Publication Type: Proceeding
Abstract: Big governments lead to lower levels of short-term economic growth. But is the size of this negative effect the same in different nations? I argue that big government matters less for growth in small countries than it does in large ones, because large countries are more dependent on domestic sources of production and consumption for their economic growth than are small countries. I find support for this argument in a panel study of 23 industrialized nations. I also find support for a subsidiary hypothesis linking big government in the US and/or Japan with low levels of growth across the industrialized world, but especially among small open economies.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper shows, theoretically and empirically, that the size of a country?s economy conditions the extent to which government spending affects growth. The negative effect of increased government size on growth is stronger as country size rises.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: I investigate whether Florida's public school districts enjoy economies of size - as the school districts increase in size, does student success rise? I build upon literature of two fields of social science concerning organizational size.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Previous macro level research on the labor market / crime nexus suggests that the loss of manufacturing jobs in urban areas during the 1970s and 1980s exacerbated lethal violence by fostering concentrated disadvantage and eroding informal social control (Shihadeh and Ousey 1998; Ousey 2000). However, research in the rural milieu indicates that manufacturing firm size (i.e. number of employees) in conjunction with the number of firms plays an integral role in the attenuation of crime rates. Specifically, in rural areas, small manufacturing firms reduce both violent and property crime by increasing social cohesion and reducing the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage (Lyson and Yolbert 1996; Tolbert, Lyson, and Irwin 1998; Lee and Ousey 2001). Conversely, large manufacturing firms in rural areas have the opposite effect and actually exacerbate crime (Lee and Ousey 2001). The current research bridges these previous findings by exploring the effects of manufacturing firm size in the urban milieu. The results of our city-level analysis around the year 2000 suggest that large manufacturing firms reduce violent crime whereas small firms have no effect. However, our race specific analyses suggest that both small and large manufacturing firms reduce black violence but have no effect on white violence.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Churches are important institutions of American civil society, and they create a social group environment that greatly influences the manner in which individuals associate themselves with the political world. Research linking church membership to the acquisition of civic skills shows that the two are indeed related, as church membership tends to augment civic participation levels amongst church members. In light of previous research indicating various characteristics relating the effects of group environments on the way in which churches are able to promote their members’ civic participation, we investigate whether one understudied church characteristic, congregational size, influences religious organizations’ effects on civic skill development. To do so, we empirically examine through a series of models whether the size of one’s congregation mediates the relationship between individual civic skills acquisition and subsequent political participation. The results indicate that size does impact civic skill acquisition and political participation, particularly through affecting churches’ abilities to provide their members opportunities to participate in small groups that offer them the chance to develop and hone civic skills.