The authors study a simple, two-stage, stochastic patent race involving two firms. They examine the behavior of the participants as they gain the lead or fall behind in the race. The authors find that the leader engages in R&D more intensively than does the follower, and that both firms...

The authors analyze trade in both legitimate and counterfeit products. Domestic firms ow n trademarks and establish reputations for delivering high-quality pr oducts in a steady-state equilibrium. Foreign suppliers export legiti mate low-quality merchandise and counterfeits of domestic...

The authors study the positive and normative effects of counterfeiting, i.e., trademark infringement, in markets where cons umers are not deceived by forgeries. Consumers are willing to pay mor e for counterfeits than for generic merchandise of similar quality be cause they value the prestige...

We study the competition between two political parties for seats in a legislature. The parties have fixed positions on some issues, but vary their positions on others in order to attract votes and campaign contributions. In this context, we examine whether special interest groups are governed by...