This paper theorizes on how categorical distinctions affect market closure. Contrary to expectations that greater variation in choices allows a buyer to optimize their transactions, I find evidence in a labor market for freelancing services which suggests otherwise. In particular, the less...

Scholars have recently proposed that overconfidence pervades self-judgment because of the social benefits it provides individuals, such as higher status in groups (Anderson, Brion, & Moore, 2010). A counter-argument to this social-functional account of overconfidence is that the possible social...

Nearly two years after the official end of the "Great Recession," the labor marketremains historically weak. One candidate explanation is supply-side effects driven bydramatic expansions of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit durations, to as many as 99 weeks. This paper investigates the effect...

I examine the phenomenon of occupational agglomeration – the observation that workers with similar skills tend to co-locate geographically. Extant explanations point to the fact that industries also tend to agglomerate – thereby creating a need for a particular type of employee to...