Marginal propensity to consume food out of food stamps in the US is higher than that out ofcash income. We explain this in terms of differential impact of cash income and in-kindtransfers on intra-household division of cash. We develop a Cournot model of a multi-personhousehold where food...

We examine the implications of an income redistribution from men to women for the welfare ofmothers and their children. We develop a Cournot model of a two-person household whereagents provide market labor and allocate their spending between a private consumption good andgoods for children. We...

We examine the status of the maximization hypothesis in the positive economic theory ofrational choice. We argue that, contrary to a common belief, the maximization hypothesisdoes not play any role in large areas of positive rational choice theory. In contexts where itdoes, it is not logically...

This paper analyzes the problem of deriving the law of supply from plausible restrictions onobserved input-output choices of a competitive firm, when the firm makes random input-outputdecisions. It models such random production behavior in terms of a stochastic supply function,and introduces a...

We consider rent-seeking contests between and within two equal-sized groups. Each group adopts one of three sequences: first internal then external contest, first external then internal contest, and simultaneous internal and external contests. Groups cannot unilaterally postpone a contest...

We examine how inequality in the endowment of secure wealth, mediated through voluntary public communities, each internally differentiated into rich, intermediate and poor segments, contest one another for the division of some rent. Any rent accruing to a community is distributed internally...

Charitable giving has increasingly become ‘tough love’ - it has come to require recipients to undertake costly prior action. A common justification is that of greater efficiency: willingness to undertake costly actions signals greater productivity from transfers. However, there is a...

In developing societies, social norms typically ascribe differential weights to paternal, maternal and communal (or state) contributions to children’s expenses. Individuals internalize these valuations. I examine a Cournot model of voluntary contribution to children’s goods in a twoadult...

We model the consequences of parental control over choice of wives for sons, for parental incentives to educate daughters, when the marriage market exhibits competitive dowry payments and altruistic but paternalistic parents benefit from having married sons live with them. By choosing uneducated...

Lenders condition future loans on some index of past performance. Typically, banks condition future loans on repayments of earlier obligations while international organizations condition future loans on the implementation of some policy conditions. We build an agency model that accounts for...