We propose a market-for-offenses model of property crime, which explicitly accounts for protection expenditures among heterogeneous individuals. The crime equilibrium is modeled as a free-access equilibrium in which the match between criminals and victims equates the average returns to crime. We...

Model of Emerging and Constructed Opportunities (MECO) to analyze the emergence of systematic institutional and gender-based differential advantage. Using an evolutionary process with reference group effects, certain household power relations that are ``less fit'' are abandoned in favor of...

The paper criticizes the conception of value on behalf of the conventional economic theory, blaming it for the current economic school’s incapacity to explain the actual economic crisis and to offer an adequate perspective to settle a solution. It proposes an explanation based on the tendency...

The purveyance of the rule of law in developing countries has frequently been associated with positive economic development. Better clarity, scope, transparency and enforcement of the laws will promote confidence and trust in the formal legal system, the argument suggests. At its core, this...

There are many studies focused on the role of economic freedom in creating conditions supportive for economic growth. Most of the recommendations in this area are based on the observations of the highly developed countries. But is it reasonable to generalize these findings to the other...

There are many studies focused on the role of economic freedom in creating conditions supportive for economic growth. Most of the recommendations in this area are based on the observations of the highly developed countries. But is it reasonable to generalize these findings to the other...

Approaching economic freedom from an institutional perspective provides realistic economic insights. This study emphasizes the correlation between extending economic freedom and real GDP per capita, human development, global competitiveness, and the diminution of corruption, by comparing the...

Organized legal professions are typically viewed by economists as rent-seeking interest groups. Starting from the observation that the legal professions have been central in institutional development in countries with the highest quality institutions, we add a different perspective, developing a...

A country's political and economic institutions are critical for economic prosperity. The literature abounds with institutional measures, precisely because institutions are multi dimensional. We use panel-unit-root and cointegration tests to examine the time-series properties of several...

In the light of irrational behaviour and decision biases leading people to commit systematic blunders, Thaler and Sunstein (2003) presented in their approach of libertarian paternalism the concept of choice architecture, to face the problem of wrong decisionmaking and resulting welfare losses by...