This paper is the Schwartz Memorial Lecture, delivered at Kellogg, Northwestern University in May 1998. The lecture introduces some ideas about the possible use of tools taken from the economics literature to explain language phenomena. Two specific issues are discussed: From the domain of...

This paper presents an empirical study of spatial competition and a methodological approach to estimating product characteristics and consumer preferences in industries with products whose characteristics are unobservable or difficult to measure.We demonstrate the effective use of panel data on...

The paper considers a two-country model of overlapping generations economies with intergenerational transfers carried out in the form of bequest and investment in human capital. We examine in competitive equilibrium the optimal provision of education with and without capital markets integration....

This paper follows Hochman, Pines and Thisse (1995) in portraying metropolitan areas as a complex of spatial clubs. Adopting this perspective, the paper characterizes the role of urbanization economies in the agglomeration of non-residential activities inside metropolitan areas.

Maximizing the probability of bypassing an aspiration level, and taking increasing risks to recover previous losses are well-documented behavioral tendencies. They are compatible with individual utility functions that are S-shaped, as suggested in Prospect Theory (Kahneman and Tversky 1979). We...