Over the last two decades, there have been significant changes to the patent laws, both within the United States and internationally. This dissertation examines and evaluates the economic consequences of some of these changes. In the first chapter, the dissertation uses microeconomic modeling to evaluate the shift from rarely valid, but if valid, broadly enforced patents to routinely valid, but narrowly enforced patents. Modeling patents as a system of uniform protection, the analysis suggests that the switch will limit the patent system's ability to provide sufficient protection to ensure the expected profitability of socially valuable, but expensive innovations The second chapter uses data from the forty-eight continental United States and macroeconomic growth models to test empirically whether a state's own patenting contributes to economic growth and whether it contributed to the growth of other states. The regression results obtained reveal that patenting by one state provides an economic and statistically significant contribution to that state's economic growth and to the economic growth of other states in the same geographic region, but not to states outside the same geographic region The third chapter uses event study analysis to examine stock price reactions to appellate patent decisions. Although not conclusive, the results obtained tend to confirm the theoretical prediction of disproportionate stakes as between patent plaintiffs and patent defendants. The results obtained also suggest a preference for jury decision-making over judge decision-making for both patent plaintiffs and patent defendants / acase@tulane.edu

In this dissertation, I estimate the effect of medical malpractice on health care delivery in the United States. In particular, I focus on the effect of medical malpractice on physician behavior and health outcomes of the patients. The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) has been combined with the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS). Malpractice claims frequency and severity are used as measures of medical malpractice risk in each state While estimating defensive medicine in obstetrics, physician behavior is modeled as a fixed effects logit. Results suggest that a higher degree of malpractice risk increases the probability of C-section delivery. Overall, there is no evidence of defensive medicine. In fact, marginal benefit of additional resource use is higher than its marginal cost While analyzing the effect of medical malpractice on physician behavior and health outcomes for AMI patients, I find that an increase in medical malpractice risk leads to a reduction in resource use and improvement in health outcome for patients with less severe medical conditions. For patients with more severe medical conditions, medical malpractice is associated with a reduction in health expenditure and no increase in mortality. Therefore, I find no evidence of defensive medicine for AMI patients While analyzing the effect of medical malpractice risk on health outcomes for patients suffering from for five common medical conditions, I find that an increase in claims frequency improves mortality for patients suffering from stroke, hip fracture, pneumonia, or CHF. Medical malpractice does not affect mortality for patients suffering from GI hemorrhage. Severity of medical condition of the patient is an important factor in determining the effect of medical malpractice on health outcomes The policy implications are that medical malpractice serves its purpose as a deterrent to less than optimal care. Overall, we find that medical malpractice improves health outcomes for a majority of medical conditions. Reducing medical malpractice risk may reduce this benefit. This means that reforms aimed at reducing medical malpractice risk faced by physicians and hospitals could lead to a decline in the quality of care provided / acase@tulane.edu

This dissertation consists of three separate but related essays that examine particular issues relating to insurance markets. The first essay, found public hospital presence and its associated charity care to have a significant impact upon the insurance choices of workers. Independent of income level, access to a public hospital system increases the probability that a worker is uninsured. The magnitude of the effect does depend upon income, with a ten percentage point increase in percent public beds causing a 5.0 point increase in the uninsured amongst the poor while the same change actually decreases the uninsured by 0.1 points for the wealthiest workers. The same change in public hospital presence drives decreases in the supply of employer sponsored insurance ranging from 4.2 percentage points for the poor to 0.1 percentage points for the wealthiest workers. This study was unable to establish whether this decrease in the supply of ESI reflects a lower demand for employer sponsored plans or partially causes the higher uninsured rate by reducing access to group plans The second essay found workers' risk tolerances to have a significant impact upon their insurance choice decision. Risk characteristics affected both the worker's risk aversion and expectations of medical loss. The characteristics identified by a drunk driving indicator had significant effects upon risk aversion as income increased, and the characteristics identified by childhood smoking implied a lower demand for insurance at all income levels. The two risk indicators exhibited little overlap in their influences, and jointly they accounted for 16.6% of the total uninsured in the model The third essay examined the impact of managed care presence and its contracting with hospitals on community level hospital expenditures. For 1991--1997, managed care presence produced significantly lower total market hospital expenditures when measured as expenses per bed and expenses per adjusted admission. Supplemental models traced the sources of the expenditure savings through the local hospital systems with most savings being attributed to reduced staffing levels per bed and reduced prevalence of new medical technologies / acase@tulane.edu

The influence of taxes, expenditures and economic development policies upon the rate of growth in the tax base, as measured by both total state personal income and population, was examined for the 48 contiguous states from 1974 through 1991. This was done to establish whether a mobility model operates between states, in which taxpayers vote with their feet. Additional variables were added to the equation to test the influence of competing explanations upon the rate of growth in state economies. / The results suggest taxpayers do respond to differences in taxes and expenditures between states. The overall level of state and local taxes has a significant negative influence on the rate of growth in both state income and population. The findings suggest that capital, rather than the individual utility maximizing taxpayer, is the taxpayers whose incentives are critical to explaining differences in the rate of state economic growth. The results also suggest that economic development subsidies to attract new capital have a significant positive effect on the rate of growth in state income. The results also cast serious doubts on the competing concept of convergence. This study found that when one controls for state taxes, expenditures and economic development policies, a highly significant positive relationship emerges between per capita income and growth in state income. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-03, Section: A, page: 1121. / Major Professor: Richard Feiock. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995. / The influence of taxes, expenditures and economic development policies upon the rate of growth in the tax base, as measured by both total state personal income and population, was examined for the 48 contiguous states from 1974 through 1991. This was done to establish whether a mobility model operates between states, in which taxpayers vote with their feet. Additional variables were added to the equation to test the influence of competing explanations upon the rate of growth in state economies. / The results suggest taxpayers do respond to differences in taxes and expenditures between states. The overall level of state and local taxes has a significant negative influence on the rate of growth in both state income and population. The findings suggest that capital, rather than the individual utility maximizing taxpayer, is the taxpayers whose incentives are critical to explaining differences in the rate of state economic growth. The results also suggest that economic development subsidies to attract new capital have a significant positive effect on the rate of growth in state income. The results also cast serious doubts on the competing concept of convergence. This study found that when one controls for state taxes, expenditures and economic development policies, a highly significant positive relationship emerges between per capita income and growth in state income.

The successful transformation of the East Asian countries--Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan--from traditional entrepot economies to major industrial capitalist states has been acclaimed as one of the outstanding economic miracles in the history of the modern world. These countries were all once poor, sharing the serious problems of a densely populated area and a scarcity of natural resources. Their transformation into formidable manufacturers in only two decades was not accidental. / The main purpose of this study, utilizing systems analysis as its methodological approach, was to conduct a qualitative, conceptual systems research study to analyze the dynamic interaction and interdependencies of the five components--capital, education, politics, entrepreneurship, and technology--most influential in the countries' national development. A qualitative, heuristic model (called CEPET--an acronym for capital, educational, politics, entrepreneurship, and technology) was introduced to allow a conceptual understanding of the major linkages and to identify the existence of relationships among the components. / The results of the study indicate that the rapid economic growth and performance in the countries under study were achieved as a consequence of capital, education, politics, entrepreneurial ability and technological know-how interacting with the environment and with one another as a dynamic system to accomplish predetermined national goals and objectives. The fast recovery and high growth of the East Asian economies is not attributable to any single component or other external factor impacting the major components. Rather, the success of these countries is reflected in the dynamic interactions and interdependencies of all five major conponents and other external forces which influence them. / Regarding the applicability of the CEPET model to the economic growth problems of other developing countries, it is concluded that each country must work out its own strategy based on its own particular requirements and environmental conditions. Thus, there can be no universal applicability of a model in the process of national development. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-01, Section: A, page: 0033. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

This dissertation presents a study of the nature of the formation of expectations for, and empirical patterns of, the Deutsche Mark/dollar and Yen/dollar exchange rates for the time period of July 1976 to June 1986. A discussion of the interdependent characteristics of monetary policy formation and institutional aspects of the central banks of the United States, West Germany, and Japan follows, with the purpose of characterizing policy interaction effects on formation of expectations in the 1976-1980 and 1980-85 subperiods--prior to, and after, the inception of significant changes in monetary policies in each of the three countries. / The statistical studies produce conflicting results, but the strongest indication is for behavior of exchange rate levels consistent with rational expectation theories of market efficiency for each of the two subperiods, but not for the full period. In particular, there is indication of serial correlation in the residuals for the full period tests. Variance ratio tests for trend reversion suggest persistence of returns which increase by a degree less than proportional to the increase in length of lag period, suggesting reversion to a central value. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-05, Section: A, page: 1836. / Major Professor: George Macesich. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

This dissertation examines the high school dropout problem in Florida using 1980 Census data. The principal advantage of working with Census data is that a microeconomic approach to the dropout question is facilitated by the large number of observations available in the five percent sample. This technique overcomes many of the disadvantages associated with alternative aggregate models. There are three key elements which play a role in the student's dropout calculus: (a) background variables, (b) schooling inputs, and (c) opportunity cost considerations. / U.S. Census data was analyzed using a series of logistic regressions. The results indicated that parental education, the marital status of the parent, marriage before graduation, and early child bearing are the primary determinants of the dropout rate. These findings are consistent with the supporting literature. The data also indicate that minorities are less likely to drop out than their Caucasian counterparts, ceteris paribus. Also significant within the minority community are the adolescent's ability to speak English and living in a household engaged in migrant work. / The results pertaining to schooling inputs and opportunity cost were less harmonious than the results for the background variables. Expenditures per pupil and the student-teacher ratio are the only schooling variables which are consistently significant. The opportunity cost variables are best understood by viewing males and females separately. For males, a farming background and a lower local unemployment rate tend to increase the dropout rate. For females, an increase in the availability of jobs suitable to teens tends to increase the dropout rate. / The Florida dropout model was tested on five additional states (Georgia, Arizona, Louisiana, Connecticut, and Minnesota) and explains 62% of the variation in the dropout rates of these states. The model predicts best for females who live in states with high dropout rates. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-05, Section: A, page: 1832. / Major Professor: James D. Gwartney. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

The influence of taxes, expenditures and economic development policies upon the rate of growth in the tax base, as measured by both total state personal income and population, was examined for the 48 contiguous states from 1974 through 1991. This was done to establish whether a mobility model operates between states, in which taxpayers vote with their feet. Additional variables were added to the equation to test the influence of competing explanations upon the rate of growth in state economies. / The results suggest taxpayers do respond to differences in taxes and expenditures between states. The overall level of state and local taxes has a significant negative influence on the rate of growth in both state income and population. The findings suggest that capital, rather than the individual utility maximizing taxpayer, is the taxpayers whose incentives are critical to explaining differences in the rate of state economic growth. The results also suggest that economic development subsidies to attract new capital have a significant positive effect on the rate of growth in state income. The results also cast serious doubts on the competing concept of convergence. This study found that when one controls for state taxes, expenditures and economic development policies, a highly significant positive relationship emerges between per capita income and growth in state income. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-03, Section: A, page: 1121. / Major Professor: Richard Feiock. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

This study is an attempt to test the hypothesis that outward orientation is favorable for income distribution in labor abundant country. The hypothesis is examined by using data from a cross-section of 34 developing countries. A positive relationship is found between outward orientation and income distribution. The share of lower income classes tends to increase with increased degree of openness, while the share of higher income classes tend to decrease with it. Income inequality drops when countries shift their trade strategy from an inward-oriented to an outward-oriented one. This equalizing effect of outward orientation is statistically significant. In addition to trade policy variable, this study also examines how income per capita, investment ratio, and educational variables influence income distribution. The relationship between income per capita and inequality is found to give weak support to Kuznets' inverted U relationship. Higher investment ratio is found to be favorable for higher income classes. An increase in the secondary education enrollment ratio is positively associated with lower income inequality, while mean years of schooling is positively associated with higher income inequality. / Indonesia is one of many developing countries which experienced a shift in trade policy from an inward-oriented strategy to an outward oriented strategy. Income inequality is observed to decline after the shift in trade policy. Export expansion as a proxy for the degree of outward orientation is positively associated with equality. The positive association between export expansion and equality tends to be stronger in the period after the shift in trade orientation. The effect of non-oil export expansion on equality is greater and stronger than the effect of total export expansion. The effect of export expansion on inequality in labor income distribution is greater and stronger than the effect of export expansion on inequality in expenditure distribution. The labor force participation rate and secondary school enrollment ratio have a positive association with equality. There is no significant relationship between income per capita and inequality found in the Indonesia data. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-04, Section: A, page: 1452. / Major Professor: James H. Cobbe. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The subject of the investigation is the controversial figure of the legislator. The dissertation concerns two defining directions of political modernity: the project of autonomy and the emergence of economic freedom; and identifies the effects of their collision on the philosophical destiny of one of the most interesting figures of Western culture: the legislator. Profoundly influenced by the Greek political imagery, Rousseau's oeuvre represents one of the most interesting modern interpretations of the ancient model of political autonomy. Even if Rousseau identifies the community as the alpha and omega of the law-making process, he still postulates the existence of an exceptional mind (the legislator) capable of both molding the social consciousness and correcting the excess of the collective hubris. An advocate of political autonomy expressed through political will and decision, the French thinker and his social model will encounter a fierce opposition from the economists gathered under the banner of economic liberalism (laissez-faire ideology). Believing in a "natural/providential order" which reveals itself through the natural laws of economy, the social philosophers of the economic school criticized Rousseau's social design and proposed a fresh perspective in which the legislator's prestige and authority would significantly diminish. From Rousseau to Molinari through the physiocrates (Quesnay, Baudeau, Lemercier de la Riviere), the Jacobins and the economists of the nineteenth century (Dunoyer, Bastiat, Molinari) this thesis seeks to map the legislator's rise and decline in eighteenth and nineteenth century France.