A new way of modeling the dynamics of an exchange rate target zone is presented. In the presence of a single upper (resp. lower) target boundary, the exchange rate is precisely represented as the sum of a free float and a short (resp. long) position in a call (resp. put) option with strike price...

We introduce a model of super-exponential financial bubbles with two assets (risky and risk-free), in which fundamentalist and chartist traders co-exist. Fundamentalists form expectations on the return and risk of a risky asset and maximize their constant relative risk aversion expected utility...

The distribution of firm sizes is known to be heavy tailed. In order to account for this stylized fact, previous studies have focused mainly on growth through investments in a company's own operations (internal growth). Thereby, the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) on the firm size...

Krugman (1991)'s target zone model has become the reference of a large part of this literature. Despite its simplicity and elegance, empirical evidence has been lacking. Deriving from Krugman's model analytical expressions for the conditional volatility and density distribution close to the...

We present a generic new mechanism for the emergence of collective exuberance among interacting agents in a general class of Ising-like models that have a long history in social sciences and economics. The mechanism relies on the recognition that socioeconomic networks are intrinsically...

We study the economics of litigation with a particular focus on litigation finance. Based on an extensive data set covering civil lawsuits reported by U.S. Federal Courts since 1977, we first present a set of stylized empirical facts about lawsuits at the trial phase. Grounded in these insights,...

The scientific study of complex systems has transformed a wide range of disciplines in recent years, enabling researchers in both the natural and social sciences to model and predict phenomena as diverse as earthquakes, global warming, demographic patterns, financial crises, and the failure of...