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.

Globalization, institutions, and income convergence

Abstract: The income convergence literature suggests that poor countries or regions can catch up to rich ones conditional on sharing certain characteristics with rich countries or regions. Good institutions such as strong property rights and rule of law are key among those characteristics. Globalization provides opportunities for agents in poor economies to learn about and experi-ment with institutional innovations across regions. We estimate the relationship between glob-alization and cross-country income convergence using a panel of up to 184 countries covering 1970 to 2009. We employ the KOF index of globalization and control for measures of political and economic institutional quality. A standard deviation increase in the KOF index is associ-ated with a country closing the gap between its income per capita level and that of the richest country by an additional 13.6% annually.

The Cultural and Political Economy of Recovery: Social Learning in a Post-Disaster Environment

Abstract: The Cultural and Political Economy of Recovery: Social Learning in a post-disaster environmentEmily Chamlee-WrightRoutledge, 2010.The Cultural and Political Economy of Recovery focuses on the nature and causes of social order through the lens of post-disaster recovery. In 2005, many Gulf Coast residents watched as their homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Beyond the physical structures in their lives, however, considerable damage was done to their way of life. Their social systems were devastated and it was a long journey to rebuild their lives from scratch. To better understand how societies respond to disaster and are (in some cases) able to recover, economist Emily Chamlee-Wright conducted hundreds of extensive interviews with the affected citizens, many from Mississippi and Louisiana, as well as evacuees living in Houston.As an economist of the so-called Austrian School, her ideas are influenced by F.A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. This is important because Austrian economists mostly focus on the role of market prices in shaping economic processes. Individuals can often make rational decisions regarding the allocation of resources so as to obtain the greatest satisfaction, but the social problem of directing resources after a major disaster is far more complex. This book explores how individuals behave when they the cannot rely on market prices to guide them.While economists often attempt to investigate how cultural factors affect economic behavior, Chamlee-Wright suggests that such studies often falls out of focus. She asserts that to understand society, we must use qualitative methods in addition to the more routine quantitative approach used by economists. She charges that to the vast majority of economists qualitative methods are quite foreign, but she presents a forceful case for their merits. She implies that economists must learn about the give and take between what they know (or think they know) from their training, and what they can learn in the field. We found this approach refreshing and found that the interviews conducted were critical to the book. Use of first-hand accounts brings individual concerns of residents to the table and adds a personal perspective on the effects of Katrina on the community.Through her many interviews, Chamlee-Wright finds that a postdisaster context presents a social coordination problem. The private sector cannot align the expectations of displaced residents, nor can it overcome the high costs and greater uncertainty of the people who return to the damaged area.. More simply, in extreme situations like Hurricane Katrina processes we would usually rely on become overwhelmed. For example, Chamlee-Wright finds that the post- Katrina reconstruction problem is largely social. Residents were uncertain as to what others would do. Communication between evacuees was scarce and the decision to return contains a viscous cycle. Many people wanted to wait for others to return or businesses to rebuild before making the decision, all the while businesses waited for residents to return before reinvesting and rebuilding.Of course, the problem is that if everyone waited, nothing would have materialized. Chamlee-Wright shows that it was civil society that stepped up by making commitments to long-term recovery. Community leaders such as Doris Voitier, the Superintendent of the St. Bernard Parish Public School District, pledged to the community that the recovery process would begin. …

Was Adam Smith Right About Religious Competition

Abstract: Adam Smith famously argued that increased competition in religion would result in more religious tolerance and that the benefits of competition in the marketplace would also be seen in religious instruction when many religious sects are tolerated. We use a cross-section of a maximum of 167 countries to explore whether increased religious competition results in less governmental regulation of religion and less governmental favoritism of religion. Our measure of religious regulation and favoritism comes from the Association of Religion Data Archives. Our empirical analysis also explores the influence of economic and political factors, including the size of the economy, openness of trade, legal origins, education, the amount of checks and balances on the government, and the role of democracy.

Did Politicians Use Non-Public Macroeconomic Information in Their Stock Trades? Evidence from the STOCK Act of 2012

Abstract: Existing research shows that members of Congress made informed trades prior to the passage of the STOCK Act of 2012. There is also evidence in the literature to suggest that the STOCK Act was able to deter politicians from trading based on non-public information. However, the question of whether politicians made informed trades at the market level (using non-public macroeconomic information, not just firm-specific information) in the first place and whether they continued to do so even after the passage of the STOCK Act remains unexamined. We analyze 101,191 individual stock transactions covering the 2004–2014 period and find that the STOCK Act adversely affected the ability of politicians’ aggregated stock trades to predict the stock market returns. Our results imply that politicians used non-public macroeconomic information prior to the STOCK Act, and this legislation was influential in deterring politicians from using non-public macroeconomic information in their stock trades. Our findings also provide input on the current debate on the need for the STOCK Act 2.0.

Regression Diagnostics: Identifying Influential Data and Sources of Collinearity

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.

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism

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.

将“Cooperative Learning”融入课堂——浅谈英语素质教育

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.

Contextualizing Entrepreneurship—Conceptual Challenges and Ways Forward:

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.