There is much disagreement about the extent to which financial incentives motivate study participants. We elicit preferences for being paid for completing a survey, including a one-in-twenty chance of winning a $100 electronic gift card, a guaranteed electronic gift card with the same expected...

Coordination problems are ubiquitous in social and economic life. Political mass demonstrations, the decision whether to join a speculative currency attack, investment in a risky venture, and capital flight from a particular country are all characterized by coordination problems. Furthermore,...

When Russia transitioned to a democratic institutional system in 1991, some of its regions remained under control of old Communist Party elites, while some fell into the hands of political newcomers (“new elites”). Using a new panel dataset spanning 71 of the Russian regions over the years...