A crucial assumption in the optimal auction literature has been that each bidder's valuation is known to be drawn from a single unique distribution. In this paper we relax this assumption and study the optimal auction problem when there is ambiguity about the distribution from which these...

The recently proposed family of hypernormal density functions possess the analytically convenient and computationally efficient property of closed form moments and anti-derivatives in the univariate case. While this result allows many univariate applications to be solved faster and/or more...

This paper addresses the relationship between individual perceptions and the uses of a business language. Perceptions are modeled explicitly, and are not common knowledge. A business language enables individuals with different perceptions to trade. I present a formal criterion for faithfulness...

Based on a simple open economy framework, this analysis rationalizes the existence of “fear of floatingâ€-type responses and uncovers some important implications about to role of pass-through effects and contractionary depreciations. By examining how the optimal monetary response varies...

This paper develops a dynamic stochastic model to examine the joint patent application and renewal behavior under an international patent protection regime. This framework makes it possible to utilize both the cross-sectional (multi-country filing) and the time-series (patent renewal) dimensions...

We give two procedures for determining whether efficient Pareto improving local changes are possible. When they are, the procedures compute for them. Any procedure generating efficient and Pareto improving changes can be replicated by these procedures. The two programs form a striking duality....

The main goal of this paper is to investigate the role of campaign fund in congressional careers. To achieve this goal, we specify a dynamic model of career decisions of a member of Congress. In particular, we model how the amount of campaign funds raised affects the probability of winning...

Motivated by the slow diffusion of generic drugs and the increase in prices of brand-name drugs after generic entry, I incorporate consumer learning and consumer heterogeneity into an empirical dynamic oligopoly model. In the model, firms choose prices to maximize their expected total discounted...