There are three separate strands of literature in economics that are related to the efficiency of takings under eminent domain: one addresses the question of optimal compensation for properties that are taken, a second inquires how governments might learn the values of properties that they...

Two commonly-used criteria for evaluating voting rules are how infrequently the rules provide opportunities for strategic voting and how infrequently they encounter voting paradoxes. The lack of ranking data from enough actual elections to determine these frequencies with reasonable accuracy...

The post-Corona economic environment puts a premium on finding fiscal means to stimulate the economy while continuing to finance current levels of expenditures and debt. We develop and carefully calibrate a model of the US economy to show that an increase in the tax rate on the value of land,...

When urban renewal requires land assembly, owners who hold out may delay or prevent efficient redevelopment. Governments that use eminent domain to take such properties might cause socially inefficient redevelopment if they underestimate the values of these properties. None of the recent...

The efficiency of mechanisms to control CO2 emissions is limited by disagreement about the harm from these emissions. Thus existing emission control mechanisms require negotiated compromise regarding either the efficient price or the level of emissions to be tolerated. As an alternative to...

The dissertation identifies and responds to two gaps in the current literature on the elasticity of taxable income (ETI). Firstly, there is a lack of a deep understanding of the process underlying behavioral responses of taxable income to taxation. Secondly, there is a lack of inquiry into the...

The first part of this dissertation investigates the possibility of an output cut by a firm as a result of an increase in demand in industries with constrained capacities. We are specially interested in the crude oil industry, although thepaper has implications beyond that market. Two simple...

The 1990s saw significant increases in commercial bank membership in the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System and extensive growths in FHLB assets and outstanding advances. Since FHLB policies may enable risk-taking behavior by the System's member institutions, this research evaluates the impact...

This dissertation consists of three essays examining the important role of jobconnections, references, and word of mouth information in labor markets. The first essay examines the importance of job connections for internal migrants. Inthis chapter, I develop a theoretical model where labor...

This dissertation consists of three essays. In the first one (Chapter three), âGains and Losses from Household Formation,â I introduce a general equilibrium model, wherein a household may consist of more than one member, each with their own preferences and endowments. In these models at first,...