A two-part tariff is a pricing scheme according to which the buyer pays to the seller a fixed fee and a constant charge for each unit purchased. When it is used, the average price paid decreases as more units are purchased. Further, it is the marginal charge and not the fixed fee that determines...

The introduction of the euro in 1999 is without any doubt one of the great achievements in the European integration process. In one bold stroke, national monetary sovereignty was abolished and transferred to a new European institution, the European Central Bank, that from then on became the...

Professor Christopher Pissarides was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics jointly with Peter Diamond and Dale Mortensen ‘for their analysis of markets with search frictions’. Though Pissarides is best known for his work in this area, it is only part of a very extensive research agenda...

This article provides a brief overview of the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) as a driver of productivity. In particular, it focuses on the diffusion of computers and the Internet at the workplace and discusses the relationship with wages, the task composition of...

Risk arbitrage involves the purchase of a target firm's shares on the announcement of a merger or tender offer. These transactions provide a risky profit opportunity when the price of the target is below the risk-adjusted expected value of the final takeover price. This article explores the role...

We provide an overview of the rapidly evolving literature on shadow credit intermediation. The shadow banking system consists of a web of specialised financial institutions that conduct credit, maturity, and liquidity transformation without direct, explicit access to public backstops. The lack...

Thomas J. Sargent is the 2011 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (along with Christopher Sims). Sargent has been instrumental in the development of rational expectations economics. The central idea behind this approach is that individuals should not make systematic mistakes. Yet...

This article provides an overview of Google, focusing on its economic history, specifically on three topics of interest: the ad auction, the IPO auction and the role of economics at Google.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), or the $700 billion bailout, has been the subject of much academic interest. Here the rigorous studies on the programs of this massive intervention into the financial sector are reviewed. While considerable work has been done on the bank bailouts in the...

This article provides an overview of the new opportunities and challenges for copyright and trademark law and economics research created by the Internet. It reviews the relevant literature in the field of copyright law, in particular as it relates to piracy, liability and market structure,...