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作者：Acemoglu, Daron; Aghion, Philippe; Lelarge, Claire; Van Reenen, John; Zilibotti, Fabrizio
作者单位：Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Harvard University; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; University of Zurich
摘要：This paper analyzes the relationship between the diffusion of new technologies and the decentralization of firms. Centralized control relies on the information of the principal, which we equate with publicly available information. Decentralized control, on the other hand, delegates authority to a manager with superior information. However, the manager can use his informational advantage to make choices that are not in the best interest of the principal. As the available public information abou...
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作者：Coate, Stephen; Knight, Brian
作者单位：Cornell University; Brown University
摘要：This paper investigates the problem of optimal districting in the context of a simple model of legislative elections. In the model, districting. matters because it determines the seat-vote curve, which describes the relationship between seats and votes. The paper first characterizes the optimal seat-vote curve and shows that, under a weak condition, there exist districtings that generate this ideal relationship. The paper then develops an empirical methodology for computing seat-vote curves an...
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作者：Bertrand, Marianne; Djankov, Simeon; Hanna, Rema; Mullainathan, Sendhil
作者单位：University of Chicago; National Bureau of Economic Research; Center for Economic & Policy Research (CEPR); IZA Institute Labor Economics; New York University; Harvard University; National Bureau of Economic Research
摘要：We study the allocation of driver's licenses in India by randomly assigning applicants to one of three groups: bonus (offered a bonus for obtaining a license quickly), lesson (offered free driving lessons), or comparison. Both the bonus and lesson groups are more likely to obtain licenses. However, bonus group members are more likely to make extralegal payments and to obtain licenses without knowing how to drive. All extralegal payments happen through private intermediaries (agents). An audit ...
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作者：Bloom, Nicholas; Van Reenen, John
作者单位：University of Cambridge; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science
摘要：We use an innovative survey tool to collect management practice data from 732 medium-sized firms in the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. These measures of managerial practice are strongly associated with firm-level productivity, profitability, Tobin's Q, and survival rates. Management practices also display significant cross-country differences, with U.S. firms on average better managed than European firms, and significant within-country differences, with a long tail of e...
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作者：Besley, Timothy; Preston, Ian
作者单位：University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; University of London; University College London
摘要：This paper develops an approach to studying how bias in favor of one party due to the pattern of electoral districting affects policy choice. We tie a commonly used measure of electoral bias to the theory of party competition and show how this affects party strategy in theory. The usefulness of the approach is illustrated using data on local government in England. The results suggest that reducing electoral bias leads parties to moderate their policies.
