The empirical evidence suggests that parents use inter vivos gifts (i.e., transfers of tangible and financial property) to compensate less well off children whereas post mortem bequests are divided equally among siblings. We study a theoretical model assuming, first, that the amounts given is...

We demonstrate that iterated elimination of strictly dominated strategies is an order dependent procedure. We also prove that order does not matter if strategy spaces are compact and payoff functions continous. Examples show that this result is tight.

In this paper I use data on workers matched whit firms balance-sheet reports to examine the relation between wages and firms´ ability to pay. Results indicate that experienced and highly educated workers are sorted into profitable firms. Wages are significantly correlated to profits and...

A simple technique for teaching the Cournot model to first year students is presented. The approach involves convincing the students that out of all rectangles with a common circumference, the square has the greatest area. No use is made of derivatives. The same approach can be used to...

Within an organization, a bounded rational principal organizes a promotion test based on a sequence of test regarding candidates' relative performances. We assume the principal to suffer from limited ability to rank the performances, only identifying the best in each test. Furthermore, he...

It is well-documented that employers refuse to hire workers who offer their services at less than the prevailing wage. The received explanation is that workers are motivated by reciprocity¾ they desire to reward kindness and punish hostility. To refuse an outsider’s under-bid is viewed as a...

The main question addressed in this paper is how the possibility of investing in tax avoidance affects voting and redistributive outcomes in an economy where the tax rate is determined by a majority vote and taxes go to lump-sum redistribution. The outcome depends on the timing and efficiency of...

The classical price competition model (named after Bertrand), prescribes that in equilibrium prices are equal to marginal costs. Moreover, prices do not depend on the number of competitors. Since this outcome is not in line with real-life observations, it is known as the Bertrand Paradox". Many...

This paper addresses the impact of the tax system on the incentives to become self-employed. The new approach here is that the creation of a firm is assumed to be an opportunity but not an obligation, that is, a real option. A comprehensive income tax system and a "dual" tax system of the Nordic...

This note considers preference structures over countable sets which allow incomparable outcomes and nontransitive preferences and indifferences. Necessary and sufficient conditions are provided under which such a preference structure can be represented by means of utility function and a...