Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

2016 State Of The Commonwealth Report, James V. Koch, Vinod Agarwal, Barbara Blake-Gonzalez, Terry L. Clower, Vicky Curtis, Steve Daniel, Larry "Chip" Filer, Tim Komarek, Feng Lian, Sharon Lomax, Wolfgang Mairinger, Alice Mcadory, Robert Mcnab, Janet Molinaro, Mike Phelps, Ken Plum

Economics Faculty Books

This is the second State of the Commonwealth Report produced by the Center for Economic Analysis and Policy at Old Dominion University. It is jointly sponsored by ODU's Strome College of Business and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. While the report represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, it does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion, or it's president, John R. Broderick. Similarly, it does not represent the views of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce or it's president, Barry DuVal.

The report maintains the goal of stimulating thought and discussion that ultimately …

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2016, James V. Koch, Vinod Agarwal, Christopher B. Colburn, Vicky Curtis, Steve Daniel, Larry "Chip" Filer, Timothy Komarek, Feng Lian, Sharon Lomax, Wolfgang Mairinger, Alice Mcadory, Robert Mcnab, Janet Molinaro, Lisa Suhay

Economics Faculty Books

This is Old Dominion University's 17th annual State of the Region report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion or it's president, John R. Broderick. The report maintains the goal of stimulating thought and discussion that ultimately will make Hampton Roads an even better place to live. We are proud of our region's many successes, but realize that it is possible to improve our performance. In order to do so, we must have accurate information about "where we are" and a …

Goods-Time Elasticity Of Substitution In Health Production, Juan Du, Takeshi Yagihashi

Economics Faculty Publications

We examine how inputs for health production, in particular, medical care and health-enhancing time, are combined to improve health. The estimated elasticity of substitution from a constant elasticity of substitution production function is significantly less than one for the working-age population, rejecting the unit elasticity of substitution used in previous studies.

Economies Of The Internet, Kylie Jarrett, D. E. Wittkower

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The papers in this issue of First Monday were originally presented as a series of panels at the Association of Internet Researchers 2015 conference in Phoenix, Arizona. This short introduction explains the impetus behind the organization of these panels-- which was to document diversity in approaches to the study of internet economies-- and briefly introduces each paper by locating them in the nexus between political economy and cultural studies.

Nurturing Non-Market Spaces In The Digital Environment, Roderick Graham

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) produce public goods for societies. Through ICTs people can be more politically active, construct their social identities, strengthen bonds with significant others, and more. However, businesses provide access to the Internet, produce and sell hardware and software, while maintaining platforms that are used for the generation of these public goods. There is a contradiction inherent in this dynamic as the continued provision of these public goods is contingent upon private entities deeming them profitable. Within the United States, federal policies have not adequately addressed this contradiction. In this paper, I argue that a change in …

Anchoring In Financial Decision-Making: Evidence From The Field, Michael Jetter, Jay K. Walker

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper analyzes 12,596 wagering decisions of 6,064 contestants in the US game show Jeopardy!, focusing on the anchoring phenomenon in financial decision-making. We find that contestants anchor heavily on the initial dollar value of a clue in their wagering decision, even though there exists no rational reason to do so. More than half of all wagers occur within $500 of the initial dollar value, although the maximum possible wagering value averages $5,914. This anchoring phenomenon remains statistically significant on the one percent level, even after controlling for scores, clue category, time trends, and player-fixed effects.When exploiting within-player variation …

Extension Of The Gravity Model: A Risk Integrated Approach Towards The Impact Analysis Of Mega Sports Events On Inbound Tourist Arrivals, Abdul Sami Stanekzai

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Mega sports events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup are highly attended and countries compete ferociously to host such events due to their perceived long term positive effects. Inbound tourist forecasting is an important aspect of the hosting decision both for the organizing committees and the hosting nations. As a precaution against letting the event fall into incapable hands, which can lead into chaos and mismanagement, measures needs to be taken. Capacity evaluation of interested parties is possible, only by knowing the number of people who may attend the event. However, due to the infrequent occurrence of …

Analysis Off Dependent Discrete Choices Using Gaussian Copula, Arjun Poddar

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

A popular tool for analyzing product choices of consumers is the well-known conditional logit discrete choice model. Originally publicized by McFadden (1974), this model assumes that the random components of the underlying latent utility functions of the consumers follow independent Gumbel distributions. However, in practice the independence assumption may be violated and a more reasonable model should account for the dependence of the utilities. In this dissertation we use the Gaussian copula with compound symmetric and autoregressive of order one correlation matrices to construct a general multivariate model for the joint distribution of the utilities. The induced correlations on the …

What Citizens Want To Know About Their Government’S Finances: Closing The Information Gap, Meagan Jordan, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Martin Mayer, Kaitrin Mahar

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

There is an information gap between citizens and their governments when it comes to government finances. The inherent complexity of fiscal policy makes it exceedingly difficult for effective public participation. Effective public participation in fiscal decision making must address informing or educating the citizenry with accurate and meaningful government financial data. Better understanding citizen wants and perceptions is critical to closing the information gap between users and providers of financial information. This study uses information gathered from focus groups with residents of Norfolk, Virginia that asks what government financial information they want and how to make that information useful. Results …

Essays On The Equity Risk Premium, Mohamed Mehdi Rahoui

Finance Theses & Dissertations

The equity risk premium (ERP) is an essential component of any asset pricing model both for academics and practitioners alike. Nevertheless, the financial literature does not accord much attention to the ERP estimation issues (Damodaran, 2015). The first chapter of this dissertation gives a summary of the recent literature review on the subject of the ERP. The second chapter explores four of the most commonly cited models in literature for estimating the ERP: the Historical Mean of Realized Returns Model (HMRRM), the Dividend Discount Model (DDM), the Free Cash Flow Model (FCFM), and the Sharpe Ratio Model (SRM). The results …

Two Essays On Investor Emotions And Their Effects In Financial Markets, Jiancheng Shen

Finance Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation provides empirical evidences on media-based investor emotions in predicting stock return, conditional volatility, and stock and bond return comovements.

We first studied the interaction between US media content and the US stock market returns and volatility. We utilize propriety investor sentiment measures developed by Thompson Reuters MarketPsych. We select four measures of investor sentiment that reflect both pessimism and optimism of small investors. Our objective is two-fold. First, we examine the ability of these sentiment measures to predict market returns. For this purpose, we use dynamic Vector Auto-Regressive models. Second, we are interested in exploring the effects of …

Two Essays On Short Selling, Zhaobo Zhu

Finance Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation provides some new evidence that the information contained in short selling is informative about future returns, confirming the role of short sellers in the price discovery process.

The first essay examines the cross-sectional relation between the change in short interest and expected stock returns. NYSE/AMEX stocks with large decreases (increases) in short interest over past medium-term horizon experience significant and positive (negative) abnormal returns. Moreover, the positive abnormal returns are larger in absolute value and are more persistent than negative abnormal returns. The return spread between bottom and top deciles is economically and statistically significant and persistent. The …

The Role Of Perceived Control In Customer Value Cocreation And Service Recovery Evaluation, Lin Guo, Sherry L. Lotz, Chuanyi Tang, Thomas W. Gruen

Marketing Faculty Publications

Treating customers as passive recipients of service recovery does not account for their naturally elevated desire for control following a service failure. Focusing on value cocreation by customers in service recovery, this study conceptualizes three types of customer perceived control in service recovery: process control, decision control, and information control. Using both a field study and a controlled experiment to test the conceptual model, this study reveals various ways service firms can engage customers in service recovery to enhance their service experience. The results show that customers are motivated to exert influence on and regain control over service recovery because …

Part 5: The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender And Queer Community In Hampton Roads, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

A 2012-2014 Gallup Poll reported that 4.4 percent of the population of Hampton Roads is LGBTQ in orientation. Available data suggest that LGBTQ women fare relatively better economically speaking than LGBTQ men. Norfolk and Virginia Beach are viewed as the region’s friendliest cities for members of the LGBTQ community.

Part 1: Life In The Slower Lane: The Hampton Roads Economy, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Our regional economy is on track in 2016 to record a “real” (after inflation) economic growth rate of only 1.20 percent – well below our 2.60 percent average economic growth rate over the past 30 years. We have yet to recover all of the jobs we lost in the Great Recession. The outlook for 2017 is not much better.

Part 2: The Hotel Industry: The United States, Virginia, And Hampton Roads, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Since 2000, hotel revenue as a percentage of personal income has declined in Virginia and Hampton Roads. Declining federal spending is the primary reason.

Part 4: The Rise Of Single-Earner Households In Virginia: Why It Matters, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Almost one-third of all households in Hampton Roads are “nonfamily,” in the sense that they are not headed by two married individuals. More than 40 percent of all births now occur out of wedlock and the number of older single people has skyrocketed. Both public and private programs and policies have not kept pace with these developments and are in need of revision.

Part 3: Prisons And Prisoners: The Virginia Way And The Alternatives, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Virginia imprisons large numbers of people; this is expensive. Economic analysis suggests that we would save money if we did not imprison so many people, redefined what constitutes a felony and gave more attention to preparing prisoners for re-entry into society.

Part 6: Will Robots Take Your Job? A Look At Virginia's Opportunities And Vulnerabilities, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

A recent study suggested that 47 percent of all jobs in the United States are at risk of being eliminated by automation. The jobs most vulnerable are those that involve repetitive tasks and relatively little judgment. Those holding these jobs can be replaced by robots or machines utilizing artificial intelligence.

Part 1: The Virginia Economy In Transition, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

The Commonwealth is experiencing relatively slow economic growth as it gradually transitions from an economy highly dependent upon federal spending to one that still involves a substantial federal presence, but also more value-added private-sector activities, entrepreneurial ventures and participation in international trade.

Part 5: Broadband In Virginia: Vital For Economic Development, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

Up to 70 percent of the world’s internet traffic flows through Northern Virginia, but some areas of the Commonwealth still do not enjoy broadband internet connections. Robust broadband access now is as important as roads, bridges and airports in terms of economic development and population growth.

Part 8: Liberty University: A Higher Education Phenomenon, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

Christian-centered Liberty University has a combined on-campus and online enrollment of more than 100,000 students and has accumulated an endowment of $1.4 billion. The university’s long-term aspiration is to be considered in the same breath as Notre Dame is for Roman Catholics and Brigham Young is for Mormons.

Gender In Jeopardy!: The Role Of Opponent Gender In High-Stakes Competition, Michael Jetter, Jay K. Walker

Economics Faculty Publications

Using 4,279 episodes of the popular US game show Jeopardy!, we analyze whether the opponents' gender is able to explain the gender gap in competitive behavior. Our findings indicate that gender differences disappear when women compete against men. This result is surprising, but emerges with remarkable consistency for the probability to (i) respond, (ii) respond correctly, and (iii) respond correctly in high-stakes situations. Even risk preferences in wagering decisions, where gender differences are especially pronounced, do not differ across gender once a woman competes against males. Using a fixed-effects framework, and therefore exploiting within-player …

Part 2: Northern Virginia: Turning The Corner?, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

NOVA now accounts for 37 percent of all employment in Virginia, but approximately 45 percent of the value of the Commonwealth’s economic activity. Recent growth in professional and business services employment suggests that the region may have turned the corner toward a more diverse, private sector-oriented economy.

Part 3: The Hotel Industry In The Commonwealth, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

Over the past quarter-century, the hotel industry has become a relatively less important part of the Virginia economy. Occupancy rates have yet to recover to prerecession levels and price-adjusted hotel revenue and revenue per available room in 2015 similarly were below their previous peaks.

Part 4: Will Robots Take Your Job? A Look At Virginia's Opportunities And Vulnerabilities, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

A recent study found that 47 percent of all current jobs are susceptible to loss because of automation and the use of artificial intelligence. The key to a worker’s job vulnerability relates primarily to whether that worker is engaged in repetitive work that can be replicated by a machine or software using artificial intelligence.

Part 6: Stock Car Racing In Virginia: The Sport And The Business, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

In addition to its nationally prominent Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond International Speedway, the Commonwealth hosts nine other racetracks, five dirt tracks and eight drag racing strips. While still a very important economic phenomenon, attendance and revenue data suggest that stock car racing has passed its peak of popularity.

Part 7: The Rise Of Single-Earner Households In Virginia: Why It Matters, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

Forty-seven percent of all households in Virginia now are headed by one or more single individuals and these households include all adult age groups. Nevertheless, our current legal and regulatory structure continues to focus on “Ozzie and Harriet” households.

Part 7: Traffic Congestion In Hampton Roads: Myths And Realities, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Sixty-five percent of job holders in Hampton Roads cross a city or county boundary when they go to work. Many encounter traffic congestion as they do so, but the level of this congestion has increased only modestly in recent years. Major road improvements seldom change this situation very much because drivers soon redistribute themselves in response to the improvements.

Silence Is Golden: Railroad Noise Pollution And Property Values, Jay K. Walker

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper uses a unique dataset containing property values and manually collected noise measurements in Memphis, Tennessee to estimate the impact of train noise pollution on commercial and residential property values. Results show that a residential property exposed to 65 decibels or greater of railroad noise results in a 14 to 18 percent decrease in property value. Once a 65 decibel measure is included, there is no additional impact on price of distance to the closest railroad crossing. For commercial property, neither crossing proximity nor noise level significantly affect property value. The results provide evidence of a negative externality that …