This paper proposes a test for the existence and the degree of contagious presenteeism and negative externalities in sickness insurance schemes. First, we theoretically decompose moral hazard into shirking and contagious presenteeism behavior. Then we derive testable conditions for reduced...

This paper empirically assesses the relative role of health plan prices, service quality and optional benefits in the decision to choose a health plan. We link representative German SOEP panel data from 2007 to 2010 to (i) health plan service quality indicators, (ii) measures of voluntary...

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) such as Skype that enables users to make free internet-based calls to other users has been seen as a threat to voice revenues by traditional network operators. While some mobile network operators (MNOs) attempt to block Skype's entry on their networks, some...

In this paper we propose a solution to the Bayesian problem of a decision maker who chooses, while observing trial evidence, an optimal stopping time at which either to invest in a newly developed health care technology or abandon research. We show how optimal stopping boundaries can be computed...

We study the role of information exchange, leadership and coordination in team or partnership structures. For this purpose, we view individuals jointly engaging in productive processes -- a 'team' -- as endowed with individual and privately held information on the joint production process. Once...

We investigate the relationship between value, growth and momentum investment styles across a wide range of developed and emerging economy equity markets. As would be anticipated, value investing generally beats growth. We then determine whether the application of relative momentum or trend...

We employ weak dominance to analyze both first-price and second-price auctions under the discrete private-value setting. We provide a condition under which the expected revenue from second-price auction is higher than that of first-price auction. We also provide implications for large auctions,...

Greater media presence may facilitate information transmission and consensus, or amplify existing political differences. In the OECD greater media penetration is strongly correlated with reduced ideological polarization in the electorate. Observed increases in media penetration lead observed...

We develop a new model of addictive behavior that takes as a starting point the classic rational addiction model of Becker and Murphy, but incorporates uncertainty. We model uncertainty through the Wiener stochastic process. This process captures both random events such as anxiety, tensions and...

Price controls are used in many regulated markets and well recognized as the cause of market inefficiency. This paper examines a practical housing market in the presence of price controls and provides a solution to the problem of how houses should be efficiently allocated among agents through a...