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SSRN Research Paper Series
The Social Science Research Network’s Research Paper Series includes working papers produced by Stanford GSB the Rock Center.
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Computationally Feasible Bounds For Partially Observed Markov Decision Processes
A partially observed Markov decision process (POMDP) is a sequential decision problem where information concerning parameters of interest is incomplete, and possible actions include sampling, surveying, or otherwise collecting additional…
A Consumer Choice Health Plan For the 1990s: Cost and Budget Estimates and Supporting Detail
Abstract not available.
Coordination and the Potential for Self-Sacrifice
An extension of games is proposed, where players are given the option of incurring costs. This extension allows players to signal their intended strategy in the original game. We apply the logic of forwards and backwards induction, without…
Delegation as Commitment: The Case of Income Tax Audits
We study the value of delegating authority over income tax audit policy, arising from incompleteness of contracts. Suppose a utilitarian government’s ability to commit is limited to aggregate dimensions of its audit policy, as publicly verifiable…
Direct Financing, Intermediation and Credit Rationing
The coexistence of direct financing and intermediation is shown in a model with asymmetrically informed borrowers and lenders. Using a game theoretic approach we first prove the existence of optimal contracts between (a) firms and intermediaries…
Further Distribution Results for Correlation Coefficients and F Tests in Normal Samples
Fisher’s finite sample distribution results for squared multiple correlation coefficients and F tests are extended to situations in which the observations are drawn from independent, but not necessarily identical, normal samples. This…
Going Public
One explanation for the empirically observed underpricing of new issues is the existence of an adverse selection problem faced by uninformed investors in the presence of informed investors. Rather than excluding informed investors from initial…
Implementation via Augmented Revelation Mechanisms
Consider the problem of Bayesian implementation, i.e., of constructing mechanisms with the property that all equilibrium outcomes agree with a given choice rule. We show that a general procedure is to start with an incentive compatible…
Improving Channel Coordination through Franchising
In this paper, we explore the role of franchising arrangements in improving the coordination between channel members. In particular we focus on two elements of the franchising contract, namely, the royalty structure and the monitoring technology…
Information Aggregation in an Experimental Market
Although the rational expectations hypothesis is widely applied in asset pricing models with differentally informed traders, the extent to which markets actually aggregate and transmit information is an open question. In ths study we report the…
Is Negative Voting an Artifact?
Negative voting occurs when voters respond more strongly to political actions or outcomes they oppose than to comparable actions or outcomes they favor. This paper discusses the possibility that negative voting is an artifact. We develop a simple…
Longer Trading Periods in the Townsend Turnpike Model
Abstract not available.
A Model Of Optimal Equilibrium Growth
Our aim in these notes is to exposit a model of optimal equilibrium growth. The model is strictly in the Solow tradition. The model has two features which distinguish it from most other work on the subject. These are, first, that the model is…
Modeling the Role of Risk-Adjusted Utility in the Diffusion of Innovation
The authors present a diffusion model in which individual consumers adopt an innovation if its risk-adjusted utility exceeds a reservation utility threshold. This threshold may be a function of innovativeness and existing product holdings. As the…
Monopoly Profits Under Free Entry With Very Impatient Players
This paper studies markets with free entry and costless capacity in which firms are allowed to set their prices (or quantities) after observing the capacities of other firms. It finds that in these markets with free entry, no sunk costs, no entry…
Nash Equilibria and Collusive Effects through Price Dispersion in Duopolies
In this paper we analyze pricing strategies of firms that compete for the demand of an assortment of goods. In particular, we model the competition between two symmetric firms in a market that consists of two types of consumers, each of which may…
Nearly Redundant Parameters and Measures of Persistence in Economic Time Series
Many economic time series are nonstationary, apparently exhibiting persistent cycles around a smoothly growing trend. First-differencing removes the nonstationarity, but creates another problem: near parameter redundancy. This paper explores the…
A Note on Exact Solution of Partially Observed Markov Decision Processes
This note points out an error in the only published algorithm for exactsolution of partially observed Markov decision processes. The major insights and contributions of the original work remain intact, and the error can be remedied, albeit at…