This study examined social system failures and sought to identify a plausible mechanism behind these failures. Stretched exponential distributions were observed for failure of marriages in the US, UK, and Germany. In addition, the study provides evidence of power laws in the failure of large...

We provide evidence of a cubic law of art prices that hints to a general pattern for the distribution of artistic talent. The persistence across heterogeneous markets from historical ones to contemporary art auctions of a power law in the distribution of the average price per artist suggests the...