The identical agent, identical good Bertrand game is associated with prices at marginal cost - the Bertrand Paradox. If consumers make occasional mistakes I show that the standard Bertrand game gives rise to positive profits and prices above marginal cost. Some firms charge low prices to capture...

What impact does a finance education have on the behaviors of individuals? Experiments of an investment game are conducted. In it, a wealth-creating investment decision is made. The recipient selects how much to return. This experiment is used to assess the willingness to make trusting and...

Do those who prefer economic freedom behave differently than those who prefer public intervention to perceived problems? Experiments of the Trust Game and Dictator Game are employed to measure an individual's behavior. Additionally, a quiz assessing an individual's preference for private...

We investigate the impact of the consolidation of local agencies publicly-providing services, focusing on the prosecution of crime. In many states in the U.S. prosecution is a county office with a chief prosecutor directing decisions. Other states merge counties into prosecutorial districts. We...

The United States is unique in that most states select their prosecutors using popular election. An interesting feature of prosecutor elections is that the pool of potential challengers to an incumbent comes primarily from subordinates within the office. We develop a signaling model that...

We ask whether a scandal in a university's athletics department affects the quality of the incoming, first-year student body. To do so, we evaluate the child sex abuse scandal at Penn State University in 2011. The violations involved a former employee with the crimes occurring a decade prior....

We analyze the impact of prosecutor elections on case backlogs. Previous evidence has shown that re-election pressures result in more cases going to trial. Since trials require time and resources, one can expect an effect on the queue. Two competing theories are developed: one of signaling...