More on measuring budget-related rent-seeking: A comment

We wish to thank the Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress, Jerusalem, for supporting our work on this topic.     

Rent-seeking for pure public goods

In this paper we present a formal analysis of rent-seeking for public goods by two or more groups with different numbers of individuals. We begin by considering equally wealthy groups under risk neutrality, a case which constitutes our basic model. Several surprising and interesting results emerge from the analysis of this basic case. The problem is then extended to deal with (a) groups with different wealth levels, and (b) risk aversion. This last extension brings about a further crop of interesting and useful results.     

Is social networking fostering the fungibility of the Other?

The argument will be made here that the various social networking platforms and mobile communicational technologies that have proliferated within the 21st century have promoted a powerful sentiment of technological determinism, particularly with regard to what it means to be a social individual within (post)modern society. The article will show how these new communicational technologies have accelerated and amplified a highly commodified and instrumentalised form of rationality within a relational context. By relying on an interdisciplinary methodological framework – focusing primarily on the critical insights of Bauman, Turkle, Adorno and Horkheimer – this investigation essentially highlights how (contrary to popular perception) these new communicational devices have had an inimical and undermining effect on individuals’ apperception of the Other, and what it means to be a sociable being. As a result, the focus is on how these new mediums of communication foster the sentiments of objectification, fungibility and the disposability of the Other in the realm of interpersonal relationships – a paradoxical outcome, in light of the fact that such technological developments are often purported to encourage and foster a sense of interpersonal cohesion and contiguity.     

Patterns of prior offending by child abductors: A comparison of fatal and non-fatal outcomes

Our study examines the prior offending of 750 individuals who are known to be responsible for the abduction of a child under the age of 18 years. The first group comprised of 311 offenders (42%) who had abducted a child that was later located alive (found alive, referred to as FA). The second group was comprised of 439 offenders (58%) who had abducted a child that was either found murdered or was still missing and presumed dead (found murdered, referred to as FM). While males perpetrated the majority of the abductions, women perpetrated 31 (10%) of the offenses in the FA group and 10 (2%) of the offenses in the FM group. The average number of prior offenses as reflected in the NCIC criminal history of each offender was seven with these occurring over an average of 12 years. Seventy-five percent of the offenders had prior arrests for an assortment of different crimes while 25% had no known criminal history, a finding that was consistent across both the FA and FM groups. Of those with a criminal history, 41% had been arrested for assault, 40% for larceny, 35% for burglary/breaking and entering, 33% for forcible sex offenses, 25% for drug/narcotic offenses, 21% for weapons law violations, 17% for motor vehicle thefts, 15% for robbery, and 14% for kidnapping. Our findings are congruent with the theme of criminal diversity among child abductors and argue against the specificity in offending that is often assumed with this type of sexual offender. This information is relevant to our understanding of the progression in criminal offending that is manifested by offenders who abduct children and will hopefully be used by law enforcement in helping to direct and focus their investigations.     

Correction to: The Effect of Language on Political Appeal: Results from a Survey Experiment in Thailand

Political Behavior - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a typo in Introduction section. Indonesian presidential candidate name is Prabowo Subianto instead it was submitted...     

Access to Healthcare and Criminal Behavior: Evidence from the ACA Medicaid Expansions

I investigate the causal relationship between access to healthcare and crime following state decisions to expand Medicaid coverage after the Affordable Care Act. I combine state-level crime data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports for the years 2009 through 2018 with variation in insurance eligibility generated by the Medicaid expansion. Using a difference-in-differences design, my findings indicate that states that expanded Medicaid have experienced a 5.3 percent reduction in annual reported violent crime rates relative to nonexpansion states. This effect is explained by decreases in aggravated assaults and corresponds to 17 fewer incidents per 100,000 people. The estimated decrease in reported crime amounts to an annual cost savings of approximately $4 billion.     

Some Implications of Corporate Taxation for Rent-Seeking Activity

In this paper we show that corporate taxes are likely to have considerable implications for rent-seeking activity. We find that corporate taxation tends to significantly reduce rent-seeking, and that it favors rent-seeking by established firms and discriminates against new and zero profit firms. Indeed, we show that corporate tax regulations may completely block rent-seeking by new corporations, and that rent-seeking competitions may be characterized by an equilibrium that features a small number of profitable and well established firms. Tax regulations may therefore impart an oligopolistic tendency to rent-seeking markets. Moreover, our results may have significant implications for the effects of corporate taxes on patent races, tournaments, and other first-past-the-post competitions.