"One of the successes in contemporary social science is the development and proliferation of game theory. For a wide range of phenomena, game theory produces enormous insight into the strategic interaction of individuals. Its greatest power lies with predicting the behavior of large groups --...

This dissertation consists of the three independent chapters in the areas of Public Economics and Microeconomic Theory. The first two chapters use experimental and computational techniques to address two important behavioral issues in Public Economics. In particular, the first chapter (with Lise...

This dissertation is an investigation into the determinants of demand for service contracts on new vehicles. In the first chapter, I characterize the consumer decision to buy a service contract with a discrete choice model. Hypotheses and conjectures are tested empirically using survey data from...

A large part of the empirical work on differentiated products markets has focused ondemand estimation and the pricing behavior of firms. These two themes are key inputsin important applications such as the merging of two firms or the introduction of newproducts. The validity of inferences,...

The Internet has a loosely hierarchical structure. At the top of the hierarchy are the backbones, also called Internet Access Providers (hereafter IAPs). The second layer of the hierarchy is comprised of Internet Service Providers (hereafter ISPs). At the bottom of the hierarchy are the end...

Many purchase decisions involve groups of individuals. In marketing literature, a majority of the studies related to group decisions place greater emphasis on predicting the outcome of the decision than the process. In this dissertation, I contend that understanding the process by which a...

We introduce a spatial cost topology in thenetwork formation model analyzed by Jackson andWolinsky, Journal of Economic Theory 71 (1996), 44--74. This cost topology mightrepresent geographical, social, or individualdifferences. It describes variable costs ofestablishing social network...

Experimental observations have shown that economic agents behave in ways different from the maximization of any utility function. Herbert Simon sought to deal with this by positing that individuals do not maximize, but rather satisfice. This was a radical departure from the traditional economic...