In this paper we develop a frictionless labor market model in which a firm invests in specific and general training that is neither complement nor substitute to specific training, while the worker invests only in specific training. We use this simple model to show that, contrary to Becker's...

This article studies a principal-agent problem with discrete outcome and effort level spaces. The principal and the agent are risk neutral and the latter is subject to limited liability. We consider the ratio between the first-best social welfare and the social welfare arising from the...

The present paper proposes a simple model for studying the interplay between self-enforcing cooperation and network formation. In particular, the model provides an answer to the ancient question of how cooperative behavior emerges in different communities and how the possibility of behaving...