The standard estimator of the population mean is the sample mean, which is unbiased. Constructing an estimator by shrinking the sample mean results in a biased estimator, with an expected value less than the population mean. On the other hand, shrinkage always reduces the estimator's variance...

This is a 1/3 length math version of a previous paper with the same title. We revisit a classic question of Fenchel from 1953: Which quasiconcave functions can be concavified by a monotonic transformation? While many authors have given partial answers under various assumptions, we offer a...

A requirements contract is a form of exclusive dealing in which the buyer promises to buy a particular product only from one seller. This paper models a common-sense motivation for such contracts: that the buyer wants to ensure a reliable supply at a pre-arranged price without the need for...

The 2017 tax bill put a cap of $10,000 on the deduction for state and local taxes, while retaining existing rules for charitable donations. It has been suggested that states could enact 100% state tax credits for people who donate money to the state, so taxpayers could donate instead of pay...

Immigration increases the income of native capital more than it reduces the income of native labor, although the transfer of income from labor to capital is a much bigger effect. Free trade often does this too. Even aside from possible negative externalities and public finance costs to natives,...

If a monopolist (any manufacturer with downward-sloping demand) cannot commit to a wholesale price in advance, even competitive retailers will be reluctant to enter the market, knowing that once they have entered, the monopolist has incentive to choose a higher price and reduce their...

The “Historians and Legal Scholars” amicus brief in the 2014 Hobby Lobby case tries to make the case that historically courts treated ordinary corporations as having rights different from non-corporate persons and nonprofit corporations. This paper looks at one of the main cases it cites,...