Graduation Year
Spring 2014
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Economics
Reader 1
Cameron Shelton
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2014 Nathan Reed Falk
Abstract
For almost 40 years, scholars have sought to determine how elections affect the economy. Recently, certain studies have focused on the effect of political uncertainty on the economy. This paper focuses specifically on the effect of political uncertainty on business investment. We use 30 years of data from the U.S. states to show that policy uncertainty leads to significant declines in business fixed investment, sometimes referred to as “irreversible investment.” Moreover, we find that the magnitude of the decline in investment depends on the level of policy uncertainty. These results support predictions for “Electoral Investment Theory” and the existence of reverse political business cycles more generally.
Recommended Citation
Falk, Nathan R., "Policy Uncertainty and Irreversible Investment in the United States" (2014). CMC Senior Theses. 885.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/885
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
