We model a situation in which agents must choose between two technologies that operate under local, positive network externalities. We find that decentralized behavior can lead to the emergence of a technical standard but can also result in a variety of other equilibria. Policy to eliminate...

This paper attempts a greater precision and clarity of understanding concerning the nature and economic significance of knowledge and its variegated forms by presenting "the skeptical economist's guide to 'tacit' knowledge." It critically reconsiders the ways in which the concepts of tacitness...

In this paper we model the development of consumption when there are interactions between consumers. The consumer recognizes three reference groups: peer, distinction, and aspiration. The interplay of aspiration and distinction can lead to 'waves' in consumption; for example, the avant-garde...

In traditional economics models of perfect competition agent's interactions are all mediated through the market. Interactions are anonymous, global and indirect. This is a powerful model, but we see many instances in which one, and sometimes all, of the previous characteristics fail to hold...

We study whether student-advisor gender and race composition matters for publication productivity of Ph.D. students in South Africa. We consider all Ph.D. students in STEM graduating between 2000 and 2014, after the recent systematic introduction of doctoral programs in this country. We...