have been playing a stellar role in the economic development of the country. SSIs account for more than a third of the total manufacturing output and generate almost 35 per cent of the country's exports. Importantly, they provide employment to more than ten million Indians. With the onset of economic liberalisation in the country-since 1991- even SSIs have been trying to redefine their role and adapt effectively to the changing macro-economic environment, where market forces are calling the tune. The Abid Hussain Committee, which was constituted to re-define the role of SSIs in the …

High Technology Entrepreneurship And Development In Bangalore, James Heitzman

IIMB Management Review

Since Independence, Small Scale Industries (SSIs), have been playing a stellar role in the economic development of the country. SSIs account for more than a third of the total manufacturing output and generate almost 35 per cent of the country's exports. Importantly, they provide employment to more than ten million Indians. With the onset of economic liberalisation in the country-since 1991- even SSIs have been trying to redefine their role and adapt effectively to the changing macro-economic environment, where market forces are calling the tune. The Abid Hussain Committee, which was constituted to re-define the role of SSIs in the …

Re-Thinking Reservation Of Goods In Ssis, H R Jairam

IIMB Management Review

Since Independence, Small Scale Industries (SSIs), have been playing a stellar role in the economic development of the country. SSIs account for more than a third of the total manufacturing output and generate almost 35 per cent of the country's exports. Importantly, they provide employment to more than ten million Indians. With the onset of economic liberalisation in the country-since 1991- even SSIs have been trying to redefine their role and adapt effectively to the changing macro-economic environment, where market forces are calling the tune. The Abid Hussain Committee, which was constituted to re-define the role of SSIs in the …

Institutional Framework For Ssi Support, V B Nanda Gopal

IIMB Management Review

Since Independence, Small Scale Industries (SSIs), have been playing a stellar role in the economic development of the country. SSIs account for more than a third of the total manufacturing output and generate almost 35 per cent of the country's exports. Importantly, they provide employment to more than ten million Indians. With the onset of economic liberalisation in the country-since 1991- even SSIs have been trying to redefine their role and adapt effectively to the changing macro-economic environment, where market forces are calling the tune. The Abid Hussain Committee, which was constituted to re-define the role of SSIs in the …

Promoting Entrepreneurship: Future Policy Directions, S Sundararajan

IIMB Management Review

Since Independence, Small Scale Industries (SSIs), have been playing a stellar role in the economic development of the country. SSIs account for more than a third of the total manufacturing output and generate almost 35 per cent of the country's exports. Importantly, they provide employment to more than ten million Indians. With the onset of economic liberalisation in the country-since 1991- even SSIs have been trying to redefine their role and adapt effectively to the changing macro-economic environment, where market forces are calling the tune. The Abid Hussain Committee, which was constituted to re-define the role of SSIs in the …

Ssis: Simplifying Rules And Procedures, M Mahabala

IIMB Management Review

Since Independence, Small Scale Industries (SSIs), have been playing a stellar role in the economic development of the country. SSIs account for more than a third of the total manufacturing output and generate almost 35 per cent of the country's exports. Importantly, they provide employment to more than ten million Indians. With the onset of economic liberalisation in the country-since 1991- even SSIs have been trying to redefine their role and adapt effectively to the changing macro-economic environment, where market forces are calling the tune. The Abid Hussain Committee, which was constituted to re-define the role of SSIs in the …

Eastward Ho: Issues And Options In Regional Development For The Metropolitan Boston Region, Robert C. Wood, Laura C. Ghirardini, Lori L. Prew, Aundrea Kelley

McCormack Graduate School General Publications (active until 2013)

Conventional wisdom suggests that the basic job of public policy studies (and public institutions, for that matter) is to deal in a timely and practical fashion with pressing public issues of the day. The focus typically is on 'ripe' topics, 'hot' political problems. If a study can be ahead of the curve, in John Kingdon's apt phrase "an idea whose time has come," so much the better. But unlike more traditional academic research, where the focus is timeless — i.e., an explanation of previously inexplicable phenomena, timeliness is a prime reason for initiating a policy study.

In this context, analyzing …

Security And The Global Environment: An Introduction, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some of the psychopolitical consequences of managing economic activities in an era of globalization.