"The Political Economy Reader advocates a particular approach to the study of political economy - the "market-institutional" perspective - which emphasizes the ways in which markets are embedded in political and social institutions. This perspective offers a compelling alternative to the...

Individuals and households choose their political jurisdiction of residence on the basis of expected income differentials and jurisdiction-specific characteristics covered by the general term "amenities.'' In addition to fixed characteristics like climate and terrain, amenities may include...

How can policymakers reform US federalism for better economic performance? This paper focuses on vertical fiscal gaps: the proportion of subcentral government expenditure funded by central government grants and shared revenue over which subcentral governments lack autonomous control. On one...

This paper investigates whether the costs of corruption are conditional on the extent of government intervention in the economy. We use data on corruption convictions and economic growth between 1975 and 2007 across the U.S. states to test this hypothesis. Although no state approaches the level...