THE (HIDDEN) COST OF EMPLOYER PARKING POLICIES*

It has been argued that distortionary tax policies, which stipulate that employer parking is not taxed as a benefit in kind, as well as minimum parking requirements induce welfare losses. Using Dutch data, we show that current tax policies induce welfare losses of about 10% of employer parking resource costs. Hypothetical minimum parking requirements for employers, at levels currently applied in the United States, induce an additional deadweight loss of 18% of employer parking resource costs.     

资本结构的决定因素-来自中国的证据

同其他国家一样,中国上市公司的财务杠杆随企业规模、非债务性避税规模和公司固定资产的增加而增大,随公司盈利能力增加而减小,而且同上市公司所属行业相关.同时,它还会受到所有权结构的影响.同其他国家不同的是,中国上市公司的财务杠杆随公司经营风险程度的增加而增加,而且企业倾向于持有较低的长期债务.同融资的优序假说相比,静态权衡模型对中国上市公司的资本结构似乎有更强的解释力.     

THE DETERMINANTS OF LATENESS: EVIDENCE FROM BRITISH WORKERS

Using a sample of male and female workers from the 1992 Employment in Britain survey, we estimate a generalised grouped zero‐inflated Poisson regression model of employees' self‐reported lateness. Lateness is higher for males, private sector workers and in service industries. Reflecting theoretical predictions from both psychology and economics, we model lateness as a function of incentives, the monitoring of, and sanctions for, lateness within the workplace, job satisfaction and attitudes to work. Various aspects of workplace incentive and disciplinary policies turn out to affect lateness; however, controlling for these, an important role for job satisfaction remains.     

资本结构的决定因素-来自中国的证据

同其他国家一样,中国上市公司的财务杠杆随企业规模、非债务性避税规模和公司固定资产的增加而增大,随公司盈利能力增加而减小,而且同上市公司所属行业相关。同时,它还会受到所有权结构的影响。同其他国家不同的是,中国上市公司的财务杠杆随公司经营风险程度的增加而增加,而且企业倾向于持有较低的长期债务。同融资的优序假说相比,静态权衡模型对中国上市公司的资本结构似乎有更强的解释力。     

ECONOMIC RESOURCES OF THE HOMELESS: EVIDENCE FROM LOS ANGELES

This paper examines the economic resources of homeless adults using a unique data set from Los Angeles. The homeless rely on a variety of sources for income; the two most common sources are the government and the family. Over 58% received government transfers in the 30 days prior to the interview, while one-third had received cash assistance from a family member or friend. Familial transfers in the form of shared housing and meals also are important. While familial transfers buffer declines in income among the homeless, private support networks are not pervasive enough to overcome the severe difficulties the homeless face. Moreover, it is unclear why such a high share of the homeless do not participate in government assistance programs, although the evidence suggests that transaction costs are likely to be an important factor.     

THE ROLE OF THE STATE AS GUARANTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICES: TRANSACTION COST ISSUES AND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

ABSTRACT ** :  The aim of the paper is to take a closer look from a transaction cost perspective at empirical findings on the changing role of the State as a guarantor of public services. In recent years, a number of economic and legal research efforts have been devoted to analyse under which conditions and for which public services specific organizational forms and institutional arrangements would be adequate. The empirical evidence referred to for the public services supports in principle central statements and hypotheses of transaction cost theory and leads to some important conclusions for empirical research and for policy recommendations.     

THE GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISES: EVIDENCE FROM A UK EMPIRICAL STUDY

ABSTRACT:  The social enterprise sector in the UK is going through a period of rapid growth, and is being seen by government as another important vehicle for delivering public services. As a result the issue of public trust in social enterprise is of growing importance. While there is a growing literature on the governance of voluntary and non-profit organizations, with some exceptions (e.g. co-operatives) there has been little research on the governance challenges and support needs of social enterprises. The research reported here aimed to help fill that gap. Based on interviews and focus groups with governance advisers, board members and chief executives it explores the typical governance challenges faced by social enterprises. Based on the research the paper develops a new, empirically-grounded typology of social enterprises based on their origins and development path, and presents findings about some of the governance challenges that are common across the sector and some that are more distinctive to the different types of social enterprise.     

THE IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON GROWTH: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM A HETEROGENEOUS PANEL

This paper investigates the impact of government expenditure on growth, in a heterogeneous panel, for a sample of developing countries. Using generalized method of moments techniques, we show that countries with substantial government current expenditure have strong growth effects, which vary considerably across the nations.     

EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY DETERRENCE: EVIDENCE FROM THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

Community and specialized enforcement are recognized as important components of deterring antisocial behavior. To provide insights on the interplay between deterrence methods, we examine the empirical evolution of fighting and scoring in the National Hockey League using time series data. We identify structural changes that correlate with changes in player behavior and rules. In particular, we find that player behavior related to fighting changed 4 or 5 years prior to most rule changes aimed at reducing fighting. We conclude that the decline in fighting in hockey was more closely associated with a change in community rather than specialized deterrence methods. (JEL Z22, D71, L83)     

TESTING THE THEORY OF MULTITASKING: EVIDENCE FROM A NATURAL FIELD EXPERIMENT IN CHINESE FACTORIES

Using a natural field experiment, we quantify the impact of one‐dimensional performance‐based incentives on incentivized (quantity) and nonincentivized (quality) dimensions of output for factory workers with a flat‐rate or a piece‐rate base salary. In particular, we observe output quality by hiring quality inspectors unbeknownst to the workers. We find that workers trade off quality for quantity, but the effect is statistically significant only for workers under a flat‐rate base salary. This variation in treatment effects is consistent with a simple theoretical model that predicts that when agents are already incented at the margin, the quantity–quality trade‐off resulting from performance pay is less prominent.     

ON THE DETERMINANTS OF LOCAL TAX RATES: NEW EVIDENCE FROM SPAIN

This article examines the determinants of local tax rates. For the two main local taxes in Spain—the property tax and the motor vehicle tax—we test the existence of tax mimicking, yardstick competition, and political trends in a sample of 2,713 municipalities. Using various spatial models, the results support the hypothesis of tax mimicking, with coefficients above 0.40. We also show the relevance of political variables such as the ideology of incumbents and political fragmentation. The fact that incumbents with weaker political support exhibit stronger mimicking behavior is interpreted as evidence in favor of yardstick competition. Finally, we find that incumbents mimic neighboring municipalities ruled by the same political party, confirming the political trends hypothesis. (JEL C31, H71, H77)     

THE PERSISTENCE OF INCOME POVERTY AND LIFESTYLE DEPRIVATION: EVIDENCE FROM ITALY

This article estimates poverty persistence over an individual's lifetime, using two definitions: income poverty and a multidimensional index of lifestyle deprivation. We stress the ability of the two definitions to provide a generally consistent characterization of poverty persistence risks faced by various population subgroups, but also the additional insights to be gained by analysing the two definitions in parallel in a longitudinal context. The results of multiple‐spell hazard rate models highlight the weaknesses of the Italian labour market, the insufficiencies of the existing social security system, and the deep territorial dualism in generating persistent poverty for certain groups of the population.     

THE IMPACT OF BESTSELLER RANK ON DEMAND: EVIDENCE FROM THE APP MARKET*

This article uses daily data on the ranking by sales of the top 100 apps sold through Apple’s App Store to provide evidence of the causal impact of today’s bestseller rank information on tomorrow’s demand. The estimates indicate that the willingness to pay of consumers is about $4.50 greater for a top ranked app than for the same unranked app. The results also indicate that the effects of bestseller status on willingness to pay decline steeply with rank at the top ranks, but remain economically significant for the apps in the first half of the top 100 list.     

INNOVATION PLATFORMS AND THE GOVERNANCE OF KNOWLEDGE: EVIDENCE FROM ITALY AND THE UK

Innovation is a collective process that entails the coordination of distributed knowledge across diverse organizations. Technology infrastructures provide innovation systems with governance mechanisms to create and sustain complementarities across otherwise dispersed competences. The paper presents innovation platforms as a specific case of technology infrastructure. Operating strategically at the interface between the public and the private sectors, platforms enable capacity- and capability-building for individuals, teams and organizations. Illustrative evidence on innovation platforms in the United Kingdom and Italy confirms the importance of institutional responsiveness to stimulate variety and ensure coordination in the context of collective innovation processes.     

THE EFFECT OF CASINO PROXIMITY ON LOTTERY SALES: EVIDENCE FROM MARYLAND

The continued expansion of the casino industry has caused increasing concern regarding the cannibalization of other industries, and in particular, state lotteries. For example, Maryland Lottery sales flattened shortly after casinos began opening in the state. Although previous papers have found that casinos and lotteries have a negative relationship with each other, no previous research has analyzed the impact of casino proximity on lottery sales or has examined the relationship between casinos and different types of lottery games. In this paper, we examine ZIP code‐level monthly lottery sales data from Maryland between July 2009 and February 2014, in order to test the impact of casino proximity on lottery sales, by type of game. Our findings indicate that aggregate lottery sales decline more in closer proximity to casinos, but that casinos affect different lottery products differently. We discuss the consumer behavior and public finance implications of the findings. (JEL H27, H4, L83)     

THE EFFECT OF FDI ON LOCAL EDUCATION EXPENDITURES: EVIDENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES

The intense competition for foreign direct investment (FDI) by state and local governments within the United States has raised concerns among some that this leads to the underprovision of public services and possibly welfare losses for local communities. Economic analysis of this hypothesis yields mixed results. This paper investigates the impact of FDI on local education expenditures both theoretically and empirically. The theoretical model shows an ambiguous impact of FDI on local expenditures for education. Empirically using US state‐level data from 1991 to 2000 and the system‐GMM estimator that controls for fixed effects, times series issues and endogeneity, I find evidence that FDI is positively correlated with increased expenditures on education.     

EXAMINING REGULATORY CAPTURE: EVIDENCE FROM THE NHL

Regulatory capture has garnered significant attention, but poses a difficult empirical exercise since most relationships between regulators and regulated parties occur behind closed doors. In this research, we overcome this problem by analyzing an environment where the behavior of both the regulator and regulated parties are publicly available. Specifically, we utilize data from the National Hockey League (NHL) to examine the impact of general experience as a referee as well as experience refereeing a particular team on the assignation of penalties. We find that gaining general experience as a referee significantly reduces the number of penalties that a referee assigns. However, as a referee gains experience refereeing a specific team, they significantly reduce the number of penalties assessed to this team relative to teams that they have less experience refereeing, confirming that regulatory capture is observed among referees and teams in the NHL. (JEL G18, L51, K42)