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.     

State income tax policy and geographic labour force mobility in the United States

"This study empirically investigates the impact of state income tax policy on U.S. interstate migration [of the labor force] for the period 1985-89. It finds that people vote with their feet and prefer to move so as to minimize their state income tax liabilities."     

FDIC Coverage on bank failures: Cointegration analysis using annual data, 1942–91

The present study empirically investigates whether in the U.S. federal government-provided deposit insurance, which was intended to prevent runs on banks and to protect depositors of modest means, has acted to induce increased bank failures. This issue has been investigated earlier, but only with regression analysis, and it remains unresolved since results vary sharply from one study to the next. By contrast, the present study uses cointegration techniques to investigate this problem. The cointegration analysis finds strong evidence of a cointegrating relationship between the bank failure rate and the extent of central government-provided deposit insurance, as well as other variables. Maximum eigenvalue and trace test results, along with normalized cointegrating vectors and likelihood ratio test results, are provided for examination.     

An examination of the causal relationship between savings and growth in the third world

Past studies reveal a correlation between savings and GDP growth in the Third World. Those studies hypothesize that higher rates of savings cause higher growth rates of real GDP. This paper explores an alternative hypothesis: that higher growth rates of GDP cause increased savings. Higher growth rates of income boost the rate of savings and attract more foreign savings. The difference between these two hypotheses is the direction of causality. This study investigates the direction of causality using the Engle-Granger error-correction model or the Granger causality test, whichever is appropriate. The findings support the latter hypothesis in more cases.     

Federal deposit insurance coverage and bank failures: A cointegration analysis with semi-annual data, 1965–91

This study examines empirically the link between bank failures and statutorially created increases in the extent of federal deposit insurance coverage. The model includes such factors as the percentage of deposits at federally insured banks that was covered by federal deposit insurance (FDICOV), the tangible capital/asset ratio, the commercial bank cost of funds, and the prime rate of interest. Using cointegration techniques involving maximum eigenvalue, trace, and likelihood ratio tests, together with semi-annual data for 1965–91, the study reveals that the bank failure rate is cointegrated with FDICOV, the capital/asset ratio, and the commercial bank cost of funds. Accordingly, it is inferred that—consistent with previous studies—the system of federal deposit insurance very likely induced bank failures during the study period.     

Income Distribution in the Third World: Its Estimation Via Proxy Data

A bstract . A two-Stage least squares estimate of the distribution of income in the Third World is derived in this paper using the per capita ownership of cars, infant mortality rates, and the average daily caloric requirement along with the per capita Gross Domestic Product. Previous work by Kitznets 1955 had established a relationship between the distribution of income and GDP/CAP, but with the inclusion of the three additional "proxy" variables, the distribution of income is estimated with a great deal more precision. For example, the R-squared for the estimate of the share of income earned by the poorest 20% of households increases from 0.30 to 0.68 by incorporating the proxy variables.
Using the parameters estimated via two-stage least squares on a set of 23 countries for which the distribution of income Is known, the paper then estimates the distribution of income for a set of 43 countries for which this data is unknown. The results indicate that countries like Singapore and Sri Lanka have relatively even distributions of income for their stage of development, and countries like Brazil, Kenya, Bolivia , and Gautemala have highly skewed distributions of income for their level of GDP/CAP.