Suchergebnisse

This article is a response to the article by Maloney et al., which adapts an economic model of Christian schism to Islam. We evaluate the basic assumptions, concepts, and approach of the article and then turn to factual questions to be considered. Their main contribution is to explain ex post the divisions observed in religions in general and Islam in particular as sects or schismatic breaks. The differentiation and application of concepts such as schism and sect across religious traditions is very problematic for the research design and analysis of the article. Despite the justification of generalizations for comparisons among religions in long time periods, the elimination of caveats and particularities undermines the argument. Adapted from the source document.

Part of a special journal issue that reflects on the work of economist Robert D. Tollison. Adapted from the source document.

In their article in the current issue of this journal, Sauer et al. compare the evolution of prices of in-game betting markets of baseball games to an empirical model of scoring based on the probability of various game events occurring. The authors correctly suggest this in-game betting market provides an opportunity to examine the efficiency of gambling markets, as the value of the security being examined can be known with a greater degree of precision than the fundamental value of securities being traded in general financial markets. While we appreciate the progress that has occurred, we believe that with some fairly simple changes, the authors may be able to improve the precision of their model to the point where a more powerful commentary on potential market efficiency could be developed. We offer suggestions on more precisely matching of the two sources of data, timing of the events, and dealing with games in which there is a clear pre-game favorite. We close with suggestions for extensions. Adapted from the source document.

Participants in a special election held in the State of Mississippi on April 17, 2001, voted overwhelmingly against changing the design of the state's flag, which incorporates a symbol of the Confederacy. The determinants of voting on the flag are analyzed and turnout rates in April 2001 are compared with those for recent gubernatorial and presidential elections. We find that the flag vote divided Mississippians sharply along lines of race, class and political ideology. A key empirical implication is that voter positions in issue space tend to be more polarized when political choices have expressive as opposed to instrumental consequences.

Participants in a special election held in MS on 17 Apr 2001 voted overwhelmingly against changing the design of the state's flag, which incorporates a symbol of the Confederacy. The determinants of voting on the flag are analyzed & turnout rates in Apr 2001 are compared with those for recent gubernatorial & presidential elections. We find that the flag vote divided Mississippians sharply along lines of race, class, & political ideology. A key empirical implication is that voter positions in issue space tend to be more polarized when political choices have expressive as opposed to instrumental consequences. 3 Tables, 3 Figures, 22 References. Adapted from the source document.

This paper analyzes the editorial screening process in economics, employing data from the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Quarterly Journal of Economics. We examine three issues: the decline of critical commentary in economics, the increased referencing behavior of authors, and the decline in the citation of economic research. We find that there is empirical evidence in favor of the idea that these trends are mostly due to more ex ante investment by authors in their papers and less need for ex post quality control.We appreciate helpful comments received from William Shughart, John Sophocleus, and the editors of Kyklos. The usual caveat applies.

Participants in a special election held in the State of Georgia on 2 March 2004 voted overwhelmingly in favor of adopting a newly designed state flag that no longer incorporated a divisive Confederate symbol. We analyze the legislative politicking that defined the voters' options as well as the outcome of popular voting on the flag design across Georgia's 159 counties. We find the referendum's results to have been determined largely by demography (education, race, and population density) and by the level of support in 2002 for the two gubernatorial candidates who played significant roles in the flag controversy.

Participants in a special election held in the State of Georgia on 2 March 2004 voted overwhelmingly in favor of adopting a newly designed state flag that no longer incorporated a divisive Confederate symbol. We analyze the legislative politicking that defined the voters' options as well as the outcome of popular voting on the flag design across Georgia's 159 counties. We find the referendum's results to have been determined largely by demography (education, race, and population density) and by the level of support in 2002 for the two gubernatorial candidates who played significant roles in the flag controversy. Adapted from the source document.

This paper explores the determinants of governmental corruption exploiting a unique dataset generated by "Operation Pretense", an FBI investigation of county purchasing activities that ultimately led to the conviction of 55 of Mississippi's 410 county supervisors, one county road foreman, two state highway commissioners and 13 vendors on bribery, extortion and other felony charges. Evidence is reported that corruption occurs more frequently in rural counties where voter-taxpayers have fewer years of schooling. Corruption is also more likely in counties where supervisors are paid more, ceteris paribus, casting doubt on the proposition that efficiency wages purchase honest public officials.

During the November 1988 election cycle, the residents of Mississippi's 82 counties were allowed to choose whether or not to switch to an alternative system for governing the construction and repair of county roads. Under the system then used statewide – the so-called beat system – each of a county's five elected supervisors determined spending priorities and allocated funds within the boundaries of his or her own district. Under the alternative system – the so-called unit system – such choices were to be made by the supervisors collectively and then executed by a hired professional road manager. This paper models the decision of voters to retain the beat system (38 counties) or to switch to the unit system (44 counties). Theory and evidence suggest that the choice between centralized versus decentralized governance depends on the perceived costs and benefits of the alternatives to voters and their elected representatives.