Encouraging honest behavior and discouraging deceptive behavior has become a very important issue with respect to ethics and moral behavior in the workplace. As such, a critical practical and theoretical goal has been to directly study the likelihood of individuals punishing deception and rewarding honesty. The growing assumption within the...
This dissertation examines the development of a black theater aesthetic in Jamaica as the colony prepared for independence. I define my theory of myalisation to explain how middle class theatre audiences participated in the Afro-Jamaican religious rituals of the lower class and how their participation signaled the development of a...
Okilactomycin and chrolactomycin are antitumor antibiotics isolated in 1987 and 2001, respectively. These tetracyclic natural products possess a unique 6-5 fused tetrahydropyrone-butyrolactone. The spirocenter is part of a highly functionalized cyclohexene ring, which together with the aforementioned 6-5 system compose the core of these molecules. A six carbon, 1,3-dialkyl-substituted carbon...
This dissertation develops dynamic models to examine markets with product differentiation where both firm conduct and consumer behavior is jointly influenced by switching costs, network effects and technological innovation. In Chapter 1 I propose a structural model of competition where firms set prices, introduce new products and scrap obsolete models....
Metal oxide surfaces are generally recognized as active substrates for many catalytic reactions. Density Functional Theory (DFT) has been found as a useful computational tool to investigate the geometry, energy, electronic structure of reactive oxide surfaces and their interaction with small molecules and fragments. In this thesis, primary efforts have...
Cluster Analysis deals with classifying a sample of multivariate measurements into different categories. In this dissertation we study the effect of the correlation structure of the data on the performance of a clustering method. We begin with the analysis of two-component normal mixture models and then proceed to cluster analysis...
Gradient copolymers are novel materials that possess a gradual variation in composition along the chain, thereby forming an intermediate structure between random and block copolymers. As such, they are a model system to investigate the effect of molecular structure on fundamental properties of copolymers and may be useful in many...
Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons comprise the final pathway through which the central nervous system exerts its control over the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. GnRH is released in a pulsatile manner, and conveyed to the anterior pituitary gland to stimulate synthesis and secretion of the gonadotropins, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating...
This study investigates the causes and welfare consequences of unravelling in two-sided matching markets. "Unravelling" arises when agents contract with one another at an early stage, before much of the relevant information is available. Such early matches may lead to ex-post inefficiencies and are perceived as socially harmful. This study...
In this work, the processing of the superconductor MgB<sub>2</sub> was studied to create a fundamental scientific background for the production of superconducting composite wires. The synthesis of MgB<sub>2</sub> from Mg and B powders was investigated in situ to determine reaction rates and kinetic parameters for the application of powder-in-tube technology...