Under what conditions is service provision by donors and nonstate actors likely to undermine or strengthen citizensÕ legitimating beliefs? A new study assesses associations between donor and nonstate actor service provision and the sense of obligation that these associations produce for...

We show that the problem of evaluating infinite sequences (or streams) of utilities by a unique utility (or social welfare function) can be stated in terms of fuzzy subsets of the set of infinite utility sequences. For each stream, its evaluation can be viewed as its degree of membership to the...

This paper develops a theory of sequential lending in groups in micro-finance that centers on the notion of dynamic incentives, in particular the simple idea that default incentives should be relatively uniformly distributed across time. In a framework that allows project returns to accrue over...

Behavioral economics characterizes decision-makers using psychologically-informed models. Cognitive science produces psychologically-informed models. Why don't these disciplines talk more? Here, the author presents several arguments for why cognitive science should inform behavioral economics -...

This paper studies how to design a fiscal constitution that, by capitalizing intergenerational spillovers into land values, is able to protect future generations from expropriation and to generate optimal investment in intergenerational public goods. In particular, we study how to accomplish...

Saving rates have fallen steadily in the U.S. since the 1970s. The literature has proposed numerous possible explanations for the decrease including increases in governmental insurance, changes in the distribution of income, and increases in annuitized wealth. Analysis of all three explanations...

Behavioral economics aspires to replace the agents of neoclassical economics with living, breathing human beings. Here, the author argues that behavioral economics, like its neoclassical counterpart, often neglects the role of active sense-making that motivates and guides much human behavior....

We construct an otherwise standard general equilibrium model of economic growth and endogenously chosen fiscal policy, in which individuals compete with each other for extra fiscal transfers and two political parties compete with each other for staying in power. The main prediction is that...

This paper examines whether policy commitment mechanisms, when available, will be used by the elected policymaker in a political-economy equilibrium. We describe a two period repeated voting model where second-period outcomes depend on commitment choices made by an elected policymaker in the...