Conventional wisdom says that economic surplus is created when the cost of litigation is foregone in favor of settlement, a theory flowing from the Coase Theorem. The cost-benefit analysis weighs settlement against the expected value of litigation net of transaction cost. This calculus yields...

Although theories in both evolutionary biology and economics predict that an individual’s health should be associated with the individual’s time preference, no prior study has been done to empirically support or refute such predictions. By collecting detailed measures of health, time...

This dissertation, which consists of three essays, studies online auctions boththeoretically and empirically.The first essay studies a special online auction format used by eBay, “Buy-It-Now” (BIN) auctions, in which bidders are allowed to buy the item at a fixed BINprice set by the seller...

This thesis contains four essays which are all from the broader field of insurance economics. The chapters can be read independently, although there is a certain connection between the articles. Chapter 2, which deals with moral hazard, and chapter 3, which is on oligopolistic models in the...

There is an evolution in the process used by standards-developmentorganizations (SDOs) and this is changing the prevailing standardsdevelopment activity (SDA) for information and communications technology(ICT). The process is progressing from traditional SDA modes, typicallyinvolving the...

Most terrestrial biological invasions occur in landscapes comprising numerous, independently managed properties. Thus, control of invasion spread generally depends on the choices of many managers, each deciding the extent to control invasions on their property. Here we develop a...