Industrial Organization Commons^™

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Empirical Studies On The Effectiveness Of Soda Taxes To Curb Obesity, Francesca Colantuoni

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a series of empirical studies to evaluate the effectiveness of soda taxes to curb the obesity epidemic. Chapter 1 describes the extent and severity of the obesity problem in the U.S., and discusses the policy interventions that have been proposed or enacted with the intent to fight obesity (e.g., sales taxes). Chapter 2 contains a study on the effect of two tax events on soda consumption: a 5.5% sales tax on soft drinks imposed in Maine in 1991, and a 5% sales tax on soft drinks levied in Ohio in 2003. We investigate this question by using …

Research On The Competition Structure Of Container Terminals In The Yangtze River Delta, Lu Shi

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Research On Development Strategy Of Rizhao Port Industrial Cluster, Ying Bian

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Essays On Resource Allocation Efficiency And Behavior, Julianna Marie Butler

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of three papers in the field of microeconomics. The first examines bidder’s choice auctions using both field and laboratory experiments. The field experiments demonstrate that traditional bidder’s choice auction theory does not always hold; the laboratory experiments subsequently isolate several characteristics of this auction format to explain why. We find that while price revelation does not impact the revenue superiority of the auction mechanism, multi-good demand significantly reduces the revenue premium. Intuitively, risk aversion plays less of a role when bidders have the opportunity to win multiple goods. The second chapter is theoretical and presents a …

Tax Policy And Entrepreneurship, Xiaowen Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Small businesses and the entrepreneurial spirit are among the driving forces in economic growth and development in the United States. The US governments (both federal and state) have long been aware of the importance of entrepreneurship, and many policies are directed toward helping small businesses. However, whether such policies give rise to expected behavioral responses from small businesses remains inconclusive. This dissertation looks into the behavioral response of self-employed filers to individual income tax and the impact of state and federal tax policies on entrepreneurship. In the first chapter, we examine taxpayers’ behavioral response to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). …

Essay On Firm Inventory And Innovation Behavior, Ye Gu

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation studies firm’s decisions on inventory investment and innovation activities. The first chapter examines firm inventory behavior. It resolves and simulates the production smoothing/buffer stock model using different sets of parameters. It shows that the relationship between a sales shock and inventory investment could be ambiguous which is different from previous predictions. The production smoothing/buffer stock model and the (S, s) model of inventory are tested using a rich Chinese firm-level dataset covering 769 manufacturing firms from 1980 to 1989, and I find that sales are positively correlated with inventory for raw materials, but negatively correlated with …

Institutional Setting And Carrier Viability In The Airline Industry: A Continuing Review Of The Post-Deregulation Experience, Sean W. Sullivan

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Negative Externalities And Environmental Regulation: An Application Of The Principal-Agent Model, Emily Hickox

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis considers optimal enforcement strategies in the context of principal-agent relationships for industries where there is a high risk of negative externalities. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill—the largest accidental spill of all time—is used as a case study to highlight the regulatory issues that can arise in industries that can have far-reaching and negative impacts on society. An in-depth analysis of the events surrounding the disaster makes it clear that complex principal-agent relationships between agencies and firms are common in the industry, as are problems with conflicting objectives, improper incentives, and moral hazard. As these are all features …

Essays On Innovation And Consumer Credit, David E. Fieldhouse

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In the first chapter, I show that the economy’s production structure plays an important role in determining innovation. In particular, using patent data I document a set of empirical facts that are initially puzzling, but can be explained by recognizing that innovation decisions are related between sectors. A model is developed to explain the empirical findings, but it also has an important finding for the current debate on U.S. patent policy. I use the model to demonstrate that a perceived long-run decline could be explained by increased innovative opportunities in certain industries and the responses of inventors in other sectors …

Three Essays On Cross-Border Mergers And Acquisitions, Derrick T. Jenniges

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

This dissertation consists of three essays on cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The first essay studies horizontal and vertical investments between Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, while the second essay examines how investment patterns vary by country development. The third essay estimates the effect of merger policy reform on cross-border M&A activity in Europe.

The first essay tests how well theories of horizontal and vertical foreign direct investment (FDI) explain observed patterns of cross-border M&As in OECD countries. Horizontal investment occurs when multinational firms produce in foreign countries to serve the foreign market, whereas vertical investment occurs …