We raise the problem of the minorities' survival in the presence of positive network externalities. We rely on the example of thematic clubs to illustrate why and in which circumstances such survival problems might appear, …rst considering the case of simple network externalities and then the case of cross network externalities. Sonnac and Skerdilajda Zanaj for their comments and suggestions.

THEODORE J. WEIMAN On July 22, 2004, the House of Representatives passed the Marriage Protection Act of 2004, a bill that would strip the federal courts of jurisdiction over cases challenging the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Two months later, the House passed a similar bill that would curtail federal court jurisdiction for challenges to the constitutionality of the Ple...

With the end of the Supermarket Revolution in the 1970s, new forms of horizontal, vertical, and geographic competition have appeared to chaflenge the supremacy of the supermarket format. New retail formats like warehouse stores, supercenters, and fast-food outlets appear to affect local retail supermarket prices. Slotting allowances, coupons, and electronic data gathering have intensified retai...

We consider whether Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are mainly poor because they are governed worse than other countries, as suggested by recent studies on the supremacy of institutions. Our empirical results show that the supremacy of institutions does not hold. SSA countries appear to face specific development problems in addition to weak institutions. Given their geographic and economic ...