Game theory modeling of the evolution of property rights has paid little attention to the issues of formalization of property rights in land. In developing economies where customary legal arrangements are pervasive, formalization of these rights can play a crucial step in unlocking the growth...

Many scholars of law and economics have taken an interest in game theory. This article, part of a symposium on new developments in law and literature, focuses on the narrative structures of the most standard of the game theory names: Prisoners’ Dilemma, Battle of the Sexes, Chicken, and Stag...

We use economic experiments to examine the nature of relational trading under a menu of incomplete contracts ranging from the repeat purchase mechanism of Klein and Leffler (1981) to highly incomplete contracts that are completely unenforceable by third-parties. Our results suggest that, with...

A model of externalities with sequential location choice is developed. The first mover decides on location before it knows the identity of the second mover. Joint location leads to a negative externality. The court, having limited information, allocates property rights over the externality based...

On the doctrinal surface, there is a deep divide between common and continental law when it comes to the origin of contractual obligations. Under continental law, in principle a unilateral promise suffices. Common law by contrast requires consideration. When it comes to deciding cases, the...

I study a multilateral bargaining game where committee members invest in a common project prior to redistributing the total value of production. The game corresponds to a Baron and Ferejohn (1989) legislative bargaining model preceded by a production stage similar to the voluntary contribution...

Synergies in production are ubiquitous in shared production processes such as those involving individuals within a team, departments within a firm, or industries within a country. Using a weakest link game with ex post bargaining to redistribute the joint surplus, we study a situation in which...

We use a power-to-resist game to find out the effects of individuals' judgments about a proposer's selection procedure on the willingness to offer resistance against proposed outcomes. In the experiment, one individual is selected on the grounds of a particular procedure. This individual is...

This paper develops a theory of the allocation of authority between two parties that produce impure public goods. We show that the optimal allocation depends on technological factors, the parties' valuations of the goods produced, and the degree of impurity of these goods. When the degree of...

We conduct an artefactual field experiment to compare the individual preferences and propensity to cooperate of three pools of subjects: Undergraduate students, temporary workers and permanent workers. We find that students are more selfish and contribute less than workers. Temporary and...