The effect of organizational communication structure on performance is studied using a project selection framework in which heterogeneous, rational agents can reject or accept projects. A hierarchy performs better than a polyarchy in tough environments, whereas the reverse holds in friendly environments. Hierarchies can be too strict from a social welfare point of view. Indeed, if the value of ...

The Web has connected millions of users by various communication tools for social purposes. Daily, huge amount of social data are being created through fingertips, driven by various of social actions that involve a wide range of user-produced content (e.g. emails or collaborative documentations). Often being a part of many contemporary Web applications, user social networks are gaining increasi...

We construct a model of trade with heterogeneous retailers to examine the effects of trade liberalization on retail market structure, imports and social welfare. We are especially interested in studying the degree of pass-through of import into retail prices and the effects of retail market regulation. The paper shows that the degree of pass-through may be large when market structure effects ar...

Anonymous distributed systems consist of potentially millions of heterogeneous processing nodes connected by the global Internet. These nodes can be administered by thousands of organizations and individuals, with no direct knowledge of each other. Several approaches have been proposed to handle the technical aspects of such systems; this paper addresses some social, ethical, and legal aspects,...