The importance of topology as a tool in preference theory is what motivates this study in which we characterize topologies induced by binary relations and present topological versions of two classical preference representation theorems. We then use our characterizations to construct examples of...

The study investigates the role of credit risk in a continuous time stochastic asset allocation model, since the traditional dynamic framework does not provide credit risk flexibility. The general model of the study extends the traditional dynamic efficiency framework by explicitly deriving the...

In this paper we propose a methodology that we believe improves the effectiveness of several common assumptions underlying Modern Portfolio Theory's dynamic optimization framework. The paper derives a general outline of a stochastic nonlinear-quadratic control for analyzing and solving a...

Ethnicity is an important institution and one that impacts on the quality of governance. This paper focuses on the behavior of ethnic groups and specifically on their impact on the provision of public goods. The paper shows that ethnic heterogeneity results in under-provision of non-excludable...

Kenya's Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is one of the ingenious innovations of the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) Government of Kenya. Unlike other development funds that filter from the central government through larger and more layers of administrative organs and bureaucracies, funds...

I show that every rule for dividing a dollar among three agents impartially (so that each agent's share depends only on her evaluation by her associates) underpays some agent by at least one-third of a dollar for some consistent profile of evaluations. I then produce an impartial division rule...

Two forms of continuity are defined for Pareto representations of preferences. They are designated continuity and coordinate continuity. Characterizations are given of those Pareto representable preferences that are continuously representable and, in dimension two, of those that are...

A rule for three-way division of profits based on peer evaluation reports is impartial if the calculation of each partner’s share ignores her report, and is consensual if it respects evaluations when the three partners’ reports are in agreement. We give an approximate solution to the problem...

A characterization of a property of binary relations is of type M if it can be stated in terms of ordered M-tuples of alternatives. A characterization of finite type provides an easy test of whether preferences over a large set of alternatives possesses the property characterized. Unfortunately,...

Under what conditions are lexicographically representable preferences continuously representable? This question is actually two questions, since there are two natural definitions of continuity for lexicographic representations. A complete answer is given for one of these questions, and the other...