Lapan, Harvey

Profile Picture
Email Address
hlapan@iastate.edu
Birth Date
Title
University Professor Emeritus
Academic or Administrative Unit
Organizational Unit
Economics

The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 to teach economic theory as a truth of industrial life, and was very much concerned with applying economics to business and industry, particularly agriculture. Between 1910 and 1967 it showed the growing influence of other social studies, such as sociology, history, and political science. Today it encompasses the majors of Agricultural Business (preparing for agricultural finance and management), Business Economics, and Economics (for advanced studies in business or economics or for careers in financing, management, insurance, etc).

History
The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 under the Division of Industrial Science (later College of Liberal Arts and Sciences); it became co-directed by the Division of Agriculture in 1919. In 1910 it became the Department of Economics and Political Science. In 1913 it became the Department of Applied Economics and Social Science; in 1924 it became the Department of Economics, History, and Sociology; in 1931 it became the Department of Economics and Sociology. In 1967 it became the Department of Economics, and in 2007 it became co-directed by the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Business.

Dates of Existence
1898–present

Historical Names

  • Department of Economic Science (1898–1910)
  • Department of Economics and Political Science (1910-1913)
  • Department of Applied Economics and Social Science (1913–1924)
  • Department of Economics, History and Sociology (1924–1931)
  • Department of Economics and Sociology (1931–1967)

Related Units
Organizational Unit
Economics AG

The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 to teach economic theory as a truth of industrial life, and was very much concerned with applying economics to business and industry, particularly agriculture. Between 1910 and 1967 it showed the growing influence of other social studies, such as sociology, history, and political science. Today it encompasses the majors of Agricultural Business (preparing for agricultural finance and management), Business Economics, and Economics (for advanced studies in business or economics or for careers in financing, management, insurance, etc).

History
The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 under the Division of Industrial Science (later College of Liberal Arts and Sciences); it became co-directed by the Division of Agriculture in 1919. In 1910 it became the Department of Economics and Political Science. In 1913 it became the Department of Applied Economics and Social Science; in 1924 it became the Department of Economics, History, and Sociology; in 1931 it became the Department of Economics and Sociology. In 1967 it became the Department of Economics, and in 2007 it became co-directed by the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Business.

Dates of Existence
1898–present

Historical Names

  • Department of Economic Science (1898–1910)
  • Department of Economics and Political Science (1910-1913)
  • Department of Applied Economics and Social Science (1913–1924)
  • Department of Economics, History and Sociology (1924–1931)
  • Department of Economics and Sociology (1931–1967)

Related Units
About
Profile Link
https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/99902
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Start date: 2000 × End date: 2002 × Author: Lapan, Harvey ×

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Publication

Are All Taxes Equally Bad? How Replacing Iowa's Sales Tax Could Save Iowans More Than $100 Million per Year

2002-09-01 , Lapan, Harvey , Moschini, GianCarlo , Caruth, Brad , Moschini, Giancarlo , Center for Agricultural and Rural Development

Under current U.S. law, taxpayers can deduct up to 100 percent of their state income taxes from their adjusted gross income when calculating their federal income taxes. As a result, Iowans currently pay approximately $251 million less to the federal government than they would otherwise pay. There is, however, no equivalent stipulation allowing for the deduction of state sales taxes. Consequently, by eliminating the sales tax and replacing the lost revenue with an income-based tax, Iowans could save a substantial amount of money on their federal tax returns without any change in revenue for the Iowa government. Alternatively, by replacing the sales tax with an income-based tax, the State of Iowa could increase its tax revenue without increasing the total tax burden on Iowans. This analysis discusses four specific scenarios, with net benefits to Iowans ranging from $106 million to $157 million per year.

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Publication

Trade Policy under Asymmetric Information

2002-09-01 , Lapan, Harvey , Melkonian, Tigran , Economics

We consider optimal trade policy for a large country with private information. We show that the optimal tariff leads to a signaling equilibrium with higher tariffs and lower welfare than under complete information, whereas the optimal import quota replicates the complete information equilibrium and thus is superior to the tariff. We also show that, with the tariff, the country may be better off being uninformed. Finally, we show that if the importing nation cannot commit to its tariff, the use of futures contracts together with the dynamically consistent tariff leads to the same equilibrium as under complete information with commitment.

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Publication

Innovation and Trade with Endogenous Market Failure: The Case of Genetically Modified Products

2002-05-01 , Lapan, Harvey , Moschini, GianCarlo , Moschini, Giancarlo , Center for Agricultural and Rural Development

We build a partial-equilibrium, two-country model to analyze some implications of the introduction of genetically modified (GM) products. In the model, innovators hold proprietary rights on the new technology, whereas farmers are (competitive) adopters; some consumers deem food produced from GM products to be inferior to traditional food; countries trade both traditional and GM products; countries can adopt regulations (such as mandatory labeling of GM products) that have direct trade implications; and, crucially, the mere introduction of GM crops affects the costs of non-GM food (because it makes it necessary to implement costly identity preservation). The analysis shows that, although agricultural biotechnology innovations have the potential to improve efficiency, some agents (consumers and/or producers that adopt the innovation) can actually be made worse off by the innovation, and indeed it is even possible that the costs induced by the innovation outweigh the efficiency gains. The study also illustrates the potential for protectionist policies that arise in the context of regulating GM products. In particular, mandatory labeling of GM products (as being implemented by the European Union) is unnecessary, inferior to a system of voluntary labeling, and has costly implications from the perspective of an exporting country that adopts GM products. But this costly labeling policy may actually benefit the importing country that implements the labeling requirement.

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