"Unidirectional incentive compatibility" (with Daniel Krähmer) Journal of Economic Theory (2025). (doi: 10.1016/j.jet.2025.106051) (Open access)
Abstract: We study unidirectional incentive compatibility which incentivizes truth-telling by an agent who can misrepresent private information in one direction only. In the canonical setting with quasi-linear preferences and continuous, one-dimensional private information, we show that unidirectional incentive compatibility imposes no restrictions on the allocation rule and revenue equivalence fails. Moreover, unidirectional incentive compatibility holds if and only if the change of the agent's information rent respects a lower bound based on the allocation rule's monotone envelope. With strong interdependent values or countervailing incentives, optimal screening contracts differ from optimal bidirectionally incentive compatible contracts, possibly displaying non-monotone allocations.
working paper (April, 2024)
video presentation (May, 2024)
slides (December 2023)
"Consumer Consent Regulation" German Economic Review (2025). (doi: 10.1515/ger-2024-0124) (Open access)
Abstract: Consumer consent regulation is the cornerstone of modern data privacy regulation such as the European GDPR and the Californian CCPA. By ensuring that consumers can reject any harmful data collection, the regulation seems an effective tool for protecting consumers against price discrimination. By contrast, I provide the insight that consent regulation alone is ineffective because it provides firms with the loophole to commit to unattractive offers to dissenting consumers. Effective consent regulation therefore requires an explicit regulation of the firm’s dissent offer. This is informationally demanding; regulation that merely insists on “reasonable” (sequential rational) offers is ineffective.
lighter INSIGHTS version
working paper version (November 2024)
"Dynamic Screening with Liquidity Constraints" (with Daniel Krähmer) Economic Theory 79, 1421–1453, (2025). (doi:10.1007/s00199-024-01616-2) (Open Access)
former title: "Dynamic Screening with Verifiable Bankruptcy"
working paper version (2024.03.22)
"Insourcing Vs Outsourcing in Vertical Structure" (with Dongsoo Shin), Journal of Economics & Management Strategy 33(4), 481-769, (2024) (doi:10.1111/jems.12585) (Open Access)
working paper version (2022.11.03)
"The irrelevance of fee structures for certification" (with Martin Pollrich), American Economic Review: Insights 6 (1) 55-72, (2024) (doi: 10.1257/aeri.20220698)
working paper version (2022.11.03)
"Correlation-Savvy Sellers" RAND Journal of Economics 55(2), 266-291, (2024) (doi: 10.1111/1756-2171.12465) (Open Access)
working paper version (2022.11.05)
slides (2022.03.11)
presentations: Texas A&M, University Essex, Peking University, Toulouse School of Economics
"Collective Brand Reputation" (with Volker Nocke), Journal of Political Economy 131, 1-58 (2023) (doi: 10.1086/720986)
video presentation (October, 2021)
slides (May, 2020)
working paper version (2022.03.02)
''Optimal Non-Linear Pricing with Data-Sensitive Consumers'' (with Daniel Krähmer) American Economic Journal: Microeconomics 15, 80.108 (2023) (doi: 10.1257/mic.20210190)
video presentation; slides (2021.04.29)
''Aggregate Information and Organizational Structures'' (with Gorkem Celik, Dongsoo Shin) Journal of Industrial Economics 71, 256-290 (2023). (doi: 10.1111/joie.12314) (Open Access)
''Public good overprovision by a manipulative provider'' (with Gorkem Celik, Dongsoo Shin) The RAND Journal of Economics 52, 314-333 (2021). (doi:10.1111/1756-2171.12370) (Open Access)
slides (November, 2019)
''Sequential versus static screening: An equivalence result'' (with Daniel Krähmer) Games and Economic Behavior 106, 317-328 (2017). (doi:10.1016/j.geb.2017.10.015)
slides (2017.02.24)
''Politically Induced Regulatory Risk and Independent Regulatory Agencies'' International Journal of Industrial Organization 54, 215-238 (2017). (doi:10.1016/j.ijindorg.2017.07.003)
''A Theory of Crowdfunding: A Mechanism Design Approach with Demand Uncertainty and Moral Hazard'' American Economic Review 107(6), 1430–1476 (2017). (doi:10.1257/aer.20151700)
''Certification and Market Transparency'' (with Konrad Stahl) Review of Economic Studies 84(4), 1842-1868 (2017). (doi:10.1093/restud/rdw064)
''Feed-in Subsidies, Taxation, and Inefficient Entry'' (with Fabio Antoniou) Environmental and Resource Economics 67(4), 925-940 (2017). (doi:10.1007/s10640-016-0012-8)
''Optimality of sequential screening with multiple units and ex post participation constraints'' (with Daniel Krähmer) Economics Letters 142, 64–68 (2016). (doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2016.03.010)
''Ex post information rents in sequential screening'' (with Daniel Krähmer) Games and Economic Behavior 90, 257-273 (2015). (doi:10.1016/j.geb.2015.03.003)
''Optimal Sales Contracts with Withdrawal Rights'' (with Daniel Krähmer) Review of Economic Studies 82, 762-790 (2015). (doi:10.1093/restud/rdv003)
''On the Timing of Climate Agreements'' (with Robert Schmidt) Environmental and Resource Economics 62, 521-547 (2015). (doi:10.1007/s10640-014-9828-2)
''Consumer Standards as a Strategic Device to Mitigate Ratchet Effects in Dynamic Regulation'' (with Raffaele Fiocco) Journal of Economics & Management Strategy 24, 550–569 (2015). (doi:10.1111/jems.12104/)
''Delegation and Dynamic Incentives'' (with Dongsoo Shin) RAND Journal of Economics 45, 495-520 (2014). (doi:10.1111/1756-2171.12059)
''Migration of the Talented: Can Europe catch up with the U.S.?'' (with Lydia Mechtenberg) Journal of Public Economic Theory 14, 945–969 (2012). (doi:10.1111/jpet.12005)
''Mediated Contracts and Mechanism Design'' Journal of Economic Theory 147 (3), 1280-1290 (2012). (doi:10.1016/j.jet.2012.01.005)
''Comments to “Correlated information, mechanism design and informational rents”'' (with Daniel Krähmer) Journal of Economic Theory 146, 2159-2164 (2011). (doi:10.1016/j.jet.2011.05.005)
''Optimal Procurement Contracts with Pre–Project Planning'' (with Daniel Krähmer) Review of Economic Studies 78, 1015-1041 (2011). (doi:10.1093/restud/rdq033)
''Regulatory Risk Under Optimal Monopoly Regulation'' Economic Journal 121, 740–762 (2011). (doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2011.02441.x)
''Monopoly Distortions in Durability and Multi-Dimensional Quality'' Economics Letters 105,pp. 333-335, (2009). (doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2009.09.009)
''Entrepreneurial Financing, Advice, and Agency Costs'' Journal of Economics & Management Strategy 18, 845–870 (2009). (doi:10.1111/j.1530-9134.2009.00231.x)
''Accounting Transparency and the Asset Substitution Problem'' (with Katrin Burkhardt) The Accounting Review 84 (3), 689-713 (2009). (doi:10.2308/accr.2009.84.3.689)
''Planned Obsolescence as an Incentive Device for Unobservable Quality'' Economic Journal 119, 1405-1421 (2009). (doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2009.02290.x)
''Ex Post Private Information and Monopolistic Screening'' (with Daniel Krähmer) B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics 8:1 (Topics) Article 25, (2008). (doi:10.2202/1935-1704.1458)
''The Bologna Process: How student mobility affects multi-cultural skills and educational quality'' (with Lydia Mechtenberg) International Tax and Public Finance 15, 109-130 (2008). (doi:10.1007/s10797-007-9040-1)
''Contracting with Imperfect Commitment and Noisy Communication'' (with Helmut Bester) Journal of Economic Theory 136, 236-259 (2007). (doi:10.1016/j.jet.2006.07.009)
''VCG mechanisms and efficient ex ante investments with externalities'' (with Daniel Krähmer) Economics Letters 94, 192-196 (2007). (doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2006.06.028)
''Regulating Availability with Demand Uncertainty'' German Economic Review 8, 107-121 (2007). (doi:10.1111/j.1468-0475.2007.00136.x)
''Interim Information in Long Term Contracts'' Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 15, 1041-1067 (2006). (doi:10.1111/j.1530-9134.2006.00127.x)
''Buried in Paperwork: Excessive Reporting in Organizations'' Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 60, 460-470 (2006). (doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2004.10.004)
''Deterministic versus Stochastic Mechanisms Principal-Agent Models'' Journal of Economic Theory 128, 306-314 (2006). (doi:10.1016/j.jet.2004.11.008)
''Ordinary Shares and Managers'' Journal of Economics 87, 44575 (2006). (doi:10.1007/s00712-005-0170-6)
''Timing of Verification Procedures: Monitoring versus Auditing'' Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 59, 89-107 (2006). (doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2004.03.013)
''Mediation in Situations of Conflict and Limited Commitment'' (with Kay Mitusch) Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 21, 467-500 (2005). (doi:10.1093/jleo/ewi018)
''Honest Certification and the Threat of Capture'' International Journal of Industrial Organization 23, 45-62 (2005). (doi:10.1016/j.ijindorg.2004.09.002)
''Comment on Internalization of Knowledge Spillovers in R&D Joint Ventures'' Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 160, 75-78 (2004). (doi:10.1628/093245604773861113)
''Deterministic Mechanisms and the Revelation Principle'' Economics Letters 79, 333-37 (2003). (doi:10.1016/S0165-1765(03)00037-5)
''Mitigating Non-Contractibility with Interim Randomization'' Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 157, 231-245 (2001). (doi:10.1628/0932456013623132)
''Contracting with Imperfect Commitment and the Revelation Principle: The Single Agent Case'' (with Helmut Bester) Econometrica 69, 1077-1098 (2001). (doi:10.1111/1468-0262.00231)
''Imperfect Commitment and the Revelation Principle: The Multi-Agent Case'' (with Helmut Bester) Economics Letters 69, 165-17 (2000). (doi:10.1016/S0165-1765(00)00301-3)
''Regulation in a Political Economy: An explanation of limited commitment of governments in the context of the ratchet effect'' Economics of Governance 1, 181-197, (2000). (doi:10.1007/PL00011013)
''Efficiency in Sequential Partnerships'' Journal of Economic Theory 85, 140-156 (1999). (doi:10.1006/jeth.1998.2496)
''Collusion and Renegotiation in a Principal-Supervisor-Agent Relationship'' The Scandinavian Journal of Economics 99, 497-518 (1997). (doi:10.1111/1467-9442.00078)
''Delegation of Monitoring in a Principal Agent Relationship'' Review of Economic Studies 64, 337-357 (1997). (doi:10.2307/2971717)