Working Papers: Recent submissions

Now showing items 121-140 of 319

    • Strategic Basins of Attraction, the Path Dominance Core, and Network Formation Games 
      Page Jr., Frank H.; Wooders, Myrna (Vanderbilt University, 2006)
      Given the preferences of players and the rules governing network formation, what networks are likely to emerge and persist? And how do individuals and coalitions evaluate possible consequences of their actions in forming ...
    • Protests and Reputation 
      Buenrostro, Lucia; Dhillon, Amrita; Wooders, Myrna (Vanderbilt University, 2006)
      Protests take place for a variety of reasons. In this paper we focus on protests that have a well defined objective, that is in conflict with the objectives of the government. Hence the success or failure of a protest ...
    • The Economic Impact of Colleges and Universities 
      Siegfried, John J.; Sanderson, Allen R.; McHenry, Peter (Vanderbilt University, 2006)
      This essay describes methodological approaches and pitfalls common to studies of the economic impact of colleges and universities. Such studies often claim local benefits that imply annualized rates of return on local ...
    • Menu Costs and Markov Inflation:A Theoretical Revision with New Evidence 
      Ahlin, Christian; Shintani, Mototsugu (Vanderbilt University, 2006)
      We revisit a foundational theoretical paper in the menu cost literature, Sheshinski and Weiss (1983), one of the few to treat stochastic inflation with persistent deviations from trend. In contrast to the original finding, ...
    • The Undergraduate Origins of Ph.D. Economists 
      Siegfried, John J.; Stock, Wendy A. (Vanderbilt University, 2006)
      We document the types of undergraduate colleges and universities attended by those who earned a doctorate in economics from an American university from 1966 through 2003 and examine relationships between type of undergraduate ...
    • Relaxing Tax Competition through Public Good Differentiation 
      Zissimos, Ben; Wooders, Myrna H. (Vanderbilt University, 2006)
      This paper argues that, because governments are able to relax tax competition through public good differentiation, traditionally high-tax countries have continued to set taxes at a relatively high rate even as markets have ...
    • Strategic Basins of Attraction, the Farsighted Core, and Network Formation Games 
      Page, Frank H.; Wooders, Myrna H. (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      We make four main contributions to the theory of network formation. (1) The problem of network formation with farsighted agents can be formulated as an abstract network formation game. (2) In any farsighted network formation ...
    • Economic Theories of Settlement Bargaining 
      Daughety, Andrew F.; Reinganum, Jennifer F. (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      We briefly review two basic models of settlement bargaining based on concepts from information economics and game theory. We then discuss how these models have been generalized to address issues that arise when there are ...
    • Political Devolution without Fiscal Devolution 
      Hallett, Andrew Hughes (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      Using a conventional model, this paper examines the conditions under which it is possible to stabilise both the output (inflation) cycle and the budget deficit/surplus of a regional economy in a wider currency union. We ...
    • Measurement Theory and the Foundations of Utilitarianism 
      Weymark, John A. (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      This article reconsiders the Harsanyi-Sen debate concerning whether Harsanyi is justified in interpreting his Aggregation and Impartial Observer Theorems as providing axiomatizations of utilitarianism. Sen's criticism and ...
    • On the Long-Run Variance Ratio Test for a Unit Root 
      Cai, Ye; Shintani, Mototsugu (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      This paper investigates the effects of consistent and inconsistent long-run variance estimation on a unit root test based on the generalization of the von Neumann ratio. The results from the Monte Carlo experiments suggest ...
    • A Neighborhood-Level View of Riots, Property Values, and Population Loss: Cleveland 1950-1980 
      Collins, William J.; Smith, Fred H. (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      We undertake a case study of riots in the context of Cleveland's economic decline between 1950 and 1980. Our empirical perspective emphasizes differential changes in property values and population levels across census ...
    • Club Formation Games with Farsighted Agents 
      Page, Frank H.; Wooders, Myrna H. (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      Modeling club structures as bipartite networks, we formulate the problem of club formation as a game of network formation and identify those club networks that are stable if agents behave farsightedly in choosing their ...
    • The Labor Market for New Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics Ph.D.s 
      Stock, Wendy A.; Siegfried, John J. (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      This paper describes the characteristics and labor market experiences of new agricultural and natural resource (ANR) economics Ph.D.s, based on surveys of graduates in 1996-97 and 2001-02. An average of 185 new Ph.D.s in ...
    • Inefficient Trade Patterns: Excessive Trade, Cross-Hauling, and Dumping 
      Eden, Benjamin (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      I study an example of a competitive environment in which trade occurs in a sequential manner. In this example, a country with a stable demand may suffer from trade with a country with unstable demand, there may be too much ...
    • The Law of Demand in Tiebout Economies 
      Cartwright, Edward; Wooders, Myrna (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      We consider a general equilibrium local public goods economy in which agents have two distinguishing characteristics. The first is 'crowding type,' which is publicly observable and provides direct costs or benefits to the ...
    • Optimal Nonlinear Taxation of Income and Savingsin a Two Class Economy 
      Brett, Craig; Weymark, John A. (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      Optimal nonlinear taxation of income and savings is considered in a two-period model with two individuals who have additively separable preferences and who only differ in their skill levels. When the government can commit ...
    • Risky Arbitage, Asset Prices, and Externalities 
      Le Van, Cuong; Page, Frank H.; Wooders, Myrna H. (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      We introduce a no-risky-arbitrage price (NRAP) condition for asset market models allowing both unbounded short sales and externalities such as trading volume. We then demonstrate that the NRAP condition is sufficient for ...
    • Correlated Equilibrium and Behavioral Conformity 
      Cartwright, Edward; Wooders, Myrna (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      Is conformity amongst similar individuals consistent with self-interested behavior? We consider a model of incomplete information in which each player receives a signal, interpreted as an allocation to a role, and can make ...
    • Dynamic Club Formation with Coordination 
      Arnold, Tone; Wooders, Myrna (Vanderbilt University, 2005)
      We present a dynamic model of club formation in a society of identical people. Coalitions consisting of members of the same club can form for one period and coalition members can jointly deviate. The dynamic process is ...