Finance & Economy
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Why Passing the State Budget on Time is a Must for Stabilizing Market Conditions
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The authors of a study analyzing state budgets find that the lack of fiscal governance, defined as enacting a budget on time, causes variation in general obligation bond yield spreads for state issuers.
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Aligning Incentives: The Effectiveness of Performance-Based Pay for Tax Officials
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After being randomly assigned to a performance-based incentive structure, tax officials in Pakistan had significantly higher levels of revenue collection. This result suggests a potential solution to the widespread corruption and low collection rates of tax authorities in developing countries.
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Down on the Farm: Agricultural workers receive lower wages than other workers
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New research shows that increased urbanization may be a positive development because of a persistent “productivity gap” that exists between agricultural workers and workers employed in other sectors of the economy.
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Not Just a Summer Job: Reducing Incarceration Rates for At-Risk Youth
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A new study finds that government-sponsored youth employment programs may reduce involvement in criminal activities and mortality rates for youth from low-income families.
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Late Retirement Bonus: How the Government can Incentivize Working Longer
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A new study finds that individuals increase the age in which they intend to claim Social Security benefits when they are offered lump sums instead of and equal to their future benefit increases.
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Rethinking the Optimal Tariff Theory
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Using forty years of price data from the raw cane sugar market in New York City, trade economist Douglas Irwin finds that market demand responds asymmetrically to tariff increases versus tariff reductions.
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Social mobility remains stable in the US: Good or bad news?
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A new study measures intergenerational social mobility in the US, estimating the probability that a child born at a low rung of the income ladder can reach the top. The authors find that social mobility has remained stable in the US for the last 30 years.
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Dispelling the Myth: Why State Tax Breaks for Businesses Do Not Spur Economic Growth
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A decline in the corporate tax rate enforced through state policy is found by a new study to be immaterial to investment decisions for businesses and therefore a non-factor for spurring economic growth within a state.
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The New Development Bank: A Building Block of an Alternative World Order?
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Seen as an initiative to restructure international financial structures, the BRICS bank may not necessarily be a stepping stone to further security and strategic institutionalization.
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Going for Broke: The Benefits of Bankruptcy Protection
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A new study finds that Chapter 13 Bankruptcy increases annual income, decreases five-year foreclosure rates points, and decreases five-year mortality.
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Solving a Labor Crisis or Exploiting Foreign Tech Workers? The H-1B Visa in Review
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While the tech industry claims that H-1B visas help address labor shortages and bring in the best and brightest engineers, data shows that they can drive down wages and indenture migrant workers.