The use of antidumping measures to protect certain domestic industries may be the most widely abused trade policy instrument worldwide.  And U.S. authorities reserve their most punitive and abusive practices for goods from China.  But in 2016, certain WTO conditions allowing this discriminatory approach will expire, and the U.S. will no longer be in compliance with WTO rules. A new paper from Cato scholar K. William Watson explores the various scenarios that might unfold as the 2016 expiration date approaches.

• “Will Nonmarket Economy Methodology Go Quietly into the Night? U.S. Antidumping Policy toward China after 2016,” by K. William Watson

Israeli kibbutzim are voluntary communities that have provided their members with a high degree of income equality for almost a century. Beginning in 1998, many kibbutzim introduced compensation schemes based on members’ productivity, which created a link between productivity and earnings in kibbutzim for the first time. New research from Ran Abramitzky and Victor Lavy studies whether this sharp change in the redistributive policy, by increasing the returns to schooling for kibbutz members, induced high-school students to invest more in their education.

• “How Responsive Is Investment in Schooling to Changes in Redistributive Policies and in Returns?,” by Ran Abramitzky and Victor Lavy

In November 2012, voters in the states of Colorado and Washington approved ballot initiatives that legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. Supporters and opponents of such initiatives make numerous claims about the impacts of state-level marijuana legalization. A new working paper from Jeffrey Miron, part of a longer-term project that will monitor state marijuana legalizations, provides a preliminary assessment of marijuana legalization and related policies in Colorado. The conclusion from this initial evaluation is that changes in Colorado’s marijuana policy have had minimal impact on marijuana use and the outcomes sometimes associated with use.

• “Marijuana Policy in Colorado,” by Jeffrey Miron

Determining whether medical impairments imply inability to work is becoming more difficult in a growing number of cases, with the result that many applicants with residual work capacities are admitted to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), a program facing imminent insolvency. A new paper from Cato scholar Jagadeesh Gokhale advocates a change in the structure of SSDI’s benefit payments to those admitted to the program. Shifting benefits at the margin toward paying beneficiaries to work rather than to remain out of the work force would encourage beneficiaries with residual capacities to return to work.

• “SSDI Reform: Promoting Gainful Employment while Preserving Economic Security,” by Jagadeesh Gokhale