Economists have generally assumed that to the extent possible, retirement savings should be done in a tax-deferred account. However, the advent of Roth-style tax-favored accounts and concerns about the tax implications of ...

This dissertation consists of three empirical studies, each using a measure of pre-market skills to examine an aspect of wage inequality in the U.S. labor market. Chapter One analyzes the factors associated with the change ...

I investigate whether voters judge the performance of their governor on taxes by comparing him to governors from neighboring states. If voters do make these comparisons, it creates "yardstick competition," where governors ...