Melissa S. Waters

An economic model of cohabitation and divorce

Abstract The positive correlation between the rates of cohabitation and divorce has long been established. This paper seeks to determine the direction of causation between these two variables. A simultaneous equations model is specified with cohabitation and divorce rates as endogenous variables and using data aggregated to the state level for 1990. This procedure suggests that the divorce rate is a significant factor in explaining variations across states in the cohabitation rate, and that the divorce rate is itself influenced by cohabitation behavior. This finding strengthens the results put forth by various economic and sociological single equation studies. This synthesis of information and data provided by sociologists with economic theory and methodology, suggests further research in modelling demographic variables as joint outcomes of the same process.

A simultaneous-equations model of the relationship between public sector bargaining legislation and unionization

This paper estimates a simultaneous-equations model with public sector bargaining laws and union membership treated as jointly-determined variables. The extent of public sector unionization has a significant positive influence on the passage of prolabor bargaining legislation and bargaining legislation has strong, independent effects on the extent of public sector unionization.

Baumol and Bowen Cost Effects in Research Universities

We estimate three models of cost per student using data from Carnegie I and II public research universities. There are 841 usable observations covering the period from 1987 to 2008. We find that staffing ratios are individually and collectively significant in each model. Further, we find evidence that shared governance lowers cost and that the optimal staffing ratio is approximately three tenure track faculty members for every one full time administrator. Costs are higher if the ratio is higher or lower than three to one. As of 2008 the number of full time administrators is almost double the number of tenure track faculty. Using the differential method and the coefficients into Baumol and Bowen effects. This analysis reveals that for every

Estimation of a simultaneous equations model with an ordinal endogenous variable: The extent of teacher bargaining and the state legal environment

1 in Baumol cost effects there are over

Religion and economic welfare: An empirical analysis of state per capita income

2 in Bowen cost effects. Taken together, these results suggest two thirds of the real cost changes between 1987 and 2008 are due to weak shared governance and serious agency problems among administrators and boards.We estimate cost models for both public and private research universities and use partial differentials from these models to estimate different cost effects. The results suggest both Baumol’s cost disease and Bowen’s revenue theory drive cost higher and that Bowen effects are larger than Baumol effects. Tight revenue since 2008 reversed some declines in productivity and accelerated the trend in economizing on the use of tenure track faculty. This behavior under loose and tight revenue constraints is consistent with Bowen’s revenue theory.

The Economics of Cohabitation

This paper presents a simple two-step estimator for a simultaneous equations model that contains an ordinal endogenous variable. The estimation rules are extensions of the Heckman (1978) estimators, also considered by Amemiya (1978). Asymptotic covariance matrices of the estimators also are derived. The estimator is applied to an economic model in which the statewide extent of teacher bargaining and teacherbargaining legislation are determined jointly.