Economies around the world are marked by major interventions in credit markets. Institutions ranging from central banks to the Grameen Bank operate under the assumptions that credit markets are imperfect, that these imperfections can be ameliorated, and that doing so increases output. There is...

This thesis consists of three independent chapters on nominal exchange rates. The first chapter adds to the forward bias puzzle by noting that while the exchange rate of a small commodity-exporting economy can be closely tied to commodity prices, a portfolio of commodity futures exhibits little...

This dissertation consists of three chapters. The first chapter explores the effect of Wal-Mart expansion on local retail employment. The phenomenal expansion of Wal-Mart provides a clean case for studying the labor-market effects of increased efficiency. I estimate the effect of Wal-Mart entry...

This thesis is a collection of essays on contract theory and behavioral economics. Chapter 1 proposes a model of choice under risk based on imperfect memory and self-deception. The model assumes that people have preferences over their own attributes and can, to some extent, manipulate their...

This thesis explores how health insurance affects the decisions that individuals make. The first chapter studies the effect of insurance on health care consumption. Nearly 10 percent of teenagers become ineligible for their families' health insurance coverage on their nineteenth birthdays. Due...

This thesis consists of three chapters on innovation and economic growth. Chapter 1 is a joint work with Daron Acemoglu. We study the form of intellectual property rights (IPR) policy and licensing in the context of endogenous economic growth with step-by-step cumulative innovation. The main...

This thesis consists of three independent essays that examine the role of incentives for innovation in organizations. Chapter 2 studies the provision of incentives when workers explore new work methods in parallel. In such a setting under-exploration may result as workers attempt to free-ride on...

This thesis is a collection of three essays on dynamic sales mechanisms. The first chapter analyzes the Name Your Own Price (NYOP) mechanism adopted by Priceline.com. Priceline.com, a website helping travelers obtain discount rates for travel-related items, gained prominence for its Name Your...

This dissertation consists of three chapters analyzing the optimal design of insurance contracts. I consider three relevant contexts that change the central trade-off between the provision of insurance and the provision of incentives. The first chapter analyzes the role of biased beliefs for the...

The stringency of employment protection regulations varies substantially across countries. This thesis studies three mechanisms that can help explain the extent and persistence of this variation. The first chapter explores the ability of employment protection to generate its own political...