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Begin New Search Political Geography Global Focus Content Type Policy Brief Publishing Institution The Cato Institute Publication Year within 5 Years Publication Year within 25 Years

1. The Political Economy of Anti‐​bribery Enforcement

Author:
Lauren Cohen and Bo Li
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
A level playing field for firm competition is a fundamental requirement for any market to maximize its potential and achieve productive efficiency. When government favors a set of firms or individuals over others, distortions arise that reverberate throughout entire industries, affecting sales, production, innovation, and more. This is not to say that barriers to firms may not sometimes naturally arise, but if a finger is placed on the scale by government to allow certain firms to gain some unerodable advantage, this can have large implications on allocation and overall economic development.
Topic:
Corruption, Political Economy, Law Enforcement, Accountability, and Bribery
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. The Impact of Regulation on Innovation

Author:
Philippe Aghion, Antonin Bergeaud, and John Van Reenen
Publication Date:
04-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
There is considerable research on the economic impacts of regulations but relatively few studies about their impact on technological innovation. Moreover, most analyses focus on the costs and benefits of regulation at a point in time, rather than on its effects over time. Yet potential effects on economic growth are likely to be much more pronounced in the long run. Many scholars have been concerned that slower growth in countries with heavy labor regulations could be due to firms’ reluctance to innovate given the burden of red tape. For example, the slower growth of Southern European countries and parts of Latin America have often been blamed on onerous labor laws.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Regulation, Economic Growth, and Innovation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. The Future of the WTO: Multilateral or Plurilateral?

Author:
James Bacchus
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Since its 1947 inception as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has generally practiced an all‐​or‐​nothing approach to multilateral negotiations in which the consensus of all WTO members was for trade liberalization. Although this approach worked throughout the second half of the 20th century, its shortcomings were laid bare by the failure of the Doha Development Agenda and the inability of WTO members to achieve further broad, multilateral trade liberalization. Today, amid heightened animosity toward additional trade liberalization, prospects for the traditional consensus‐​based approach seem dimmer than ever.
Topic:
Treaties and Agreements, World Trade Organization, Multilateralism, and Trade
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. Global Inequality in Well‐​Being Has Decreased across Many Dimensions: Introducing the Inequality of Human Progress Index

Author:
Chelsea Follett and Vincent Geloso
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The world has seen dramatic, global human progress across a broad range of indicators in recent decades, but have those gains been widely shared? The Inequality of Human Progress Index (IHPI) measures relative gaps in global development. It surveys international inequality across a greater number of dimensions than any prior index. By analyzing inequality in a multidimensional way, the IHPI takes inequality more seriously than those indexes that focus on income inequality alone. The IHPI considers material well‐​being and seven additional metrics: lifespan, infant mortality, adequate nutrition, environmental safety, access to opportunity (as measured by education), access to information (as measured by internet access), and political freedom. Across all but two of those dimensions, the world has become more equal since 1990. Globalization and market liberalization over the past few decades have not only raised absolute living standards but also reduced overall inequality.
Topic:
Development, Inequality, Economy, and Well-Being
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. Skilled Immigration, Task Allocation, and the Innovation of Firms

Author:
Anna Maria Mayda, Gianluca Orefice, and Gianluca Santoni
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Immigration continues to be a hotly debated topic in several destination countries. Policy and academic discussions have focused on different types of immigration, depending on the host country. While research is voluminous on the United States and countries with skill‐​points‐​based immigration systems, the discussion in Europe has mostly centered on lesser‐​skilled migrants and political refugees, as they represent the largest proportion of arrivals. However, Europe has been receiving skilled migrants in increasing numbers. For example, in France, the share of college‐​educated immigrants is 23 percent— lower than in the United States, Canada, or the UK—but it increased by 11 percentage points between 1995 and 2010.
Topic:
Immigration, Economy, Innovation, and Skills
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. Self‐​Service Bans and Gasoline Prices: The Effect of Allowing Consumers to Pump Their Own Gas

Author:
Vitor Melo
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Billions of people live in countries that ban self‐​service fueling at gasoline stations, including some of the world’s largest countries by population, including China, India, and Brazil, among many others. The impact of these bans is largely understudied despite their prevalence presumably because this policy is often implemented at the national level and because there have been no policy changes in these countries that allow for an assessment of these bans on gasoline prices.
Topic:
Gas, Regulation, Economy, and Consumer Behavior
Political Geography:
North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

7. Real Effects of Climate Policy: Financial Constraints and Spillovers

Author:
Söhnke M. Bartram
Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Climate change is among the most intensely debated socioeconomic issues of current times. As a response to potential catastrophic risks from climate change, governments around the world are pushing for various regulations to curb greenhouse gas emissions. However, there is far from a consensus on optimal policy approaches, and as a result, climate policies are highly fragmented across the jurisdictions in which they are designed and implemented. More importantly, it is unknown whether such localized yet uncoordinated policies are able to internalize potential externalities that may impede efforts to address climate change as a global phenomenon or simply distort allocations in the economy. For example, at the beginning of 2013, California became the first and only state to put a comprehensive mandatory carbon regulation in place in the form of a cap‐​and‐​trade system that applies universally to all industrial greenhouse gas emissions. Exploiting the introduction of the California cap‐​and‐​trade rule, we investigate the internal resource‐​allocation responses by firms and the real but unintended spillover effects of localized climate policies that arise from the importance of financial constraints. Our study analyzes the interplay between climate policy and firm behavior, and it informs policymakers regarding the effectiveness of climate regulation.
Topic:
Climate Change, Regulation, Economy, Business, and Carbon Emissions
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. Slippery Fish: Enforcing Regulation under Subversive Adaptation

Author:
Andres Gonzalez-Lira
Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Correcting market failures and improving economic efficiency often require curbing undesirable behaviors of market agents who act to maximize their private benefits. Examples include actions that affect ecosystems, such as deforestation, pollution, and overexploitation of natural resources; actions that affect community health, such as drunk driving and open defecation; or actions that undermine government performance, such as corruption and tax evasion. Enacting and enforcing regulations is the most direct strategy to deter such behaviors. Implementing this strategy requires strong institutions to enforce laws, plus sophisticated policing to track agents’ reactions to enforcement so that rules are robust enough to curb the undesirable behavior even when regulated agents try to game the new system.
Topic:
Environment, Government, Markets, Regulation, and Adaptation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9. The Welfare Effects of Time Reallocation: Evidence from Daylight Saving Time

Author:
Joan Costa-i-Font, Sarah Fleche, and Ricardo Pagan
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
More than 70 countries around the world currently observe daylight saving time (DST) to reduce energy demand. However, recent studies have shown that DST does not save energy and may actually increase electricity consumption. Furthermore, opponents of DST argue that even a one‐​hour time change can have long‐​term consequences for individuals. DST transition has been linked to increased risks of car accidents, heart attacks, and depressive symptoms in studies. According to our findings, the spring DST transition has a negative impact on individuals’ welfare, specifically a decrease in life satisfaction. Investigating a broad range of outcomes, we show that this decline in life satisfaction can be explained by a decrease in sleep following the transition and an increase in time pressure, which significantly affect individuals’ physical and emotional health in subsequent days.
Topic:
Economic Policy, Time, Well-Being, and Daylight Saving Time
Political Geography:
Global Focus

10. Jawboning against Speech: How Government Bullying Shapes the Rules of Social Media

Author:
Will Duffield
Publication Date:
09-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Over the past two decades, social media has drastically reduced the cost of speaking, allowing users the world over to publish with the push of a button. This amazing capability is limited by the fact that speakers do not own the platforms they increasingly rely on. If access to the platforms is withdrawn, speakers lose the reach that social media grants. In America, government censorship is limited by the First Amendment. Nevertheless, seizing upon the relationship between platforms and speakers, government officials increasingly demand that platforms refrain from publishing disfavored speech. They threaten platforms with punitive legislation, antitrust investigations, and prosecution. Government officials can use informal pressure — bullying, threatening, and cajoling — to sway the decisions of private platforms and limit the publication of disfavored speech. The use of this informal pressure, known as jawboning, is growing. Left unchecked, it threatens to become normalized as an extraconstitutional method of speech regulation. While courts have censured jawboning in other contexts, existing judicial remedies struggle to address social media jawboning. Amid the opacity and scale of social media moderation, government influence is difficult to detect or prevent. Ultimately, congressional rulemaking and the people’s selection of liberal, temperate officials remain the only reliable checks on this novel threat to free speech.
Topic:
Government, Regulation, Social Media, Censorship, and Free Speech
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

11. The Black Hole of National Security: Striking the Right Balance for the National Security Exception in International Trade

Author:
James Bacchus
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Article XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) reserves for members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) the legal authority to restrict trade in goods to protect members’ “essential” security interests. Similar exceptions to WTO trade obligations exist in other WTO agreements. For more than seven decades, WTO members exercised self‐​restraint in invoking these exceptions, doing so only for narrow purposes and in truly exceptional circumstances to avoid pushing the boundaries of the law too far and thereby upending the delicate balance between members’ legitimate pursuit of their security interests and their obligations to reduce barriers to trade. Yet, trade restrictions justified on national security grounds have proliferated in recent years and are increasingly subject to litigation in WTO dispute settlement. As a result, the national security provisions contained within the WTO agreements, as well as fundamental questions about the nexus between trade and national security, are set to be tested and clarified by WTO jurists—a less than ideal outcome that could lead to the further undermining of WTO dispute settlement and the rules‐​based international trading system more broadly. This paper explains the origins of the national security exceptions in the GATT and the WTO agreements and the history of their invocation, summarizes recent litigation that has clarified these exceptions, discusses current developments and upcoming litigation that could prove pivotal to our understanding of the trade‐​security nexus and the future of the world trading system, and offers some concluding thoughts on the options available to WTO members for striking a balance between trade liberalization and the defense of national security.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance, National Security, World Trade Organization, and Tariffs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

12. Practical Legislation to Support Cryptocurrency Innovation

Author:
Jack Solowey and Jennifer J. Schulp
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
In bull and bear cycles alike, cryptocurrencies have commanded the attention of markets and policymakers. The 117th Congress has introduced dozens of bills addressing the crypto ecosystem.1 In addition, multiple regulators have been outspoken about their readiness to be the “cop on the beat” when it comes to overseeing crypto markets.2 Nonetheless, key questions remain about how best to regulate the crypto ecosystem and the extent to which current laws and regulations apply. This briefing paper proposes a cryptocurrency regulatory framework with the goals of dispelling uncertainty, unencumbering entrepreneurship, and providing practical consumer protections.3 The framework recognizes the unique risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies, proposing a clear‐​cut test for whether crypto projects trigger securities laws and a common‐​sense registration and disclosure option for those that do.
Topic:
Entrepreneurship, Legislation, Innovation, and Cryptocurrencies
Political Geography:
Global Focus

13. Trade Is Good for Your Health

Author:
James Bacchus
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
There is increasing need to free up medical trade to help end the COVID-19 pandemic and secure global health. Yet import tariffs, export restrictions, and other limitations on international trade in medicines and medical goods continue to confound the hopes for fulfilling this need. Indeed, added restrictions have been imposed on medical trade during the pandemic. Meanwhile, governments have accomplished little at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to help meet this need. Using trade to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic and to otherwise support global health must move to the top of the WTO agenda, with the aim of finalizing new rules to support trading for health care goods by the time of the next WTO ministerial conference in Geneva in late November 2021 — and ideally, sooner.
Topic:
Health, Trade, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

14. Inequality beyond GDP: A Long View

Author:
Leandro Prados de la Escosura
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
In the past century and a half, substantial gains in wellbeing have been achieved across the board. This can be observed for the main dimensions of well‐​being: health, education, political voice, civil liberties, personal security, and material well‐​being. However, in the study of international well‐​being and its distribution, the focus remains on income. My research addresses multidimensional well‐​being and raises some questions. How have the gains from well‐​being dimensions been distributed? Do relative and absolute inequality move together? What drives relative inequality? Which parts of the distribution achieved larger gains over time in relative and absolute terms?
Topic:
GDP, Inequality, Economic Policy, and Well-Being
Political Geography:
Global Focus

15. Why U.S. Immigration Barriers Matter for the Global Advancement of Science

Author:
Ruchi Agarwal and Patrick Gaule
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
While talent can be born anywhere, few places specialize in nurturing it. Accordingly, talented individuals have pursued opportunities abroad for centuries. For instance, Aristotle moved from Northern Greece to Athens to attend Plato’s Academy and then to Macedonia to tutor a young Alexander the Great. More recently, the United States has emerged as a hub for foreign talent, playing an outsized role in the global knowledge network of scientific activity in recent decades. However, the recent introduction of restrictive immigration policies in the United States may adversely impact scientific activity. While studies have examined the potential negative impact of restrictive U.S. immigration policies on U.S. competitiveness in science and innovation, there has been less focus on understanding how U.S. immigration barriers may in turn impact scientific activity globally. In this context, our work studies the impact of U.S. immigration barriers on global knowledge production and examines which policy actions are more likely to help advance the global knowledge frontier.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Immigration, Border Control, and Research and Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

16. The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Disposable Bag Regulation

Author:
Tatiana Homonoff, Lee-Sien Kao, Javiera Selman, and Christina Seybolt
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Many recent government and corporate policies aimed at reducing a variety of negative externalities include regulations that ban the provision of externality‐​generating products. However, these policies often ban only a narrow subset of products associated with the underlying externality. For example, the U.S. Department of Justice banned bump stocks, which assist in rapid‐​fire shooting, after a Las Vegas mass shooting rather than placing stricter regulations on all assault weapons. Similarly, Starbucks recently banned the distribution of plastic straws at its stores to reduce environmental waste, and New York City attempted to pass a restaurant ban on sugar‐​sweetened beverages over 16 ounces to curb obesity.
Topic:
Environment, Government, Regulation, and Corporations
Political Geography:
Global Focus

17. The Economic Geography of Global Warming

Author:
José‐​Luis Cruz
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The world is getting warmer due to carbon emissions generated by the economic activity of humans. Global carbon emissions will affect temperatures everywhere over long periods of time and in geographically different ways. What will be the impact of carbon emissions, and the implied changes in temperatures, on the world economy and on the economies of particular regions? How will individuals react to these changes, and how are these reactions impacted by their ability to migrate, trade, or invest and develop alternative centers of economic activity? What are the best policies to combat global warming, and what are the implications of these policies for different regions across the world? We propose and quantify a novel model to address these questions.
Topic:
Climate Change, Migration, Economic Policy, Innovation, Trade, and Carbon Emissions
Political Geography:
Global Focus