New Business Creation and The Urban Economy

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Policymakers have long grappled with the challenge of revitalizing cities whose economies have declined as manufacturing jobs moved elsewhere. Older industrial cities’ economic woes have compounded other problems, including municipal budget crises, struggling schools, high crime rates, and persistent poverty.

Unemployment Insurance in Massachusetts

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High unemployment insurance taxes deter job creation and burden Massachusetts businesses. The current system also subsidizes certain workers and business sectors, at the expense of most Massachusetts workers and companies.

Rehabbing Urban Redevelopment

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This report surveys 14 Massachusetts cities outside the immediate Boston metropolitan market, which other studies have identified as “weak market” or “gateway” cities. While useful designations, this report employs the term “Middle Cities.”

Measuring Up? The Cost of Doing Business in Massachusetts

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The conventional wisdom among most regional economists, business leaders, and even policy experts is that Massachusetts is a high cost state for businesses. The purpose of this paper is to take a granular look at the issue by considering the specific components of business costs and how they vary across nine key industries in Massachusetts and six neighboring and competitor states.

Economic Opportunity in Boston: An Index of the Regulatory Climate for Small Entrepreneurs

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Economic Opportunity in Boston: An Index of Economic Opportunity for Small Entrepreneurs provides a first look at the costs of regulatory mandates on small business in Boston. In the absence of other serviceable attempts to assess the consequences of regulatory barriers on small businesses, it seeks to establish a framework for measuring the cost of regulation and for weighing these costs against the benefits they may provide.

The Cost of Regulated Pricing – A Critical Analysis of Auto Insurance Premium Rate-Setting in Massachusetts

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In Massachusetts, insurance companies are losing money on automobile insurance, some are paying massive penalties to leave, and almost all are ceding huge percentages of the policies. they underwrite to the residual market. More importantly, the price of insurance does not relate directly to the behavior of the driver, so higher risk drivers are not given appropriate incentives to drive with greater care. Insurance is underpriced for those drivers fortunate enough to be subsidized, by the rest.