John D. Singleton

Sorting Charles Tiebout

A substantial and diverse literature in economics traces its intellectual roots to Charles Tiebouts 1956 article, “The Pure Theory of Local Expenditure.” Its present recognition—frequently attributed to originating the idea of “voting with your feet”—contrasts sharply with its obscurity during Tiebouts academic career, which was tragically cut short by his passing in 1968. Penned as a qualification to Paul Samuelsons “pure theory,” the article failed to influence the stabilization of postwar public good theory despite Tiebouts engagement with key figures in its construction. Moreover, his death preceded the application of its central mechanism to public, urban, and environmental topics via hedonic, sorting, and computational general equilibrium models. Viewed in this way, the history of Tiebouts article, and thereby the history of public economics, has remarkably little to do with Tiebout himself. In consequence, this article seeks to repersonalize and contextualize Tiebouts scientific work. Professionally, Tiebout 1956 reflected its authors lifelong interest in local economies and governance. The social and political context of urban sprawl and political fragmentation that accompanied the rapid growth of metropolitan areas, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle, raised novel questions in local public finance for researchers before a knowledge community existed to credit their work. For Tiebout, it stimulated his collaboration with Vincent Ostrom and Robert Warren and later involvement in the interdisciplinary field of regional science.

The Empirical Economist's Toolkit: From Models to Methods

While historians of economics have noted the transition toward empirical work in economics since the 1970s, less understood is the shift toward quasi-experimental methods in applied microeconomics. Angrist and Pischke (2010) trumpet the wide application of these methods as a credibility revolution in econometrics that has nally provided persuasive answers to a diverse set of questions. Particularly in uential in the applied areas of labor, education, public, and health economics, the methods shape the knowledge produced by economists and the expertise they possess. First documenting their growth bibliometrically, this paper aims to illuminate the origins, content, and contexts of quasi-experimental research designs, which seek natural experiments to justify causal inference. To highlight lines of continuity and discontinuity in the transition, the quasi-experimental program is situated in the historical context of the Cowles econometric framework and a case study from the economics of education is used to contrast the practical implementation of the approaches. Finally, signi cant historical contexts of the paradigm shift are explored, including the marketability of quasi-experimental methods and the 1980s crisis in econometrics.

Money Is a Sterile Thing: Martin Luther on the Immorality of Usury Reconsidered

In the history of economic thought, Martin Luther is frequently identified with medieval Scholastic doctrine. His belief that “money is sterile” is offered in support of this assessment. However, this obscures the fact that Luther rarely invokes this line of reasoning in his writings on usury and that his argument for its immorality is not dependent upon the proposition. These facts, which differentiate Luther from the Scholastic writers, are consistent with his opposition to Aristotelian natural philosophy and the influence of nominalism on his thought. In order to establish the immorality of the census contract, condoned by the German Scholastic theologians, Luther reconstitutes the argument. The unappreciated significance of Luthers thought is therefore twofold: (1) there exists a burgeoning degree of independence between the positive analysis of usury and the reasons for its immorality; and (2) individual conscience and personal interpretation are left the arbiters in determining ethical practice.

Chicago Price Theory

This comprehensive three-volume collection brings together the most important papers from leading economists published in the past 120 years covering a wide range of topics and issues. Along with an original introduction by the editors, this authoritative set will be of immense value to students, researchers, scholars and practitioners interested in ‘Chicago Price Theory’.

The Fiscal Externalities of Charter Schools: Evidence from North Carolina

A significant criticism of the charter school movement is that funding for charter schools diverts money away from traditional public schools. The magnitude of such adverse fiscal externalities dep...

The Competitive Effects of Entry: Evidence from Supercenter Expansion

Coupling weekly grocery transaction records with the exact location and opening date of entering Walmarts over an eleven year period, we examine how Supercenter entry affects prices and revenues at incumbent supermarkets. We find that entry within one mile of an incumbent causes a sharp 16% drop in revenue, an effect that decays quickly with distance. Surprisingly, despite large cross store differences in prices of supermarkets by exposure to Walmart, our findings also indicate that Supercenter entry has no causal effect on incumbent prices. This lack of a price response is robust across many dimensions, including a lack of response for individual categories and brands within a category.

Putting Dollars Before Scholars? Evidence from For-Profit Charter Schools in Florida

This paper compares for- and non-profit management of charter schools in Florida using a unique dataset combining enrollment and student proficiency data with the annual independent financial audits filed by all charter schools. Comparisons reveal that independent for- and non-profit charter schools locate in similar markets and serve similar student bodies, whereas for-profits belonging to a network locate in lower income, denser, and more Hispanic areas. Bearing out the concerns of parents and policymakers, regression estimates indicate that, among independent charters, for-profits spend less per pupil on instruction and achieve lower student proficiency gains. By contrast, among charter schools belonging to a network, for-profits spend approximately 11% less per pupil, but expenses on student instruction are not being cut. The estimates, which control for differences across schools in student composition and other characteristics, imply that an equivalent level of per pupil expenses purchases about 0.03σ higher student proficiency at network for-profit charter schools.