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Contemporary economic policy
Western Economic Association International
Contemporary economic policy

Western Economic Association International

季刊

1074-3529

Contemporary economic policy/Journal Contemporary economic policyISSHPSSCI
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    Social security disability insurance and intergenerational economic mobility

    Katie JajtnerMatt MesselJason Fletcher
    575-593页
    查看更多>>摘要:Economic opportunity in the United States is shaped by parental health and disability. We hypothesize that Disability Insurance (DI) may mitigate the observed pattern. Using linked survey and administrative data, we find children of work-limited parents have 4.1 percentiles less upward economic mobility and 4.3 percentiles more downward mobility relative to children of non-limited parents. Despite poorer health, children of parents initially awarded DI experience a negligible mobility gap relative to peers whose parents never apply to DI and 3.6 percentiles more upward mobility than peers of parents who are initially denied benefits-suggesting DI may moderate economic mobility.

    How important are minimum wage increases in increasing the wages of minimum wage workers?

    Jeffrey ClemensMichael R. Strain
    594-612页
    查看更多>>摘要:Popular discussion presumes minimum wage increases primarily drive wage gains for minimum wage workers. We investigate this presumption using the Current Population Survey to assess the fraction of minimum wage workers receiving raises after 12 months. This fraction is moderately higher following state minimum wage increases, and positively correlated with several measures of labor market tightness. Finally, wage gains frequently follow industry and/or occupation switches, highlighting the importance of career progression for earnings growth among entry-level workers. Career progression and increases in labor demand rather than minimum wage increases appear to drive most wage gains for minimum wage workers.

    Methods in open policy analysis: An application to California's building energy codes

    Matthew J. Holian
    613-628页
    查看更多>>摘要:Have building energy codes lowered energy consumption, and have their benefits outweighed costs? Using 2000 Census data, I estimate household energy expenditures by decade of home construction, controlling for household and home characteristics. I find homes built in the 1980s used $35 less in electricity and $46 less in natural gas, per year, compared to 1970s era homes. For Sacramento, energy codes pass a cost-benefit test when low-end policy costs are used, but fail with base-case costs. This study also clarifies how a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) for a representative household fits into a comprehensive CBA.

    Pro-market institutions and labor market outcomes: A panel-data analysis of U.S. metropolitan areas

    Imran ArifJohn W. Dawson
    629-652页
    查看更多>>摘要:We expand previous U.S. state-level research on the relationship between pro-market institutions and labor market outcomes by examining this relationship at the U.S. metropolitan-area level. Using panel data for 1992-2012 in a fixed-effects model, we investigate the effect of pro-market institutions on the unemployment rate, labor force participation rate, employment-population ratio, and employment growth across 366 U.S. metropolitan areas. The results indicate that pro-market institutions are associated with a lower unemployment rate, higher employment-population ratio, and faster employment growth. These results suggest that local-area policies are important for achieving favorable labor market conditions at the local level.

    Tax noncompliance: The role of tax morale in smokers' behavior

    James E. Prieger
    653-673页
    查看更多>>摘要:Measuring and predicting compliance with tax obligations is an important but challenging task. Survey data from California smokers show that several forms of tax avoidance and evasion were common. The analysis shows that 43% of smokers avoided taxes by purchasing cigarettes from out-of-state sources in the past year, 15% admitted to evading taxes through cross-border purchases, and 26% reported purchasing likely or certainly untaxed cigarettes in the state in the past month. Attitudinal factors related to tax morale explain much more of the variance in compliance rates than demographic or law-and-economics factors. The implications for policy are discussed.

    The macroeconomic impact of automation: Applications to elderly care

    Chia-Hui Lu
    674-695页
    查看更多>>摘要:When automation technology can both help a firm's production and be widely used in the provision of long-term care for the elderly, developments in automation can potentially help alleviate the situation of a declining birthrate in an aging society and increase production and household welfare. In addition, this paper obtains results consistent with the real-world situation in which population aging and a declining birthrate arise simultaneously. Considering the case where automation technology is developed by firms does not change the main findings. Therefore, the government should encourage people to engage in the development of automation.

    Perceived economic prospects during the early stage of COVID-19 breakout

    Keyang LiYu QinJing WuJubo Yan...
    696-713页
    查看更多>>摘要:How does a new epidemic affect individuals' expectations on economic prospects in the early stage of the breakout? We implemented an incentivized longitudinal online survey soon after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in China to answer this question. Results show that fewer new confirmed COVID-19 cases significantly increase individuals' expectations on gross domestic product and consumer price index growth rates. Our finding provides evidence that at the early stage of an unfamiliar epidemic, containing the spread of the disease may help to maintain positive economic expectations among individuals.

    Defying gravity: The determinants of China's outbound mergers and acquisitions

    Zhongming ChengShengle Lin
    714-732页
    查看更多>>摘要:We find that the determinants of China's outbound M&As depart dramatically from the literature. First, China's M&A volume with a target country is not affected by geographic distance, currency appreciation, or stock market return. Second, Chinese acquirers pick an unconventional uphill battle by primarily targeting countries with greater cultural distance, stronger investor protection laws, and higher per capita income. We also document that China's outbound M&As have a higher than normal percentage of deals being partial acquisitions. We argue that emerging markets can differ remarkably from developed countries in the considerations and modes of outbound M&As.

    Contemporary Economic Policy 2022 Editor's Report

    Brad R. Humphreys
    733-737页
    查看更多>>摘要:Volume 40, published quarterly in 2022, contained 35 articles accounting for 700 pages contributed by 80 authors and coauthors. Table 1 provides a breakdown of the distribution of published articles classified by Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) topic area in Volume 40. The number of papers, pages, and authors represented in Volume 40 were both somewhat lower to Volume 39. Contemporary Economic Policy (CEP) strives to publish papers from all topic areas in economics, and Table 1 shows continued broad coverage across fields in the discipline.The CEP co-editorial team underwent no changes in 2022. Journal editorial assistant Andra Johnson continued to do an outstanding job supporting the journal and its editorial activities.Professor Jack Hou of California State University, Long Beach continues to serve as Specialized co-editor for Organized Sessions at the WEAI conferences. The editorial team thanks Professor Hou for his continued hard work and outstanding contributions.