In this era of globalization we see an increase in specialization: the production chain issplit up in more and more parts and the production of these parts is outsourced to thoseplaces in the world where production is relatively cheapest and most efficient. Itimplies that transaction costs,...

We introduce the notion of a stone age equilibrium to study societies in which property rights are absent, bilateral exchange is either coercive or voluntary, and relative strength governs power relations in coercive exchange. We stress the importance of free disposal of goods which allows for...

We examine an experimental gift exchange game in which the players can improve upon theunique no-gifts equilibrium through cooperative gift giving. The main feature of the study is thatthere are two different types of gift exchange, which we call simple and complex exchange,respectively. Complex...

We include initial holdings in the jungle economy of Piccione and Rubinstein (Economic Journal, 2007) in which the unique equilibrium satisfies lexicographic welfare maximization. When we relax assumptions on consumption sets and preferences slightly, equilibria other than lexicographic welfare...