Hundreds of independent, local, quasi-charitable microcredit societies, or "loan funds," were lending to as many as 20% of Irish households in the mid-nineteenth century. Monitored by a central regulatory authority, funds in the system were successful in mitigating informational, moral hazard...

Ireland's loan funds were a long lived, self-sustaining, large-scale microcredit organization that made millions of loans, without collateral, to the poor. We examine the life-cycle of this institution and show how the loan funds responded to their economic environment in ways that benefitted...

We introduce the Irish loan funds, a set of independent but regulated microcredit societies, which in the mid-nineteenth century were lending to 20% of Irish households. Their institutional evolution is traced from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. This system was remarkably successful...

Using data on Irish loan funds, a nineteenth-century quasi-bank system, we explore how the capital structure affects managerial agency to impact non-interest expenses. These organizations had no equity-holders and were financed by deposits and 'capital', comprising donations and accumulated...

What is the effect of national antitrust policies in a world with international trade? Traditionally, economic analysis of mergers has assumed a closed economy, which—as we show in this paper—may lead to errant policy in an open economy. We use a very simple model to highlight some key...

Brand-name pharmaceutical firms in Canada, upon the expiry of their patent, always license a "pseudo- generic" firm to compete directly against generic firms. This pseudo-generic is identical to the brand-name product, but is marketed as a generic, with the pseudo-generic firm receiving a...