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Joshua C. Hall

Bio: Joshua C. Hall is an academic researcher from West Virginia University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Economic freedom & Economic Freedom of the World. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 183 publications receiving 2309 citations. Previous affiliations of Joshua C. Hall include Bowling Green State University & Beloit College.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors revisited the relationship between informal institutions and income levels and found that the primacy of obedience over other informal institutions over trust, respect, respect and self-determination in explaining income levels across countries.
Abstract: We revisit the relationship between informal institutions and income levels. The empirical literature on institutions finds that indices of ‘informal institutions’ such as trust, respect, respect, self-determination and obedience are more important than ‘formal institutions’ such as constitutional constraints in explaining income levels across countries. We add to this literature in two ways. First, we separate out the index of informal institutions into its component parts to see which informal institutions are primary. Second, we construct two new measures of obedience to test the robustness of obedience. Our reduced-form results indicate the primacy of obedience over other informal institutions.

4 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In 1970, James Buchanan and Nicos Devletoglou published Academia in Anarchy: An Economic Diagnosis as discussed by the authors, which is the only one of his non-autobiographical, non-textbook, books not included in his collected works.
Abstract: In 1970, James Buchanan and Nicos Devletoglou published Academia in Anarchy: An Economic Diagnosis. Even though the book focuses on the industry Buchanan worked in for nearly 70 years, it is the only one of his non-autobiographical, non-textbook, books not included in his collected works. I evaluate the arguments of Buchanan and Devletoglou in light of the past 50 years of scholarship on the economics of higher education.

4 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors look at the history of the accreditation process with a focus on the role the federal government has played and how that has in uenced other players in the higher education market, and conclude that accreditation as currently practiced in not self-regulation, but rather government regulation.
Abstract: Higher education is under fire in the United States. Pressure, both financial and political, is being placed on colleges and universities to reform. One barrier to reform that has been put forth is accreditation. While calls for reform have identified what appear to be problems with accreditation, it is important to not engage in the nirvana fallacy and assume that what we can imagine will be better will be better. In that light, I look at the history of the accreditation process with a focus on the role the federal government has played and how that has in uenced other players in the higher education market. After surveying the history, I conclude that accreditation as currently practiced in not self- regulation, but rather government regulation.

4 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the relationship between economic freedom, political institutions, and conflict and find a statistically significant relationship between the degree of civil liberty protection in a country and conflict.
Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between economic freedom, political institutions, and conflict. We use a relatively new measure of peace that offers the unique advantage of capturing both internal and external conflicts, and we use a Freedom House measure of civil liberties for political liberties. According to our findings, countries with higher levels of economic freedom, other things equal, also have lower levels of external and internal conflict. In addition, we find a statistically significant relationship between the degree of civil liberty protection in a country and conflict. Our preliminary findings provide further evidence of the negative relationship between economic freedom and conflict (or positive relationship between economic freedom and peace). INTRODUCTION In pre-modern times, engaging in war and conflict with other nations was frequently viewed as a possible way to improve the economic well-being of a country. Thus it was sometimes viewed as being lucrative to engage in conflict, in particular when one was the aggressor, if the expected benefits of the conflict were greater than the expected costs. In the modern world, however, engaging in violent conflict is more appropriately viewed as something to be avoided. Yet, violent conflict continues to persist, both within countries as well as between countries. Determining the causes of violent conflict as well as possible solutions is one of the most important social science questions of our time. In the academic literature, there are two primary factors that have been suggested as contributing to a reduction in conflict or an increase in peace, which can be viewed as both sides of the same question. First, free trade is said to reduce conflict between nations. According to the 19th century French economist, Frederic Bastiat, if goods don't cross borders, armies will (Boudreaux, 2007). Bastiat's basic message is something that can be traced to Enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century and classical liberals of the 19th century. Immanuel Kant (1795), for example, argued that one of the keys to "perpetual peace" was economic interdependence. In his farewell address to the nation, President George Washington spoke positively of economic interdependence and warned against political interdependence. More recently, the economic interdependence hypothesis of the classical liberals has been more formally developed into the "trade-peace" hypothesis of international relations and trade theory (Mansfield and Pollins, 2001; Polachek, 2007; Schnabel, 2007). According to another prominent line of inquiry, democracy and representative government lead to peace (Brawley 1993; Ray 1998; Russett and Oneal 2001). Russett and Oneal, in particular, have performed numerous tests on what they call "the Kantian tripod," and they have found that all three legs of Kant's tripod - democracy, economic interdependence, and affiliations with international organizations - matter. Among other things, the so-called 'democratic peace' observed in the data comes from democratic institutions, which make political leaders accountable for the costs of war. Recently, the primacy of both theories has been challenged, in part, by empirical work showing the relationship between free-market capitalism and peace (Gartzke, 2007; Weede, 2007). In much of the empirical work, the degree to which a country's economic institutions are consistent with laissez-faire capitalism is measure by the Economic Freedom of the World index, produced annually by the Fraser Institute. While the freedom to trade is certainly a part of economic freedom, it is only a part, and other parts of economic freedom might contribute to both international and domestic peace (Hall and Lawson, 2009). For example, the ability to freely work in labor markets without belonging to a particular ethnic or racial group might lessen reasons for domestic conflict. Additionally, when governments consume a smaller share of overall output, they reduce opportunities for internal conflict over the distribution of public resources. …

3 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, negative spatial autocorrelation in income tax adoption was found, consistent with Tiebout competition reducing the likelihood of tax adoption, and states whose neighbors adopted income taxes were less likely to do so.
Abstract: In recent years, a number of papers have looked at the adoption and diffusion of taxes across national, state, and local governments. Spending pressures, reductions in tax collection costs, median voter preferences, and social learning have been found to play an important role in the adoption of the income tax. Spatial econometrics were used to study the diffusions of income taxes across states from 1900 to 2010. Using United States Census Bureau data, negative spatial autocorrelation in income tax adoption was found. This is consistent with Tiebout competition reducing the likelihood of income tax adoption. States whose neighbors adopted income taxes were less likely to do so. This work informs the literature on policy diffusion as well as the understanding of why only some states utilize the income tax.

3 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 May 1981
TL;DR: This chapter discusses Detecting Influential Observations and Outliers, a method for assessing Collinearity, and its applications in medicine and science.
Abstract: 1. Introduction and Overview. 2. Detecting Influential Observations and Outliers. 3. Detecting and Assessing Collinearity. 4. Applications and Remedies. 5. Research Issues and Directions for Extensions. Bibliography. Author Index. Subject Index.

4,948 citations

Posted Content
01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: The 2008 crash has left all the established economic doctrines - equilibrium models, real business cycles, disequilibria models - in disarray as discussed by the authors, and a good viewpoint to take bearings anew lies in comparing the post-Great Depression institutions with those emerging from Thatcher and Reagan's economic policies: deregulation, exogenous vs. endoge- nous money, shadow banking vs. Volcker's Rule.
Abstract: The 2008 crash has left all the established economic doctrines - equilibrium models, real business cycles, disequilibria models - in disarray. Part of the problem is due to Smith’s "veil of ignorance": individuals unknowingly pursue society’s interest and, as a result, have no clue as to the macroeconomic effects of their actions: witness the Keynes and Leontief multipliers, the concept of value added, fiat money, Engel’s law and technical progress, to name but a few of the macrofoundations of microeconomics. A good viewpoint to take bearings anew lies in comparing the post-Great Depression institutions with those emerging from Thatcher and Reagan’s economic policies: deregulation, exogenous vs. endoge- nous money, shadow banking vs. Volcker’s Rule. Very simply, the banks, whose lending determined deposits after Roosevelt, and were a public service became private enterprises whose deposits determine lending. These underlay the great moderation preceding 2006, and the subsequent crash.

3,447 citations

01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: In this paper, the interactions learners have with each other build interpersonal skills, such as listening, politely interrupting, expressing ideas, raising questions, disagreeing, paraphrasing, negotiating, and asking for help.
Abstract: 1. Interaction. The interactions learners have with each other build interpersonal skills, such as listening, politely interrupting, expressing ideas, raising questions, disagreeing, paraphrasing, negotiating, and asking for help. 2. Interdependence. Learners must depend on one another to accomplish a common objective. Each group member has specific tasks to complete, and successful completion of each member’s tasks results in attaining the overall group objective.

2,171 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors explored the multiplicity of contexts and their impact on entrepreneurship, identifying challenges researchers face in contextualizing entrepreneurship theory and offers possible ways forward, arguing that context is important for understanding when, how, and why entrepreneurship happens and who becomes involved.
Abstract: This paper sets out to explore contexts for entrepreneurship, illustrating how a contextualized view of entrepreneurship contributes to our understanding of the phenomenon. There is growing recognition in entrepreneurship research that economic behavior can be better understood within its historical, temporal, institutional, spatial, and social contexts, as these contexts provide individuals with opportunities and set boundaries for their actions. Context can be an asset and a liability for the nature and extent of entrepreneurship, but entrepreneurship can also impact contexts. The paper argues that context is important for understanding when, how, and why entrepreneurship happens and who becomes involved. Exploring the multiplicity of contexts and their impact on entrepreneurship, it identifies challenges researchers face in contextualizing entrepreneurship theory and offers possible ways forward.

1,856 citations