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This dissertation presents an extension of the warlord competition models found in Skaperdas (2002) and Konrad and Skaperdas (2012). I consider two non-parasitic warlords located on a line. Each warlord allocates resources for the extraction of natural resources, the production of goods and services, and conflict with the opposing warlord. Within the symmetric rates of seizure model, I use three different forms of the contest success function, a primary tool in the conflict theory literature, in my analysis. I show that the warlord closer to the point of conflict will invest less into the hiring of warriors and more into the production of goods and services, yet wins a larger proportion of total goods and services produced within the economy. Under certain conditions, the placement of the point of conflict at the midpoint between the two warlords maximizes the total resources toward war and minimizes total production. Under the asymmetric rates of seizure model, I find that the warlord closer to the point of conflict invests more in warfare and less in production; that is, results that counter what is found in the symmetric model. / Economics

This dissertation consists of three essays that adopt both theoretical and empirical methods of analysis to study certain economies in which the incomplete information and the strategic complementarities between players are important. Chapter 1 explains the topics discussed in the subsequent chapters and gives a brief survey on the literature. In Chapter 2, I revise a traditional global game model by dividing the continuum of players into a group of speculators and a group of stakeholders. It is found that the uniqueness property remains in the new game. Then I extend the static game to a two-stage game and investigate the efficacies of certain label changing mechanisms proposed by the authority to stabilize the regime in the dynamic context. It is shown that a label changing mechanism allowing for downward social mobility may not work, whereas a label changing mechanism allowing for upward social mobility generally makes the regime more stable. In Chapter 3, I add a speculator and an authority to a bank-run model to investigate how the speculator endangers a business or an economy, and what the authority can do about it. In particular, I show that the speculator can increase the financial system's vulnerability by serving as a coordinating device for the investors and thus triggering the crisis. It is further shown that deterring the speculator may not undo the speculator's impact because of multiplicity problem; rewarding holding investors is useless; and eliminating the preemption motives among investors works given enough effort. A discussion of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the IMF's role in it is also included. Chapter 4 develops a repeated beauty-contest game to investigate the effect of previous winners' actions on the spread of subsequent players' actions. I first characterize the unique equilibrium of the game. Then I focus on the equilibrium dynamics of several variances depicting different forms of action variability. It is found that whether or not a specific variance diminishes over time depends on the relative precision of public and private signals. To illustrate the theoretical results, I conduct an empirical study on the Miss Korea contest. It is found that the contestants' faces have been converging to the ``true beauty'' overall, but diverging from each other over the last 20 years. Chapter 5 concludes. / Ph. D.

This dissertation presents three essays that focus on various aspects pertaining to the management of online platforms, defined as "digital services that facilitate interactions between two or more distinct, but interdependent sets of users (whether firms or individuals) who interact through the service via the Internet" (OECD, 2019). The interactions benefit both the users and the platform. Managing online platforms involves developing strategies for one or more of three value adding functions: (a) lowering search costs for the parties connecting through the platform, (b) providing a technology infrastructure that facilitates transactions at scale by sharing both demand and supply side costs; and (c) locating other audiences or consumers for the output that results from the transaction. The platform manager must manage these value adding functions. Thus, one important management task is to recognize potential asymmetries in the economic and/or psychological motivations of the transacting parties connected through the platform. In this dissertation, I empirically examine these issues in greater detail. The first essay, "Incentivizing User-Generated Content—A Double-Edged Sword: Evidence from Field Data and a Controlled Experiment," addresses the conundrum faced by online platform managers interested in crowdsourcing user-generated content (UGC) in prosocial contexts. The dilemma stems from the fact that offering monetary incentives to stimulate UGC contributions also has a damping effect on peer approval, which is an important source of non-monetary recognition valued by UGC contributors in prosocial contexts. The second essay, "Matching and Making in Matchmaking Platforms: A Structural Analysis," examines matchmaking platforms, focusing specifically on the problem of misaligned incentives between the platform and the agents. Based on data from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on fighter characteristics, and pay-per-view revenues associated with specific bouts, we identify the potential for conflicts of interest and examine strategies that may be used to mitigate such problems. The third essay, "Matching and Making in Matching Markets: A Managerial Decision Calculus," extends the empirical model and analytical work to a class of commonly encountered one-sided matching market problems. It provides the conceptual outline of a decision calculus that allows managers to explore the revenue and profitability implications of adaptive changes to the tier structures and matching algorithms. / Doctor of Philosophy / The 21st century has witnessed the rise of the platform economy. Consumers routinely interact with online platforms ways in their day to day activities. For instance, they interact with platforms such as Quora, StackOverflow, Uber, and Airbnb to name only a few. Such platforms address a variety of needs starting from providing users with answers to a variety of questions to matching them with a range of service providers (e.g., for travel and dining needs). However, the rapid growth of the platform economy has created a knowledge gap for both consumers and platforms. The three essays in this dissertation attempt to contribute to the literature in this area. The first essay, "Incentivizing User-Generated Content—A Double-Edged Sword: Evidence from Field Data and a Controlled Experiment," examines how crowdsourcing contests influence the quantity and quality of user-generated content (UGC). Analyzing data from the popular question and answer website Quora, we find that offering monetary incentives to stimulate UGC contributions increases contributions but also has a simultaneous damping effect on peer endorsement, which is an important source of non-monetary recognition for UGC contributors in prosocial contexts. The second essay, "Matching and Making in Matchmaking Platforms: A Structural Analysis," examines matchmaking platforms, focusing on the problem of misaligned incentives between the platform and the agents. Based on data from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on fighter characteristics, and pay-per-view revenues associated with specific bouts, we identify the potential for conflicts of interest and examine strategies that may be used to mitigate such problems. The third essay, "Matching and Making in Matching Markets: A Managerial Decision Calculus," extends the empirical model and analytical work to a class of commonly encountered one-sided matching market problems. It provides the conceptual outline of a decision calculus that allows managers to explore the revenue and profitability implications of adaptive changes to the tier structures and matching algorithms.

This dissertation focuses on the sub-national impact of foreign aid on civil conflicts by asking the question: How does foreign aid committed to contested areas affect the intensity of violence in those areas? The main theoretical contribution is to focus on how aid influences warring parties’ decisions to engage in contests over territorial control and how that in turn influences violence intensity. The study introduces two concepts: funding concentration and barriers to exploiting aid. A contested area has greater concentration of funding if warring parties expect a high value of aid to be distributed to only a few locations. Funding is instead diffused if the parties expect aid to be spread over many locations. A low barrier to exploiting aid is present if it is of a type that both state and non-state actors could potentially misuse. There is a high barrier if territorial control is required in order to exploit funding channels. The theory introduces three testable implications: First, greater funding concentration encourages conventional contests over territorial control, which increases military fatalities. The second proposal is that if there is a low barrier to exploiting aid (e.g. humanitarian and food aid) then there will be increased competition between warring parties and civilians, and hence more civilian fatalities. Third, high barrier funding (e.g. education aid) will motivate contests over territorial control and increase military fatalities. This dissertation uses geo-coded aid commitments data and introduces data of warring parties’ battleground control in sub-Saharan Africa, 1989–2008. The research design relies on propensity score matching where pairs of observations are matched based on a range of covariates. The results concerning barriers to exploitation are partially supported. High barrier aid increases military fatalities whereas low barrier aid has little impact on violence. Greater funding concentration increases military fatalities substantially compared to if there is low or no funding concentration. In line with theory, greater funding concentration does not increase civilian fatalities.

The study discusses sustainable development of events and the research displays that this is often connected to mega events or the work of specific destinations. The events Eurovision Song Contest and the Ice Hockey World Championships are therefore chosen because of their size, impact in both media and visitors and the lack of theory regarding their sustainability. The specific cases chosen are Eurovision in Malmö 2013 and Stockholm 2016, the 2013 Ice Hockey World Championship in Stockholm with help from the 2014 Junior Ice Hockey World Championship in Malmö. The purpose of this study is to analyze the host destinations and the national organization Swedish Ice Hockey Association’s work with sustainability regarding social, economic and ecological aspects and if and how that work impacts the host communities in the long run. Also, how the relationship with the head organizations who are the owners of the events, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), functions regarding sustainability. This is examined by 11 qualitative semi-structured interviews with key individuals for both events which is then analyzed against what the research and literature points to regarding social, economic and ecological with a clear focus on sustainability.This study shows that the work with sustainability was very well conducted at Eurovision in both Malmö and Stockholm where Malmö even got the parts they were responsible for ISO-certified. The idea was also a part of the Worlds in Stockholm and the Junior Worlds in Malmö but there are opportunities for development. Particularly the question of how well the effects of the events hold up afterwards as there is no clear follow-up to initiatives and values discussed during the events. It is made clear that the focus on sustainability is foremost something insisted by the host destinations and in some part by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association as there is a lack of both focus and guidelines on the subject from the head organizations. A focus on sustainable events from the host destinations could be positive both during the bidding process and implementation as it contributes to a greater competitiveness. The initiative from public organizations such as host destinations and national sports organizations may be the driving force in pushing head organizations to be more sustainable. For a successful sustainable development of both events the entire organization, both the head organizations and the host destinations, behind these events needs to have the same perspective on sustainability and work towards the same goal. This study is written in Swedish. / Studien diskuterar hållbar utveckling av evenemang och forskningsöversikten visar att detta oftast kopplas till megaevent eller specifika destinationers arbete. Evenemangen Eurovision Song Contest och Ishockey-VM väljs därför ut i den här studien på grund av deras storlek, genomslag i både medier och besökare och bristen på teori gällande deras hållbarhet. Fallen som diskuteras är Eurovision som ägde rum i Malmö 2013 och i Stockholm 2016 och Ishockey-VM i Stockholm 2013 (A-VM) med hjälp av Junior-VM 2014 i Malmö. Syftet för studien är att analysera värddestinationernas och den nationella organisationen Svenska Ishockeyförbundets arbete med hållbarhet inom sociala, ekonomiska och ekologiska aspekter. Relationen med huvudorganisationerna och tillika ägare av evenemangen European Broadcasting Union (EBU) och Internationella Ishockeyförbundet (IIHF) undersöks också gällande deras arbete med hållbarhet. Studiens empiri samlas in genom 11 kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med nyckelpersoner för de båda evenemangen. Empirin analyseras sedan med hjälp av den forskning och litteratur som finns gällande social, ekonomisk och ekologisk hållbarhet.Studien visar att det arbetades väldigt bra med hållbarhet under Eurovision i både Malmö och Stockholm där Malmö Stad till och med ISO-certifierade alla delar de själva var ansvariga för. Tänket fanns även under A-VM i Stockholm och Junior-VM i Malmö men där finns det utvecklingsmöjligheter. Främst frågan om hur väl effekterna kvarstår efter evenemangen då det inte finns någon tydlig uppföljning på de initiativ och värderingar som diskuterades under själva eventen. Tydligt är dock att hållbarhetstänket i första hand är något som drivs av värddestinationerna och till viss del de nationella organisationerna. Det råder nämligen brist på både fokus och riktlinjer gällande hållbarhet hos de båda huvudorganisationerna. Hållbarhetsfokus på evenemang från värddestinationer kan vara positivt både under ansökning och genomförande då det bidrar till större konkurrenskraft. Initiativet från offentliga aktörer som värddestinationer och nationella sportorganisationer kan vara en drivande kraft i att uppmana huvudorganisationer till att arbeta mer hållbart. För en framgångsrik hållbar utveckling av de båda evenemangen behöver hela organisationen, både huvudorganisationerna och värddestinationerna, bakom de båda evenemangen ha samma perspektiv på hållbarhet och arbeta mot samma mål.

Syftet med denna studie är att genom intervjuer med företrädare för svenska elitidrottsklubbar, inom fotboll och ishockey, beskriva vilka ekonomiska åtgärder som vidtagits på grund av intäktsbortfallen till följd av Covid19-pandemin, samt vilka konsekvenser det har haft för klubbarnas finansiering och deras syn på risker med finansieringen. Pandemin har medfört ekonomiska påfrestningar med stora intäktsbortfall, vilket har satt klubbarnas finansiella verksamhet på prov. En verksamhet som redan präglas av idrottens ekonomiskt destruktiva konkurrens. Studien utfördes genom kvalitativ metod med en abduktiv ansats. Empiriinsamling skedde via fem semistrukturerade intervjuer med representanter från svenska elitfotbolls- och elithockeyklubbar, samt kringliggande organ som har direkt samröre med klubbarna. Intäktsbortfallen har framkallat ekonomiska åtgärder hos klubbarna i form av kostnadsbesparingar och alternativa intäkter, samt en mer kontinuerlig budgetering utifrån olika scenarion, baserade på eventuella restriktioners omfattning. Klubbarna anser att de har klarat sig bra rent ekonomiskt under pandemin. Detta härleds dock främst till stöd och bidrag från intressentgrupper som bidragit till deras ekonomiska motståndskraft. Trots att elitidrottsklubbarnas finansieringssätt visar sig vara riskfyllt, framför studien att klubbarna inte tar detta i beaktning då de kan förlita sig på stöd från intressentgrupperna vid tider av finansiella svårigheter. / The purpose of this study is to describe, through interviews with representatives of Swedish elite sports clubs in football and ice hockey, what financial measures have been taken due to loss of income as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and what consequences it has had for the clubs financing and their view of the risks with their financing. The pandemic has brought economic constraints on the sports clubs, due to large losses of income, which has put their financial activities to the test. Activities that are already characterised by the economically destructive competition of sport. The study used a qualitative method with an abductive approach. The empirical data was collected by conducting five semi structured interviews with representatives from the sports clubs themselves, and also from surrounding organisations with direct association with the clubs. The loss of income has resulted in measures such as cost reduction, finding alternative income sources and a more continuous budgetary planning, based on scenarios of possible restrictions. The clubs consider themselves to have endured the economic constraints, brought by the pandemic, fairly well. However, the main contributing factor to the clubs economic resilience is support from interest groups. Even though the way elite sports clubs are financed is considered to be risky, the findings of this study show that the clubs do not take this into consideration because they can rely on economic support from these interest groups in times of financial distress.

The heat development that occurs due to the hydration of cement is important to consider during casting of massive concrete structures. By using computer programs that are based on finite element methods (FEM), simulations can be performed on the heat- and strength development. In this project, a FE program called ConTeSt has been used in order to predict the temperature- and strain development in a massive concrete wall. If the potential risks in a concrete structure are evaluated before casting, economical savings, including a better casting plan could be obtained. The structure under investigation was a concrete wall behind one of the spillways in the hydro power dam of Storfinnforsen. Due to a re-construction of the wall, an opportunity occurred to develop a measurement plan of the casting and perform simulations on the wall. A sensitivity analysis was performed in order to investigate the effects on the temperature- and strain development, by varying the cement content, ambient temperature, wind speed and degree of restraint in translation. The results showed, that a higher cement content increased the rate of hydration and hence the temperature in the concrete. Higher wind speeds contributed to more cooling of the concrete which, in some cases, resulted in cracking due to contraction of the material. Cracking due to contraction also occurred when the ambient temperature was decreased. The ambient temperature did not have a significant impact on the rate of hydration, but instead the impact was larger from the initial temperature of the fresh concrete. A higher initial temperature of the fresh concrete increased the rate of hydration, which increased the temperature in the material. The degree of restraint could only be varied in translation in ConTeSt and hence the effect on the strain development was not that significant. A crack risk analysis was performed where the developed tensile stresses were compared with the tensile strength of the concrete. The same factors were varied as in the sensitivity analysis. The results showed that the tensile strength was exceeded for most of the cases and thus that the crack risk was high. The required equipment, in order to perform the measurements on site, consisted of 7 strain gauges of the module KM-100B from TML Tokyo Sokki Kenkyujo, 2 data loggers of the module Spider-8 from HBM, at least a 25 m ø9 mm 5-core shielded cable and a computer with the software Catman Easy. / Värmeutvecklingen som uppstår på grund av hydratationen av cement är viktig att beakta vid gjutning av massiva betongkonstruktioner. Detta brukar göras genom simuleringar av värmeutvecklingen och hållfasthetstillväxten med hjälp av olika finita element (FE) program. I detta projekt har programmet ConTeSt använts för att på förhand kunna förutse temperatur - och töjningsutvecklingen i en massiv betongvägg. I och med detta kan bl.a. gjutningen planeras bättre samtidigt som ekonomiska besparingar kan åstadkommas om eventuella risker kan kartläggas innan gjutningen påbörjas. En ledmur bakom ett av utskoven i Storfinnforsens kraftverk undersöktes närmare i samband med en ombyggnad. Möjligheten uppstod att planera en mätning av gjutningen av ledmuren samt att utföra simuleringar av väggen i ConTeSt. En känslighetsanalys utfördes för att undersöka effekterna på temperatur- och töjningsutvecklingen genom att variera cementhalten, omgivningstemperaturen, vindhastigheten och graden av tvång i förskjutningen i längdriktningen av väggen. Resultaten visade att högre cementhalter ökade graden av hydratation vilket ökade temperaturen i betongen. Högre vindhastigheter bidrog till snabbare kylning av betongen vilket i vissa fall lett till sprickor på grund av kontraktion av materialet. Sprickor till följd av kontraktion uppstod även då omgivningstemperaturen sänktes. Omgivningstemperaturen hade ingen större påverkan på hydratationen, utan istället var det temperaturen av den färska betongmassan som visade större påverkan. Högre temperatur av den färska betongmassan ökade graden av hydratation vilket ökade temperaturen i betongen. Graden av tvång kunde i ConTeSt endast varieras i förskjutningen i längdriktningen av väggen vilket inte hade någon större effekt på töjningsutvecklingen. En sprickrisk analys utfördes där den utvecklade dragspänningen jämfördes med draghållfastheten. Analysen utfördes genom att variera samma faktorer som varierades i känslighetsanalysen. Resultaten visade att draghållfastheten överskreds i de flesta fall och att därmed sprickrisken var hög. För att genomföra mätningen blev slutsatsen att det behövs 7 st töjningsgivare av modell KM-100B från TML Tokyo Sokki Kenkyujo, 2 st data logger av typ Spider8 från HBM samt minst en 25 m ø9 mm skärmad 5-kärnkabel, inklusive en dator med programvaran Catman Easy.

Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, die Kritik an der Vorsatzanfechtung nach § 133 Abs. 1 InsO a.F. herauszuarbeiten und zu diskutieren. Zudem gibt die Arbeit einen Überblick über die Gesetzesreform vom 29.03.2017 (BGBl. I S. 654). Zunächst werden die Voraussetzungen der Vorsatzanfechtung dargestellt und die Auslegung dieser Voraussetzungen durch die Rechtsprechung anhand von Beispielen herausgearbeitet. Die Arbeit zeigt die Kritik an der dargestellten Rechtsprechung auf und setzt sich mit verschiedenen Lösungsansätzen und Argumentationssträngen der juristischen Lehre auseinander. Die Autorin entwickelt einen eigenen Ansatz, der an dem Vorsatzbegriff anknüpft und unterbreitet einen Vorschlag für eine Gesetzesänderung. Im Anschluss wird die Reform der Insolvenzanfechtung besprochen. Dabei fragt die Autorin kritisch, ob die Reform als Erfolg zu bewerten ist. / The aim of this paper is to elaborate and discuss the critique of the contestation of an intentional preference according to § 133 para. 1 InsO previous version. In addition, the work gives an overview of the legal reform dated 29.03.2017 (BGBl. I p. 654). First of all, the prerequisites for contesting an intentional preference are presented and the interpretation of the prerequisites by the jurisprudence is displayed on the basis of case law. The work illustrates the critique of the reviewed case law and discusses the different solutions and lines of reasoning presented in legal academia. Subsequently the author develops her own approach, which ties in with the concept of intent, and submits a proposal for an amendment of the law. Finally, the reform of the contestation of an intentional preference is discussed. The author critically evaluates whether the reform should be considered a success.