By 1998 all states had passed laws lowering the legal blood alcohol content for drivers under 21 to effectively zero. Theory shows these laws have ambiguous effects on overall fatalities and economic efficiency, and the data show they have little effect on driver behavior. A panel analysis of the 19882000 FARS indicates that zero tolerance laws have no material influence on the level of fatalit...

We investigate the evolution of the legal institution of citizenship from a political economy perspective. We first present a median voter model of citizenship laws determination. Next we test the implications of the model on a new dataset on citizenship laws across countries of the world. We show that citizenship laws have responded endogenously to economic and institutional determinants. When...

Innovations in information and communications technologies have created a digital revolution that is changing the way the world works, learns, communicates and transacts business. E-commerce continues to show strong growth and has been influencing the social and economic growth of nations. On one hand e-commerce technologies have helped nations to accelerate their economic growth and to provide...

The federal antitrust laws1 “represent a fundamental national economic policy.”2 They govern virtually every business activity in the country, and seek to protect “unfettered competition in the marketplace.”3 As economics teaches, unrestrained competition generally produces the best allocation of society’s resources,4 and creates incentives for innovation and product development by rewarding th...

BACKGROUND Most seat belt use laws originally passed in the United States contained language restricting enforcement to drivers already stopped for some other reason. States that have since removed this secondary enforcement restriction have reported increased seat belt use. The purpose of the present study was to estimate the effect of these law changes on driver fatality rates. METHOD Trend...

In a digital era where Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play a pivotal role in driving forward the competitiveness of nations, it is imperative to understand the factors influencing the successful diffusion and deployment of this resource. ICT has become a global resource influencing the competitiveness of not only companies, but also nations. Previous research discussed the fac...

Posner adopted the economic principle of wealth maximization as a guiding principle for the dispensation of justice. This resulted in his endorsing the Kaldor-Hicks principle (also known as the potential Paretian improvement principle) as a basis for just laws. This article explores whether this principle is an adequate basis for environmental law. As can be deduced from Fleming, the legal appr...

In the field of safety, accidents and injuries, laws and regulations can either ensure a passive protection of persons, or need their active participation. In the latter situation, beside the use of health indicators (rates of fatalities, accidents, injuries), the evaluation will also focus on changes of behaviour. In the case of mandatory restraint devices for young children, the evaluation of...

Using data from two detailed, nationally representative, household datasets – the National Family Health Survey and the India Human Development survey – we explore whether women who are economically empowered (through work, earnings, or wealth) are less likely to experience domestic violence. We find that, while working women may be at a greater risk of violence, higher earnings are associated ...