Tort Reform and Regulation of the Insurance Industry: Medical Malpractice Liability Proposals in 1986

Tort reform was a key issue for state legislatures in 1986.It pitted powerful interests against other powerful interests;it raised basic questions about common law; and it threatenedto alter the federal system by having the federal governmentclaim greater control over tort law and insurance regulation.In this article we set the background that led to this flurryof attention, review the major proposals for reform, and outlinethe actions of both the federal government and state governments.The federal government did little in 1986; it still faces thequestion of whether to preempt traditional state authority inthese areas. At the same time, virtually every state acted in1986. Early in the year, the insurance industry (and physicians)set the debate—its topic, tone, and terms. By the timeother interested parties got organized, many states had actedgenerally following the recommendations of the insurance industry.Later in the year, the debate became more heated, and the insuranceindustry had much more difficulty securing desired state action.As a result, many issues were carried forward to 1987.     

Committees and the core of the Constitution

An ongoing debate in the formal theory of legislatures involves the question of why these institutions (apparently) manifest so much stability. That is, why do the institutions not continually upset policies adopted only a short time before? A large number of answers have been advanced. This paper proposes that the stability derives from the interaction of two factors, (i) the fundamental constitutional rules (bicameralism, executive veto, and veto override) that structure the legislative process, and (ii) the committee systems endowed with veto powers that many American legislatures have developed. This interaction, we argue, can create a core — a set of undominated points — so large that even a substantial change in the legislature's members (reflecting electoral outcomes, for example) will be unlikely to shift its location enough for the status quo to be upset.     

Free riding with discrete and continuous public goods: Some experimental evidence

Two experimental designs were employed in which subjects were offered either a “discrete” public good, for which group contributions must meet a provision point before subjects receive payoffs; and a “continuous” public good, which returned 30 percent of group contributions to each subject at all contributions levels. Free riding, or non-contribution, is a dominant strategy in the continuous case. Non-contribution is not a dominant strategy in the discrete case; there are multiple equilibria. Contribution levels were similar in both cases, and did not vary significantly with method of payment (hypothetical versus real money); earnings, however, were higher in the continuous and realmoney versions of the experiment. Subjects' demographic characteristics made little difference to contribution patterns. The most significant determinant of contributions was the round of the “game.” Roughly speaking, subjects contributed less the longer they played, regardless of other factors.     

Innovation in Welfare Policy: Evaluating State Efforts to Encourage Work among Low‐Income Families1

This article examines what states are doing to help Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients move into the workforce and become self‐supporting. We first present documentation regarding many different state TANF policies aimed at encouraging work, including benefit structures, time limits, work requirements, sanctions, and work supports. We then discuss how effective these policies are at helping welfare recipients get jobs and increase their income, by reviewing research on each of these elements. We conclude that the TANF program has been effective in increasing employment and decreasing welfare caseloads and expenses, but that this has not resulted in overall income gains for welfare recipients in the long run. We also conclude that the most promising state programs have a strong employment focus combined with focused training and educational opportunities. In addition, we also find that sanctions appear to be harming those most in need of assistance, and therefore that such policies should be reevaluated and refocused.