A stylized model can capture universal incentive problems across varying historical instances.

Evidence

The practice and evolution of the Law Merchant in medieval Europe was so rich and varied that no single model can hope to capture all the relevant variations and details. Our simple model is intended to represent certain universal incentive problems that any successful system would have to solve. — PAUL R. MILGRO, PAUL R. MILGRO - THE ROLE OF…, 11

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the modeling methodology: abstracting from historical variation to isolate incentive problems.
• XREF: connects to: Functional explanations work when behavior responds to incentives

Broader Connections

• Functional explanations work when behavior responds to incentives #corroborates (0.80)