Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Education And Economic Dominance, Daniil Kashkarov

Undergraduate Economic Review

The paper examines the role of national education in achieving leading positions in global economic relations. Theoretical part uses stock of knowledge accumulated by scholars in the sphere related to human capital. Empirical part uses logistic regressions in order to test for relationship between global economic dominance and national education. Membership in the G20 is used in the models as a dependent categorical variable indicating the fact of the worldwide leadership. The models indicate that human capital and its educational part have statistically significant influence on the probability of becoming worldwide economic leader.

The Economic Efficacy Of Reintegration Assistance For Former Child Soldiers, Jonathan B. Kaufmann

Undergraduate Economic Review

There is no consensus among scholars on the efficacy of reintegration assistance programs, including how their services affect reintegration outcomes. This research is the first statistical analysis of the economic impacts of reintegration assistance for former child soldiers. Several regression analyses were performed to determine the effect of reintegration assistance on earnings and social capital. The results indicate that no statistically significant relationship exists between reintegration assistance and earnings or social capital. Conversely, societal interventions such as increasing access to education and promoting traditional cleansing ceremonies were effective.

Significance And Impacts Of The Tripartite Free Trade Area – A Qualitative Assessment, Sambath Jayapregasham

Undergraduate Economic Review

The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) has been driven by a need for improved growth in African countries following their respective independence. Since then, member nations have been seeking new initiatives to increase trade and to work cooperatively. The idea of regional integration in this ‘Cape-to-Cairo’ free trade zone is set to cover just under two-thirds of Africa's population and improve the flow of goods and investment significantly. This paper explores the significance and impacts of the single FTA on various aspects of economic growth, including welfare, trade, price effects, custom tariffs, government revenues, and the labor market.

The Impact Of Culture, Institutions, And The Euro On Trade Flows In Europe, James Aylward

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper sets out to study the role of cultural and institutional differences across European countries in explaining patterns of bilateral trade within Europe by using a gravity model approach on panel data for 24 European countries, covering the years 2002 through 2006. It may be expected that cultural and institutional “distance” between Eurozone countries would have a comparatively smaller impact on bilateral trade flows by virtue of the countries’ shared currency relative to the impact of such determinants on bilateral trade flows between two countries that do not share a currency. Alternatively, such determinants could have a significant impact …

Determining Yuan Valuation- An Extension Of The Imf External Balance Assessment Approach, Shantanu A. Banerjee

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper applies the IMF EBA methodology to a China-specific time series analysis, using a 2SLS instrumented regression with Newey-West standard errors to determine the policy gap that results from PBOC intervention. We find the impact of reserve accumulation to be more significant in magnitude than indicated by the EBA, demonstrating a modest improvement in accuracy with the introduction of central bank liquidity swaps as a novel instrument. Evidence of a long term equilibrium relationship is also found between the real effective exchange rate and reserve accumulation, with the presence of medium level capital controls.

Crafting Chaos: The Classification Of Unilateral Transfers Under The Current Account At Bretton Woods And Its Impact On Remittances To The Indian State Of Kerala, Anish Gawande

Undergraduate Economic Review

This essay aims to analyse the classification of unilateral transfers under the current account at Bretton Woods despite significant opposition from larger delegations of major Allied powers, bringing to the forefront the global liquidity of remittances in the post-War years permitted by their fully currency convertible nature. Using the example of the Indian State of Kerala, this paper charts the relevance of their sustained uninterrupted flow to their subsequent exponential growth in the last three decades, using the case study as a pivot to argue for better policy measures that maximise their multiplier effect.

A Discourse On Diversity: The Impact Of Management Team Heterogeneity On Firm Performance., Robert J. Brown

Undergraduate Economic Review

Quantile models are used to test the association between management team gender, ethnic and educational diversity and firm performance, employing an IV technique developed by Chernozhukov and Hansen (2008) to address the potential endogeneity issues. Estimated associations between measures of diversity and firm EBITDA margins are close to zero across much of the dependent variable distribution, but increase in magnitude for higher margin firms. No evidence of a statistically significant causal relationship between gender and ethnic diversity and firm EBITDA margins is found. Marginal evidence of a statistically significant association between margins and educational diversity is found for high margin …

The Effects Of Borrowing Rates On Intra-Firm Disequilibria Between Equity Prices And Cds Premiums – Evidence From Dynamic Panel Analysis., Robert J. Brown

Undergraduate Economic Review

Cointegration techniques are used to estimate the long run equilibrium relationship between a firm’s CDS premium and its equity price, for a panel of large-cap US firms. From these results, the estimated disequilibrium in daily CDS premiums, with respect to equity prices, is constructed. Dynamic panel methods are employed to show the importance of lagged changes in libor rates as determinants of the estimated disequilibrium. Evidence is found that the extent to which the markets deviate from equilibrium will increase as one-month libor rates rise, but, counter-intuitively, will decrease (return towards equilibrium) as longer term libor rates rise.

To Be Made Sick By Medicine: Quantitative Easing And Inequality After The Financial Crisis, Giulio Alberto Bianchi

Undergraduate Economic Review

During the Global Financial Crisis, central banks attempted to counter the economic downturn by reinforcing their conventional policy toolset with an extensive range of unconventional monetary policies. Paramount amongst these policies was Quantitative Easing (QE), which involves the creation of electronic money to conduct large-scale asset purchases. QE has been accused of increasing economic inequality from multiple political standpoints. By analytically weighing QE’s effects on different groups of households, this paper attempts to establish whether the Federal Reserve System, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England fostered income and wealth inequality during the post-crisis period in the areas …

The Composition Of Fiscal Adjustments: Economic And Social Implications, David Vilalta

Undergraduate Economic Review

We examine episodes of fiscal adjustments in OECD countries from 2000 to 2014 and analyse its short- and long-run impact on economic growth and inequality. This paper offers two results. First, in line with previous literature, we find that in the short run, spending-based adjustments are more expansionary than tax-based adjustments, although they are associated with higher inequality. Second, we find that in the long run, spending-based adjustments are still more expansionary, and their impact on inequality is smaller than that of tax-based adjustments.

Moral Hazard And Mispriced Systemic Risk In The Lead-Up To The 2007 Subprime Mortgage Crisis In The United States, Georgi Rusinov

Undergraduate Economic Review

The 2007 subprime crisis was caused by high demand for subprime mortgage products underpinned by the unrealistic assumption that property prices would keep rising indefinitely. The subprime mortgage market worked as expected as long as prices were rising and demand for property was high. When these two conditions were violated and the housing bubble collapsed, the system became dysfunctional, many subprime borrowers defaulted, and mortgage-backed securities lost much of their value. Prevention could have been achieved through regulatory measures to shift the risk back from taxpayers and investors to loan originators. Fair distribution of risk should be the main objective …

The Value Of Life: Explaining High Spending On End Of Life Care, Marie R. Veillette

Undergraduate Economic Review

This article examines literature published regarding insurance and end of life care and combines it into one, comprehensive overview of the state of unprecedented spending on healthcare, specifically, terminal care treatments. This focus allows for an examination of particular areas of causation of high medical spending at the end of life and provides some insight for solutions of how to curb this spending. The article also addresses the need to be mindful that these solutions do not compromise quality or equity of care to patients.

The Shochu Conundrum: Economics And Gatt Article Iii, Alex Davis

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper will discuss the National Treatment (NT) obligation contained in Article III of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 as applied in precedential tax discrimination cases. Case law has not taken a firm stance on the economic versus legal interpretation of the likeness/directly competitive or substitutable (DCS) criterion or the principle of “so as to afford protection” (SATAP) captured in Article III.2. After examining the case law on discriminatory taxation, I conclude that the NT obligation in trade agreements is imperfect. Nonetheless, NT is a critical component of these agreements, and the international trade order would …

Can The Working Industry Tell About Your Chance Of Getting Health Insurance? A Study On The Health Insurance Coverage Of Working Adults In The U.S., Ngocgiao Nguyen, Robert Leekley, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

Second Generation Immigrants: The Effect Of Parental Nativity Status On Earnings, Karen Silverman, Michael Seeborg, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

The Effect Of China’S One-Child Policy On Male And Female Chinese Immigrant Earnings: Does It Pay To Be An Only Child?, Stephanie Mcatee, Michael Seeborg, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Oral presentation abstract.

The Long-Term Economic Impact Of Juvenile Criminal Activity, Eric Hyla, Michael Seeborg, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Oral presentation abstract.

Economic Impact And Audience Patronage Studies Of The Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Tyler Stacey, Diego Mendez-Carbajo, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Oral presentation abstract.

Foreign Direct Investment And Sovereign Debt In The European Monetary Union, Joseph Bakke, Ilaria Ossella-Durbal, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Oral presentation abstract.

Income Mobility Through Education In The United States, Maxwell Leonard, Robert Leekley, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

Social Capital, Culture, And Institutions As Determinants Of Entrepreneurship In A Development Context, Daniel Nikolic

Undergraduate Economic Review

Entrepreneurship is still a social term that scholars have difficulty defining, and a lack of consistency in theory in turn leaves researchers without an accurate way to measure entrepreneurial activity. A working definition and theory of the entrepreneur is provided as a way to synthesize the various multi-disciplinary approaches taken towards entrepreneurship in past literature, with emphasis on welfare and judgmental decision-making under uncertainty. Past studies find significant relationships between economic growth and the level of entrepreneurial activity in a country. Little is known, however, on which elements of a society contribute to entrepreneurship and which do not. This study …

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act And The Price, Volume, And Termination Rate Of Cross-Border Mergers And Acquisitions, Natalie M S Duncombe

Undergraduate Economic Review

Congress enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in 1977. It has since become an important factor in American firms decision-making in acquiring foreign targets, but its economic impact has gone largely unexamined. I analyze the influence of the risk of an enforcement action under the FCPA on the prices of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMA). In a sample of 13,002 CBMA deals by American acquirers from 1996-2010, I find statistically significant results, suggesting that firms pay on average 3.9 – 5.1% less to acquire targets in countries with higher risk of attention from the FCPA.

Impact Of Exchange Rate Regimes On Economic Growth, Brigitta Jakob

Undergraduate Economic Review

It has been a challenge to identify a direct correlation between exchange rate regimes and economic growth. One of the most important issues left unanswered in international finance is the debates over which type of exchange rate can best stimulate economic growth.

The main hypothesis of this research is that fixed exchange rate regime will have positive correlation with GDP growth due to the stability factor it has to offer. Control variables used in this study include inflation rate, gross capital formation (%GDP), index of government spending, and index of human capital per person. After observing the data from 74 …

The Adoption Of Solar Cells In The Us: A Cross-Section Analysis, Iwnetim I. Abate

Undergraduate Economic Review

The amount of solar energy that falls on the earth’s surface in one minute equals the total annual energy consumption of the entire world’s population. The question is how to harvest the energy efficiently. Photovoltaic or solar cell is one of the few means of to harvest this energy. The main objective of this paper is to identify factors that determine the number of photovoltaic panel installation per a million people in the US and build a regression model to quantify their effect. Ten independent variables were studied and their effect was quantified. In addition, different statistical hypothesis tests were …

Exploring Economic And Social Factors That Increase Economic And Well-Being Measurements Of Developing And Developed Countries, Kofi D. Boadu

Undergraduate Economic Review

The historical growth paths of developed and developing countries reveal the challenges that developing countries face in traveling the road from poverty to prosperity. Based on economic development literature, economic theory, and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression method, this research considers whether or not, and to what extent globalization characteristics, foreign direct investment levels (FDI), secondary school enrollment rates, information communication technology (ICT) as a percentage of trade imports, and happiness levels of 103 developing and developed countries, impact their GDP per capita levels. This paper will also take a look at alternative ways of viewing and measuring economic success.

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

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

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

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 …

Determinants Of Fdi Into Developing Countries, Hang Bich Phung

Mark A. Israel '91 Endowed Summer Research Fund in Economics

Overall, the incentives for foreign direct investment (FDI) vary vastly across time periods and regions. A preliminary analysis suggests that since 1990, investors tend to look for countries which can provide them with advantages in services and knowledge – capital intensive manufacturing industries. These advantages include the human capital stock and market size of the host country. On the other hand, considering a longer period, from 1980 to 2014, the more predominant advantages are natural resources and labor force. In this paper, we study two questions regarding what drives FDI to developing countries. First, what are the determinants that make …