Costs, Networks, and Experts

Abstract

This is a story about you, the economic expert. It is a story of experts and policy. The role of the expert in the design of policy has long been taken for granted in economics. While previous literature has focused primarily on the cognitive responses of experts, relatively few studies have attempted to analyze the expert from the economic point of view. However, Koppl presents us with Information Choice Theory, which places experts within an economics framework as producers of advice and opinion. Experts must choose both which information to incorporate into their advice and the amount of advice to dispense. This dissertation seeks to expand upon Koppl, first by enhancing the theory into a dynamic model (Chapter 1) and then by applying the insights developed in that chapter and price theory to discuss policy-induced transaction costs in SNAP benefits (Chapter 2) and water markets (Chapter 3).