This paper studies competitive equilibria in economics characterized by the presence of asymmetric information (both of the moral hazard and the adverse selection type). We consider economies where non-exclusive contracts (securities) with payoffs dependent on the agents' private information are...

Cultural transmission mechanisms which favor the direct transmission of the parents traits to their children may be adaptative to natural selection when opposed to mechanisms in which the parents choose for the offspring the highest fitness at any time. This is so, in particular, in environments...

Economies with asymmetric information are encompassed by an extension of the model of general competitive equilibrium that does not require an explicit modeling of private information. Sellers have discretion over deliveries on contracts; this is in common with economies with default, incomplete...

This paper presents an economic analysis of the intergenerational transmission of ethnic and religious traits through family socialization and marital segregation decisions. Frequency of intra-group marriage (homogamy), as well as socialization rates of religious and ethnic groups, depend on the...