Contracts, livestock, and the Bernoulli process: an application of statistics to B. Traven's 'Cattle Drive'Emil Berendt Journal of Applied Statistics, 2008, vol. 35, issue 2, pages 193-202 Abstract: One of the pivotal devices B. Traven employs in his short story 'The Cattle Drive' is a contract between the cattle owner and the trail boss who brings the livestock to market. By specifying a per-diem rate, the contract appears to encourage a wage-maximizing trail boss to delay the delivery of the cattle. However, a statistical model of the contract demonstrates that a rational trail boss has an incentive to maintain a rapid rate of travel. The article concludes that statistics can be applied in non-traditional ways such as to the analysis of the plot of a fictional story. The statistical model suggests plausible alternative endings to the story based on various parameter assumptions. Finally, it demonstrates that a well-crafted story can provide an excellent case study of how contracts create incentives and influence decision-making. Keywords: B. Traven; contract; principal-agent problem; binomial; Cattle Drive; wage; literature (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Journal of Applied Statistics is edited by Professor Gopal K. Kanji More articles in Journal of Applied Statistics from Taylor and Francis Journals |
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