The paper demonstrates the economic consequences of a new EU directive that introduces resale rights in all member states. The lifetime income of young, unknwon artists is likely to shrink, despite the intention of the EU to increase their income. Even if the lifetime income were increasing, the...

In Economics, like in any social science, empirical tests of theoretical results face the problem that the economy cannot be reproduced in laboratories. Drawing on the experience of Psychology, Experimental Economics nowadays uses stylised experiments to test at least the basic assumptions of...

Drawing on a new analytical framework provided by the economic theory of optimal legal areas, this paper identifies the factors determining the optimal size of the European Union. It applies this theory to the question of how enlargement affects the welfare of the current and the new members of...

The theory of competition as a discovery procedure argues that the results of this procedure cannot be predicted because of its very nature as a discovery procedure. If this were true, this would imply the impossibilty of testing whether competition actually works as predicted. This article...

According to a new European Union directive, artists, whose works are resold, are entitled to a share of the sales price. The principal aim of this initiative is to let the artists participate in the economic success of their work. Our analysis shows that the new directive is most likely to...

The paper defines "order" as constraints that are designed or spontaneously evolved to constrain human action sets in order to stabilze expectations, and therefore enhance coordination of interactive behavior. A simple model of evolutionary game theory is used to explain the evolution of...

This paper analyzes "property rights" from a Law and Economics viewpoint. It deals with the relation between "property rights" and allocative efficiency as well as with the protection of "property rights" through damages, liability rules or criminal law. Moreover, market failures (monopoly,...

The churches in Germany are analyzed as multiproduct firms. Even though these enterprises raise their revenues in part through the tax system, they find themselves in a crisis: the number of customers is persistently decreasing. Starting with the idea that salvation is a scarce economic good,...