Essays in public economics and mathematical finance

Abstract

I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisors, Dr. Joydeep Bhattacharya and Dr. Ananda Weerasinghe, for their inspiration, supporting encouragements and numerous invaluable suggestions. Their insightful advising in research and other academic endeavors were impeccable and made me capable to overcome the impediments. Every encounter that I have had with them was immense learning opportunity which indeed qualitatively contributed in my academic and professional development. My sincere thanks also to my committee members, Dr. John Schroeter, Dr. Helle Bunzel and Dr. Dan Nordman for their valuable suggestions and contributions in improving my research. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Arijit Sen for inspiring me to believe in myself and motivating me to pursue graduate studies. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my parents, Malay and Maya Bhattacharya, for their love and support and to my fiancee, Kavita Sardana for her progressive emotional support, companionship and constant faith in my capability. I would also like to thank my friends, especially Ranojoy Basu and Samarjit Das for their kindness, support and friendship which helped me get through many difficult situations. Last but not the least, I would like to thank all the staff members of the department of Economics for their constant support and caring for me. viii