Research

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) through this ANPRM is pursuing a topic of immense importance to the American public and economy.

We examine how Section 230 allows platforms to moderate content concerning health misinformation, hate speech, and child abuse materials.

At the core of debates around content moderation online is a tension between assuming users’ good faith while also combating users’ bad faith contributions.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act governs the liability for online crimes among content creators, platforms, and services.

Many proposals classify and regulate social media companies as “common carriers”. These laws may not be good for the media marketplace.

When private land is designated as critical habitat for an endangered species, does that change the value of the land?

This policy paper examines conservation projects using crowdsourcing to determine if it is a useful tool for advancing conservation efforts.

In this poll (administered by YouGov), we continue to unpack how Americans view today’s major tech platforms, free speech, and more.

What are targeted cash assistance programs and what are their effects? CGO Visiting Scholar Max Ghenis discusses in this research in focus.

In this chapter, economist James Prieger examines the risks and relative benefits of vaping compared to smoke tobacco.

Adam C. Smith and Stephan F. Gohmann provide avenues for states to improve beer regulations to encourage the growth of the industry.

Doctors DeAngelis and Burke review the effects of school choice programs that give families wider options to move between schools.

Net neutrality, like other policies, sounds uncontroversial yet refers to a specific and highly contentious policy.

Michael Giberson and Lynne Kiesling compare how Texas’s electricity market provides much more diversity of choice than other states.

In this chapter, Jerry Ellig shows how improvements in technology have made monopolies for electric service obsolete.

Environmental policy scholars challenge the choice between protection through strict regulation or a free-for-all causing degradation.

Regulation is often justified by the existence of market failures in which market systems fail to maximize overall welfare.

Cities and states adopt energy standards into building codes to reduce energy consumption and prevent environmental damages.

Every city in the US has implemented regulations limiting the amount of housing that can be built and raising the cost of construction.

Research on Certificate of Need laws shows that they have largely failed to improve access to healthcare services.

Licensing may increase the wage gap by making it more difficult for workers to move between locations or to join licensed fields.

Occupational licensing laws establish mandatory minimum entry requirements that must be met for aspiring professionals to begin working.

Debates about regulation often claim that regulation takes away jobs and reduces wages. Yet, regulation can create jobs and increase wages.

Individuals often respond to regulation by hiding economic activity to avoid the rules or paying taxes, known as “shadow economies”.

Regulation often sets up rules governing interactions between individuals and businesses and may become a substitute for social trust.

In this chapter, economist Steven Horwitz and entrepreneur Magatte Wade discuss that great enrichment and policies that slow it down.

Regulations shape incentives for entrepreneurs. Growth-oriented policies help to promote entrepreneurship, rather than putting up barriers.

Understanding regulations is challenging. This book discusses regulations on: alcohol, education, electricity, labor, zoning, and more.

To suggest that regulation is the cause of all societal problems would be irresponsible, yet our regulatory policies do impose real costs.

This paper analyses key trends of the impact of peer-to-peer markets and how to regulate these industries to create the best results for consumers.