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42. The Regulatory Costs of Being Public
- Author:
- Michael Ewens, Kairong Xiao, and Ting Xu
- Publication Date:
- 05-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- An important explanation for the significant decline in the number of publicly listed companies in the United States is the increased burden of disclosure and governance regulations. Indeed, practitioners often point to heightened regulatory costs as the culprit of the disappearing public firms, while major deregulations such as the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act were directly motivated by perceived costs of being public. Thus, understanding the role of regulations in the cost of being public and the decline in the number of public firms can address concerns about possible capital market dysfunction.
- Topic:
- Markets, Governance, Regulation, and Business
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
43. Evidence of the Unintended Labor Scheduling Implications of the Minimum Wage
- Author:
- Qiuping Yu, Shawn Mankad, and Masha Shunko
- Publication Date:
- 06-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The effect of the minimum wage has been an important topic of debate for decades. For many years, low‐wage laborers, especially in the food service and retail sectors in the United States, have been advocating an increase in the minimum wage to $15. Intending to increase worker welfare, many states (e.g., California and New York) and municipalities (San Francisco, Seattle, and New York City) have responded by raising their minimum wages.
- Topic:
- Labor Issues, Economic Policy, and Minimum Wage
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
44. Who Pays Sin Taxes? Understanding the Overlapping Burdens of Corrective Taxes
- Author:
- Christopher Conlon, Nirupama Rao, and Yinan Wang
- Publication Date:
- 07-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- “Sin taxes”—or excise taxes on particular goods that society deems harmful—are popular in the United States. Federal, state, and local governments levy taxes on alcohol and tobacco with the dual and sometimes conflicting goals of curbing consumption and raising revenue. For many of these products, taxes represent a large share of the overall price. In New York City, a 1.75L bottle of vodka might sell for as little as $11.99 of which $7.97 is tax; and a $13.00 pack of cigarettes includes $6.86 in taxes.
- Topic:
- Tax Systems, Economic Policy, and Consumer Behavior
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
45. The Welfare Effects of Time Reallocation: Evidence from Daylight Saving Time
- Author:
- Joan Costa-i-Font, Sarah Fleche, and Ricardo Pagan
- Publication Date:
- 07-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- More than 70 countries around the world currently observe daylight saving time (DST) to reduce energy demand. However, recent studies have shown that DST does not save energy and may actually increase electricity consumption. Furthermore, opponents of DST argue that even a one‐hour time change can have long‐term consequences for individuals. DST transition has been linked to increased risks of car accidents, heart attacks, and depressive symptoms in studies. According to our findings, the spring DST transition has a negative impact on individuals’ welfare, specifically a decrease in life satisfaction. Investigating a broad range of outcomes, we show that this decline in life satisfaction can be explained by a decrease in sleep following the transition and an increase in time pressure, which significantly affect individuals’ physical and emotional health in subsequent days.
- Topic:
- Economic Policy, Time, Well-Being, and Daylight Saving Time
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
46. Trade Is Good for Your Health
- Author:
- James Bacchus
- Publication Date:
- 06-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- There is increasing need to free up medical trade to help end the COVID-19 pandemic and secure global health. Yet import tariffs, export restrictions, and other limitations on international trade in medicines and medical goods continue to confound the hopes for fulfilling this need. Indeed, added restrictions have been imposed on medical trade during the pandemic. Meanwhile, governments have accomplished little at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to help meet this need. Using trade to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic and to otherwise support global health must move to the top of the WTO agenda, with the aim of finalizing new rules to support trading for health care goods by the time of the next WTO ministerial conference in Geneva in late November 2021 — and ideally, sooner.
- Topic:
- Health, Trade, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
47. A Brief History of U.S. Immigration Policy from the Colonial Period to the Present Day
- Author:
- Andrew M. Baxter and Alex Nowrasteh
- Publication Date:
- 08-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- More than 86 million people have legally immigrated to the United States between 1783 and 2019. The legal regime under which they immigrated has changed radically over that time; the politics surrounding those changes have remained contentious, and past immigration policies inform the current political debate. Conflicting visions and piecemeal legislation have left the United States with an archaic and barely coherent immigration system with outdated policy objectives that is primarily controlled by the executive branch of government. We review the history of U.S. immigration policy, including the legal controversies that empowered Congress with its immigration plenary power and the historical policy decisions that still guide the U.S. immigration system, in order to contextualize the current political debate over immigration at the beginning of the Biden administration.
- Topic:
- Government, History, Immigration, and Immigration Policy
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
48. Common‐Sense Policy Reforms for California Housing
- Author:
- Lee E. Ohanian
- Publication Date:
- 08-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- California housing has become unaffordable. As of February 2021, the median California home price was nearly $700,000 and the median condominium price was $515,000. The median rent for the same month was $1,733. Based on industry mortgage financing and renting standards, this means that both homebuyers and renters require household incomes of nearly $100,000 to qualify for housing.
- Topic:
- History, Reform, Regulation, and Housing
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
49. How Wealth Fuels Growth
- Author:
- Chris Edwards
- Publication Date:
- 09-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The role of wealth in the economy is the focus of much policy debate. This study examines wealthy individuals as “angel” investors, who fund startup businesses. Angel investors provide a unique source of support for America’s entrepreneurs, particularly in leading‐edge industries.
- Topic:
- Entrepreneurship, Economic Growth, Investment, Wealth, and Angel Investors
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
50. Industrial Policy Implementation: Empirical Evidence from China’s Shipbuilding Industry
- Author:
- Panle Barwick, Myrto Kalouptsidi, and Nahim Bin Zahur
- Publication Date:
- 08-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Industrial policy has been widely used in developed and developing countries. Examples include the United States and Europe after World War II; Japan in the 1950s and 1960s; South Korea and Taiwan in the 1960s and 1970s; and Brazil, China, India, and other developing countries more recently. Industrial policies are now back in the spotlight in developed countries, such as Europe and the United States. Designing and implementing industrial policies is a complicated task. Governments seeking to promote the growth of selected sectors have a wide range of policy tools at their disposal, including subsidies on output, provisioning loans at below‐market interest rates, preferential tax policies, tariff and nontariff barriers, and so on. They must also choose the timing of policy interventions and whether to target selected firms within an industry.
- Topic:
- Government, Industrial Policy, Economic Policy, and Shipbuilding
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia