Has the Wedding Between Economics and Anthropology Been Cancelled? Economic Theory and Polygamy

This paper uses data from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample of the Human Relations Area Files to test implications of family economic theory related to multiple marriage. As the theory predicts, actions which interfere with the marriage market make most participants worse off. In particular, in those cultures which forbid polygyny, the value of a wife falls. Polygyny disappears in more complex economies, economies in which the value of the quantity of children is relatively less important than the quality of children.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61270/1/Hull_B_1989_Working_Paper_57_Economic_Theory_and_Polygamy.pd

American Commercial Television and the Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission receives political support from commercial television stations and from television viewers. The main regulatory tool of the FCC is its power to assign television channels to communities and to grant licenses to applicants for those television channels. The FCC has used its regulatory power to establish a geographic pattern of television station locations different than would otherwise have occurred, but a pattern predictable by the theory of government regulation.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61260/1/Hull_B_1984_Working_Paper_27_Television_and_FCC.pd

Some Issues in Granting Park Concessions in Smaller Countries

If parks have particular characteristics, park managers should grant firms exclusive right to provide products or services within the park. Thus, contrary to the usual case, the manager is wise to allow monopoly provision of park development. The particular characteristics include that park development is only attractive to foreign visitors, that foreign visitors are only valuable for the currency they spend, and that development and congestion reduce the park's value to domestic visitors. A park manager seeks to maximize the sum of foreign currency earnings less production cost of development and consumer surplus of domestic visitors less travel cost. Permitting monopoly to provide development means maximizing net revenue from sale of services to foreigners. Monopoly concessions also mean less development is produced than under competing concessions. Less development and fewer foreign visitors mean increased value to domestic visitors.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61264/1/Hull_B_1985_Working_Paper_36_Park_Concession_Issues.pd

The Economics of Misbehavior, Love, and Marriage Contract Enforcement

Individuals allocate time between production of goods shared by family members and goods consumed only by the individual. Individuals are inclined to misbehave by giving less time to production of shared goods than is preferred by the family. In some cultures, strict family control reduces misbehavior. Marriage for love is an innovation in marriage contract enforcement adopted by cultures with specific characteristics. Analysis of cultures in the Human Relations Area Files supports the theory.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61272/1/Hull_B_1989_Working_Paper_59_Marriage_Contract_Enforcement.pd

An Economics Perspective Ten Years After the NAB Case

The U.S. Justice Department brought suit against the National Association of Broadcasters in 1979, charging that the NAB Television Code restricted the supply of advertising. This paper examines implications of a collusive code, concluding that the code did not successfully serve this purpose. Television station sale prices were no higher in markets with a high proportion of code subscriber stations. Stations in single station markets were no less likely to subscribe to the code. Finally, rates of return on broadcast firm and network stocks did not change when the antitrust case was settled.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57285/1/Hull B - 1990 - NAB Case - JME.pd

An OPEC in Fantasyland? The NAB Television Code as Cartel

The U.S. Justice Department filed suit against the National Association of Broadcasters in 1979, charging that its Television Code restricted the supply of advertising. Had the case, which was settled by consent decree in 1982, gone to trial under a "rule of reason," the cartel effects of the code would have been examined. This paper employs a "dummy endogenous variable" model to see if the code provided cartel benefits. The results suggest that subscribing stations received higher profits, but that these cannot be unambiguously ascribed to cartel effects of the code.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61261/1/Hull_B_1985_Working_Paper_30_NAB_Television_Code.pd

Religion Still Matters

Research by Lipford, McCormick, and Tollison and by Hull and Bold shows a negative relationship between church membership and crime rates. The results are important but do not employ the most recent available data. This paper reproduces Hull and Bold’s results using more contemporary 1990 data by United States county. This paper also compares 1980 and 1990 county data. Results are consistent with the earlier research. County crime rates are significantly negatively related to county church membership share. Other factors affecting county crime rates include unemployment, poverty, expenditures on police, population density, and income.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57764/1/Hull B - 2000 - Religion Still Matters - JoE.pd

Rezoning the Afterlife: Religion and Property Rights in the Middle Ages

This paper reviews an economic theory of religion and uses the theory to explain changes in attitudes toward hell, heaven, and divine retribution in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The hypothesis is straightforward. Religion serves a number of important functions, one of which is to provide an alternative to the state and to the local community in enforcing good social behavior in general and property rights in particular. As the nature of the state's power, of the influence of the local community, and of economic activity change, religious doctrine changes in a manner predictable by economic theory. Although applied to a particular period and culture, the theory is perfectly general and has implications for behavior in other cultures and other periods in history.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61269/1/Hull_B_1987_Working_Paper_45_Religion_in_Middle_Ages.pd

The Economics of Misbehavior and Love in Marriage

This paper presents a mathematical model examining the role of love in marriage. This paper extends the new theory of marriage, especially that developed by Becker, by examining the effect sharing of family output has on individual family member incentives. This paper models techniques used by families to assure proper member behavior and, in particular, the role of love as an enforcement tool. The model suggests a number of testable implications which provide fertile ground for future research.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61265/1/Hull_B_1986_Working_Paper_38_Love_in_Marriage.pd

Religion, Afterlife, and Property Rights in the High Middle Ages

Religion serves a number of important functions, one of which is to provide an alternative to the state and to the local community in enforcing particular social behavior. As the nature of the state's power, of the influence of the local community, and of economic activity change, religious doctrine changes in a predictable manner. The behavior and doctrine of the Medieval knights and of the mendicant orders are used as examples. This essay reviews an economic theory of religion and uses the theory to explain changes in attitudes toward hell, heaven, and divine retribution in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55474/1/Hull B - 1989 - Medieval Afterlife - SEA.pd