Fiscal policy outcomes are shaped not only by Legislative and Executive actions but also by judicial decisions. To examine if courts respond to fiscal pressures, we analyze 358 binding cases adjudicated by the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) between …

Russia has on several occasions threatened to limit its oil exports as part of its energy-economic warfare. Using a quantifiable short-run model of oil trade and detailed production and consumption data, this paper evaluates the winners and losers …

This paper builds on the literature about mixed-member electoral systems, exploring how ballot design interacts with voter behavior. We present a theoretical model for vote decision-making in mixed-member systems that takes into account the …

Since 2002, the regular size of the German Bundestag has been 598 seats. However, due to overhang and compensatory mandates, the Bundestag was enlarged to 709 seats after the 2017 election and to 736 seats after the 2021 election. This made the …

Successful coup plotters come to power by disregarding the constraints of their country’s constitution. Yet, 42% of them initiate the writing of a new constitution within three years after their coup. In this paper, we ask under which conditions …

Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral systems aim to balance territorial representation, personal voter-politician connections, and party proportionality. However, legislators face significant challenges in achieving these goals …

This paper examines how political competition is related to the integrity of official economic data in China’s county-level governance, focusing on two types of data distortion: data opacity, which involves withholding information, and data …

Following Hungary’s 2010 parliamentary election, the Fidesz–KDNP government, as part of a comprehensive restructuring of the country’s constitutional system, fundamentally modified the electoral system approved in 1989, maintaining the mixed …

We integrate a dynamic model of addiction with a dynamic model of imperfect altruism to examine help for addicts. Help for the addict is a public good that reduces the rate of addiction, and addiction emits an externality that negatively impacts …

Many governments formed ad hoc scientific advisory committees in the Covid-19 pandemic because they offered the government greater control over policy advice than standing agencies. The difference between ad hoc and standing advisory bodies has …

This paper analyzes an interstate-conflict model in which two states compete for supporters in the governance of a territory on two socioeconomically linked fronts: soft (for example, media persuasion, propaganda) and hard (for example …

Research on regulation highlights firms’ voluntary efforts to regulate their behavior without explaining how political institutions drive those efforts. This paper argues that democratic governments are more credibly committed than authoritarian …

How do changing interest rates influence lobbying expenditure? I study a two-stage game consisting of a policy-maker and heterogeneous firms that produce partial substitutes. The policy-maker chooses whether to implement a reform that will raise …

Although Japan’s mixed electoral system, introduced in 1994, was intended to foster robust competition between two major parties, small parties have survived by allying with larger parties and coordinating candidate nominations in electoral …

A growing body of research has used exogenous shocks in voter turnout to analyze the relationship between turnout and election results. However, the findings of these studies with regard to the legitimacy of election results remain unclear because …

This paper argues that the characteristics of place of residence, be it urban or rural, influence how income inequality translates to political behavior. We build on previous research that posits an inverted U-shaped relationship: Rising …

It is widely accepted that political elites rent-seek by redirecting public resources from targeted welfare programs to themselves. However, little is known about whether political elites also rent-seek in crop insurance programs. Using data from …

Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century puts forth a logically consistent explanation for changes in income and wealth inequality patterns. However, while rich in data, the book provides no formal empirical testing for its theorized …

We propose a new electoral system, Mixed Local-Proportional (MLP), that reconciles reforms beneficial for the polity with existing political interests. The MLP system maintains the current distribution of seats among parties while addressing …

This study examines how kinship systems shape the size of the shadow economy—economic activities deliberately hidden from official oversight to evade taxes and regulations. We hypothesize that stronger kinship ties foster larger shadow economies …