UC San Diego

This dissertation studies the impact that a networked society has on economic

behavior in the markets for labor and information. The first chapter examines how former

co-workers, and within that hiring-cohort co-workers, influence where a displaced worker

is hired. The second chapter develops a theory of network formation that implies a

prevalence of starting cohort members in an individuals connections and then tests this

prediction in the context of employee entrepreneurship. Finally, the third chapter studies

a decentralized market for information where bilateral links form the basis of trade and

relates it to the role that intellectual property protection plays in the information age.