This paper studies how options trading, by circumventing constraints on borrowing, permits optimistic investors to hold the desired portfolio. Unconstrained investors proceed to a portfolio rebalancing by constructing a zero-income portfolio that consists of a short position in the option, a...

This paper extends the prey--predator model of Grossman and Kim (1995) to analyze the relation between the value of the contested rent and the emergence of a conflict. We show that an increase in the value of the rent makes the conflict equilibrium more likely. We also analyze the case where the...

Schmalensee (1974) shows that, when the cost functions of the advertising e¤ort are linear, the monopoly position is only sustained when the advertising�s e¤ectiveness of the incumbent is relatively high. We show that this result does not hold in a more general nonlinear cost. The no-entry...

Gârleanu et al. (RFS 2009) show that a demand pressure phenomenon exists in option markets due to limit to arbitrage. They assert that if arbitrage is perfect, option demand does not impact option price. In this note we show that there is a positive relation between the demand for a redundant...

This paper extends the prey--predator model of Grossman and Kim (1995) to analyze the relation between the value of the contested rent and the emergence of a conflict. We show that an increase in the value of the rent makes the conflict equilibrium more likely. We also analyze the case where the...

Several recent papers argue that contracts provide reference points that affect ex post behavior. We test this hypothesis in a canonical buyer-seller relationship with renegotiation. Our paper provides causal experimental evidence that an initial contract has a highly significant and...

We present an international trade model with multiproduct firms. Firms are heterogeneously endowed with two types of capabilities that jointly determine the trade-off within firms between managing a large portfolio of products and producing at low marginal cost. The model can explain many of the...

This paper reports data from a laboratory experiment on two-period moral hazard problems. The findings corroborate the contract-theoretic insight that even though the periods are technologically unrelated, due to incentive considerations principals can benefit from offering long-term contracts...

We study a continuous-time game of strategic experimentation in which the players try to assess the failure rate of some new equipment or technology. Breakdowns occur at the jump times of a Poisson process whose unknown intensity is either high or low. In marked contrast to existing models, we...

We study endogenous group formation in tournaments employing experimental three-player contests. We find that players in endogenously formed alliances cope better with the moral hazard problem in groups than players who are forced into an alliance. Also, players who are committed to expending...