This dissertation investigates some of the ways efficiency wages are important to both the U.S. economy and research in economics. The first section develops a model to investigate the likely effects of the decline of references in the United States. Survey data and anecdotal evidence makes it...

Historically minority workers have been underrepresented in the higher-skilled, higher-paying occupations. Government mandates, such as affirmative action, can, under some conditions, change that circumstance, but market efficiencies are often sacrificed. Though there are efficiency losses in...

This dissertation includes two essays examining issues on the topic of unemployment insurance. Essay one investigates various aspects of unemployment insurance programs in the labor market using a general equilibrium search model calibrated using data from a variety of sources. The multi-sector...

This dissertation includes three essays on employers' search behavior that explore a simple yet central question to the literature on search, i.e., do the costs of continued search affect employers' search behavior and if so what adjustments are employers willing to undergo to avoid a future...

This dissertation includes two essays investigating issues on the topic of executive compensation. In both essays, a principal-agent model of executives' actions is expanded to include not only an effort choice but also the determination of a criterion for the adoption of new projects. In...