We model financial innovations such as Exchange-Traded Funds, smart beta products, and many index-based vehicles as composite securities (CSs) that facilitate trading the common factors in assets' liquidation values. Through accessing a larger basket of assets in endogenously chosen proportions,...

We survey aspects of the intellectual development of the economics of information from the 1970s to today. We focus here on models where information is communicated indirectly through actions. Basic results, such as the failure of the fundamental theorems of welfare economics, the non-existence...

The paper surveys the recent work on economics of information with endogenous information structures where individuals can directly communicate information with each other. We consider the theoretical work on cheap talk, Bayesian persuasion, and information design, and review the implications of...

We use minute-by-minute Bloomberg online status microdata during 2017-2021 to directly study how hard and soft information collection affects equity analyst performance. Collection of hard information, proxied by office workday length, is positively associated with the quantity and timeliness of...

This article explores subjects in optimal income taxation characterized by recent research interest, practical importance in light of concerns about inequality, potential for misunderstanding, and prospects for advancement. Throughout, the analysis highlights paths for further investigation....

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought renewed attention to rationing guidelines for scarce medical resources. This paper describes the benefits of using a reserve system over a priority system in operationalizing compromises between certain ethical goals. In the last two years, more than a dozen...

The strength of contract enforcement determines how firms source inputs and organize production. Using microdata on Indian manufacturing plants, we show that production and sourcing decisions appear systematically distorted in states with weaker enforcement. Specifically, we document that in...