(1) General. Papers must be in English.

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(2) Papers for publication should be submitted electronically through the following website: http://ees.elsevier.com/mss You will be guided stepwise through the process of registering and uploading your file(s). Once the uploading is done, the system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revisions, will be by e-mail.

Submission of a paper will be held to imply that it contains original unpublished work and is not being submitted for publication elsewhere. Upon acceptance of an article, author(s) will be asked to transfer copyright of the article to the publisher. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information.

(3) Format: We accept most wordprocessing formats, but Word, WordPerfect or LaTeX is preferred. For more information about submitting LaTeX documents, please visit http://www.elsevier.com/latex Always keep a backup copy of the electronic file for reference and safety. Save your files using the default extension of the program used.

(4) Correspondence with the editors outside of the electronic submission system can be sent to the central editorial office at:
Prof. J.-F. Laslier
Laboratoire d'Econometrie
Ecole Polytechnique
1 rue Descartes
75005 Paris
France
mass@shs.polytechnique.fr

(5) Abstract: A concise abstract is required (maximum length 100 words). The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separate from the article, so it must be able to stand alone.

(6) General text instructions: please ensure that the letter 'l' and digit '1', and also the letter 'O' and digit '0' are used properly, and format your article (tabs, indents, etc.) consistently. Characters not available on your word processor (Greek letters, mathematical symbols, etc.) should not be left open but indicated by a unique code (e.g. gralpha, "alpha", @, etc., for the Greek letter a). Such codes should be used consistently throughout the entire text; a list of codes used should accompany the electronic manuscript. Do not allow your word processor to introduce word breaks and do not use a justified layout. Please adhere strictly to the general instructions below on style, arrangement and, in particular, the reference style of the journal.

(7) Classification Codes: the first page of the manuscript should contain at least one classification code according to the Classification System for Journal Articles as used by the Journal of Economic Literature; in addition, up to five key words should be supplied.

(8) Acknowledgements and information on grants received can be given before the References.

(9) Footnotes should be kept to a minimum and numbered consecutively throughout the text with superscript Arabic numerals.

(10) Important formulae (displayed) should be numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript as (1), (2), etc. on the right-hand side of the page. Where the derivation of formulae has been abbreviated, it is of great help to referees if the full derivation can be presented on a separate sheet (not to be published).

(11) References: Citation of references in the text is by the names of the author(s) followed by the year enclosed in parentheses, e.g. Satterthwaite (1975). References of the same year by the same author(s) should be by small letters following the year; Suzumura (1977c), for instance. References should be listed alphabetically, in the same style as these examples:

For a book:
David, H.A., 1988. The Method of Paired Comparisons, 2nd ed. Griffin, London.

For a paper in a journal:
Agaev, R., Aleskerov, F., 1993. Interval choice: Classic and general cases. Mathematical Social Sciences 26, 249-272.

For a paper in a contributed volume:
Samuelson, 1969. Pure theory of public expenditure and taxation. In: Margolis, J., Guitton, H., (Eds.), Public Economics: An Analysis of Public Production and Consumption and their Relation to the Private Sectors. Proceedings of Conference held by the International Economics Association. Macmillan, London, pp. 31-42.

For an unpublished paper:
Allen, D., 1968. Relations between the local and global structure of finite semigroups. Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Note that journal titles should not be abbreviated.

(12) Tables should be numbered consecutively in the text in Arabic numerals.

(13) Illustrations, pictures, tables and other artwork: submitting your illustrations, pictures, tables and other artwork in an electronic format helps us to produce your work to the best possible standards ensuring accuracy, clarity and a high level of detail. A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

(14) Offprints: The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use.

For all technical questions and questions arising after acceptance of a manuscript, especially those related to proofs, please contact the Author Support Department at authorsupport@elsevier.com.