The dissertation addresses optimization problems related to the management of product variety with inventory considerations. The objective is to provide insights and tools to help companies determine the optimal level of product variety they should produce/stock and maximize revenues by...

It is well-documented that mutual fund flows are positively related to funds' past performance. This paper focuses on the time-series variation of the performance-flow relationship. I find that investors are more sensitive to fund performance in some periods than other periods and that the...

It is well-documented that mutual fund flows are positively related to funds' past performance. This paper focuses on the time-series variation of the performance-flow relationship. I find that investors are more sensitive to fund performance in some periods than other periods and that the...

Why did the failure of Lehman Brothers make the financial crisis dramatically worse? The financial crisis was a process of a build-up of risk during the crisis prior to the Lehman failure. Market participants tried to preserve an option or exit by shortening maturities - the "flight from...

This paper examines whether the sell-side research industry adds value to its mutual fund clients. I use a novel way to identify the broker-mutual fund network. I find that, within a mutual fund's portfolio, the stocks covered by the fund's brokers outperform the uncovered stocks by 6.3% per...

What happened during the financial crisis of 2007-2008? Understanding the dynamics of the financial crisis requires determining the timing of important events. We document the crisis chronology econometrically based on market prices. The empirical chronology is based on locating the dates of...

Price elasticities characterize the effect of price changes on demands in a multi-product context. We demonstrate and explain two perverse properties concerning price elasticities in the presence of network effects when three or more substitutable products are involved: Cross-price elasticities...

We show that in the presence of network effects, the effect of new firm entry on the equilibrium prices and demands of incumbent firms is not clear. In contrast to conventional thinking, we find that incumbent firms could use a higher price, have a larger demand, and earn a higher profit in the...

In the context of international environmental law and International Water Law (IWL), the Ecosystem Approach (EA) has become a source of heated debate. In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the negative impacts that human activities have on freshwater ecosystems. Accordingly, the...

Why did the failure of Lehman Brothers make the financial crisis dramatically worse? The financial crisis was a process of a build-up of risk during the crisis prior to the Lehman failure. During the crisis market participants tried to preserve an option to withdraw by shortening maturities ---...