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...

This dissertation investigates the use of money-back guarantees in a market for so-called "experience goods" in the presence of repeat purchases. Chapter One analyzes competition between two firms in a game-theoretic model. The choices of quality, price, and warranty made by the firms are...

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...

Women entered the labor force in unprecedented quantities starting in the 1970's. Nonetheless, women are still underrepresented in upper level management jobs. This dissertation is a compilation of three essays that discuss and analyze facets of women's labor supply, demand, and household...

Escalation is generally defined as continued commitment of resources following negative feedback. Chapter 1 presents a literature review. In Chapter 2, a principal-agent model of asymmetric information uses escalation behavior to link managerial turnover and project outcomes. Managers escalate...

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...

Essay 1 provides an analytical model for risk segmentation in the perfectly competitive consumer loan market by incorporating the fact that a parental durable good seller with market power to some degree in its product market can earn rents. In this context, there is a gain to granting credit...

How does a corporate board select their new CEO and directors? These questions are interesting to both practitioners and researchers. In my first essay, I develop a search-matching model which predicts that new CEOs who are better matches to the firms will stay longer, perform better, and...

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 consists of four essays which examine the industrial organization of retail gasoline markets. In particular, each essay studies issues involving product differentiation. Each essay employs a data set which includes detailed information on every gasoline station in the...