In this thesis, we present three works on queues. In chapter 1, we analyze two non-work-conserving variations of the M/G/1 preemptive LIFO queue, focusing on deriving expressions for the limiting distribution of workload and related quantities. In the first model, preempted customers return to the front of the queue with a new service time, while in the second, they return with their original service time. We use queueing theory methods such as the Rate Conservation Law, PASTA, regenerative process theory and Little's Law. Our results include stability and heavy-traffic limits, as well as tail asymptotics for stationary workload. In chapter 2, we analyze a queueing model with price-sensitive customers, where the service provider aims to maximize revenue and minimize the average queue length. Customers arrive according to a Poisson process, join the queue if their willingness-to-pay exceeds the offered price, and are served in a first-in first-out manner with exponential service times. Our model is applicable to cloud computing, make-to-order manufacturing, and food delivery. We provide performance guarantees for a class of static pricing policies that can achieve a constant fraction of the optimal revenue with a small increase in expected queue length. We present results for the single-server, multi-server, and multi-class cases and provide numerical findings to demonstrate the empirical performance of our policies. In chapter 3, we analyze the Adaptive Non-deterministic Transmission Policy (ANTP), a technique addressing the Massive Access Problem (MAP) in telecommunications, which involves delaying packets at the points of origin to reduce congestion. We frame these delays as time spent at a "cafe" before proceeding to the service facility. We present sample-path results, giving conditions under which ANTP does not change the total sojourn time of packets, and results under a general stochastic framework, focusing on stability and constructing proper stationary versions of the model. We prove Harris recurrence of an underlying Markov process and find positive recurrent regeneration points under i.i.d. assumptions.

During the last two years, the electricity prices in Sweden have risen due to unstable weather conditions, recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and limited access to electricity. This has led to people finding alternative ways of heating up their residences, e.g., fireplace. The Swedish Medical Products Agency found an increase in carbon monoxide poisoning related to residential heating during 2022, which gave the topic a boost in the news and media. The aim for the study was to investigate the knowledge about carbon monoxide poisoning among Swedish house owners, and to see if there was a correlation between electricity prices and number of cases carbon monoxide poisoning in Sweden during the period 2008-2021. A paper- and web survey was conducted and sent out to 480 Swedish houseowners, selected by Postnord. Electricity prices and cases of carbon monoxide poisoning was received from the internet via Statistics Sweden and the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. Regarding the questions covered in this study, house owners' knowledge varied. Recognition of the symptoms and prevalence of carbon monoxide poisoning was known by most of the respondents, whilst course of action in case of intoxication was not as well known. A weak positive correlation was shown between electricity prices and number of cases carbon monoxide poisoning. The increase in electricity prices and the number of cases carbon monoxide poisoning during the 2020s, would make it interesting to do further investigation.

To reduce environmental impact from the real estate sector, improving energy performance and promoting the use of eco-labels are among essential elements. Understanding the relationship between the green initiatives, and their impact on property prices provides valuable insights into consumer preferences and market dynamics, from the perspective of asymmetric information. By applying a hedonic price regression on real estate prices in Malmö, the economic premium associated with energy efficiency and eco-labels are estimated over a five-year period to capture the development regarding green initiatives.  The aim of the thesis was twofold, to measure the economic premium of energy efficiency and eco-labels on residential housing in Malmö. The economic premium were found to be premium for energy efficient apartments, whereas the amount was found to decrease in relative terms between the examined years. The eco-label effect on apartments was found to be negative in 2015 and statistically insignificant in 2020. Single family houses showed no significant effect in the measured attributes.  The analysis of the data revealed that labelled housing is found to be clustered within highly populated areas, and not exclusively associated with higher income areas in the context of Malmö.

Rapporten undersöker hur bostadspriser påverkas av avståndet till kollektivtrafiken och sambandet det har till befolkningstätheten i området. Sedan så är det just också hur detta skiljer sig rent teoretiskt och i praktiken som skiljer det här arbetet från andra liknande arbeten då det oftast endast ett av detta och dess påverkan ligger i fokus. Insamlingen av data till arbetet har sket via den kvalitativ metod som avser att med hjälp av intervjuer, arkivdata och teorier som är anpassningsbara för att uppfylla syftet och besvara frågeställningen. Det finns några olika modeller och teorier som används som grund rent teoretiskt vid detta problem. Men stor skillnad mellan teorin och praktiken framkom snabbt då intervjuerna började då de flesta ej aktivt använde de modeller som kunde förklara avståndet till kollektivtrafikens påverkan samt befolkningstäthetens påverkan på bostadspriserna men i praktiken använde sig värderarna av marknadskännedom och ortsprismetoden vid nästan alla värderingar då de flesta ansågs att det räckte med dessa metoder för att värdera bostäder. Men så rent teoretiskt så finns det ett samband mellan avståndet till kollektivtrafiken och befolkningstäthet och det har oftast en positiv påverkan på bostadspriser men kan variera beroende på fler olika variabler som kan förekomma från fall till fall. Sedan så genom de fem intervjuer har empiriska data erhållits för att kunna koppla teorin till verkligheten. De fem respondenterna diskuterade först ifall sambandet fanns men även problematik med det, de flesta respondenter höll med att i praktiken finns det ett vist samband men att det var svårt att kvantifiera men att det ej är direkt och enbart mellan avståndet till kollektivtrafiken och befolkningstätheten då detta endast är två faktorer av väldigt många flera som påverkas tillsammans och förbättras oftast i liknande takt i följd av att det ställs högre krav och att ett område blir mer attraktivt att leva i. Slutligen så i praktiken behövs det i nuläget ej några nya modeller eller teorier för att kunna värdera bostäder med vikt på avståndet till kollektivtrafiken och befolkningstätheten, men att ifall dessa faktorer blir väldigt eftertraktade och attraktiva kan nya analyser och studier behövas göras för att marknaden ska kunna dra slutsatser om hur mycket dessa faktorer påverkar bostadspriserna. / The report examines how the housing prices get affected by the distance to public transport and the relationship it has with the population density in the area. Then it is precisely how this differs purely theoretically and in practice that separates this work from other similar work, since usually only one of this factors and its impact is in focus. The collection of data for the work has taken place via the qualitative method which intends to use interviews, archival data and theories that are adaptable to fulfil the purpose and answer the question. There are a few different models and theories that are used as a theoretical basis for this problem. But a big difference between theory and practice quickly emerged when the interviews began, as most did not actively use the models that could explain the impact the distance to public transport and the impact of population density on housing prices, but in practice the valuers used market knowledge and the local price method for almost all valuations as most considered that these methods were sufficient to value housing. But purely theoretically, there is a connection between the distance to public transport and population density, and this usually has a positive impact on housing prices but can vary depending on several different variables that can occur from case to case. Then through the five interviews, empirical data has been obtained to be able to connect the theory to reality. The five respondents first discussed whether the connection existed but also problems with it, most respondents agreed that in practice there is a certain connection but that it was difficult to quantify but that it is not directly and only between the distance to public transport and the population density as this are only two factors out of many that are affected together and usually improve at a similar rate as a result of higher demands being made and an area becoming more attractive to live in. Finally, in practice, there is currently no need for new models or theories to be able to value housing with weight on the distance to public transport and the population density, but that if these factors become very sought after and attractive, new analyses and studies may need to be done so that the market can draw conclusions about how much these factors affect house prices.

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This dissertation contains four essays in spatial and international economics. Chapter 1 investigates how housing variety varies across space. Housing costs are key in understanding real income differences across space and time. Standard measures of housing costs do not account for availability differences, where some housing varieties are available in certain cities or time periods but not others. When households have idiosyncratic preferences over housing units, the set of available housing varieties in a city matters. This paper develops theoretically-founded housing price indices to measure housing costs that account for availability differences. To allow for flexible substitution patterns, I propose a method to jointly estimate the nests that varieties belong to and the elasticity of substitution across varieties within each nest. I find that households in larger cities benefit from having access to varieties not available in smaller cities. Utility-consistent housing prices reduce the elasticity of housing prices with respect to population by a half. Since housing is a third of household expenditure, this implies that we have systematically underestimated real income and overestimated residual amenities in larger cities. In contrast to previous estimates, I find that real income is increasing in city size after accounting for availability differences. Chapter 2 investigates the factors that cause incomplete pass-through of exchange rate shocks into border prices. This paper examines the role of decreasing returns to scale, a channel that has received limited empirical and theoretical attention. Based on a first-order approximation to a firm's optimal price, I show that 1) decreasing returns to scale interacts with variable markups, imported inputs, and destination non-traded costs to generate incomplete pass-through, 2) there is asymmetry between importer currency and exporter currency shocks due to imported inputs, and 3) strategic complementarity matters, where firms adjust their prices in response to competitor prices. I propose a new estimation method for key demand and supply parameters that govern the degree of markup and marginal cost adjustments. Using the estimated parameters, I find that decreasing returns to scale is the dominant factor in generating incomplete pass-through, with variable marginal costs contributing to over 90% of the incomplete pass-through, while variable markups account for less than 10%. Chapter 3 analyzes the determinants of exporter size. Theories of comparative advantage and product differentiation have emphasized productivity and quality differences. This paper shows that incorporating decreasing returns to scale matters for understanding the determinants of exporter size. Exogenous marginal cost differences affect equilibrium quantities but do not necessarily appear in prices since lower exogenous marginal costs (a lower cost curve) are offset by higher endogenous marginal costs (movement along the cost curve). As a result, standard approaches that assume constant returns to scale underestimate the contribution of marginal cost differences and overestimate the contribution of quality differences. Based on bilateral trade flow data between 1997 to 2016 for over 200 countries and 3000 products, I find that standard approaches attribute almost no variation in exporter size to cost differences. In contrast, after incorporating decreasing returns to scale, I estimate that 58% (65%) of the variation in exporter size is attributed to fundamental cost differences in the time series (cross-section). Chapter 4 models and quantifies the dynamic gains from exporting. I develop a dynamic trade model where firms innovate and learn from other firms in the destinations they sell to. The evolution of a country's stock of knowledge can be expressed as a function of export flows and the stocks of knowledge of their trading partners. I find evidence that countries in Asia, North America, and Europe, as well as countries in the top two quartiles of TFP growth were able to better absorb foreign insights than other countries. I evaluate whether there are dynamic gains from trade with two counterfactual exercises. First, I measure the impact of changing trade costs between 1962 and 2000. I find small static gains but zero dynamic gains for the world economy. Second, I quantify the dynamic gains from export-induced foreign knowledge flows by simulating a counterfactual where there is no learning from foreign sources. I find that domestic learning compensates for foreign learning: there are large dynamic gains from exporting when there is no domestic learning and small dynamic gains when there is domestic learning.