In this paper, we develop a paleoeconomic model of the co-evolution of economic specialization and encephalization--the common physiological measure of intelligence as reflected by brain mass relative to total body mass. Our economic analysis links ecological and social intelligence theories of...

We propose a perfect empathy model of cultural transmission to capture the evolution of preferences in a population. Unlike existing imperfect empathy models, focusing on stable interior equilibria, we demonstrate that a corner outcome will eventuate. However, which corner outcome emerges is...

In this article, we consider uncertain preferences for non-market goods, but we move away from a probabilistic representation of uncertainty and propose the use of fuzzy contingent valuation. We assume that a decision maker never fully knows her own utility function and we treat utility as a...

We study how corruption affects economic activities of households in rural Liberia. A proxy of corruption of community leaders is obtained by directly monitoring the diversion of inputs associated with a development project. We measure quantities of these inputs twice; before and after the chief...

We use a series of field experiments in rural Burundi to examine the impact of exposure to conflict on social, risk, and time preferences. We find that conflict affects behavior: individuals exposed to violence display more altruistic behavior towards their neighbors, are more risk-seeking, and...

We extend the traditional G-S model of open access by defining a non-concave harvesting function. We demonstrate the possible existence of multiple equilibria and perverse comparative statics and show that small changes in the underlying economic parameters may trigger large jumps in species'...

We use a new dataset from war-torn Burundi to explore how various institutional proxies affect investments in soil conservation. We “unbundle” institutions and distinguish between various proxies for tenure security and social norms. While we find significant correlations between certain...

We use a new dataset from Burundi to analyze the role of local institutions as determinants of income, distinguishing between three distinct dimensions of the institutional framework: (i) property rights security, (ii) local political leadership and (iii) social capital. Using measures of...

Many wildlife commodities, such as tiger bones, bear bladders, ivory, and rhino horn, have been stockpiled in large quantities by speculators who expect that future price increases justify forgoing the interest income associated with current sales. When supply from private stores competes with...