Edlund and Korn [2002] (EK) proposed that prostitutes are well paid and that the wage premium reflects foregone marriage market opportunities. However, studies of street prostitution in the U.S. have revealed only modest wages and considerable risks of disease and violence, casting doubt on...

Dani Rodrik (2008) offers a provocative argument for policies that seek to maintain an "undervalued" exchange rate in order to promote economic growth. The key to his argument is the empirical evidence that he presents, indicating correlation of his measure of undervaluation with economic growth...

I present a generalization of the standard (full-information) model of state- dependent pricing in which decisions about when to review a firm's existing price must be made on the basis of imprecise awareness of current market con- ditions. The imperfect information is endogenized using a...

Peter DeMarzo, Ilan Kremer and Andrzej Skrzypacz (2005, henceforth DKS) analyzed auctions in which bidders compete in securities. They show that a steeper security leads to a higher expected revenue for the seller, and also use this to establish the revenue ranking between standard auctions. In...

Street vice (anonymous prostitution, gambling, and the sale of illicit drugs) is spatially concentrated, confined largely to black neighborhoods in central cities, even though demand is quite evenly distributed throughout the general population. We show how this pattern can arise through the...

This is a formal analysis of how homeless shelters should operate: in particular, what quality of accommodations they should provide and how they should help their residents in securing conventional housing. I also examine timing. The results extend to cover optimal police response to street...