No abstract

Barriers to entry such as fees, licensing, or educational requirements make it more difficult to start businesses. Problematically, many barriers to entry are due to regulatory capture and serve only to benefit incumbent firms. These regulations, which are created by government, often make it exceedingly difficult for low-income individuals to start new businesses, denying individuals access to higher-paying occupations. I estimate two models and find that barriers to entry increase income inequality. A one-point decrease in the World Bank's ease of starting a business score equates to a 0.15-1.25-point increase in the Gini coefficient.

Differences in managerial expertise and political incentives associated with local government form may affect local government spending levels as well as the allocation of resources. This paper explores the latter possibility by estimating how the distribution of resources in councilmanager and mayor-council municipalities responds to a positive fiscal shock resulting from the abolition of a municipality's court. We find that court abolition has a distinct effect on the allocation of resources in councilmanager and mayor-council governments. As expected, mayor-council municipalities allocate the marginal dollar to policing. However, council-manager municipalities react to court closure by reducing police expenditures over the long-term.

Arizonans have elected to increase the minimum wage twice since 2006 via ballot measures while lawmakers doubt that increasing the minimum wage positively affects workers. Past studies have had conflicting results about the effects of changes in the minimum wage on various indicators of economic health. We utilize a quasi-experimental time-series study analyzing the impact a change in minimum wage has on per capita income specifically within the state of Arizona. The experiment reviews data from 1976 to 2017 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the St. Louis Federal Reserve. We conclude that a 1 percent increase in the minimum wage will on average produce a 1.13 percent increase in per capita income in Arizona. Although this study used data specific to Arizona, we believe that there could be a strong case for external validity based on the findings of past studies done in this research area. This conclusion could have large implications concerning the use of minimum wage as an anti-poverty and economic growth policy tool.los arizonianos han optado por aumentar el salario mínimo dos veces desde 2006 a través de medidas de votación, mientras que los legisladores dudan de que el aumento del salario mínimo afecte positivamente a los trabajadores. Estudios anteriores han obtenido resultados contradictorios sobre los efectos de los cambios en el salario mínimo en varios indicadores de salud económica. Utilizamos un estudio de series de tiempo cuasi experimentales que analizan el impacto que un cambio en el salario mínimo tiene en el ingreso per cápita específicamente dentro del estado de Arizona. El experimento revisa datos de 1976 a 2017 de la Oficina de Estadísticas Laborales (BLS) y la Reserva Federal de St. Louis. Concluimos que un aumento del 1% en el salario mínimo producirá en promedio un aumento del 1.13% en el ingreso per cápita en 156 Arizona. Aunque este estudio utilizó datos específicos de Arizona, creemos que podría haber un caso sólido para la validez externa basado en los hallazgos de estudios anteriores realizados en esta área de investigación. Esta conclusión podría tener grandes implicaciones con respecto al uso del salario mínimo como una herramienta de política de lucha contra la pobreza y el crecimiento económico.PALABRAS CLAVES: salario mínimo, ingresos per capita, Arizona