This paper presents an empirical analysis of the value of a coordinated market exchange mechanism. I present a model of e cient trading mechanisms under uncertainty, and develop a measure of the value of an inter rm trade agreement in the context of sequential `buy-versus-produce' decisionmaking by rms. The theory is applied to estimate the value of a formal trading institution in the Californi...

We prove the conjecture of Abbott and Katchalski that for every m ≥ 2 there is a positive constant λm such that S(K d mn) ≥ λmnS(K m ) where S(K m) is the length of the longest snake (cycle without chords) in the cartesian product K m of d copies of the complete graph Km. As a corollary, we conclude that for any finite set P of primes there is a constant c = c(P ) > 0 such that S(K n) ≥ cnd−1 f...

Rapid trade liberalisation can exert profound effects on labour markets. Domestic firms, to sustain competitiveness for survival, could react through cutting labour benefits to achieve cost reductions. Alternatively, trade liberalisation may alter the industry composition of firms changing the aggregate formality rates. This paper studies the relationship between trade liberalisation and inform...