This article contains a clinical study of Bekaert NV, the biggest insider trading case inBelgium. Up to now, no economic analysis of this case was ever conducted. It showed thatBelgian courts currently seem to lack knowledge of the functioning of financial markets toassess an insider trading...

Abstract We analyse empirically price-setting in the Dutch mortgage market, using information on about 124,000 Dutch households and 54 mortgage lenders over the years 1996-2001. For a narrowly defined set of mortgages (which have a fixed lending rate for ten years), the range of the lending rate...

This study shows that the effects of judgment proofness on precaution depend on whether the injurer can reduce the probability of the accident, the magnitude of the harm, or both. Different legal solutions to the problem are examined: punitive damages, average compensation, undercompensation,...

In this paper we turn our attention to comparing the policy function obtained by Beck and Wieland (2002) to the one obtained with adaptive control methods. It is an integral part of the optimal learning method used by Beck and Wieland to obtain a policy function that provides the optimal control...

Abstract Why do levels of trade protection differ so much across countries? We argue that differences in electoral rules and executive powers may play a significant role. We develop a theoretical model and show that countries that have a majoritarian electoral system may be more inclined to have...

We develop a model in which stronger protection of intellectual property rights has an inverted U-shaped effect on innovation. Intellectual property rights protection allows the incumbent firms to capture part of the rents of commercial exploration that would otherwise accrue to the...

This paper contributes to the research on corporate governance by predicting the effects of European takeover regulation. In particular, we investigate whether the recent reforms of takeover regulation in Europe are leading to a harmonization of the national legislations. With the help of 150...

Contemporary contributions to the comparative corporate governance literature are often couched in simple, dichotomous terms. Corporate governance systems are typically described as "insider" versus "outsider" systems, as "shareholder" versus "stakeholder" capitalism, or as involving...

The negative correlation between relative consumption growth and real exchange rate changes is a recurrent puzzle in international macroeconomics (Backus and Smith, 1993). Using panel dataset with quarterly observations for all 12 countries from the Eurozone after the introduction of the common...

Abstract This article identifies the conditions under which potentially insolvent injurers over-invest in precaution. We show that this may happen only with respect to precautionary measures that reduce the probability of the accident. No such result occurs if precaution only reduces the...