#2006-048C "Red Ink in the Rearview Mirror: Local Fiscal Conditions and the Issuance of Traffic Tickets"
by Thomas A. Garrett, and Gary A. Wagner
August 2006
Revised July 2007

Municipalities have revenue motives for enforcing traffic laws in addition to public safety motives because many traffic offenses are punished via fines and the issuing municipality often retains the revenue. More...

FORTHCOMING: Journal of Law and Economics

#2005-061B "Regional Disparities in the Spatial Correlation of State Income Growth"
by Thomas A. Garrett, Gary A. Wagner, and David C. Wheelock
August 2005
Revised December 2005

This paper presents new evidence of spatial correlation in U.S. state income growth. We extend the basic spatial econometric model used in the growth literature by allowing spatial correlation in state income growth to vary across geographic regions. We find positive spatial correlation in income growth rates across neighboring states, but that the strength of this spatial correlation varies considerably by region. More...

PUBLISHED: Annals of Regional Science, September 2007, 41(3), pp. 601-18

#2003-044C "A Spatial Analysis of State Banking Regulation"
by Thomas A. Garrett, Gary A. Wagner, and David C. Wheelock
December 2003
Revised February 2005

We use a spatial model to investigate a state's choice of branch banking and interstate banking regimes as a function of the regime choices made by other states and other variables suggested in the literature. We extend the basic spatial econometric model by allowing spatial dependence to vary by geographic region. More...

PUBLISHED: Papers in Regional Science, November 2005, 84(4), pp. 575-95

#2003-035A "State Government Finances: World War II to the Current Crisis"
by Thomas A. Garrett, and Gary A. Wagner
November 2003

This article will explore the extent, causes, and proposed solutions of the current fiscal crisis from a historical perspective of state finance. Although the current fiscal crisis is severe, it becomes more difficult to assess unless one has a more complete understanding of the historical changes that have occurred in state revenue streams. More...

PUBLISHED: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, March/April 2004, 86(2), pp. 9-26