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作者：Mitra, Anirban; Mitra, Shabana
作者单位：University of Oslo; Indian Institute of Management (IIM System); Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
摘要：We investigate how electoral competition affects the income distribution in society. We utilise a standard probabilistic voting setup where parties compete at two stages. Our model delivers that greater electoral competition in a district results in equalisation of incomes therein. We check for these relationships using data from Indian national elections which are combined with consumption expenditure data rounds from the National Sample Survey Organization (1987-8 and 2004-5) to yield a dist...
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作者：Pavoni, Nicola; Yazici, Hakki
作者单位：Bocconi University; Bocconi University; Sabanci University
摘要：We study optimal taxation of savings in an economy where agents face self-control problems and the severity of these problems possibly depends on age. Focusing on quasi-hyperbolic discounting, we show that if agents' ability to self-control increases concavely with age, then savings should be subsidised and the subsidy should decrease with age. Quantitatively, we find that the optimal subsidies in our calibrated model with age-dependent self-control are much larger than those implied by models...
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作者：Cramton, Peter; Ockenfels, Axel
作者单位：University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; University of Cologne
摘要：The 2010 German 4G spectrum auction was an unusually large simultaneous ascending multi-band auction. The bidding was competitive and the final assignment was efficient. However, our analysis suggests that independent and rational bidders had an opportunity to coordinate implicitly on a low-revenue outcome. Coordination was difficult, though, because of a multiplicity of focal points. One important focal point involved post-auction negotiations, posing risks to bidders and the auctioneer. We a...
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作者：Di Tillio, Alfredo; Ottaviani, Marco; Sorensen, Peter Norman
作者单位：Bocconi University; University of Copenhagen
摘要：We investigate the impact of conflicts of interests on randomised controlled trials in a game-theoretic framework. A researcher seeks to persuade an evaluator that the causal effect of a treatment outweighs its cost, to justify acceptance. The researcher can use private information to manipulate the experiment in three alternative ways: (i) sampling subjects based on their treatment effect, (ii) assigning subjects to treatment based on their baseline outcome, or (iii) selectively reporting exp...
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作者：Greve, Thomas; Pollitt, Michael G.
作者单位：University of Cambridge
摘要：We present an auction design to be used in the area of procurement that allows the length of the regulatory funding period to be determined via an auction. It allows bidders to submit bids against a payment for periods of varying lengths, say 25 and 30 years, instead of a fixed 20-year contract. This can be desirable for securing more favourable terms in financial markets. It yields efficiency and delivers the optimal length of contract, defined as where social value is maximised. The auction ...
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作者：Harrington, Joseph E., Jr.; Wei, Yanhao
作者单位：University of Pennsylvania; University of Southern California
摘要：Estimates of average cartel duration and the annual probability of cartel death are based on data for discovered cartels. It is recognised that these estimates could be biased because the population of discovered cartels may not be a representative sample of the latent population of cartels. This article constructs a birth-death-discovery process to investigate the source and direction of possible biases. Bayesian inference is used to provide bounds on the extent of the bias and deliver an imp...
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作者：Bryson, Alex; MacKerron, George
作者单位：University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; University of Sussex
摘要：Using a new data source permitting individuals to record their well-being via a smartphone, we explore within-person variance in individuals' well-being measured momentarily at random points in time. We find paid work is ranked lower than any of the other 39 activities individuals can report engaging in, with the exception of being sick in bed. Precisely how unhappy one is while working varies significantly with where you work; whether you are combining work with other activities; whether you ...
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作者：Letzler, Robert; Sandler, Ryan; Jaroszewicz, Ania; Knowles, Isaac; Olson, Luke M.
作者单位：Carnegie Mellon University; Indiana University System; Indiana University Bloomington
摘要：We study defaults in a novel setting where the optimal choice is clear: the decision to escape from fraud. A government lawsuit created a natural experiment whereby some consumers enrolled in a fraudulent subscription programme were cancelled by default, while others had to cancel actively. We find that cancelling subscriptions by default increased cancellations to 99.8%, 63.4 percentage points more than requiring active cancellation. We also find that consumers residing in poorer, less-educat...
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作者：Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M.; Moeller, Kristoffer; Waights, Sevrin; Wendland, Nicolai
作者单位：Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; Technical University of Darmstadt; Technical University of Berlin
摘要：We develop a simple theory of the conservation area designation process in which we postulate that the level of designation is chosen to comply with interests of local homeowners. Conservation areas provide benefits to local homeowners by reducing uncertainty regarding the future of their area. The restrictions, however, impose a cost by limiting the degree to which properties can be altered. In line with our model predictions we find that an increase in preferences for historic character by t...
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作者：Weber, Matthias; Schram, Arthur
作者单位：Bank of Lithuania; Vilnius University; University of Amsterdam; European University Institute
摘要：Under full rationality, a labour market tax levied on employers and a corresponding income tax levied on employees are equivalent. With boundedly rational agents, this equivalence is no longer obvious. In a real-effort experiment, we study the effects of these taxes on preferences concerning the size of the public sector, subjective well-being, labour supply and on-the-job performance. Our findings suggest that employer-side taxes induce preferences for a larger public sector. Subjective well-...
