Economic Inquiry articles from April 1991

Economic Inquiry archives from April 1991

The impact of R&D investment on productivity - new evidence using linked R&D - LRD data. (Research and Development)(Longitudinal Research Database)
April 1, 1991... THE IMPACT OF R&D INVESTMENT ON PRODUCTIVITY--NEW EVIDENCE USING LINKED R&D--LRD DATA This paper uses confidential Census longitudinal microdata to examine the association between R&D and productivity for the period 1972-1985. These data...

Bank panics, suspensions, and geography: some notes on the "contagion of fear" in banking.
April 1, 1991... BANK PANICS, SUSPENSIONS, AND GEOGRAPHY: SOME NOTES ON THE "CONTAGION OF FEAR" IN BANKING Recent attempts to understand bank panics tend to emphasize informational asymmetries or the possibilities of multiple equilibria. Such approaches...

Ownership and the regulation of wildlife.
April 1, 1991... OWNERSHIP AND THE REGULATION OF WILDLIFE The use of wildlife resources is governed by a combination of private contracts and public regulations. Most often, private landowners control access rights, and government agencies regulate hunting...

The Hayek hypothesis in experimental auctions: institutional effects and market power.
April 1, 1991... THE HAYEK HYPOTHESIS IN EXPERIMENTAL AUCTIONS: INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTS AND MARKET POWER We report twelve market experiments utilizing a "seller market power" supply and demand structure where two of five sellers can unilaterally increase their...

The demand to regulate franchise monopoly: evidence from CATV rate deregulation in California.
April 1, 1991... THE DEMAND TO REGULATE FRANCHISE MONOPOLY: EVIDENCE FROM CATV RATE DEREGULATION IN CALIFORNIA The motivation to price control a franchise monopoly is examined in the context of three distinct economic views of regulatory behavior. These...

Certainty vs. severity of punishment.
April 1, 1991... CERTAINTY VS. SEVERITY OF PUNISHMENT Recent research has generated conflicting findings regarding the role of employment and earnings versus criminal justice sanctions in reducing crime. Further disagreement exists over the relative...

Impact of the New Zealand seat belt law.
April 1, 1991... IMPACT OF THE NEW ZEALAND SEAT BELT LAW Offsetting consumer behavior may have reduced the effectiveness of a mandatory seat belt law in reducing fatalities in New Zealand. It appears that the favorable effect on automobile occupants may be...

The importance of sectoral and aggregate shocks in business cycles.
April 1, 1991... THE IMPORTANCE OF SECTORAL AND AGGREGATE SHOCKS IN BUSINESS CYCLES The theoretical literature on business cycles proposes numerous causes for their occurrence. This paper attempts to measure the relative importance of aggregate, whether real...

The distribution of wealth and the efficiency of institutions.
April 1, 1991... THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH AND THE EFFICIENCY OF INSTITUTIONS This paper explores the effect on economic efficiency of the distribution of wealth and systems for enforcing property rights. We construct a two-person, two-period economy in...

Voluntary contribution games: efficient private provision of public goods.
April 1, 1991... VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION GAMES: EFFICIENT PRIVATE PROVISION OF PUBLIC GOODS This paper reports on a series of laboratory experiments designed to evaluate a mechanism for the voluntary provision of public good. The public good is provided if...

Efficient user charges in a rent-seeking model.
April 1, 1991... EFFICIENT USER CHARGES IN A RENT-SEEKING MODEL This paper examines efficient user charges on governmentally provided facilities in the presence of rent seeking. We find that the efficient user charge depends upon the relative slopes of the...

A bandwagon effect in personalized license plates?
April 1, 1991... A BANDWAGON EFFECT IN PERSONALIZED LICENSE PLATES? The bandwagon effect is a consumption externality that exists when an individual's demand for a good is increased by his observation of other consumers using that good. This paper models a...

A comment on competition and bidding behavior: some evidence from the rice market.
April 1, 1991... A COMMENT ON COMPETITION AND BIDDING BEHAVIOR: SOME EVIDENCE FROM THE RICE MARKET In testing agents' responses to increased competition in sealed-bid first price-rice auctions, Meyer [1988] makes two erroneous assumptions: (1) that agents...

Teaching tools: a public goods experiment for the classroom.
April 1, 1991... TEACHING TOOLS A PUBLIC GOODS EXPERIMENT FOR THE CLASSROOM George Stigler wrote in the American Economic Review twenty-seven years ago, that the typical student in an introductory college economics course would "memorize a few facts,...