R. Todd Jewell

Pass a Law, Any Law, Fast! State Legislative Responses to the Kelo Backlash

In Kelo v. City of New London, the U.S. Supreme Court left it to the states to protect property against takings for economic development. Since Kelo, thirty-seven states have enacted legislation to update their eminent domain laws. This paper is the first to theoretically and empirically analyze the factors that influence whether, in what manner, and how quickly states change their laws through new legislation. Fourteen of the thirty-seven new laws offer only weak protections against development takings. The legislative response to Kelo was responsive to measures of the backlash but only in the binary decision whether to pass any new law. The decision to enact a meaningful restriction was more a function of relevant political economy measures. States with more economic freedom, greater value of new housing construction, and less racial and income inequality are more likely to have enacted stronger restrictions, and sooner. Of the thirteen states that have not updated, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi are highly likely to do so in the future. Hawaii, Massachusetts and New York are unlikely to update at all.

Voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame: The Effect of Race on Election Date

This article examines whether a players race affects his date of election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. If the election process exhibits biases against minority-race players, then they may be required to wait longer to be elected. The results show no evidence of racial discrimination in the timing of election. Moreover, the results validate past research indicating that discrimination does not negatively affect a minority players ability to enter the Hall of Fame.

Participation in Social Programs by Consumers and Companies: A Nationwide Analysis of Participation Rates for Telephone Lifeline Programs

Lifeline is a unique nationwide public assistance program created by the Federal Communications Commission to provide price discounts to low-income telephone subscribers. Recently there has been concern that program participation rates are low and that there is great variation in participation across states. We examine the Lifeline Program to explain why people do not participate in a program that provides them with financial benefits. Using state-level panel data, we consider reasons Lifeline participation varies among states and why only approximately one-third of eligible households nationwide enroll in the program. We find that participation is actually closely aligned with what is predicted given state characteristics when we control for socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. We also find that in addition to the demographic factors affecting participation, telecommunications companies appear to affect Lifeline participation rates.

The Effect of Marquee Players on Sports Demand: The Case of U.S. Major League Soccer

In 2007, Major League Soccer (MLS) changed its salary rules to allow teams to pay over the salary cap to sign high-priced talent. The first Designated Player was David Beckham. This study presents estimates of the influence of marquee players on MLS attendance using data from 2007 to 2012. The results indicate that few of the marquee signings drove higher attendance. Furthermore, these attendance effects tend to diminish over time. Specifically, only Beckham, Blanco, and Márquez generated excess fans in the games they played, with the largest effect in their first year. The results also give evidence of a superstar externality.