The (relative) majority rule is a benchmark collective decision norm. This paper provides a simple characterization of the majority rule, for the two-alternative case, that relies on the following property: the choice prescribed by the rule to a group I of individuals must be the one that would...

This paper provides a comprehensive theoretical model of the political decision making process. Therein two ideologically different political parties compete for power. Their primary instrument in this competition are programmatic concessions in favor of voters and interest groups. As any...

Recent concern over “high frequency trading” (HFT) has called into question the fairness of the practice. What does it mean for a financial market to be “fair”? We first examine how high frequency trading is actually used. High frequency traders often implement traditional beneficial...

Allocation rules for cooperative games can be manipulated by coalitions merging into single players, or, conversely, players splitting into a number of smaller units. This paper collects some (im)possibility results on merging- and splitting-proofness of (core) allocation rules for cooperative...

We identify the maximal number of people who are harmed when a social choice rule is manipulated. If there are n individuals, then for any <InlineEquation ID="IEq1"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">$$k$$</EquationSource> </InlineEquation> greater than 0 and less than n, there is a neutral rule for which the maximal number is <InlineEquation ID="IEq2"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">$$k$$</EquationSource> </InlineEquation>, and there is an anonymous rule for which the maximum...</equationsource></inlineequation></equationsource></inlineequation>

We study a principal-agent model in which the agent can provide ex post additional relevant information regarding his performance. In particular, he can provide a legitimate excuse, that is, evidence that a poor result is only due to factors outside his control. However, building a convincing...