Michael A. Nelson

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Verified

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• Ph.D.
• Professor Emeritus at University of Akron

This study examines the impact of external obstacles, including utility disruptions and competitive pressures, on firms’ innovative activities. External obstacles can hamper innovation when innovation production is adversely impacted (supply side effect), while they can spur innovation when they create new demand (market) opportunities (demand side...

This paper adds to the literature on the determinants of health insurance by focusing especially on the spillovers from culture and fraud, along with a set of “standard” determinants. The social aspects of culture and fraud could potentially increase or decrease the propensities of individuals to purchase health insurance, and our empirical analysi...

This research compares drivers of full COVID-19 vaccinations and booster doses across US counties. Booster doses are contingent upon primary doses being received, and the risk attitudes and propensities to get vaccinated may respond to different motivations across individuals, along with distinctions in the supply chain. Our results, obtained in a...

Using data on a large sample of nations, this research studies the effects of campaign finance reforms on corruption, including bans on contributions by trade unions and corporations. The focus on campaign finance bans in presidential versus parliamentary democracies is a unique aspect. We find that, while bans on campaign donations to political pa...

This paper addresses the awareness of artificial intelligence across states in the United States. We uniquely create indices of Google internet search results for general AI awareness and about ChatGPT, normalizing alternatively by internet users and land area. An understanding of the awareness of AI would provide useful insights into regulatory at...

We study determinants of COVID-19 vaccine donations from recipients’ perspective, especially considering supply chain and institutional weakness (corruption) aspects. Results, based on data from more than 130 nations, show that strengthened supply chains reduced donations. The impacts of corruption and logistics performance likely persisted from pr...

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has challenged academic institutions to ensure ethical practices and reward/promote merit. Adding formal insights into the importance of maintaining academic integrity, this paper examines the association of anti‐plagiarism/anti‐cheating policies with resources that facilitate such behavior. Using unique i...

Objective This article considers the influence of female legislators on gun legislation across U.S. states. Females have behavioral differences with males and likely different exposure to gun‐related violence. Method Using data from 1991 to 2020, we estimate the drivers of gun legislation across U.S. states. The dependent variables are alternately...

Focusing on a relatively under‐researched aspect, this paper examines the impact of capacity utilization by firms on their propensities to engage in research and development (R&D). Capacity utilization is related to a firm's current operations, while R&D is forward‐looking, related to the generation of new products and processes. Using a simple the...

This paper examines the determinants of COVID-19 lockdown severity across nations. How significant were health, economic, political, institutional, and social factors in determining the severity of government responses to the pandemic? Using data on 162 nations from March 2020 to July 2022, results show that it was mainly controlling the spread of...

This paper studies the influence of different aspects of gender equality or female empowerment on income inequality. A key question addressed is: Are there positive spillovers from gender equality to income equality? Using data drawn from 162 nations over the years 1985–2019, results show that nations with a long history of women's suffrage, greate...

This paper uses firm-level data across about 30 nations to study the effect of the coronavirus on firms' closures, with attention to firms with female managers and female owners. We also consider the influences of firms' characteristics, the role of the government, economy-wide attributes, and industry type. The estimation uses a logit strategy, wi...

This paper studies the impact of research and development (R&D) and innovation on employment growth, focusing on small and medium-sized firms. Employment effects of R&D and process innovation are unclear a priori as process innovation may be labor-saving or labor might have complementarities with other inputs. Employing firm-level data from 125 nat...

Whereas the influence of political regimes across various dimensions of economic and political performances has been considered by many scholars, the political regime-entre-preneurship relation has received relatively less attention. This paper uses data on a large sample of nations over two decades to examine the impact of different political regi...

Adding to the research on the corruption and gender nexus, this paper contributes by several dimensions, including: (a) measurement of corruption across corruption perceptions and corruption experiences; (b) focusing on entrepreneurship level by studying whether female managers and female owners of firms perceived/experienced corruption differently...

Objective This paper studies the direct and indirect impacts of political regimes on corruption. Whereas the interplay of government is fundamental to corrupt acts, the present research sheds new light by showing the direct and indirect influences of dimensions of government structure on corruption. Methods We employ two different estimation techn...

This paper examines the impact of internet information on COVID-19 vaccination rates across U.S. states. Does greater information on the internet about COVID-19 vaccine access increase the number of vaccines administered? Does greater information about COVID-19 vaccine reliability facilitate vaccine administration? To gauge the COVID-19 related inf...

This paper adds some formal research to the success of ongoing efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic by examining the drivers of the administration and delivery efficiency of coronavirus vaccines. For this purpose, we use data from the 50 US states and place the formal analysis in the context of socio-economic drivers of vaccinations. Results sho...

The sanctioning of different coronavirus vaccines (with some approved by regulators for public delivery, and others in the pipeline) has met with relief by many sections of the public and the government. However, partly due to damages associated with the pandemic and the ensuing euphoria over vaccines’ arrival, some of the challenges are mostly bei...

Factors that drove the early timing and strictness of government responses to COVID-19 for over 150 countries are examined using the daily Coronavirus Government Response Tracker data provided by the University of Oxford. Results show that authoritarian regimes tended to have an initial policy response somewhat weaker relative to democratic regimes...

Using data on 135 countries, this paper studies the determinants of process innovation introduction, focusing on the impacts of economic and political uncertainties. Greater uncertainty, on the one hand, can lower potential benefits from innovation introductions, while on the other hand, the introduction of innovations might enable firms to hedge a...

Objective This article examines whether female managers and female owners of firms are better empowered in presidential or parliamentary democracies. Parliamentary democracies might be more responsive to the demands of special interest groups, while government decision making might be more streamlined in presidential democracies. Methods We use fi...

This paper adds to the literature on capacity utilization at the firm level by considering the influences of institutions. Specifically, we consider the threat of informal competition as a sign of weakness of internal institutions, and corruption as a signal of the weakness of external institutions. The extant literature has generally considered th...

Empirically adding to the structure-conduct-performance paradigm, this paper uses firm-level survey data across more than 100 countries to examine the influence of external certifications on the behavior or conduct of firms. We consider two dimensions of firms’ conduct – R&D (research and development) spending and licensing of foreign technologies...

The paper provides insights into drivers of foreign technology licensing from the licensee's perspective, using data across 114 nations. Technology licensing enables licensees to access proven technologies without development delays, although licensors might deny licenses for strategic reasons. Results show that firms with own R&D are more likely t...

This paper uses firm-level survey for more than 100 countries to examine whether firms’ female managers or female owners were better at bringing innovations to the market than males. In contrast to most of the literature that focuses on the performance of female managers/owners, this paper addresses conduct with regard to innovation. Results show t...

This paper examines determinants of process innovation introductions across 115 (mostly) developing countries. Empirical research on process innovations lags behind product innovations. Accounting for firm characteristics, R&D, regulations and taxes, and corruption, results show that sole proprietors and R&D‐performing firms were more likely to int...

This study of the effect of decentralization on government performance differs from the vast literature on the topic in three major ways. First, we compare the effects of four different forms of decentralization, namely, fiscal decentralization, administrative decentralization, federalism, and aggregate decentralization. Second, we study the effect...

Despite the substantial body of research studying the determinants of the shadow economy in the past few decades, consensus on a set of consistent drivers of the underground sector has failed to emerge. This paper aims to synthesize the literature by identifying robust determinants of the shadow economy and addressing related modeling uncertainty....

This study extends the existing literature on the role of economic freedom on entrepreneurship by employing the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI). Unlike other indices/measures of entrepreneurship, the GEDI takes into account both individual and institutional factors that influences entrepreneurial performance within a country. U...

This paper uses survey data on cross-national corruption to examine determinants of corruption. The key contribution is in examining differences in corruption across various government occupations: (i) (general) government officials; (ii) customs officers; and (iii) police officers. We find significant differences in corruption across these occupat...

This research creates a unique internet-based measure of awareness about state-level whistleblower laws and provisions to examine their effects on observed corruption in the United States. Are whistleblower laws complementary or substitutes for other, more direct, corruption control measures? Placing the analysis within the corruption literature, t...

Whistleblower laws are becoming important governance tools in both the public and private sectors. To examine the effectiveness of whistleblower laws and their awareness, this study creates a unique Internet-based measure of awareness about whistleblower laws and provisions, focusing on the United States. Placing the analysis within the larger corr...

This article uses pooled data over the period 2004–2007 on about 100 nations to examine the impact of the shadow economy on the piracy of computer software. Results support the main hypothesis that a larger shadow economy leads to higher rates of software piracy. This claim is supported by various robustness checks. A 10% increase in the shadow sec...

Using state-level U.S. data over 1956–2008 this paper examines the demand for cigarettes. The long data span enables us to compare and evaluate the effectiveness of various policies and to examine cigarette demand across individual states. Our results show cigarette demand to be price inelastic, smoking-habit effects to be strong, income effects to...

We apply a standard specification of the causes of corruption to a large sample of countries to investigate the effect of internet awareness about corruption on prevalence and perceptions of corruption. The main hypothesis is that greater corruption awareness acts as a corruption deterrent. A unique data set of internet searches on Google and Yahoo...

Using state level U.S. data from 1994-2009, this research examines the impact of the Internet on cigarette demand and discusses resulting implications for tax policy. Results show that the Internet increases the demand price elasticity of cigarettes, which limits the ability of governments to generate additional tax revenues through cigarette tax i...

This research examines the influence of government decentralization on corruption in the United States. Previous research has focused primarily on fiscal decentralization. We address whether the structure of local governments—measured in terms of the scope of services offered and the population served—has a bearing on corruption. Results show that...

This research adds to the literature on the nexus between government and corruption by examining further the influence of government decentralization on corruption. Previous research has focused primarily on fiscal decentralization. We bring additional evidence to bear for the United States by addressing whether the structure of local governments –...

Numerous sources calling for more accountability in higher education are putting increased pressure on many economics departments to develop assessment plans. This paper discusses a set of principles for programmatic assessment gleaned from the assessment literature, while highlighting one US economic department's journey to develop an assessment o...

This paper determines the various influences on software piracy using a large sample of countries. In particular, our cross-sectional study estimates the effects of economic, institutional and technical factors on the piracy of software. A more comprehensive look at potential determinants of software piracy, including economic and non-economic fact...

Economics departments are faced with growing demands to document what their graduates have learned upon completion of the undergraduate major. The results of a national survey of economics department chairs in the U.S. reveal that nearly two-thirds of the departments have a formal assessment plan. There is substantial agreement on the most importan...

This paper contributes to the literature by examining whether conclusions from empirical models of corruption determinants are robust with respect to three alternative measures of corrupt activity for the US states. Are the determinants of US corruption sensitive to the choice of the measure of corruption? Overall, the answer to this question is th...

This paper adds to the extant literature by using cross-country data for about 100 nations to examine the role of historical factors, geographic influences and the government on corruption. Important innovations include considering a wide set of historical, geographical and government determinants of corruption and examining some of the previously...

Increased pressure from numerous sources for more accountability in higher education has caused many economics departments to develop assessment plans. This paper discusses a set of principles for programmatic assessment gleaned from the professional assessment literature, demonstrates one department's journey to develop an assessment of student le...

This book brings together the findings of economists on the effectiveness of price and non-price policy initiatives to combat smoking and draws conclusions regarding the efficacy of the various policy measures. The book will be essential reading for policy makers, health practitioners and researchers in health economics. © Rajeev K. Goel and Michae...

The Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) of 1998 between U.S. states and tobacco companies was a significant development in tobacco tax policy both in its scope and magnitude. However, formal investigations of the impacts of this deal are relatively scarce. Using a panel state-level data, this paper examines the impact of the MSA on cigarette tax poli...

This paper adds to the literature by shedding new light on the causes of corruption. Specifically, we provide evidence on the extent to which corruption might be contagious. In other words, what is the extent to which a demonstration effect is at play at inducing corrupt acts? Using state-level U.S. data over the 1995–2004 period, the results show...

Increased pressure from institutional accrediting agencies has required economic departments to develop program assessment plans. Episodic program reviews that focus on departmental inputs are no longer acceptable in an environment that stresses student outcomes and continuous improvement processes. Yet there is little specific guidance on how to c...

The proposition that a decentralized structure of local governments can effectively constrain public sector growth is empirically investigated. Data on Swedish municipal sector size for the 1942–87 period are analyzed within the context of a median voter model. The results indicate that decentralization, measured by the number of units of local gov...

The econometric evidence that has been brought to bear on the question of how state and local taxes affect the location decision of firms among competing states or regions is surprisingly sparse and often contradictory. In this research the question is addressed from a different empirical perspective than has been considered heretofore. Using a poo...

Noting the phenomenal growth of the Internet during the last few years, the spectacular nature of the information technology revolution represented by it, and lack of direct studies of demand for Internet services, this paper makes a beginning toward providing price- and income-elasticity estimates by using a simple model and cross-country OECD dat...

As a number of new nations emerged in the early nineties, there has been a spurt in regulatory initiatives in transition countries toward nation building and socio-economic reforms. A key prerequisite to policy changes is an understanding of the related patterns and policies. This paper provides an overview of the smoking trends in transition nati...

This survey focuses on government efforts to curb the use of undesirable goods, notably tobacco products. We synthesize the economics literature and examine the effectiveness of government curbs on tobacco consumption through non-price controls "such as bans on cigarette advertising, health warnings, and workplace smoking bans" and price measures "...

Using a well-known index of corruption, this paper examines the determinants of corruption for a large sample of countries. Specifically, the present study brings empirical evidence to bear on the question of whether economic freedom or political freedom serves as a deterrent to corrupt activity. In particular, does greater economic freedom or grea...

Using state-level data for 1997, this paper studies the effectiveness of tobacco policies at reducing tobacco use across different population groups in the USA. The effectiveness of tax (price)-based and non-price tobacco policies are examined on tobacco prevalence (including cigarettes and smokeless tobacco) across gender and age. Besides shedding...

This paper provides a recent look at global smoking trends across population subgroups for a large sample of countries. Attention to international aspects has been scarce in the literature. The prevalence of various smoking control policies across different country groups is discussed. The level of economic development in a country and the demograp...

This article develops a theoretical model and employs recent state-level data on highway finance to assess the consequences of using highway levies for non-highway purposes. It examines whether states that divert some of their highway-related levies to fund general government services spend systematically less on highway services than jurisdictions...

In this paper the excise tax policy of U.S. state governments is analyzed with special attention to how this policy is influenced by the level of excise taxation in neighboring states, "border-tax effects," and the relative size of the market located across state boundaries. Using a panel data set, state policies towards the taxation of cigarettes,...

This article contributes to the empirical literature on the political economy of tax policy through the use of a panel data set on statutory rate changes and new tax adoptions by state governments during the postwar period. A principal finding is that there is little evidence in support of recent models of political policy cycles that emphasize the...

This paper examines the political and economic underpinnings of gasoline tax policy. The theoretical model extends the earlier work of Hettich and Winer (1988) to flush out the effect of a change in the pre-tax price of a taxable activity on the politically optimal tax rate. Using a large cross-sectional sample of U.S. states over 1960-94, the empi...

The debate as to whether political democracy, the political and civil liberties that citizens enjoy, contribute to economic growth in developing countries continues to be evasive. Several studes in the past 2 decades have brought some empirical evidence to bear on the democracy-growth link. However, these studies have been rather disparate in terms...

Using annual state-level data over 1983-87, this paper examines the effect of government size on corruption by public officials by including both demand and supply side incentives for engaging in corrupt practices. The authors' objectives are twofold. First, they assess the relationship between the incidence of corruption and overall measures of th...

Municipal governments are less likely to contract out for service delivery if citizen preferences for the service are heterogeneous. This conclusion is based on an analysis that extends to the public sector the empirical industrial organization literature on transaction costs and the 'make or buy' decision faced by private firms. Service delivery p...

The effectiveness of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is assessed by estimating a production function for the years 1955-90. We provide estimates of the contribution of various factor inputs to output, including labor and capital at both the field and national office level. Output is measured by the value of additional individual income taxes and...

In this study we provide empirical evidence on the effect of budget deficits on gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates, using the most recent cross-sectional data from a group of 70 developing countries. Based on the relevant theoretical and empirical literature, a growth model is formulated and estimated using data from two time periods, 1970-7...

The conventional wisdom about the optimal organization or structure of local governments has undergone a dramatic change in the last 20 yr. For a period after World War II, a movement existed in the US and in many European countries that called for the consolidation of existing units of local governments into larger, general-purpose, jurisdictions....

"A model of private local labor demand and interjurisdictional migration is presented and estimated using data from Swedish counties and municipalities for 1979-84. Our goal is to compare the effects on local labor markets of distinctive public-sector programs with those of traditional market variables. We find that local income taxes and tax-equal...

This paper has investigated the ability of an extreme and relatively simple model of political behavior to explain the level of revenues generated by state and local governments. In general, the behavior of these governments appears to be at least consistent with many of the fiscal outcomes predicted by the Leviathan theory. Several, although not a...