The authors examine the distribution of income when agents allocate their initial endowments between production and appropriation (arms investments, influence or rent-seeking activities). Final output depends on the productive contributions of the agents but is divided between them according to...

A simple duopoly model is constructed in which leader-follower relations arise as part of a subgame-perfect equilibrium in a game of endogenous timing. The author shows that, in the absence of policy intervention, cost asymmetries between firms can help sustain collusive hierarchical...

Extortion of productive enterprises ('shops') by organized crime groups ('gangs') takes place in virtually all economies. The authors develop a framework to study this activity. The main harm of extortion comes from the long-run erosion and distortion of useful production, as well as from the...