This paper studies a large class of imperfectly discriminating contests, referred to as elastic contests, that induce players to either overbid a standing bid or to abstain from bidding altogether. Many common forms of contest are elastic. In any equilibrium of an elastic contest, there is...

This paper considers rent-seeking games in which a small percentage change in a player's bid has a large percentage impact on her odds of winning, i.e., on the ratio of her respective probabilities of winning and losing. An example is the Tullock contest with a high R. The analysis provides a...

Using three market examples: opium, grapes, and timber; this paper illustrates mismanagement of Afghan economic affairs. These examples show an adverse effect of Western influence since the 9/11 invasion. Economic policy in Afghanistan is based on the history of capitalism, not the principles of...

This paper examines mandatory occupational licensure in several professions from barbers, cosmetologists, radiologic technicians, CPAs, mid-level healthcare providers, and physicians. Mandatory licensure is cited as a mechanism for serving the public interest by assuring professionals possess...

Bazaar governance tries to describe how market power is exercised. It involves a study of cooperation and coercion in bazaar. It is about solidarity, monopoly, networking and hierarchies. The informal nature of bazaar avoids the need to have any size distribution of governance. In other words,...

This paper is a follow-up to a study that ranked California last in terms of business friendliness. The present paper provides some reasons why the per capita GDP in California is going up even though thousands of business are leaving the state because of its high taxes and burdensome regulations

This study is the first annual McGee Report on the best and worst states for business. The fifty states are ranked based on the extent to which they facilitate business creation and expansion. This study incorporated the data collected from five other studies, which included the examination of...

Regulatory arbitrage — defined as the manipulation of regulatory treatment for the purpose of reducing regulatory costs or increasing statutory earnings — is often seen in heavily-regulated industries. An increase in the regulatory nature of copyright, coupled with rapid technological...