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Thesis advisor: Arthur Lewbel / This dissertation comprises three essays on empirical industrial organization (IO) and applied econometrics. The first and third chapters focus on identification approaches in structural models, with the first chapter dedicated to addressing limitations in demand modeling, while the third chapter studies identification in a triangular two-equation system. The second chapter applies modern econometric tools to understand policy-related topics in IO. The first chapter deals with identification in structural demand modeling, and generalizes the current framework in the literature to achieve a more accurate estimation of differentiated products demand. Within the framework of Berry (1994) and Berry, Levinsohn, and Pakes (1995), the existing empirical industrial organization literature often assumes that market size is observed. However, the presence of an unobservable outside option is a common source of mismeasurement. Measurement errors in market size lead to inconsistent estimates of elasticities, diversion ratios, and counterfactual simulations. I explicitly model the market size, and prove point identification of the market size model along with all demand parameters in a random coefficients logit (BLP) model. No additional data beyond what is needed to estimate standard BLP models is required. Identification comes from the exogenous variation in product characteristics across markets and the nonlinearity of the demand system. I apply the method to a merger simulation in the carbonated soft drinks (CSD) market in the US, and find that assuming a market size larger than the true estimated size would underestimate merger price increases. Understanding consumer demand is not only central to studying market structure and competition but also relevant to the study of public policy such as taxation. In the second chapter, we examine household demand for sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) in the U.S. Our goal is to understand the distributional effect of soda taxes across demographic groups and market segments (at-home versus away-from-home). Using a novel dataset that includes at-home and away-from-home food purchases, we study who is affected by soda taxes. We nonparametrically estimate a random coefficient nested logit model to exploit the rich heterogeneity in preferences and price elasticities across households, including SNAP participants and non-SNAP-participant poor. By simulating its impacts, we find that soda taxes are less effective away-from-home while more effective at-home, especially by targeting the total sugar intake of the poor, those with high total dietary sugar, and households without children. Our results suggest that ignoring either segment can lead to biased policy implications. In the final chapter, we show that a standard linear triangular two equation system can be point identified, without the use of instruments or any other side information. We find that the only case where the model is not point identified is when a latent variable that causes endogeneity is normally distributed. In this non-identified case, we derive the sharp identified set. We apply our results to Acemoglu and Johnson's (2007) model of life expectancy and GDP, obtaining point identification and comparable estimates to theirs, without using their (or any other) instrument. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 229-248).

This dissertation focuses on the welfare implications of different government policies aimed to diminish the consumption of energy produced from fossil fuels in the United States. The first of these policies, taxation on gasoline consumption, diminishes consumption by increasing the cost per mile traveled. However, this policy measure has not been favored by policy-makers, and instead, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, CAFEs, were put in place since the seventies. This policy consists of a pre-established threshold of fuel-efficiency, measured in miles per gallon, that car manufacturers selling cars in the United States are subject to each year. For each manufacturer, the CAFE is calculated, which weights the fuel-efficiency of each car model by the number of units sold of that car model. If the CAFE for a given manufacturer lies below the pre-established standard for that year, the manufacturer is subject to a fine. I exploit the manufacturers' past behavior in setting prices for their car models to estimate structural demand and supply parameters that characterize the car industry facing these policies. With those parameters, I can estimate the welfare impacts of tightening the CAFE standard to the new threshold set by the Obama administration and compare those impacts to the ones from raising gasoline taxes to obtain the same gasoline reduction in consumption. The findings are that in the short run, taxation is a less costly policy than tightening the CAFE standard. The second and third essays study the consequences of adopting renewable sources for electricity production. These technologies bring reductions in emissions of pollutants to the atmosphere, but not at no cost. They are expensive and their introduction to already existing electricity systems requires modifications to the usual scheduling of power plants because of the intermittent nature of the renewable sources, such as solar. We compute the equilibrium effects of this policy finding that if the environmental benefits are not taken into account, these policies are welfare decreasing with the amount of renewable sources. Some lower levels of penetration are more cost efficient if we take into account dynamic considerations in the scheduling of the plants.

This dissertation examines competition in the retail gasoline industry. The first chapter highlights the importance of gasoline in modern society, introduces my work, and places it in the context of the existing academic literature.The second chapter details the institutional structure and profitability of the industry. The vast majority of retail gasoline stations are not directly owned and operated by major oil companies. Instead, most stations are set up under other contractual relationships: lessee-dealer, open-dealer, jobber-owned-and-operated, and independent. Gasoline retailers make relatively low profits, as is the case in many other retail industries, and are substantially less profitable than major oil companies. Gas stations also make less money when retail prices are climbing than when they are falling. As prices rise, total station profits are near zero or negative. When retail prices are constant or falling, retailers can make positive profits.The third chapter describes the entry of big-box stores into the retail gasoline industry over the last decade. The growth of such large retailers, in all markets, has led to a great deal of controversy as smaller competitors with long-term ties to the local community have become less common. I estimate the price impact that big-box stores have on traditional gasoline retailers using cross-sectional data in two geographically diverse cities. I also examine changes in pricing following the entry of The Home Depot into a local retail gasoline market. The results show that big-box stores place statistically and economically significant downward pressure on the prices of nearby gas stations, offering a measure of the impact of the entry of a big-box store.Chapter 4 examines the nature of price competition in markets where some competing retailers sell the same brand. The price effect of having more retailers selling the same brand is theoretically unclear. High brand diversity could give individual retailers market power, thereby leading to higher prices. Low brand diversity, though, could act to facilitate collusive behavior, leading to higher prices. I find that prices are higher in markets with high brand diversity.The final chapter of the dissertation summarizes the general findings.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard University, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 457-466).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-116). Also available in electronic version.

Title from title page of source document. Dissertation no. 3316. Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-183).

In order to test the theory of the firm and alternative theories of firm behaviour, primary data was collected from 310 managers of UK-based firms. This primary data was then combined with secondary data collated from the Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME) database and the FTSEISS Corporate Governance Index. This data was then used to construct a number of binary probit models to test the validity of competing theories of the firm. Finally, the data was used to test an original hypothesis, that the level of corporate governance within a firm's management structure is the factor that determines if the managers of the firm will aim for a maximum level of profits. The hypothesis offered here is that it is not, as previously suggested, the percentage of shares held by any one individual, the overall ownership structure, the size of the firm or indeed any firm, market or industry-specific variable that determines if a firm will aim to maximize profits. The relevant factor that determines if a firm will aim to maximize profits is the level of corporate governance within the firm's management structure. Regardless of any other variable, a firm with a high degree of corporate governance is more likely to aim to profit maximize than a firm with a low level of corporate governance.

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