We consider a rent-seeking contest of the kind introduced by Tullock (1980) in which two players compete for a monopoly rent. We extend the contest by requiring that if a player puts forward an effort, his expenditures must be larger than or equal to some minimum level. We show that, depending...

The authors consider a rent-seeking contest of the kind introduced by Tullock (1980) in which two players compete for a monopoly rent. They extend the contest by requiring that if a player puts forward an effort, his expenditures must be larger than or equal to some minimum level. The authors...

Interdependent preferences generally imply Pareto inefficiency. For a general demand system, we provide a characterization of Pareto improvements. For a prominent parametric specification, the Linear Expenditure System, we characterize in detail the welfare loss associated with interdependent...

We investigate the impact of advertising in a static differentiated duopoly. First, we consider the Nash equilibrium if firms compete with both prices and advertising. Second, we examine the Nash equilibrium if firms only compete in prices and do not advertise. We characterize the circumstances...

A general principal-agent problem with two possible outputs, high or low is considered. The agent's utility function is additively separable in wealth and effort. It is shown that under the optimal contract, the agent should pay a penalty fee to the principal if the low output occurs.

We investigate the impact of advertising in a simple static differentiated duopoly model. First, we consider the Nash equilibrium of the situation in which the duopolistic firms compete simultaneously with two instruments, i.e. the prices and the advertising expenditures. Second, we examine the...