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When Minsky And Godley Met The Dependentistas: The Currency Hierarchy In A Stock-Flow Consistent Model, Nitin Nair Ms

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

Underdevelopment often is conceived as being reproduced domestically. This thesis emphasizes the international forces that enable the persistence of underdevelopment. The first part of this thesis lays out a liquidity approach to underdevelopment which suggests that failure to create capacity arises from the asymmetries of international financial relationships. The second part of this thesis investigates a specific financial asymmetry, the currency hierarchy. We point out that the uncovered interest rate parity and the divergence from it are necessary conditions for the emergence of the currency hierarchy. Using ratios from the balance sheet of the currency issuer, we propose a quantification …

Simulating Jobs Created By The New York Universal Child Care Act, Brandon Istenes

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The Universal Child Care Act recently proposed in the New York State Senate would begin the creation of a universal child care system in New York State. This would involve a large scale-up of child care service supply, precipitating a large increase in employment in the child care sector, while increasing wages for jobs in that sector. Who will benefit from these new jobs and wages? We use the Levy Institute Micro Model (LIMM) to simulate the distribution of these new jobs and wages to the population of New York State. Two econometric contributions are made to the LIMM which …

A Narrowing Of The Effects Of The Expanded Child Tax Credit, Julia Ricciarelli

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Biden under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 expanded the child tax credit. The temporary expansion increased the amount families would receive for each child, made the credit accessible to lower-income families, and paid out the credit in monthly installments. Throughout this paper, a review of the child tax credit’s history, former eligibility and impacts will be compared to that of the extended policy in 2021. Most importantly, the paper will delve into various groups that received the child tax credit in 2021. Specifically, the effects will be reviewed in terms of …

A Job Guarantee Proposal For Chile, Julius Duran Norasco Ms

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The Chilean development model have not been able to generate employment for the most impoverished groups. Moreover, Chile is vulnerable to climate change. Therefore, this thesis examines through a heterodox economic lens a Job Guarantee Program for Chile can serve as alternative to promote social inclusion and sustainable development. Using input-output model, the Job Guarantee Program has higher employment creation potential. It can generate 196 jobs per billion pesos, of which 185 are direct jobs and 11 are indirect jobs. There is no economic sector (e.g., construction, services, mining, etc.) with that potential for job creation. Large work programs are …

Gender Inequalities In The Allocation Of Time To Household Production In Nepal, Nischal Dhungel

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The thesis examines factors that may explain gender (working age group, married men and women, 15-60 years) inequalities in the allocation of time to household production in Nepal. Gender disparities in the allocation of unpaid care and domestic labor (home production) are a major and prevalent element of inequalities between men and women. I presume that each spouse's time spent is influenced by personal and household factors. Furthermore, I argue that state can play substantial role in pursuing province level employment program (Karnali Province) in line with federal level employment program, namely Job Guarantee to uplift women's economic empowerment by …

Passive-Aggressive Intervention: The Impact Of Mandated Paid Parental Leave On Childcare Labor, Justin Fiume

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

Gender inequality is one of the few fundamentally persistent inequalities within society, especially in the United States. This thesis will use a Marxist-feminist approach to explore the impact of the United States’ capitalist market economy on gender-specific public and private life structures. Specifically, how inequality is exacerbated as women transition to motherhood. This paper hypothesizes that a mandated paid parental leave would alleviate some of this ‘second burden’ by encompassing fathers in its eligibility. We formulate a difference-in- difference model to estimate the causal effects of two current states who mandate paid parental leave and evaluate the average treatment effect …

Some Causes, Common Fears, And The Economic Impact Of Immigration From Latin America On The U.S., Joshua Fohner

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

Recently there has been a sharp increase in the promotion of anti-immigration rhetoric and sentiments driven by former President Trump and conservative lawmakers in Washington. These attitudes have led some members of the public to adopt various beliefs of immigrants that are negative or poorly understood. The focus of this paper will be primarily on people from Mexico and other Latin American nations, as people from this part of the world have been

primarily the target of these beliefs. This paper will first analyze some of the social and political reasons why people choose to emigrate from their home countries. …

Parallel State Currency: A Mechanism To Expand Sovereignty For Countries With Foreign Debt And Trade Deficits, Angelica Huerta Ojeda

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

Some countries, due to historical events, are within a creditor-debtor relationship and are unable to make full use of their currency. Debtor countries tend to not be fully sovereign -are either dependent on food, energy, or technology- which results in them being reliant on capital inflows. Foreign debt and lack of sovereignty feed each other into a debt trap and create an endless chain of dependency. This essay attempts to explore the possibility that governments with foreign debt and lack of sovereignty, like Mexico, should create another unit of account while keeping the current one. The parallel currency would not …

Term Structure Of Equity: Analysis For The Case Of European Stocks, Sulayman Jaiteh

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

This paper studies the equity term structure and its relevance in pricing Euro- pean stocks, using a duration concept. In explaining the cross-sectional variation

in the duration premium, we made use of cash flow duration in understanding the value premium. Empirically, we measure cash flow duration using balance sheet data and to show if difference in return is a manifestation of value premium. Also relating the time series return to the factor model of Fama and French model which was able to explain the 40% of the cross-sectional variation in return. The term structure of equity shows a downward slope …

The Community Reinvestment Act: Reimagined, Jonathan Raefski

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

America has long been considered the land of opportunity. However, the American Dream’s attainability has not been widespread. Instead, wealth continues to be funneled into the hands of the select few. In an effort to combat income inequality and to provide capital reinvestment for historically left behind groups, Congress enacted the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in 1977. The idea behind the legislation was to stimulate lending and extend credit to areas that were affected by redlining, classism, or other prejudicial practices that enabled income inequality. This thesis aims to analyze the legislation to understand both the strengths and weaknesses of …

A Stock-Flow Consistent Model Of Income Inequality: The Destabilizing Effects Of The German Labor Market On The Emu, Simon Grothe

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

This thesis presents a stock-flow consistent model (SFC) that analyzes the effects of Germany’s wage moderation on other Eurozone economies. It

shows that excessive German saving comes at a cost: the decoupling of pro- ductivity growth and real wage growth for the largest share of the German

workforce relies on internal and external debt. The SFC model presented in this paper is inspired by the recent Eurozone model by Gräbner et al. (2021) that is published as a working paper. Germany’s wage moderation will be

discussed as an example for how income inequality reduces domestic aggre- gate demand but gets …

The Covid-19 Pandemic And Its Effects On The Primary And Secondary Mortgage Markets In The U.S., Jordan Myers

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

In this report, there is a multi-faceted analysis of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected relationships within U.S. mortgage markets. First, the paper looks at the economic conditions that arose after the pandemic hit in March 2020. These conditions included a severe drop in home sales followed by the Fed consistently decreasing the Fed Funds rate. Next, the paper looks at the perspective of the individual homeowner and renter. This section touches on the lacking access to liquidity that individuals had during the pandemic, thus making it hard for them to make mortgage or rent payments. Then, there is an examination …

The Effect Of The Smccf Announcement And Purchase On Eligible Transportation Sector Bonds, Bethuel-Ange Yebouet

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

Covid highlighted the financial vulnerability of both small and large businesses in the U.S economy. In response, the Federal Reserve announced the creation of the secondary market corporate credit facilities (SMCCF) on March 23, 2020, with the aim of providing liquidity to US firms through bond financing. The goal was to build a portfolio of bonds that attempted to achieve a wide, diversified market index of US corporate bonds. When looking at the composition of the SMCCF broad market index and percentage (%) of par value from the federal reserve bank of New York, firms from the transportation sector received …

The Great Recession Vs The Covid-19 Pandemic: Unemployment And Implications For Public Policy, Giuliana Scanni Ms

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The Great Recession lasted from December 2007 until June 2009 and was one of the most severe recessions since the post-war period. It took about two years from the time of the unraveling of the U.S. housing market and mortgages, until the collapse of Lehman Brothers—as the crisis spread to the rest of the financial sector of the economy.

The Covid-19 Pandemic erupted from a public health crisis at the end of January 2020 and unlike the Great Recession, employment collapsed sharply in a matter of weeks, leaving millions without work by April 2020. The Covid-19 Pandemic has demonstrated an …

Addressing The Homelessness Crisis In The United States Of America, Lukas Klatke Ms

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

Data from the American Housing Survey for 2015, 2017, and 2019 show median incomes and median rent cost as a proportion of median income for Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Non – Hispanics at the state and metro level. The data demonstrates Blacks have lower median incomes than Whites, and Hispanics have lower median incomes than Non - Hispanics.

Additionally, the data indicates the median rent cost as a proportion of median income values for Blacks is larger than the values for Whites. The values for Hispanics are larger than the values for Non - Hispanics. These results imply Blacks and …

Measuring The Well-Being Of Economies Beyond Gross Domestic Product, Thien Jason Nguyen Ma

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The most widely used measurement of economies around the world is the gross domestic product (GDP). There has been much study and reasoning that has gone into the conceptual and statistical bases of this indicator and there are even international standards for how it should be calculated. The monetary valuation of goods and services has fabricated a relatively manageable way for us to sum up quantities of different nature and for calculating the economic progress of a nation. The GDP indicator is seen as being another way for measuring money in order to present economic performances and living standards, giving …

The Costs And Benefits Of Renewable Portfolio Standards In The United States: Accounting For Policy Heterogeneity And Endogeneity, Ian Bowen Ms

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

Renewable portfolio standards (RPS) have emerged as some of the main state-level policy tools addressing climate change. The central aim of this thesis is to investigate the costs and benefits of these policies in terms of their impacts on the share of non-hydro renewables and electricity prices, respectively. To accurately estimate these impacts, this paper argues that it is necessary to account for policy heterogeneity (i.e., differences in policy features across states) and endogeneity (i.e., the correlation between policy features and unobservable factors that affect the dependent variables). In the literature, there has been work addressing the former, and there …

Transitioning From The Libor, Sid Subramani Ms

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The focus of this thesis will be on the policy implications surrounding the mandated transition from the London Interbank Offered Rate to Secured Overnight Financing Rate. This discussion will begin by explaining the genesis of the LIBOR in the development of the Eurodollar market. Next, this paper will present the LIBOR manipulation scandal and the effects on the financial system. An analysis of the differences between SOFR and LIBOR will provide the basis of an assessment of the impact of the change on financial institutions. Finally, the effectiveness of the SOFR as a benchmark will be evaluated, along with the …

A Job Guarantee Proposal For Austria: Public Policy For Full Employment And The Reduction Of Poverty And Inequality, Daniel Haim Ms

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The Austrian labor market has experienced high rates of involuntary unemployment for several years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has likely exacerbated the problem. Part-time employment rates, especially high for women, have fed into time-related underemployment. Many people have left the labor force wanting to work. Aside from the short-lived Aktion 20,000 program, labor market policies have been ineffective in addressing these issues. A different, more promising approach is the job guarantee. In a job guarantee, the state acts as an employer-of-last resort, granting everyone willing to work the right to a job at a minimum wage. This thesis argues that …

Time And Consumption Poverty Among Mainland Tanzanian Children: Material Conditions To Secure Stated Rights, Marokey Sawo

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

This paper examines the differences in how Tanzanian children across various socioeconomic axes spend their time across schooling, unpaid care work, and income-generating activities. Previous research and theory have primarily focused on child employment and its dynamics with education, neglecting a substantial amount of work borne by some children to maintain their households’ livelihoods. Using time use and consumption survey data, this paper fills the current gap in the literature by applying a multidimensional framework called the Levy Institute Measure of Time and Consumption Poverty. The results indicate that child employment is quite prevalent in mainland Tanzania across different tiers …

Intragovernmental Autonomous Stabilizers, Alex Williams

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

We present a novel framework for understanding the relationship between the federal and state governments of the United States of America. Drawing on the experience of state government finances during and after the Great Recession in 2008, we propose the establishment of novel intragovernmental budgetary stabilization mechanisms. We draw out the flawed arguments of the existing fiscal federalism literature and demonstrate how the work of Michael Pettis and Modern Monetary Theory provide more usable insights when crafting public policy. We propose several potential policy responses and produce a counterfactual model of state finances after the Great Recession using the new …

Fair Pay To Play The Ncaa ‘Cartel’, Wynn Miller

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which is the primary governing board for intercollegiate athletics in the United States, has been widely criticized for making huge amounts of money off of the hard work and labor of college student-athletes without paying fair compensation to those student-athletes. The NCAA’s revenue has consistently increased over the past century—however, it was not until the 1980s that the NCAA evolved into a multi billion-dollar organization. Despite the billions of dollars in revenue that its student-athletes generate on an annual basis, the NCAA has refused to share the revenue with those student athletes on the …

The Limitations Of The Euro: A Case Study Of The Covid-19 Pandemic In Italy, Madeleine Johnsson

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy is the latest event following the 2010 European sovereign debt crisis and the 2015 European migrant crisis to expose the limitations of the euro. While the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is over in Italy, the Italian economy faces a new dilemma. Italy finds itself in a potential deadlock as other countries outside and inside the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) are able to mitigate the impact of the pandemic through greater fiscal relief measures. Therefore, the fate of Italy’s economic woes lies in the hands of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Economic …

Non-Increasing Cost Functions: Making The Connection Between Keynesian And Neoclassical Macroeconomics, Max Von Holtzendorff

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

No abstract provided.

Investigating Discrimination In Major League Baseball: Not So Perfect Competition, Esteban Rivera

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

In recent years, there has been a growing trend in Major League Baseball. Elite Latino players are signing long-term extensions early in their careers, years before they reach free agency. This dissertation investigates wage differentials between races among players with over six years of service time in the MLB. First, some of the reasons why Latino players are pressured into accepting extensions early in their career are presented. Then, I estimate several models controlling for different types of performance. The statistic Wins Above Replacement measures all aspects of a player’s performance, making it an ideal tool for labor market studies. …

The Role Of Money Market Mutual Funds In The Shadow Banking Sector Since The 2010 & 2014 Sec Reforms, George Kiss

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The analysis undertaken within this thesis questions the role of money market mutual funds (MMFs) in the shadow-banking sector since the 2010 and 2014 SEC reforms. In order to conduct such an analysis we provide a comprehensive history of the rise of these funds and how they contributed to the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis. A brief explanation of the 2010 and 2014 reforms is then given and we show that neither of these regulations have made these funds safer, but have increased the risk they pose to the overall financial system. We evaluate how the maturity distribution of securities held within …

Evolution Of Us-Dollar-Centric International Money Markets And Pro-Cyclicality Of Basel Iii Liquidity Framework, Oleksandr Valchyshen

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

This thesis presents research on the evolution of the US-dollar-centric international money markets. The timeline starts from late nineteenth century US, where the New York call money market already featured a number of sophisticated techniques such as margin investing, over-certification, and re-hypothecation. Next, I explore the evolution of the market leading up to and after the Great Depression, through the regulatory period of the New Deal, and functional finance of the late 1930s and greater part of the 1940s. In the postwar period, I highlight the Federal Reserve’s push for free markets, the sudden rise of the euro-dollar market in …

Growth And Sectoral Development: A Stock-Flow-Consistent Model Of The Effects Of Trade Liberalization In Ghana, Harrison J. Karlewicz

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The dawn of neoliberalism brought with it a litany of trade policies for developing nations, including recommendations to liberalize trade barriers, remove capital controls, and develop in relative comparative advantages in the global economy. These policies were buttressed with Computable General Equilibrium models that showed positive welfare gains for liberalizing nations. This paper reviews the historical record around trade policy, theories of trade, as well as the methodological approaches used to examine the effects of trade liberalization in the neoliberal era. It posits an alternative using Stock-Flow-Consistent modeling methods, looking particularly at the case of Ghana and its own tariff …

Aspects Of Institutional Finance In Sustainable Development, Jordan Fanelli

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

Since the establishment of the Post–2015 Development Agenda and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community has considerably maintained that private sector leadership will be a crucial factor in supporting sustainable development, especially in emerging and developing economies. Since 2008 many traditional commercial banks who are crucial financial actors have retreated from the capital markets due to increased regulations and mandatory capital ratios. Additionally, government expenditure has also decreased due to budget constraints in the post-crisis years. This retraction of traditional sources of finance, combined with a significant increase in the demand for capital has created multiple financing …

Financial Innovation And The Implications For Monetary Policy And Portfolio Hedging, John Flynn

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

The focus of this thesis will be on three main components, namely, monetary transmission mechanisms, financial innovation and portfolio hedging. It will first discuss the different channels of monetary policy and how they affect economic and financial variables. Then, financial innovation will be analyzed from the perspective of Hyman P. Minsky and the effects on the financial system. Next, the relation of regulation to the changing financial landscape of the economy will be discussed. Finally, the use of financial derivatives will be reviewed, presenting their hedging function and speculative risks. Then, the impact of too big to fail banks and …