The Working Paper series publishes original research related to IREF’s mission.
Every article also provides a non-technical Executive Summary.
WP 2017-05. Discussions on the optimal level of government intervention in the economy have become very intense in recent years, especially following the 2008 financial and economic crisis. The hardships…
WP 2017-04. In many countries around the world, lottery services are provided by government-owned firms that are equipped with (regional) monopoly privileges. The official argument for lottery monopolies by state-owned…
WP 2017-03. Property rights play a crucial role in economics: They define the very essence of this discipline, which studies how individuals exchange in order to enhance their welfare, subject…
WP 2017-02. The prevailing opinion among national governments and supranational institutions is that climate change science is settled and drastic cuts in the emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases…
WP 2017-01. Since the financial crisis, government debt ratios have increased in many countries. Most studies indicate that there is a negative association between high medium- and long-term debt ratios…
WP 2016-04. The key requirement for economic prosperity is the rule of law. In turn, a critical component of the rule of law is an effective judicial system, which is…
WP 2016-03. The paper has now been published and can be accessed here. After the end of communism, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe shared very similar challenges. Despite…
WP 2016-02. Most of the literature on rent-seeking and the size of government expenditure has focused on the mechanisms through which policy-makers gather the necessary majorities to justify and expand…
WP 2016-01. The traditional literature on tax evasion frames taxpayers’ choices in terms of rather basic cost-benefit analyses involving the expected monetary return to tax evasion. Briefly put, individuals take…
WP 2015-03. Executive Summary During the past five years, emerging markets have experienced a significant rise in the credit to the private sector. In the countries that have recently joined…
