Information goods are essentially public goods as soon as they are made available in digital form on the Internet. Therefore, firms (or providers) of informations goods are forced to consider alternative payment schemes to eliminate the free rider problem. The present paper introduces a...

Within a production theoretic framework, this paper considers an axiomatic approach to benchmark selection. It is shown that two simple and weak axioms: efficiency and comprehensive monotonicity characterize a natural family of benchmarks which typically becomes unique. Further axioms are added...

In the present paper, the existence of maximal elements for binary relations are studied. Generalized lexicographic relations are introduced, and some results on existence of maximal elements are provided. A simple example shows that economies with "lexicographic consumers" need not have...

We develop a method for estimation of price reactions using unit value data which exploits the implicit links between quantity and unit value choices. This allows us to combine appealing Engel curve specifications with a model of unit value determination in a way which is consistent with demand...

Several recent papers have concluded that precautionary saving motives are needed to reconcile data on lifetime patterns of consumption and income with a standard optimising model. In this paper we contest that we necessarily need a precautionary motive and we show that if we take consumption to...

less skilled workers has deteriorated, either through their ability to secure jobs and/or their ability to earn a decent wage. Some have linked this decline to modern computing technologies. This paper surveys the evidence on the effects of technical change on skills, wages and employment by...

This chapter reviews developments to improve on the poor performance of the standard GMM estimator for highly autoregressive panel series. It considers the use of the "system" GMM estimator that relies on relatively mild restrictions on the initial condition process. This system GMM estimator...