The influence of relative wealth on fairness considerations is analyzed in an ultimatum game experiment in which participants receive large and widely unequal initial endowments. Subjects initially demonstrate a concern for fairness. With time however, behavior becomes at odds with both subgame...

Transactions on online markets require a great deal of trust among anonymous trading partners. To mitigate some of the risks involved in anonymous transactions, several online market sites have implemented reputation management mechanisms that differ in structure and probably functionality. In a...

A conjecture of Laffer, which had considerable influence on fiscal doctrine, is that tax revenues of a Leviathan state eventually decrease when the tax rate exceeds a threshold value. We conduct a real effort experiment, in which a worker is matched with a non-working partner, to elicit the...

We examine decision making in a simple supplier-retailer wholesale price contract in the experimental economics laboratory. We observe wholesale prices and order quantities below the game-theoretical predictions. The supply chain's efficiency is as predicted but profits are more equitably...

Legislation, regulation and security codes but also the activities of the fire department contribute to the reduction of the number of fires and the associated damage. But all these instruments are expensive. The CIRANO was contracted to perform an exploratory economic analysis of the activities...

This report, about the implementation of first responder service in Montreal, fits in the context of the new Quebec act on prehospital emergency care passed on December 2002 (Bill 96), and also in the context of the merger of fire services in Montreal. The CIRANO was contracted to perform an...

This paper extends the standard work effort model by allowing workers to interact through networks. We investigate experimentally whether peer performances and peer contextual effects influence individual performances. Two types of network are considered. Participants in Recursive networks are...

The objective of this paper is to look into the probability that, given the choice, corporate groups would opt for taxation on a consolidated basis. Consolidation would allow them to offset losses crossborder but remove the opportunity to exploit international tax-rate differentials between...

We study the relationship between inequality and inter-groups conflicts (riots), focussing on social inequality. Disadvantaged societal groups experience discrimination and thus have limited access to some social and labour resources like education or employment. First, we experimentally...

In this paper, we investigate individuals' investment in status in an environment where no monetary return can possibly be derived from reaching a better relative position. We use a real-effort experiment in which we permit individuals to learn and potentially improve their relative position in...