In this paper, we investigate factors affecting total household consumption and poverty in Uganda using household survey data. Our analysis indicates that household wellbeing can be improved by expanding education at all levels (primary, secondary, and university), expanding formal employment,...

Existing research on tournament-style contests suggests that mechanisms to sort contestants by ability level are unnecessary in the case of linear relative-performance contracts. This paper suggests that this result stems from uniform treatment of workers' marginal returns from effort, marginal...

This study evaluates the regional short run impacts of reduction in import tariffs in Brazil on poverty and distribution of income related to recent free trade area agreements. Results show that trade can reduce inter-regional income inequality, but poor urban households lose with trade...

The continent of Africa is currently experiencing two major interrelated social challenges, namely poverty and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. According to UNICEF, there are millions of AIDS-orphans in Africa, with over 80% of them being raised by extended families. However, relatively few studies have...

During the 14-month period from May 2002 to June 2003, approximately 10 percent of U.S. supermarkets began to offer fresh irradiated ground beef under the stores' own labels. Using a survey of supermarket store managers from this time period, this paper investigates the factors that influenced...

We investigate the design of a two-period contract between an agricultural processor and growers whose quality-ability types are not observable to the processor. After characterizing the optimal contracts and establishing conditions for a separating equilibrium, we investigate how a payment...