Showing 1 - 10 of 244
In order to credibly sell legitimate children to their spouse, women must forego more attractive mating opportunities. This paper derives the implications of this observation for the pattern of matching in marriage markets, the dynamics of human capital accumulation, and the evolution of the...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010271277
Much of the political economy analysis of reform focuses on the conflict of interest between groups that stand to gain or lose from the competing policy proposals. In reality, there is also a lot of disagreement about the working of the policy: in addition to conflicting interests, conflicting...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010271321
Political opposition to technical change is not a new phenomenon; at the plant level, organised labour has often resisted implementation of new technologies, as is exemplified by the Luddites in the nineteenth century, the dockers' strikes against the use of containers in Britain in the early...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010273279
We develop a theory of endogenous political entrenchment in a simple two-party dynamic model of income redistribution with probabilistic voting. A partially self-interested left-wing party may implement (entrenchment) policies reducing the income of its own constituency, the lower class, in...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010282469
We study the influence of social networks on labor market transitions. We develop the first model where social ties and job status coevolve through time. Our key assumption is that the probability of formation of a new tie is greater between two employed individuals than between an employed and...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010261965
If redistribution is distortionary, and if the income of skilled workers is due to knowledgeintensive activities and depends positively on intellectual property, a social planner which cares about income distribution may in principle want to use a reduction in Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010262329
In this paper, we analyze the extent to which market forces create an incentive for cloning human beings. We show that a market for cloning arises if a large enough fraction of the clone?s income can be appropriated by its model. Only people with the highest ability are cloned, while people at...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010262438
This paper studies a model of the distribution of income under bounded needs. Utility derived from any given good reaches a bliss point at a finite consumption level of that good. On the other hand, introducing new varieties always increases utility. It is assumed that each variety is owned by a...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010262477
This paper studies how an institution such as markets affects the evolution of mankind. My key point is that the forces of natural selection are made weaker because trade allows people to specialize in those activities where they are strong, and to offset their weaknesses by purchasing adequate...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010262480
I study a model where Information Technology, while typically increasing overall inequality, is likely to harm some people at intermediate and high levels of the distribution of income but to benefit people at the bottom. Within a given occupation it may harm some workers while benefitting...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010262486