The Economics of Prohibition

The central questions that motivate this work, concern with understanding how do informal markets function outside the formal contract and property rights framework, and in doing so, what kinds of institutions do these markets develop. I attempt to answer these questions through case studies of three markets in India, namely, footwear cluster in Agra, coal-mines mafia in Dhanbad, and sex work (prostitution) in New Delhi. Locating the study of informal markets and institutions in broad literature of law and development, the thesis advances policy suggestions that would be useful in a general context of developing countries and their unregulated markets. 
More than 90% of Indian workforce is informal, thus making it a very important economic impulse to be examined. Through primary fieldwork, I collect data in three Indian markets, and understand the micro-institutional framework that guides the functional order of transactions that lie ‘outside the law.’ In general, my findings reveal that every informal market is hinged on an intermediary, who in absorbing the otherwise high transaction costs at a price, affords stability to the market. For relevant policy interventions therefore, it is crucial that the intermediating institutions are examined carefully. 
At a general level, the thesis narrates the importance of understanding local institutions in presence of global blueprints of law reforms. If law is an effective tool for development, then it has to adequately appreciate the heterogeneous institutions located within the market frameworks.

/pdf/institutions-in-informal-markets-1tn3dfucaw.pdf

Institutions in Informal Markets

A system dynamics approach to the study of Colombian coca cultivation and the counter-intuitive consequence of law enforcement

A victimless crime is an illegal act that is consensual and lacks a complaining participant, including such activities as drug use, galnblina, pornography, and prostitution. No one is harmed, or if...

Are Victimless Crimes Actually Harmful

Czech Abstract: V textu jsou vysvětleny teoreticke přistupy k řeseni problemu korupce a jejich aplikacni problemy. Nejdřive je vysvětlena teorie agentury a teorie dobývani renty. Dale je pozornost věnovana implikacim obou teoretických ramců. Třeti kapitola odhaluje aplikacni problemy teoretických přistupů. Zatimco teorie agentury postrada vysvětleni institucionalnich podminek korupce a způsob jejich vymahani, dobývani renty neni schopno urcit konkretni korupcni jednani pomoci jednoznacneho urceni pravidel, jejichž porusovani je považovano za korupcni.English Abstract: This paper explains theoretical framework that is applied to the problem of corruption and reveals its application problems. First, it explains the agency and rent seeking theories. Second, it concentrates on their implications for public policy measures. Since no theory is ideal, the third section shows problems associated with the application of both theoretical frameworks. While the agency theory should examine institutional conditions of corruption and the method of its enforcement, the rent seeking fails to concretize corrupt action with rules determining how corruption is defined.

Teorie korupce: Kterou použít? (Theories of Corruption: Which One to Use?)

IN the absence of perfect price discrimination, monopoly will reduce output; thus Buchanan' has proposed that the public should encourage, or at least take a benign view of, the monopolization of criminal activity. In this note, I investigate Buchanan's proposal by taking account of the welldocumented role of police as input suppliers to criminals specializing in victimless crimes. The input police supply is simply the right to operate in a given police jurisdiction, and the payment police receive may be formally prearranged with criminals. That such payments are labeled "bribes" and that police who collect bribes are labeled "corrupt" should not be allowed to obscure the analysis of the activity. Collection of bribes by police is, in principle, no different than any benefit to employees above their salary: the greater are such benefits, the less will be the salary necessary to call forth a given work force. In the case of police, the collection of bribes will reduce the price of police to the public. The bribe system is, thus, similar to a tax system in which revenues are earmarked for a particular expense item; bribes impose costs just as do taxes and are earmarked for the payment of police salaries. The public thus appears to have the moral satisfaction of prohibiting activities which, in fact, are only being taxed. Unfortunately, the bribe system is quite likely to turn police into accomplices in crime, not only in victimless crimes but in crimes with victims as well. The superior moral posture acquired by promoting laws against victimless crimes is, thus, very costly indeed.

Police Corruption and Criminal Monopoly: Victimless Crimes

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Police Corruption and Criminal Monopoly: Victimless Crimes