Research
The Great Depression may have been preventable. Using a formalized policy rule instead of relying on the Federal Reserve’s discretionary policy decisions, may have prevented the country’s worst economic crisis. Fackler and Parker analyze what could have happened if the country had adopted Irving Fisher’s recommendations in 1930.
How do corporations—who balance making sales today and planning for the future—respond to regulatory change? Thomaz, Bargeron, Hulland, and Zutter’s study provides evidence that legislative changes, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, can significantly affect a corporation’s priorities. The passage of Sarbanes-Oxley incentivized U.S. corporations to focus more on reaping the immediate gains from marketing rather than investment in research and development.
Why do hedge fund investors feel confident that their money is in good hands despite lax government regulation? Reputation. Clifford, Ellis, and Gerken’s research find strong, market-based incentives for fund managers to hire reputable directors to monitor their funds. And while managers are looking for reputable directors, directors are looking for high quality funds to work for—creating mutual interests for close monitoring and honest dealing.
Does the U.S. tax code push corporations to save more cash abroad? While the desire to fund future investment encourages domestic corporate savings, lower international tax rates encourage U.S. corporations—especially those with intensive research and development programs—to save larger amounts of cash abroad, according to this research by Faulkender, Hankins, and Petersen.
Dr. Yelowitz’s research explores the unintended consequences and individual incentives that arise when the government sets up health insurance markets outside of the free enterprise system. Following the Affordable Care Act expansion, the integrity of the Kentucky Medicaid program may be at risk. This first look finds that 38 percent of Kentucky’s new Medicaid enrollees were not eligible for the program in 2014, according to data from the American Community Survey.