This paper provides a theoretical economic framework to study the effects of changes in the sex ratio on the out-of-wedlock birth rate in the United States. We model the demanders and suppliers of sexual relations as potential mates and the relative “price” of human sexual relations as the promises implicit within a traditional marriage (marriage, fidelity, wealth transfers, child support, etc.). We examine an instrument for the implicit “price” of sexual relations, namely the out-of-wedlock birth rate. We show that the reduction in the number of available sex partners for women during World War II decreased the “price”—in terms of marriage—that remaining men had to pay for sex. One result of this lower “price” is an increase in the number of children born out-of-wedlock during the war. According to our regression results, a reduction in the sex ratio of 10 males per 100 females in the U.S. population during World War II increased the out-of wedlock birth rate by six to ten percent.

This paper examines the joint production of golf and real estate development. The empirical results of this analysis show that, over time, golf courses are being constructed less for recreational golf and more for contractual assurance of green open space for homes. We believe that this fundamentally provides some evidence that the demand for environmental quality is growing and that markets are increasingly able to find creative contracting mechanisms to satisfy demands for public goods.

This analysis examines the business impacts on law firms of locating in Central Business Districts (CBDs) in major U.S. cities. Specifically, we measure the price premium that law firms pay to locate in CBDs. Using micro-level data from the 1992 and 2007 Census of Services, we find that after controlling for firm size, firm specialization characteristics, and MSA and county attributes, law firms within CBDs pay about 15 to 20 percent more in overhead compared to those firms outside CBDs – a result consistent across time between 1992 and 2007. When including an important additional measure of firm quality, however, we find that this impact is reduced to about 7 to 9 percent, but still statistically significant. Additional results show that there is a significant correlation between firm quality and CBD location. We also find that firm size and firm specialization measures are important factors in the choice to locate within CBDs. We argue that these results indicate that CBD location for law firms may serve as networking, quality sorting, and branding mechanisms.

This paper seeks an economic explanation for the fact that women's tees in golf are closer to the pin than men's tees, other things the same, in states of the old Confederacy. This is a robust empirical result that we explain as arising from a more courteous treatment of women in that part of the United States. We also note other explanations.

The analysis uses an exhaustive golf course database that contains over 100 golf course variables on more than 15,000 golf courses in the United States combined with data from the Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuary Program to examine the market setting of environmental certification on golf courses. Using the Rosen (1974) two-stage estimation technique, quality-adjusted structural demand and supply equations for golf are estimated. A standard hedonic pricing model shows a substantial price premium for environmentally certified Audubon International golf courses. Additional results suggest that the increase in marginal benefits of certification is approximately equal to the increase in marginal costs.

Previous articleNext article No AccessCommentsCrime on the Court, Another Look: Reply to Hutchinson and YatesRobert E. McCormick and Robert D. TollisonRobert E. McCormickClemson University Search for more articles by this author and Robert D. TollisonClemson University Search for more articles by this author Clemson UniversityPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Political Economy Volume 115, Number 3June 2007 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/520066 Views: 77Total views on this site Citations: 3Citations are reported from Crossref © 2007 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Ho Fai Chan, David A. Savage, Benno Torgler There and back again: Adaptation after repeated rule changes of the game, Journal of Economic Psychology 75 (Dec 2019): 102129.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2018.12.003Radek Janhuba, Kristyna Cechova Criminals on the Field: A Study of College Football, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2017).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3084348Nicolas Eber Ce que les sportifs ont appris aux économistes, Revue d'économie politique Vol. 118, no.33 (Jun 2008): 341–374.https://doi.org/10.3917/redp.183.0341

This article advances a theory of commodity bundling as an alternative to forward integration in household production. We argue, in particular, that a producer having market power over the sale of a final consumption good will sometimes find it profitable to bundle that good with one or more complements – and to sell the preassembled package to consumers at a lump-sum price – for the same reason that a monopolist of an intermediate input profits from vertically integrating his supply chain. In both cases, substitution against a monopoly-priced input is avoided and competitively determined input-price ratios are restored downstream. Combining the theories of transfer pricing and household production also suggests that the not uncommon practice of “mixed bundling”, whereby sellers offer the same final consumption good both bundled and unbundled, can be explained as a way of segmenting consumers into groups based on differences in their skills, tastes, and preferences for home production.

This paper advances a theory of commodity bundling as an alternative to forward integration into home production. We argue, in particular, that a producer having market power over the sale of a final consumption good will sometimes find it profitable to bundle that good with one or m ore complements - and to sell the preassembled package to consumers at a lump-sum price - for the same reason that a monopolist of an intermediate input profits from integrating his supply chain. In both cases, substitution against a monopoly-priced product is avoided by restoring competitively determined input ratios downstream. Marrying the theories of t ransfer pricing and household production also provides novel insights into the n ot uncommon practice o f "mixed b undling", whereby sellers offer the same final consumption good both bundled and unbundled.

This authoritative and encyclopaedic reference work provides a thorough account of the public choice approach to economics and politics. The Companion breaks new ground by joining together the most important issues in the field in a single comprehensive volume. It contains state-of-the-art discussions of both old and contemporary problems, including new work by the founding fathers as well as contributions by a new generation of younger scholars.