This essay argues that economic systems should be defined in terms of clusters of complementary institutions. To show how such an approach can be carried out, I use a cluster analysis technique and data on forty different economic institutions in OECD nations to isolate four quite different...

This short essay examines the proposition that the transition process to a capitalist economic system in Eastern and Central European nations has introduced greater income inequality than in long-time capitalist nations at similar stages of development. In the empirical analysis I use comparable...

This essay argues that economic systems should be defined in terms of clusters of complementary institutions. To show how such an approach can be carried out, I use a cluster analysis technique and data on forty different economic institutions in OECD nations to isolate four quite different...

The new comparative economics has focused on individual institutions, rather than the economic system as a whole. This essay argues that economic systems should be defined in terms of clusters of complementary or covarying institutions. A cluster analysis of OECD countries using data on forty...

This short essay examines the proposition that the transition process to a capitalist economic system in Eastern and Central European nations has introduced greater income inequality than in long-time capitalist nations at similar stages of development. In the empirical analysis I use comparable...

This essay tests a dynamic version of the law-of-one-price for U.S. retail markets. The sample consists of retail price differences for a 43-year period over five U.S. cities for various commodity groups. Since relative transportation costs are declining, the law-of-one-price predicts that the...

We explore the hypothesis that income of the rich increases at the expense of income of the poor. In a simple linear regression model, the relative (to the median) incomes of the poor and the rich are significantly and inversely related. Using standard time-series methods, we demonstrate that...

This essay examines the cyclical behavior and stability properties of four different measures of the labor share of income in the United States from 1948 through 2006. The evidence suggests that the share exhibits instability. This instability is sensitive to the measure of labor share deployed...

In recent years three different quantitative studies measuring the extent of regulation in OECD nations have appeared. One analysis is based on an extensive review and quantification of laws and regulations; the other two are based on opinion data of those familiar with these regulations....