This study considers the performance of countries at the Olympic Games as a public good and investigates different welfare optimal distributions of Olympic success. Firstly, it is argued that, at the national level, Olympic success (measured as the number of gold medals won) meets the two key...

In this paper, we show that standard measures used in the income inequality literature, the Lorenz curve and the associated Gini-index, can successfully be applied to the distribution of defence spending across countries. Secondly, we use the Samuelson rule to explain the distribution of...

This article identifies the circumstances under which the introduction of a basic income in an efficiency-wage economy leads to the desirable effects of lower unemployment, nondecreasing real incomes and profits, and an increase of secondary- versus primary-sector wages. The model analyses show...

In this paper we develop in two steps an argument which shows that superstar incomes exceed their marginal contribution to welfare. Firstly, we argue that superstar incomes can only exist if two conditions are met: there should indeed be talents differences, but also that the superstar is able...

Skill-biased technical change has occupied empirical economists for much of the 90s. However, the empirical literature has not progressed much beyond observing a positive correlation between technology indicators and demand shifts. Two hypotheses on the root causes of skill biases in technical...