When penalties for first-time offenders are restricted, it is typically optimal for the lawmaker to overdeter repeat offenders. First-time offenders are then deterred not only by the (restricted) fine for a first offense, but also by the prospect of a large fine for a subsequent offense. Now...

We analyze a strategic trading model where an overconfident insider is required to publicly disclose his trades after the fact. We find the more confident insider is more concerned about the effect the initial trading has on the future.

A restricted-perceptions equilibrium exists in which risk-averse agents believe stock prices follow a random walk with a conditional variance that is self-fulfilling. When agents estimate risk, bubbles and crashes arise. These effects are stronger when agents allow for ARCH in excess returns.

Do corrupt people self select themselves in professions where the scope of corruption is high? We conduct a corruption experiment with private sector job aspirants and aspirants of Indian bureaucracy. The game models embezzlement of resources in which “supervisors” evaluate the performance...

This study employs state-level panel data to examine the effect of income inequality on crime in the United States. Using panel cointegration techniques, we find a significant negative effect of inequality on crime.

We study dishonesty in an individual task experiment. In contrast to the existing literature, we collect participant level data. We find that men are not only more likely to be dishonest than women, they are also more dishonest.

This paper examines the determinants of corruption in transition economies. We found that the progress of structural reform, comprising marketization, rule of law, and democratization had a crucial impact on the extent of corruption control in former socialist countries.

Weak institutions are shown to create scope for public banks to play a positive role, even if such banks are less efficient than private banks.

This paper considers the effect of agrarian reforms on rioting in India. I find that the adoption of agrarian reforms was associated with a decline in the overall riot rate but the Hindu–Muslim riot rate, an urban phenomenon was largely unaffected by the program.

There is a long and detailed history of attempts to understand what causes crime. One of the most prominent strands of this literature has sought to better understand the relationship between economic conditions and crime. An economic argument is that in an attempt to maintain consumption in the...