Christopher Curran

A theory of residential location decisions of two-worker households

Abstract This paper presents a model of the residential location of a household with two members working in separate urban employment centers. A three-dimensional bid-rent surface is developed and compared with the bid-rent surfaces for three other types of land users. The resulting bid-rent surfaces are used to describe the location and shape of the regions where these various types of households will choose to reside in an urban community.

The spread of the comparative negligence rule in the United States

In the sixteen years following 1968, thirty-seven states joined seven other states and most of the common law and statute law world in replacing the tort law principle of contributory negligence with comparative negligence. Contributory negligence absolves a negligent defendant of any financial responsibility for injuries occurring to a plaintiff if the plaintiff contributed in any manner to causing the accident. While there are exceptions to the rule, in general, under comparative negligence the courts use the degree of negligence of the parties to an accident to determine the percentage of the costs of the accidents each party will pay. Thus, a plaintiff whose actions are found to have contributed 25 percent of the cause of an accident will have his award reduced by 25 percent. Under the contributory negligence rule, he would receive nothing from the defendant. This rapid change in the kind of rule applied in tort law has not attracted much attention from researchers in law and economics. A majority of the literature has analyzed the relative efficiency of the various forms of tort law.’ Alternative questions

Does it Matter Whom an Agent Serves? Evidence from Recent Changes in Real Estate Agency Law

Recent changes in real estate law hastened the shift from a sellers agency regime, in which real estate agents serve the interests of sellers, to a buyers agency regime, in which agents serve the interests of buyers. Using data from the Atlanta real estate market, we show that the shift to buyers agency led to a significant decline in real estate prices in the market for relatively expensive houses, while real estate prices did not significantly change in the market for relatively inexpensive homes. In both markets, the average time needed to sell a house fell after the change in agency regimes. These results are consistent with a conclusion that a shift to buyers agency improves the efficiency of the search process.

The Antebellum Money Market and the Economic Impact of the Bank War: A Comment

In an earlier issue of this Journal, M. E. Sushka criticized the methodology of such “revisionists” as Peter Temin in their evaluation of the impact of the Bank War on the Jacksonian economy. Sushka characterizes the work of the revisionists as the “use of descriptive statistical tools in an attempt to analyze developments empirically.” Sushka, on the other hand, applies “modern econometric techniques” to “an economic framework drawn from contemporary monetary and macroeconomic theory.”

The fiscal behavior of municipal governments: 1905-1930

Abstract This report discusses a new set of annual U. S. municipal expenditure estimates. These estimates deal with the 1905–1930 period. While these expenditures are seen to be influenced by urbanization and price inflation, it is clear that real per capita spending rose substantially during the period. The distribution of municipal spending between current and capital accounts is seen to be associated with relative price change. A model of the structure of budget decisions—emphasizing an incremental budgeting format—is developed. Estimates of the structural parameters suggest that this model adequately represents the data; and that municipal decision makers responded in a regular and rational fashion to shifts in relative prices and nominal sources of funds.