Real estate activity is notably influenced by local land use regulation. By acting as redtape costs or explicitly through compensatory payments, such rules typically increase construction costs by reducing supply and increasing demand in the housing market, which leads to higher prices. This is the first study to model the decision-making process of housing supply using a game theoretic approach. To shed light on the roleof regulation and competition in this industry, I employ a static-entry model that incorporates the demand, cost and strategic factors common to the activity. I built aunique data set forthe city of São Paulo, Brazil, with information on the universe ofnew residential buildings launched in the city, along with a history of all licenses requested by the developers tothe government for each project. My empirical results show that the regulation play akey role in developer activity. For the areas with the most intense activity of the city,the bureaucracy in the residential approval process cost annually R$ 47 millions (US$ 14millions) by entrant firm. / A atividade imobiliária é particularmente influenciada pela regulação do uso da terra. Ao agir como \"custos burocráticos\" ou explicitamente por meio de pagamentos compensatórios,essas regras normalmente aumentam os custos de construção ao reduzir a oferta e aumentara demanda de novas residências, o que leva a preços mais altos. Este é o primeiro estudo amodelar o processo de decisão de oferta de residências usando uma abordagem de teoria dos jogos. Para mostrar os efeitos da regulação e da competição nesse setor, eu emprego um modelo de entrada estático que incorpora os fatores de demanda, custo e estratégicos comuns a essa atividade. Eu construí uma base de dados única para a cidade de São Paulo, Brasil, com informações sobre o universo de novos empreendimentos residenciais na cidade, juntamente comum histórico de todas as licenças e alvarás requeridos pelas incorporadoras à Prefeitura para cada projeto. Meus resultados mostram que a regulação tem um papel chave na atividade imobiliária. Para as áreas com atividade mais intensa da cidade, a burocracia no processo de aprovação de novas residências tem um custo média anual de R$ 47 milhões por firma entrante no mercado.

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The dissertation is comprised of three papers. In the first two Chapters, I analyze the importance of competition, preference heterogeneity, and socio-economic/country-specific factors to explain the differences in penetration rates of mobile phone services across EU Member States. Chapter 1 presents a model of demand and supply for mobile phone services in which products are perceived as homogenous but consumers are heterogeneous with respect to their valuation of the services. Once a service is purchased, consumers (temporarily) leave the market. The parameters which govern the distribution of preferences are allowed to vary by country and will be estimated as part of the demand specification. The model matches the data well and is able to replicate the observed u-shape in the coefficient of variation in penetration rates over the sample period. Using the demand parameters, consumer acquisition costs are backed out and counterfactual experiments performed. I find that preference heterogeneity and differences in the cost of consumer acquisition explain most of the variation in penetration rates across countries. Competition and other control variables, such as the price of fixed-line calls, play only a minor role. In Chapter 2 I relax the assumption that firms are perceived as homogenous and model them as differentiated products. I incorporate endogenous population weights in a standard random coefficients logit model to capture changes in the demographic composition of potential buyers over time due to the (temporary) market exit of adopters. Compared to the results of Chapter 1, I find a larger role of competition and a smaller impact of the (net) cost of consumer acquisition in explaining differences in mobile phone services diffusion. In the third Chapter, I analyze the effect of a product introduction on labor supply. I demonstrate that it is possible to overcome many of the limitations associated with the lack of individual level purchase data by focusing on teenage labor supply and the introduction of video game consoles. I find that 16- to 17-year old male teenagers significantly increase their hours of work in the months prior to video console introductions beyond the usual male-female difference.

This thesis consists of three papers. Industries that motivated this analysis range are exclusive clubs (Chapter 1) and pharmaceuticals (Chapters 2 and 3). A common thread is the study of the strategic behavior of monopoly or monopoly-like firms and the implications of such behavior. Chapter 1 studies an “invitation only” strategy for a durable goods monopolist. “Invitation only” functions as a commitment device, enabling the extraction of more profit than the conventional durable goods setting. In addition, the effectiveness of commitment devices in profit-extraction can be compared: each commitment device is modeled as an extra condition in the profit maximization of the general durable goods monopolist, enabling straightforward comparisons across commitment devices. Chapters 2 and 3 discuss the effect of patent protection on innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, in particular competition to produce drugs that follow-on from pioneer drug discovery, and any feedback effects on pioneer innovation. Despite the conventional notion, I show that longer patent protection may reduce or distort the incentives of innovation: with longer patents, the increased need of pioneer inventors in deterring the production of follow-on drugs may translate to less profitability for the pioneer inventor. Chapter 2 serves as a background and a literature review for Chapter 3. It explains the multi-stage drug discovery process and the phenomenon of follow-on drugs; it reviews strategic entry deterrence theories and summarizes the behavior of brand-name drug firms in deterring generic entry studied in the literature; it also reviews the optimal patent length and breadth literature. Chapter 3 presents several observed puzzles in the pharmaceutical industry and provides a unified explanation for these puzzles within a strategic entry deterrence model. The central conclusion is that under some general conditions, longer patent life distorts incentives for innovation and lowers research productivity: pioneer research is discouraged relative to follow-on research; inexpensive R&D projects are discouraged, and ceteris paribus expensive projects are favored instead, especially those with large clinical trial costs. Other predictions from the model accord with industry observations, including mid-development cancellations of potential drugs for non-medical reasons and early development of follow-on drugs in large markets.

This study examined the ralationship of organizational structure and job satisfaction in Iranain iron companies. Sixteen of 27 Iranian iron companies were randomly selected for the study, and 195 middle managers in the 16 companies were surveyed with a three part instrument consisting of Likert's (1967) Profile of Organizational Characteristics; Smith, Kendal and Hulin's (1969) Job Description Index; and a short demographic questionnaire. For each company, responses to the Profile of Organizational Characteristics were tabulated, means were calculated, and an organizational structure was assigned to the company based on Likert's (1967) classification of organizational structures: System 1, Exploitative/ Authoritative; System 2, Benevolent/Authoritative; System 3, Consultive; and System 4, Participative. The mean job satisfaction of middle managers was also calculated from responses to the Job Description Index, and results from the demographic questionnaire were tabulated. These results were statistically analyzed using Analysis of Variance, the Student-Newman-Keuls Procedure, Pearson's r test, and a correlation coefficient test. The findings revealed no single organizational structure present in Iranian iron companies; however, 14 of the 16 companies had a System 3, Consultive, organizational structure. A positive correlation of job satisfaction with organizational structure was found; as structure changed from more authoritarian/less participative to less authoritarian/more participative, job satisfaction of middle managers increased. No significant relationship was found between organizational structure and organizational size, no significant differences were found in job satisfaction of middle managers in different companies, and no significant relationships were found between job satisfaction and any of the four demographic variables: Type of Work, Education, Job Location, and Marital Status. / Graduation date: 1990

Each year well over one billion movie tickets are sold to an audience who knows very little about what they are getting themselves into. Why is it that despite the uncertainty, people return to the theaters to see what Hollywood has in store for them? In efforts to provide answers regarding the driving forces behind Hollywood’s blockbuster hits, this study takes into account the integration levels of the studios. Specifically, does a movie produced in-house at a large studio have a better chance of being a blockbuster hit than one which is outsourced to an independent production company? Further, I discuss the motivation behind the studios’ decision. While considering the embedded integration within the motion picture industry, this study aims to provide insight regarding the extent of internal studio productions and the effects of these films on the box-office.

The objective of this paper is to explain the variation in efficiency of credit unions over the past decade. This study creates an evaluation metric for credit union performance by using a nonparametric technique called data envelopment analysis (DEA). Efficiency is based on the credit unions ability to maximize the members’ benefits by providing adequate loans and savings accounts at low prices while minimizing the resources used. The sample consists of 704 credit unions from 2001 to 2010. Several environmental characteristics were found to influence efficiency. The findings demonstrate evidence for economies of scale as number of members, average savings size, and total assets all positively influence efficiency. The results also indicate that federal charter, number of branches, share of real estate loans, and average loan size negatively correlate with efficiency.

This thesis examines firm performance through the dot-com bubble through the lens of executive compensation. Hypotheses based on the theoretical literature of Bolton, Scheinkman and Xiong (2006) as well as Bertrand and Mullainathan (2001) in regards to management compensation in a speculative bubble motivate three regression models with differing market-cap-growth based dependent variables and specific compensation variables. Regression analyses test the models using public compensation and security data from S&P's Execucomp and Compustat databases. Synthesizing regression results show that stock option vesting schedules and executives' status on the board of directors may significantly affect firm performance through the dot-com bubble, but more analysis, using more robust data, is necessary to verify either claim.

For-profit postsecondary education rapidly expanded in the decade preceding the 2008 financial crisis. For-profit institutions enrolled 9% of undergraduate students in 2009, up from 3% in 2000. This growth that was promising is now troubling. Significant enrollment declines in 2010-2012, in light of regulatory risk, recent GAO reports, and public scrutiny of recruiting and lending practices, suggest the foundations are not stable. This paper will analyze recent strategic decisions in the for-profit postsecondary education market using the framework developed by Brewer, Gates, and Goldman (2002) and make predictions about firm strategies and the future of the industry.

The rise in the prevalence of the Internet has had a wide range of implications in nearly every industry. Within the music business, the turn of the millennium came with a unique, and difficult, set of challenges. While the majority of academic literature in the area focuses specifically on the aspect of file sharing within the Internet as it negatively impacts sales within the recording sector, this study aims to assess the Internet’s wider impacts on the broader music industry. In the same time that record sales have plummeted, the live music sector has thrived, potentially presenting alternative business models and opportunities. This paper will discuss a variety of recent Internet-related developments including the rise of legal digital distribution, key economic implications, general welfare effects, changes in consumer preference and social phenomena as they relate to both the recording and live entertainment sectors. I employ a time series multiple regression model to evaluate the statistical significance of the relationship between the Internet’s rise and the value of record sales. For the concert industry, I will examine recent trends and descriptive data as they relate to the Internet’s prevalence.