The social context can have a large impact on economic decisions. The theoretical challenge is to formulate a model that encompasses both social and economic decisions in a meaningful manner. We discuss the incorporation of social context into neoclassical economic models using social...

We analyze conditions under which candidates' reputations may affect voters' beliefs over what policy will be implemented by the winning candidate of an election. We develop a model of repeated elections with complete information in which candidates are purely ideological. We analyze an...

Optimal communication to a group often entails a trade-off between precision of information conveyed and common understanding (or approximate common knowledge) of the information within the group. We argue that an understanding of this trade-off is central in many contexts, including central...

We consider the role of the common prior for robust implementation in an environment with interdependent values. Specifically, we investigate a model of public good provision which allows for negative and positive informational externalities. In the corresponding direct mechanism, the agents'...