Issue 19, Fall 2000

William A. McEachern, Editor

The Evidence File
Free Books Online

Last spring Princeton University Press published David Friedman's new book, Law's Order: What Economics Has to Do With Law and Why It Matters. Prior to publication, the manuscript was available on the Web in draft form. Now, surprisingly, it's there in book form as well at http://www.best.com/~ddfr/laws_order/index.shtml. The book consists of an introduction, 19 chapters on topics ranging from crime to marriage, and an epilogue. I read the chapter on intellectual property to see if it explained why Princeton University Press and Professor Friedman, of Santa Clara University, are willing to give away online a book that sells on Amazon.com for $23.96 plus shipping. I found no answer, but this situation is not unique, as you'll see.

Herbert Gintis's book Game Theory Evolving is a problem-oriented text emphasizing the application of game theory to economics and biology. It was published last May, also by Princeton University Press, and is available on Amazon.com for $44 in hardback and $23.96 in paperback plus shipping. But his Web site at the University of Massachusetts contains the complete text of 16 chapters along with Errata and Commentary (http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~gintis/gtevolve.html). Check out the chapter entitled "Beyond Homo Economicus", which Professor Gintis calls "probably the most important in the book." It begins with quotes from Alexis de Tocqueville and Ted Kaczynski, an unlikely pair.

The full text of the first four volumes of the Handbook of Econometrics, published by Elsevier, is now available online. The late Zvi Griliches and Michael Intriligator of UCLA edited the first three volumes. Volume One covers mathematical and statistical methods in econometrics, econometric models, and estimation and computation. Volume Two includes sections on testing, time series topics, and special topics in econometrics. Special topics continue in Volume Three, along with a discussion of selected applications and uses (this volume sells on Amazon.com for $110 plus shipping). And Volume Four, edited by Robert F. Engle of UCSD and Daniel L. McFadden of Berkeley, covers econometric theory (available on Amazon.com for $123 plus shipping). The full text of each chapter may be downloaded at http://www.elsevier.com/hes/books/02/menu02.htm in Adobe pdf format. Also forthcoming is Volume Five, edited by James J. Heckman of the University of Chicago and Edward E. Leamer of UCLA. The Elsevier home page for the series (http://www.elsevier.com/hes/homepage/menu.htm) now makes available online all or part of 22 Handbooks, some in multiple volumes, including the newest entries: Health Economics, Labor Economics, Income Distribution, Macroeconomics, and Regional and Urban Economics. The home page merits a bookmark.

Last June, Michael S. Bernstam and Alvin Rabushka, fellows at Stanford's Hoover Institution, launched a Web site entitled The Russian Economy (http://www.russiaeconomy.org/). In addition to about 40 links to Russian sources, the site offers the full text of their book, Fixing Russia's Banks, and the first four chapters of their work in progress, From Predation to Prosperity: Breaking Up Enterprise Network Socialism in Russia. New chapters and related materials will be added on a regular basis.

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