Abstract
This dissertation contains four essays in various fields of economics. The first paper shows how to construct a model of the labor market with multiple applications and goes on to show empirical support for such a model compared to the standard version. The second essay extends on the first by demonstrating how a framework of multiple applications and heterogenous job-seekers can explain jobless recoveries. The penultimate chapter looks at a comprehensive dataset of Swedish schools and find that private school competition, measured in multiple ways, positively impact grades and exam scores. In particular, it shows that school type is relevant in that the presence of an incorporated private school has a strong positive effect on outcomes. The final section deals with biases in competitive debating. It finds no evidence for gender discrimination when judging debate skill but does find a strong national bias, suggesting that this is a stronger group identity.