I examine an environment where advertisers can "seed" word-of-mouth advertising by providing initial information about a product to specific users of a social network. Discussion over a social network generates spillover effects for firms when consumers can use the social network to inform each...

I develop a theoretical framework for studying viral communications through a principal agent set-up. The principal derives wealth from a signal in a society while agents in the society talk to each other. A society is likely to create a viral bubble if there is a short loop of positive...

We characterize an optimal redistributive pension scheme when individuals face temptation, but can exert costly self-control (as in Gul & Pesendorfer, 2001; 2004). Our results challenge the common wisdom that forced savings tend to reduce individuals' mental cost of self-control. In our model,...

We examine how the introduction of self-control preferences influences the trade-off between two fundamental components of a public pension system: the contribution rate and its degree of redistribution. The pension regime affects individuals' welfare by altering how yielding to temptation (i.e....

Empirical findings suggest a positive correlation between inequality and social immobility, a phenomenon coined the Gatsby curve. However, complete explanations of the phenomenon have not yet been proposed. This paper answers two questions: What are Gatsby curves? When do they exist? We build a...