Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Thorstein Veblen And His Underlying Philosophical Influences, John Battaile Hall

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This inquiry recognizes Thorstein Veblen first and foremost as a philosopher who advanced a literature in Social Sciences, generally, and Economic Science, in particular. Veblen’s thinking and writing were supported by rich traditions drawn from notable philosophers that included among several: Charles Sanders Peirce, Immanuel Kant, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Relying upon his strong background in Philosophy, he then sought to challenge mainstream, neoclassical economics, especially. As his career developed, he would turn his talents and energies towards advancing ideas that would ultimately prove foundational for heterodox economics and, relatedly, American Institutionalism.

Journal of Economic Literature Classification Codes:
B15 – Historical, …

Extension Event Attendance Increases Adoption Of Weed Management Practices By Sports Field Managers, George Frisvold, Chandrakant Agme, David Ervin, Shawn W. Askew, Rebecca Grubbs Bowling, Jennifer Allen, James T. Brosnan, Multiple Additional Authors

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Data from a national survey of 348 U.S. sports field managers were used to examine the effects of participation in Cooperative Extension events on the adoption of turfgrass weed management practices. Of the respondents, 94% had attended at least one event in the previous 3 yr. Of this 94%, 97% reported adopting at least one practice as a result of knowledge gained at an Extension turfgrass event. Half of the respondents had adopted four or more practices; a third adopted five or more practices. Nonchemical, cultural practices were the most-adopted practices (65% of respondents). Multiple regression analysis was used to …

International Labour Migration, Farmland Fallowing, Livelihood Diversification And Technology Adoption In Nepal, Karki Nepal, Mani Nepal, Randall Bluffstone

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article investigates the effect of temporary international labour migration on farmland fallowing, adoption of agricultural intensification technologies and livelihood diversification. Using nationally representative data, combined with empirical methods that allow causal inference, the authors find that households with international migrants are over 50 per cent more likely (based on propensity score matching estimates) to have fallow land than those without. Temporary international migration promotes the adoption of some agricultural intensification technologies and causes rural households to diversify their livelihoods. Land fallowing may increase food insecurity, while agricultural intensification may improve it, for an uncertain net effect.

Anticipatory Impacts Of The Repeal Of Roe V. Wade On Female College Applicants, Janna Wisniewski, Brigham Walker, Jillian Torres, Rajiv Sharma

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examined the relative impact of the anticipated repeal of Roe v. Wade on the share of female applicants to universities in states where abortion was banned compared with universities in states where abortion remained legal. Using the Common Data Sets from 71 of the top 100 institutions in the United States spanning 27 states from academic years 2018–2022, we found that there was a nearly one percentage point relative decrease in the share of female undergraduate applicants to institutions in ban states compared with states in which abortion remained legal. This suggests that undergraduate applicants are sensitive to state …

Private Benefits From Ambient Air Pollution Reduction Policies Evidence From The Household Heating Stove Replacement Program In Chile, Adolfo Uribe, Randall Bluffstone, Carlos Chávez, Walter Gómez, Marcela Jaime

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We estimate the key private benefits from a program to improve ambient air quality during winter in central Chile by replacing inefficient wood-fired home heating stoves with more efficient pellet stoves. We are interested in the private benefits to households because they represent the additional value of the program and likely drive private adoption. Combining electronic stove surface temperature and air pollution monitoring with household surveys, we estimate the effects of adoption on household fuel expenditures, indoor temperatures, and indoor air pollution concentrations (PM2.5). We also explore heterogeneous effects of the program by income group and energy poverty status. Our …

The Covid-19 Pandemic And Primary Care Appointment Availability By Physician Age And Gender, Janna Wisniewski, Sarah E. Tinkler, Brigham Walker, Miron Stano, Rajiv Sharma

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using data generated through simulated patient calls to a national random sample of primary care physicians between February and July 2020, we examine the effects of the first wave of COVID-19 on the availability of the U.S. primary care physician workforce for routine new patient appointments. As states enacted stay-at-home orders, physicians overall became less selective by insurance, and there was a 7 percentage-point increase in acceptance of patient insurance. Telemedicine appointment offers increased 10.2 percentage points from near zero. However, relative to younger counterparts, physicians older than the sample mean (53.1 years) became 18.1 percentage points less likely to …

Similarities, Commonalities And Parallels In The Contributions Of Thorstein Veblen And Friedrich Nietzsche, John Battaile Hall

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This inquiry seeks to establish that similarities, commonalities, and parallels can be identified in selected contributions advanced by Thorstein Veblen and Friedrich Nietzsche. In the main, their commonness is noted to appear in the critical approaches that also includes expressing deep-seated skepticism regarding the course to modernity, singling out institutions ruling society, and especially the economy—in the case of Veblen. Specialized in Philology, as Nietzsche extolls his Dionysian orientation this inquiry introduces the idea that Veblen’s foundation for his distinctly critical approach to ruling institutions also reflects a Dionysian perspective. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-85) Nietzsche introduces a character whom …

Cognitive And Economic Development, John Luke Gallup

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

A burgeoning literature has found that early childhood health conditions of individuals have large causal effects on their cognitive development, education and earnings. How much does early cognitive development contribute to the national economy? Although researchers have long studied the role of worker health for economic growth, they have not assessed the role of early cognitive development.

Cognitive ability is the foundation of human capital, affecting both educational attainment and economic growth. The risk factors for poor cognitive development are very high in many countries. Each risk factor also causes child mortality, making child survival a viable proxy for good …

Changing The Paradigm For Pesticide Resistance Management, David R. Shaw, Amy Asmus, Jill Schroeder, David Ervin

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Collaborative action on the part of all stakeholders in pest management is essential to effectively address the challenges of pesticide resistance. The US Environmental Protection Agency, through its Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee, recently posted a report on pesticide resistance management and the role the Agency can play in these efforts. In this perspectives piece, we commend the Agency for acknowledging these needs, and encourage implementation of the recommendations. We urge all stakeholders to follow the example set by EPA to engage openly, listen to other stakeholders, and determine their role as part of the broader community that is needed to …

Valuing Ecosystem Services From Restoring Ancient Irrigation Systems: An Application Comparing Labor Vs. Monetary Payments For Choice Experiments, Sahan Dissanayake, Shamen Vidanage

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The use of stated preference methods in developing countries is growing with the increasing concern about the environment as economies develop. At the same time using monetary payment vehicles and estimating a Willingnessto Pay (WTP) can be problematic in rural or low incomes areas in developing countries. Many respondents in these areas regularly engage in barter and paying with labor and do not use monetary payments for all transactions. This distinction from urban areas with a monetary economy and with most settings in developed countries can impact results from valuation studies as the WTP elicited from rural and low-income areas …

Assessing Visitor Preferences And Willingness To Pay For Marine National Park Hikkaduwa: Application Of Choice Experiment Method, Chamathi Jayaratne, U.A. D.P. Gunawardena, J. C. Edirisinghe, Sahan Dissanayake, D. Rajapaksa

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Eco-tourism all over the world is threatened by the fact that the coral reefs and associated ecosystems are in a process of disappearing at an accelerated rate due to several natural and anthropogenic causes. In this context, the Marine National Park Hikkaduwa (MNPH), one of the four marine national parks in Sri Lanka, that features a fringing coral reef with a high degree of biodiversity, reports a decreasing trend in visitation mainly due to a condition of coral bleaching caused by an El Nino effect. Unfortunately, the regeneration of the corals is found to be slowed by continuous anthropogenic activities. …

Declining Unionization And The Despair Of The Working Class, Kelly Chen, Samia Islam

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

While the effects of labor unions on objective conditions have been extensively studied, little is known about their role in individuals' perceptions of economic circumstances. We investigate whether union density affects the subjective well-being of area residents by exploiting the staggered adoption of right to work laws in the United States through a border-county design. We find that unionization promotes happiness for those of low socioeconomic status, including non-college-educated residents and current or former blue-collar job holders, but has no discernible impact on their high-status counterparts. Of affected residents, workers stand to reap the most benefit. We also find that …

Developing And Implementing A Sustainable, Integrated Weed Management Program For Herbicide-Resistant Poa Annua In Turfgrass, James D. Mccurdy, Rebecca G. Bowling, Edicarlos De Castro, Alec R. Kowalewski, Clint M. Maddox, James T. Brosnan, Shawn W. Askew, Clebson G. Goncalves, David Ervin, Multiple Additional Authors

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The ability of Poa annua L. to adapt to most turfgrass environments extends to its ability to develop resistance to commonly used herbicides. Herbicide resistant P. annua is of almost epidemic proportions. The loss of once viable chemical-based treatments pushes practitioners towards more expensive, and often less effective, control strategies. This management guide focuses on integrated weed management (IWM) practices for P. annua control and herbicide resistance—what it is and how to overcome it. Also discussed are resistance mechanisms and documentation of common occurrences of field-level resistance within much of the United States. Finally, a summary of some of the …

Prospects For Nuclear Microreactors: A Review Of The Technology, Economics, And Regulatory Considerations, G. Black, D. Shropshire, K. Araújo, A. Van Heek

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The nuclear energy sector is actively developing a new class of very small advanced reactors, called microreactors. This technology has disruptive potential as an alternative to carbon-intensive energy technologies based on its mobility and transportability, resilience, and independence from the grid, as well as its capacity for long refueling intervals and low-carbon emissions. Microreactors may extend nuclear energy to a new set of international customers, many of which are located where energy is at a price premium and/or limited to fossil sources. Developers are creating designs geared toward factory production where quality and costs may be optimized. This paper reviews …

Feeling The Heat: Climate Change Is Becoming A Big Factor In Business Decision-Making, Risk Assessment, Candace Beeke, Sahan Dissanayake, Jennifer Price, Moss Adams

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Portland Business Journal Publisher and President Candace Beeke spoke recently with PSU’s Sahan Dissanayake and Jennifer Price, with Moss Adams, about the direct and indirect effects of climate change on business, along with the physical impacts and economic hazards. Here are their insights.

How Would Medicaid Expansion Affect Texas Hospitals? Evidence From A Retrospective Quasi-Experimental Study, Meryem Saygili

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study aims to estimate the impact of a potential Medicaid expansion on Texas hospitals. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion increased access to health care and improved health outcomes. Still, several states, including Texas, have not adopted the expansion. This is a retrospective quasi-experimental study. We obtained inpatient data containing discharges from Texas hospitals between 2010 and 2017 from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas hospitals receive a significant number of patients from the adjacent states. We use a difference-in-differences methodology, where the patients from the neighboring states that expanded Medicaid in 2014 are the treatment …

Teaching Fisheries Bycatch: Exploring Economic And Behavioral Drivers Of Bycatch Through A Classroom Game, Mitch B. Priestley, J. Forrest Williams, Sahan Dissanayake

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents a pedagogical exercise to explore the economics of price-based fisheries bycatch. In the exercise students experience the economic incentives that lead to bycatch due to highgrading; the discarding of low-value fish. We first discuss existing fisheries economics pedagogical activities and how our exercise is distinct. We then identify over forty economics, environmental studies, geography, management, and philosophy courses where the exercise could be played. Next, we describe the game and share results and student feedback. Finally, we provide discussion prompts and extensions to illustrate how incentives and policies can change fishing behavior to lead to sustainable fisheries.

Valuing The Public Benefits Of Green Roofs, Noelwah R. Netusil, Sahan Dissanayake, Lauren Lavelle, Amy W. Ando

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Green roofs are being incorporated into stormwater management programs around the world. While numerous studies have estimated the private benefits to the owners and residents of buildings with green roofs, the value of the multiple public benefits received by non-building residents are less well known. We use a choice experiment survey to estimate the public benefits for a proposed green roof program in Portland, Oregon, USA. These benefits include reduced combined sewer overflows, reduced urban heat island effects, and an increase in pollinators such as birds, bees and butterflies. Past investments in stormwater infrastructure have exposed some residents to poor …

A Disaster Under‑(Re)Insurance Puzzle: Home Bias In Disaster Risk‑Bearing, Hiro Ito, Robert N. Mccauley

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examine disaster reinsurance from the perspective of international risk-sharing. We find that losses from disasters are shared internationally to a generally very limited extent, unlike what the theory of international risk-sharing suggests. We propose a new dataset of cross-border reinsurance payments for 93 disasters of 44 economies in 1982–2017. Combining these balance of payments data with industry data, we find that the lack of disaster risk-sharing through international reinsurance results from low participation in primary insurance as well as limited use of reinsurance. Regression analysis finds that countries with higher levels of economic or financial development tend to insure …

The Impact Of Targeted Regulation Of Abortion Providers Laws On Abortions And Births, Grace E. Arnold

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper analyzes the impact of supply-side abortion restrictions on aggregate abortion and birth rates in the USA. Specifically, I exploit state and time variation in the implementation of the first targeted regulation of abortion provider (TRAP) law in a state to identify the effects of the laws. I find that TRAP laws are associated with a reduction in the abortion rate of approximately 5% the year the first law is implemented, and an average reduction of 11–14% in subsequent years. There is also evidence that TRAP laws increased birth rates by 2–3%, which accounts for approximately 80–100% of the …

Central Bank Swap Arrangements In The Covid-19 Crisis, Joshua Aizenman, Hiro Ito, Gurnain Kaur Pasricha

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Facing acute strains in the offshore dollar funding markets during the COVID-19 crisis, the Federal Reserve (Fed) provided US dollar liquidity to the global economy by reactivating or enhancing swap arrangements with other central banks and establishing a new repo facility for financial institutions and monetary authorities (FIMA). This paper assesses motivations for the Fed liquidity lines, and the effects and spillovers of US dollar auctions by central banks using these lines. We find that the access to the Fed liquidity arrangements was driven by the recipient economies’ close financial and trade ties with the US. Access to dollar liquidity …

Post Covid-19 Exit Strategies And Emerging Markets Economic Challenges, Joshua Aizenman, Hiro Ito

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We study emerging markets’ 1980s lost growth decade, triggered by the massive reversal of the snowball effect in the US during 1974–1984, finding that higher flow costs of servicing debt overhang explain the dramatic decline in growth rates of exposed emerging markets. We also show how lowering the US cost of servicing its public debt has been associated with higher US, Japan, and Western Europe real output growth rates during the post WWII recovery decades, 1946–1956, and validate that fiscal adjustments of large countries have strong growth and volatility spillovers effects on exposed emerging markets and developing countries.

A Requiem For “Blame It On Beijing” Interpreting Rotating Global Current Account Surpluses, Menzie David Chinn, Hiro Ito

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Global current account imbalances have reappeared, although the extent and distribution of these imbalances are noticeably different from those experienced in the middle of the last decade. What does that recurrence mean for our understanding of the origin and nature of such imbalances? Will imbalances persist over time? Informed by empirical estimates of the determinants of current account imbalances encompassing the period after the global recession, we find that – as before – the observable manifestations of the factors driving the global saving glut have limited explanatory power for the time series variation in imbalances. Fiscal factors determine imbalances, and …

Urban Land Expansion: The Role Of Population And Economic Growth For 300+ Cities, Richa Mahtta, Michail Fragkias, Burak Güneralp, Anjali Mahendra, Meredith Reba, Elizabeth A. Wentz, Karen C. Seto

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Global urban populations are projected to increase by 2.5 billion over the next 30 years. Yet, there is limited understanding of how this growth will affect urban land expansion (ULE). Here, we develop a large-scale study to test explicitly the relative importance of urban population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in affecting ULE for different regions, economic development levels and governance types for 300+ cities. Our results show that population growth, more than GDP, is consistently the dominant determinant of ULE during 1970–2014. However, the effect of GDP growth on ULE increases in importance after 2000. In countries with …

Delineating Conservation Areas For Cohabiting Species: An Example Of Vernal Pond Conservation From Fort Stewart In Georgia, United States, Yicheng Wang, Hayri Önal, Sahan T. M. Dissanayake

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Military installations are valuable in global biodiversity conservation as they secure representative ecosystems from land conversion and protect many threatened or endangered species. Selecting suitable areas for biodiversity conservation within military installations is a challenging problem as this must not impede military training activities. The issue gets more complicated when considering multiple cohabiting species in a metacommunity with species dependency. In this paper, we present an example for the conservation of two cohabiting species, Gopher Tortoise (GT) and Gopher Frog (GF), located within the boundaries of a military installation, Fort Stewart, Georgia, United States. The GF depends on both locations …

Money Growing On Trees: A Classroom Game About Payments For Ecosystem Services And Tropical Deforestation, Sahan Dissanayake, Sarah A. Jacobson

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs use an incentive-based approach to pursue environmental goals. While they are common policy tools, key concepts determining their efficacy are nuanced and hard to grasp. This article presents a new interactive game that explores the functioning and implications of PES programs. Participants play the role of rural households in a developing country, deciding individually or as groups whether to enter into contracts to refrain from reducing local forests in exchange for payment from a forest-based PES initiative. The game explores topics that include PES programs, climate change, tropical deforestation, cost-effectiveness, additionality, illegal harvest and …

Accurate Simulation Of Both Sensitivity And Variability For Amazonian Photosynthesis: Is It Too Much To Ask?, Sarah M. Gallup, Ian T. Baker, John Luke Gallup, Natalia Restrepo-Coupe, Katherine D. Haynes, Nicholas M. Geyer, A. Scott Denning

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Estimates of Amazon rainforest gross primary productivity (GPP) differ by a factor of 2 across a suite of three statistical and 18 process models. This wide spread contributes uncertainty to predictions of future climate. We compare the mean and variance of GPP from these models to that of GPP at six eddy covariance (EC) towers. Only one model's mean GPP across all sites falls within a 99% confidence interval for EC GPP, and only one model matches EC variance. The strength of model response to climate drivers is related to model ability to match the seasonal pattern of the EC …

The Role Of Nonzero Conjectural Variation In Pollution Abatement And Output In The Design Of Emission Taxes, Luis Gautier

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The presence of nonzero conjectural variations in pollution abatement and output make emission taxes less effective with respect to reducing emissions. This has implications for the characterization of the optimal emission tax, particularly in an international context where there are large asymmetries in pollution intensities. A higher degree of collusion in output between polluting firms results in higher emissions taxes in the non-cooperative equilibrium. In contrast, a higher degree of collusion in abatement between polluting firms results in lower emissions taxes in the non-cooperative equilibrium. These results rely on the presence of nonzero conjectural variations and large asymmetries in pollution …

Why Is Dishonesty Difficult To Mitigate? The Interaction Between Descriptive Norm And Monetary Incentive, Arnab Mitra, Quazi Shahriar

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examine whether changes in perceived norm of dishonesty can offset the effects of changes in benefit from the dishonest action. We find partial support for the hypothesis in laboratory experiments on lying behavior in a cheap-talk sender-receiver game, conducted in two countries. In the experiments, we vary benefit from lying and shift senders’ norm perception by providing them information on lying from prior sessions. The findings suggest that senders adjust their perceived norm as expected, but they respond to norm in a somewhat self-serving manner. Specifically, when benefit from lying is lowered but senders are induced to believe in …

Beyond Climate Impacts: Knowledge Gaps And Process-Based Reflection On Preparing A Regional Chapter For The Fourth National Climate Assessment, Scott Lowe

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) provided the most up-to-date understanding of climate change and its effects on the Earth system and on consequences for the United States, including impacts and associated risks, along with approaches to coping with these effects. It is intended to provide guidance to decision-makers in governmental sectors while, in practice, providing guidance for nongovernmental actors. Its regional and topical chapters highlight current knowledge, uncertainties, gaps in knowledge, and emerging threats. The current knowledge and gaps can help set a research agenda to inform future national, regional, and local climate assessments and thereby support better decision-making. …