In the United States, more than two-thirds of decedents with multichild families divide their estates exactly equally among their children. In contrast, intra vivos gifts are usually unequal. These findings challenge the validity of existing theories regarding the determination of...

We study the interaction between productive investment and persuasion activities in a principal-agent setting with strategic disclosure. In an attempt to persuade the principal, the agent diverts substantial resources from productive activities to information acquisition for persuasion, even...

In the United States, more than two-thirds of decedents with multichild families divide their estates exactly equally among their children. In contrast, gifts given before death are usually unequal. These findings challenge the validity of existing theories regarding the determination of...

The paper characterizes both the optimal (revenue-maximizing) and constrained-efficient (surplus maximizing) mechanisms for allocating a good to buyers who face budget constraints. With unequal budgets, this problem is that of asymmetric optimal mechanism design. Both the optimal and efficient...

We study a multi-unit auction environment similar to eBay. Sellers, each with a single unit of a homogenous good, set reserve prices at their own independent second-price auctions. Each buyer has a private value for the good and wishes to acquire a single unit. Buyers can bid as often as they...

This paper focuses on implementation issues in environments where it may be costly for the players to send certain messages. We develop an approach allowing to characterize the set of implementable outcomes in such environments, and then apply it to derive optimal mechanisms. The key elements of...