This paper applies a multi-tasking model of moral hazard to study the delegation of regulatory authority for health and environmental risks. The model characterizes the conditions under which single and multiple bureaucratic agencies are optimal, and relates these findings to discussions of...

Over the past decade, the repressive legal and regulatory environment in transition economies has received considerable attention in the literature. In Russia, this framework has resulted in an environment in which rules and regulations govern almost all aspects of economic activity. The...

We develop a framework where economic agents choose between becoming productive entrepreneurs or re-distributive rent seekers. Rent seekers use economic resources to extract rents and thus their existence generates an inefficient economic outcome. We study the welfare impact of rent seeking...

We present a transfer-seeking model of political economy in which the size of the transfer is determined endogenously, and in which over-dissipation of rents is predicted even under conditions of risk-neutrality and perfect rationality. We implement an empirical test of this model by collecting...

Poor child health and nutrition persist throughout West Africa. This research analyzes the impact of key economic variables, including income, education and background characteristics, on child health and nutrition across nine different countries. The results are interpreted in the context of...