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Journal Article 17.1: Aquanno, S. M. (2015). Crisis, continuity and learning: The institutional origins of subprime management at the Federal Reserve. Competition & Change, 19, 3–18.

Abstract: This article examines the nature of the US central bank’s relationship to financial markets amidst recent arguments that the subprime crisis marked a paradigmatic shift in the Federal Reserve’s approach to financial management. It applies the concepts of institutional capacity and institutional learning from neo-institutionalist scholarship on policy development to examine the Federal Reserve’s response and reaction to various financial failures following 1970. On this basis the paper argues that the Federal Reserve’s response to the 2008 crisis drew on the institutional learning it garnered in previous periods.

Journal Article 17.2: Hearn, J. C., Lacy, T. A., & Warshaw, J. B. (March 2014). State research and development tax credits: The historical emergence of a distinctive economic policy instrument. Economic Development Quarterly, 28, 166-181.

Abstract: By 2010, all but 12 U.S. states had adopted some form of research and development tax credits. The forces driving the rapid rise and spread of this policy remain unclear. This event history analysis finds adoption to be associated with higher state unemployment levels, supporting the notion of “policy-making from disadvantage.” Yet higher patenting activity is also associated with adoption, suggesting that having a strong preexisting research and development (R&D) infrastructure facilitates adoption. In the 1980s, having a Republican governor apparently propelled adoption, but partisan influences disappeared in later years. Having a governorship with constitutionally strong budgetary power and having a centralized governing board for higher education are associated with adoption, and interaction analyses indicate that the combination of a centralized board and a higher number of research universities are especially positive forces in adoption. The socioeconomic, political, and structural influences found in this article suggest several potentially fruitful directions for future analyses.

Journal Article 17.3: Cummins, J. (October 2012). The effects of legislative term limits on state fiscal conditions. American Politics Research, 41, 417-442.

Abstract: Advocates of term limits argued that term limits would help reduce out-of-control government spending by removing veteran legislators who became acclimated to the prospending environment in our nation’s capitals. However, previous research shows that term limits may increase spending, which could jeopardize state fiscal health. The primary purpose of this article is to examine whether states with term limits encounter more fiscal problems than non-term-limited states. I suggest that the short-term fiscal outlooks and loss of experienced legislators produced by term-limit turnover lead to poor fiscal conditions. Myopic legislators may avoid tough fiscal decisions, while inexperienced legislators may be ill-equipped to develop sound fiscal policy. Analysis of budget data on U.S. states from 1983 to 2008 reveals that legislative turnover decreases budget balances. Results further show that these effects do not appear in the upper chamber, perhaps because state senates have more experienced legislators than the lower chamber.

Journal Article 17.4: Alm, J. & Rogers, J. (September 2010). Do state fiscal policies affect state economic growth? Public Finance Review, 39, 483-526.

Abstract: What factors influence state economic growth? This article uses annual state (and local) data for the years 1947 through 1997 for the forty-eight contiguous states to estimate the effects of a large number of factors, including taxation and expenditure policies, on state economic growth. A special feature of the empirical work is the use of orthogonal distance regression (ODR) to deal with the likely presence of measurement error in many of the variables. The results indicate that the correlation between state (and state and local) taxation policies is often statistically significant but also quite sensitive to the specific regressor set and time period; in contrast, the effects of expenditure policies are much more consistent. Of some interest, there is moderately strong evidence that a state’s political orientation has consistent and measurable effects on economic growth; perhaps, surprisingly, a more ‘‘conservative’’ political orientation is associated with lower rates of economic growth. Finally, correction for measurement error is essential in estimating the growth impacts of policies. Indeed, when measurement error is considered via ODR estimation, the estimation results do not support conditional convergence in state per capita income.