#2009-057A "Is the International Border Effect Larger than the Domestic Border Effect? Evidence from U.S. Trade"
by Cletus C. Coughlin, and Dennis Novy
November 2009

Many studies have found that international borders represent large barriers to trade. But how do international borders compare to domestic border barriers? More...

#2009-054A "Are U.S. Banks too Large?"
by David C. Wheelock, and Paul Wilson
October 2009

The substantial consolidation of the U.S. banking industry since the mid-1980s has brought a large increase in average (and median) bank size, which along with concerns about banks that are “too-big-to-fail,” has led many analysts to wonder whether banks are “too large.” More...

#2009-053A "Biofuel Subsidies: An Open-Economy Analysis"
by Subhayu Bandyopadhyay, Sumon Bhaumik, and Howard J. Wall
October 2009

We present a general equilibrium analysis of biofuel subsidies in an open-economy context. In the small-country case, when a Pigouvian tax on conventional fuels such as crude is in place, the optimal biofuel subsidy is zero. More...

#2009-052A "The Effects of Recessions Across Demographic Groups"
by Kristie M. Engemann, and Howard J. Wall
October 2009

The burdens of a recession are not spread evenly across demographic groups. The public and media, for example, noticed that, from the start of the current recession in December 2007 through June 2009, men accounted for more than three quarters of net job losses. More...

#2009-043A "The Role of Location in Evaluating Racial Wage Disparity"
by Dan A. Black, Natalia Kolesnikova, Seth G. Sanders, and Lowell J. Taylor
September 2009

A standard object of empirical analysis in labor economics is a modified Mincer wage function in which an individual's log wage is specified to be a function of education, experience, and an indicator variable identifying race. More...

#2009-027A "Casino Revenue and the Illinois Smoking Ban"
by Thomas A. Garrett, and Michael R. Pakko
June 2009

Smoking was banned in all Illinois casinos in January 2008. We explore the effects that the smoking ban has had on Illinois casino revenue and attendance. More...

#2009-023B "What Spurs Terrorism in Developing Nations?"
by Subhayu Bandyopadhyay, and Javed Younas
May 2009
Revised September 2009

Understanding the causes of terrorism is important in predicting it and in developing an effective counterterrorism strategy. Data on the incidence of terrorist attacks and casualties suggest that domestic terrorism poses a substantially larger threat than transnational terrorism in developing countries. More...

#2009-021A "Foreign Aid as Counterterrorism Policy"
by Subhayu Bandyopadhyay, Todd Sandler, and Javed Younas
April 2009

We present a model where foreign aid bolsters proactive counterterrorism efforts of a foreign nation that is a source for transnational terrorism. More...

#2009-016A "Toxic Exposure in America: Estimating Fetal and Infant Health Outcomes"
by Nikhil Agarwal, Chanont Banternghansa, and Linda T.M. Bui
April 2009

We examine the effect of toxic exposure on U.S. infant and fetal mortality rates between 1989 and 2002 from toxic pollution released by facilities reporting to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). More...

#2009-011B "U.S. Commercial Bank Lending through 2008:Q4: New Evidence from Gross Credit Flows"
by Silvio Contessi, and Johanna Francis
March 2009
Revised April 2009

What was hiding behind the aggregate commercial bank loans through the end of 2008? We use balance sheet data for every insured U.S. commercial bank from 1999:Q1 to 2008:Q4 to construct credit expansion and credit contraction series and provide new evidence on changes in lending. More...