Happy Thanksgiving,

Here’s a technical paper about how committees should structure probationary hiring decisions. My favorite result is that it can be quite rational for one committee member to say to another, “If you weren’t so enthusiastic, I would be willing to take a chance on hiring this candidate.” Optimal Two Stage Committee Voting Rules, (working paper 2004) (with Colin Rowat and Nasser Zakariya). WARNING, it is not for the faint of heart.

Here’s an even more technical paper showing how courts my instantaneously auction contested entitlements. Plaintiff and Defendant simultaneously report their valuations and the court then announces who gets the entitlement and how much the winner pays (or is paid!) by the loser. Instantaneous Liability Rule Auctions: The Continuous Extention of Higher-Order Liability Rules, (working paper 2004) (with Sergey I. Knysh and Paul M. Goldbart).

Here’s a blog with Bruce Ackerman about Chile’s new experiment with anonymous campaign contributions (http://balkin.blogspot.com/2004/11/chiles-new-idea.html) and here’s a link to a NY Times column on the subject (http://balkin.blogspot.com/2004/11/kristoff-on-anonymous-contributions.html)

And finally, here’s coverage of a why not? talk I gave at my old high school in Kansas City. My partner called this trip “ego-tourism.” Finding Solutions in Search of Problems. Who say’s you can’t go home again.

Sincerely,

Ian Ayres

William K. Townsend Professor

Yale Law School

PO Box 208215, New Haven, CT 06520

203.432.7101 (o), 203.432.4769 (fax), 203.624.5654 (h)

ian.ayres@yale.edu