This dissertation comprises three empirical studies that apply experimental and quasiexperimentalcausal inference methods to examine managerial and policy interventions in platform-mediated service contexts. Collectively, these studies demonstrate how methodological choices shape identification credibility and provide actionable insights for managers and regulators operating in increasingly data-rich but strategically complex service environments. In the first chapter, we motivate the dissertation by situating it within the broadertransformation of the modern service economy, where digital platforms, decentralized marketplaces, and evolving regulatory regimes increasingly shape how services are delivered and consumed. We highlight the central methodological challenge in these environments—endogeneity—and argue that credible causal inference tools are essential for understanding the true effects of managerial decisions and policy interventions. The chapter provides an integrated overview of experimental and quasi-experimental designs, explaining why these methods are particularly suited to service research and how they enable researchers to isolate causal mechanisms in complex, real-world service settings. In the second chapter, we use a field experiment involving 26 hotels to assess theimpact of participating on Google Hotel Finder (GHF) across three advertising strategies: paid, organic, and opt-out. The design enables precise causal identification of the effect of paid versus organic participation on consumer click behavior, booking conversions, channel choice (direct vs. third-party), and revenue outcomes. The findings highlight the conditions under which paid advertising yields net revenue gains—particularly for hotels with low baseline exposure and adequate capacity. In the third chapter, we investigate the causal effects of targeted regulatory enforcementin short-term rental (STR) markets, using Charleston, South Carolina’s 2018 ordinance as a quasi-experimental setting. The ordinance banned entire-home rentals outside of narrow exceptions, transforming Charleston’s regulatory landscape from broad underenforcement to selective but stringent oversight. Employing a difference-in-differences framework with Columbia and Greenville serving as control cities, supplemented by dynamic event-study analyses, the study provides causal evidence on how categorical restrictions reshape market supply, entry, exit, and host behavior. In the fourth chapter, we extend the analysis of Charleston’s 2018 ordinance to reexaminethe competition between short-term rentals and the traditional lodging sector. The natural experiment created by Charleston’s policy shift offers a rare opportunity to assess cross-market competition between STRs and hotels under regulatory change. Leveraging an instrumental variable and difference-in-differences framework, the study identifies the causal impact of STR supply on hotel performance including demand, pricing, and revenue.