This paper investigates the economics of infamous pirate practices. Two closely related economic theories---the theory of signaling and the theory of reputation building---explain these practices. First, I examine the pirate flag, quot;Jolly Roger,quot; which pirates used to signal their...

This paper models social distance as endogenous to the choices of individuals. I show how large numbers of socially heterogeneous agents can use social distance-reducing signals to capture the gains from widespread trade. Although traditional reputation mechanisms of multilateral punishment...

Research examining the importance of path dependence and culture for institutions and development tells us 'history matters', but not how history matters. To provide this missing 'how', we provide a framework for understanding institutional 'stickiness' based on the Regression Theorem. The...

With the collapse of communism in the late 1980s the field of comparative political economy has undergone major revision. Socialism is no longer considered the viable alternative to capitalism it once was. We now recognize that the choice is between alternative institutional arrangements of...

While both errors of overoptimism and errors of overpessimism are possible in the face of imperfect information, the presence of option value from deferring a decision to exchange causes trader errors to be overpessimistically biased. This is problematic because unlike errors of overoptimism,...

This paper investigates the political economy of FEMA after its post-9/11 merger with the Department of Homeland Security. Using panel data for the post-DHS merger but pre-Katrina period, we examine how FEMA's much-debated reorganization has impacted the strong political influences on disaster...

Existing research establishes a strong association between patterns of media ownership and economic development on the one hand, and the importance of media-provided information in holding politicians accountable on the other. However, a 'black box' remains surrounding the precise nature of the...

In this paper, we examine the resiliency of community recovery after a natural disaster. We argue that a resilient recovery requires robust economic/financial institutions, political/legal institutions, and social/cultural institutions. We explore how politically and privately created disaster...

This paper investigates the internal governance institutions of violent criminal enterprise by examining the law, economics, and organization of pirates. To effectively organize their banditry, pirates required mechanisms to prevent internal predation, minimize crew conflict, and maximize...

This paper investigates the internal governance institutions of violent criminal enterprise by examining the law, economics, and organization of pirates. To effectively organize their banditry, pirates required mechanisms to prevent internal predation, minimize crew conflict, and maximize...