This paper studies the relation between multi-period discrete-time and continuous-time principal-agent models. We explicitly derive the continuous-time model as a limit of discrete-time models with ever shorter periods and show that the optimal incentive scheme in the continuous model, which is...

This paper studies the impact of wage growth on the evolution of employment in an intertemporal general-equilibrium model with endogenous productivity growth. For real wage growth above laissez-faire levels, we obtain steady-state equilibria in which productivity grows at the same rate as wages,...

The paper studies insurance with asymmetric information in a system of contingent-claims markets with a finite number of risk averse agents. If the informed trader is a price taker, equilibrium prices disclose his information and, conditional on this information, equilibrium outcomes are...

We develop a model of endogenous growth in an economy with competitive markets. Technical change arises from the intentional actions of entrepreneurs looking for profits. Opportunities for such profits stem from inframarginal rents. This provides a counterexample to the widespread view that...

The paper reviews and assesses our understanding of the relation between cor-porate finance and corporate control. It questions the significance of the notion that entrepreneurs or managers give up significant powers of control in order to obtain external finance, arguing instead that (a)...

The paper discusses criteria for comparing risk aversion of decision makers when outcomes are multidimensional. A weak concept, �commodity specific greater risk aversion�, is based on the comparison of risk premia paid in a specified commodity. A stronger concept, �uniformly greater risk...

This paper studies the relation between discrete-time and continuous-time principal-agent models. We derive the continuous-time model as a limit of discrete-time models with ever shorter periods and show that optimal incentive schemes in the discrete-time models approximate the optimal incentive...

The paper studies the relative efficiency of intermediated finance and direct finance in a variant of Diamond's (1984) model of ''financial intermediation as delegated monitoring''. Project sizes are taken to be variable so a choice must be taken on whether to fund a small number of projects on...

Under constraints of Bayesian interim incentive compatibility and individual rationality, the paper characterizes second-best allocations for the provision of a public good. If benefit and cost functions do not depend on the number of participants, it is always beneficial to have more...