Christopher Coombs

Total state in-migration rates and public policy in the United States: a comparative analysis of the Great Recession and the pre- and post-Great Recession years

This study adopts state-level data to investigate empirically the Tiebout hypothesis (as extended by Tullock) of ‘voting with one’s feet’ for the period referred to in the United States as the ‘Great Recession’ (2007–09). As compared with previous studies, more recent data are used and estimates are provided for three time periods: the ‘Great Recession’ (from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2009), the pre-Great Recession period (1 July 2004 to 30 June 2006) and the post-Great Recession period (1 July 2009 to 30 June 2011). This analysis also differs from most previous literature by including a separate cost-of-living variable and a variable measuring effective state personal income tax rates. After allowing for various economic factors and quality of life/climate variables, migrants (consumer-voters) over the 2007–09 period appear to prefer states with lower effective state personal income tax rates and higher levels of ‘fiscal surplus’, defined in this study for each state as the total outlay per pupil on primary and secondary public education minus the per capita property tax level. The three empirical estimates all demonstrate that the Tiebout/Tullock hypothesis was operational not only during but also both before and after the Great Recession since for all three time periods migrants (consumer-voters) manifested a preference for lower effective state personal income tax rates and higher levels of fiscal surplus.

The influence of the number of statewide legislative referendums on voter participation in the US

This empirical study seeks to broaden the interpretation of the ‘rational voter model’ so as to include the potential effects of the number of statewide legislative referendums. This study tests the hypothesis that greater numbers of such referendums increase voter turnout because they elevate the Expected Gross Benefits (EGB) of voting by ‘empowering voters’ while not significantly increasing the Expected Gross Costs (EGC) of voting. Using state-level data for the 2006 general election in the US, as well as the 2004 US Presidential election, and after allowing for a variety of economic and demographic factors, this study finds compelling evidence that the number of statewide legislative referendums does significantly increase voter turnout.

The Impact of Union Corruption on Union Membership

This paper examines the relationship between union corruption actions and union membership. State-level data from the Office of Labor-Management Standards, and other sources, are utilized over two study periods (1974-2000 and 2001-2008) to test three hypotheses, including the union corruption hypothesis, as possible explanations for the decline in union membership in the United States over time. Although our initial findings suggest a negative relationship exists between union corruption and membership, after removing the possibility of simultaneous equations bias, we find that changes in corruption do not influence changes in union membership in our sample.