Repeated moral hazard with history-dependent preferences

This paper introduces history-dependent preferences into the principal-agent framework. In this setup, the Inverse Euler equation breaks down. The paper characterizes optimal contracts and shows that the wedge between the principal’s rate of return to saving and the agent’s shadow rate of return is not positive in general. However, the wedge is positive given a rather weak assumption on the agent’s marginal rate of intertemporal substitution. This points out an intimate link between the sign of the wedge and regressive/progressive taxation of wealth. Finally, the paper explores differences between the two most common models of history-dependent preferences

The first-order approach to moral hazard problems with hidden saving

This paper proposes a general method to validate the first-order approach for moral hazard problems with hidden saving. I show that strong convexity assumptions both on the agent’s marginal utility of consumption and the distribution function of output arise naturally in this context. The first-order approach is valid given nonincreasing absolute risk aversion (NIARA) utility and log-convex distribution functions (LCDF) with monotone likelihood ratios (MLR). In a second step, I relax the LCDF condition by restricting the class of preferences and by imposing more structure on optimal wage schemes

Reassessing the Holy Reich: leading Nazis\u27 views on confession, community and \u27Jewish\u27 materialism

 Returning to the Journal of Contemporary History debate on The Holy Reich, this article argues that the notion of \u27positive Christianity\u27 as  Nazi \u27religious system\u27 has been largely invented. It offers a close analysis of significant public statements on National socialism by three leading Nazis: Adolf Hitler, Gottfried Feder and Alfred Rosenberg

New research on Nazism and Christianity

Notes and presentation on research into the official Nazi views on religion, and a consideration of \u27ordinary\u27 Christian response to the rise of the Nazis in Germany

The relationship between relational committment, spousal intimacy, and regiosity and marital satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of three process variables (relational commitment, spousal intimacy, and religiosity) and seven select sociodemographic variables (age, length of marriage, educational attainment, personal income, frequency of church attendance, presence of children, and number of children) on marital satisfaction. Data were collected in 1993 and 1994 as part of a larger research project studying work and the family. The criteria for participation in the study were that participants had to be currently married and employed spouses were invited to participate also. The sample of the present study included 233 participants (119 men and 114 women, including 94 couples who both filled out the questionnaire) recruited from two suburban churches, a university medical center, a clothing manufacturing plant, and the regional office of a major financial institution in Knoxville, Tennessee, and its surrounding areas. The average sample member was 46 years old and had been married for 21 years. Since it is likely that many marriage-related variables operate differently for men and women, I decided it was necessary to conduct separate analyses for men and women in my study. Results of stepwise regression analyses indicated that spousal intimacy was a significant predictor of marital satisfaction for both genders in this sample. However, only for women was relational commitment a significant predictor of marital satisfaction. Religiosity did not act as a significant predictor of marital satisfaction for either gender in this sample. Likewise, none of the sociodemographic variables was found to be a significant predictor of marital satisfaction for men or women

You have to be pleasing and co-operative : Australia’s vision splendid for post-world war II migrants

This article examines the ‘vision splendid’ that existed for Australian migration following World War II. That vision (championed by the then Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell) was myopic, but is still pertinent to current debates on Australian Migration, particularly in the way that migrants were placed in categories of the desirable. This paper uses a particular migrant group, the Temple Society, to illustrate the concerns of 1940s immigration policy. This group was interned in Australia during World War II and underwent postwar investigations by the then newly formed Department of Immigration