Dissertation
Essays in Industrial Organization
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2018
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/112303
Abstract
The first chapter analyzes the optimal choice of costly information by a monopolist for nonlinear pricing and its effect on consumer welfare. I derive conditions characterizing the firm's optimal acquisition of information and show that information acquisition by firms for price discrimination can be Pareto improving.
The second chapter studies the effect of microfranchising on necessity entrepreneurs in Ghana, Guatemala, and Bangladesh. I find that necessity entrepreneurs have higher returns from microfranchisor-supplied entrepreneurial inputs than opportunity entrepreneurs. My findings suggest that microfranchising can be a valuable and complementary tool in economic development practices in less developed countries.
The third chapter studies the academic productivity of dual-hired academic couples relative to their traditionally hired peers to understand the effect of partner accommodation policies in the distribution of faculty quality at several major universities in the United States. I find that the primary and secondary hires of partner accommodation policies can differ markedly in their productivity, both positively and negatively. The effects frequently differ according to the gender of the hire.
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Details
- Title
- Essays in Industrial Organization
- Creators
- Brett R Devine
- Contributors
- Felix Munoz-Garcia (Advisor)Jonathan Yoder (Advisor)Jill McCluskey (Committee Member)Ben Cowan (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Economic Sciences, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 183
- Identifiers
- 99900581622001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation