Research
For the Many or the Few: The Initiative, Public Policy, and American Democracy
The initiative process is a direct democracy device that allows ordinary
citizens to propose and pass laws without the involvement of their elected
representatives. The process has long been controversial, with a main point of
contention whether it promotes the interests of the majority or allows wealthy
special interests to subvert the popular will. The book examines a century of
fiscal data in order to discover whose interests are promoted by the initiative.
The core of the book is evidence showing how the initiative affects fiscal
policy (for example, it cuts spending and taxes), and what voters think of these
effects. The evidence indicates that a majority of voters favor the policy
changes brought about by the initiative, which suggests that it promotes the
interests of the many rather than the few.
Download Chapter 1 (Introduction): [PDF]
Download Table of Contents: [PDF]
Buy For the Many or the Few: [Amazon] [Barnes & Noble]
Recent Op-Eds
"Prop. 1A won't cure state's overspending" (Sacramento Bee, May 15, 2009)
"Budget crisis is built on spending gone wild" (Sacramento Bee, August 15, 2008)
"Where does all that state money go?" (Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2008)
Working papers
"Disentangling the Direct and Indirect Effects of the Initiative Process" (June
2007/updated March 2013) [PDF]
"Shareholder Empowerment: The Right to Approve and the Right to Propose," with
Oguzhan Ozbas (2012). [PDF]
"Direct Democracy and Social Issues" (May 2007) [PDF]
Published
"A Case Study on Direct
Democracy: Have Voter Initiatives Paralyzed the California Budget?," Book of
States, 2010.
"Aggressive Enforcement of
the Single Subject Rule," with Richard L. Hasen, Election Law Journal,
2010.
"Popular Control of Public Policy: A Quantitative Approach," Quarterly
Journal of Political Science, 2010.
"Disobedience and Authority," with Anthony Marino and Jan Zabojnik, Journal
of Law, Economics, and Organization, 2010. [PDF]
"When Are Outside Directors Effective?," with Ran Duchin and Oguzhan Ozbas,
Journal of Financial Economics, May 2010. [MS
PDF]
"50+ Years of Diversification Announcements," The Financial Review,
2010.
"Direct Democracy and Public Employees," American Economic Review,
December 2009. [PDF]
"From Families to Formal Contracts: An Approach to Development, Journal of
Development Economics, with Krishna B. Kumar, September 2009. [MS
PDF]
"Direct Democracy and the Executive
Branch,"
Direct Democracy's Impact on American Political Institutions (Palgrave
Macmillan), 2008. Manuscript version: [PDF]
"Public Choice Principles of Redistricting" with Thomas W. Gilligan,
Public Choice,
December 2006.
"Direct Democracy and Electoral Reform,"
The Marketplace of
Democracy (Brookings Institution Press), 2006. Manuscript version: [PDF]
"The Eclipse of Legislatures:
Direct Democracy in the 21st Century,"
Public Choice, July
2005.
"Direct
Democracy and Fiscal Gridlock: Have Voter Initiatives Paralyzed the California Budget?,"
State
Politics and Policy Quarterly, Fall 2005. Manuscript version: [PDF]
"Direct Democracy Works,"
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
Spring 2005.
"Decision Processes, Agency Problems, and Information: An Economic
Analysis of Capital Budgeting Procedures," with Anthony M. Marino, Review of Financial
Studies, Spring 2005.
"Direct Democracy: New Approaches to Old Questions," with Arthur Lupia,
Annual
Review of Political Science, 2004. [Selected by Thompson Scientific
as an "Emerging Research Front" for April 2006 as "one of the most recently
cited papers" Read
interview and comments.]
"Subversion of the Many by the Few: Some Scientific Evidence on the
Initiative Process," Journal of
Contemporary Legal Issues, 2004.Manuscript version: [PDF]
"Budget
Referendums and Government Spending: Evidence from Swiss Cantons," with Lars P. Feld, Journal
of Public Economics, December 2003.
"Direct
Democracy," in Encyclopedia of Public Choice, edited by C. Rowley and F.
Schneider (Kluwer), 2003. Manuscript version: [PDF]
"Initiative
and Referendum," in Encyclopedia of Public Choice, edited by C. Rowley and F.
Schneider (Kluwer), 2003. Manuscript version: [PDF]
Buy Encyclopedia of Public Choice: [Amazon] [Barnes & Noble]
"I&R in
American Cities: Basic Patterns," in Initiative and Referendum Almanac,
edited by M. Dane Waters (Carolina), 2003. Manuscript version: [PDF]
Buy Initiative and Referendum Almanac: [Amazon] [Barnes and Noble]
"Corporate
Diversification, Value Maximization, and Organizational Capabilities,"
Journal of Business, October 2001.
[Winner of Merton Miller Prize for "most
significant paper"]
"Deviations from Constituent
Interests: The Role of Legislative Structure and Political Parties in the
States," with Thomas W. Gilligan, Economic Inquiry, July 1995.
"Consumer Confidence and Economic
Fluctuations," with Argia M. Sbordone, Economic
Inquiry, April 1995.
"Explaining Voter Turnout Patterns: An
Information Theory," Public Choice,1995.
"Takeover Motives during the
Conglomerate Merger Wave," Rand Journal of Economics, 1993.
"Target Profits and Managerial
Discipline during the Conglomerate Merger Wave," Journal of Industrial
Economics, 1993.
"The Downsian Voter Meets the
Ecological Fallacy," with Filip Palda, Public Choice, 1993.
"Election Closeness and Voter Turnout:
Evidence from California Ballot Propositions," Public Choice, 1993.
"Economics of Direct Legislation,"
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1992.
Data
"Explaining the Market Price of the 'Tribute Penny': Evidence from 132 Auctions," The Celator, March 2004.
Download: [Regression]