This paper examines the e¤ects of asset bubbles in an overlapping generations model with endogenous labor supply. We show analytically that asset bubbles can lead to an expansion in steady-state capital, investment, employment and output under certain conditions. The analytical results are...

We consider how information concentration affects a seller's revenue in common value auctions. The common value is a function of n random variables partitioned among m = n bidders. For each partition, the seller devises an optimal mechanism. We show that, whenever the value function allows...

Previous literature on frivolous lawsuits has focused on litigation costs and the optimal settlement-trial decision of defendants, but has not examined how they affect deterrence. This paper examines whether there are circumstances under which frivolous suits might actually increase deterrence,...

Since the emergence of the Weberian notion of “kadijustiz” scholars have debated the ability of Islamic courts to resolve disputes fairly and predictably. For a quantitative analysis of how these courts resolved disputes, we use data from the court records (sicils) of the Ottoman town of...

In this paper, we examine two issues concerning business cycle research. First, a number of studies have demonstrated that more complicated non-linear models do not replicate business cycle features better than simpler linear models. In Harding and Pagan (2002), they showed that a random walk...

In the present study we evaluate the overall cost efficiency of a network of branches of a single large public sector bank in India within the city of Calcutta using the data for the year 2012. Our objective is to determine the optimal number of branches within a postal district that could...

I consider several variants of dictator and ultimatum games in which the proposer not only offers an allocation of funds but also selects the rules that will govern that distribution. In the dictator/ultimatum choice game, the proposer first selects whether or not the receiver will have the...

This paper examines the economic implications of the definition of public use advanced by the Supreme Court in the case of Kelo v. New London. In its ruling, the Court asserted that the Fifth Amendment public use requirement is satisfied if the taking in question, even if for private ends,...

This paper examines how high cost mortgage lending varies by race and ethnicity. It uses a unique panel data that matches a representative sample of mortgages in seven large metropolitan markets between 2004 and 2008 to public records of housing transactions and proprietary credit reporting...

The issue of bias-motivated crimes has attracted consderable attention in recent years. In this paper, we develop an economic framework to analyze penalty enhancements for bias-motivated crimes. We extend the standard model by introducing two different groups of potential victims of crime, and...