Redemption laws give mortgagors the right to redeem their property following default for a statutorily set period of time. This paper develops a theory that explains these laws as a means of protecting landowners against the loss of nontransferable values associated with their land. A longer...

We analyze development trajectories of early civilizations where population size and technology are endogenous, and derive conditions under which such societies optimally “switch” from anarchy to hierarchy – when it is optimal to elect and support a ruler. The ruler provides an efficient...

The first professional base ball clubs came in two varieties: stock clubs, which paid their players fixed wages, and player cooperatives, in which players shared the proceeds after expenses. The authors argue that stock clubs were formed with players of known ability, whereas co-ops were formed...

Quantile regression techniques are useful in understanding the relationship between explanatory variables and the conditional distribution of the outcome variable, allowing the parameters of interest to vary based on a nonseparable disturbance term. Additional covariates may be necessary (or...

Debtors' prisons have been commonplace throughout history, including in the United States. While imprisonment for debt no doubt elicited some repayment by benefactors of the debtor, we argue that its primary function was to deter default in the first place by giving borrowers an incentive to...

Purpose – To provide a practical look at the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive 2011/61/EU (AIFMD) and other regulatory requirements as they pertain to marketing funds in Europe. Design/methodology/approach – A series of questions and answers exploring some of the principal...

We explore the relation between historical population density in former colonies and modern income distribution. A theoretical model highlights the potentially opposing effects of native population density on incentives for colonists to conquer or settle in new territories. While an abundant...

Redemption laws give mortgagors the right to redeem their property following default for a statutorily set period of time. This paper develops a theory that explains these laws as a means of protecting landowners against the loss of non-transferable values associated with their land. A longer...