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Christopher Coyne: Articles, Commentary, and Publications

The Political Economy of FEMA

January 25, 2008

The authors examine how organizational changes within the Department of Homeland Security have impacted how FEMA responds to different types of political pressure.

The Politics of Bureaucracy and the Failure of Post-War Reconstruction

July 20, 2007

This working paper discusses Gordon Tullock's analysis of bureaucratic behavior and how this behavior has an effect on post-war reconstruction.

Economics and Happiness Research: Insights from Austrian and Public Choice Economics

December 1, 2005

This working paper will critically reexamine the happiness and economics research program and the resulting policy implications through an Austrian/Public Choice lens. It is our contention that the main insights of these schools of thought have been neglected in this area of research.

Institutions, Immigration and Identity

December 1, 2005

This working paper addresses the challenges posed by Huntington (2004) regarding the impact of immigration on American identity. The authors contend that Huntington is correct in arguing that the American identity is in fact eroding. However immigration is not the mechanism through which this erosion has occurred.

Liberalism in the Post 9/11 World

December 1, 2005

This working paper argues that negative sanctions are unsuccessful and against terrorists and in many cases counter productive. Only by returning to a position of principled non-intervention can the war on terror ultimately be won.

The Role of Media as a Supporting Institution: Implications for Development Policy

June 2, 2005

In democracies, the presence of an independent media not only heightens voter awareness of important policy issues but also provides them with accurate information about the behavior of political agents. This enables voters to monitor politicians who are thus made more accountable to the public. For core economic and political institutions to be effective, a free media must support them.

Methodological Individualism, Spontaneous Order and the Research Program of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis

June 1, 2005

An analysis of the history of economic thought reveals that the research agenda of the Ostroms draws significantly from the ideas and themes developed in the first half of the 20th century by Knight, Mises, and Hayek

Manipulating the Media

October 18, 2004

This working paper provides a detailed anatomy of state controlled media manipulation by looking at Romania's transitioning economy. This paper examines the specific methods government uses to manipulate the media and considers how media manipulation affects economic performance via the process of policy reform.

High Priests and Lowly Philosophers:The Battle for the Soul of Economics

September 7, 2004

False theory combined with bad philosophy generated scientific claims that must now be rejected. In this working paper, Boettke, Coyne, and Leeson provide three cases where the scientistic pretensions of economists got the better of them in the 20th century: Keynesian demand management, the practice of cost/benefit analysis by regulators and lawyers, and the debate over market socialism.

After War: Understanding Postwar Reconstruction

August 19, 2004

The aim of this working paper is to further understand the transferability of the desirable consequences of political and economic liberalism in postwar countries.

Read All About It! Understanding the Role of Media in Economic Development

August 19, 2004

Economic development is a vast topic, both theoretically and historically, and this working paper does not cover all of its nuances ar angles. Nonetheless, it does seek to provide some basic conceptual categories for thinking about the role of media in economic development.

The Importance of Common Knowledge in Postwar Reconstruction

August 19, 2004

This working paper applies a game theoretic argument to the situation of postwar reconstruction. It is argued that widespread coordination characterizes successful postwar efforts. Critical to this outcome is common knowledge among citizens, which allows them to coordinate their activities on conjectures that align with the aims of reconstruction.

The Plight of Underdeveloped Countries; Institutions and the Direction of Entrepreneurial Activity with Evidence from Romania

August 19, 2004

This working paper points out that the cause of poverty in developing countries is not the absence of entrepreneurial activity, but rather the way in which entrepreneurial activities are channeled

The Role of Economist in Economic Development

June 21, 2004

In this working paper, Coyne and Boettke provide a history of development economics to understand how the economy has arrived at the current situation. They then argue that the development establishment has overlooked the importance of indigenous institutions in achieving economic progress.

Knowledge, Economics and Coordination: Understanding Hayek's Legal Theory

June 21, 2004

This working paper traces the evolution of Hayek’s thought from his earlier writings in technical economics to his later writings on legal theory.

Does the Market Self-Correct? Asymmetrical Adjustment and the Structure of Economic Error

April 1, 2004

This working paper explores the idea that in the economic arena both errors of overoptimism and errors of overpessimism are possible in the face of uncertainty, the presence of option value from deferring a decision to exchange causes trader errors to be overpessimistically biased. This is problematic because unlike errors of overoptimism, errors of overpessimism are not ‘automatically’ revealed to the agents who make them.

Who Protects Cyberspace?

March 22, 2004

Although not a pure public good, Internet security has strong public good characteristics. While standard economic theory dictates that such goods must to be provided by government, in this working paper, Coyne and Leeson observe the private provision of Internet security by the market.

Postwar Reconstruction: Some Insights from Public Choice and Institutional Economics

December 17, 2003

This working paper looks at the array of relationships that take place in the reconstruction process--political, economic and social--by considering under what circumstances they are situations of conflict or coordination.

Man as Machine: The Plight of 20th Century Economics

September 21, 2003

This working paper analyzes four competing visions in economic thinking that typify the 20th century.

Swedish Influences, Austrian Advances: The Contributions of the Swedish and Austrian Schools to Market Process Theory

September 21, 2003

In this working paper, Boettke and Coyne examine the history and evolution of the Austrian step-by-step analysis and the Swedish period analysis. In doing so, they highlight the similarities between the two methodologies, as well as the clear distinctions.

Do Pessimistic Assumptions About Human Behavior Justify Government?

September 21, 2003

The evolution from the state of nature to some form of social order has been a central question of political theory for centuries. Many writers conclude that a centralized government is the best possible outcome. This working paper analyzes if the pessimistic assumptions of human nature prove that a centralized government is in fact superior to the state of nature.

Entrepreneurship and Development: Cause or Consequence?

September 21, 2003

This working paper grapples with the dilemma that if entrepreneurship is omnipresent it cannot claim to be the key to development because there are countries that have not grown relative to their endowments.

Romania: Lessons from the Investors Roadmap: Implementation Challenges and An Exploratory Assessment of the Major Barriers to Rural Entrepreneurship from a New Institutional Economic Perspective

September 12, 2003

This report synthesize the result of the Mercatus Center investigation aimed at extending the analysis of barriers to investment in Romania from the perspective of the New Institutional Theory.

The New Comparitive Political Economy

April 4, 2003

Progress in the field of comparative political economy is achieved by examining how different legal, political and social institutions shape economic behavior and impact economic performance. In this paper we survey the new learning in comparative political economy and suggest how this learning should redirect our attention in economic development.