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with John Chamblee, Peter Colwell, and Carolyn Dehring We examine conservation activity in western North Carolina, where state income tax credits from land conservation have been available since 1983. Six land trusts, including the Nature Conservancy, undertake conservations in both fee simple and in conservation easement over a twelve year period. We find that value of conserved land differs by conservation mechanism, with fee conservations occurring in localized value craters. The price effect to adjacent land from conservation also varies by conservation mechanism, with greater benefits resulting from conservation easements. The mountainous landscape allows us to measure a variety of pricing effects from land conservation, including view.
with Jason Berkowitz and Dennis Wilson This paper investigates whether, and to what extent, outcome uncertainty influenced NASCAR race attendance and television viewership during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. It is shown that while racelevel competiveness was positively related to both attendance and the television audience, only the television audience responds to season-level competitiveness. Furthermore, variables that describe the macroeconomic environment and the characteristics of the broadcast and the race are not statistically related to NASCAR attendance but are related to the television audience. The estimates are used for out-of-sample predictions of attendance and viewership for the first five races of the 2009 season. It is shown that the model correctly predicted a decline in attendance but did not predict the decline in television viewership.
with Egle Mazonaite This paper investigates the number of universities a country had ranked in the QS Top 500 World Universities in 2008. While income, population size, and being industrialized all contribute to having more universities ranked, illiteracy is strongly negatively correlated with the number of universities ranked from a particular country. Economic freedom and ethnic fractionalization are both positively correlated with the number of universities a country had ranked in the top 500.
with Mike Ward Internet tools that allow scholars better access to the literature are hypothesized to alter journal referencing patterns and increase scholar research productivity. These hypotheses are tested for economic research using changes in journal availability through access to the JSTOR article archiving service. Our evidence indicates that JSTOR access leads economists to refer more often to JSTOR journals and less often to non-JSTOR journals. Furthermore, JSTOR access increases an institution’s quantity, but not quality, of economic research. Thus, the Internet has the potential to not only increase commercial productivity, but also research productivity, which could increase the rate of economic growth.
with Larisa Mackey This paper explores the impact of multi-car teams on driver wins, total points, and total earnings in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the years of 2005 through 2008. In the earlier years of NASCAR’s history, multi-car teams were rare as the common wisdom was that a multi-car team would have poor chemistry which would negatively impact driver performance. Recently, however, multi-car teams have become more popular. This paper investigates whether multi-car teams experience more success in terms of driver performance and earnings. Using season-level data, we show that multi-car teams generally enjoy a competitive advantage on the track over single-car teams.
with Courtney Williams This paper empirically investigates whether school’s with an intercollegiate football team experience greater attendance to women’s basketball games. The empirical question is important because if football increases attendance and hence revenue to other sports then these benefits should be included when considering the net benefits of football. Using a cross-section of 329 Division IA women’s basketball programs from 2005-2006, we find that, having a football program corresponds with an increase in per-game attendance of approximately 500 people. This spill-over benefit of having a football team should be credited against the costs of starting and maintaining a football team.
with Courtney LaFountain We measure the effect of governance on sovereign creditworthiness, as measured by sovereign credit ratings. Governance may affect the government's ability to raise tax revenue to service its debt, with poor enough governance leading to insolvency. Data for 1996-2005 indicate that countries with better governance have higher probabilities of getting top ratings and that improving governance increases the likelihood of a top rating more for lower income countries than for higher income countries. Governance thus plays a role in reducing the likelihood of default, thereby facilitating countries' access to international credit markets and their financial sector development.
with Brandon Gregorius We analyze auctions from eBay to determine whether seller reputation, auction timing, and auction aesthetics influence closing prices. Using a sample of auctions concerning the Apple iPhone, we find that closing prices are not strongly influenced by the level of seller reputation but prices are considerably lower when sellers have no reputation at stake. There are small arbitrage opportunities when deciding when an auction should end and when changing the aesthetics of the auction, such as using bold fonts and including pictures of the product for sale.
with Zhang Ying Internet message boards are inherently a world of cheap talk due to the anonymity of message authors. This paper investigates whether a pecuniary reputation system influences the adverse selection endemic to message boards. First, we find evidence that such a authors with high reputation scores are less likely to voluntarily offer a buy-hold-sell sentiment in a particular message. Second, we find that authors with no reputation at stake tend to be more bearish with their sentiment but, after controlling for selection, authors with more reputation at stake tend to be bullish in their sentiment. Third, we find that high-reputation authors tend to offer more accurate sentiments. Our results suggest that reputation, coupled with a small pecuniary reward system, can materially influence the adverse selection problem in a world of cheap talk.
with Dennis Wilson We empirically investigate whether there is any statistically and economically meaningful correlation between the success a nation’s soccer team in the FIFA World Cup Finals and that nation’s real per-capita GDP growth. Using an unbalanced panel of countries from 1950 through 2004, we find that, for certain continents, there are non-trivial correlations between the World Cup finals, World Cup success, and real per-capita GDP growth. In Europe, North America, and South America, real per-capita GDP growth declines by approximately one percentage point in the years during which the World Cup Finals occur. Moreover, we find that in Africa, North America, and South America, the further a nation’s team advances in the month-long tournament the further the decline in real per-capita GDP growth. We estimate the contemporaneous impacts of the 2002 World Cup finals on per-capita income and a counterfactual real per-capita GDP series incorporating the varying levels of success in all of the World Cup finals held during our sample period.
This paper investigates the value of the pole-position over the history of NASCAR. Early in the sport’s history, the pole-sitter enjoyed a considerable advantage over other racers both in terms of the probability of winning a race and in the percentage of a race’s purse won. Over time, however, the probability of the pole-sitter winning a particular race has declined considerably, especially in the so-called modern era of NASCAR during which time the sport has intentionally pursued parity amongst drivers and teams. While the odds that the pole-sitter wins a race have declined over time, the expected value of winning the pole has increased, caused by the increased popularity of NASCAR and the corresponding increase in race purses.
with Lisa Haglund This paper investigates whether disparity in team member quality impacts team production using NCAA 4x400m relay teams. The net peer effects are estimated to have both an absolute and relative negative effect on the team performance. Because NCAA relay teams are comprised of unpaid amateurs, we utilize a direct measure of team-member quality rather than indirect measures such as wages. The evidence suggests that a greater disparity in team member quality reduces team performance, that is, it increases a relay team’s running time. This suggests that net negative peer effects exist and support the team cohesiveness hypothesis for NCAA relay teams.
with Dennis Coates This paper analyzes the total sales and sales tax revenue impacts on host communities of a variety of professional and collegiate sporting events. Using monthly data describing 126 jurisdictions in Texas from January, 1990 through April of 2006, the analysis finds that regular season games in the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB have widely disparate effects. IN the NBA and NFL, regular season games are net losers of revenue, whereas NHL and MLB games generate additional revenue. Collegiate regular season football games are revenue generators for small cities and towns home to Division IA and Division IAA football, but cities that are home to teams from the old Southwest Conference or the new Big 12 conference do not gain revenues from home contests. Moreover, hosting an NCAA post-season bowl game is not a net tax revenue generator. Finally, the Super Bowl generated over $2 million in tax revenues for Houston, by far the largest revenue boost of any of the events in our data. Given the estimated amount of money Houston spent hosting the event, it seems the Super Bowl might have provided a net gain to the city treasury.
with Courtney LaFountain and Roger Butters We estimate the impact of corruption on a country's creditworthiness. Corruption affects creditworthiness through its impact on the size of the formal sector of an economy. We find that creditworthiness, as measured by sovereign credit ratings, is decreasing in corruption. It follows from our benchmark estimates that a one standard deviation decrease in corruption improves sovereign credit ratings by almost a full rating category (e.g. BBB to A). On long term foreign currency denominated debt, this translates into annual savings of roughly $10,100 for every $1 million of debt.
with Dennis P. Wilson This paper provides evidence that the uncertainty of outcome, as measured by various indexes of competitive balance, does pertain to Division IA college football. Using aggregated season attendance in an unbalanced panel representing nineteen Division IA college football conferences from 1978-2004, we find that fans have a propensity to attend in fewer numbers when competitive balance declines. However, there are qualitative differences in the impact of the uncertainty of outcome on attendance to smaller and larger conferences. The results provide empirical evidence of a sufficient condition provided in previous theoretical discussions of conference realignment in college sports.
with Jennifer K. Ashcraft This paper investigates the impact of baseball's reserve clause as it evolved from a \gen- tleman's agreement" to a formal contract stipulation. Using a unique data set describing the salaries of 29 Major League Baseball players during the 1880s, we test whether average salaries, remuneration to marginal product, and the premium paid to a player for changing teams were materially impacted when the reserve clause became binding in 1887. The em- pirical results suggest that average salaries in the sample fell by approximately 10% after the reserve clause, controlling for player attributes and the overall macroeconomy. We also ¯nd that the premium for moving to a new team was cut in half after the binding reserve clause was implemented, supporting the invariance principle postulated by Rottenberg (1956). with Giao Nguyen and Salil Sarkar This paper investigates the impact of various forms of executive compensation and firm monitoring on agency costs as measured using the stochastic frontier technique. After relating market value for 1,043 firm-year observations to a number of standard covariates in a stochastic frontier framework, the resulting one-sided inefficiency term is interpreted as a proportional proxy for firm-specific agency costs. Following Battese and Coelli (1995) firm-specific agency costs are related to a variety of additional covariates including firm governance structures, firm liquidity, information asymmetry, and various forms of executive compensation. Consistent with agency theory, it is found that cash compensation tends to increase agency conflict while restricted stock incentives and executive stock options tend to lower it. Moreover, firms with high liquidity and low information asymmetry exhibit a lower degree of agency cost.
This paper provides empirical estimates the optimal size of Division IA football conferences, utilizing data describing conference football revenues and expenditures from the 1990s and early 2000s. The data suggest that the conference size that maximizes football may be approximately twelve teams, consistent with the recent trend in Division IA football towards twelve team conferences. The results suggest that the NCAA’s accommodation of conference realignment supports previous conclusions that the organization operates as a cartel that protects the profit-potential of its membership. Furthermore, the results support intuition provided by other authors about the causes and effects of conference realignment.
with Dennis P. Wilson This paper presents an empirical investigation into the monetary effect of a football probation and associated penalties, including lost scholarships and post-season bans, on the revenues and expenditures on collegiate sports. Using data from 106 Division IA football programs from 1996-2000, we test the impact of a probation on men’s football revenues and expenditures and find little evidence of a monetary effect. Extending the analysis to men’s and women’s basketball and aggregated men’s and women’s non-revenue sports, we find evidence that suggests women’s sports, and to a lesser extent men’s non-revenue sports, suffer reduced resources during a football probation and associated penalties. We provide possible explanations for this perhaps unintentional consequence of NCAA enforcement in collegiate football. New Stadiums and Concession Prices: Evidence from Professional Football and Baseball This paper investigates the impact of new stadiums on the prices of certain concessions. The question is important given the heated debate over public subsidies for stadium construction. Anti-subsidy activists express concern that increased prices caused by a new stadium might preclude attendance for some who help finance the stadium's construction. However, it is important to identify whether prices increase because of increases in attendance, whether caused by a new stadium or for other reasons such as team quality, or because of the new stadium alone. Using data describing professional football (NFL) and baseball (MLB) teams from 1991 through 2001, it is shown that concession prices tend to increase after a team moves into a new stadium predominantly because of attendance increases. Only in a few cases in either sport can price increases be attributed to the new stadium alone. Ultimately, the impact of the price changes on the total cost of attendance is marginal, yet the impact on team revenues can be substantial.This paper investigates the impact of new stadiums on the prices of certain concessions. The question is important given the heated debate over public subsidies for stadium construction. Anti-subsidy activists express concern that increased prices caused by a new stadium might preclude attendance for some who help finance the stadium's construction. However, it is important to identify whether prices increase because of increases in attendance, whether caused by a new stadium or for other reasons such as team quality, or because of the new stadium alone. Using data describing professional football (NFL) and baseball (MLB) teams from 1991 through 2001, it is shown that concession prices tend to increase after a team moves into a new stadium predominantly because of attendance increases. Only in a few cases in either sport can price increases be attributed to the new stadium alone. Ultimately, the impact of the price changes on the total cost of attendance is marginal, yet the impact on team revenues can be substantial.
with Trisha L. Bezmen The United Nations has made access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) a primary objective for the developing world. Several policies have been implemented to transfer technology from the developed to the developing world, specifically to increase Internet access. Unfortunately, there is little direct evidence that Internet usage has a positive impact on national income. This paper investigates the impact of Internet usage on national income using a cross section of 84 countries from 1999 and 2000. The results indicate that national income has a positive impact on the number of Internet users and the number of Internet users has a positive influence on national income. Using a restricted sample of 22 African countries, it is shown that attempts to exogenously increase an average African countrys access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT), specifically through an increased number of personal computers, are expected to have minimal impacts on national income in the short-run. The estimation results suggest that the short-run net benefits of technology grants are most likely negative, although long-run benefits could be positive.
This paper investigates the impact of lowered BAC limits on alcohol related traffic fatalities. Unlike previous studies that find significant reductions in traffic fatalities after legal limits are reduced, this paper shows that once controlling explicitly for enforcement efforts and the severity of penalties the impact of lowered BAC limits is insignificant. This study is important because national legislation was passed in 2000 requiring all states to have a legal limit of 0.08 BAC by 2004. At the time, proponents of the legislation claimed an estimated 600 lives would be saved nation-wide because of the new legal limits. This study shows that this estimate was most likely overstated.
with Robert J. Sonora
In recent years, several public policy initiatives have aimed at the increasingly common red light violation. Policies ranging from public service announcements, increased penalties for red light violations and, most strongly debated, the use of red light cameras to ensure near perfect enforcement of red light violations, have been employed across the country. However, these initiatives have failed to reduce the number of red light violations to zero, a situation that has frustrated public policy crafters. This paper suggests that while some drivers may purposefully violate red lights, there are natural conditions under which drivers find themselves involuntarily running red lights. If drivers involuntarily run red lights, the traditional policy tools to combat illegal behavior will be less effective. We show that past public policy initiatives may have focused on an inappropriate source of red light violations, thereby having less success than their proponents had hoped.
Time Series Analysis of Market Structure Previous research on market structure concludes that it is difficult to empirically distinguish between various forms of imperfectly competitive behavior. In this paper, we demonstrate that this `identification' problem can be overcome by analyzing the dynamic relationship between output of firms in a market. Specifically, if output levels are characterized by stochastic trends then collusive firms will exhibit positive long-run cointegration while firms engaged in non-cooperative competition will exhibit negative cointegration. The methodology is applied to OPEC, which has been the subject of numerous analyses concerning its market structure. We find that OPEC has indeed behaved as an output-based cartel (a collusive market structure). A natural extension of the empirical methodology provides interesting insight to the disequilibrium dynamics associated with OPEC's cartel behavior. ORPHANS
Congressional Elections of 1996 Claims of incumbency bias in election results have been supported in previous research, but not investigated in the context of campaign fund-raising. Using a simple measure of bias in campaign contributions, I find that the bias in fund-raising for the Congressional elections of 1996 was towards challengers. The observed increase in fund-raising activities by incumbents reflects a rational response to the bias towards challengers in raising campaign contributions. These results indicate that campaign fund-raising is more competitive than general opinion may suggest.
In this paper I introduce a suburban market that surrounds the core circular market developed by Salop (1979). The interesting result is that firms which locate in the original city only lead to higher social expenditure than if they have two locations. Furthermore, firms are not guaranteed to make zero or positive profits if they remain in a single location whereas they are guaranteed to make zero profits if they expand to locate in both markets.
In this paper I investigate why some U.S. colleges offer positive tuition subsidies while others do not. I develop a model in which students face uncertainty in the quality of education at a school and schools in the quality of students that attend the school. These uncertainties help explain why different tuition subsidies exist. An empirical investigation of 1115 U.S. colleges in 1994 shows that students typically underestimate the quality of education they receive and that schools typically overestimate the ability of students.
 
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