This dissertation comprises three chapters. The first chapter develops a research design to estimate the causal effect of parental layoffs and income during adolescence on children's college outcomes, and implements this design on administrative data for the United States. The design compares outcomes of children whose fathers lose jobs before college decisions with outcomes of children whose fathers lose jobs after college decisions. I find that layoffs and unanticipated income losses during adolescence have very small adverse effects on future college outcomes. These effects are smaller than estimates in prior work based on firm closures rather than timing of layoffs. I replicate these larger estimates and show they are driven by selection of workers into closing firms. The findings suggest that relaxing parental liquidity constraints during adolescence will do little to increase enrollment compared to improvements in financial aid, especially for low-income children. The second chapter, written with my advisor and other colleagues, shows that classroom quality in early childhood has large causal impacts on adult outcomes, and that test score gains can help to identify classroom quality even when these gains fade out over time. We first link administrative data to records from Project STAR, in which 11,571 students in Tennessee and their teachers were randomly assigned to classrooms within their schools from kindergarten to third grade. We then document four sets of experimental impacts. First, students in small classes are more likely to attend college and exhibit improvements on other outcomes. Second, students who had a more experienced teacher in kindergarten have higher earnings. Third, students who were randomly assigned to higher quality classrooms in grades K-3 -- as measured by classmates' end-of-class test scores -- have higher earnings, college attendance rates, and other outcomes. Finally, the effects of class quality fade out on test scores in later grades but gains in non-cognitive measures persist. The third chapter explores theoretical properties of markets for "credence goods." Credence goods such as health care involve consumer reliance on expert diagnosis. When consumers observe expert cost functions, competitive markets tend strongly toward efficiency. I argue that consumers do not observe expert cost functions and extend an existing model to incorporate this insight. The key result is that prices and competition no longer eliminate mistreatment. / Economics

In the first chapter, I investigate reputational effects of the disclosure of negative information in a market affected by adverse selection. A series of recent discoveries has increased consumer concern over the presence of counterfeits in the market for fine and rare wine. For the thousands of bottles sold at auction each year, house reputation is used as a quality assurance mechanism to signal product authenticity. Using sales data from 2005-2015 for the ten largest auction houses, I study consumer reaction following two recent disclosures of an auction house having offered or sold counterfeit wine. My identification strategy to examine reputation involves a series of triple difference regressions analyzing equilibrium prices and quantities. I discover one house experienced no losses following a 2008 incident involving 107 counterfeit bottles. However, three houses associated with a 2012 incident involving thousands of bottles were found to have suffered significant reputation losses following the incident. These losses are demonstrated by a 3-8% decrease in equilibrium sales prices and a 6-9% decrease in sales quantities in the year following the disclosure. The second chapter of my dissertation involves the transitivity of stated preferences. Revealed preference theory states that, in order for an individual’s preferences to be consistent with utility maximization, they must satisfy the principle of transitivity. Any deviations from this principle result in a logically inconsistent response pattern. I develop a new framework to study the rationality of stated preferences, accounting for both the number and severity of non-transitive responses an individual makes. I implement this method using a nationally representative survey of 3,234 respondents from the U.S. general population and discover that more than 52% of the population exhibit non-transitive preferences. In addition to measuring the number and severity of non-transitive preferences exhibited by each respondent, another aim of this manuscript is to evaluate the relationship between response transitivity and the individual outcomes of each respondent under the premise that high quality decisions are the result of greater decision-making ability. After controlling for demographic characteristics including age, education, race, gender, ethnicity, and work status, non-transitive patterns are correlated with lower incomes and poorer health.

No description available.

This thesis presents two chapters on credence goods and one on ongoing partnerships in an infinitely repeated game. The chapters on credence goods focus on the welfare and efficiency of equilibria in overcharging models of credence goods, something which has not been explicitly addressed before. The chapter on partnerships presents a theory explaining ongoing partnerships as solving a commitment problem for clients. There is a small literature on partnerships, and this chapter represents a novel but complimentary approach to that literature. At core, chapters 2, 3 and 4 of this thesis ask the following questions respectively: Do competition and information increase welfare in credence goods markets? How do customers in credence goods markets discipline experts from committing fraud? Can these strategies be welfare ranked? Why do ongoing partnerships exist? What problem do they solve?

<p>  This dissertation has two essays that are focused on understanding the effects of technology adoption decisions made by smallholder farmers who have incomplete information. The first essay employed a clustered randomized control trial (RCT) with factorial design in upper Eastern Kenya to estimate the impact of three different interventions at improving credence attributes of smallholder farmers’ maize. This essay also utilized a Becker DeGroot Marschak auction method to determine if farmers were willing to adopt a credence technology, and if yes, if their willingness to pay varied based on having previous experience with this agricultural technology. The second essay used the 2018/19 Ethiopia Socio-economic Survey to analyze the impacts of three sources of measurement error caused by farmers’ misperceptions on maize yields. Moreover, this essay explored how farmers’ incomplete information about adoption of one agricultural input led to misallocation of other complementary inputs. </p>

This diploma thesis deals with the analysis of governance structures in the model of Community Supported Agriculture in the Czech Republic as one of the alternative forms of food production. The theoretical part describes the characteristics and defines the potential of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) in the development of the region, also defines the term Community Supported Agriculture. Subsequent attention is paid to the process of transmission of this AFNs model to the Czech environment and to its current forms. The practical part presents three case studies on selected CSA groups in South Moravian region. These information served as the basis for subsequent analysis of governance structures of these groups. Based on the results of the analysis the real form of these initiatives was identified, equally as the identification of linkages between the key players. Finally, the overall performance of the model was evaluated. Results of the analysis indicate that presented potential benefits for the vital development of agricultural producers and development of local regions can not be considered as automatic even though there exist many examples of good practices abroad.

No description available.

Cette thèse se situe en organisation industrielle appliquée à l’analyse des marchés des labels privés et des labels collectifs gérés au sein des coopératives. Dans un premier temps, nous analysons théoriquement, comment le pouvoir de négociation entre certificateurs de labels et firmes peut avoir un effet sur le niveau de qualité offert sur le marché. Nous montrons alors que la présence du pouvoir de négociation a pour effet de diminuer le niveau du standard de la certification privée. L’analyse montre également que la présence du pouvoir de négociation peut modifier l’efficacité des politiques de régulation environnementale telles que la taxe et la subvention. Dans unsecond temps, nous analysons empiriquement, comment que le paiement incitatif peut réduire le problème du passager clandestin et améliorer la réputation des labels collectifs gérés au sein des coopératives. Nous montrons donc que la rémunération en fonction de la qualité peut écarter l’option de frauder des membres d’une coopérative. Cette rémunération a un effet positif sur la performance de la coopérative. Ces deux grandes approches sont précédées d’un état de la littérature sur les labels certifiés par les certificateurs privés à but lucratif et sur les labels collectifs. / This thesis applies industrial organization to the analysis of private and collective label markets managed within cooperatives. First, we analyze theoretically how bargaining power between certifiers of labels and firms can have an effect on the level of quality offered on the market. We then show that the presence of bargaining power has the effect of lowering the standard of private certification. The analysis also shows that the presence of bargaining power can change the effectiveness of environmental regulation policies such as taxes and subsidies. Secondly, we analyze empirically how an incentive payment can reduce the free rider problem and improve the reputation of collective labels managed within cooperatives. We therefore show that quality-basedremuneration can exclude the option of defrauding members of a cooperative. Thisremuneration has a positive effect on the performance of the cooperative. These two major approaches are preceded by a review of the literature on labels certified privately for profit and collective labels.

L’agriculture biologique sort aujourd’hui des frontières des pays du Nord en se développant dans de nombreux pays dits du Sud. Cette dynamique a tout d’abord été celle d’un positionnement sur des filières d’export de produits à haute valeur ajoutée. Parallèlement à l’export, émergent dans un nombre croissant de pays en développement, et notamment au Kenya, des marchés domestiques. La thèse pose la question des dynamiques permettant l’émergence et le développement de ces nouveaux marchés. La recherche est structurée autour de quatre questions. La première porte sur les formes d’organisation des échanges de produits biologiques à Nairobi. À partir du cadre de l’économie néo-institutionnelle, nous expliquons comment, en l’absence de systèmes de certification crédibles, ces produits parviennent à être vendus avec premiums. La seconde question porte sur les conditions d’accès des producteurs à ces marchés. Il est fréquent de mettre en avant leur caractère plus rémunérateur. Or, une partie des producteurs qui pourraient effectivement vendre sur ces marchés privilégient les marchés conventionnels. À partir du concept de coûts de transaction, nous montrons le rôle de coûts de négociation et de suivi. Dans notre troisième chapitre, nous posons la question des effets de l’accès à ces marchés sur la diversification des cultures des producteurs, et par là sur la durabilité économique et environnementale de leurs exploitations. À partir des apports de la micro-économie, nos résultats confirment l’effet positif de l’accès aux marchés biologiques.Enfin, notre quatrième et dernier chapitre consiste en une analyse de l’efficacité de ces marchés et des conditions de leur pérennité. Nous proposons une grille d’analyse associant économie de l’information et analyse de la construction de la qualité. Elle nous permet de comparer les différents dispositifs de certification existant au Kenya. L’analyse montre que le dispositif le moins efficace est celui qui est amené à se développer, posant ainsi la question de la pérennité des marchés biologiques domestiques kenyans. / Over the past two decades the organic agro-food system has been transformed, extending beyond Northern countries and expanding in many so-called developing countries.This dynamic was first a positioning on high added value products’ export markets. Since several years, domestic markets have emerged in a growing number of developing countries, including Kenya. This thesis attempts to shed light on the dynamics explaining these new markets’ emergence and development. The research is based on four questions. The first one concerns the way organic transactions have been organized in Nairobi. Based on neo institutional economics, we explain how, in the absence of credible certification systems, these products are able to be sold with premium. The second question deals with the conditions of producers’ access to these markets. It is common to highlight that organic domestic Kenyan markets are more profitable than conventional ones. However, some producers, who could actually sell in these markets, prefer conventionalones. Thanks to the concept of transaction costs, we show the role of negotiation and monitoring transaction costs. Chapter 3 analyses the effects of selling on organic market on crops’ diversification, as a proxy of economic and environmental sustainability .Based on microeconomics’ contributions our results confirm the positive effect of organic markets. Finally, our fourth and final chapter provides an analysis of the conditions of these markets sustainability. We propose an analysis grid combining economy of information and quality construction approach, based on Hirschman (1970) works.This grid helps us comparing different certification and verification schemes existing in Kenya. Analysis shows that the least effective scheme is the one that is bound to grow,raising the question of the sustainability of Kenyan domestic organic markets.

故事能夠深入人心，為因應數位行動平台的蓬勃發展，廠商將自家品牌產品的故事應用在微電影、微小說…等新式廣告手法在近年來競相而出，「故事行銷」儼然成為品牌商在行銷應用上的新寵。另一方面，品牌產品依據屬性的不同可大致分為三個種類：搜尋品、經驗品與相信品。消費者在不同種類產品上因為能力與動機的不同，在產品上投入的成本亦不盡相同，故事行銷在不同種類的品牌產品應用上是否能夠一概而論？實屬本研究所探討的一大重點。 本研究旨在分析如何能夠有效將故事行銷應用在不同種類的品牌產品上。在進入研究主題前，本研究整理了過去文獻，並將故事一般化地拆解成四大元素：訊息(Message)、衝突(Conflict)、故事角色(Characters)與故事劇情(Plot)。接著，在限制其他因素不變之下，操弄衝突這項故事元素，並以相信品、搜尋品為例，探測不同衝突大小的品牌故事對於不同種類的產品是否存具有不同的適用性。 本研究採2(故事衝突程度：大、小) ╳ 2(產品種類：相信品、搜尋品)的二因子實驗，加上兩組不同產品種類的無故事版本控制組，共分6組。 本研究發現，品牌故事的植入對於品牌產品是有幫助的，且衝突程度不同的品牌故事對於不同種類的產品存在著適用上的差異性。 在相信品的應用上，消費者對於品牌產品的整體信任感可藉由衝突程度較大的品牌故事來提升；在搜尋品的應用上，衝突程度較大的品牌故事對於品牌產品的整體喜好、整體觀感以及整體信任感皆有負向的影響。 整體來看，相信品較適用於衝突程度較大的品牌故事；搜尋品的故事衝突程度則不宜過大。 關鍵字：故事元素、故事衝突、產品種類、相信品、搜尋品 / Storytelling is a powerful tool for marketing, with the explosive growth of social media and content marketing, more and more companies have begun to paint a picture of their culture and values toward their target customers through storytelling. According to the literature, there are four elements that make up the core basis of storytelling: Message, Conflict, Characters and Plot. These elements can be mixed, matched and applied in variety of ways depending on the context in which the story is told, and company’s purpose. This article focus on manipulating one of these elements: Conflict, using 2 ╳ 2 factorial design to test if there are statistical significance between different degrees of conflicts(high level, low level) and different types of products (search goods, credence goods), on the other hand, this article also set contral groups which without brand story to see if storytelling really makes the difference to customer behavior or not. From what has been discussed, this article finds out that storytelling is significantly good for branding; the result of this article also tells about that the higher level of brand story-conflict creates higher level of the overall trust between brand product and customers on credence goods; on the other hand, the higher level of brand story-conflict decreases the overall trust, preference and perception between brand product and consumers on search goods. Key words: Elements of story, Conflict of story, Product type, Credence goods, Search goods