Private protection against crime when property value is private information

The Constitutional Protection of Private Property

The Value of Private Information

The Value of Private Information We study the consumption-investment problem of a CRRA agent who possesses private information about the future prospects of a stock. We compute the value of the information to the agent by comparing the utility equivalent with and without the information of the agent. The value of private of information to the agent depends linearly on the wealth of agents and d...

The State’s Enforcement Monopoly and the Private Protection of Property

The modern state has monopolized the legitimate use of force. This concept is twofold. First, the state is empowered with enforcement rights; second, the rights of the individuals are (partly) restricted. In a simple model of property rights with appropriation and defense activity, we show that a restriction of private enforcement is beneficial for the property owner, even if there are no econo...

Private information revelation in common-value auctions

When a seller has information that could help bidders to estimate asset value, a dictum of auction theory has been that all such information should be publicly announced to bidders. The possibility of privately revealing this information to one or more bidders is introduced. Seller in some circumstances may attain higher expected revenue through revealing his information privately. Examples sho...

On the Value of Private Information

As individuals increasingly take advantage of on-line services, the value of the private information they possess emerges as a problem of fundamental concern. We believe that the principle underlying privacy should be simple: Individuals are entitled to control the dissemination of private information, disclosing it as part of a transaction only when they are fairly compensated. We show how thi...