A budget-constrained buyer wants to purchase items from a shortlisted set. Items are differentiated by observable quality and sellers have private reserve prices for their items. The buyer's problem is to select a subset of maximal quality. Money does not enter the buyer's objective function,...

This paper introduces new core and Walrasian equilibrium notions for an asymmetric information economy with non-expected utility preferences. We prove existence and incentive compatibility results for the new notions we introduce.

What is the effect of ambiguity aversion on trade? Although in a Bewley's model ambiguity aversion always lead to less trade, in other models this is not always true. However, we show that if the endowments are unambiguous then more ambiguity aversion implies less trade, for a very general class...

I investigate when side payments facilitate cooperation in a context with strategic delegation. On the one hand, allowing side payments may be necessary when one party's participation constraint otherwise would be violated. On the other, with side payments each principal appoints a delegate that...

This paper analyses the incentives to participate in and the stability of international climate coalitions. Using the integrated assessment model WITCH, the analysis of coalitions' profitability and stability is performed under alternative assumptions concerning the pure rate of time preference,...

This paper analyzes equlibrium and welfare for a tractable class of economies (games) with externalities, strategic complementarity or substitutability, and heterogenous information. First, we characterize the equilibrium use of information; complementarity heightens the sensitivity of...

Hybrid governance structures between markets and hierarchies in many industries, e.g., in energy and telecommunications, challenge antitrust and regulation policy. The paper focuses on the theoretical and methodological basis provided by the New Institutional Economics (NIE) for analyzing the...

Der Landtag in Nordrhein-Westfalen hat jüngst beschlossen, bei der kommunalen Wirtschaftstätigkeit den privaten vor staatlichen Unternehmen Vorrang zu geben. Dies geht in die gleiche Richtung wie die Vorgaben der EU-Kommission zur Beihilfenkontrolle. Wie lässt sich staatliche...

In Deutschland wird anders als in den übrigen Industriestaaten heftig über das Für und Wider von Mindestlöhnen diskutiert. Wie wird die Diskussion theoretisch untermauert? Wie wirken sich Mindestlöhne auf Beschäftigung und Lohnniveau aus? Kann Armut durch die Festlegung von Mindestlöhnen...