In my dissertation, I study factors that affect the value-creating interactions between value producers and value consumers on two-sided platforms (e.g., Freelancer and Kickstarter). In the first essay, I study how bid price dispersion affects the value-creating interactions (i.e., contracting) between service providers (freelancers) and buyers in online labor markets. I find that bid price dispersion has a negative effect on buyers' offering a contract and service providers' tendency to accept the contract if offered one. I theorize that both service providers and buyers face uncertainty over price as to how much to charge or to pay for IT services and a higher bid price dispersion leads to higher uncertainty, and thus a lower contracting rate. In the second essay, I examine the role of the lottery in value-creating interactions (namely backings) in crowdfunding platforms. I find that the lottery, when designed as an option with a participation cost, decreases backers' average contribution and the total value created for a project, albeit it incentivizes more low-value interactions (i.e., more low-value backings). I theorize that the lottery, on the one hand, incentivizes low-value interactions that would otherwise not happen, but on the other hand, transforms high-value interactions into low-value interactions. In the third essay, I study the effect of backers' online identity concealment on the value-creating interactions (i.e., backings) in crowdfunding platforms. Contradictory to a common practice that crowdfunding platforms often maintain a public list of all backers’ identity information, assuming a positive observational learning effect among peer backers, the empirical results demonstrate with backers' online identity concealed completely, campaigns on average gain more backings and money as well as become more likely to succeed. And this effect is larger for donors-those back a campaign without receiving any reward-than for rewardees-those back the campaign for the reward. / Business Administration/Management Information Systems

The thesis aims at developing new, alternative approaches and methods based on suggestions and ideas originating from moral philosophy and philosophical decision theory. More precisely, the thesis aims at investigating the rationality of transport policy decisions, including goal-setting and performance evaluation. Paper I discusses rationality in road safety policy. Problematic features are identified and discussed. The paper argues that the Swedish road safety goal is rational, since it is action-guiding and achievement-inducing. This follows by observing that the goal satisfies the criteria of precision, evaluability, approachability, and motivity. The paper states that previous accusations of irrationality have been unnecessarily imprecise, since no reference is made to independently developed criteria of rational goal-setting. Paper II discusses the Swedish transport policy goals, and the role of social welfare in rational policy decisions. Goals often come into conflict and trade-offs must be rationally and consistently managed. Policy decisions are outcomes of political processes. In the case of policy goals and decisions, the agent is society. This introduces the problematic concept of social welfare, which itself is an ambiguous goal with many meanings. Whether a decision is rational or not depends on whose perspective one takes on – that of society as a whole or that of the actual decision makers. Paper III aims at investigating six different procedures for resolving goal conflicts: weighted average, lexicographic preference, conditional lexicographic preference, absolute restriction, generalised prioritarianism, and partial comparability. Criteria for selection, according to the respective procedures, are formulated and summarised in a table. The six procedures are contrasted with respect to their tendency to rule out possible sets of alternatives as being not choiceworthy. / QC 20101123

<p>The thesis aims at developing new, alternative approaches and methods based on suggestions and ideas originating from moral philosophy and philosophical decision theory. More precisely, the thesis aims at investigating the rationality of transport policy decisions, including goal-setting and performance evaluation.</p><p>Paper I discusses rationality in road safety policy. Problematic features are identified and discussed. The paper argues that the Swedish road safety goal is rational, since it is action-guiding and achievement-inducing. This follows by observing that the goal satisfies the criteria of <em>precision,</em> <em>evaluability, approachability, </em>and <em>motivity</em>. The paper states that previous accusations of irrationality have been unnecessarily imprecise, since no reference is made to independently developed criteria of rational goal-setting.</p><p>Paper II discusses the Swedish transport policy goals, and the role of social welfare in rational policy decisions. Goals often come into conflict and trade-offs must be rationally and consistently managed. Policy decisions are outcomes of political processes. In the case of policy goals and decisions, the agent is society. This introduces the problematic concept of social welfare, which itself is an ambiguous goal with many meanings. Whether a decision is rational or not depends on whose perspective one takes on – that of society as a whole or that of the actual decision makers.</p><p>Paper III aims at investigating six different procedures for resolving goal conflicts: weighted average, lexicographic preference, conditional lexicographic preference, absolute restriction, generalised prioritarianism, and partial comparability. Criteria for selection, according to the respective procedures, are formulated and summarised in a table. The six procedures are contrasted with respect to their tendency to rule out possible sets of alternatives as being not choiceworthy.</p>

本研究共包含三篇論文，首先修正von Hagen and Hepp(2000)所建立模型分析政府的財源轉移之風險分散與重分配動態效果。整體而言，補助與協助收入或統籌分配款所產生的所得與稅收風險分散或重分配效果相當有限，且各分區(北、中、南與全區)的結論差異甚大，顯示財源轉移發揮的效率不足。統籌分配款對於改善稅收的風險分散與重分配上，效果優於補助與協助收入。各縣市取得的補助與協助收入或統籌分配款高於長期所得與稅收風險分散與重分配所應對應的額度，造成資源浪費。就全區而言，前幾期稅收(所得)風險分散變化，可作為短期調整補助與協助收入(統籌分配款)的依據；統籌分配款與稅收的風險分散、補助與協助收入或統籌分配款與稅收重分配均存在雙向因果關係。 其次，在分析勞動者的休閒時間選擇時，本文修正跨期選擇模型，考慮勞動者持有投資組合與採取避險措施，並面對租稅問題下，以導出休閒時間方程式。實證上採用混合估計法針對12種樣本產業及兩種不同休閒時間衡量方式進行估計，結果顯示不同休閒時間衡量方式，影響估計結果甚鉅；金融市場的變化與波動攸關休閒時間變動：國內外利率、匯率與遠期匯率等與投資組合報酬相關的變數，在多數情況下顯著地影響休閒時間變動，且各變數對於休閒時間的影響程度，在工業中的次級產業大於服務業中的次產業。此外，採行周休二日制度確實改變制度採行前後的休閒時間，惟在三個工業次產業上則不明顯。 最後，修正Bo and Sterken (2002) 所建立的最適動態模型，分析公司價值不確定與租稅措施對海運廠商投資的影響，經由最大化公司價值導出影響台灣海運公司投資的三種不確定來源與避險措施，並進行實證估計。實證結果顯示，不確定的衡量方式攸關投資函數的估計結果，以指數加權移動平均標準差衡量不確定時，其估計結果優於以GARCH(1,1)衡量不確定，隱含廠商較在乎可預期波動對投資的影響。一般而言，廠商利率與原油價格的波動增加，均不利於公司投資，其中以原油價格不確定對於投資的影響最大，其效果約略與廠商利率相當。其次，影響海運公司投資最重要的三項因素均分別為BDI、負債與廠商利率，顯示價格與債務規模的重要性更甚於利率。此外，三種公司價值不確定來源對投資的影響，在多數個別公司之間並無顯著的差異，有助於採行總體財金政策以刺激投資。 / This dissertation contains three articles. First I revise the models set up by von Hagen and Hepp (2000) to analyze the dynamic effects of the Aid and Assistance and central government’s Tax Redistribution Fund on income (or tax) risk sharing and redistribution. For all the counties in Taiwan area the effects are tiny, but those are diverse among the counties in each Taiwan sub-area. The Aid and Assistance and central government’s Tax Redistribution Fund actually obtained by each county are larger than the amounts required to maintain long-term risk sharing and redistribution effects. These all imply that fiscal transfer is inefficiency. The effects of the central government’s Tax Redistribution Fund on risk sharing and redistribution are larger than those of Aid and Assistance. The central government can adjust the Aid and Assistance based on the change of earlier-period ax (income) risk sharing effect. Moreover, the existence of significant short-run interaction between the central government’s Tax Redistribution Fund and tax risk sharing, the Aid and Assistance and tax redistribution. Secondly, I revise intertemporal choice model by considering portfolio selection, hedging and taxation problems to derive economic agent’s leisure time equation. In empirical study, we focus on twelve sample industries and two different leisure time measurements, then adopt pooled estimation to estimate leisure time equation. Empirical results show that different measurement of leisure time influences estimation outcomes tremendously. Furthermore, the financial variables affecting portfolio return, including domestic and foreign interest rates, exchange rate and forward rate almost have remarkable effect on leisure time. Finally, the effect of each explanatory variable on leisure time is larger in industry than in service industry. Finally, I revise the optimal intertemporal model, constructed by Bo and Sterken (2002), by maximizing corporate value to derive three uncertainty sources and hedging influencing shipping-firm investment. Empirical evidences show that it is relevant for the estimation results to adopt which methods to measure the uncertainty. The outcomes derived from taking the Exponential Weighted Moving Average model to measure uncertainty are better than those from adopting the GARCH(1,1) model. Generally, as the volatilities in firm’s interest rate and crude oil price increase, firm investment decreases and the effect of crude oil price uncertainty on investment, the largest among the four effects, is nearly equal to that of firm interest rate on investment. Furthermore, BDI, debt and firm interest rate are the most important variables influencing firm investment. Finally, the effects of three uncertainty sources on investment are almost indifferent among the ten shipping-firms.