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The impact of consumer financial regulation: evidence from the CARD Act
In the wake of the financial crisis, there has been a surge of interest in regulating consumer financial products (e.g., Campbell et al., 2011). In the United States, the 2010 Dodd-Frank “Wall Street...
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Wealthy ‘hand-to-mouth’ households: key to understanding the impacts of...
Many families in Europe and North America have substantial assets in the form of housing and retirement accounts but little in the way of liquid wealth or credit facilities to offset short-term income...
View ArticleDivorce laws and the economic behavior of married couples
By regulating when divorce can occur and how resources are divided when it does, divorce laws can affect people’s behavior and their wellbeing both during marriage and at divorce. Household survey data...
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Designing tax policy in high-evasion economies
Developing economies are typically characterized by low tax revenue and widespread tax evasion. This research shows that in such environments, it can be better to tax firms based on turnover rather...
View ArticleA choice of auction type allows for corruption to persist in Chinese land sales
Urban land development in China is occurring on a massive scale and corruption is prevalent in the real estate sector through side deals between buyers and city officials. A recent study by Cai,...
View ArticleImpact of Incentives on Tax Collectors and Taxpayers
Tax collectors in developing countries collect far less tax revenue as a share of gross domestic product than tax collectors in higher income countries. In many of these developing countries, tax...
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Disability insurance and the dynamics of the incentive-insurance tradeoff
Recent growth in the number of Disability Insurance claimants has led to calls for substantial scaling back of the program. We evaluate the incentive cost of the DI program against its insurance value...
View ArticleEconomic benefits of transportation infrastructure: historical evidence from...
Many governments commit significant portions of their budgets to building and maintaining transportation infrastructure. For example, nearly 20 percent of the money lent from the World Bank to...
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Bargaining with asymmetric information: an empirical study of plea negotiations
By far, most US criminal cases are resolved before trial through plea bargain agreements between the defendant and the prosecutor. In return for a guilty plea, the prosecutor reduces or dismisses some...
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Who benefits from corporate tax cuts? Evidence from local US labour markets
Taxing corporate profits is generally viewed by the public as a progressive and relatively harmless way to raise government revenue. But economists have long argued that when firms face higher tax...
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Where star scientists choose to locate: the impact of US state taxes
The impact of state taxes on the ability of different parts of the United States to attract firms and jobs is prominent in public policy debates. Many states routinely advertise their favourable tax...
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The surprising power of tax stimulus to the housing market
In September 2008, the UK government announced a surprise stimulus policy in response to a dramatic fall in the housing market: a property transaction tax on houses sold in a certain price range was...
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Growth and well-being: policy should not be based on GDP alone
Economists are often accused of focusing excessively on GDP, with the result that government policies make GDP a priority to the detriment of other contributors to well-being. This research proposes a...
View ArticleUS Treasury auctions: measuring the effectiveness of primary markets for...
How should government bonds be sold? Research typically emphasizes how the auction design affects outcomes depending on the nature of demand and the competitive environment. This study combines models...
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Optimal timing of unemployment benefits: evidence from Sweden
A public program of unemployment benefits aims to protect people against job loss, but it should ideally be designed so that it doesn’t encourage them to stay out of work too much longer than they...
View ArticleMeasuring the impact of US state taxation on business activity
There is considerable anecdotal evidence of US companies moving from high-tax states to low-tax states, but what do the data reveal about the impact of state taxation on economic activity? Analyzing...
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The costs of public sector patronage: lessons from the British Empire
Civil servants constitute a key element of state capacity, with the responsibility for raising government revenues, providing public services and implementing reforms. But what happens to their...
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Tax evasion and inequality
How widespread is tax evasion – and what does that imply for the true extent of inequality? This research explores these questions by analyzing a unique dataset of leaked customer lists from offshore...
View ArticleThe incentives of centralized school admissions systems
School choice mechanisms, preference manipulation and its effectsIn the vast majority of school choice mechanisms currently in use, students have the incentive to manipulate their reported preferences...
View ArticleHow do American families spend food benefits?
SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamps Program) is an important part of the social safety net in the United States. It is the second-largest means-tested...
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