The link between measured risk aversion and the decision to become an entrepreneur iswell established, but the link between risk preferences and entrepreneurial success is not.Standard theoretical models of occupational choice under uncertainty imply a positivecorrelation between an...

This paper reviews and synthesizes the theory of information economics and empiricalevidence on how information changes the behavior of consumers, households and firms. I show thatconsumers respond to new information in food experiments but perhaps not in retirement accountmanagement. Some...

For the first 13 years after entry, the hazard rate for firm exits is persistently higher forurban than rural firms. While differences in observed industry market, local marketand firm attributes explain some of the rural-urban gap in firm survival, rural firmsretain a survival advantage 25%...

Researchers have incorporated labor or credit market frictions in isolation within simple neoclassical models to open up a role for institutions, inject realism into their models and examine the impact of these distortions on output and employment. We present an overlapping generations model...

We analyze the legal reform concerning employees' inventions in Germany. Using a simple principal-agent model, we derive a unique efficient payment scheme: a bonus which is contingent on the project value. We demonstrate that the old German law creates inefficient incentives. However, the new...