This paper argues that corruption patterns are endogenous to political structures. Thus, corruption can be systemic and planned rather than decentralized and coincidental. In an economic system without law or property rights, a kleptocratic state may arise as a predatory hierarchy from a state...

The trends and consequences of terrorist activities are often captured bycounting the number of incidents and casualties. More recently, the effects of terroristacts on various aspects of the economy have been analyzed. These costs aresurveyed and put in perspective. As economic consequences are...

The key element of models of contest is the Contest Success Function (CSF) which specifiesthe winning probabilities of agents. The existing axiomatizations of CSFs assume thatcontestants can make only one type of investment. This paper generalizes these axiomatizationsto the case where each...

The key element of models of contest is the Contest Success Function (CSF) whichspecifies the winning probabilities of agents. We provide an axiomatization of two parametricfamilies of CSF’s. In the first, the winning probability of each agent depends onthe investments and a vector of...

Camera surveillance has recently gained prominence in policy proposals on combatingterrorism. We evaluate this instrument of counterterrorism as resting on the premise of adeterrence effect. Based on comparative arguments and previous evidence on crime, weexpect camera surveillance to have a...

We often observe minority ethnic groups at a disadvantage relative to the majority. Why is this and what can be done about it? Efforts made to assimilate, and time, are two elements working to bring the minority into line with the majority. A third element, the degree to which the majority...

The ability to cooperate in collective action problems — such as those relating to the useof common property resources or the provision of local public goods — is a key determinant ofeconomic performance. In this paper we discuss two aspects of collective action problemsin developing...

A key issue in the debate over gun control is how it will affectthe relative incentives of criminals and law-abiding citizens to acquireguns. We propose a simple model of interaction of criminals and law-abiding citizens as a contest where the parties arm themselves in orderto improve their...

Although one may hope to achieve equality of stated profits withoutenforcing it, one may not trust in such voluntary equality seeking andrather try to impose rules (of bidding) guaranteeing it.[...]

This paper exploits data on the pattern of violence across regionsand over time to estimate the impact of the peace process in NorthernIreland on house prices. We begin with a linear model that estimatesthe average treatment effect of a conflict-related killing on house prices-showing a negative...