Each market is related to a specific future event, for instance a presidential election, and contains a set of contracts with liquidation values pegged to the outcome of the future event. Contracts enter into circulation by the voluntary purchase from the IEM trading system of bundles of...

To the extent that election campaigns are simply advertising campaigns, they should not contribute directly to social welfare. Yet election campaigns are often very costly. Why do such costly campaigns arise as the norm? If they do not benefit society, should campaign expenditures be limited?...

If (often costly) election campaigns are simply advertising, they do not increase social welfare directly. Given this, should we limit campaign expenditures? We propose that costly campaigns can inform voters about the strength of candidates. This may increase welfare indirectly by helping...