Information asymmetry is a necessary prerequisite for testing adverse selection. This paper applies this sequence of tests to Mauritian slave auctions. Dynamic auction theory with private value highlights more aggressive bidding by uninformed bidders and higher prices when an informed...

Evidence on adverse selection in slave markets remains inconclusive. We study this question through notarial acts on public slave auctions in Mauritius between 1825 and 1835, involving 4,286 slaves. In addition to slave characteristics, the acts document the identities of buyers and sellers. We...

We ask whether young agents prefer to work in different-age or same-age production pairs in an overlapping-generations model where wages are reputation-based. We find that inter-generational teams (i) produce more heterogeneity in the old workers' reputations, (ii) generate a greater share of...