Undernutrition--protein energy malnutrition or specific nutrient deficiencies--has been an inherent characteristic of impoverished populations throughout the world. Over-nutrition, obesity and nutrition imbalance is a current concern among those with rising though still insufficient incomes. We review data to suggest that the prevalence of these forms of malnutrition in populations is highly in...

Although the Life-Cycle/Permanent Income Hypothesis is the primary framework for understanding household consumption and savings decisions, only a few studies have used clearly identifiable income changes to test the basic predictions of the model. The estimates produced using this empirical strategy have yet to lead to a consensus of beliefs since the results have both favored and rejected the...

As in traditional commerce, parties to a contract in ebusiness environments are expected to operate in good faith and comply with mutually agreed terms of contract. It may be the case however that deviation from the agreed contract obligations occur either intentionally or due to force majeure. In this paper we argue that there is value in providing various levels of automated support to deal w...

Human multitasking is often the result of self-init iated interruptions in the performance of an ongoing task. These self-interruptions occur in the absence of external triggers such as electronic alerts or email notifications. Compared to externally induced interruptions, self-interr uptions have not received enough research attention. To address this gap, this paper develops a typology of sel...

The global financial crisis of 2008–09 has sent public debt on sharply higher trajectories, as governments have provided large-scale support to the financial system, implemented discretionary fiscal stimulus, and accommodated steep drops in tax revenue. With the economic recovery gradually taking hold, the focus is now shifting to fiscal “exit strategies.” Indeed, many countries are set to face...

This article seeks to analyze the allocation of federal government discretionary spending among Brazil’s states. In Brazil, the bulk of federal public budget must be compulsorily executed. Personnel expenditures and social taxes, social security benefits and a series of constitutionally mandatory transfers to states and municipalities are examples of expenditures over which the government has n...

Discretionary Latitude and Relational Contracting We use economic experiments to examine the nature of relational trading under a menu of incomplete contracts ranging from the repeat purchase mechanism of Klein and Leffler (1981) to highly incomplete contracts that are completely unenforceable by third-parties. Our results suggest that, with barriers to complete contracting, increasing the degr...