everything.study
14.472

Public Economics II

3-0-9 units · Graduate

Focuses on government expenditures and policies designed to correct market failures and/or redistribute resources. Key topics include theoretical and empirical analysis of insurance market failures, the optimal design of social insurance programs, and the design of redistributive programs.

Spring 2004

Topics

  • Voluntary Private Provision of Public Goods and Private Charity
  • Efficient Public Goods Provision
  • Income Tax Deduction of Charitable Donations
  • Background
  • Taxing Gifts to Individuals
  • Estate Taxes
  • Social Insurance Theory
  • Within Cohort Theoretical Models
  • Social Security, Saving, and Benefit Adequacy Issues
  • Social Security and Labor Supply
  • Social Security in OLG Growth Models
  • Social Security Reform: Overview and Political Economy
  • Unemployment Insurance - Theory
  • Unemployment Insurance and Worker Behavior
  • Unemployment Insurance and Firm Behavior
  • Workers’ Compensation Issues
  • Disability Insurance Issues
  • Traditional Cash Welfare
  • Effects of Welfare Reform
  • Health Insurance, Moral Hazard, and Adverse Selection
  • Medicaid, the Uninsured, and Long Term Care
  • Medicare and Provider Issues
  • Health Insurance and the Labor Market
  • Health Externalities - Smoking

Readings

  • Auerbach, A., and M. Feldstein. Handbook of Public Economics. Vols. 1, 2 and 3. Amsterdam, Holland, New York, NY: North-Holland; New York, NY: Elsevier, 1985, 1987, 2003. ISBNs: 044487612X, 0444879080, 044482314X.
    Listed reading
  • Atkinson, A., and J. Stiglitz. Lectures on Public Economics. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 1980. ISBN: 0070841055.
    Listed reading
  • Listed reading
  • Moffit, R. A., ed. Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States . National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report. Chicago, IL; London, UK: University of Chicago Press, 2003. ISBN: 0226533565.
    Listed reading
  • Myles, G. Public Economics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1995. ISBN: 0521497698.
    Listed reading
  • Listed reading
  • Tresch, R. Public Finance. Revised ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2002. ISBN: 0126990514.
    Listed reading
  • Listed reading
  • Andreoni, J. “Impure Altruism and Donation to Public Goods; A Theory of Warm Glow Giving.” Economic Journal 100 (1990): 464-477.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “An Experimental Test of the Public Goods Crowding Out Hypothesis.” American Economic Review 83 (December 1993): 1317-1327.
    Listed reading
  • Bergstrom, T., L. Blume, and H. Varian. “On the Private Provision of Public Goods.” Journal of Public Economics 29 (1986): 25-49.
    Listed reading
  • Kingma, B. “An Accurate Measurement of the Crowd-Out Effect, Income Effect, and Price Effect for Charitable Contributions.” Journal of Political Economy 97 (October 1989): 1197-1207.
    Listed reading
  • Ledyard, J. “Public Goods: A Survey of Experimental Research.” In The Handbook of Experimental Economics. Edited by J. Kagel and A. Roth. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995, pp. 111-194. ISBN: 069104290X.
    Listed reading
  • Roberts, R. “Financing Public Goods.” Journal of Political Economy 95 (1987): 420-437.
    Listed reading
  • Atkinson, A., and N. Stern. “Pigou, Taxation and Public Goods.” Review of Economic Studies 41 (1974): 119-128.
    Listed reading
  • Ballard, C., and D. Fullerton. “Distortionary Taxes and the Provision of Public Goods.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 6 (Summer 1992): 117-131.
    Listed reading
  • Boadway, R., and M. Keen. “Public Goods, Self-Selection and Optimal Income Taxation.” International Economic Review 34, no. 3 (August 1993): 463-78.
    Listed reading
  • Gaube, T. “When do Distortionary Taxes Reduce the Optimal Supply of Public Goods?” Journal of Public Economics 76 (May 2000): 151-180.
    Listed reading
  • Kaplow, L. “The Optimal Supply of Public Goods and the Distortionary Cost of Taxation.” National Tax Journal 49, no. 4 (December 1996): 513-33.
    Listed reading
  • King, M. “A Pigouvian Rule for the Optimal Provision of Public Goods.” Journal of Public Economics 30 (1986): 273-292.
    Listed reading
  • Laffont, J. Chapter 2.
    Listed reading
  • Atkinson, A. B. “The Income Tax Treatment of Charitable Contributions, in Public and Urban Economics.” Essays in the Honor of William S. Vickrey . Edited by R Grieson. New York, NY: DC Heath, 1976.
    Listed reading
  • Clotfelter, C. Federal Tax Policy and Charitable Giving . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1985. ISBN: 0226110486.
    Listed reading
  • Listed reading
  • Feldstein, M. “A Contribution to the Theory of Tax Expenditures; The Case of Charitable Giving.” The Economics of Taxation . Edited by H Aaron and M. Boskin. Brookings, 1980, pp. 99-122.
    Listed reading
  • Reece, W., and K. Zieschung. “Consistent Estimation of the Impact of Tax Deductibility on the Level of Charitable Contributions.” Econometrica 54 (1985): 271-293.
    Listed reading
  • Saez, E. “The Optimal Treatment of Tax Expenditures.” NBER Working Paper 8037 (2000).
    Listed reading
  • Individual Motivation
    Listed reading
  • Altonji, J., F. Hayashi, and L. Kotlikoff. “Parental Altruism and Inter Vivos Transfers: Theory and Evidence.” Journal of Political Economy 105 (December 1997): 1121-1166.
    Listed reading
  • Bernheim, A., A. Shleifer, and L. Summers. “The Strategic Bequest Motive.” Journal of Political Economy 93 (December 1985): 1045-1076.
    Listed reading
  • Carroll, Christopher D. “Why do the Rich Save so Much.” In Does Atlas Shrug? The Economic Consequences of Taxing the Rich . Edited by Joel B Slemrod. Harvard University Press, 2000.
    Listed reading
  • Hurd, M. “Savings of the Elderly and Desired Bequests.” American Economic Review 77 (1987): 298-312.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Mortality Risk and Bequests.” Econometrica 57 (1989): 779-813.
    Listed reading
  • Wilhelm, M. “Bequest Behavior and the Effect of Heirs Earnings: Testing the Altruistic Model of Bequests.” American Economic Review 86 (September 1996): 874-892.
    Listed reading
  • Brown, J. “How Should We Insure Longevity Risk in Pensions and Social Security?” Center for Retirement Research Issue in Brief, August 2000.
    Listed reading
  • Listed reading
  • Brown, J. “Private Pensions, Mortality Risk, and the Decision to Annuitize.” Journal of Public Economics 82, no. 1 (October 2001).
    Listed reading
  • Brown, J., and J. Poterba. “Joint Life Annuities and the Demand for Annuities by Married Couples.” The Journal of Risk and Insurance 67, no. 4 (December 2000): 527-54.
    Listed reading
  • Brown, J., O. Mitchell, J. Poterba, and M. Warshawsky. “Taxing Retirement Income: Non-Qualified Annuities and Distributions from Qualified Accounts.” The National Tax Journal LII, no. 3 (September 1999).
    Listed reading
  • Brown, J., and M. Warshawsky. “Longevity-Insured Retirement Distributions from Pension Plans: Regulatory and Market Issues.” In Public Policies and Private Pensions . Edited by W. Gale, J. Shoven and M. Warhsawsky. Brookings Institution.
    Listed reading
  • Brown, J. “Are the Elderly Really Over-Annuitized? New Evidence on Life Insurance and Bequests.” In Themes in the Economics of Aging. Edited by D. Wise. University of Chicago Press for NBER, 2001. ISBN: 0226902846.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Redistribution and Insurance: Mandatory Annuitization with Mortality Heterogeneity.” Center for Retirement Research working paper, March 2001.
    Listed reading
  • Brown, J., O. Mitchell, and J. Poterba. “The Role of Real Annuities and Indexed Bonds in an Individual Accounts Retirement Program.” In Risk Aspects of Investment-Based Social Security Reform . Edited by J. Campbell, and M. Feldstein. University of Chicago Press for NBER, 2001. ISBN: 0226092550.
    Listed reading
  • Brown, J. “Mortality Risk, Inflation Risk, and Annuity Products.” NBER Working Paper No. 7812 and forthcoming in Financial Innovations in Retirement Income. Edited by Z. Bodie, B. Hammond, O. Mitchell, and S. Zeldes. University of Pennsylvania Press for the Pension Research Council, 2000.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Differential Mortality and the Value of Individual Account Retirement Annuities.” NBER Working Paper No. 7560, and forthcoming in The Distributional Effects of Social Security Reform. Edited by M. Feldstein and J. Liebman. University of Chicago Press for NBER. ISBN: 0226241068.
    Listed reading
  • Brugiavini, A. “Uncertainty Resolution and the Timing of Annuity Purchases.” Journal of Public Economics 50 (1993): 31-62.
    Listed reading
  • Davidoff, T., J. Brown, and P. Diamond. “Annuities and Individual Welfare.” NBER Working Paper 9714 (2003).
    Listed reading
  • Friedman B., and M. Warshawsky. “The Cost of Annuities: Implications for Saving Behavior and Bequests.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 105 (1990): 135-154.
    Listed reading
  • Kotlikoff, L., and A. Spivak. “The Family as an Incomplete Annuities Market.” Journal of Political Economy 89 (1981): 372-291.
    Listed reading
  • Mitchell, O., J. Poterba, M. Warshawsky, and J. Brown. “New Evidence on the Money’s Worth of Individual Annuities.” American Economic Review 89, no. 5 (December 1999).
    Listed reading
  • Sheshinski, E. Optimum and Risk-Class Pricing of Annuities . (Unpublished, 2001.)
    Listed reading
  • Kaplow, Louis. “A Note on Subsidizing Gifts.” Journal of Public Economics 58 (1995): 469-478.
    Listed reading
  • Aaron, H., and A. Munnell. “Reassessing the Role for Wealth Transfer Taxes.” National Tax Journal 45 (June 1992): 119-144.
    Listed reading
  • Arrondel, L., and A. Laferrere. “Taxation and Wealth Transmission in France.” Journal of Public Economics 79, no. 1 (January 2001): 3-33.
    Listed reading
  • Bernheim, B. “Does the Estate Tax Raise Revenue?” In Tax Policy and the Economy . Vol. 1. Edited by L. Summers. 1986, pp. 121-132.
    Listed reading
  • Bernheim, B., R. Lemke, and J. Scholz. “Do Estate and Gift Taxes Affect the Timing of Private Transfers.” NBER Working Paper 8333 (June 2001).
    Listed reading
  • Cremer, H., and P. Pestieau. “Non-linear Taxation of Bequests, Equal Sharing Rules, and the Trade-off Between Intra and Inter-Family Inequalities.” Journal of Public Economics 79, no. 1 (January 2001): 35-53.
    Listed reading
  • Listed reading
  • Gokhale, J., L. J. Kotlikoff, J. Sefton, and M. Weale. “Simulating the Transmission of Wealth Inequality via Bequests.” Journal of Public Economics 79, no. 1 (January 2001): 93-128.
    Listed reading
  • Hochguertel, Stefan, and Henry Ohlsson. _Compensatory Inter Vivos Gifts. (_Unpublished, 2000.)
    Listed reading
  • Joulfaian, D. “Estate Taxes and Charitable Bequests by the Wealthy.” National Tax Journal 53 (2000): 743-764.
    Listed reading
  • Jousten, A. “Life-cycle Modeling of Bequests and their Impact on Annuity Valuation.” Journal of Public Economics 79, no. 1 (January 2001): 149-177.
    Listed reading
  • Kaplow, L. A Framework for Assessing Estate and Gift Taxation. In Gale, Hines and Slemrod.
    Listed reading
  • Kopczuk, W. “The Trick is to Live: Is the Estate Tax Social Security for the Rich?” NBER Working Paper 9188.
    Listed reading
  • Laitner, J., and H. Ohlsson. “Bequest Motives: A Comparison of Sweden and the United States.” Journal of Public Economics 79, no. 1 (January 2001): 205-236.
    Listed reading
  • McGarry, K. “The Cost of Equality: Unequal Bequests and Tax Avoidance.” Journal of Public Economics 79, no. 1 (January 2001): 179-204.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Inter Vivos Transfers or Bequests? Estate Taxes and the Timing of Parental Giving.” Tax Policy and the Economy 14 (2000): 93-122.
    Listed reading
  • Munnell, A., and A. Sunden. “Death and Dollars.” Brookings, 2003. ISBN: 081575891x.
    Listed reading
  • Poterba, J. “The Estate Tax and After-Tax Investment Returns.” NBER Working Paper 6337 (December 1997).
    Listed reading
  • ———. “The Estate and Gift Tax and Inter Vivos Giving in the United States.” Journal of Public Economics 79, no. 1 (January 2001): 237-264.
    Listed reading
  • Saez, E. “The Desirability of Commodity Taxation under Non-Linear Income Taxation and Heterogeneous Tastes.” NBER Working Paper 8029 (2000).
    Listed reading
  • Atkinson, A. B. “Income Maintenance and Social Insurance.” In Handbook of Public Economics. Vol. 2. Edited by A. Auerbach and M. Feldstein. Amsterdam: North Holland, 1987, pp. 779-908. ISBN: 0444879080.
    Listed reading
  • Diamond, P. “A Framework for Social Security Analysis.” Journal of Public Economics 8 (1977): 275-298.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Government Provision and Regulation of Economic Support in Old Age.” In Proceedings of the Seventh Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics . Edited by Bruno and Pleskovic. Washington DC: The World Bank, 1995, pp. 83-103.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Social Security.” AER (March 2004).
    Listed reading
  • Feldstein, M. “Social Insurance.” Public Policy 25 (1977): 81-115.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Seven Principles of Social Insurance.” Challenge (November 1976).
    Listed reading
  • Weizsaecker, J. von. “Hayek’s Obvious Corollary.” CESifo Working Paper (2003).
    Listed reading
  • Listed reading
  • Diamond, P., and J. Mirrlees. “A Model of Social Insurance with Variable Retirement.” Journal of Public Economics 10 (1978): 295-336.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Social Insurance with Variable Retirement and Private Saving.” Journal of Public Economics. (Forthcoming.)
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Payroll-Tax Financed Social Security with Variable Retirement.” Scandinavian Journal of Economics 88 (1986): 25-50.
    Listed reading
  • Eckstein, Z., M. Eichenbaum, and D. Peled. “Uncertain Lifetimes and the Welfare Enhancing Properties of Annuity Markets and Social Security.” Journal of Public Economics 26 (1985): 303-326.
    Listed reading
  • Feldstein, M. “Should Social Security Be Means Tested?” Journal of Political Economy 95 (1987): 468-484.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Should Social Security Benefits Increase with Age?” NBER Working Paper 2200 (March 1987).
    Listed reading
  • Hubbard, R. G., and K. Judd. “Social Security and Individual Welfare: Precautionary Saving, Borrowing Constraints, and the Payroll Tax.” American Economic Review (September 1987): 630-646.
    Listed reading
  • Banks, J., R. Blundell, and S. Tanner. “Is There a Retirement-Savings Puzzle?” The American Economic Review 88, no. 4 (September 1998): 769-788.
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  • Bernheim, D., J. Skinner, and S. Weinberg. “What Accounts for the Variation in Retirement Wealth Among U.S. Households?” American Economic Review 91, no. 4 (2001): 832-857.
    Listed reading
  • Diamond, P., and J. Hausman. “Individual Retirement and Savings Behavior.” Journal of Public Economics 23, no. 1-2 (1984): 81-114.
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  • Edwards, S. “Why are Latin America’s Savings Rates So Low? An International Comparative Analysis.” Journal of Development Economics 51, no. 1 (October 1996): 5-44.
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  • Hurd, M., and S. Rohwedder. “The Retirement-Consumption Puzzle: Anticipated and Actual Declines in Spending at Retirement.” NBER Working Paper 9586 (March 2003).
    Listed reading
  • Chan, S., and A. H. Stevens. “What You Don’t Know Can’t Help You. Pension Knowledge and Retirement Decision Making.” NBER Working Paper 10185 (December 2003).
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  • Coile, C., and J. Gruber. “Social Security and Retirement.” NBER Working Paper 7830 (August 1, 2000).
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  • Diamond, P., and J. Gruber. “Social Security and Retirement in the United States.” In Social Security and Retirement Around the World . Edited by Jonathan Gruber and David Wise. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1999, pp. 437-474. ISBN: 0226310116.
    Listed reading
  • Friedberg. “The Labor Supply Effects of the Social Security Earnings Test.” Review of Economics and Statistics 82, no. 1 (February 2000): 48-63.
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  • Gruber, J., and D. Wise. “Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World: Introduction and Summary.” In Social Security and Retirement Around the World . Edited by Jonathan Gruber and David Wise. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1999, pp. 1-36. ISBN: 0226310116.
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J., and P. Orszag. “Does the Social Security Earnings Test Affect Labor Supply and Benefits Receipt?” NBER Working Paper 7923 (September 2000).
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  • Kahn, J. “Social Security, Liquidity, and Early Retirement.” Journal of Public Economics 35 (1988): 97-118.
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  • Krueger, A., and J. Pischke. “The Effect of Social Security on Labor Supply: A Cohort Analysis of the Notch Generation.” Journal of Labor Economics 10, no. 4 (October 1992): 412-437.
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  • Samwick, A. “New Evidence on Pensions, Social Security, and the Timing of Retirement.” Journal of Public Economics 70, no. 2 (November 1998): 207-236.
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  • Stock, J., and D. Wise. “Pensions, the Option Value of Work, and Retirement.” Econometrica 58, no. 5 (September 1990): 1151-1180.
    Listed reading
  • Abel, A. B. “Precautionary savings and accidental bequests.” American Economic Review 75, no. 4 (September 1985): 777-791.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Capital Accumulation and Uncertain Lifetimes with Adverse Selection.” Econometrica 54, no. 5 (September 1986): 1079-1097.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “The Social Security Trust Fund, the Riskless Interest Rate, and Capital Accumulation.” NBER Working paper 6991 (1999).
    Listed reading
  • Abel, Andrew B. ‘‘The Effects of Investing Social Security Funds, in the Stock market When Fixed Costs Prevent Some Households from Holding Stocks.’’ American Economic Review 91, no. 1 (March 2001): 128-48.
    Listed reading
  • Ball, Lawrence, and N. Gregory Mankiw. “Intergenerational risk Sharing in the Spirit of Arrow, Debreu, and Rawls, with Applications to Social Security Design.” (Unpublished, 2001.)
    Listed reading
  • Bohn, H. “Will Social Security and Medicare Remain Viable as the U.S. Population is Aging?” Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy 50, no. 1 (June 1999): 1-53.
    Listed reading
  • ———. Risk Sharing in a Stochastic Overlapping Generations Economy. University of California at Santa Barbara. (Unpublished, 1997.)
    Listed reading
  • ——— “Should the Social Security Trust Fund Hold Equities? An Intergenerational Welfare Analysis.” Review of Economic Dynamics 2 (1999): 666-697.
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  • Boldrin, M., and A. Rustichini. “Equilibria with Social Security.” Working paper, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 1995.
    Listed reading
  • Breyer, F. “On the Intergenerational Pareto Efficiency of Pay-as-you-go Financed Pension Systems.” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 145 (1989): 643-658.
    Listed reading
  • Breyer, F., and M. Straub. “Welfare Effects of Unfunded Pension Systems When Labor Supply is Endogenous.” Journal of Public Economics 50 (1993): 77-91.
    Listed reading
  • Breyer, F. “Why Funding is not a Solution to the ‘Social Security Crisis’.” IZA DP No. 328 (2001).
    Listed reading
  • Brunner, J. K. “Redistribution and Efficiency of a Pay-as-you-go Pension System.” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 150 (1994): 511-523.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Transition from a Pay-as-you-go to a Fully Funded Pension System: the Case of Differing Individuals and Intragenerational Fairness.” Journal of Public Economics 60 (1996): 131-146.
    Listed reading
  • Constantinides, G., J Donaldosn, and R. Mehra. “Junior Must Pay: Pricing the Implicit Put in Privatizing Social Security.” (Unpublished, 2002).
    Listed reading
  • Demange, G., and G. Laroque. “Social Security and Demographic Shocks.” Econometrica 67 (1999): 527-542.
    Listed reading
  • Diamond, P. “Macroeconomic Aspects of Social Security Reform.” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 2 (1997): 1-87.
    Listed reading
  • Diamond, P., and J. Geanakoplos.“Social Security Investment in Equities.” American Economic Review (2003).
    Listed reading
  • Enders, W., and H. Lapan. “Social Security Taxation and Intergenerational Risk Sharing.” International Economic Review 23 (1982): 647-658.
    Listed reading
  • Feldstein, M. “The Optimal Level of Social Security Benefits.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 100, no. 2 (May 1985): 303-320.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Imperfect Annuity Markets, Unintended Bequests, and the Optimal Age Structure of Social Security Benefits.” Journal of Public Economics 41, no. 1 (February 1990): 31-44.
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  • Fenge, R. “Pareto-efficiency of the pay-as-you-go Pension System with Intrageneratinal Fairness.” Finanz Archiv 52 (1995): 357-363.
    Listed reading
  • Gale, D. “The Efficient Design of Public Debt.” In Public Debt Management: Theory and History . Edited by R. Dornbusch and M. Draghi. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990. ISBN: 0521392667.
    Listed reading
  • Green, J. “Demographics, Market Failure and Social Security.” Chapter 1 in Social Security and Private Pensions. Edited by Susan M. Wachter. Lexington Books, 1988, pp. 3-16.
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  • Hassler, J., and, A. Lindbeck. “Intergenerational Risk Sharing, Stability and Optimality of Alternative Pension Systems.” Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper 1774 (1997).
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  • Jones, L., R. Manuelli, and P. Rossi. “Optimal Taxation in Models of Endogenous Growth.” Journal of Political Economy 101 (June 1993): 485-517.
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  • Karni, E., and I. Zilcha. “Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Fair Social Security.” Journal of Public Economics 40 (1989): 37-56.
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  • ———. “Welfare and Comparative Stastics Implications of Fair Social Security: A Steady-State Analysis.” Journal of Public Economics 30 (1986): 341-358.
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  • Merton, R. C. “On the Role of Social Security as a Means for Efficient Risk Sharing in an Economy where Human Capital is not Tradable_._ In Financial Aspects of the US Pension System . Edited by Bodie sand Shoven. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago press. ISBN: 0226062813.
    Listed reading
  • Miles, D. “Funded and Unfunded Pension Schemes: Risk Return and Welfare.” CESifo WP 239 (2000).
    Listed reading
  • Palmer, E. “Individual Decisions and Aggregate Stability in the NDC System.” (Unpublished, 1999.)
    Listed reading
  • Sinn, Hans-Werner. “Why a Funded Pension System is Needed and Why it is not Needed.” International Tax and Public Finance (2000).
    Listed reading
  • Smetters, K. “Investing the Social Security Trust Fund in Equity: An Option Pricing Approach.” Congressional Budget Office Macroeconomic Analysis and Tax Analysis Divisions. Technical Paper, 1997-1.
    Listed reading
  • Valdes-Prieto, Salvador. “The Financial Stability of Notional Account Pensions.” Scandinavian Journal of Economics 102, no. 3 (2000): 395-417.
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  • Arnold, D., R. Douglas, M. J. Graetz, and A. H. Munnell. Framing the Social Security Debate, Values, Politics, and Economics . Washington: National Academy of Social Insurance, distributed by Brookings Institution Press. ISBN: 0815701535.
    Listed reading
  • Baily, M. “Public Policy Implications of Declining Old Age Mortality.” In Work, Health, and Income Among the Elderly . Edited by G. Burtless. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1987. ISBN: 081571176X.
    Listed reading
  • Coronado, J., D Fullerton, and T Glass. “Distributional Impacts of Proposed Changes to the Social Security System.” Tax Policy and the Economy 13 (1999). (Also NBER Working Paper 6989.)
    Listed reading
  • Cutler, D., J. Poterba, L. Sheiner, and L. Summers. “An Aging Society: Challenge or Opportunity?” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 1 (1990): 1-73.
    Listed reading
  • De Nardi, M., S. Imrohoroglu, and T. J. Sargent. “Projected US Demographics and Social Security.” (Unpublished, 1998.)
    Listed reading
  • Diamond, P. “Privatization of Social Security: Lessons from Chile.” Revista de Analisis Economico 9 (1994): 21-33.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Insulation of Pensions from Political Risk.” Forthcoming in The Economics of Pensions: Principles, Policies, and International Experience . Edited by S. Valdes. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0521666120.
    Listed reading
  • Diamond, P., and P. Orszag. “An Assessment of the Proposals of the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security.” Contributions to Economic Analysis & Policy 1, no. 1 (2002): article 10.
    Listed reading
  • ———. Saving Social Security . Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2004. ISBN: 0815718381.
    Listed reading
  • Disney, R. “Notional Accounts as a Pension Reform Strategy: An Evaluation.” (Unpublished, 1999.)
    Listed reading
  • Feldstein, M. “Would Privatizing Social Security Raise Economic Welfare?” NBER Working Paper 5281 (September 1995).
    Listed reading
  • ———.“The Missing Piece in Policy Analysis: Social Security Reform.” American Economic Review 86 (May 1996): 1-14.
    Listed reading
  • Feldstein, M., ed. Privatizing Social Security. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1998. ISBN: 0226241017.
    Listed reading
  • Gustman, A., and T. Steinmeier. “Privatizing Social Security: First Round Effects of a Generic, Voluntary, Privatized Social Security System.” NBER Working Paper 5362 (1995).
    Listed reading
  • ———. “The New Social Security Commission Personal Accounts: Where is the Investment Principal?” NBER Working Paper 9045 (2002).
    Listed reading
  • Holden, K., and C. Zick. “The Economic Impact of Widowhood in the United States in the 1990s: The Role of Social Insurance and Private Pensions.” University of Wisconsin, Mimeo (June 1997).
    Listed reading
  • Liebman, J. “Redistribution in the Current Social Security System.” NBER Working Paper 8625.
    Listed reading
  • Lindbeck, Assar., and Mats Persson. “The Gains from Pension Reform.” Journal of Economic Literature XLI, no. 1 (March 2003): 74-112.
    Listed reading
  • Mitchell, O., R. Myers, and H. Young, eds. Prospects for Social Security Reform. Philadelphia, PA: Pension Research Council and University of Pennsylvania Press, forthcoming. ISBN: 0812234790.
    Listed reading
  • Leimer, D. “Cohort Specific Measures of Lifetime Net Social Security Transfers.” Working Paper 59, Social Security Administration - ORS (1994).
    Listed reading
  • Light, P. Artful Work: The Politics of Social Security Reform . New York, NY: Random House. ISBN: 0075544857.
    Listed reading
  • National Academy on Social Insurance, Evaluating Issues in Privatizing Social Security. Washington, DC: NASI, 1998. Also available from MIT Press.
    Listed reading
  • Valdes-Prieto, S. “Can the State Engage in Self-Control? A Survey of Old-Age Security.” International Economic Association Meetings, Tunis. Tunisia (December 1995): 18-22.
    Listed reading
  • World Bank, “Averting the Old Age Crisis: Policies to Protect the Old and Promote Growth.” Washington: The World Bank (1994).
    Listed reading
  • Acemoglu, D., and R. Shimer. “ Efficient Unemployment Insurance .” Mimeo, MIT (October 1997).
    Listed reading
  • Atkeson, A., and R. Lucas. “Efficiency and Equality in a Simple Model of Efficient Unemployment Insurance.” Journal of Economic Theory 66 (1995): 64-68.
    Listed reading
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  • Baily, M. “Some Aspects of Optimal Unemployment Insurance.” Journal of Public Economics 10 (1978): 379-402.
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  • Burdett, K., and R. Wright. “Unemployment Insurance and Short Time Compensation: The Effects of Layoffs, Hours per Worker, and Wages.” Journal of Political Economy 97 (1989): 1479-1496.
    Listed reading
  • Cahuc, Pierre, and Etienne Lehmann. “Should Unemployment Benefits Decrease with the Unemployment Spell?” Journal of Public Economics 77 (2000): 135-153.
    Listed reading
  • Chiu, W., and E. Karni. “Endogenous Adverse Selection and Unemployment Insurance.” Journal of Political Economy 106 (1998): 806-827.
    Listed reading
  • Conerly, W. B. “Chile Leads the Way with Individual Unemployment Accounts.” National Center For Policy Analysis, Brief Analysis, no. 424 (2002).
    Listed reading
  • Davidson, C., and S. Woodbury. “The Optimal Dole with Risk Aversion and Job Destruction.” U.S. Department of Labor (February 1998).
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Further Aspects of Optimal Unemployment Insurance.” Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation: Background Papers Volume III. Washington, DC: ACUC (1996).
    Listed reading
  • Feldstein, M. “Temporary Layoffs in the Theory of Unemployment.” Journal of Political Economy 84 (October 1976): 937-958.
    Listed reading
  • Feldstein, M., and D. Altman. “Unemployment Insurance Savings Accounts.” NBER Working Paper No. w6860 (December 1998).
    Listed reading
  • Hansen, Gary, and Ayse Imrohoroglu. “The Role of Unemployment Insurance in an Economy with Liquidity Constraints and Moral Hazard.” Journal of Political Economy 100, no. 1 (1992).
    Listed reading
  • Hopenhayn, Hugo A., and Juan Pablo Nicolini. “Optimal Unemployment Insurance.” Journal of Political Economy 105, no. 2 (April 1997): 412-38.
    Listed reading
  • Michael, J., Orszag and Dennis Snower. “From Unemployment Benefits to Unemployment Accounts.” (Unpublished, 2001.)
    Listed reading
  • Shavell, S., and L. Weiss. “The Optimal Payment of Unemployment Insurance Benefits over Time.” Journal of Political Economy 87 (1979): 1347-1362.
    Listed reading
  • Werning. Iván. Optimal Unemployment Insurance with Unobservable Savings . University of Chicago. (Unpublished, 2001.)
    Listed reading
  • Anderson, P., and B. Meyer. “Unemployment Insurance Takeup Rates and the After-Tax Value of Benefits.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 112, no. 3 (August 1997): 913-937.
    Listed reading
  • Blau, D., and P. Robins. “Job Search, Wage Offers, and Unemployment Insurance.” Journal of Public Economics 29, no. 2 (March 1986): 173-197.
    Listed reading
  • Card, D., and P. Levine. “Extended Benefits and the Duration of UI Spells: Evidence from the New Jersey Extended Benefits Program.” NBER Working Paper 6714 (August 1998).
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J. “The Consumption Smoothing Benefits of Unemployment Insurance.” American Economic Review 87, no. 1 (March, 1997): 192-205.
    Listed reading
  • Katz, L., and B. Meyer. “The Impact of the Potential Duration of Unemployment Benefits on the Duration of Unemployment.” Journal of Public Economics 41 (February 1990): 45-72.
    Listed reading
  • Meyer, B. “Unemployment Insurance and Unemployment Spells.” Econometrica 58, no. 4 (July 1990): 757-782.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “A Quasi-Experimental Approach to the Effects of Unemployment Insurance.” NBER Working Paper 3159 (November 1989).
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Lessons from the U.S. Unemployment Insurance Experiments.” Journal of Economic Literature 33, no. 1 (March 1995): 91-131.
    Listed reading
  • Anderson, P., and B. Meyer. “The Unemployment Insurance Payroll Tax and Interindustry and Interfirm Subsidies.” In Tax Policy and the Economy . Vol. 7. Edited by J. Poterba. 1993, pp. 111-144.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “The Effects of Unemployment Insurance Taxes and Benefits on Layoffs Using Firm and Individual Data.” NBER Working Paper 4960 (1994).
    Listed reading
  • Topel, R. “On Layoffs and Unemployment Insurance.” American Economic Review 73, no. 4 (September 1983): 541-559.
    Listed reading
  • Fishback, P., and S. Kantor. “Did Workers Pay for the Passage of Workers’ Compensation Laws?” Quarterly Journal of Economics 110, no. 3 (August 1995): 713-742.
    Listed reading
  • Listed reading
  • Krueger, A. “Incentive Effects of Workers Compensation Insurance.” Journal of Public Economics 41 (February 1990): 73-100.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Workers’ Compensation Insurance and the Duration of Workplace Injuries.” NBER Working Paper 3253 (1990).
    Listed reading
  • Meyer, B., K. Viscusi, and D. Durbin. “Workers’ Compensation and Injury Duration: Evidence from a Natural Experiment.” American Economic Review 85, no. 3 (June 1995): 322-340.
    Listed reading
  • Autor, D., and M. Duggan. “The Rise in Disability Recipiency and the Decline in Unemployment.” NBER Working Paper 8336.
    Listed reading
  • Bound, J. “The Health and Earnings of Rejected Disability Insurance Applicants.” American Economic Review 79, no. 3 (June 1989): 482-503.
    Listed reading
  • Diamond, P., and E. Sheshinski. “Economic Aspects of Optimal Disability Benefits.” Journal of Public Economics 57 (1995): 1-24.
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J. “Disability Insurance Benefits and Labor Supply.” Journal of Political Economy 108, no. 6 (2000): 1162-1183.
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J., and J. Kubik. “Disability Insurance Rejection Rates and the Labor Supply of Older Workers.” NBER Working Paper 4941 (November 1994).
    Listed reading
  • Kubik, J. “Incentives for the Identification and Treatment of Children with Disabilities: The Supplemental Security Income Program.” Journal of Public Economics 73 (1999): 187-215.
    Listed reading
  • Parsons, D. “The Health and Earnings of Rejected Disability Insurance Applicants: Comment.” American Economic Review 81, no. 5 (December 1991): 1419-1426.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Self-Screening in Targeted Public Transfer Programs.” Journal of Political Economy 99, no. 4 (August 1991): 859-876.
    Listed reading
  • Blank, R., D. Card, and P. Robins. “Financial Incentives for Increasing Work Among Low-Income Families.” In Finding Jobs: Work and Welfare Reform. Edited by Rebecca Blank and David Card. New York: Russell Sage, 2000. ISBN: 0871541165.
    Listed reading
  • Blank, R., and P. Ruggles. “When Do Women Use Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Food and Food Stamps? The Dynamics of Eligibility versus Participation.” Journal of Human Resources 31, no. 1 (Winter 1996): 57-89.
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J. “Cash Welfare as a Consumption Smoothing Device for Single Mothers.” Journal of Public Economics 75 (February, 2000): 157-182.
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J., and A. Yelowitz. “Public Health Insurance and Private Savings.” Journal of Political Economy (1999).
    Listed reading
  • Gueron, J. “Work and Welfare: Lessons on Employment Programs.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 4, no. 1 (Winter 1990): 79-98.
    Listed reading
  • Hotz, V. J., C. Mullin, and J. K. Scholz. “Welfare, Employment and Income: Evidence on the Effects of Benefit Reductions in California.” American Economic Review 92, no. 2 (May 2002): 380-384.
    Listed reading
  • Hoynes, H., and T. MaCurdy. “Has the Decline in Benefits Shortened Welfare Spells?” American Economic Review 84, no. 2 (May 1994): 43-48.
    Listed reading
  • Michalopoulos, C. et. al. “Making Work Pay: Final Report on the Self-Sufficiency Project for Long-Term Welfare Recipients. Human Resources Development, Canada. Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (July, 2002). (Just Executive Summary.)
    Listed reading
  • Meyer, B. “Do the Poor Move to Receive Higher Welfare Benefits?” Mimeo (October 1999).
    Listed reading
  • Moffitt, R. “Incentive Effects of the U.S. Welfare System: A Review.” Journal of Economic Literature 30, no. 1 (March 1992): 1-61.
    Listed reading
  • Powers, E. “Does Means Testing Welfare Discourage Saving? Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Women.” Journal of Public Economics 68, no. 1 (April 1998): 1-151.
    Listed reading
  • Nichols, A., and R. Zeckhauser. “Targeting Transfers Through Restrictions on Recipients.” American Economic Review 72 (May 1982): 372-377.
    Listed reading
  • Blank, R. “Evaluating Welfare Reform in the United States.” Journal of Economic Literature 40, no. 4 (December 2002): 1105-1166.
    Listed reading
  • Borjas, G. “Food Insecurity and Public Assistance.” NBER Working Paper 9236 (September 2002).
    Listed reading
  • Kearney, M. S. “Is There an Effect of Incremental welfare Benefits on Fertility Behavior? A Look at the Family Cap.” NBER Working Paper 9093 (August 2002).
    Listed reading
  • Meyer, B., and J. Sullivan. “The Effects of Welfare and Tax Reform: The Material Well-Being of Single Mothers in the 1980s and 1990s.” NBER Working Paper 8298 (May 2001).
    Listed reading
  • Baker, L., and M. Brown. “Managed Care, Consolidation Among Health Care Providers, and Health Care: Evidence from Mammography.” Rand Journal of Economics (1999): 351-374.
    Listed reading
  • Baker, L., and C. Phibbs. “Managed Care, Technology Adoption, and Health Care: The Adoption of Neonatal Intensive Care Units.” NBER Working Paper 7883 (September 2000).
    Listed reading
  • Cutler, D., and M. McClellan. “The Determinant of Technological Change in Heart Attack Treatments.” NBER Working Paper 5751 (September 1996).
    Listed reading
  • Cutler, D., M. McClellan, and J. Newhouse. “How Does Managed Care Do It?” RAND Journal of Economics 31, no. 3 (Autumn 2000): 526-548.
    Listed reading
  • Cutler, D., and S. Reber. “Paying for Health Insurance: The Trade-off Between Competition and Adverse Selection.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 113, no. 2 (May 1998): 433-466.
    Listed reading
  • Eichner, M. “Incentives, Price Expectations, and Medical Expenditures.” Chapter 1, Ph.D. Thesis, MIT (1997).
    Listed reading
  • Listed reading
  • Gruber, J. “Taxes and Health Insurance.” NBER Working Paper 8657.
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J., and M. Lettau. “How Elastic is the Firm’s Demand for Health Insurance.” forthcoming, _Journal of Public Economics. _ Gruber, J., and E. Washington. “Subsidies to Employee Health Insurance Premiums and the Health Insurance Market.” NBER Working Paper 9567 (March 2003).
    Listed reading
  • Manning, W., et. al. “Health Insurance and the Demand for Medical Care: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment.” American Economic Review 77, no. 3 (June 1987): 251-277.
    Listed reading
  • Nyman, J. “Health Insurance Theory: The Case of the Vanishing Welfare Gain.” University of Minnesota Economics Discussion Paper No. 319 (January 2003).
    Listed reading
  • Newhouse, J. “Medical Care Costs: How Much Welfare Loss?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 6, no. 3 (Summer 1992): 3-21.
    Listed reading
  • Pauly, M. “Taxation, Health Insurance, and Market Failure in the Medical Economy.” Journal of Economic Literature 24, no. 2 (June 1986): 629-675.
    Listed reading
  • Simon, K. “Adverse Selection in Health Insurance Markets? Evidence from State Small Group Health Insurance Reforms.” Mimeo, Cornell University (Fall 2002).
    Listed reading
  • Christine, Bishop. “Where are the Missing Elders? The Decline in Nursing Home Use, 1985 and 1995.” Health Affairs 18, no. 4.
    Listed reading
  • Blumberg, L., L. Dubay, and S. Norton. “Did the Medicaid Expansions for Children Displace Private Insurance? An Analysis Using the SIPP.” Journal of Health Economics 19, no. 1 (January 2000): 33-60.
    Listed reading
  • Currie, J., and J. Gruber. “Saving Babies: The Efficacy and Cost of Recent Changes in the Medicaid Eligibility of Pregnant Women.” Journal of Political Economy 104, no. 6 (December 1996): 1263-1296.
    Listed reading
  • ———. Health Insurance Eligibility, Utilization of Medical Care, and Child Health.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 111, no. 2 (May 1996): 431-466.
    Listed reading
  • Currie, J., J. Gruber, and M. Fischer. “Physician Payments and Infant Mortality: Evidence from Medicaid Fee Policy.” American Economic Review 85, no. 2 (May 1995): 106-111.
    Listed reading
  • Cutler, D., and J. Gruber. “Does Public Insurance Crowd Out Private Insurance?” Quarterly Journal of Economics 111, no. 2 (May 1996): 391-430.
    Listed reading
  • Duggan, M. “Hospital Ownership and Public Medical Spending.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 115, no. 4 (November 2000): 1343-1374.
    Listed reading
  • Fronstin, P. “Sources of Health Insurance and Characteristics of the Uninsured: Analysis of the March 2002 Current Population Survey.” Employee Benefit Research Institute Issue Brief Number 252 (December 2002).
    Listed reading
  • Grabowski, D. “Medicaid Reimbursement and the Quality of Nursing Home Care.” Journal of Health Economics 20, no. 4 (July 2001): 549-570.
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J. “Medicaid.” NBER Working Paper 7829 (August 2000).
    Listed reading
  • Hadley, J., et. al. “Comparison of Uninsured and Privately Insured Hospital Patients: Condition on Admission, Resource Use, and Outcome.” Journal of the American Medical Association 265 (January 16, 1991): 374-379.
    Listed reading
  • Hanratty, M. “Canadian National Health Insurance and Infant Health.” American Economic Review 86, no. 1 (May 1996): 276-284.
    Listed reading
  • Kemper, Peter. “The Evaluation of the National Long Term Care Demonstration: Overview of the Findings.” Health Services Research 23, no. 1 (1988): 162-174.
    Listed reading
  • Lurie, N., et. al. “Termination from Medi-Cal: Does it Affect Health?” New England Journal of Medicine 311 (August 16, 1984): 480-484.
    Listed reading
  • McKnight, R. “ Home Care Reimbursement, Long Term Care Usage, and Health Outcomes .” Mimeo, MIT.
    Listed reading
  • Batata, A. “The Costs of Selection in Competitive Insurance Markets: The Example of Medicare.” Mimeo, Harvard University (October 1998).
    Listed reading
  • Coulam, R., and G. Gaumer. “Medicare’s Prospective Payment System: A Critical Appraisal.” Health Care Financing Review (1991): 45-77. (Annual Supplement.)
    Listed reading
  • Cutler, D. “The Incidence of Adverse Medical Outcomes Under Prospective Payment.” Econometrica 63, no. 1 (January 1995): 29-50.
    Listed reading
  • Escarce, J. “Effects of Lower Surgical Fees on the Use of Physician Services Under Medicare.” Journal of the American Medical Association 269 (1993): 2513-2518.
    Listed reading
  • Ettner, S. “Adverse Selection and the Purchase of Medigap Insurance by the Elderly.” Journal of Health Economics 16, no. 5 (October 1997): 543-562.
    Listed reading
  • Finkelstein, A. “Minimum Standards and Insurance Regulation: Evidence from the Medigap Market.” NBER Working Paper 8917 (May 2002).
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J., and M. Owings. “Physician Financial Incentives and the Diffusion of Cesarean Section Delivery.” RAND Journal of Economics 27, no. 1 (Spring 1996): 99-123.
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J., D. Mayzlin, and J. Kim. “Physician Fees and Procedure Intensity: The Case of Cesarean Delivery.” Journal of Health Economics 18, no. 4 (August 1999): 473-490.
    Listed reading
  • Newhouse, J. “Reimbursing Health Plans and Health Providers: Selection versus Efficiency in Production.” Journal of Economic Literature 34, no. 3 (September 1996): 1236-1263.
    Listed reading
  • Listed reading
  • Newhouse, J., and D. Byrne. “Did Medicare’s Prospective Payment System Cause Length of Stay to Fall?” Journal of Health Economics 7, no. 4 (December 1988): 413-416.
    Listed reading
  • Urban Institute. “Can Competition Improve Medicare? A Look at Premium Support.” (September 1999).
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J. “The Incidence of Mandated Maternity Benefits.” American Economic Review 84, no. 3 (June 1994): 622-641.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “Health Insurance and the Labor Market.” In Handbook of Health Economics . ISBN: 0444822909.
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J., and B. Madrian. “Health Insurance, Labor Supply, and Job Mobility: A Critical Review of the Literature.” NBER Working Paper 8817 (March 2002).
    Listed reading
  • Madrian, B. “Employment-Based Health Insurance and Job Mobility: Is There Evidence of Job Lock?” Quarterly Journal of Economics 109, no. 1 (February 1994): 27-54.
    Listed reading
  • Sheiner, L. “Health Costs, Aging, and Wages.” Mimeo, Federal Reserve Board (1999).
    Listed reading
  • Summers, L. “Some Simple Economics of Mandated Benefits.” American Economic Review 79, no. 2 (May 1989): 177-183.
    Listed reading
  • Yelowitz, A. “The Medicaid Notch, Labor Supply and Welfare Participation: Evidence from Eligibility Expansions.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 110, no. 4 (1995): 909-940.
    Listed reading
  • Becker, G., and K. Murphy. “A Theory of Rational Addiction.” Journal of Political Economy 96: 675-700.
    Listed reading
  • Bulow, Jeremy, and Peter Klemperer. “The Tobacco Deal.” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity: Microeconomics (1998): 323-394.
    Listed reading
  • Chaloupka, Frank J., and Kenneth Warner. “The Economics of Smoking.” In The Handbook of Health Economics. Edited by Anthony Culyer and J. Newhouse. New York, NY: North-Holland, in press, 2000. ISBN: 0444822909.
    Listed reading
  • Listed reading
  • Gruber, J. “Tobacco at the Crossroads: The Past and Future of Smoking Regulation in the United States.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 15, no. 2 (Spring 2001): 193-212.
    Listed reading
  • Gruber, J., and B. Koszegi. “Is Addiction ‘Rational’? Theory and Evidence.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 116, no. 4 (November 2001): 1261-1303.
    Listed reading
  • ———. “A Theory of Government Regulation of Addictive Bads: Optimal Tax Levels and Tax Incidence for Cigarette Taxation.” NBER Working Paper 8777 (February 2002).
    Listed reading
  • Manning, Willard, et. al. “The Taxes of Sin: Do Smokers and Drinkers Pay Their Way?” Journal of the American Medical Association 261 (1989): 1604-9.
    Listed reading

Prerequisites & course information

Prereq: 14.471 G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

Sources