On the importance of inequality in politics: duplicate bills and bill co-sponsorship in the US House of Representatives

• Published in: Economics of governance Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 353 - 378
• Main Authors: Laband, David N., Seals, Richard A., Wilbrandt, Eric J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.11.2015; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bills; Campaign contributions; Committees; Constituents; Corporate sponsorship; Economic models; Economic statistics; Economic theory; Economic Theory/Quantitative Economics/Mathematical Methods; Economics; Economics and Finance; Inequality; International Political Economy; Legislation; Legislatures; Original Paper; Political economy; Political power; Political Theory; Politics; Production; Production functions; Public Administration; Public Finance; Studies; World War II; United States > US; US House of Representatives; Bill sponsorship; Credit claiming; Bills reported out of committee; Bill co-sponsorship; Identical bill introduction

In this paper, we attempt to provide an economic explanation for the adoption of bill co-sponsorship by the US House of Representatives in 1967. We demonstrate empirically that key features of legislative production prior to 1967 (when House members’ support for a bill was indicated by introduction...