We address a text regression problem: given a piece of text, predict a real-world continuous quantity associated with the text’s meaning. In this work, the text is an SEC-mandated financial report published annually by a publiclytraded company, and the quantity to be predicted is volatility of...

Temporary price reductions or sales account for a small fraction of price quotes and a large fraction of items sold. Nevertheless, several recent macroeconomic studies have concluded that sales are not an important source of price flexibility. Using a large set of scanner data covering 31...

This dissertation is comprised of three essays. The first essay tests the empirical validity of a statistical discrimination model that incorporates employer's race. I show that if an employer statistically discriminates less against an employee that shares the same race (match) than an employee...