While ordinal complementarity is more general than cardinal complementarity, the corresponding global sufficient conditions placed on the primitives of a constrained optimization problem are generally not comparable. We explore this issue in detail for the special case of a Cournot firm. We...

The literature on supermodular optimization and games is surveyed from the perspective of potential users in economics. This methodology provides a new approach for comparative statics based only on critical assumptions, and allows a general analysis of games with strategic complementarities....

Welfare in a two-product Cournot oligopoly is shown to increase (decrease) with an increase in correlation between unit costs when the outputs complement (substitute) in demand. A more qualified correlation structure is required for the result to apply in a three-product Cournot oligopoly when...

Under weak contract enforcement the trading parties' trust, defined as their belief in other's trustworthiness, appears important for realizing gains from trade. In contrast, under strong contract enforcement beliefs about other's trustworthiness appear less important, suggesting that trust and...

Under weak contract enforcement the trading parties’ trust, defined as their belief in other’s trustworthiness, appears important for realizing gains from trade. In contrast, under strong contract enforcement beliefs about other’s trustworthiness appear less important, suggesting that...

Agreements are rarely fully enforceable, exposing trading parties to some risk of exploitation. In such circumstances, trust-defined as the belief in the trustworthiness of others-seems important for realizing gains from trade. This paper explores an unstudied question: whether trust is a...