 | Behavioral Economics and Perverse Effects of the Welfare State
November 1, 2007 Journal Articles Bryan Caplan,
Scott Beaulier |
| Critics often argue that government poverty programs perversely make the poor worse off by encouraging unemployment, out-of-wedlock births, and other ‘social pathologies.’ However, basic microeconomic theory tells us that you cannot make an agent worse off by expanding his choice set. The current paper argues that familiar findings in behavioral economics can be used to resolve this paradox.
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| The Political Foundations of Development: The Case of Botswana
June 1, 2006 Journal Articles Robert Subrick,
Scott Beaulier |
| Unlike many of its fellow sub-Saharan countries, Botswana has avoided the African Growth Tragedy. The success lied in the ability of the government of Botswana to successfully adopt growth-enhancing policies.
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| Disagreement Over the Emergence of Property Rights: Alternative Meanings, Alternative Explanations
January 1, 2006 Journal Articles David Prychitko,
Scott Beaulier |
| This paper is an exercise in the history of thought, which compares Austrian and neoclassical theories of the emergence of private property rights, and examines, in part, the extent to which Austrians can be said to offer a commonly-agreed upon explanation that parallels Carl Menger’s exemplary story of the emergence of money.
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| Rhetoric vs. Reality Revisited
March 17, 2005 Working Papers Scott Beaulier |
| This paper is an attempt to set the record straight on the evidence for and against shock therapy. It is not an attempt to address the overall debate on shock therapy versus gradualism. This working paper is instead a plea to the economists doing work on transition and development economics to make sure they have their stories straight before making policy pronouncements in favor of a particular reform approach.
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| Look Botswana: No Hands! Why Botswana's Government Should Let The Economy Steer Itself
March 7, 2005 Working Papers Scott Beaulier |
| This working paper is a study of how the institutional levers of government affect economic activity. The underlying logic is that changes in the "rules of the game" can affect economic outcomes.
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| Knowledge, Economics, and Coordination: Understanding Hayek's Legal Theory
January 1, 2005 Journal Articles Christopher Coyne,
Peter Boettke,
Scott Beaulier |
| Legal scholars and economists alike have been quite critical of F.A. Hayek’s legal theory. According to Richard Posner, Hayek’s legal theory is “formalist” and serves as a useless guide for legal scholars and judges. Alan Ebenstein claims that Hayek’s arguments in technical economics fail. Therefore, Hayek’s research program in economic science should be abandoned, but his program in social philosophy should be preserved. We argue that these criticisms are misplaced, and we contend that Hayek’s legal theory cannot be separated from his economic theory.
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| What Failure? The Czech Republic 13 Years Later
September 19, 2004 Working Papers Scott Beaulier |
| This working paper will focus solely on the Czech transition from communism. This analysis will attempt to set the record straight on the Czech transition to a capitalist economy.
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| Explaining Botswana's Success: The Critical Role of Post Colonial Policy
August 19, 2004 Working Papers Scott Beaulier |
| This working paper is inspired by the "analytical narrative" turn in economics and seeks to explain the key determinants of Botswana’s economic miracle.
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| Knowledge, Economics, and Coordination: Understanding Hayek's Legal Theory - Working Paper
June 21, 2004 Working Papers Christopher Coyne,
Peter Boettke,
Scott Beaulier |
| Legal scholars and economists alike have heavily criticized F.A. Hayek’s legal theory. According to Richard Posner, Hayek’s legal theory is "formalist" and serves as a useless guide for legal scholars and judges. Ebenstein argues that Hayek's arguments in technical economics fail and therefore his research program in economic science should be abandoned, but that his broader social philosophy and theory are worthy of attention by serious scholars. In this working paper, Beaulier, Boettke and Coyne argue that these criticisms are misplaced.
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| Efficiency in Markets: Evidence from Classroom Experiments with a Cross-Section of Students from East and Central European Countries and the Former Soviet Union
April 25, 2004 Working Papers Peter Boettke,
Scott Beaulier |
| Three experiments were run in Prague, Czech Republic to demonstrate to students the robustness of market institutions. Students participated in Vernon Smith’s double-auction experiment, the double-auction with price controls, and Holt and Laury’s (1997) voluntary provision of public goods experiment. |
