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Semiconductors AlSb and GaSb have emerged, in recent years, as important candidates for photovoltaic applications due to their strong absorption coefficients and other photovoltaic properties. In this study, AlSb (GaSb) p-n junction-based solar cell device parameters and properties are studied using the density functional theoretical framework and the non-equilibrium Green function approach. The effect of temperature on various solar cell parameters such as open-circuit voltage, power conversion efficiency, photocurrent density, short-circuit current, etc. is investigated using a special-thermal-displacement approach along with the GGA-1/2 exchange-correlation functional. As temperature increases, the phonons are found to significantly influence the charge carrier transport in the solar cells. The computed power conversion efficiencies for AlSb are estimated as 12.31% and 10.21% at 0 K and 400 K, respectively. The obtained results strongly indicate that the electron-phonon coupling and resulting phonon-assisted photon absorption are necessary for accurate description and prediction of solar cell properties. The estimates obtained in this study may serve as first-principles parameters with possible use in continuum model-based multiscale simulations of AlSb (GaSb) p-n homo-junction solar cells.

Semiconductors AlSb and GaSb have emerged, in recent years, as important candidates for photovoltaic applications due to their strong absorption coefficients and other photovoltaic properties. In this study, AlSb (GaSb) p-n junction-based solar cell device parameters and properties are studied using the density functional theoretical framework and the non-equilibrium Green function approach. The effect of temperature on various solar cell parameters such as open-circuit voltage, power conversion efficiency, photocurrent density, short-circuit current, etc. is investigated using a special-thermal-displacement approach along with the GGA-1/2 exchange-correlation functional. As temperature increases, the phonons are found to significantly influence the charge carrier transport in the solar cells. The computed power conversion efficiencies for AlSb are estimated as 12.31% and 10.21% at 0 K and 400 K, respectively. The obtained results strongly indicate that the electron-phonon coupling and resulting phonon-assisted photon absorption are necessary for accurate description and prediction of solar cell properties. The estimates obtained in this study may serve as first-principles parameters with possible use in continuum model-based multiscale simulations of AlSb (GaSb) p-n homo-junction solar cells.

Semiconductors AlSb and GaSb have emerged, in recent years, as important candidates for photovoltaic applications due to their strong absorption coefficients and other photovoltaic properties. In this study, AlSb (GaSb) p-n junction-based solar cell device parameters and properties are studied using the density functional theoretical framework and the non-equilibrium Green function approach. The effect of temperature on various solar cell parameters such as open-circuit voltage, power conversion efficiency, photocurrent density, short-circuit current, etc. is investigated using a special-thermal-displacement approach along with the GGA-1/2 exchange-correlation functional. As temperature increases, the phonons are found to significantly influence the charge carrier transport in the solar cells. The computed power conversion efficiencies for AlSb are estimated as 12.31% and 10.21% at 0 K and 400 K, respectively. The obtained results strongly indicate that the electron-phonon coupling and resulting phonon-assisted photon absorption are necessary for accurate description and prediction of solar cell properties. The estimates obtained in this study may serve as first-principles parameters with possible use in continuum model-based multiscale simulations of AlSb (GaSb) p-n homo-junction solar cells.

The relative energetic stability of the structural phases of common antiferromagnetic transition-metal oxides (MnO, FeO, CoO, and NiO) within the semilocal and hybrid density functionals are fraught with difficulties. In particular, MnO is known to be the most difficult case for almost all common semilocal and hybrid density approximations. Here, we show that the meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA) constructed from the cuspless hydrogen model and Pauli kinetic energy density (MGGAC) can lead to the correct phase as the ground-state of MnO. The relative energy differences of zinc blende (zb) and rock salt (rs) structures as computed using MGGAC are found to be in nice agreement with those obtained from high-level correlation methods like the random phase approximation or quantum Monte Carlo techniques. Besides, we have also applied the onsite hybrid functionals (closely related to DFT+U) based on GGA and meta-GGA functionals, and it is shown that a relatively high amount of Hartree-Fock exchange is necessary to obtain rs as the ground-state phase. Our present investigation suggests the semilocal MGGAC and onsite hybrids, both being computationally cheap, as methods of choice for the calculation of the relative stability of antiferromagnetic transition-metal oxides having potential applications in solid-state physics and structural chemistry. © 2022 American Chemical Society.

The relative energetic stability of the structural phases of common antiferromagnetic transition-metal oxides (MnO, FeO, CoO, and NiO) within the semilocal and hybrid density functionals are fraught with difficulties. In particular, MnO is known to be the most difficult case for almost all common semilocal and hybrid density approximations. Here, we show that the meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA) constructed from the cuspless hydrogen model and Pauli kinetic energy density (MGGAC) can lead to the correct phase as the ground-state of MnO. The relative energy differences of zinc blende (zb) and rock salt (rs) structures as computed using MGGAC are found to be in nice agreement with those obtained from high-level correlation methods like the random phase approximation or quantum Monte Carlo techniques. Besides, we have also applied the onsite hybrid functionals (closely related to DFT+U) based on GGA and meta-GGA functionals, and it is shown that a relatively high amount of Hartree-Fock exchange is necessary to obtain rs as the ground-state phase. Our present investigation suggests the semilocal MGGAC and onsite hybrids, both being computationally cheap, as methods of choice for the calculation of the relative stability of antiferromagnetic transition-metal oxides having potential applications in solid-state physics and structural chemistry. © 2022 American Chemical Society.

The relative energetic stability of the structural phases of common antiferromagnetic transition-metal oxides (MnO, FeO, CoO, and NiO) within the semilocal and hybrid density functionals are fraught with difficulties. In particular, MnO is known to be the most difficult case for almost all common semilocal and hybrid density approximations. Here, we show that the meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA) constructed from the cuspless hydrogen model and Pauli kinetic energy density (MGGAC) can lead to the correct phase as the ground-state of MnO. The relative energy differences of zinc blende (zb) and rock salt (rs) structures as computed using MGGAC are found to be in nice agreement with those obtained from high-level correlation methods like the random phase approximation or quantum Monte Carlo techniques. Besides, we have also applied the onsite hybrid functionals (closely related to DFT+U) based on GGA and meta-GGA functionals, and it is shown that a relatively high amount of Hartree-Fock exchange is necessary to obtain rs as the ground-state phase. Our present investigation suggests the semilocal MGGAC and onsite hybrids, both being computationally cheap, as methods of choice for the calculation of the relative stability of antiferromagnetic transition-metal oxides having potential applications in solid-state physics and structural chemistry. © 2022 American Chemical Society.

The relative energetic stability of the structural phases of common antiferromagnetic transition-metal oxides (MnO, FeO, CoO, and NiO) within the semilocal and hybrid density functionals are fraught with difficulties. In particular, MnO is known to be the most difficult case for almost all common semilocal and hybrid density approximations. Here, we show that the meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA) constructed from the cuspless hydrogen model and Pauli kinetic energy density (MGGAC) can lead to the correct phase as the ground-state of MnO. The relative energy differences of zinc blende (zb) and rock salt (rs) structures as computed using MGGAC are found to be in nice agreement with those obtained from high-level correlation methods like the random phase approximation or quantum Monte Carlo techniques. Besides, we have also applied the onsite hybrid functionals (closely related to DFT+U) based on GGA and meta-GGA functionals, and it is shown that a relatively high amount of Hartree-Fock exchange is necessary to obtain rs as the ground-state phase. Our present investigation suggests the semilocal MGGAC and onsite hybrids, both being computationally cheap, as methods of choice for the calculation of the relative stability of antiferromagnetic transition-metal oxides having potential applications in solid-state physics and structural chemistry. © 2022 American Chemical Society.

Gallium sulfide (GaS) is a highly promising two-dimensional layered semiconductor owing to its remarkable thickness dependent electronic and physical properties. In this article, we perform a comprehensive ab initio study of lattice dynamics, mode symmetry assignments, polarized Raman and infrared (IR) reflectivity spectra of GaS system. Polarized Raman spectra are obtained for different light polarization set-ups of incoming and scattered light. The frequencies of all allowed vibrational modes at the zone-centre are calculated and symmetry labels are assigned. Furthermore, the variation of frequencies & intensities of Raman/IR active modes of ultrathin GaS films (few layers) as function of film thickness is studied. In addition, we also explore the nature of weak interlayer coupling in GaS. The weak forces between the GaS layers are usually assumed to be due to interlayer van derWaals (vdW) interaction. However, this assumption has not been reasonably explained in reported experimental studies. Our study strongly suggests that weak interlayer interactions in GaS may be primarily electrostatic (Coulomb) in nature and therefore the contribution of vdW interactions to layer-layer coupling and lattice dynamics may be significantly lower than that of electrostatic interaction. The suggested nature of interlayer coupling in GaS and related III-VI semiconductors may have important implications in determination of their various physical properties. © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK.

Gallium sulfide (GaS) is a highly promising two-dimensional layered semiconductor owing to its remarkable thickness dependent electronic and physical properties. In this article, we perform a comprehensive ab initio study of lattice dynamics, mode symmetry assignments, polarized Raman and infrared (IR) reflectivity spectra of GaS system. Polarized Raman spectra are obtained for different light polarization set-ups of incoming and scattered light. The frequencies of all allowed vibrational modes at the zone-centre are calculated and symmetry labels are assigned. Furthermore, the variation of frequencies & intensities of Raman/IR active modes of ultrathin GaS films (few layers) as function of film thickness is studied. In addition, we also explore the nature of weak interlayer coupling in GaS. The weak forces between the GaS layers are usually assumed to be due to interlayer van derWaals (vdW) interaction. However, this assumption has not been reasonably explained in reported experimental studies. Our study strongly suggests that weak interlayer interactions in GaS may be primarily electrostatic (Coulomb) in nature and therefore the contribution of vdW interactions to layer-layer coupling and lattice dynamics may be significantly lower than that of electrostatic interaction. The suggested nature of interlayer coupling in GaS and related III-VI semiconductors may have important implications in determination of their various physical properties. © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK.

Gallium sulfide (GaS) is a highly promising two-dimensional layered semiconductor owing to its remarkable thickness dependent electronic and physical properties. In this article, we perform a comprehensive ab initio study of lattice dynamics, mode symmetry assignments, polarized Raman and infrared (IR) reflectivity spectra of GaS system. Polarized Raman spectra are obtained for different light polarization set-ups of incoming and scattered light. The frequencies of all allowed vibrational modes at the zone-centre are calculated and symmetry labels are assigned. Furthermore, the variation of frequencies & intensities of Raman/IR active modes of ultrathin GaS films (few layers) as function of film thickness is studied. In addition, we also explore the nature of weak interlayer coupling in GaS. The weak forces between the GaS layers are usually assumed to be due to interlayer van derWaals (vdW) interaction. However, this assumption has not been reasonably explained in reported experimental studies. Our study strongly suggests that weak interlayer interactions in GaS may be primarily electrostatic (Coulomb) in nature and therefore the contribution of vdW interactions to layer-layer coupling and lattice dynamics may be significantly lower than that of electrostatic interaction. The suggested nature of interlayer coupling in GaS and related III-VI semiconductors may have important implications in determination of their various physical properties. © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK.

Durable goods are more likely to impose binding financial constraint than the perishable goods because they are usually relatively more expensive. Durable goods can also impose time inconsistency problem to the monopolist seller. This is because, after selling to the relatively high-valuation consumers today, the monopolist will cut price to sell to the low-valuation consumers in the future. Forwarding-looking consumers reduce their willingness to pay today, which negatively affects the monopolist's overall profitability. This thesis analyses the profit-maximizing behaviour of the durable-goods monopolist when binding financial constraint and time inconsistency problem coexist, and when the provision of financing is available to the budget-constrained consumers. I analyse two types of financing - sale on instalment plan and loan from profit-maximizing lending institution - separately, and then compare the welfare consequences of those two financing options. First, I show that, like leasing, selling on instalment plan not only weakens the severity of the binding financial constraint, but also resolves the time inconsistency problem. Second, loan from profit-maximizing lending institution can eliminate the binding financial constraint, but it does not resolve the time inconsistency problem. Nonetheless, lending happens only when the binding financial constraint is severe. Finally, I show that when the binding financial constraint is sufficiently severe, the monopolist is better off when loan from the lending institution is the financing option, compared to selling on instalment plan. This is because resolving the binding financial constraint is more beneficial than resolving the time inconsistency problem, and loan from lending institution is more effective in resolving it. I further extend the analysis by allowing the coexistence of the two financing options, and then discus the welfare consequences when the lending institution is the benevolent one compared to when

We examine how trade liberalization affects South’s incentive to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) in a North-South duopoly model where a low-cost North firm competes with a high-cost South firm in the South market. The North firm serves the South market through either exports or foreign direct investment (FDI). The extent of effective cost difference between North and South depends on South’s imitation, which in turn depends on South’s IPR protection and absorptive capacity and North firm’s location choice, all of which are endogenously determined in our model. For a given level of IPR protection, South’s absorptive capacity under exports may be greater than under FDI. Even though innovation is exogenous to the model (and hence unaffected by South’s IPR policy), strengthening IPR protection in South can improve its welfare. The relationship between trade costs and the degree of IPR protection that maximizes South welfare is non-monotone. In particular, South has an incentive to protect IPR only when trade costs are moderate. When masking technology or licensing is incorporated into the model, however, some protection of IPR may be optimal for South even if the trade costs are not moderate.

This thesis consists of three essays addressing the issues of labor mobility or human capital accumulation from different aspects.The first essay is titled as “Human Capital Accumulation and the Use of Non-compete Agreements.” This essay analyzes under what conditions it is desirable for firms to use non-compete agreements (NCAs) by analyzing a model with non-contractible and partially transferable human capital, wage bargaining, and bilateral investment from both firms and works. Elaborating on the trade-off between mitigating the firm's and worker's under-investment problem, we show that firms will use NCAs if and only if the relative importance of firm's training when building up worker's overall human capital is sufficiently high. We also analyzed an extension of our model that incorporates unknown match quality and the measurement of worker's riskiness. The result suggests that it is more desirable to use NCAs for the high risky worker, which offers implication in the recruitment practice.The second essay is titled as “Asset Specificity, Human Capital Acquisition, and Labor Market Competition.” This essay explores a new model of labor market competition that incorporates asset specificity, acquisition of firm-specific human capital, firm size, and labor mobility. Each firm's production efficiency is determined by the level of its managerial capability, and firm-specificity of asset and human capital in the model. Elaborating on the connection between labor mobility and the levels of firms' asset specificity and their employment sizes, we show that the importance of managerial capability and firm-specificity of asset systematically influence labor mobility, asset specificity, average firm size, and employment practices. The model's empirical implications are also discussed.The third essay is titled as “Taxation of Human Capital and Labor Income Inequality: The Role of Parental Transfer.” This essay studies how labor income and bequest taxes affect labor income i

In spatial competition, public infrastructure plays a crucial role in determining product market outcomes. In our model, consideration of infrastructure's impact on the product market drives the preferences of consumers in their dual role as voter/taxpayers. The spatial heterogeneity of consumers produces conflicting political interests and in many cases inefficient outcomes. However across both exogenous and endogenous market environments product market competition consistently leads to higher levels of publicly funded infrastructure than monopoly/collusion. Furthermore, competition's boost to the popular support for infrastructure investment is often excessive while monopoly leads to underinvestment.

This thesis makes contributions to the economics of intellectual property rights (IPR)from different perspectives in three distinct but related empirical studies. First, patentand trademark statistics are used as innovation measures to examine the long-runrelationship between innovation and output in countries with long-established IPRsystems. The findings show that innovations may not always play a positive role indriving economic growth. Post-World War II evidence for some countries with extensivemeasured innovations (the US, and Germany) shows innovation's non-positiveeffects on economic growth, despite innovation's positive effects for the previous period.However, innovation retains a positive role in Japan, France and Australia.Despite the importance of innovation, risk often decreases the incentive to innovate,and can lead to R&D under-investment problems relative to the social optimum.Patents play an essential role in addressing this problem. This role is evaluated inthe Australian context by estimating the value of patent rights and calculating thecorresponding equivalent subsidy rate (ESR). The average value of patent rights forAustralian patents filed during 1980-1992 ranges from AU$9,000 to AU$17,000, whichis lower than the findings of the European and US studies. However, the ESR rangeof 3.2% to 8.4% is higher than that of large developed economies, indicating that thepatent system of Australia has outperformed the systems of other countries.One shortcoming of using patents as an innovation measure is the small number ofpatent users, which is less than secrecy users. Consequently, we examine determinantsof firms' choices of patenting versus secrecy using Australian data, with a focus onthe theory of Henry and Ponce (2011), predicting that firms' preference for secrecyover patents increases with knowledge tradability. In an important improvement overstandard empirical practice, a trivariate-probit model is constructed to correct for theendogeneity of the

This thesis contributes to the current debates concerning the optimal strength of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection and the importance of such a system. The first part of the thesis constructs game theoretic models to examine the relationship between the strength of IPR and market size and how this relationship changes in the presence of licensing. The second part investigates empirically the effect of knowledge tradeability proxied by licensing activity on the choice of IPR protection strategies at the firm level.A particular issue of interest is how an increase in market size affects the strength of IPR protection. Chapter 2 addresses this question in a simple oligopoly model of R&D and Cournot competition with endogenous IPR policy. For a given degree of IPR protection, an increase in market size directly increases the incentives to innovate, which might suggest that less IPR protection is necessary to achieve a certain level of innovation in a larger market. However, larger markets also imply increased free-riding incentive, which suggests that stronger protection of IPR may be required to encourage innovation. In our framework, the latter effect dominates and thus optimal IPR protection is strengthened as market size increases.Chapter 3 introduces the possibility of licensing in the model. It is shown that in the licensing regime, although the same effects as before are maintained, the results are reversed. As market size increases, the IPR protection equilibrium declines. This new result shows that the presence of licensing can dramatically alter the design of IPR policy.Chapter 4 examines whether there is any empirical evidence that licensing, or more broadly knowledge trading, is an important factor to consider with regards to IPR policy formation. Specifically, building on a theoretical framework from Henry and Ponce (2011), the relationship between licensing and the choice of IPR protection methods such as patents and secrecy is analysed empiri

This dissertation consists of four studies covering both micro and macro perspectives of development economics using theory and empirics. This thesis predominantly focuses on problems of economic development and considers policy directions to mitigate such problems. Chapter 2 develops a model of rural-urban seasonal migration with special reference to lean period shocks. Agricultural lean periods occur in rural areas due to natural disasters or agricultural downturns. This study shows that as the probability of a lean period increases, overall seasonal migration decreases but the proportion of agricultural workers undertaking seasonal migration increases. Chapter 3 investigates the relationship between access to micro-credit and temporary seasonal migration. Using primary data from Bangladesh, this study quantifies the factors that influence such migration decisions. Seasonal migration is a natural choice in a lean period, however due to strict loan repayment rules, those who have prior access to micro-credit have no such option. The study finds that that there is no significant difference in income in a lean period between those who have access to micro-credit and those who do not. Chapter 4 focuses on the determinants of government expenditure in developing countries. This study finds evidence that political and institutional variables, as well as governance variables, have considerable association with government expenditure. Among other results, corruption is found to be influential whereas, by contrast, size of the economy and linguistic fractionalization are found to have sizable negative impact on government expenditure. The study finds evidence that public expenditure significantly shrinks under military dictatorship. Chapter 5 studies the spending and absorption of aid in Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), an IMF supported aid program. The study further verifies whether the use of aid is programmed to be smoothed over time, and analyses how consi

Foreign direct investment (FDI) by Northern firms in the South often induces technology spillovers which benefits Southern firms. This topic has recently received significant attention in the international trade literature. Is inducing FDI with technology spillovers always a good policy for the South? What are the optimal Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy and trade policy for the South and the world?The thesis addresses these questions by exploring technology spillovers that is accompanied by a Northern firm's FDI in the South. It contains three closely related essays. The first two essays develop different frameworks of technology spillovers, namely quality-enhancing and cost-reducing technology spillovers. The goal of these essays is to provide an explanation for the North-South IPR conflict and suggest policy recommendations along this line. The third essay studies an export platform FDI model with technology spillovers. Our goal for this essay is to understand the connection between regional trade liberalization and IPR regime in the South.The thesis leads to several new policy implications, some of which can be listed as follows. First, in the presence of quality-enhancing technology spillovers in the South, the Northern firm strategically reduces its product quality level under FDI in a range of parameterizations. Consequently, this leads to the possibility in which FDI hurts the South, and at the same time, the optimal level of spillovers for global welfare could be strictly less than South optimal level. Second, when spillovers are cost-reducing, these results do not necessarily hold. This is because the Northern firm chooses the minimum marginal cost level for its product regardless of its location choice. Under linear demand, we also find that, FDI improves Southern welfare and global welfare with cost-reducing spillovers. Consequently, cost-reducing spillovers and quality-enhancing spillovers can yield different, even contrasting, policy implicati

This article analyses the optimality of policy specifications used to regulate the acquisition and operation of local firms by multinational enterprises. We emphasise the consequence of such regulations on the price of the domestic firm in the market for corporate control. We show that it is optimal to impose ceilings on foreign ownership of domestic firms when the government's objective is to maximise domestic shareholder profits, or a sum of those profits and tax revenues. While the optimal ceiling is high enough for the multinational enterprise (MNE) to gain control of the domestic firm, it nevertheless influences the price that the MNE must pay for the domestic firm's shares to the advantage of the domestic shareholders. Surprisingly, stringent restrictions on transfer pricing turn out to be strictly suboptimal in this context.

This article analyses the optimality of policy specifications used to regulate the acquisition and operation of local firms by multinational enterprises. We emphasise the consequence of such regulations on the price of the domestic firm in the market for corporate control. We show that it is optimal to impose ceilings on foreign ownership of domestic firms when the government's objective is to maximise domestic shareholder profits, or a sum of those profits and tax revenues. While the optimal ceiling is high enough for the multinational enterprise (MNE) to gain control of the domestic firm, it nevertheless influences the price that the MNE must pay for the domestic firm's shares to the advantage of the domestic shareholders. Surprisingly, stringent restrictions on transfer pricing turn out to be strictly suboptimal in this context.

We examine the incentives for integration between two nations of different sizes in a set-up similar to that used by: individuals are indexed by location, each nation (comprising of individuals) is an interval, and the public good in each nation is provided from its capital located in the middle of the nation. We analyse integration where each country gives up its sovereignty and there is a joint decision about the location of the new nation's capital. We find that integration occurs if the size differences are below a certain threshold. After integration, a new capital is built (in the most efficient location) if the costs of relocating the capital are not too high. The results are robust in a number of plausible decision-making scenarios. Either country can be the major beneficiary of integration, depending on transport and capital maintenance costs.

This article analyses the optimality of policy specifications used to regulate the acquisition and operation of local firms by multinational enterprises. We emphasise the consequence of such regulations on the price of the domestic firm in the market for corporate control. We show that it is optimal to impose ceilings on foreign ownership of domestic firms when the government's objective is to maximise domestic shareholder profits, or a sum of those profits and tax revenues. While the optimal ceiling is high enough for the multinational enterprise (MNE) to gain control of the domestic firm, it nevertheless influences the price that the MNE must pay for the domestic firm's shares to the advantage of the domestic shareholders. Surprisingly, stringent restrictions on transfer pricing turn out to be strictly suboptimal in this context.

This article analyses the optimality of policy specifications used to regulate the acquisition and operation of local firms by multinational enterprises. We emphasise the consequence of such regulations on the price of the domestic firm in the market for corporate control. We show that it is optimal to impose ceilings on foreign ownership of domestic firms when the government's objective is to maximise domestic shareholder profits, or a sum of those profits and tax revenues. While the optimal ceiling is high enough for the multinational enterprise (MNE) to gain control of the domestic firm, it nevertheless influences the price that the MNE must pay for the domestic firm's shares to the advantage of the domestic shareholders. Surprisingly, stringent restrictions on transfer pricing turn out to be strictly suboptimal in this context.

This dissertation examines the effect of trade on competition policy and R&D. We examine these issues in the form of three essays. The first essay explores the impact of trade policy on entry regulation in an open economy setup. We find that under an open economy framework free entry can lead to a socially insufficient number of firms can arise. This contrasts the results obtained under closed economy setup where a socially excessive entry would arise. Furthermore, we find that as trade is liberalized the possibility of socially insufficient entry becomes more likely. This implies that more restrictive merger policies should be pursued as trade barriers are. In our second essay, we expand upon this model by incorporating intermediate goods. In our model foreign firms produce an intermediate input which is used by the domestic firm to produce the final product. Under this framework we find that socially insufficient entry can occur under a wide range of parameterizations. Furthermore we find that as trade barriers are reduced the possibility of insufficient entry becomes less likely. In our final essay, we explore the effects of trade liberalization on R&D. We find that as trade is liberalized firms prefer to undertake more R&D. Furthermore, cooperation in R&D is preferred as trade barriers are reduced. Cooperation is not necessary beneficial for consumers, specifically if trade barriers and spillovers are low. Thus R&D tax credit and R&D taxes can assume a significant role to ensure that consumers’ interests are accounted for.

Over the last two decades there has been a tremendous increase in collaboration among competing firms. Asignificant number of these collaborations are international. This thesis explores the incentives and welfareconsequences of collaboration in the context of international trade. We consider two types of cross-bordercollaborations. The first is collaboration by sharing a part of firms' value creating activities, such as technologydevelopment, product design and distribution. This saves on production costs but reduces product distinctiveness.Firms collaborate if and only if the reduction in product distinctiveness is lower than a threshold level. We find that thethreshold increases with an increase in trade costs. That is, an increase in trade costs makes collaboration morelikely. Higher trade cost lowers competition, which in turn enables the firms to save on fixed costs while forgoingsome product distinctiveness. Furthermore, we demonstrate that contrary to standard intuition, higher trade costcould enhance consumers' welfare by inducing competitors to collaborate. We extend our model to endogeniselocation choice by the firms where collaboration requires co-location (due to the benefit of local spillovers or jointinvestment in key infrastructures). Unlike the original model, we find that an increase in trade costs can discouragecollaboration. In both circumstances, we find that an increase in trade cost can improve consumer surplus.The second type of collaboration considered in this thesis is licensing. We extend the standard licensing literature toan environment where firms compete in the domestic as well as foreign market. We examine how trade cost affectsthe licensing decision as well as the optimal payment mechanism. We find that an increase in trade costs reducesthe possibility of licensing. Concerning the payment mechanism, we find that (i) either royalty or (ii) a two-part tariff(involving a fixed fee as well as royalty payments) is optimal. An increase in

Globalization skeptics argue that trade liberalization has high social costs, including an increase in expropriative behavior such as civil-conflict, coercion of labor and crime. We show that a theoretical relationship between trade and expropriation exists, but the sign differs for developed and developing economies. We verify this empirically using data on crime rates. Specifically we find trade liberalization,as measured by both higher openness and lower import duty rates, tends to increase burglaries and theft in very labor abundant countries. For other countries, however,we find that trade liberalization has either a small negative effect on crime,or no effect, depending on the country’s capital abundance.

Globalization skeptics argue that trade liberalization has high social costs, including an increase in expropriative behavior such as civil-conflict, coercion of labor and crime. We show that a theoretical relationship between trade and expropriation exists, but the sign differs for developed and developing economies. We verify this empirically using data on crime rates. Specifically we find trade liberalization,as measured by both higher openness and lower import duty rates, tends to increase burglaries and theft in very labor abundant countries. For other countries, however,we find that trade liberalization has either a small negative effect on crime,or no effect, depending on the country’s capital abundance.

Globalization skeptics argue that trade liberalization has high social costs, including an increase in expropriative behavior such as civil-conflict, coercion of labor and crime. We show that a theoretical relationship between trade and expropriation exists, but the sign differs for developed and developing economies. We verify this empirically using data on crime rates. Specifically we find trade liberalization,as measured by both higher openness and lower import duty rates, tends to increase burglaries and theft in very labor abundant countries. For other countries, however,we find that trade liberalization has either a small negative effect on crime,or no effect, depending on the country’s capital abundance.

Globalization skeptics argue that trade liberalization has high social costs, including an increase in expropriative behavior such as civil-conflict, coercion of labor and crime. We show that a theoretical relationship between trade and expropriation exists, but the sign differs for developed and developing economies. We verify this empirically using data on crime rates. Specifically we find trade liberalization,as measured by both higher openness and lower import duty rates, tends to increase burglaries and theft in very labor abundant countries. For other countries, however,we find that trade liberalization has either a small negative effect on crime,or no effect, depending on the country’s capital abundance.