This dissertation considers the determinants of countries' real income per capita, controlling for the effects of their physical location. We use meta-analysis to summarize the results of previous research, and then apply a new estimator to control for spatial effects in a system of simultaneous...

This study provides a unified framework to compare three canonical types of contests: winner-take-all contests won by the best performer, winner-take-all lotteries where probability of success is proportional to performance, and proportional-prize contests in which rewards are shared in...

This experiment compares the performance of two contest designs: a standard winner-take-all tournament with a single fixed prize, and a novel proportional-payment design in which that same prize is divided among contestants by their share of total achievement. We find that proportional prizes...

This note introduces a model of contests with random noise and a shared prize that combines features of Tullock (1980) and Lazear and Rosen (1981). Similar to results in Lazear and Rosen, as the level of noise decreases the equilibrium effort rises. As the noise variance approaches zero, the...

Critics of globalization claim that firms are being driven to shift employment abroad by the prospects of cheaper labor. Yet the evidence for this, beyond anecdotes, is slim. In this article, we review evidence on whether firms that do business in foreign countries are substituting foreign for...

Critics of globalization claim that firms are being driven by the prospects of cheaper labor and lower labor standards to shift employment abroad. Yet the evidence, beyond anecdotes, is slim. This paper reports stylized facts on the activities of U.S. multinationals at home and abroad for the...

Critics of globalization claim that U.S. manufacturing firms are being driven by the prospects of cheaper labor to shift employment abroad. Yet the evidence, beyond anecdotes, is slim. Using firm-level data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), we estimate the impact on U.S....

This dissertation evaluates the impact of quality certification on the demand for locally-produced infant foods. To avoid stunting or wasting, most children aged 6-24 months need to complement breastmilk with processed foods having higher energy density than adult foods. Donors have subsidized...

Innovations in cassava production are critical for food security and poverty alleviation among many of the most vulnerable populations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In the West African context, new varieties have been developed by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (HTA)...

Poverty is higher among farmers with low market participation and low productivity. Governments and international organizations often target either one or the other to improve farmer's income. But the way in which market participation and agricultural productivity affect each other remains...