This paper analyzes communication with a language that is vague in the sense that identical messages do not always result in identical interpretations. It is shown that strategic agents frequently add to this vagueness by being intentionally vague, i.e. they deliberately choose less precise...

In this paper we compare two different approaches to modeling unawareness: the object-based approach of Board and Chung (2007) and the subjective-state-space approach of Heifetz, Meier and Schipper (2006).

In situations of strategic interaction it is important for agents to consider not only what their rivals will do, but also what they know, what they know about what they know, and so on. Formal models of knowledge have been developed to help us keep track of these levels of knowledge. This paper...

There are many laws that require sellers to disclose private information about the quality of their products. But the theoretical justification for these laws is not obvious: economic theory predicts that a seller will voluntarily disclose such quality information, however unfavorable, as long...

This dissertation consists of three chapters where the first two chapters study models ofbargaining over decision rights and the third chapter studies a model of contests.In the first chapter, "Selling Authority," I consider bargaining over decision-making authorityin which an informed but...

Informational assumptions are an important aspect of the study of auctions in economictheory. However, there has been limited research into how the assumptions made by theoristsimpact their results. I explore two different aspects of the information available to biddersin auctions. The...

The static matching models have been applied to real-life markets such as hospital intern markets, school choice for public schools, kidney exchange for patients, and on-campus housing for college students. However, these markets inherently involve dynamic aspects. This dissertation introduces...

This dissertation examines the reasons for which a seller may decide to conduct a multi-unit auction sequentially rather than simultaneously. It analyzes the manner in which the information generated during a sequential auction can affect bidding to the seller's benefit and demonstrates the...