I show that the effect of heterogeneity on contest investments depends on the structure of the competition, which implies that heterogeneity matters for optimal contest design. This insight helps to explain empirical evidence on the comparison of different contest structures.

This study presents results of the validation of an ultra-short survey measure of patience included in the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Survey responses predict intertemporal choice behavior in incentive-compatible decisions in a representative sample of the German adult population.

We investigate the effect of central bank independence on stock market returns in emerging economies. We find evidence for a positive overall effect, but economic independence of the central bank appears to be more relevant than political independence.

Using cross-country data, we find evidence for a significant interaction effect between democracy and equality in determining the quality of growth-promoting institutions like rule of law. Democracy is associated with better rule of law when inequality is lower.

This note estimates the causal effect of life expectancy on per capita income and tests the hypothesis of a non-monotonic effect using finite mixture models. The results confirm the hypothesis and qualify recent evidence for a negative effect by Acemoglu and Johnson (2007).

Abstract This study presents results of the validation of an ultra-short survey measure of patience included in the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Survey responses predict intertemporal choice behavior in incentive-compatible decisions in a representative sample of the German adult population.