Politik hat vielfach zum Ziel, das Verhalten von Wirtschaftssubjekten durch eine Veränderung der Rahmenbedingungen zu steuern. Bei der Politikfolgenabschätzung müssen deshalb Voraussagen gemacht werden, wie Menschen sich an veränderte ökonomische Bedingungen anpassen. Eine wichtige...

This paper provides a rational choice-based analysis of the causes and consequences of surprise events. The paper argues that ignorance may be rational, but nonetheless produce systematic mistakes, inconsistent behavior, and both pleasant and unpleasant surprises. If ignorance and unpleasant...

We propose a definition of egalitarian equivalence that extends Pazner and Schmeidler's (1978) concept to environments with incomplete information. If every feasible allocation rule can be implemented by an incentive compatible mechanism (as, for instance, in the case of non-exclusive...

To mitigate pollution this note advocates a two-component system. The polluter pays for the damage he causes and for the opportunity to do so. The main motivation is to achieve Pareto e¢ ciency while avoiding problems caused by asymmetric information and strategic moves. The proposed regime...

We propose a definition of egalitarian equivalence that extends Pazner and Schmeidlerʼs (1978) concept to environments with incomplete information. If every feasible allocation rule can be implemented by an incentive compatible mechanism (as, for instance, in the case of non-exclusive...

We analyze different ways of pairing agents in a bipartite matching problem, with regard to its scaling properties and to the distribution of individual ``satisfactions''. Then we explore the role of partial information and bounded rationality in a generalized {\it Marriage Problem}, comparing...

We examine the efficiency of emissions trading in bilateral and clearinghouse markets with heterogeneous, boundedly rational agents making decisions under imperfect and asymmetric information, and transaction costs. Results are derived using a stochastic agent-based simulation model of agents’...

Firms often lack knowledge of the nature of the uncertainty they or their opponents face and use heuristics or approximations to determine their strategy. We define and analyze one type of “heuristic strategy”, in which firms choose strategies based on the expectation of their opponents’...