We scrutinize the conceptual framework commonly used in the incomplete contract literature. This literature usually assumes that contractual incompleteness is due to the transaction costs of describing - or of even foreseeing - the possible states of nature in advance. We argue, however, that...

In the last few years, a new area has emerged in economic theory, which goes under the heading of "incomplete contracting". However, almos since its inception, the theory has been under attach for its lack of rigorous foundations. In this paper, we evaluate some of the criticisms that have been...

We examine the effects of the interaction between lobbying and legislative bargaining on policy formation. Two systems are considered: a US-style congressional system and a European-style parliamentary system. First we show that the policies generated are not intermediate between policies that...

By 1914, there were huge economic gaps between the Southern Cone plus Cuba and the rest of Latin America. When did the gaps appear? In an effort to suggest a new research agenda for the region, this essay uses a new data base on real wages and relative factor prices for seven major Latin...

In China, local governments have actively contributed to the growth of new firms. In Russia, local governments have typically stood in the way, be it through taxation, regulation, or corruption. There appears to be two main reasons behind the behavior of local governments in Russia. First,...

This paper addresses the question of why firms pay dividends, the so-called "dividend puzzle", from the agency perspective. We outline two agency models of dividends. On what we call "the outcome" model, dividends are the result of effective pressure by minority shareholders to force corporate...

We present a model of endogenous institutional change that rationalizes reforms that have taken place in the context of economic crisis and drastic political change. Most of these reforms have been initiated by powerholders, even though they have ended worse-off relative to the status quo. The...

This paper reviews the behavior of stock prices in relation to consumption. The paper lists some important stylized facts that characterize US data, and relates them to recent developments in equilibrium asset pricing theory. Data from other countries are examined to see which features of the US...