Land and Credit: A Study of the Political Economy of Banking in the United States in the Early 20th Century

We find that, in the early 20th century, counties in the United States where the agricultural elite had disproportionately large land holdings had significantly fewer banks per capita, even correcting for state‐level effects. Moreover, credit appears to have been costlier, and access to it more limited, in these counties. The evidence suggests that elites may restrict financial development in order to limit access to finance, and they may be able to do so even in countries with well‐developed political institutions.     

Environmental Regulation and Innovation Offsets in the Bluegrass Seed Industry

Burning bluegrass seed stubble is an important production practice that, among other benefits, increases production and stand life of this perennial crop. Despite economic forecasts that higher production costs from the 1996 state ban on seed stubble burning would reduce Washington production by up to 30%, output in the years 1998–2005 was nearly two-thirds higher than in any previous eight-year period. This study seeks to explain why that paradoxical behavior occurred. This study puts forward and systematically tests several hypotheses. The only hypothesis with any support, innovation offsets, is examined by an assessment of contemporaneous innovations and by corroborative statistical evidence.     

Energy Saving and Tourism Sustainability: Solar Control Window Film in Hotel Rooms

This paper investigates solar control film as an energy saver in the fast growing hotel sector in southern China. It investigates claims made for this low-cost retrofitted material in hotel rooms, calibrating reductions in solar gain in summer. It provides reliable and independent data about the performance and economic viability of solar control film in real hotel environments. The study found that, by limiting solar gain, the film helps limit tourism's impact on global warming and climate change. The paper also foreshadows new technical glazing developments.     

On sums and products of truncated exponential variates

Abstract

The distribution of any linear combination of a finite number of truncated exponential variates from possibly n distinct populations is obtained by using the Laplace transform. The distribution is demonstrated in a compact form which is quite suitable for computational purposes. The results are exemplified. Finally, a brief remark on the distribution of the product of truncated exponential variates is also added.     

The gift of advice: communication in a bilateral gift exchange game

We augment a standard bilateral gift exchange game so employees can send messages at the same time as choosing an effort level. Employee effort (controlling for wages) is unaffected by allowing messages, but wages dramatically increase. Messages affect wages because employees give managers advice to set higher wages, usually explaining that this will result in higher effort. This advice prompts managers to try higher wages, helping them learn that raising wages increases their payoffs. In a follow-up experiment, we directly provide managers with additional information about the relationship between wages and effort. This too causes wages to increase, but to a lesser extent than allowing messages. Our results highlight the critical role of learning in generating gains from positive gift exchange.