The main thesis of this book is that while technology may change, economic laws do not. The authors, Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian point out that the information economy is driven by advances in information technology and infrastructure. What is new is, not the total amount of information available but our ability to manipulate information across industries. Technology is allowing people to do mo...

Many observers of the malpractice insurance market disagree on the cause of the problem or the appropriate solution to increasing malpractice premiums. Some argue that increased frequency and soaring rewards are to blame, while others attribute rising premiums to insurance company’s losses on investments during the economic downturn. A number of laws have been introduced that attempt to stabili...

BACKGROUND Urgent, evidence-based tobacco control efforts have been advocated by the WHO through the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) articles and guidelines. The level of implementation of these guidelines varies by country and region. This paper identifies areas of alignment and non-alignment of country tobacco laws with respect to the FCTC's article 11 requirements, which lists...

This paper reviews the existing law and economics literature on crime, noting where various models might apply to the terror context. Specifically, it focuses on two strands of the literature, deterrence and incapacitation. It considers anti-terror measures enacted by different countries, highlighting how the details of the laws correspond to the insights from economic models of crime. In concl...

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of the Delaware smoke-free law on gaming revenue. METHODS Linear regression of gaming revenue and average revenue per machine on a public policy variable, time, while controlling for economic activity and seasonal effects. RESULTS The linear regression showed that the smoke-free law was associated with no effect on total revenue or average revenue per machi...

E-commerce will undoubtedly change the way business is done. But as we have said elsewhere, “technology changes, economic laws do not.” Despite the changes introduced by e-commerce, many of the fundamental principles of competition will still be relevant. In this paper I investigate three aspects of competition in ecommerce: marketing, interconnection, and price matching. In each case I will de...

The word “convexity” is ubiquitous in economics, but absent from economics. In this paper we explain why, and show what difference it makes to economic analysis if ecosystem non-convexities are taken seriously. A simple proof is provided of the connection between “selfsimilarity” and “power laws”. We also provide an introduction to each of the papers in the Symposium and draw out the way in whi...

F ood safety is something most Americans take for granted. But that confidence is shaken when there’s an outbreak of a food-borne illness, like the Listeria infection in Colorado cantaloupes last year that left 32 people dead. There’s plenty of reason to be concerned. One of every six people becomes ill each year from eating contaminated foods, according to estimates by the Centers for Disease ...

In this paper we document how the unequal liberalisation of business regulation across Russia’s regions leads to varying effects on the diversification of Russia’s economy. We find that national liberalisation laws were better enforced in those regions with more transparent government. As a result, economic diversification was more marked and growth of the small business sector more significant...