This paper develops a theory to explain growth in developed and undeveloped countries. Where transaction and information costs are low, people more easily perceive and oppose activities conducive to deadweight losses. The opposite holds where information and transaction costs are high, because...

This paper considers the obsolescence of commercial banking from the perspective of economic history. As a result of the enormous growth in money markets, it is now possible to operate a payments system in which liabilities payable on demand are backed by a diversified portfolio of liquid...

This paper explores the potential of using empirical data to illuminate long-standing issues in legal theory. Sophisticated parties often include dispute-resolution clauses in major contracts. Because these terms are agreed to ex ante, they may represent the parties' mutual best judgment about...