Asymmetric information is a large potential problem for insurance markets, especially for markets insuring health risk. Despite a large theoretical attention over the last 30 years, the empirical evidence of the extent of the problem is still limited. In part this is due to methodological problems. The fundamental problem being that the private information, on which agents' act, is generally not observable to the researcher. This thesis provides empirical evidence on selection and moral hazard, using a private dental insurance natural experiment that solves many of the methodological problems. The initial decision to select into the insurance is analyzed in the first paper. Interestingly, results indicate both adverse selection and its opposite, advantageous selection, in different parts of the sample. These results are captured in a theoretical model where agents differ in their degree of risk aversion. In the second paper the decision to opt out of insurance is related to new information on risk. Results indicate that updating is asymmetric. Agents do not take the insurer's information fully into account, even though it is public. Finally, the moral hazard effect of dental coverage is analyzed in the last paper. The treatment effect of insurance coverage is separated from self-selection, using propensity score matching, IV and difference-in-differences. The results give strong empirical evidence of moral hazard. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2004 xii s., s. 3-12: sammanfattning, s. 13-104: 3 uppsatser

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Essay I: Employment Security Agreements, which are elements of Swedish collective agreements, offer a unique opportunity to study very early job search counselling of displaced workers. These agreements provide individual job search assistance to workers who are dismissed due to redundancy, often as early as during the period of notice. Compared to traditional labor market policies, the assistance provided is earlier and more responsive to the needs of the individual worker. In this study, I investigate the effects of the individual counseling and job search assistance provided through the Employment Security Agreement for Swedish blue-collar workers on job finding and subsequent job quality. The empirical strategy is based on the rules of eligibility in a regression discontinuity framework. I estimate the effect for workers with short tenure, who are dismissed through mass-layoffs. My results do not suggest that the program has an effect on the probability of becoming unemployed, the duration of unemployment, or income. However, the results indicate that the program has a positive effect on the duration of the next job. Essay II: The well-known positive relationship between the unemployment benefit level and unemployment duration can be separated into two potential sources; a moral hazard effect, and a liquidity effect pertaining to the increased ability to smooth consumption. The latter is a socially optimal response due to credit and insurance market failures. These two effects are difficult to separate empirically, but the social optimality of an unemployment insurance policy can be evaluated by studying the effect of a non-distortionary lump-sum severance grant on unemployment durations. In this study, I evaluate the effects on unemployment duration and subsequent job quality of a lump-sum severance grant provided to displaced workers, by means of a Swedish collective agreement. I use a regression discontinuity design, based on the strict age requirement to be eligible for the grant. I find that the lump-sum grant has a positive effect on the probability of becoming unemployed and the length of the completed unemployment duration, but no effect on subsequent job quality. My analysis also indicates that spousal income is important for the consumption smoothing abilities of displaced workers, and that the grant may have a greater effect in times of more favorable labor market conditions. Essay III: Evidence from around the world suggest that individuals who are awarded disability benefits in some cases still have residual working capacity, while disability insurance systems typically involve strong disincentives for benefit recipients to work. Some countries have introduced policies to incentivize disability insurance recipients to use their residual working capacities on the labor market. One such policy is the continuous deduction program in Sweden, introduced in 2009. In this study, I investigate whether the financial incentives provided by this program induce disability insurance recipients to increase their labor supply or education level. Retroactively determined eligibility to the program with respect to time of benefit award provides a setting resembling a natural experiment, which could be used to estimate the effects of the program using a regression discontinuity design. However, a simultaneous regime change of disability insurance eligibility causes covariate differences between treated and controls, which I adjust for using a matching strategy. My results suggest that the financial incentives provided by the program have not had any effect on labor supply or educational attainment.

Background: Leukocytes in peripheral blood (PB) are prognostic biomarkers in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cancer patients (HNSCC-CPs), but differences between HNSCC-CPs and healthy adults (HAs) are insufficiently described. Methods: 10-color flow cytometry (FCM) was used for in-depth immunophenotyping of PB samples of 963 HAs and 101 therapy-naïve HNSCC-CPs. Absolute (AbsCC) and relative cell counts (RelCC) of leukocyte subsets were determined. A training cohort (TC) of 43 HNSCC-CPs and 43 HAs, propensity score (PS)-matched according to age, sex, alcohol, and smoking, was used to develop a score consecutively approved in a validation cohort (VC). Results: Differences in AbsCC were detected in leukocyte subsets (p < 0.001), but had low power in discriminating HNSCC-CPs and HAs. Consequently, RelCC of nine leukocyte subsets in the TC were used to calculate 36 ratios; receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves defined optimum cut-off values. Binary classified data were combined in a score based on four ratios: monocytes-to-granulocytes (MGR), classical monocytes-to-monocytes (clMMR), monocytes-to-lymphocytes (MLR), and monocytes-to-T-lymphocytes (MTLR); ≥3 points accurately discriminate HNSCC-CPs and HAs in the PS-matched TC (p = 2.97 × 10−17), the VC (p = 4.404 × 10−178), and both combined (p = 7.74 × 10−199). Conclusions: RelCC of leukocyte subsets in PB of HNSCC-CPs differ significantly from those of HAs. A score based on MGR, clMMR, MLR, and MTLR allows for accurate discrimination.

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This study uses the competing Burton Clark's "Cooling Out Theory" and Daniel Bell's "Theory of the Postindustrial Economy" to examine the function that for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs) play in American higher education and how it is different from non-profit traditional colleges and universities (TCUs). This was done through three sections of analysis. The first examined if students who enroll at these FPCUs are less academically prepared than those attending non-profit traditional colleges or universities. The second tested if academic preparedness is associated with postsecondary performance at FPCUs to the same degree it is at TCUs. The final section of analysis looked at FPCU graduates to see if they have different short-term job outcomes when compared to traditional college graduates. This research utilizes The Beginning Postsecondary Survey 2009- a restricted-use longitudinal data set produced by the National Center for Education Statistics that followed 16,700 first-time college enrollees from 2003 until 2009. This data set includes information on student demographics, academic performance, enrollment history, and job outcomes. The results of this study indicated that when compared to traditional college students, FPCU students are less likely to be academically prepared for college and are more frequently characterized by risk factors that previous research has shown makes it less likely they will complete their degree. This research also found that unlike TCUs, high school academic performance is not associated with post-secondary performance or likelihood of degree attainment at FPCUs. Finally, it was observed that FPCU graduates were less likely to have jobs related to their degree and earned less income than TCU graduates, but had about the same degree of job satisfaction.

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本篇論文應用Rubin (1973)、Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983、1985a,b)所發展的配對方法(Matching Method)探討兩個議題，其一是評估企業從事社會責任行為是否可以改善績效，另一則是探討銀行加入金控後對其績效的影響。 / 針對第一個議題，我們將FTSE All-share 指數中被收錄於英國FTSE 社會責任指數的成份股定義為社會責任企業，未被收錄者定義為非社會責任企業，應用配對方法，根據特性變數是否相近為依據進行樣本配對。實證結果發現，不論使用配對前或是配對後的樣本進行分析，皆找不到社會責任企業的平均績效優於非社會責任企業的證據；相反地，部分的證據顯示社會責任企業的財務績效相對較低，因此我們的分析結果傾向支持焦點移轉假說，社會責任行為對財務績效的影響效果為負。 / 另外，我們以遠見雜誌於2006 年公佈的企業社會責任調查為基礎，將衡量企業社會責任績效的三個層面－社區參與、環境保護與財務透明，透過投資組合分析與迴歸分析來評估公司承擔社會責任與財務績效之間的關聯性。實證結果發現，第一，平均來說，公司的社會責任評分愈高，在評比結果公佈後的股票報酬愈低，兩者之間呈現負向關係；第二，公司在不同層面的社會責任行為對於股價報酬的影響具有差異性；第三、透過公司的長期財務資料發現，社會責任評分高的公司其長期平均會計績效相對較佳，但長期平均的股票報酬相對較低，表示社會責任型公司不一定是一個好的投資標的；最後，我們找不到支持社會責任行為可以做為公司績效保險的證據。本文使用各別層面的評比指標，更廣泛地評估社會責任行為對財務績效的影響，改進既有文獻中僅使用單一指標的不足之處。 / 就第二個議題而言，同樣地應用配對方法，根據銀行的特性變數是否相近為依據進行樣本篩選，利用台灣上市上櫃的銀行在2002 年第1 季至2006 年第2季的資料，我們發現在樣本配對前，平均來說，金控銀行在15 個CAMEL 績效指標的表現上皆相對較佳；樣本配對後，金控銀行除了在費用比率之外，其他的評比指標仍相對優於獨立銀行；不論使用配對前或配對後的樣本做分析，皆未出現金控銀行績效顯著較差的證據，因此，我們的實證結果偏向支持綜效假設，銀行加入金控對績效的影響效果為正向。 / 我們的研究架構與方案評估與政策衝擊分析文獻中的方法相一致，而貢獻則在於我們考慮樣本之間特性變數的差異性，進而以樣本配對的方式修正這個差異性，將有效降低既有文獻中在檢驗上述兩個議題上的選擇偏誤問題。 / In this thesis, we apply several matching methods, develop by Rubin (1973)、Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983, 1985a,b), on examing the effects of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on firm financial performance (CSR-effect) and on evaluating the effects of banks being subordinated to FHC on CAMEL indicators (join-FHC effect). / For the former application, two competing hypotheses, social impact hypothesis and shift of focus hypothesis, are proposed, where the former suggests that CSR has a positive relation with performance and the latter are opposite. To ensure the CSR-effect is not contaminated by other factors or the sample is randomly drawn, we employ four matching methods, Nearest, Caliper, Mahala and Mahala Caliper to match the characteristics of the firms with CSR (CSR-firms) and without CSR (NonCSR-firms) to get rid of sample selection bias. Although the four methods yield slightly different results, to our surprised, firms engaging in CSR activities obtain lower values on the return on assets, return on equity, return on sales and earnings per share. Therefore, CSR at the very least does not improve the firm performance, supporting the shift of focus hypothesis. Engaging in CSR activities lead to more pain than gain, at least in the short run. / On the CSR topic, using a set of disaggregated social performance indicators for community participation, environmental protection and fiancail transparency from the Global Views Monthly, we examine the relationship between CSR and financial performance of TSE listing companies. Our main results show that first, scores on composite social performance indicators are negatively related to stock returns and this relationship cannot be rationalized by multi-factor models for explaining the cross-sectional variation in stock returns. Second, the effects of three disaggregated social performance indicators on stock returns are differenct among industries. Third, aggregated social performance indicator is positively related to long-term accounting performance but negatively related to long-term market performance, and thus implies that good companies are good in books, but not good investments. Finally, firms with high CSR ratings do no exhibit smaller decline of their financial performance during stagnations and thus not support the view that CSR is insurance of financial performance. / The second application, two hypotheses, synergy hypothesis and specialization advantage hypothesis, are raised too, where the former suggests that FHC-banks performer better and the latter are contrary. Above four matching methods are still used to fix the characteristics of two groups of banks in order to correct for sample selection bias. Based on after-matching samples, most of our empirical results suggest that FHC-banks, on average, outperform independent banks on most of indicators on capital adequacy, asset quality, earning ability and liquidity but not on management ability and being FHC-banks at the very least does not deteriorate the performance of banks, making our conclusion favors the synergy hypothesis and against specialization advantage hypothesis in Taiwan. / Our framework is identical to many applications of matching method such as Persson (2001), Hutchison (2004), Glick, Guo and Hutchison (2006), and are also parallel to standard medical and biological research.

Oregon's land use planning system is often recognized as having been successful in its goals of limiting urban sprawl and protecting resource lands from development. However, it is difficult to quantify the impact of these regulations, because we cannot observe what would have happened in the absence of land use planning. The three essays in this dissertation explore the effects of Oregon's land use planning regulations on development patterns in the state, and also examine how the land use regulations are administered at the local level. The first essay in this dissertation asks if Oregon’s land use regulations have successfully restricted sprawl outside of urban areas. Urban containment policies, including Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs), are a common tool used by city planners to promote compact development. We analyze how well UGBs do in containing development using fine-scale GIS data on cities in Oregon. Earlier studies on UGBs yield mixed results, with some authors finding no effects of UGBs on housing market variables and urbanization rates and others finding significant effects. A challenge in measuring these effects is that the location of the UGB is unlikely to be an exogenous determinant of a land parcel's value for development. The panel structure of our dataset allows us to estimate the UGB's effect on the probability of development using a difference-in-difference estimator. This estimator controls for time-invariant unobservable variables and common temporal effects among parcels, thereby mitigating the potential for biased estimates due to the endogeneity of the UGB's location. We also pursue a novel approach to controlling for time-varying factors inspired by regression discontinuity design. We find that UGBs are effective in containing development in many of the Oregon cities we examine, although there are some cities in which development rates are the same inside and outside of the UGB. Our results show that we would greatly overstate the effects of the UGBs were we to evaluate cross-sectional differences in development rates, as is common in previous studies. Besides the creation of UGBs, another goal of Oregon's land use regulations is to encourage citizen involvement in the planning process. The second essay in this dissertation examines the use of voter annexation as a form of citizen involvement. More specifically, this paper addresses the following two questions. First, does voter annexation cause changes in city demographics and characteristics? Second, assuming that a city votes for amendments and annexations to the UGB and city limits, what factors impact the outcome of the vote? We analyze the first question using the method of propensity score matching, which has not previously been used to explore this topic. This allows us to account for the endogeneity that stems from the fact that cities with certain characteristics may be more likely to use voter annexation in the first place. The second question, which is only evaluated for cities that employ voter annexation, is analyzed with the use of the logit model. Oregon's land use regulations must be approved at the state level, but are administered locally. Therefore, unlike past studies, we are able to isolate specific differences in the way the program is administered, and are not evaluating the stringency of the program itself. Previous studies have found that voter-approved annexation causes developers to provide more public goods and increase the scale of development, thereby shifting community demographics. Once a land use decision is on the ballot, it is also noted that cities that are whiter, wealthier, and more liberal are more likely to pass referenda that promote preservation and restrict development. For the first question, we compare specific demographic indicators between the two groups of cities. Contrary to the results of previous studies, we find no effect of voter annexation on these indicators. Our results for the second question indicate that the characteristics of the voting process itself impact the outcome more than community characteristics, which also differs from the results of previous analyses. The third essay in this dissertation is an extension of the first essay, and focuses on the impact of Oregon's land use regulations on the protection of land in riparian corridors and land that has been designated for exclusive farm use (EFU). Riparian corridors are protected with the use of Oregon Goal 5, which focuses on development of natural resource lands inside of UGBs, while EFU land is protected with the use of Oregon Goal 3, which focuses on protection of agricultural land at the county level. The LCT dataset that was used in the first essay is also used in this essay. EFU land by definition has no probability of development in the initial period. Land located in riparian corridors may also face different initial levels of protection than other land. We deal with this endogeneity, and also account for location inside or outside of a UGB, with the use of the difference -in-difference-in-differences estimator. This is an approach that has not been used to explore the effect of Oregon's land use regulations on these land categories. Most of the past studies that have examined the impact of land use planning on development of agricultural land in Oregon have relied on analysis of general trends and indicators, and have concluded that land use regulations have been successful in protecting this land. Previous research on riparian zone protection has focused on protection of aquatic wildlife, and for the most part has not examined the protection of riparian corridors inside of UGBs. The limited studies that have studied the effect of these regulations in UGBs have determined them to be effective in slowing, but not stopping, development in these areas. Overall, we find that Oregon's land use regulations have been successful in protecting both county level agricultural land and riparian corridors located inside of UGBs from development. It is less clear whether these regulations have protected riparian corridors located inside of UGBs from other anthropogenic uses. / Graduation date: 2012

This dissertation examines the ways international research collaboration affects the ability of Colombian research teams to produce bibliographic outputs, and to contribute to local knowledge. Research hypotheses are tested using Zero Inflated Negative Binomial Regression models to account for the effects of international research collaboration on team output while controlling for team characteristics, partner characteristics, scientific discipline, sector, the characteristics of the teams' home institution, and team location. The study uses control groups and the Propensity Score Matching approach to assess the overall impact of international research collaboration on research team performance while controlling for the effects of endogeneity and selection bias. Results show that international research collaboration is positively associated with both team output and teams' ability to contribute to local knowledge. The study shows that such effects depend on the type of collaboration chosen and the type of partner involved. Particularly, it shows that while co-authoring with colleagues located overseas or receiving foreign funding positively affects team performance, hosting foreign researchers does not seem to affect a team's productivity or its ability to contribute to local knowledge once all other variables are held constant. It also finds that collaborating with partners from the South yields greater productivity counts than collaborating with partners from the North, but that collaboration with partners from northern countries is strongly associated with a team's ability to contribute to local knowledge, while collaboration with partners from southern countries is not. Theoretical and policy implications of these and other counterintuitive findings are discussed.