ESSAYS IN APPLIED MICROECONOMICSInaugural-Dissertationzur Erlangung des GradesDoctor oeconomiae publicae (Dr. oec. publ.)an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München2010vorgelegt vonBenno BühlerReferent: Prof. Dr. Klaus M. SchmidtKorreferent: Prof. Dr. Martin PeitzPromotionsabschlussberatung: 09.02.2011Datum der mündlichen Prüfung: 10.12.2010 (Université Toulouse I)Namen der Berichterstatter: Klaus Schmidt, Martin Peitz, Patrick ReyAcknowledgmentsFirst and foremost, I would like to thank Patrick Rey and Klaus M. Schmidt. They have been ex-cellent supervisors and mentors, offering guiding advice and inspiring encouragement. More-over, Patrick kindly invited me to Toulouse School of Economics and gave me the opportunityto set up a joint defense with LMU Munich. I am also grateful that Martin Peitz and RégisRenault gave me valuable advice concerning my research and agreed to join the committee ofmy thesis. Chapter 2 of this dissertation is based on joint work with Anke S. Kessler. The coop-eration with her was a great pleasure and a source of motivation. I am also thankful that Ankeencouraged and helped me to pursue a PhD in Economics.I was very fortunate to work in a stimulating and inspiring environment both at Munich Grad-uate School of Economics and at Toulouse School of Economics.