Correction to: Voter ID Laws and Voter Turnout

Atlantic Economic Journal - The name of the third author was incorrect in the initial online publication. The original article has been corrected.     

The Median Voter According to GARP

This paper adapts the generalized axiom of revealed preference (GARP) empirical method to the public goods problem to test whether observed municipal public spending can be explained “as if” the city governments maximize the utility of the median income voter. It applies the test procedure for medium-size municipal governments in five Midwest states. The data are consistent with GARP and reveal that the local governments in the sample behave as if they maximize median voter utility once we control for the state-specific effects, government management structure, and population density.     

Determinants of Geographic Differentials in the Voter Participation Rate

Voter participation rates vary widely across the 50 states. This empirical study seeks, within the context of a broadened version of the ‘rational voter model,’ to identify determinants of this interstate variation. Using the 2004 general election as the study period, it is found that the voter participation rate in a state is positively related to the percent of the state's adult population with at least a high school education, the state's unemployment rate, the percent of the state's population age 65 and older, and the female labor force participation rate in the state. In addition, it is found that voter turnout in a state is negatively related to the state's median family income and the percentage of its population that is Hispanic.     

Determinants of Geographic Voter Participation Rate Differentials: the 2014 Mid-Term Election

Voter participation rates vary widely across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This empirical study seeks, within the context of a broadened version of the “rational voter model,” to identify determinants of this geographic variation. Using the 2014 mid-term general election, it was found that the voter participation rate across states and the District of Columbia was positively related to whether there is a close governor’s race or a close U.S. Senate race, the female labor force participation rate, the percent of the population aged 65 and over, the number of referenda on the ballot, and the degree of voting-by-mail usage. In addition, it was found that voter turnout was negatively related to the percentages of the population that are either Hispanic or Afro-American.     

选民、政党与议会:微观视角的新政治经济学

本文从微观角度阐述了新政治经济学的基本理论和研究方法,按选民、政党和议会三个层次展开分析。本文在选民部分讨论了选民投票的动机,包括关键投票人模型和高尚投票人模型,介绍了选民投票的方式,包括诚实投票和策略投票;在政党部分重点介绍模型化政党行为的不同方法,并指出现有理论的不足;在议会部分主要着眼于议会制下政府组建的问题,分析不同类型政府存在的可能性。     

An Inquiry into the Contemporary Differential between Female and Male Voter Turnouts

This study seeks to identify contemporary factors that systematically explain the difference in the ratio of the female-to-male voter participation rates, FVPR/MVPR, and the difference between the female and male voter participation rate levels, FVPR−MVPR, in the U.S. Using state-level data form the 2004 Presidential election, it is found that both FVPR/MVPR and FVPR−MVPR are an increasing function of the gender-specific unemployment rates, median earnings, educational attainment levels, population age 65 and over, and the presence of a female governor in the state and a decreasing function of the gender-specific divorce rates.      

Influence of the Number of Statewide Referenda Involving Emotionally-Charged Issues on Voter Turnout, 2006

The issue of same-sex marriage is an emotionally charged one. So is the issue of abortion. This is true to the point where it has resulted in several cases in the placement of statewide referenda on the ballot for voter approval or disapproval. This study tests the hypothesis that greater numbers of such emotionally charged referenda may increase voter turnout because they may elevate the expected gross benefits of voting by empowering “interested voters” while not significantly increasing the expected gross costs of voting. Using state-level data for all 50 states for the 2006 general election, and after allowing for a variety of economic and demographic factors, this study finds compelling evidence that the numbers of statewide referenda dealing with same-sex marriage and abortion did in fact significantly increase voter turnout.

Does the Median Voter or Special Interests Determine State Highway Expenditures? Recent Evidence

Using cross-sectional data from 50 states of the United States and the District of Columbia for two different time periods, this paper examines the degree to which special interests or the median voter determine state highway expenditures. In addition to finding that previous estimates of the determinants of state highway expenditures are robust, we find that that special interests that were important in 1984 were no longer significant nearly 20 years later. Like the previous literature, we conclude that the reduced form median voter model performs well in explaining state highway expenditures.     

Mortgage Product Substitution and State Anti-predatory Lending Laws: Better Loans and Better Borrowers?

Mounting foreclosures and disclosures of abusive lending practices led many states to adopt new anti-predatory lending (APL) laws. Researchers have examined the impact of such laws on credit flows and the cost of credit. This research extends the literature by examining whether the market responded to these laws by substituting different mortgage products for those restricted by APL provisions. The evidence indicates that the laws were effective in restricting loans with targeted characteristics, and that the market substituted other product types to maintain access to credit and affordability in the face of these restrictions. The laws reduced the involvement of investor and second home purchases but appeared to impact borrower credit scores or down payments.     

Strong Presidential Approval or Disapproval Influencing the Expected Benefits of Voting and the Voter Participation Rate

This empirical study seeks to broaden the interpretation of the rational voter model so as to identify and better understand key determinants of the expected benefits from voting and hence key determinants of the aggregate voter participation rate in the US. Using annual data for all years in the 1960–1997 study period, this study finds that the voter participation rate has been positively impacted by strong public approval or strong public disapproval of the incumbent President, a finding unique to this literature and study period. In addition, the aggregate voter participation rate has been positively impacted by such factors as the Gulf War, which is generally regarded as having been popular among the US electorate, and a rising unemployment rate. This study also finds the voter participation rate to have been negatively impacted by the publics dissatisfaction with government, as well as by the Watergate scandal.The author is indebted to Cassandra Copeland for helpful information, comments, and guidance.     

Union membership and campaign contributions

Summary and Conclusions Laws governing labor relations in the United States are written in a manner which gives significant monopoly power to unions and also creates an incentive for workers to support union security arrangements. These laws would serve to reduce the gains which workers receive from unionization. They would also serve to increase the surplus which unions extract from their members. The argument that an important part of these laws is the creation of rents which can be transferred to the politicians who support laws. An examination of the effect of right-to-work laws on political contribution received by candidates for office indicates that, as the theory would predict, the existence of such laws serves to significantly reduce the contributions from unions. This reduction occurs largely because these laws reduce the number of union members who contribute; they do not seem to change the contributions per union member. The authors hypothesize that it is the monopolization which increases per member contributions, though testing this hypothesis is not possible. Nonetheless, it is the authors' belief that the empirical results have demonstrated the form of the laws mandating unions is explained by the interaction between the union and the politicians who support unionization.     

The Demand for Healthcare Regulation: The Effect of Political Spending on Occupational Licensing Laws

Using data on political spending in state elections, this study considers the role of political contributions by healthcare professional interest groups in states' decisions to enact occupational licensing laws. These laws govern how different professions may operate in healthcare markets, and while they ostensibly exist to protect consumers, licensing laws can also insulate professionals from competition in healthcare markets. Higher political spending by physician interest groups increases the probability that a state maintains licensing laws restricting the practices of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). Conversely, increased spending by hospital interest groups increases the probability that a state allows NPs and PAs to practice with more autonomy. Nurse groups, which include groups affiliated with NPs, have a smaller effect on licensing laws. And nonphysician groups, which include groups affiliated with PAs, have almost no effect on licensing laws. These results are consistent with the investment theory of political spending.     

我国农业自然资源管理的法制化建设

我国现行的农业自然费源法是土地、森林、水资源、草原、水产资源、野生动植物保护、环境保护等方面的法律规范的总和，它存在着一些问题，必须尽快加以完善。应更新充实现行的农业自然资源法，强化农业自然资源相对统一的综合管理，从而加快我国农业自然资源管理的法制建设。     

建立与WTO接轨的外商投资企业法律制度

为了给中国入世后创造一个良好的法律环境 ,我们应该深入研究 TRIMS协议的有关规定 ,修改和完善中国的外资立法 ,使我国尽快地建立起与 WTO全面接轨的外商投资企业法律制度     

Economic conservation laws as indices of corporate performance

This paper attempts to apply to corporate behavior at the microeconomic level an analytical method known as economic conservation laws. At the macro level, efficient operation and performance of nations are analyzed by the income-wealth conservation law. Corporate management needs to be able to judge whether or not a company can achieve the maximum long-run profit. The aim of this paper is to use conservation laws to test corporate performance. The paper gives a simple explanation of the so-called Noether Theorem and presents typical examples of corporate models. Then economic conservation laws under different hypotheses are derived. These laws are tested by both the U.S. data and Japanese data.     

Dumping on Free Trade: The U.S. Import Trade Laws

The passage of the Uruguay Round implementing legislation represents a natural opportunity to review the policy goals of the U.S. import trade laws, to assess how well current laws achieve those objectives, and to explore possible reforms. I argue that there is a variety of policy concerns justifying a circumscribed set of import trade statuses. The relevant U.S. laws, however, have largely become divorced from such national welfare considerations and are now too often a mechanism for furtive protectionism. The Uruguay Round effected some (marginal) improvements but left the fundamental structure of the laws unchanged. I discuss possible reforms in the final section of the paper.     

Usury laws and private credit in Lima,Peru. Evidence from notarized records

I examine the impact of usury laws on the Peruvian credit market between 1825 and 1852. Using a new data set of nearly 2,000 loans from archival sources, I show that the repeal of colonial anti-usury laws in early 1833 had an important effect on the allocation of credit in Lima. It increased interest rates and promoted access to credit. Furthermore, lenders made loans with greater maturities after the repeal of usury laws.     

泛珠三角合作背景下的区际法律冲突及解决

泛珠三角合作推进了经济合作的繁荣,也会加剧法律冲突从潜在的制度差异转变为现实矛盾的可能性,必须探求新的区际法律冲突的解决路径,在经济一体化程度较高的区域,制定局部的区际统一实体法来解决法律冲突问题既有理论必要也现实可行。