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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Counterfactual Reasoning And Common Knowledge Of Rationality In Normal Form Games, Eduardo Zambrano Nov 2004

Counterfactual Reasoning And Common Knowledge Of Rationality In Normal Form Games, Eduardo Zambrano

Economics

When evaluating the rationality of a player in a game one has to examine counterfactuals such as "what would happen if the player were to do what he does not do?" In this paper I develop a model of a normal form game where counterfactuals of this sort are evaluated as in the philosophical literature (cf. Lewis, 1973; Stalnaker, 1968). According to this method one evaluates a statement like ``what would the player believe if he were to do what he does not do'' at the world that is closest to the actual world where the hypothetical deviation occurs. I …


The Transition From Dirty To Clean Industries: Optimal Fiscal Policy And The Environmental Kuznets Curve, Steven P. Cassou, Stephen F. Hamilton Nov 2004

The Transition From Dirty To Clean Industries: Optimal Fiscal Policy And The Environmental Kuznets Curve, Steven P. Cassou, Stephen F. Hamilton

Economics

This paper investigates privately and socially optimal patterns of economic development in a two-sector endogenous growth model with clean and dirty goods. We consider a second-best fiscal policy framework in which distortionary taxes jointly influence economic growth and environmental quality. In this policy setting, three conditions produce an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC): (i) dirty output is bounded; (ii) clean output grows endogenously; and (iii) growth in the dirty sector reduces growth in the clean sector. These conditions do not arise with a consumption externality, but can emerge with a production externality. Endogenous labor supply implications are also investigated. Although not …


On The Evolution Of Comparative Advantage In Matching Models, Eric O'N. Fisher, Vikas Kakkar Oct 2004

On The Evolution Of Comparative Advantage In Matching Models, Eric O'N. Fisher, Vikas Kakkar

Economics

This paper examines whether comparative advantage is the long-run outcome of an evolutionary process in the open economy. It formalizes the notion that natural selection eliminates inefficient firms and thus leads to stable and perhaps efficient patterns of world trade. Instead of assuming the existence of a Walrasian auctioneer, we study two simple matching processes that coordinate trade between firms. Our central result is that specialization according to comparative advantage, with the larger country possibly incompletely specialized, is the unique evolutionarily stable state of the world economy.


Why Are We Losing Manufacturing Jobs?, Eric O'N. Fisher Jul 2004

Why Are We Losing Manufacturing Jobs?, Eric O'N. Fisher

Economics

In the last 50 years, the share of employment in manufacturing has declined in the United States. The main reason for this phenomenon is labor-saving technological progress. Variation among state tax polices and international economic conditions have played only minor roles. The source of future prosperity will be technological advances in a service-oriented economy.


Tobacco Control Programs And Tobacco Consumption, Michael L. Marlow Jul 2004

Tobacco Control Programs And Tobacco Consumption, Michael L. Marlow

Economics

No Abstract


The Private Market For Accommodation: Determinants Of Smoking Policies In Restaurants And Bars, John Dunham, Michael L. Marlow Jul 2004

The Private Market For Accommodation: Determinants Of Smoking Policies In Restaurants And Bars, John Dunham, Michael L. Marlow

Economics

No abstract provided.


The Interplay Between Analytics And Computation In The Study Of Congestion Externalities: The Case Of The El Farol Problem, Eduardo Zambrano May 2004

The Interplay Between Analytics And Computation In The Study Of Congestion Externalities: The Case Of The El Farol Problem, Eduardo Zambrano

Economics

In this paper I study the El Farol problem, a deterministic, boundedly rational, multi-agent model of a resource subject to congestion externalities that was initially studied computationally by Arthur (1994). I represent the interaction as a game, compute the set of Nash equilibria in mixed strategies of this game, and show analytically how the method of inductive inference employed by the agents in Arthur’s computer simulation leads the empirical distribution of aggregate attendance to be like those in the set of Nash equilibria of the game. This set contains only completely mixed strategy profiles, which explains why aggregate attendance appears …


The Medium-Term Aftermarket In High-Tech Ipos: Patterns And Implications, Sanjiv Jaggia, Satish Thosar May 2004

The Medium-Term Aftermarket In High-Tech Ipos: Patterns And Implications, Sanjiv Jaggia, Satish Thosar

Economics

A number of theoretical models, loosely characterized under the rubric of behavioral finance, suggest that price convergence to value is far from instantaneous and possibly involves interplay between noise and informed traders. These models are motivated by documented anomalous patterns in equity markets and assume some form of psychological bias that affects investor behavior. With the benefit of hindsight it seems clear that the technology sector went through a bubble-like pattern in the late 1990s and that investor biases (if indeed they exist and can be inferred) may have been even more pronounced. Accordingly, our study focuses on the medium-term …


Vertical Structure And Strategic Environmental Trade Policy, Stephen F. Hamilton, Till Requate Mar 2004

Vertical Structure And Strategic Environmental Trade Policy, Stephen F. Hamilton, Till Requate

Economics

The idea that environmental trade policy can be used to achieve competitive advantage in international markets has important implications for the way we conceive free trade. This paper considers strategic environmental policy in a model that makes explicit the vertical structure that supports production of the traded good. Including intranational vertical relationships in the analysis of strategic environmental trade policy has substantial qualitative effects. When vertical contracts are allowed, the optimal policy to levy on a polluting input under both quantity and price competition in the international market is the Pigouvian tax.


Dynamic Trade Creation, Eric O'N. Fisher, Neil Vousden Jan 2004

Dynamic Trade Creation, Eric O'N. Fisher, Neil Vousden

Economics

No abstract provided.


Size Matters: Why Managers Should Pursue Corporate Growth, Even At The Expense Of Shareholder Value, John Dobson Jan 2004

Size Matters: Why Managers Should Pursue Corporate Growth, Even At The Expense Of Shareholder Value, John Dobson

Finance

No abstract provided.