Recent studies in psychology and neuroscience find that fictional works exert strong influence on readers and shape their opinions and worldviews. We study the Potterian economy, which we compare to economic models, to assess how Harry Potter books affect economic literacy. We find that some...

Recent studies in psychology and neuroscience find that fictional works exert strong influence on readers and shape their opinions and worldviews. We study the Potterian economy, which we compare to economic models, to assess how Harry Potter books affect economic literacy. We find that some...

Most people think of science and literature as distinct human endeavours. According to received convention, science is mostly about "mind", whereas literature is largely about "heart". Science, goes the argument, is by and large rational, literature primarily emotional. Science is about...

Recent studies in psychology and neuroscience offer systematic evidence that fictional works exert a surprisingly strong influence on readers and have the power to shape their opinions and worldviews. Building on these findings, we study 'Potterian economics', the economic ideas, insights, and...

The Case for a Targeted Criticism of the Welfare State; Welfare: Savings Not Taxation; Liquidity Risk After the Crisis; Reorganization of Failing Financial Firms: A Capital Structure Solution; Monetary Policy in an Uncertain World: The Case for Rules; Reforming the Rules that Govern the Fed;...

This paper investigates the motivations for local right-to-farm protection ordinances by estimating a logit model relating the adoption these ordinances to various political, economic and demographic factors previously found to affect the likelihood of passage of farmland preservation policies....

Agriculture’s water quality and quantity challenges continue to grow in many regions of the world. Policy solutions have been identified, but not always applied where needed nor implemented effectively. This report analyses eight past water and agriculture policy changes in OECD countries with...

Despite the widespread use of the concept there is neither a consistent theoretical construction nor a clear definition of globalisation. Although the debate between pro and anti globalisation scholars and activists is interesting, it largely fails to address globalisation as a fundamental...

We analyze housing taxation from a political economy perspective. Our aim is to understand why the US tax system favors owner housing with respect to business capital despite the efficiency losses involved. The starting point of our analysis is the observation that housing wealth is much more...

The paper presents some of the ideas underlying the current research program of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG). It begins with a discussion of how the institute’s programmatic orientation has evolved since it was founded in 1984. Programmatic change over the years...