Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Assessing Rice Consumers’ Preferences And Willingness To Pay In Haiti, Cleeford Pavilus

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the last 30 years, rice has become the number one food staple in Haiti, and rice imports have outpaced domestic production to supply the country’s increasing rice demand. Policy makers support the claim that increasing local rice supply will not only reduce the dependency on imported rice but also upheave the national economy. However, there is a lack of information on Haitian consumers’ preferences for rice to aid the development of the local rice supply chain. This research aims to bridge that gap by assessing Haitian consumer preferences and willingness to pay for selected rice quality characteristics. The results …

Three Essays On Corruption And Collusion, Arlo Redwine

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies corruption and collusion with data derived from a laboratory experiment and household data. In Chapter 1 I study experimental procurement auctions with bribery and a public reserve to test for the tacitly collusive equilibrium described by Compte et al. (2005). Three sellers compete for 40 periods to sell a single item to a computerized buyer who accepts bribes and determines ties in bids and bribes randomly. In the closing periods, only 13.5% of auctions display the collusive equilibrium, but 58.7% of selling prices are noncompetitive. In comparison with simulated predictions for auctions that are corrupt but competitive, …

Risk And Return Comparisons Of Pre-Harvest Marketing Strategies, John Leander Turner V

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyzes risk and returns associated with pre-harvest corn grain marketing strategies for the state of Arkansas. Farming is characterized by a volatile environment. Numerous risks are taken by producers in order to provide commodities that are bought and sold by various parties in the supply chain. Price, yield, and production costs vary daily and can have large variation between years. Risk and Return Comparisons of Pre-harvest Marketing Strategies examines the effectiveness of using pre-harvest marketing strategies to enhance returns and to mitigate inherent price risk in the Memphis cash corn market. Thirteen strategies are compared to the October …

How Gender Norms Impact Women's Access To Financial Inclusion, Caitlyn Goodman

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this paper is to determine if there is a relationship between gender norms and women's access to financial resources. Using data from the World Bank and the World Values Survey, I use a linear regression model to assess how attitudes toward education, jobs, and over-all equal rights impact women's account ownership.

Essays In Networks Of Finance And Experimental Finance: A Behavioral View, Weineng Xu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral and managerial biases can occur among corporate executives that lead to suboptimal decision making and outcomes for the shareholders. In the first essay, I study how the personal networks of CEO affect the performance of the firm in the context of IPO. I find that CEOs at higher social hierarchical positions can allow managerial entrenchment and prevent dismissal. The findings show that influential CEOs are associated with higher IPO underpricing, lower likelihood of positive offer price revision, and lower likelihood of wealth creation for the pre-IPO shareholders. In the second essay, I explore how the social connections between bidder …

Essays In Leveraged Capital Markets, Kenneth D. Ford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The debt capital markets for leveraged borrowers are ripe with information asymmetry, lender specialization, and borrower segmentation. In this dissertation, I explore how these factors manifest themselves and the economic consequences thereof. Essay 1 shows that adverse selection and moral hazard concerns are inherent in underwriting syndicates that differ in size and number of lead underwriters. Using a nested double selection probit model of syndicate choice, I examine the matching of issuers and underwriters and find that matches of issuer quality and underwriter reputation are positive assortative. Further, switching regressions show that yield spreads reflect uncertainty about the intrinsic values …

Three Essays On Macroeconomics And Laboratory Experiments, Justin Leblanc

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines two prominent macroeconomic models and their behavioral underpinnings in a laboratory setting. The first is that of state-dependent pricing models (i.e., “menu cost” models). Comparisons were made between laboratory results and a computer- simulated optimal behavior, and results indicate that subjects update prices too frequently resulting in statistically suboptimal profits due to subjects’ inability to clearly ascertain the optimal threshold at which to update prices. Second, the consumption predictions made under rational inattention theory were examined via a laboratory experiment. Results indicate that subjects’ behavior aligns well with predictions in that they consume stochastically, yet adjust their …

Zona Libre: Conservatism, Urban Growth, And The Rise Of The New Economy In The San Diego Borderlands, Daniel Elkin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Both the rise of conservatism as well as the neoliberal turn of the twentieth century have received much scholarly attention in recent decades. Often, these two subjects are examined separately, with the former focusing on questions of party realignment in the United States and the latter on global economic shifts toward privatization, finance, and the segregation of labor types across international boundaries. As a result, efforts to trace the dual movement between questions of domestic politics and international economy are left underdeveloped. “Zona Libre: Conservatism, Urban Growth, and the Rise of the New Economy” remedies this gap by exploring the …

Abandoning The Dream Of Omnipotence: On Autonomy And Self-Binding, Charlie Coil

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I offer a prolegomenon to the philosophical study of a uniquely human activity—the self-binding act. This philosophical interest directly connects with the Enlightenment project of centralizing personal autonomy and individual freedom as primary values of personhood. Self-binding represents an easily referenced action that introduces a possible clash between autonomy and freedom on the one hand seen as in conflict with other ancient basic human values like self-control and avoiding akrasia. This dissertation investigates the inverted manner whereby an act of self-binding, which voluntarily and effectively limits a person’s options, can end up augmenting rather than interfering with personal autonomy. I …

An Agent-Based Approach To Simulating The Minimum Wage Market, Luke Snyder

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper seeks to identify and describe the economic impacts of adjusting the minimum wage on employment. The approach taken is constructing an agent-based simulation using the well-known software suite NetLogo. The simulation models business and consumer behavior through a set of governing economic principles, yet also provides randomization to more accurately account for occasional outliers and human irrationality. The results of the simulation indicate relatively small changes in employment among minimum wages between $7.25 and $10.00, with a gradual decrease thereafter.

Fantasy Football's Impact On Nfl Revenue, Joshua Hamby

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper investigates the hypothesis that fantasy football positively influences NFL revenues. While there are many variables that may substantially influence NFL revenues, such as team by team and year by year variation, the estimations in this paper attempt to isolate the effects of fantasy football. Providing evidence of impacts attributable to fantasy football would be important information for parties involved with the NFL and/or fantasy football to better understand what is creating value for the league, players in the league, and the fantasy industry. This paper has results on estimations testing the impacts of both the fantasy participation explosion …

A Study Into The Relationship Between Nutrition And Income In A College Setting, Alyssa Hicks

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Many health related issues in the United States are linked to Americans’ poor diet choices. College students, a subset of that population, establish important trends in their diet habits that they will maintain over their four years in college and beyond. Although previous literature has found income to be a determinant of diet, this paper does not find income to be a significant predictor of student nutrition. One potential explanation is that college provides a unique environment and circumstance. Yet, additional income suggests it could be important for students who suffer from a lack of funds—increasing their income brings about …

Gender Diversity Around The World: The Role Of Country Legal Regulations And Culture, Madison E. Newton

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this project is to analyze the factors that contribute to the gender discrepancy in labor force participation rates around the world. This paper will explore potential drivers of the gender disparity phenomenon through the analyzation of country-specific elements to detect related impacts that may be imposed on a country’s composition of labor force as it relates to gender. More specifically, I interpret the degree to which specific factors can directly influence the proportion of female presence in labor forces around the world. My empirical results suggest that the societal factors, legal regulations, culture, total fertility rate (births …

Human Trafficking In The Wake Of Natural Disasters: Is The United States Any Different Than Third World Countries?, Samantha Stout

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research compares the impacts of devastating natural disasters on levels of human trafficking in developed countries to the impacts experienced in third world countries. The two disasters selected for this study were Hurricane Isaac in Louisiana and the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. Factors selected to measure the impacts of the natural disaster include income level, homelessness, and unemployment rates.

Human trafficking is a crime that touches nearly every country around the world. It is known that human trafficking levels are impacted by factors including poverty levels of regions, political unrest, and even natural disasters. There is …

Are Prize-Linked Savings Accounts The Solution To Arkansas' Savings Problem?, Mckenzie Wages

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research finds that access to prize-linked savings could improve the financial security of Arkansans. Prize-linked savings (PLS) accounts are nontraditional savings products that offer depositors the chance to win cash prizes instead of a typical interest rate return. Given the low median incomes, high liquid asset poverty rates, and high levels of underbanked and undereducated individuals in Arkansas, there is a need for an innovative savings solution like PLS in the state. PLS accounts capitalize on individuals’ propensity for lottery-like risk-taking to inspire the productive behavior of personal saving. A wide range of individuals, especially those who could stand …

A Commentary On Litigation Involving Uber Technologies, Inc., Catherine Hagemeier

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Uber Technologies, Inc. is a peer-to-peer ridesharing, food delivery, and transportation network managed in San Francisco, California. Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp developed the idea for the ridesharing app in 2008, after experiencing difficulty hailing a cab. They originally designed the app to be used in major metropolitan areas, but the business inevitably took off; it now operates in 633 cities worldwide. In 2017, Uber claimed that the company earned roughly $7.5 billion in revenue, employed more than 12,000 “independent drivers,” and connected over one billion people (“Finding the Way”). Though widely successful and heralded as a major influencer in …

Literacy Rates Analysis: An International Comparison, Macarena Arce

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper attempts to provide a more complete reckoning of the economics of literacy rates around the world. It consists on a literature review about the economic benefits and costs of literacy rates and then it shows two econometrics models that attempt to predict literacy rates based on GDP, government expenditure, and several other independent variables.