This paper uses mixed combinatorial-cum-real particle swarm method to obtain a heuristically optimal order in which the constituent variables can be arranged so as to yield some generalized maximum entropy synthetic indicators that represent the constituent variables in the best...

The paper is an attempt to evaluate the efficiency of Pena’s DP-2 method over a host of methods used to make composite indices. To undertake this exercise, variables and data used and methodology adopted in Human Development Report 2011 are employed along with nine other methodologies employed...

A number of recent studies have been concerned with the determinants of either housing cost differentials or overall living cost differentials among SMSAs. Given the obvious significance of such differentials, the purpose of this research note is to develop a geographically comparable...

This study empirically examines the impact of federal income tax rates, IRS penalties on unpaid tax liabilities, and audit rates by the Internal Revenue Service on the size of the underground economy in the United States. Recent data generated by Edgar Feige are used to measure the size of the...

This study empirically investigates the determinants of aggregate federal personal income tax evasion in the U.S. using the most current IRS data available. In 2010, the IRS released a new series on personal income tax evasion data running through the year 2005. Using this new data, the present...

This Note endeavors to illustrate the relevance of the impact of the budget deficit upon the interest rate to the issue of crowding out. It is argued that empirical studies of the impact of deficits upon interest rates may be very useful in det­ermining whether (and how) crowding out occurs,...

This study empirically investigates the impacts of central government budget deficits and economic freedom on per capita real economic growth in OECD nations over the period 2003–2008. Economic growth is measured by the percentage growth rate of purchasing-power-parity adjusted real per capita...

This study of the impact of economic freedom on per capita real GDP among OECD nations over the 2003-2006 period, with each OECD nation during this time frame being treated as a de facto “economic region” within the OECD, finds strong initial support for the hypothesis proffered here that...

This paper formulates a simple mathematical framework for the selection of an optimum "relative unanimity” collective decision rule. The approach is first to identify the benefits of moving from a rule of simple majority towards a rule of full unanimity. Then, the costs of moving from simple...

This brief Note provides strong empirical evidence that federal govern­ment deficits can indeed have a positive and significant impact upon short­ term interest rates; the findings in this paper thereby establish another mechanism for the transmission of crowding out. This study differs from...