This article looks at two features of globalization, namely, productivity improvements and falling trade costs, and explores their effect on welfare in a monopolistic competition model with heterogenous firms and technological asymmetries. Contrary to received wisdom, and for reasons different...

This reply shows that both market structure and the form of preferences affect the argument by R. Falvey (1979) on ad valorem tariffs and the quality of imports. It does not depend on whether or not consumers are restricted to purchasing only one variety. Copyright 1992 by Economics Department...

Using maximum likelihood techniques and monthly panel data we solve and estimate an explicitly dynamic model of criminal behavior where current criminal activity impacts future labor market outcomes. We show that the threat of future adverse effects in the labor market when arrested acts as a...

The product-line decision of a monopolist is analyzed and used to study the effect of specific and ad valorem taxes on the entire product line. While specific taxes (or quotas) raise average quality, ad valorem taxes may not. The welfare consequences of such policies when the monopolist is a...

This paper questions the presumption that transferable licenses are worth more and result in higher welfare. We show that the price of a transferable license may be lower than that of its nontransferable counterpart if the underlying quota is not very severe. However, transferability is...

Why are higher quality niches seen as intrinsically more profitable in business circles? Why do high quality products sometimes have a low real price, whereas it is unusual to see low quality products with high real prices? Can markets have quality differentiation as well as quality bunching?...