The stylized facts of ultimatum bargaining in the experimental lab are that offers tend to be near an equal split of the surplus and low, near perfect offers are routinely rejected. Bimmore et al (1995) use aspiration-based evolutionary dynamics to model the evolution of fair play in a binary...

Recent panel data is used to reconsider the determinants of interstate differences in the ratio of insured to total unemployment. We conclude that previous research on the influence of replacement rates, duration of jobless spells and female labor force participation is robust, but find that...

Recently economists have become interested in why people who face social dilemmas in the experimental lab use the seemingly incredible threat of punishment to deter free riding. Three theories with evolvutionary microfoundations have been developed to explain punishment. We survey these theories...

The introduction of “effort inducible” and “no effort: workers into a standard labor discipline model results in a paradox of sorts: if firms/capitalists cannot tell the difference, the predictable reductions in both output and workers compensation lead to an increase in profits. The...

Following Ehrenberg and Bognanno (1990a, b), this paper explores the role of incentives on the 2000 LPGA Tour. Overall, it finds them to have limited effectiveness. Several possible explanations are considered, including unmeasured differences in both abilities and courses and variations in the...

We give a Markov chain that converges to its stationary distribution very slowly. It has the form of a Gibbs sampler running on a posterior distribution of a parameter [theta] given data X. Consequences for Gibbs sampling are discussed.

The current austerity in the UK public finances is having knock-on effects for the Scottish Government. Public servants in Scotland talk of the ‘scissors of doom’ – of rising demand for public services and falling revenue expenditure. In response to these pressures the...