This paper shows the importance of correcting for sample selection when investing in illiquid assets with endogenous trading. Using a large sample of 20,538 paintings that were sold repeatedly at auction between 1972 and 2010, we find that paintings with higher price appreciation are more likely...

We analyze a market where firms compete in a conventional and an electronicretail channel. Consumers easily compare prices online, but some incur purchaseuncertainties on the online channel. We investigate the market shares of the two retailchannels and the prices that are charged. We find that...

We analyze the incentives for incumbent bricks-and-mortar firms and newentrants to start an online retail channel in a differentiated goods market. Tothis end we set up a two-stage model where firms first decide whether or notto build the infrastructure necessary to start an online retail...

There is increasing empirical and experimental evidence thatproviding financial incentives to agents to performcertain socially desirable actions may permanently reduce other typesof motivations to undertake these actions.We study the impact of financial incentives on the desire for...

This paper experimentally explores how the enforcement of cooperative behavior in a social dilemma is facilitated through institutional as well as emotional mechanisms. Recent studies emphasize the importance of negatively valued emotions, such as anger, which motivate individuals to punish free...

Transaction costs are a major reason why international trade flows are much smaller than traditional trade theory would suggest. Trust between trading partners lowers transaction costs and may therefore enhance trade. The empirical analysis of this paper shows that more trust leads to more trade...

Cultural diversity is a complex and multi-faceted concept. Commonly used quantitative measures of the spatial distribution of culturally-defined groups 'such as segregation, isolation or concentration indexes' are often only capable of identifying just one aspect of this distribution. The...

Economists increasingly pay attention to social capital as an important determinant of macroeconomic growth performance. At the same time, there is discussion regarding the robustness of the results of empirical growth studies. In a seminal paper, Knack and Keefer (1997) assess the effect of...

This discussion paper led to a publication in the <I>Regional Science and Urban Economics</I> (2005). Vol. 35(6), pages 700-714.<P> This paper develops a model for multi-store competition between firms. Using thefact that different firms have different outlets and produce horizontally differentiated...</p></i>

This paper proposes a simple social network model of occupational segregation, generated by the existence of inbreeding bias among individuals of the same social group. If network referrals are important in getting a job, then expected inbreeding bias in the social structure results in different...