Participation rules for Pareto-optimal clubs

This paper presents a unifying framework for the club participation problem using compensating variation measures of willingness-to-pay for membership. With more prospective club members than the equilibrium club population, Pareto-efficient participation rules are derived which depend upon whether or not individuals are assured of club access. Sale of lottery tickets offering club membership is shown to be a socially superior club participation allocation mechanism to sale of vouchers guaranteeing membership. The willingness-to-pay format readily encompasses the Buchanan case where all prospective club members are assured of club participation.     

Substitution and scale effects with and without homotheticity: An application to the intertemporal consumption decision

This paper derives a simple functional relation between substitution and scale concepts applicable to the theories of consumption and production. Its usefulness is illustrated by pulling together various results about the relation between savings and the interest rate.     

The World Bank and the persistence of poverty in poor countries

William Easterly has written a book about why extensive development assistance over the course of decades failed to alleviate poverty in poor countries. As an economist at the World Bank, Easterly observed how resources and advice provided by the Bank failed to improve the lives of the poor in poor countries. Easterly considers different explanations for the development failures. He places the blame for persistence of poverty in poor countries on governments and political elites, who use their poor as hostages to personally benefit from aid resources and debt relief.     

STOCHASTIC DOMINANCE AND TRUNCATED SAMPLE DATA

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the chance of making erroneous investment decisions can be reduced by applying stochastic dominance rules to truncated, rather than complete, sample data of rates of return. A simulation approach is used that assumes the rates of return follow the symmetric stable probability distribution. Using a variety of relationships between probability distributions of rates of return, it is demonstrated that sample truncation has the potential of significantly reducing sampling errors in the selection between alternative investments.     

THE PROCESS ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The concept of the PROCESS ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE (P.O.S.) represents an attempt to take current systems-oriented organizational theory one step further. The P.O.S. is viewed as an additional type of organizational structure, existing and operating in the organizational space, side by side and integratively with the formal and informal organizational structures. Its characteristics are identified and analyzed, and a multi-dimensional process framework designed to fit all organizations is outlined. The framework's contribution to our understanding of organizational structure and dynamics is indicated, as well as its potential usefulness as a tool for theory and practice.     

Variety seeking,market partitioning and segmentation

This paper ties together hierarchical partitioning of product markets, segmentation and variety seeking. Individual variety seeking is shown to be a more meaningful partitioning criterion than simple aggregate brand switching. Variety seeking is attribute dependent and thus should not be directly related to the consumer's socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Alternatively, the consumer's way of partitioning the market is suggested as a useful criterion for segmentation.     

Does longevity cause growth? A theoretical critique

This paper challenges conventional wisdom by arguing that greater longevity may have contributed less than previously thought for the significant accumulation of human capital during the transition from stagnation to growth. This is because when parents make choices over the quantity and quality of their offspring, greater longevity positively affects not only the returns to quality but also the returns to quantity. The theory suggests that in contrast to longevity, improvements in health are more likely to generate quantity quality tradeoff. Finally, it shows the importance of controlling for fertility when empirically examining the impact of children’s health on their education.