We develop a formula for the market value of debt when the borrower’s repayment capacity varies stochastically, and shortfalls are rolled over. The value of a marginal dollar of nominal claim is an S-shaped function of the ratio of the repayment capacity to the amount of nominal debt. Shifts...

When there are collection lags in the tax system, inflation reduces the real revenues. This is often offered as an argument for less reliance on the inflation tax. But the optimal rates of other taxes should also be reconsidered in the light of collection lags. When this is done, the focus...

The Making of Economic Policy begins by observing that most countries' trade policies are so blatantly contrary to all the prescriptions of the economist that there is no way to understand this discrepancy except by delving into the politics. The same is true for many other dimensions of...

The descriptive and empirical literature in Industrial Organization abounds with reference to economies of scale, product differentiation, and absolute advantages in cost or demand enjoyed by some firms over others. In particular, they feature prominently in Bain's list of barriers to entry in....

How can property rights be protected and contracts be enforced in countries where the rule of law is ineffective or absent? How can firms from advanced market economies do business in such circumstances? In <I>Lawlessness and Economics</I>, Avinash Dixit examines the theory of private institutions that...</i>

Includes bibliographical references (p. 15).