Goods are often allocated publically by means of queuing processes in developing countries. In such situations, which group of citizens should a corrupt government official favor? In addition, what should be the basis for this favoritism? To the best of our knowledge, these salient questions...

Goods are often allocated publically by means of queuing processes in developing countries. In such situations, which group of citizens should a corrupt government official favor? In addition, what should be the basis for this favoritism? To the best of our knowledge, these salient questions...

In many arranged marriage contexts, a mediator assists the bride and the groom's families in determining the actual amount of the dowry. Although social scientists in general and economists in particular have studied many aspects of dowries, to the best of our knowledge, the nature of the...

Individuals wishing to get married have made increasing use of matchmakers. This notwithstanding, economists have paid scant attention to the strategies employed by matchmakers and to the likelihood of success arising from the use of these strategies. Consequently, we first specify a...

Individuals wishing to get married have made increasing use of matchmakers. This notwithstanding, economists have paid scant attention to the strategies employed by matchmakers and to the likelihood of success arising from the use of these strategies. Consequently, we first specify a “local”...

In many arranged marriage contexts, a mediator assists the bride and the groom's families in determining the actual amount of the dowry. Although social scientists in general and economists in particular have studied many aspects of dowries, to the best of our knowledge, the nature of the...

The number of times a crop can be harvested on a cleared parcel of forest land (CPFL) before this land must be fallowed is dependent on the decision to use or not to use fertilizers to enhance soil fertility. As such, we first construct a theoretical model of fertilizer use by a swidden...

In times of acute scarcity, demand for a commodity greatly exceeds its supply. In such situations, queuing mechanisms are frequently used to allocate scarce goods to citizens. However, inordinately long queues lead to excessive wait times and this can lead to violence. As such, the general...

We analyze two versions of a simple queuing model of resource allocation in which an impatient citizen of a transition economy or a developing country wishes to purchase a scarce good, namely, bread. In the first version of the model, our citizen must pay a bribe to obtain bread immediately from...

What is the relationship between the arrival rate of tourists at a transport providing firm's depot and the long run expected wait time experienced by individual tourists in this depot? We use a renewal theoretic framework in this note to answer this question. Our analysis yields two results....