We apply the two-sector production function developed by Ram (1986) to estimate the threshold regression model for Iran, concerning the effect of government size on economic growth. Three government size indicators are used to find out the different threshold points. The results show a non-linear relationship of the Armey curve in Iran, in which the threshold effects corresponding to total gove...

I attempt to dispel several widely-held myths regarding government finance under the Articles of Confederation, some of which were reiterated in Dougherty and Cain (1997). I defend the contribution mechanism as a method of government finance that is superior to direct taxation by the federal government, and present evidence contradicting the belief that revenue collections under the Articles we...

To illuminate how race affects the usage of punitive tools in policy implementation settings, we analyze sanctions imposed for noncompliant client behavior under welfare reform. Drawing on a model of racial classification and policy choice, we test four hypotheses regarding client race, local context, and sanctioning. Based on longitudinal and cross-sectional multilevel analyses of individual-l...

The manufactured gas industry provided cities in the United States with energy for light and power during much of the period from approximately 1850 to 1950. This article explores the history of the effects of this industry on air, land, and water environments; it also examines attempts by the courts and municipal and state governments to regulate gas-waste pollution and the industry's response...

We use US county level data from 1970 to 1998 to explore the relationship between economic growth and government employment at three levels: federal, state and local. Increases in federal, state and local government employments are all negatively related to economic growth. We find no evidence that government is more efficient at lower levels. While we cannot separate out the productive and red...

Moody's ratings for tax-backed municipal bonds are derived from five primary credit factors: legal security, local economy , financial operations, debt profile and management. This special comment will focus on the debt component of Moody's analysis and ratings. Debt as a credit factor can not be isolated from the other credit factors, nor viewed as a stand-alone ratio or set of ratios. Rather,...

The article discusses the concepts of centralisation and decentralisation in theory. There are various criteria that can be used to assess the advantages and disadvantages of decentralisation, and the paper will discuss these. In addition, empirical examples are presented. Next the article moves on to a case study of Finland. Finland has strong municipalities in the comparative European aspect,...

BACKGROUND It is cause for concern when a democratically elected government suppresses embarrassing information by hindering public health research or the publication of research findings. We conducted a survey of Australian public health academics to estimate the level of acts of suppression of research by Australian governments, to characterise these events, and to gather views on what interv...