We analyse the optimality of information revelation of hidden attributes of “credence goods” via alternative labelling procedures. When consumers are heterogeneous in their willingness to pay for the hidden attribute, producers can either self-label their products, or have them certified by...

In their pioneering work on corruption, Shleifer and Vishny (1993) find that a centralized bureaucracy results in lower bribes. Our paper extends the analysis to economies with formal and informal sectors. When corrupt officials operate in both sectors, bureaucratic centralization is beneficial...

In less developed countries where an industrial licensing policy governs the entry of new firms, and when government officials awarding these licenses are corrupt, an incumbent firm may deter entry by bribing the official to deny the license. The paper demonstrates that such bribery can lead to...

For certain products, consumers' misinformation about quality is more endemic at intermediate levels of the quality spectrum rather than at the top or the bottom levels of quality. Using an oligopoly model of vertical product differentiation with three quality levels - green, natural, and brown...

We show that tax evaders can respond to a tax amnesty, even if enforcement activities do not change, if it is timed to coincide with liberalization and rising incomes. The success of the amnesty, in terms of its effect on tax revenue and welfare, depends on the distribution of the gains from...