Living wage laws are a common local government policy to mandate higher wages for a subsection of the labor market. Advocates of these policies suggest the higher mandated wage will lead to greater effort contrary to predictions made by reciprocity models. Do workers actually reciprocate effort for a mandated wage increase if the intention is not purely kind? In one chapter, I use a gift exchange game - where effort is not contractible - to examine worker effort response and possible wage spillovers from a living wage law. The main result shows the greatest influence on effort is the wage offered - regardless of the context of any manager wage restriction. Therefore, effort increases as the mandated wage increases from a typical minimum wage to the higher living wage. Additionally, wage spillovers in the living wage environment push unaffected managers to offer higher wages than otherwise offered in a market with only a single minimum wage. Various theories provide contradictory predictions for the impact of living wage laws on employment. Using a unique and hierarchal dataset with employment data from all Florida business establishments, I analyzes changes at both the market and establishment level where a number of fixed effects can be used to isolate the employment change. Results suggest that there is no to little negative employment change at the market level for areas with a living wage law and a small positive employment effect for establishments with a living wage contract. Finally, I extend reciprocity models to examine contract design. Theoretically, contracts are typically modeled as a one-time transaction. In practice, contracts are rarely one-shot interactions. Short-term contracts are renewed and long-term contracts are terminated early. Despite the possibility for contract length to be identical, behavioral preferences may encourage better performance and longer relationships depending on the initial agreed contract length. Using experimental contracts, we find that only when contract length can be determined endogenously does performance differ between contract and that reciprocity plays an important role in this labor relationship. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2015. / November 10, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references. / David J. Cooper, Professor Directing Dissertation; Richard Feiock, Outside Committee Member; Christopher Clapp, Committee Member; John Hamman, Committee Member.

Until the 1980's, business cycle and growth theory were viewed as separate and unrelated. However, the last two decades were characterized by growth in literature that examined the link between growth and short term fluctuations. Two primary differing views emerged; one suggesting a negative connection and the second suggesting a positive connection between volatility and growth. The purpose of this study is to attempt to understand the relationship between growth and output volatility. The focus will be to find a link between growth and output volatility either negative as Ramey and Ramey (1995) concluded or positive as Kormendi and Meguire (1985) claimed. This study will also expand on the work of Ramey and Ramey (1995) by considering a larger sample size and different time ranges by using a more recent Penn World Table dataset. The robustness of Ramey and Ramey's (1995) empirical study is examined. The first part of this paper examines the trade-off between growth and volatility by assuming that volatility differs among countries but not over time. The results show some support for the negative relationship using the updated data set. However, the evidence for the negative relationship is weaker than the Ramey and Ramey's (1995) strong evidence for negative relationship. A stronger relationship was found when data was sampled differently, using a moving period measure. These results show more support for the negative relationship. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2004. / Date of Defense: December 5, 2003. / Moving Periods, Penn World Table / Includes bibliographical references. / Stefan C. Norrbin, Professor Directing Thesis; Paul M. Beaumont, Committee Member; Don Schlagenhauf, Committee Member.

This dissertation consists of three essays. The first essay examines the effects of tax differentials on the trade balance across countries. Given that intrafirm trade accounts for the sizable share of the world's international trade, it is expected that income-shifting activities of multinational firms can bias the trade balance in many countries. Specifically, an increase in the relative tax liability in one country is expected to decrease the trade balance of that country. Using proxies to the effective tax liability of 19 OECD countries, the cointegrating regressions show significantly negative relationships between tax differentials and the trade balance among relatively small industrial countries. The second essay asks whether the empirically observed home biases in international trade are accounted for by a theoretical model. It has been pointed out that trade among individual Canadian provinces is much larger than the trade between individual Canadian provinces and individual U.S. states. There is a similar tendency in the trade among the OECD member countries. Obstfeld and Rogoff (2000) claim that such a bias can be explained if one takes into account the interaction between transaction costs and the elasticity of substitution. This study tests their claim using a dynamic general equilibrium model where agents pay proportional transaction costs. The simulation results show that the bias levels generated by the plausible values for transaction cost and elasticity are not particularly inconsistent with the observed levels in the US -- Canada relationship. The third essay tests a version of international real business cycle model aimed at examining the effect on the exchange-rate volatility of market segmentation generated by a trade friction across countries. Obstfeld and Rogoff (2000) argue that segmentation in international goods market can explain the empirically observed real exchange-rate volatility. In this study, a trade cost in goods market combined with income heterogeneity of consumers endogenously generates market segmentation by preventing a fraction of consumers from participating in international trade. Under such a circumstance, the volatility of exchange rate actually rises, but the volatility is still below the observed reality, suggesting that trade cost alone cannot explain the anomalous exchange-rate behaviors. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2004. / Date of Defense: December 3, 2003. / Exchange Rate, Tariffs, Elasticity of Substitution, Transfer Pricing / Includes bibliographical references. / Stefan C. Norrbin, Professor Directing Dissertation; Fred W. Huffer, Outside Committee Member; Paul M. Beaumont, Committee Member; Carlos Garriga, Committee Member.

The successful emergence of the Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) represents one of the most important structural developments in the U.S. airline industry after it was deregulated in 1978. With a more efficient cost structure and a different business strategy, in 2006 the LCCs served 32.9% of all domestic origin and destination passengers and about 75% of all domestic passengers had access to LCC service. Moreover, Southwest Airlines, the pioneer of the Low Cost business model is currently the largest U.S. carrier in terms of passengers. It should be of no surprise then that the impact of LCCs on airfares and airline markets in general has attracted a lot of attention from economists, policy makers and the general public. In this dissertation I will address several limitations of the previous literature on the topic of the impact of LCCs on airfares. Previous analyses do not fully capture the spatial nature of competition in airline markets. The arbitrage actions of travelers selecting among alternative airports is likely to create co-movements of prices across routes with common or nearby destinations. Therefore airfares in adjacent routes are likely to be correlated and the competitive effects of the LCCs are not limited to the routes they enter but also extend to adjacent routes. In the first chapter of the dissertation I examine alternative empirical approaches to assessing the cost savings travelers have enjoyed from low cost carriers, when the impact extends across adjacent routes. I demonstrate the advantages of spatial econometric approaches in capturing indirect effects that are missed in standard regression models. An empirical analysis of Southwest Airlines and other low cost carriers for 1998 and 2004 in top U.S. routes is provided to illustrate how estimates of cost savings may be substantially altered when attention is paid to spatial modeling considerations. In addition to controlling for time-invariant route characteristics, the availability of route level panel data also makes it possible to examine the dynamic nature of competition in airline markets. In chapter 3, I extend the route level analysis by estimating a spatial panel model with time and route specific fixed effects and investigate the dynamic responses of the incumbent carriers faced with entry from LCCs. The empirical analysis revealed that the incumbent legacy carriers reduce airfares pre-emptively before LCCs enter the route, most likely in an attempt to gain market share and induce loyalty among travelers. Also the results from the empirical analysis suggest that most of the pro-competitive effects manifest themselves after the LCC entry and they accumulate beyond the initial entry period. While the evolution of the post-entry fares charged by the incumbents follows the same pattern irrespective of the identity of the carriers, the Southwest effect is twice as large compared to the effect of the other LCCs. When LCCs exit a route, the incumbents raise airfares to the point where most of the pro-competitive entry effects are being offset. This chapter fills the gap in the literature on the dynamic responses of the incumbents to LCC entry by making use of spatial econometric panel data models that allow for explicitly modeling time and space fixed effects as well as the spatial dependence among route level airfares. Moreover, I show how spatial econometrics methods can be used to fully assess both the direct and indirect effects of the LCCs. The savings to travelers that can be attributed to competition from LCCs are calculated for each quarter from the fourth quarter of 1994 to the fourth quarter of 2004. In contrast to the impact on route level airfares, the impact of LCCs on airport level airfares is less well studied in the literature. In Chapter 4, I estimate the effect of LCC entry on an airport level fare index as well as on the fare differential between alternative airports. The results indicate that the entry of Southwest Airlines at an airport induces fare effects with a dynamic pattern similar to that observed in the route level analysis. Both pre-entry and post entry effects were identified for Southwest, but the estimated effect of the other LCCs was close to insignificant indicating their inability to exert more generalized competitive pressures at airport level, beyond their actual service offerings. Moreover, the presence of spatial correlation among airport level airfares suggests that the competitive conditions at one airport either through entry from LCCs or other factors, will be reflected in the prevailing airfares at nearby airports. Overall, the results of the dissertation improve the understanding of the role of the LCCs in the US airline industry by making use of the best available data and the proper estimation techniques, in particular spatial econometrics methods that are amenable to the spatial nature of data from the airline industry. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2007. / Date of Defense: June 26, 2007. / Low Cost Carriers, Spatial Econometrics, Airlines / Includes bibliographical references. / Gary M. Fournier, Professor Directing Dissertation; Mark W. Horner, Outside Committee Member; David A. Macpherson, Committee Member; Thomas W. Zuehlke, Committee Member.

Local governments are becoming an increasingly important arm of governance and public goods provision. As the role of counties and municipalities continues to expand so must our understanding of their inner workings and relationships to an ever changing environment. Important areas of our understanding are in need of revision or investigation in general. To what extent do local governments nested in federalism interact with one another? What are the implications of those interactions, or lack thereof? How has the changing landscape of development affected public service provisions? Does the type of development, in terms of land use, affect particular public service costs? All of these questions are addressed to some degree. Results suggest that most important interaction within local federalism is between the municipalities and the counties above them, although there is weak evidence of municipality to municipality interactions. The geography of development proves itself to be an important factor in the costs of public goods provision, having sometimes conflicting relationships across land uses and the type of public good being provided. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2017. / July 7, 2017. / Federalism, Local Governments / Includes bibliographical references. / Keith Ihlanfeldt, Professor Directing Dissertation; Richard C. Feiock, University Representative; Christopher M. Clapp, Committee Member; Randall G. Holcombe, Committee Member; Anastasia Semykina, Committee Member.

This dissertation is a collection of essays that explore the land assembly problem. Developers are of tasked with assembling or consolidating contiguous pieces properties to carry out a large-scale development. During the assembly process, developers will encounter various hurdles that increase the transactions costs associated with the project. As these costs grow, the viability of the project may be questioned and otherwise beneficial projects may fail to be developed. In my first essay, I use a series of controlled laboratory experiments to explore a neglected source of failed assembly: post-development externalities. In it, I demonstrate that externalities lead to lower aggregation in the presence of externalities. Also using laboratory experiments, the second essay shows that inducing competition among prospective landowners is a viable technique to improve assembly rates in an environment where the incentive to be strategic is strong, but with no externalities. In the final essay, I use a new dataset on real estate acquisition for roadway construction, to quantify the effect that bargaining delays have on final transaction prices when the developer has access to eminent domain. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2017. / July 5, 2017. / Eminent Domain, Externalities, Holdouts, Land assembly, Transaction Costs / Includes bibliographical references. / R. Mark Isaac, Professor Directing Dissertation; Eric A. Coleman, University Representative; Thomas Zuehlke, Committee Member; Carl Kitchens, Committee Member.

Without proper treatment, direct analysis on data sets with missing or suppressed values can lead to biased results. Among all of the missing data handling methods, multiple imputation (MI) methods are regarded as the state of the art. The multiple imputed data sets can, on the one hand, generate unbiased estimates, and on the other hand, provide a reliable way to adjust standard errors based on missing data uncertainty. Despite many advantages, existing MI methods have poor performance on complicated Multi-Scale data, especially when the data set is large. The large data set of interest to us is the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wage (QCEW), which is the employment and wages of every establishment in the US. These detailed data are aggregated up through three scales: industry structure, geographic levels and time. The size of the QCEW data is as large as 210 x✕ 2217 ✕ 3193 ≈ 1.5 billion observations. For privacy concerns the data are heavily suppressed and this missingness could appear anywhere in this complicated structure. The existing methods are either accurate or fast but bot both in handling the QCEW data. Our goal is to develop a MI method which is capable of handling the missing value problem of large multi-scale data set both accurately and efficiently. This research addresses this goal in three directions. First, I improve the accuracy of the fastest MI method, Bootstrapping based Expectation Maximization (EMB) algorithm, by equipping it with a Multi-Scale Updating step. This updating step uses the information from the singular covariance matrix to take multi-scale structure into account and to simulate more accurate imputations. Second, I improve the MI method by using a Quasi Monte Carlo technique to accelerate its convergence speed. Finally, I develop a Sequential Parallel Imputation method which can detect the structure and missing pattern of large data sets, and partition it to small data sets automatically. The resulting Parallel Sequential Multi-Scale Bootstrapping Expectation Maximization Multiple Imputation (PSI-MBEMMI) method is accurate, very fast, and can be applied to very large data sets. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2018. / June 27, 2018. / Bayesian Inference, Bootstrapping, Expectation Maximization, Large Data Analysis, Multiple Imputation, Quasi-Monte Carlo / Includes bibliographical references. / Paul Beaumont, Professor Directing Dissertation; Dennis Duke, University Representative; Stefan Norrbin, Committee Member; Giray Okten, Committee Member; Javier Cano-Urbina, Committee Member.

This dissertation is a collection of essays that explore the topic of overhead costs in the nonprofit sector. There is a tension that exists between donors and nonprofit organizations. Donors dislike their donations going toward overhead costs, preferring their donations be spent on programs. People who work for nonprofit organizations argue that spending on overhead costs is necessary to ensure quality programs. In my first essay, I use a set of classroom experiments to explore peoples’ attitudes toward overhead costs. People dislike overhead costs, including specific costs like fundraising and salaries. When compared directly, people prefer fundraising over salaries. In my second essay, I test in laboratory experiments whether this aversion to overhead costs is robust enough that people will incur a cost to act on it. A substantial number of people are willing to pay for information about overhead costs and subsequently use this information to withhold donations from higher-overhead charities. In my third essay, I test how allocating money between overhead and program expenses impacts the financial success of nonprofit organizations. Allocating money toward overall overhead expenses and administrative expenses lead to increases in contributions, net assets, and the likelihood of survival. Allocating money toward fundraising has the opposite effect. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2018. / June 15, 2018. / Charitable Giving, Charity, Nonprofits, Overhead / Includes bibliographical references. / R. Mark Isaac, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jens Grosser, University Representative; David Cooper, Committee Member; Sebastian Goerg, Committee Member; Carl Kitchens, Committee Member.

Due to the rollout of provisions from the Affordable Care Act beginning in 2010 there has been significant interest in the effects of health insurance, and more broadly, the effects of health insurance policy on individuals and firms. Using empirical and experimental methods, I investigate the impact of insurance and insurance policy on individuals and firms. More specifically, I am interested in the behavioral impacts of health insurance and of the impacts of insurance in general on individuals. Further, I am interested in studying the impact of insurance mandates on businesses. To study these issues I use health data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, experimental data generated from an experiment my co-authors and I conducted at Florida State University, and employment data from the Current Population Survey / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2018. / July 19, 2018. / adverse selection, dependent coverage, experiment, insurance economics, insurance mandates, moral hazard / Includes bibliographical references. / Randall G. Holcombe, Professor Directing Dissertation; Patricia Born, University Representative; R. Mark Isaac, Committee Member; Carl Kitchens, Committee Member.

In first two chapters of this dissertation, I examine the effects of Certificate-of-Need (CON) regulation on technological investment and prices, and also examine decisions about service provision in hospitals and other non-profit services. CON regulation provides state authority to restrict major capital investments as a way of reducing costs. CON regulation was initially implemented at the federal level in 1972, and while falling out of favor in 1981, 34 states including Florida have a state-wide CON program in place as of 2017. The purpose of CON regulation is to address this surplus of equipment by requiring that new purchases of equipment and providing new services be subject to prior approval from CON authorities, automatically for some key types of operations and for others if the costs exceed the capital threshold. Hospitals must demonstrate to the CON board that the equipment serves a community need or unmet demand; if successful, they may be granted a Certificate of Need to purchase the new equipment. It is reasonable to believe that services that are subject to CON regulation are offered less often than unregulated services. I examine how this process affects the supply of technology in the first chapter. One major argument against CON laws is that they restrict competition and keep prices high. In the second chapter, I examine whether the technology restrictions of CON regulation result in higher prices and market power. In the third chapter of the dissertation, I look at another issue affecting non-profit firms; the issue of overhead expenses. Overhead expenses are defined as any expense that does not count as directly contributing to the program. There is evidence that many potential donors dislike paying for overhead costs, even though they are vital to the operational abilities of a nonprofit. I empirically test how overhead expenses affect a nonprofit's financial success as well as its survival rate. For the first chapter of the dissertation, the chapter is co-authored with Gary Fournier. Our collaboration involved a great deal of joint effort at every phase of research. Gary Fournier supervised in the design of the project, discussing sampling issues, identifying data sources and limitations, and helped suggest empirical strategies. My contribution was to carry out the empirical analysis and the full written report. For the third chapter of the dissertation, the chapter is co-authored with Joseph Stinn. His contributions to the project are the motivation, the literature review, the idea to analyze survival rates of nonprofits, and the idea to use liabilities as an instrument. My main contributions are the theoretical model, and the empirical strategies. We jointly carried out the data collection, empirical analysis and the written report. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2018. / July 6, 2018. / Health Services, Hospital Prices, Non-Profits, Overhead Expenses, Technology / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert Mark Isaac, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jens Großer, University Representative; Gary M. Fournier, Committee Member; Svetlana Pevnitskaya, Committee Member; Anastasia Semykina, Committee Member.