The proportion of a unit of government's budget devoted to labor costs determines whether cost reductions at the metropolitan level are achieved through fragmentation or consolidation. Consolidating capital intense functions at higher levels of government is the optimal cost-reducing strategy. Fragmenting labor-intense functions to lower levels of government is the optimal cost-reducing strategy. This organizing principle explains the results of previous research and allows a cross sectional analysis of all units of government within US metropolitan statistical areas based on their labor ratio. The hypothesized optimum form of metropolitan government structure for cost efficiency, few capital intense units of government and many labor intense units of government, is correlated with a five year net change in private sector jobs. The hypothesized relationship between metropolitan government structure and economic development is rejected.

<p> As e-commerce becomes an increasingly large industry, questions remain about how the isolated effects of design elements on websites influence consumer perceptions and purchasing behavior. This study used a quantitative approach to measuring the effect of a ubiquitous element of design, white space, on the perception of the monetary value of individual items. White space is a key component of design and website usability, yet it has been shown to be related to the perception of luxury. Little is known about the direct relationship between manipulation of white space and the outcomes on consumer perceptions of value in an e-commerce context. This study found no significant difference between two levels of total white space area (large vs. small) measured by participants' perceived cost of items (chairs). In contrast, while holding total white space constant, the effect of white space distance between images was significant for males but not for females. Additionally, no significant relationship between gender and frequency of online shopping behavior was found, &chi;²(1) = 3.19, <i>p</i> = .07, &phis; = .17. Gender and amount of time spent per month online were significantly related, &chi;²(1) = 6.21, <i>p</i> = .013, &phis; = .24.</p>

<p>This dissertation extends the economics literature in industrial organization with three empirical essays on the strategic decisions of firms in imperfectly competitive markets. Using data from the U.S. airline industry, I combine reduced-form analysis with recent econometric advances in the estimation of dynamic games to examine the market-level and industry-level behavior of oligopolistic firms. The first essay presents a framework for sensitivity analysis in merger simulation. The second essay continues the market-level analysis of merger effects by examining how airline mergers influence price dispersion. The third essay shifts focus to industry-level investment behavior, examining the role played by bankruptcy policy in disciplining capital investment.</p> / Dissertation

<p> The current qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to explore small and medium enterprise (SME) business leaders&rsquo; lived experiences with e-commerce practices. The central research question for the current study was as follows: What is the lived experience of SME leaders who have used e-commerce practices within their business with regard to the effect and critical success factors (CSFs) of e-commerce in the SMEs&rsquo; success? The findings of this study offer insights into how the adoption of e-commerce practices might help SMEs in Puerto Rico to achieve competitive advantage and contribute to their success or survival. The study served to define the knowledge and skills required for leaders to manage e-commerce operations. Research findings indicated that e-commerce helps to generate revenue and profitability for a business. A key negative aspect of e-commerce that leaders must consider is distrust in terms of security risks and identity fraud, among others. The study findings indicate that SME leaders in Puerto Rico are using e-commerce practices such as media advertising and promotion based on electronic marketing media, and cutting-edge technology through more interactive websites, among others. Other key factors for e-commerce success were the knowledge and skills that the SME leaders possessed, which included knowledge of technology like Web programming, and know how to create and use different tools based on computer systems, among others. The findings of the current study can serve as a roadmap to those considering adopting e-commerce, and lead future research related to the use e-commerce practices in SMEs.</p>

<p>The dissertation consists of three chapters relating to pricing strategies. Chapter 1 studies coupons for prescription drugs and their impacts on consumer welfare, firm profits, and insurance payments. Chapter 2 examines consumer brand loyalty and learning in pharmaceutical demand and discusses implications for marketing and health care policy. Chapter 3 develops a framework for estimating demand and supply in an online market with many competing sellers and frequent price changes and proposes optimal pricing strategies for a large seller.</p><p>The first chapter studies an innovative price strategy in pharmaceuticals. Branded drug manufacturers have recently started to issue copay coupons as part of their strategy to compete with generics when their branded drugs are coming off patent. To explore the welfare implications of copay coupons, I estimate a model of demand and supply using pharmaceutical data on sales, prices, advertising, and copayments for cholesterol-lowering drugs and perform a counterfactual analysis where a branded manufacturer introduces coupons. The model allows flexible substitution patterns and consumer heterogeneity in price sensitivities and preferences for branded drugs. The counterfactuals quantify the effects of copay coupons for different assumptions about the take-up of coupons and the ability of the branded manufacturer to direct them to the most price-sensitive types of consumers. The results show that the agency problem between insurers and patients gives a branded manufacturer a strong incentive to issue copay coupons. Introducing copay coupons benefits the coupon issuer and consumers but raises insurance payments. In equilibrium, insurer spending can increase by as much as 25% even when just 5% of consumers have a coupon, with social welfare falling significantly.</p><p>Medicines for chronic conditions like high cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes are repeatedly used for a long period of time. Consumer dynamics thus plays an important role in the demand for those drugs. In the second chapter, I estimate a demand model with brand loyalty and learning using micro-level data from cholesterol lowering drug markets in the United States. The estimates suggest high switching costs and strong learning effects at the molecule level in the markets. Switching costs raise the predicted probability of choosing the same drugs in a row and learning largely increases patient stickiness to a molecule in the long run. I discuss pricing implications of the estimation results for drug manufacturers, insurance companies, and policy makers. </p><p>The last chapter, coauthored with Dr. Andrew Sweeting and Dr. James W. Roberts, looks at pricing in a different context. We estimate a model of entry, exit and pricing decisions in an online market for event tickets where there are many competing sellers and prices change frequently. We use the estimates from our model to analyze the optimality of the pricing policy used by the largest seller (broker) in the market. We show that the broker's pricing policies substantially affect the prices set by his competitors. When we compare the broker's pricing policy with the prices that our model predicts are optimal we find that the broker sets approximately correct prices close to the game, when his pricing problem resembles a static one, but that he might be able to gain from using different pricing rules and updating prices more frequently further from the game.</p> / Dissertation

This thesis examines the possible approaches to the control of anticompetitive business practices with an international or cross-border dimension. The study commences with a discussion of the importance of competition regulation in the domestic policies of states and the impact that globalization has had on competition regulation. It then proceeds to analyse the various approaches to the regulation of international competition. Reference is made to the development, benefits and drawbacks of the existing methods of unilateral and bilateral regulation and suggestions are made regarding the further elaboration of these methods. A major part of the discussion deals with plurilateral and multilateral competition regulation, analysing the effectiveness of existing regulatory mechanisms and considering a number of recent proposals relating to multilateral regulation. Particular attention is given to the potential role of the WTO in this regard. In conclusion, suggestions are made regarding possible future developments.

Sri Lanka's trade regime has been gradually liberalized over the last two decades with the aim of deeper integration into the global economy. The purpose of this study is to present a quantitative assessment of the impacts of major unilateral, regional and multilateral trade liberalization on Sri Lanka, and rank the trade policy options in terms of their welfare effects. This study contributes to the empirical literature on trade liberalization. The Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model is used to analyze the welfare effects of trade liberalization in a multi-country, multi-sector general equilibrium framework. The results show that if Sri Lanka implements the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), while maintaining 15 percent external tariffs for the rest of the world, this combined policy would provide the highest welfare gain to Sri Lanka. The SAFTA by its own would provide the second-highest ranked gain from the trade reforms due to the benefits of preferential access to the large SAARC market. The third-highest ranked policy option comes under the unilateral reduction of import tariffs to 15 percent scenario. As results indicate, the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ILFTA) offers the fourth-highest policy option for Sri Lanka. Finally, the phasing-out of MFA on Textiles and Clothing under the Uruguay Round Agreement, rank as the fifth-highest policy option for Sri Lanka. Thus, regional trade liberalization is far more preferable to unilateral and multilateral liberalization. However, as the GTAP model permits, these rankings based on only to the static welfare gains, ignoring the dynamic effect of trade liberalization. In addition, the gravity model has been employed to examine the determinants of Sri Lanka's bilateral trade flows with her selected trading partners, in order to sort out the influence of geographical proximity versus preferential trading policies in creating a regional concentration in trade. Our results confirm the validity of geographical factors such as proximity and cultural familiarity, as determinants of Sri Lanka's trade with neighbouring countries. They suggest that the selected trading partners are “natural trading partners” of Sri Lanka. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Sri Lanka's trade regime has been gradually liberalized over the last two decades with the aim of deeper integration into the global economy. The purpose of this study is to present a quantitative assessment of the impacts of major unilateral, regional and multilateral trade liberalization on Sri Lanka, and rank the trade policy options in terms of their welfare effects. This study contributes to the empirical literature on trade liberalization. The Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model is used to analyze the welfare effects of trade liberalization in a multi-country, multi-sector general equilibrium framework. The results show that if Sri Lanka implements the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), while maintaining 15 percent external tariffs for the rest of the world, this combined policy would provide the highest welfare gain to Sri Lanka. The SAFTA by its own would provide the second-highest ranked gain from the trade reforms due to the benefits of preferential access to the large SAARC market. The third-highest ranked policy option comes under the unilateral reduction of import tariffs to 15 percent scenario. As results indicate, the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ILFTA) offers the fourth-highest policy option for Sri Lanka. Finally, the phasing-out of MFA on Textiles and Clothing under the Uruguay Round Agreement, rank as the fifth-highest policy option for Sri Lanka. Thus, regional trade liberalization is far more preferable to unilateral and multilateral liberalization. However, as the GTAP model permits, these rankings based on only to the static welfare gains, ignoring the dynamic effect of trade liberalization. In addition, the gravity model has been employed to examine the determinants of Sri Lanka's bilateral trade flows with her selected trading partners, in order to sort out the influence of geographical proximity versus preferential trading policies in creating a regional concentration in trade. Our results confirm the validity of geographical factors such as proximity and cultural familiarity, as determinants of Sri Lanka's trade with neighbouring countries. They suggest that the selected trading partners are “natural trading partners” of Sri Lanka. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Sri Lanka's trade regime has been gradually liberalized over the last two decades with the aim of deeper integration into the global economy. The purpose of this study is to present a quantitative assessment of the impacts of major unilateral, regional and multilateral trade liberalization on Sri Lanka, and rank the trade policy options in terms of their welfare effects. This study contributes to the empirical literature on trade liberalization. The Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model is used to analyze the welfare effects of trade liberalization in a multi-country, multi-sector general equilibrium framework. The results show that if Sri Lanka implements the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), while maintaining 15 percent external tariffs for the rest of the world, this combined policy would provide the highest welfare gain to Sri Lanka. The SAFTA by its own would provide the second-highest ranked gain from the trade reforms due to the benefits of preferential access to the large SAARC market. The third-highest ranked policy option comes under the unilateral reduction of import tariffs to 15 percent scenario. As results indicate, the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ILFTA) offers the fourth-highest policy option for Sri Lanka. Finally, the phasing-out of MFA on Textiles and Clothing under the Uruguay Round Agreement, rank as the fifth-highest policy option for Sri Lanka. Thus, regional trade liberalization is far more preferable to unilateral and multilateral liberalization. However, as the GTAP model permits, these rankings based on only to the static welfare gains, ignoring the dynamic effect of trade liberalization. In addition, the gravity model has been employed to examine the determinants of Sri Lanka's bilateral trade flows with her selected trading partners, in order to sort out the influence of geographical proximity versus preferential trading policies in creating a regional concentration in trade. Our results confirm the validity of geographical factors such as proximity and cultural familiarity, as determinants of Sri Lanka's trade with neighbouring countries. They suggest that the selected trading partners are “natural trading partners” of Sri Lanka. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This study’s primary objectives are to establish the dimensions, strategies, and tactics used by auditors in the negotiation of sensitive disclosure issues with clients. These issues are typically addressed at the end of the audit and are the primary concern of the audit partner and senior manager. This study uses the tactics established in the negotiation research to test if auditors use the same groups of tactics, and whether these tactics are related by some underlying dimensions, and their relevant strategies. Multidimensional scaling found that there are four dimensions to the tactics that auditors use. During negotiations with their clients, auditors employ tactics representing the underlying dimensions which can be interpreted as “Concern for Self”, “Concern for Client”, “Concern for Others”, and “Concern for Accounting Principles”. Results of cluster analysis established four primary classifications to the 38 auditor tactics. These are “Facilitating”, “Contextual”, “Forcing/asserting”, and “Appeal to authority”. Within these four classifications, twelve sub-categories were observed. These findings reinforce the complexities inherent in the resolution of an audit conflict, and suggest that auditors group together certain tactics for use as called for in the circumstances with which they are dealing. This research contributes to theory within the fields of auditing and general negotiation because it has established that the two-dimensional model of concern that has formed the basis of much behavioural research is insufficient to describe an auditor’s responsibilities. There are four dimensions of concern. While some researchers have proposed a three-dimensional model of negotiation for auditors, the fourth dimension identified in this study is a contribution. This research expands current knowledge fundamental to the audit discipline by establishing the negotiation tactics used by auditors and their underlying multidimensionality, and thus has extended the knowledge of audit conflict management beyond that of strategy-level. Accordingly,this research is beneficial to practicing auditors and for the education of auditors.