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Articles 1 - 30 of 140
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Foreign-Born And The American Dream: An Analysis Of Trends In And Determinants Of Immigrant Homeownership, Jared Schneider
The Foreign-Born And The American Dream: An Analysis Of Trends In And Determinants Of Immigrant Homeownership, Jared Schneider
Honors Projects
For many Americans, owning a home is an important step in their life journey and constitutes a meaningful component of a person’s achievement of the “American Dream.” This paper analyzes the extent and possibility of homeownership for foreign-born residents of the United States. This paper utilizes Integrated Public Microdata Series (IPUMS) American Community Survey (ACS) data to analyze trends in immigrant homeownership and evaluate the factors that influence homeownership rates among immigrants. To get a view as to what changes have been occurring over time, this paper looks at data from two separate years: 2006 and 2019. I find a …
Assessing Happiness: An Evaluation Of The Latin American Paradox In The United States, Daniel J. Maisch
Assessing Happiness: An Evaluation Of The Latin American Paradox In The United States, Daniel J. Maisch
Honors Projects
Abstract: This research project investigates an array of pecuniary and non-pecuniary factors and their effect on happiness trends within the United States’ Latino population. Happiness Economics is a new field of economic study coined in the 1970s by Richard Easterlin. This new field of study laid the foundation for further research and, ultimately, led to the discovery of the Latin American Paradox. The Latin American Paradox identifies high levels of happiness amongst Latinos within Latin America and the United States, with low levels of economic prosperity. This study uses Mental Health data from IPUMS Health Survey to investigate the different …
The Effect Of Female Protagonists And Non-Sexist Dialogue On Domestic Box Office Revenue For Films Released Between 1995 To 2018, Chase Ochsner
The Effect Of Female Protagonists And Non-Sexist Dialogue On Domestic Box Office Revenue For Films Released Between 1995 To 2018, Chase Ochsner
Honors Projects
This research examines the correlation between box office revenue and films with female protagonists and films that pass the Bechdel Test. I extracted data from Box Office Mojo and Numbers.com for 1186 movies between 1995 to 2018 on several characteristics including the gender of the film’s protagonist, the presence of non-sexist dialogue (Bechdel Test), the genre of the movie, and the film’s box office revenue and budget. I created four OLS regression equations in SPSS and two logistic regression models in STATA to test my hypotheses. I found that having a female protagonist and passing the Bechdel Test are highly …
The Out Migration From Illinois Cities And The Impact It Has On The People Left Behind, Evan Anderson
The Out Migration From Illinois Cities And The Impact It Has On The People Left Behind, Evan Anderson
Honors Projects
The state of Illinois has had one of the highest rates of outbound migration in America. This paper evaluates the impact of out-migration on the communities these people leave behind, in particular the financial hub of Chicago and the small city of Bloomington. These cities are compared to the growth city of Phoenix, whose population has exploded in this decade and is one of the most popular destinations for those migrating out of Chicago and Bloomington. Human capital theory suggests that highly educated people with high wage potential are more likely to migrate than less educated people. This paper uses …
International Migration And Fdi: Can Migrant Networks Foster Investments Toward Origin Countries?, Trang Heidi Luu
International Migration And Fdi: Can Migrant Networks Foster Investments Toward Origin Countries?, Trang Heidi Luu
Honors Projects
With the growing trends of international migration, the literature looking at the economic impact of migrants has also expanded, focusing on both the perspectives of the host and the origin countries in regard to various aspects such as labor force growth, GDP growth, and poverty rates. In the specific literature investigating the impact of migrants on origin countries, FDI is a key factor that cannot be overlooked, as it can play an essential role in the economic development of origin countries. Studies in this area have hypothesized that migrants’ impact on FDI is positive, since the information about the origin …
The Value Of Green Certification On Single-Family Houses In The Chicagoland Area, Raymond Bolton
The Value Of Green Certification On Single-Family Houses In The Chicagoland Area, Raymond Bolton
Honors Projects
In the United States, residential buildings alone account for 33% of energy consumption. Rising concerns about environmental impacts due to human consumption, as well as health concerns related to pollution have caused a higher demand for environmentally conscious houses. Homebuilders have responded by providing green certifications for houses, attesting to a building’s efficiency in various aspects, such as site design and energy and water consumption. Using Multiple Listing Services real estate data on zero- to five-year-old houses sold between 2010 and 2017 in the Chicagoland area, this study examines whether there is a price premium associated with qualifying for green …
An Economic Study Of The Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Tyler Stacey
An Economic Study Of The Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Tyler Stacey
Honors Projects
Since 1978, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, or ISF, has been an important cultural attraction for the Bloomington-Normal community. What once started as small scale performances of classic theatre on the tennis courts of Ewing Manor has grown into a full sized venue with a full sized audience. The festival hosts over 10,000 guests and a large number of seasonal staff over the summer months: 125 were listed in their most recently available annual report (Season Report 2012). The festival also has an extensive summer camp program, community outreach, and a touring company. The Illinois Shakespeare Festival's cultural impact has been …
Second-Generation Immigrants: The Effect Of Parental Nativity Status On Earnings, Karen Silverman
Second-Generation Immigrants: The Effect Of Parental Nativity Status On Earnings, Karen Silverman
Honors Projects
There has been a significant amount of debate in recent years about the economic performance of immigrants. Understanding the economic contribution of the second-generation is important in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of the total impact of immigrants in the United States. There is strong evidence to suggest that second-generation immigrants have experienced upward income mobility, and human capital theory hypothesizes that the economic performance of the second-generation will match that of their native-born counterparts. It also predicts that having one immigrant parent and one native-born parent as opposed to having two immigrant parents will lead to an …
The Effect Of China's One-Child Policy On Male And Female Immigrant Earnings: Does It Pay To Be An Only Child?, Stephanie Mcatee
The Effect Of China's One-Child Policy On Male And Female Immigrant Earnings: Does It Pay To Be An Only Child?, Stephanie Mcatee
Honors Projects
China's one-child policy is one of the most controversial population control measures implemented in modem society. While most literature focuses on the effects this policy has had on China's population size and economic growth, very little research has been dedicated to analyzing how this policy has affected wage differentials between Chinese men and women. Research suggests that the one-child policy redirected more educational resources towards Chinese daughters than in the past. Human capital theory hypothesizes that equalization in educational attainment corresponds to an equalizing in relative earnings. This paper uses data from the American Community Survey to test the hypothesis …
Income Mobility Through Education In The United States, Maxwell Leonard
Income Mobility Through Education In The United States, Maxwell Leonard
Honors Projects
This study makes use of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) in order to examine the relationship between experiencing poverty as a youth and income as an adult. Human capital theory, as well as previous empirical research suggests that as standard of living as a youth increases, future income as an adult should increase as well. This paper attempts to study this effect through both direct and indirect pathways. The indirect pathway that we are interested in is education. We measure this indirect pathway by multiplying the effect on income of having a certain degree by the effect of …
Compensated Cadaver Organ Donation: Will A Small Fee Waiver Work?, Daniel Truesdale
Compensated Cadaver Organ Donation: Will A Small Fee Waiver Work?, Daniel Truesdale
Honors Projects
This article analyzes the use of monetary incentives to increase the supply of cadaver organs. The research focuses on whether a waiver of a driver's license fee can increase the proportion of society declaring to be a cadaver organ donor. In addition, the dynamics of organ donation are addressed using a bivariate regression to test if being a college student, religion, age, gender, income, and overall knowledge of donation has a significant impact on whether one chooses to be cadaver organ donor. Finally, the concern that a monetary and altruistic market can coexist is addressed in this research. Utilizing sample …
Economic Analysis Of The Labor Market Experience Of African Immigrants In The U.S., Ene Ikpebe
Economic Analysis Of The Labor Market Experience Of African Immigrants In The U.S., Ene Ikpebe
Honors Projects
Because African immigrants have become a significant presence in the United States in the past few decades, understanding the dynamics of their immigrant labor market has become increasingly important. In this paper, I follow a cohort of immigrants from 2001-2012 to see whether African immigrants assimilate with natives. I also investigate the effects of immigrant specific variables such as education, time of arrival in the U.S., and English-speaking abilities, on their wages in the U.S. labor market. Using a cohort over time and cross sectional data sets, respectively, from the American Community Survey, this study employs OLS regression analysis to …
Intra-Regional Currency Linkages And The Evolution Of Exchange Rate Regime Of The Asean Region, Tung Nguyen
Intra-Regional Currency Linkages And The Evolution Of Exchange Rate Regime Of The Asean Region, Tung Nguyen
Honors Projects
This paper investigates the intra-regional currency linkages and evolution of exchange rate regimes of the Association of South East Asian Nations (A SEAN) region. Do nations follow regimes they are classified into? Have exchange rate regimes of ASEAN nations become more flexible and less dependent on the US dollar? Are the intra-regional currency linkages strong enough for ASEAN nations to form a monetary union? Answers to these are important as the official regimes announced by ASEAN countries may not reflect their actual behaviors. Using monthly exchange rates per unit SDR and foreign exchange reserves data spanning the entire post-Bretton Woods …
The Effects Of Background Factors On Afqt Score, Jaret Kanarek
The Effects Of Background Factors On Afqt Score, Jaret Kanarek
Honors Projects
The introduction of the National Longitudinal Survey of the Youth (NLSY) 1979 and 1997 cohorts made Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT) score data widely available and has thus dramatically increased its use in academic research. However, there is strong evidence that a wide variety of background factors, such as poverty status, race, and parent’s education level, affect AFQT score. Human capital theory, in conjunction with the pathways framework, suggests that these background factors have both direct and indirect effects on AFQT score. The focus of this research is measuring some of the important direct and indirect pathways through which background …
Estimating The Effect Of Home Court Advantage On Wins In The Nba, Jason Kotecki
Estimating The Effect Of Home Court Advantage On Wins In The Nba, Jason Kotecki
Honors Projects
What is the effect of home court advantage in the National Basketball Association (NBA)? Based on the Economic Theory of Professional Sports and the concept of shirking, teams should perform better at home than they do on the road. Descriptive statistics support this expectation. It is hypothesized that a home court advantage is due to fan attendance, field goal and free throw percentages, and fouls called by the referee. Following every NBA team and every game played over a three-year span (2008-2011), this paper estimates the probability of producing a win at home based on the aforementioned variables. Using a …
Does Educational Inequality Explain Income Inequality Across Countries?, Claudia Petcu
Does Educational Inequality Explain Income Inequality Across Countries?, Claudia Petcu
Honors Projects
A wide variety of studies support the notion that income inequality has detrimental effects on a country’s economic growth, levels of trust in government, and even health of its citizens. Throughout economics literature, numerous researchers have endeavored to explain the variance in income inequality across countries. One notable area of inquiry examines how dispersion in education of the labor force impacts income inequality, but it generally yields ambiguous and inconsistent results. This paper examines income inequality as a function of educational inequality in a cross-sectional analysis. It attempts to improve on previous research by utilizing more recent data such as …
The Effect Of Relative Wage On Hours Worked, Mark Giannis
The Effect Of Relative Wage On Hours Worked, Mark Giannis
Honors Projects
Traditional economic research on the number of hours that one chooses to work depends largely on wage rates and total family income. However, more recent research in behavioral economics suggests that one’s relative position in the community’s income distribution could also affect hours worked. This paper investigates the effect of an individual’s relative wage will have on their actual hours worked. Relative wage is defined as how one’s wage compares to others within the same geographical region. Cross-sectional data from 2004 to 2013 is used from the Current Population Survey to estimate the traditional labor supply function with the addition …
Open Trade Policies: Filthy Fog Of The Future?, Erin Wachtel
Open Trade Policies: Filthy Fog Of The Future?, Erin Wachtel
Honors Projects
This paper focuses on the relationships between open trade, environmental policies, and greenhouse gas exposures between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Comparative advantage theory posits that opening up to trade will capitalize on a country's efficiency and increase a country's gross national product. Furthermore, because of less government regulations in underdeveloped countries, it is hypothesized that as GDP increases in Mexico, there could also be a subsequent increase in air pollutants. This study focuses on what determinants might have an effect on C02, NOx, NzO, and CHF3 emissions (the major greenhouse gas emission) in three countries (Canada, Mexico and …
Analysis Of The Temporary Immigrant Labor Market On Information Technology Occupations, Katelyn Rowley
Analysis Of The Temporary Immigrant Labor Market On Information Technology Occupations, Katelyn Rowley
Honors Projects
An important recent labor market trend is the rapid increase in the number of immigrants employed in the information technology sector who have temporary worker status. The dual labor market theory suggests that temporary immigrant workers will be affected more adversely than native workers during a recession. This study uses OLS regression models to predict wages and employment levels (through usual hours worked) in information technology (IT) occupations as a function of immigration status, education level, age, gender, the recession and a set of interactive terms. The results from this study unexpectedly show that employment of native workers in IT …
Demographic Changes And Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence From Asia, Sijia Song
Demographic Changes And Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence From Asia, Sijia Song
Honors Projects
Asia has witnessed robust economic growth since the 1960s and the so-called “East Asian economic miracle”. Even till today when the world’s largest economies are suffering from debt and banking crises, emerging markets in Asia have managed to maintain rapid growth. In the meantime, significant demographic changes are taking place in Asian countries. Using an economic growth model, this article further examines the effects of demographic changes on economic growth in thirteen Asian countries during the period from 1965 to 2009. The results indicate negative effects of growth in the total population and the young population on economic growth while …
Displacement In D.C.: A Case Study Of Gentrification And Granger-Causality In Our Nation's Capitol, Will Lawrence
Displacement In D.C.: A Case Study Of Gentrification And Granger-Causality In Our Nation's Capitol, Will Lawrence
Honors Projects
This study looks at the causal forces behind the social relocation phenomenon known as gentrification. Location theory posits that ever increasing commute times coupled with falling crime rates in the city-center incentivize the high-income population to move from the suburbs to the city, driving up housing prices and displacing the low-income, original residents who live in the city. This paper applies location theory to Washington, D.C. in an attempt to explain the ongoing gentrification process through the displacement of original residents. City-wide data at the neighborhood level for housing prices and crime rates are analyzed to explore the causal relationships …
Assessing Happiness: How Economic Factors Measure Up, Elizabeth K. Hancock
Assessing Happiness: How Economic Factors Measure Up, Elizabeth K. Hancock
Honors Projects
This study examines the influences on subjective well-being in congruence with the emerging field of happiness economics. The field developed when economists observed that increases in per-capita income had minimal effects on the average happiness levels of a country. Applying this phenomenon to micro economic theory challenges and expands the neoclassical premise for utility curves which neglects other influences like social comparison and non-pecuniary factors. Using multinomiallogit models with data from the General Social Survey, this study evaluates the statistical significance of both economic and non-pecuniary variables on happiness. Empirical results reveal that social position, age, marital status, and one's …
Transmitting Occupational Niches From First To Second-Generation Immigrants: Are There Earnings Consequences From Being The "Copycat" Generation?, Melissa Seeborg
Transmitting Occupational Niches From First To Second-Generation Immigrants: Are There Earnings Consequences From Being The "Copycat" Generation?, Melissa Seeborg
Honors Projects
In recent years, the number of second-generation immigrants entering the labor market has been increasing at a rapid pace. Their parents had immigrated in large waves, with many joining niche occupations dominated by their ethnic groups. This study looks to determine the economic impact of first-generation niche occupations, the extent that the second-generation enters the same occupations, and the resulting consequences on the second-generation’s income levels. In particular, the study investigates whether the second-generation will sustain the first-generation earnings advantage (or disadvantage) relative to natives. This research examines immigrants from China, India, the Philippines, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Data from …
Meta-Analysis Of Environmental Kuznets Curve Studies: Determining The Cause Of The Curve’S Presence, Brittany Goldman
Meta-Analysis Of Environmental Kuznets Curve Studies: Determining The Cause Of The Curve’S Presence, Brittany Goldman
Honors Projects
This investigation uses meta-analysis to explore the systematic variation across Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) studies to better understand the specific factors that affect the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality. Meta-analysis is the statistical synthesis of data from a set of comparable studies yielding a quantitative summary of pooled results. Following the findings of Li et al., (2007) a multinomial logit model is employed to analyze 929 observations from 120 different studies published between 1992 and 2012. Results indicate that seven variables (time, quality, emissions, development, fitness, anthropogenic-related gases, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide) significantly affect the presence of …
Economics Of Salary Dispersion In The National Basketball Association, Daniel Schouten
Economics Of Salary Dispersion In The National Basketball Association, Daniel Schouten
Honors Projects
The purpose of this study is to discover the optimal amount of salary dispersion for an NBA team and the affect that dispersion has on team wins and revenue. The optimal amount of salary dispersion could be different for teams that want to maximize wins and teams that want to maximize revenue. For the purpose of this study, five different measures of salary dispersion are utilized to most effectively understand the effects. Empirical models are constructed and OLS regressions employed using cross-sectional data from the 2006-07 NBA season through the 2010-11 season to understand the relationship. The empirical evidence supports …
Financial And Labor Market Determinants Of Mortgage Delinquency Rates: Mclean County, Il, 1985-2011, Jake Mann
Financial And Labor Market Determinants Of Mortgage Delinquency Rates: Mclean County, Il, 1985-2011, Jake Mann
Honors Projects
This study examines the relationship between labor and financial market factors and the mortgage delinquency rate in McLean County, Illinois, between January 1985 and December 2011. The mortgage delinquency rate is defined as the ratio between the number of defaulting mortgages and the number of mortgages issued. The volume of defaulting mortgages is measured through the number of lis pendens notices filed with the Recorder’s Office. A lis pendens notice informs the grantee of a mortgage loan that the grantor's payments are three months overdue. The issuance of this notice starts a foreclosure process. As labor market indicators we consider …
Economic Assimilation Of Chinese Immigrants In The United States: Is There Wage Convergence With Natives?, Yujie Wu
Honors Projects
Asian Americans are often referred to as the “model minority” due to perceptions of their high income and educational attainment; yet relatively little is known about their economic assimilation experience. The purpose of this study is to determine economic assimilation of Chinese immigrants over time. This research follows a cohort of Chinese immigrants from 1994 to 2011 and compares their earnings performance with natives that have similar educational attainment. Multiple regression analysis is used to analyze data from the Current Population Survey. Results show that, although the cohort of Chinese immigrants initially has earnings substantially lower than the natives, it …
Consumer Perceptions & Video Game Sales: A Meeting Of The Minds, John Sacranie
Consumer Perceptions & Video Game Sales: A Meeting Of The Minds, John Sacranie
Honors Projects
This paper examines the determinants of video game software sales. What literature currently exists points to an array of factors, ranging from which hardware a title is released on to the game’s genre. This paper incorporates several of these variables, but adds in a new one: quality. Literature up to this point has not addressed the effect that a game’s quality has on its eventual sales, yet one would logically expect this to have a strong positive impact. To account for quality, the model incorporates the average review score a game receives from professional critics. The results indicate that indeed, …
How European Is The European Central Bank's Monetary Policy?, Teodora D. Petrova
How European Is The European Central Bank's Monetary Policy?, Teodora D. Petrova
Honors Projects
Ever since its establishment in 1999, the European Central Bank worked on maintaining relative price stability mainly through inflation targeting. The ECB aims at a target inflation rate below but close to 2%. However, the diversity among the member states in the European Union and the Eurozone requires not only collective attention on the EU economy but also on each individual member state. Some Eurozone member states experience generally higher levels of inflation and higher unemployment. On the other side are countries like Germany which are more concerned with maintaining low inflation only. Many economists and politicians criticize the ECB …
Examining Success At The Domestic Box-Office In The Motion Picture Industry, Patrick Topf
Examining Success At The Domestic Box-Office In The Motion Picture Industry, Patrick Topf
Honors Projects
The movie business is a multi-billion dollar industry involving production crews, marketing crews, actors, directors, distribution companies, movie theaters, and movie rental companies, but while each movie created follows the same routine, why do some perform so much better than others at the box-office? Why did Juno become a smash hit, while Poseidon is regarded as a major box-office bomb? This study investigates the impact of production cost, star power, professional reviews, release date, sequels, genre, age-rating, and distribution company on total domestic box-office revenue of the widely released films from January 2006 to December 2008.