In this paper, we investigate a neglected aspect of financial systems of many countries around the world; government ownership of banks. We assemble data which establish four findings. First, government ownership of banks is large and pervasive around the world. Second, such ownership is...

The act of choosing can influence maximizing behaviour for at least two distinct reasons: (1) process significance and (2) decisional inescapability. These influences can require systematic departures from the regularities assumed in standard models of rational choice, but they can be fully...

Community choice is a very important household decision since it represents an investment in community attributes that can have a significant impact on the quality of life of all household members, particularly by infl ; uencing the future prospects of children. In this paper, we examine the...

This paper develops a model of pricing to deter entry by a sole supplier of a network good. The authors show that the installed user base of a network good can serve a preemptive function similar to that of an investment in capacity if the entrant's good is incompatible with the incumbent's good...

The speed of economic reforms is not the only important determinant of the success of the transition to a market economy : the trasition of government from a communist state to an institution supporting a market economy is as critical.

Money has always been something of an embarrassment to economic theory. Everyone agrees that it is important; indeed, much of macroeconomic policy discussion makes no sense without reference to money. Yet, for the most part, theory fails to provide a good account for it. Indeed in the...

Using only information based on currently-observable market behavior, the paper shows how to make rigorous dynamic welfare comparisons among economies or economic situations having arbitrarily-different endowments and technologies,but sharing a common dynamic preference ordering. The correct...

Low levels of human capital ivnestment in poor countries have important implications for economic growth, distribution, and social conditions -- and competing explanations for the low levels have been suggested. The most prominent explanations cite low returns, parental preferences, cultural...