Product availability impacts many industries such as transportation, events, and retail, yet little empirical evidence documents the importance of stocking decisions for firm profits, vertical relationships, or consumers. We conduct several experiments, exogenously removing top-selling products...

This paper axiomatizes the robust control criterion of multiplier preferences introduced by Hansen and Sargent (2001). The axiomatization relates multiplier preferences to other classes of preferences studied in decision theory, in particular the variational preferences, recently introduced by...

We examine the evidence on episodes of large stances in fiscal policy, both in cases of fiscal stimuli and in that of fiscal adjustments in OECD countries from 1970 to 2007. Fiscal stimuli based upon tax cuts are more likely to increase growth than those based upon spending increases. As for...

Ideas about what is 'fair' above and beyond the individuals position in the income ladder determine preferences for redistribution. We study the dynamic evolution of different economies in which redistributive polices, perception of fairness, inequality and growth are jointly determined. We show...

Most work in evolutionary game theory analyzes a deterministic adjustment process on a continuum of agents. However, both the assumption of a continuum and that of no randomness are approximations, so it is important to study the behavior of adjustment processes on a large but finite population...

We establish an inverse relationship between family ties, generalized trust and political participation. The more individuals rely on the family as a provider of services, insurance, transfer of resources, the lower is civic engagement and political participation. The latter, together with...

This paper discusses what determines the preferences of individuals for redistribution. We review the theoretical literature and provide a framework to incorporate various effects previously studied separately in the literature. We then examine empirical evidence for the US, using the General...

Despite the availability of more sophisticated methods, a popular way to estimate a Pareto exponent is still to run an OLS regression: log (Rank)= c - blog (Size), and take b as an estimate of the Pareto exponent. The reason for this popularity is arguably the simplicity and robustness of this...

We highlight and explain eight lessons from optimal tax theory and compare them to the last few decades of OECD tax policy. As recommended by theory, top marginal income tax rates have declined, marginal income tax schedules have flattened, redistribution has risen with income inequality, and...

Retailer capacity decisions can impact sales for products by affecting, for example, availability and visibility. Using data from the U.S. video rental industry, we report estimates of the effect of capacity on sales. New monitoring technologies facilitated new supply contracts in this industry,...