In their seminal work, The Calculus of Consent (1962), Buchanan and Tullock develop a decision model which embodies fundamental relation­ships relevant to institutional choices. However, the Buchanan-Tullock model remains "general," thus inviting others to specify details and to develop...

This paper extends our analysis of the identification of an "optimum relative unanimity." This is done principally through clarifying certain terms and correcting a misinterpretation of why the minimum possible value for an optimum relative unanimity is a simple majority, i.e., greater than 50%.

Numerous earlier studies have, for the most part, found empirical support for the Tiebout-Tullock hypothesis for the periods of the 1950s and 1960s. The present study draws on more recent data, including the 1980 Census of the Population, to find additional new support for the Tiebout-Tullock...

The original Buchanan-Tullock formulation of collective decision-making costs may be expanded to: <Equation ID="E1"> <EquationSource Format="TEX"> $$C_i =C_i (N_a ,N,H)$$ </EquationSource> </Equation> <Equation ID="E2"> <EquationSource Format="TEX"> $$D_i =D_i (N_a ,H)$$ </EquationSource> </Equation> <Equation ID="E3"> <EquationSource Format="TEX"> $$G_i =G_i (N,H)$$ </EquationSource> </Equation> Analysis of the effects of group size (N), decision rules (N <Subscript> a </Subscript>), and homogeneity (H) on external costs (C <Subscript> i </Subscript>),...</subscript></subscript></equationsource></equation></equationsource></equation></equationsource></equation>

Based on 2001 Canadian Census data, we investigate the return to investment in human capital in Canada. Internal rates of return (IRR) imply that the value of education varies by gender, level of education, and field of study. A bachelor's degree yields the highest IRR; the IRR from higher...

This study investigates whether federal government budget deficits in the U.S. over the 1990-99 time period acted to crowd out private investment in new plant and equipment. Using quarterly data, empirical estimations clearly indicate that private investment was in fact negatively impacted by...

This study visits the role of shareholder proposals in the governance of public corporations by studying withdrawn shareholder proposals. Among all shareholders, unions are the most likely to withdraw proposals. Furthermore, firms with a record of poor performance, lower insider ownership and...

This study empirically finds, using ECM, that the primary federal budget deficit shares a bi-directional relationship with the ex ante real interest rate yield on long term municipal bonds. That is, the primary budget deficit acts to raise the real municipal bond yield whereas that yield also...