We look at imperfectly competitive markets where some consumers might be budget-constrained. We find that the equilibrium price under budget constrained demand (say, pB ) is often higher than the equilibrium price under standard demand (say, pA ). The relationship between pB and pA depends on...

Using life-history survey data from eleven European countries, we investigate whether childhood conditions, such as socioeconomic status, cognitive abilities and health problems influence portfolio choice and risk attitudes later in life. After controlling for the corresponding conditions in...

We study trader agent intermediated lending (TRAIL), a new version of microfinance where local intermediaries (lenders) are appointed as agents to recommend borrowers for individual liability loans designed to allow the financing of agricultural operations. The scheme involves no peer...

This paper studies the optimal compensation policy for a corruptible inspector, in charged with monitoring evasion from a taxpayer. Namely, I discuss how the optimal compensation policy varies according to the timing of collusion, which is allowed to occur either before or after inspection takes...

Policy-makers world-wide have proposed a new contract – the “social impact bond” (SIB) – which they claim can allay the underperformance and underfunding afflicting not-for-profit sectors, by tying the private returns of (social) investors to the success of social programs (Bolton 2010;...

National saving rates differ enormously across developed countries. But these differences obscure a common trend, namely a dramatic decline over time. France and Italy, for example, saved over 17 percent of national income in 1970, but less than 7 percent in 2006. Japan saved 30 percent in 1970,...

This paper studies the role of a policy of inducing in combating collusion within organizations, or in regulatory setups. In a mechanism-design problem involving a principal-supervisor-agent we show the role of endogenous selection of supervisory activity by the principal. One simple example is...

We consider a model of law enforcement where homogenous, risk neutral, and corruptible inspectors are responsible for monitoring citizens who may have committed criminal acts. A welfare maximizing, budget constrained government can implement appropriate wage policies to prevent collusion, but we...