This paper provides a model of hospital competition to explain the "medical arms race", i.e. the tendency of hospitals to over-invest in specialized services. The model examines how hospitals gain an edge ("prestige effect") by adopting a larger complement of services than their rivals. In a...

The paper examines job transitions and opportunities among older workers, with emphasis on occupational skill requirements and working conditions. Bystandard measures, older workers fare well, realizing relatively high earnings, having low rates of unemployment and displacement, and choosing in...

We examine the effect of unions on the earnings of health acre workers, with emphasis on the measurement and sources of union wage premiums. Using data constructed from the 1973 through 1994 Current Population Surveys, standard union premium estimates are found to be substantially lower among...

We study experimentally the effects of sorting in contests between groups of heterogeneous players whose within-group efforts are perfect substitutes. The theory predicts that higher aggregate effort will be reached when variation in ability between groups is lower, i.e., by a more balanced...

Contests between groups of workers are often used to create incentives in organizations. Managers can sort workers into groups in various ways in order to maximize total output. We explore how the optimal sorting of workers by ability in such environments depends on the degree of effort...

Many empirical studies have found a positive association between economic development and democracy survival across countries; however, establishing a causal link between the two with naturally occurring data is problematic. We address this question in a laboratory experiment with democracy...