We devise an experiment to explore the effect of different degrees of competition on optimal contracts in a hidden-information context. In our benchmark case, each principal is matched with one agent of unknown type. In our second treatment, a principal can select one of three agents, while in a...

Most existing models of fiscal competition between states within federations or regional unions share at least two common features. First, they focus on inter-jurisdictional competition in but one policy instrument, for example, taxes, public goods or environmental quality. The second is that...

Gender gaps may be observed in a variety of economic and social environments. One of the possible determining factors is that men are more competitive than women and so, when the competitiveness of the environment increases, the performance of men increases relative to that of women. We test...