Southern Economic Journal

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

Taxes and pensions.
1. Introduction When I was a young economist, I thought methodology was uninteresting and unnecessary--just something old guys did when they didn't have anything better to do. I taught theory and . . .

Statistical discrimination in labor markets: an experimental analysis.
1. Introduction When membership in a particular group conveys valuable information about an individual's skills, productivity, or other characteristics, a nonprejudiced agent may still find it rat . . .

35,000 principles of economics students: some lessons learned.
1. Introduction One of the most dismal assertions ever made about teaching the "dismal science" was tendered by George J. Stigler in his American Economic Association presidential address. Stigler . . .

Post-injury work outcomes revisited.
1. Introduction Workers' compensation claims data have provided a rich resource for studies of post-injury returns to work and durations of work absence. Most existing studies use information curr . . .

Do adolescents with emotional or behavioral problems respond to cigarette prices?(Clinical report)
1. Introduction Cigarette smoking is the most preventable cause of morbidity and mortality (McGinnis and Foege 1993; Peto et al. 1994; Mokdad et al. 2004). Medical research has established a stron . . .

Forced saving, redistribution, and nonlinear social security schemes.
1. Introduction Social security systems typically fulfill several functions. They force myopic individuals (who are inclined to save less than what is reasonable, given their life expectancy) to s . . .

Information use and transference among legally separated share markets--an experimental approach.
1. Introduction Foreign share ownership restrictions have been a common practice at different times in almost all emerging capital markets. (1) They come in various forms to protect domestic indus . . .

Justice and fairness in the dictator game.
1. Introduction The underlying motives supporting the simplest of decisions may not be as transparent as they seem at first blush. One seemingly simple game is the dictator game (DG), in which Pla . . .

Inflation and relative price variability: new evidence for the United States.
1. Introduction Various economic theories predict that inflation increases relative price variability (RPV) and thus, impedes the efficient allocation of resources. In fact, recent macroeconomic m . . .

Reexamination of real business cycles in a small open economy.
1. Introduction Since the influential work of Mendoza (1991), it is now well known that dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models, specifically the real business cycle approach, can successful . . .

Arbitration and bargaining across the pacific.
1. Introduction The increasingly global nature of the economy increases the likelihood of disputes between geographically and culturally separated people from different nations. These internationa . . .

Estimating local welfare generated by an NFL team under credible threat of relocation.
1. Introduction "The Minnesota Vikings face a very serious challenge with the Metrodome that threatens our ability to survive. The Metrodome seriously limits the Vikings' revenue opportunities and . . .

The finance-growth link in Latin America.
1. Introduction During the 1980s, most Latin American countries suffered from distorted financial systems. In this decade the government kept interest rate controls, allocated credit arbitrarily, . . .

Asymmetric price adjustment: cross-industry evidence.
1. Introduction A consumer need only go to the gasoline station or the grocery store to ponder the question: Why do retail prices always seem to go up so fast when the price of crude oil or farm p . . .

Slotting allowances and manufacturers' retail sales effort.
1. Introduction Slotting allowances, which are fixed fees that manufacturers pay to retailers, are widespread in the grocery industry (Lariviere and Padmanabhan 1997; Bloom, Gundlach, and Cannon 2 . . .

A meta-analysis of the investment-uncertainty relationship.
1. Introduction The relationship between investment and uncertainty has been extensively analyzed in both the theoretical and the empirical literature since the 1970s. One of the most salient feat . . .

Institutions, economic freedom, and cross-country differences in performance.(2008 Presidential Address)(Column)
1. Introduction I have spent most of my research time during the past two decades working on the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) project. The purpose of this project was straightforward: the d . . .

Trust in private and common property experiments.
I. Introduction Numerous experimental studies involving private property endowments have demonstrated that individuals' decisions, in a variety of situations, reflect complex and diverse motivatio . . .

Privatization, deregulation, and capital accumulation.
1. Introduction Since the early 1980s, many countries have privatized and deregulated intermediate goods industries, such as gas, electricity, or telecommunications, that had traditionally been ru . . .

Youth gangs as pseudo-governments: implications for violent crime.
1. Introduction In the early 1970s, fewer than 300 cities cited having problems with youth gangs. (1) Since then, gangs have been identified in all 50 states, with over 2500 cities reporting probl . . .

The effects of exchange-rate volatility on commodity trade between the United States and Mexico.(Statistical table)
1. Introduction With the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in 1973, real exchange rates began to fluctuate greatly. As volatility increased, exporters and importers could no longer be as certa . . .

The neglect of correlation in allocation decisions.
1. Introduction The observation that nonperfect correlation in asset returns may increase diversification possibilities is an essential component of efficient portfolio theory (Markowitz 1952). Fi . . .

When less is more: optimal patent breadth under the threat of patent validity challenges.
1. Introduction Firms that choose patent protection as a means of protecting their intellectual property know that their effort to safeguard their technological territory through patent protection . . .

Public school reform, expectations, and capitalization: what signals quality to homebuyers?
1. Introduction Education is one of the most important services provided by local governments. Low test scores, high dropout rates, high teacher turnover rates, and other problems indicate that la . . .

Monetary policy surprises and interest rates: choosing between the inflation-revelation and excess sensitivity hypotheses.
Romer and Romer (2000) reported that federal funds rate increases may raise expected inflation by revealing the Federal Reserve's private information about inflation. Gurkaynak, Sack, and Swanson (2 . . .

Regional external economies and economic growth under asymmetry.
1. Introduction Much research in macroeconomics has studied the various factors responsible for promoting economic development. As has been emphasized by a number of economists, one of the most im . . .

Heterogeneous workers and occupations: inequality, unemployment, and crowding out.
1. Introduction This article attempts to determine the factors behind the cyclical behavior of the skill premium. Previous studies attempted to explain the observation that the skill premium is un . . .

Opportunity wages, classroom characteristics, and teacher mobility.
1. Introduction Recent evidence suggests that teachers are the most important factor in promoting student achievement (Rivkin, Hanushek, and Kain 2005), yet public schools face two major problems . . .

Demand changes and real exchange rate dynamics in a finite-horizon model with sectoral adjustment costs.
1. Introduction Although the traditional macroeconomic models tend to explain economic fluctuations by focusing solely on supply shocks, given that equilibrium is determined by both demand and sup . . .

External macroeconomic factors and the link between short- and long-run European interest rates: a note.
1. Introduction The most recent literature on the term structure of interest rates suggests that the seminal model of Campbell and Shiller (1987), consisting of the spread and the change in the sh . . .

Stuck in the slow lane: undoing traffic composition biases in the measurement of trucking productivity.
1. Introduction Deregulation and the logistics revolution have transformed the American economic landscape over the last 30 years. At the heart of these changes has been an apparently dynamic truc . . .

Research choice and finance in university bioscience.
1. Introduction Much of the economics of science is concerned with factors underlying the direction and productivity of laboratory work. The factors are highly varied, including alternative elabor . . .

Tariff jumping and joint ventures.
1. Introduction A major incentive for foreign direct investment (FDI) in countries that restrict trade is to jump tariff and non-tariff barriers. Local production helps in reducing costs due to pr . . .

Comment on "the diffusion of a medical innovation: is success in the stars?".
JEL Classification: UO, UI, O33 1. Introduction Burke, Fournier, and Prasad (2007), henceforth BFP, recently presented in these pages an important and path-breaking exploration of social learnin . . .

The diffusion of a medical innovation: is success in the stars? Further evidence.
1. Introduction In Burke, Fournier, and Prasad (2007) we examined the role that local interaction among physicians played in the adoption and utilization of stents following their introduction in . . .

Estimating distributions of willingness to pay for heterogeneous populations.
1. Introduction Discrete choice methods have been used by many disciplines to evaluate trade-offs presented by policy alternatives. Examples of discrete choice applications can be found in the fie . . .

The effect of minimum salaries on employment of teachers: a test of the monopsony model.
1. Introduction The market for schoolteachers has long been cited as an example of labor monopsony, where employers--that is, school districts--enjoy market power (Ehrenberg and Smith 2000; Hyclak . . .

Two-sector growth models with productive public goods: equilibrium (in)determinacy.
1. Introduction Models of economic growth with multiple equilibrium paths offer an explanation as to why we often observe diverse growth performances among countries with similar economic environm . . .

Gender, culture, and corruption: insights from an experimental analysis.
1. Introduction In recent years, a substantial body of work has explored the differences in the behavior of men and women in various economic transactions. This paper contributes to the literature . . .

How options provided by storage affect electricity prices.
1. Introduction Electricity markets have high-price episodes, and it is at such times that the attribution of prices between market power and resource scarcity becomes particularly controversial. . . .

Public pollution abatement, regional capital mobility, and tax competition.(pollution abatement and control )
1. Introduction In response to growing environmental concerns, governments and international organizations have designed policies of pollution abatement and control (PAC). In a 2003 report the Org . . .

Monitoring cartel behavior and stability: evidence from NCAA football.(National Collegiate Athletic Association )
1. Introduction and Motivation Many economists view the intercollegiate athletic programs that make up the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a cartel. If the cartel model of indus . . .

Changing inflation dynamics and uncertainty in the United States.
1. Introduction After the great inflation of the 1970s, the level of inflation declined in the 1980s and has remained moderate since. However, despite the relatively low level of price changes, th . . .

The impact of college sports success on the quantity and quality of student applications.
1. Introduction Since the beginning of intercollegiate sports, the role of athletics within higher education has been a topic of heated debate. (1) Whether to invest funds into building a new foot . . .

Risk perception, ambiguity, and nuclear-waste transport.
1. Introduction Ellsberg (1961, p. 643) defines ambiguity as "a quality depending upon the amount, type, reliability and 'unanimity' of information, and giving rise to one's degree of 'confidence' . . .

Innovation and the long-run elasticity of total taxable income.
1. Introduction The elasticity of taxable income with respect to the income tax determines revenue responses to changes in the tax rate and influences the welfare effects of the tax. As a result, . . .

Racial diversity and aggregate productivity in U.S. industries: 1980-2000.
1. Introduction The United States grew increasingly diverse between 1980 and 2000 as whites declined from 83% to 73% of the labor force. Many states are reconsidering their affirmative action poli . . .

Indenture as a self-enforced contract device: an experimental test.
1. Introduction How can a principal (an agent) ensure that an agent (principal) will work (pay) if payment (work) precedes work (payment)? An effective contract binds the contracted parties to hon . . .

The link between advanced placement experience and early college success.
1. Introduction At its inception in 1957, the Advanced Placement (AP) Program was designed to allow high school students to earn credit, or at least advanced placement, for college-level coursewor . . .

Teen smoking and birth outcomes.
1. Introduction The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the incidence of low birth weight births (infants weighing less than 2500 grams at birth) is on the rise, and that . . .