This paper examines the economics of for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals through the prism of capital acquisitions. The exercise suggests that of two hospitals that are equally efficient in producing health care, the for-profit hospital would have to charge higher prices than the not-for-profit hospital would, to break even on capital acquisitions. The reasons for this divergence are (1) th...

"In this paper we question the pioneering work of Todaro, which states that rural-to-urban labor migration in less developed countries (LDCs) is an individual response to a higher urban expected income. We demonstrate that rural-to-urban labor migration is perfectly rational even if urban expected income is lower than rural income. We achieve this under a set of fairly stringent conditions: ...

Rats responded on 2 levers delivering brain stimulation reward on concurrent variable interval schedules. Following many successive sessions with unchanging relative rates of reward, subjects adjusted to an eventual change slowly and showed spontaneous reversions at the beginning of subsequent sessions. When changes in rates of reward occurred between and within every session, subjects adjusted...

Competitiveness has become a buzzword recently. Nearly every day in the press we read accounts of “America’s competitiveness crisis,” our “innovation shortfall,” or how the United States is “losing its edge.” A growing number of Americans from all walks of life and all political persuasions worry that the rise of emerging economies threatens our continuing prosperity. These concerns have led to...

The paper studies the effects and the determinants of interregional redistribution in a model of residential and political choice. We find that paradoxical consequences of interjurisdictional transfers can arise. While self-sufficient regions are necessarily identical with respect to policies and average incomes in our model, horizontal redistributive transfers lead to the divergence of regiona...

Some people have a concern for a fair distribution of incomes while others do not. Does such a concern matter for majority voting on redistribution? Fairness preferences are relevant for redistribution outcomes only if fair-minded voters are pivotal. Pivotality, in turn, depends on the structure of income classes. We experimentally study voting on redistribution between two income classes and s...

In Ireland there is great demand from policy makers and researchers for data on total farm household incomes. Availability of such data is not always as detailed as required. In this document, current farm household statistical data sources as they occur in Ireland are reviewed. Variation in definition, in particular how the farm household is defined may reveal differences in results. The metho...

This paper explores whether the post-1980 decline in infrastructure investment in developing countries is a source of growing disparities in world per capita GDP. I start by reviewing the literature on the infrastructure-productivity link, arguing that a balanced reading of previous studies points to a significant effect of infrastructure provision on productivity. I then empirically study whet...

Changing patterns of maternal employment, coupled with stronger work requirements for welfare recipients, are increasing the demand for child care. For many families, the cost of child care creates a financial burden; for mothers with low incomes and those who are former welfare recipients, these costs may be an insurmountable barrier to employment or economic self-sufficiency. Despite increase...

This article estimates the effects of 50 years of steady growth in incomes on poverty rates among the elderly. It assumes that the poverty threshold continues to be adjusted for inflation but not for increases in real incomes. Simulations with the March 1998 Current Population Survey indicate that if the benefit rules for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are not changed an...