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This thesis studies mean-field games (MFGs) models of price formation. The thesis focuses explicitly on a MFGs price formation model proposed by Gomes and Saude. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part examines the deterministic supply case, while the second part extends the model to incorporate a stochastic supply function. We explore different approaches, such as Aubry-Mather theory, to study the properties of the MFGs price formation model and alternative formulations using a convex variational problem with constraints. We propose machine-learning-based numerical methods to approximate the solution of the MFGs price formation model in the deterministic and stochastic setting.

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Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) contamination presents a considerable level of danger in almost all post-conflict environments. Globally there are a vast amount of casualties every year. However, accurate numbers of casualties is hard to obtain both globally and locally. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how UXO affects Human Security in Lao PDR. The methodology used is a theory consuming empirical and heuristic method. The thesis is a case study that does not attempt to generalize but to understand and analyze the relation between UXO and Human Security in the context of Lao PDR. The theory used in the thesis is Human Security based on the concept of the 1994 UNDP Human Development Report. The findings of the thesis make clear the connection between UXO contamination and lack of Human Security in Lao PDR. The direct and indirect consequences of UXO contamination are explored. Finally, the thesis works at a broader societal level where the links to poverty and development are illustrated.

The purpose of this study is to explore the implications for various government stabilization policies of explicit consideration of market disequilibrium, especially credit rationing in the commercial bank loan market. The analysis centers in each case on the value of the government expenditure multiplier. First, a control or equilibrium version of the model is developed which is consistent with standard macrotheory and which contains a welldescribed banking sector. The results of the simulations with this version of the model confirm that the impact multiplier is larger when the deficit is financed by printing money than when bonds are issued to meet the requirement for funds. However, it is shown that in the long run the bond-financed multiplier is greater than the money-financed multiplier. This version of the model also confirms the possibility raised in the current literature that the bondfinanced case may be unstable. Since the current model has a well developed banking sector, the theory of the government finance restraint is extended to consider the case in which the deficit is financed by transferring the ownership of government bank deposits to the private sector. This case closely resembles the bond-financed case in the short run but it is statically stable. The deposit-financed case is limited, of course, by the initial size of the government deposits. Therefore, the restoration of the level of government deposits by one of the other means of financing is considered. Next, a disequilibrium version of the control model is developed consistent with current literature on disequilibrium phenomena. This version of the model contains a feedback mechanism by which a disequilibrium in one market will affect the decisions in all other markets. The results of the simulations with the disequilibrium model show that the government expenditure impact multiplier may be increased by the presence of credit rationing. In fact the bond-financed case which is unstable in the control version becomes stable under "equilibrium" credit rationing, where the loan rate does not adjust at all. Since the model used in this study is ad hoe, sensitivity analysis is used to investigate the importance of the exact values of the key parameters of the system. The policy implications of the study do appear to hing on the values of the feedback coefficients. If the force of credit rationing is mainly felt in the real sector, the government expenditure impact multiplier will be smaller in the disequilibrium version than in the control model. -on the other hand, if the impact of credit rationing is mainly felt in the financial sector, the opposite result will occur. However, the range of values that the multiplier may take on, depending on the impact of the credit rationing, is quite small. Thus, given the size of the error of prediction of standard models, this study concludes that it is unlikely that the inclusion of credit rationing will allow a better evaluation of government stabilization policies. This is especially true if the impact of credit rationing is believed to be in roughly the same proportion as normal expenditures in the various markets. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This dissertation develops a theoretical model of educational peer effects and then empirically tests whether or not they exist. In the theoretical model, each student selects an effort level to maximize utility; this effort choice depends on his peer group's effort and race. The students' equilibrium effort expression results in hypotheses that can be directly investigated empirically, a definition of the social multiplier, and conditions under which a social multiplier exists. The empirical model uses student-level data with observations on complete classrooms and two measures of effort, self-assessed effort and time spent studying, to investigate whether or not peer effects exist. The estimation results of the empirical model, interpreted using a simulation-based technique, find a positive relationship between the amount of time a student spends studying and time spent studying by peers who share his race; for self-assessed effort, the results are ambiguous. Simulations of policy experiments show that effort is higher in more racially homogeneous classrooms and that a social multiplier exists for both a reduction in the time a student spends working at a part time job and an increase in the student's socioeconomic status. / Economics

Ghana, like many African countries, is plagued with unemployment, poverty and annual trade deficits. Unemployment and poverty have led to a socio-economic breakdown. They are believed to be among the causes that led to the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Despite the abundance of an unemployed labor force, Ghana continues to depend on imported equipment, costing $174 million annually for its earthmoving and construction activities. In 1986, the Government of Ghana, the World Bank, the International Labor Organization and the United Nations Development Program introduced labor-based road rehabilitation program in Ghana to help create more jobs and reduce the high unemployment and poverty incidence. The program has not been patronized due to the casual labor usage and labor organizational and management problems. This research formulates the Family-Based Labor Management (FBLM) concept (also referred to as the HPWT-FBLM concept) by incorporating High Performance Work Team (HPWT), the Ghana Family System, and Roles and Responsibilities Matrix (RRM) concepts to make the program more attractive to labor and management. The FBLM concept would equip local contractors with the managerial skills to increase average monthly production from 1.33km to between 4km and 6km gaining competitive advantage over the 3.07km monthly production of the equipment-intensive contractor. Since the HPWT-FBLM concept has not been used, the related concepts HPWT and RRM concepts are used to validate the newly formulated recruitment, training, work method, communication and reward strategies. When adopted, the HPWT-FBLM concept would annually invest 10% of the $174 million for five years and yield employment increase of 23,000-34,000 the first year, growing to a total of 116,000-170,000 in five years. This concept will help reduce import deficit, conserve foreign exchange, and develop a pool of skilled workers and managers in Ghana. It has the potential of boosting the Ghanaian manufacturing industry for making hand-tools in lieu of purchasing imported equipment. The HPWT-FBLM concept can be adopted by the agriculture and building construction and other industries in Ghana that use large supplies of unskilled and semi-skilled labor. / Ph. D.