How does patent examination influence access to finance for innovative firms? We exploit a reform to the UK's patent system that introduced substantive examination to the patent application process, improving the information available to potential investors on the value of firms' patents. Using...

Economists and management scholars have argued that the scope of incentives to increase cooperation in organizations is limited as their use signals the prevalence of free-riding among employees. This paper tests this hypothesis experimentally, using a sample of managers and employees from a...

A pre-condition for employer learning is that signals at labor market entry do not fully reveal graduates' productivity. I model various distinct sources of signal imperfection-such as noise and multi-dimensional types-and characterize their implications for the private return to skill...

How does patent examination influence access to finance for innovative firms? We exploit a reform to the UK's patent system that introduced substantive examination to the patent application process, improving the information available to potential investors on the value of firms' patents. Using...

This paper uses Nash equilibrium reversion as an optimal tool for clearing dynamic prices and wages. Various exogenous competitive rigidities determine the balanced growth path of the efficiency wage and the outcome of repeated household/firm wage bargaining decisions. A location model is used...

In dynamic models of asset markets with asymmetric information and endogenous screening, the anticipation of signaling through delayed sales incentivizes originators to exert greater effort ex ante. A central prediction in those models is a positive relationship between screening effort and the...

We propose a theoretical model in which uninformed consumers update their beliefs about the health effects of sugar in soft drinks through two sequential policies: an information campaign and a sugar tax. The information campaign is modeled as a costless signal (cheap talk), while the tax policy...

Competition authorities increasingly rely on economic screening tools to identify markets where firms deviate from competitive norms. Traditional screening methods assume that collusion occurs through secret agreements. However, recent research highlights that firms can use public announcements...

Place shapes the educational attainment of children, yet the underlying reasons remain poorly understood. In this paper, I investigate the role of spatial differences in educational signals received by students. Using Dutch administrative data combined with high-stakes national exam scores, I...

We investigate whether eponymous hedge funds-those named after their founder/manager-signal managerial ability or ethical behavior. While such funds do not outperform non-eponymous peers, they exhibit lower operational and fraud risks. Survey evidence supports these findings. Eponymous funds...

Announcing a large fiscal stimulus may signal the government's pessimism about the severity of a recession to the private sector, impairing the stabilizing effects of the policy. Using a theoretical model, we show that these signaling effects occur when the stimulus exceeds expectations and are...

This paper develops a mathematical framework to study signal networks, in which nodes can be active or inactive, and their activation or deactivation is driven by external signals and the states of the nodes to which they are connected via links. The focus is on determining the optimal number of...

In the growing social commerce landscape, addressing seller uncertainty has become critical for fostering consumer trust and enhancing purchase decisions. Seller uncertainty, often driven by information asymmetry and a lack of trust signals, can significantly hinder transactions on these...

Japan is leading in leveraging commercial space capabilities for security and defence. Against a backdrop of ongoing global demand for security and defence capabilities to be provided by commercial space companies, the Japanese government has launched several financial instruments, which in this...

We explore the association between signaling and conducting innovation collaborations with public research organizations and firms’ revenues from firm and market novelties. Based on data from the German Community Innovation Survey 2023 and web-based indicators, firms conducting collaboration...

This study investigates the impact of child-related absence from work on the income of working mothers and fathers, addressing a significant research gap in sociology and labour economics. While previous research has established that gender and parenthood significantly influence income levels,...