This dissertation addresses three topics on information economics. Generally, information is not perfect or costless as classical economics assumes. Thus, a consumer searches information at his cost or a seller provides information at his cost. First, chapter 2 presents a theoretical model where a consumer searches for local brand information. We show that a national brand providing information has a larger market share. Second, chapter 3 presents a theoretical model where a store randomizes prices and advertises the price changes. We show that at equilibrium the advertising intensity is negatively related to price and price density function is "U" shaped. As advertising costs decrease, average price decreases with more competition. Also as advertising costs decrease from the maximum to zero, price density function changes from monopoly price spike to nonprofit price spike. Thirdly, chapter 4 presents an example where information imperfection is not remedied so information asymmetry remains to cause moral hazard. The deposit insurance rate of a bank is set uniformly regardless of its loan quality because the government cannot discern the quality. Then, a failed bank has higher efficiency in good economic years by spending less on loan monitoring but lending aggressively, but has lower efficiency in difficult years because of its growing non-performing loan. The efficiency of Korean banks between 1990 and 1997 is measured by DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis), and the regression shows that the efficiency of the failed bank is affected by moral hazard. / Graduation date: 2003

The examination of the performance of Thailand's computer industry, and its contribution to the country's economic growth, are the two major objectives of my research. I study whether the computer industry in Thailand has acquired a comparative advantage. Then, I examine how investment in information technology (IT) has contributed to the growth of total factor productivity for the economy as a whole. The methodology I adopt for measuring the performance the computer industry is based on a number of indices including unit labor cost, revealed comparative advantage, net export index and labor productivity. Estimating the contribution of information technology to the growth of total factor productivity requires two estimation steps. First, I estimate the production function for Thailand where aggregate output depends on human capital, physical capital and labor. Total factor productivity then emerges as the residual of this production function regression. In the second stage, I estimate the effect of investment in IT on total factor productivity, after contributing for its other important determinants. The results suggest that the computer industry in Thailand has indeed acquired a comparative advantage recently. Moreover, an increase investment in information technology significantly influences the growth of total factor productivity in the economy. / Graduation date: 2000

The demand for biofuels continues to increase due in part to government standards and promotion as well as the ambitious goals set by various companies and industries. Camelina is considered to be an ideal energy crop because of its low input requirements, suitability for marginal soils, and naturally competitiveness with weeds. A partial equilibrium model with a break-even price approach is used to estimate the potential supply curves for Camelina in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The supply curves are used to determine if the 50 million gallon goal set by the "Farm to Fly" initiative can be met. Given the current price of Camelina, $0.15/lb, the estimated supply of Camelina in all 4 states is 1,756,076,887 lbs and 1,493,684 acres. This estimation assumes that if the wheat-Camelina rotation is more profitable than the current crop rotation, then all of the acres will be converted to a wheat-Camelina rotation. When a 5% adoption rate is applied to the low and the intermediate rainfall zones and a 1% to the high rainfall zones, the number of acres converted to Camelina decreases to 72,213. These results suggest that given current market conditions, the supply of Camelina in the Northwest is not enough to meet the biofuel goal without an increase in yield and government promotion. / Graduation date: 2013

This report frames the debate over studded tires in terms of economic principles of marginal cost pricing and efficient resource allocation. In the absence of a user tax, the pavement damage caused by studded tires results in inefficient pricing because social costs associated with the damage are excluded from the price paid by consumers. This leads to over use of studded tires. No attempt was made to quantify the safety effects of studded tire use. A review of research literature was provided to qualitatively support the premise that there is no social benefit from studded tires in Oregon. Quantitative cost analysis was limited to pavement rutting on the state highway system that is sufficient to reduce the useful life of the pavement. The cost estimation was conducted in two stages: first, the wear rates for asphalt and Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement surfaces were estimated, expressed as inches of rut depth per 100,000 studded tire passes. Linear regression analysis was conducted using rut depth, traffic, and studded tire data from a sample of Oregon highways. A range of wear rates was estimated, reflecting the numerous factors that influence rutting susceptibility of pavements. The mid-points of wear rates for asphalt and PCC were 0.0386" and 0.0093", respectively. Second, the wear rate estimates were used to approximate rutting for the state highway system and to predict resurfacing expenses attributable to studded tire traffic. The results indicate that the cost of studded tire damage on Oregon state highways in 1995 was approximately $10 million. This averages to $8 per tire per year. The implications of the cost are then discussed in terms of the allocation effects of underpricing due to an untaxed externality. The external costs pavement damage caused by studded tires result in inefficient pricing because external costs associated with the damage are excluded from the price paid by consumers. This leads to excess use of studded tires. A studded tires tax sufficient to cover attributable maintenance costs would be in the neighborhood of 30% of the purchase price and would result in a sharp decline in the quantity of studded tires in use. / Graduation date: 1998

In the late 90’s the creative industries emerged as a new concept to aggregate industries whose products were primarily based on creative inputs and were subject to intellectual property. In the field of media studies, the creative industries emerges as an attempt to understand a segmented and convergent media environment, and account for the impacts of new technologies of information and communication on society. The creative industries are considered key industries in the information society due to its reliance on knowledge and information. As a consequence many countries, regions and cities adopted plans and strategies to attract and/or develop creative industries in their territories hoping to foster local economic development. This adoption is evident not only at core cities and regions, but also at non-core places that are hoping to become a significant node in the information society. This dissertation investigates such a case of a non-core city, via the analysis of the core media related creative industries in the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The analysis of Salvador’s core media related creative industries indicates the importance of the logic of proximity/agglomeration and concentration for the creative industries, and also indicates how a non-core city incorporates the concept the creative industries and the media related creative industries into its development planning and economic development strategy. / text

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

abstract / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

published_or_final_version / Geography / Master / Master of Philosophy

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