Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Understanding Romania's Poverty: A Historical Overview Of Economics And Politics And Their Implications On Poverty Today, Benjamin Bucur

Senior Honors Theses

Romania is a country with a high-income economy that is experiencing considerable growth following its economic reforms of earlier decades. With growth, tendencies for an unequal society are prevalent. Therefore, appropriate economic policies that are specifically targeted toward bottlenecks are essential. This thesis seeks to outline the major types of poverty in Romania while also offering actionable entrepreneurial and educational insights that practically combat poverty at its roots.

Mountain West States Most Dependent On The Federal Government, 2022, Saha Salahi, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet synthesizes data from the SmartAsset report, “States Most Dependent on the Federal Government – 2022 Edition.” This fact sheet explores federal government dependency for the following Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Sole Sourcing Reliance, John Sidney Stammreich

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative research case study investigated the increasing reliance on sole-sourced critical defense components within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) supply chain network. This reliance has resulted in increased risks of operational units not achieving the agency’s minimum operational readiness requirements as presented in the DoD Inspector General’s Top 10 management challenges for the fiscal year 2020. The general problem to be addressed was the increasing reliance on sole-sourcing within the supply chain networks of government agencies and business organizations that have contributed to heightened risks of operational readiness reduction and manufacturing production delays. The purpose of this qualitative …

Venezuela Public Health Issue, Luke Vargas

Global Public Health

While every country around the world faces a form of public health issues, the issues that the country of Venezuela faces are different. Their public health problem is not a disease that can be solved by science, or a cure. It’s a problem that can only be solved by the people within the county itself. The country of Venezuela now lacks the proper medical supplies needed to help cure diseases and normal vaccinations, and the only ones to blame is their government. Because their government has now refused to pay their debts to the surrounding countries they have now lost …

Efficiency, But At What Cost? Evidence From A Dea Analysis Of Wv School Districts, Eduardo Minuci, Amir B. Neto, Joshua C. Hall

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

West Virginia schools are consistently below the national average on the NAEP. Using Data Envelopment Analysis, we estimate the technical efficiency of West Virginia school districts. We find less variation in technical efficiency in West Virginia than in similar studies conducted in other states. This appears to be because of state policy imposing homogeneity of input usage. Due to the limited variation in technical efficiency across districts, we cannot analyze how non-school inputs such as socioeconomic factors affect technical efficiency across districts. Summary statistics organized by county economic status, however, suggest that socioeconomic status plays a role. Our results highlight …

Barriers To Prevention In Dengue Fever In Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Swat District, Abdul Zahir, Assad Ullah, Mussawar Shah, Arsalan Mussawar

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The main aim of this study was to find out the barriers in dengue prevention in the Swat District of Khyber Pkhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. A sample size of 354 respondents were proportionally allocated to each Mahallah or street (Tahir Abad, Angaro Dheri, Usman Abad and Banr) and then randomly selected. The association of the independent variable (barriers to prevention) and dependent variables (practices for control) were tested by using a Chi Square test. The perception about barriers in dengue prevention shows that a highly significant association was found between practices for control and access to medical facilities (p=0.034), government agencies …

Going Beyond The ‘New Normal’ In Indonesia, Mari Pangestu, Philip Charles Zerrillo

Asian Management Insights

The Republic of Indonesia’s former Minister of Trade and former Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Professor Mari Pangestu, talks about the country’s resilience, and going beyond the ‘new normal’, in this interview with Philip Zerrillo.

Adam Smith And The History Of Economic Thought: The Case Of Banking, Maria Pia Paganelli

Economics Faculty Research

Adam Smith promotes markets because of their efficiency and because of their ability to develop and support moral social life. His views on banking are an example of his broader view. According to Smith banks should be allowed to issue their own money and compete in a minimally regulated environment. On the one hand, competition, including the possibility of bank failures, generates discipline, and discipline generates prudent behavior. On the other hand, competition in the banking sector is generated and maintained by prudent behavior. The prudent behavior of morally responsible banks is rewarded with economic success and it supports the …

Governmental Public Health And The Economics Of Adaptation To Population Health, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Research on the organization and financing of public health strategies offers valuable insight for governmental public health agencies seeking to adapt to a population health improvement perspective under health system reform.

Not Just A Formality: How Inefficient Bureaucracy And Government Distrust Fuel Nepal’S Informal Economy, Anders Karl Lindgren

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Currently the Nepali government and the International Labour Organization (ILO) are involved in a campaign to increase rates of government registration among small businesses, which are technically illegal to operate unregistered. The program incentivizes and facilitates registration, attempting to change the cost-benefit analysis that shopkeepers make when deciding whether to register. Using interviews with small business owners in the Kathmandu area, this study provides qualitative data about what information these shopkeepers have, how they perceive the registration process, whether the government has traditionally followed through on its promises, and how all of these factors affect their registration cost-benefit analyses. Additionally, …

The Impact Of Government Policies On Access To Broadband, James Prieger

School of Public Policy Working Papers

With a new focus for federal universal service programs on broadband and the NTIA BTOP funding for broadband adoption projects, recent years have been “exciting times” for those interested in broadband policy aimed at stimulating adoption. While most of the recent programs are still too new to be evaluated rigorously, lessons from older academic study can inform our expectations and lend guidance toward evaluating program success. In this brief work, I review what we know from the last decade and a half of literature on the impact of regulation on broadband adoption, discuss the (mostly woeful) attempts at evaluating adoption …

The Upside Of Government Default, Jeffrey Rogers Hummel

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Local Development. The Revitalization Of The Town Of Adwa (Ethiopia) Through Community-Based Endogenous Projects, Asayehgn Desta

Collected Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Over the years, either self-initiated or by funding from development agencies, a number of developing countries have implemented various programs to tackle poverty. This case study was inspired by the One Village One Product (OVOP) movement initiated in the Oita Prefecture region of Japan. Given the positive aspects of the OVOP, the purpose of the study is to transfer some aspects of the OVOP movement in order to revitalize the town of Adwa, Tigrai, Ethiopia. The case study therefore suggests some possible community-based endogenous projects that could revitalize the town of Adwa, Tigrai, Ethiopia. As a result of the initiative …

Some Possible Consequences Of A U.S. Government Default, Jeffrey Rogers Hummel

Faculty Publications

The U.S. government faces a looming fiscal crisis. A default on Treasury securities appears inevitable. The short-run consequences for the economy will be painful. But the long-run consequences, both economic and political, could be beneficial. The most important long-run political benefit would be the imposition of fiscal discipline. The long-run economic benefit would be the alleviation of the future tax liabilities required to service the national debt, irrespective of whether those liabilities are correctly anticipated or not. A historical examination of the state government defaults of the 1840s provides one case study where the long-run consequences were indeed salutary.

Government’S Diminishing Benefits From Inflation, Jeffrey Rogers Hummel

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Radio Spectrum And The Disruptive Clarity Of Ronald Coase, Thomas W. Hazlett, David Porter, Vernon Smith

ESI Working Papers

In the Federal Communications Commission, Ronald Coase exposed deep foundations via normative argument buttressed by astute historical observation. The government controlled scarce frequencies, issuing sharply limited use rights. Spillovers were said to be otherwise endemic. Coase saw that Government limited conflicts by restricting uses; property owners perform an analogous function via the “price system.” The government solution was inefficient unless the net benefits of the alternative property regime were lower. Coase augured that the price system would outperform. His spectrum auction proposal was mocked by communications policy experts, opposed by industry interests, and ridiculed by policy makers. Hence, it took …

Will The Stork Return To Europe And Japan? Understanding Fertility Within Developed Nations, James Feyrer, Bruce Sacerdote, Ariel Dora Stern

Dartmouth Scholarship

We seek to explain the differences in fertility rates across high-income countries by focusing on the interaction between the increasing status of women in the workforce and their status in the household, particularly with regards to child care and home production. We observe three distinct phases in women's status generated by the gradual increase in women's workforce opportunities. In the earliest phase, characteristic of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States, women earn low wages relative to men and are expected to shoulder all of the child care at home. As a result, most women specialize in home production …

Risk And Recovery, John Austin, Chris Decker, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Bruce Johnson, Lisa Johnson, Ken Lemke, Franz Schwarz, Scott Strain, Eric Thompson, Keith Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

The crisis in the housing and financial sectors has led to a dramatic slowdown in U.S. economic growth. Fourth quarter GDP growth and job growth are expected to be anemic and the economy may fall into recession in 2008. Indeed, several of the dozen members of the Nebraska Business Forecast Council do believe that the U.S. economy will likely slip into recession during 2008. However, the overall consensus of the Council is that the U.S. economy will avoid a recession. Economic growth will be slow in the first three quarters of 2008 before recovering in late 2008 and 2009.

A Soft Landing And A Long Layover, John Austin, Chris Decker, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Philip Baker, Bruce Johnson, Lisa Johnson, Ken Lemke, Franz Schwarz, Scott Strain, Eric Thompson

Economics Faculty Publications

The U.S. economy achieved a soft landing in 2006. This was a desirable outcome. The economy needed a break from its rapid, and potentially inflationary, growth in 2004 and 2005, before taking off again. But, that new flight has been delayed. The aggregate economy has remained mired in slow growth in the first half of 2007. Pockets of the economy, such as the labor market, have been strong, but a weak housing sector has limited overall growth. Further, signs point to one or two more quarters of weaker growth, before the economy is able to take off again.

A Soft Landing, Steady Growth, And Accelerating Farm Income, John Austin, Chris Decker, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Nick Hernandez, Bruce Johnson, Ken Lemke, Franz Schwarz, Scott Strain, Eric Thompson, Keith Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

After years of accelerating growth, the U.S. economy achieved a soft landing in 2006. The rate of economic growth remained positive but slowed sufficiently to reduce inflation pressures and the need for further interest rate increases. At the same time the economy remained strong enough to continue the current expansion which has been in place since late 2001. Such a soft landing is vital because it should allow the economy to continue to expand for years to come, but with moderate inflation.

Manufacturing Rebounds, John Austin, Chris Decker, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Nick Hernandez, Bruce Johnson, Ken Lemke, Donis Petersan, Franz Schwarz, Eric Thompson, Keith Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

National economic conditions will continue to favor growth over the next three years, including sustained increases in manufacturing employment. Higher energy prices, particularly for oil, gasoline, and natural gas, will impact the economy, but probably only will moderate economic growth rather than cause a significant slowdown.

After rapid growth in 2004 and 2005, growth in real gross domestic product is expected to moderate in 2006-2008, due to higher long-term interest rates as well as higher energy prices. Real gross domestic product will grow 3 percent in 2006 and fall to 2.5 percent growth in later years. The housing market will …

Reform In Lieu Of Change: Tastes Great, Less Filling, Jonathan G.S. Koppell

Publications from President Jonathan G.S. Koppell

In this response to Light, Koppell argues that the increasing frequency of reform may reflect Congress's inability to make significant changes to the substance of entrenched government programs. Moreover, he observes that the more profound evolution in government has been the movement toward the market-based provision of services, which has created a demand for new competencies in the public sector.

Continued Growth In Nebraska, Saeed Ahmad, John Austin, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Bruce Johnson, Donis Petersan, Franz Schwarz, Eric Thomson, Keith K. Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

National economic conditions will continue to favor growth over the next three years. Increased business investment will combine with rising industrial production, expanding exports, and moderate increases in consumer spending to grow the economy. The rate of inflation is expected to increase as well. The rate of real (inflation-adjusted) growth will moderate compared to strong economic growth during 2004. Real gross domestic product will grow 3 percent to 3.5 percent over the next three years. High oil prices will remain a drain on the economy, siphoning spending from domestically produced goods and services. Fuel prices are expected to remain at …

Sustained Growth In Nebraska, Saeed Ahmad, John Austin, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Bruce Johnson, Mike Lundeen, Donis Petersan, Franz Schwarz, Eric Thompson, Keith K. Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

National Macroeconomic conditions are favorable for future expansion of income, employment, and revenue in Nebraska. In particular, the U.S. economy is now in the heart of an expansion expected to persist over the three year forecast period. The principal engine of growth will be a sustained expansion in private sector investment and consumption demand. However, the rate of growth in the national economy likely will be moderate rather than rapid. At least three factors will act to moderate growth. The first is higher energy prices. Rapid growth in global demand is expected to keep prices for oil and natural gas …

The Impact Of Base Expansion And Contraction Scenarios For Fort Bliss, Texas On The Regional Economy, Dennis L. Soden, David A. Schauer, Brent Mccune

IPED Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

The Challenge Of Administration By Regulation: Preliminary Findings Regarding The U.S. Government's Venture Capital Funds, Jonathan G.S. Koppell

Publications from President Jonathan G.S. Koppell

This article assesses the ability of elected officials to control public policy as implemented by public/private hybrid organizations, specifically, government venture capital funds. The study reveals greater control over OPIC investment funds than Enterprise Funds despite the existence of more traditional administrative tools of control for Enterprise Funds. This finding suggests that the regulatory infrastructure for hybrid organizations is more determinative of control than the existence (or lack) of traditional administrative control tools. Thus the challenge of hybrid government centers on the development of regulation as a substitute for administration.

The Reconciliation Of Micro And Macro Economics, Martin Shubik

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

It is suggested that the appropriate structure for the reconciliation of micro and macroeconomics is an infinite horizon overlapping generations (OLG) model with many finitely lived natural persons and one infinitely lived strategic player without preferences whose choice rule is determined by the periodic political choice of the finitely lived players who are alive and politically strategically active at the time of choice. This player may be interpreted as government. In the steps from the finite horizon general equilibrium (GE) model to the overlapping generations model (GGOLG) it is suggested that even without exogenous uncertainty, if economic efficiency is to …

Instability Of Government Revenue And Expenditure In Less Developed Countries, David Lim

Support & Other Units (THEi)

The governments of most less developed countries (LDCs) depend basically on their tax and non-tax revenues to finance their expenditure programmes. Unless countervailing action is taken, instability in government revenue will result in instability in government expenditure. The latter can add considerably to the complexity of fiscal management, which may then render ineffective development planning.1 It can also reduce business confidence and lead to the precautionary discounting of prospective investment returns and so a lowering of the investment level. This note does not attempt to verify the claim that expenditure instability has adverse effects on economic growth. Its aim is …

Government Recurrent Expenditure And Economic Growth In Less Developed Countries, David Lim

Support & Other Units (THEi)

There is not much support in less developed countries for the hypothesis that recurrent government expenditure is seen as consumption and hence more dispensable than capital expenditure. There is little evidence of a secular decline in recurrent expenditure for a group of 54 less developed countries over the period 1965–1973, nor is there strong evidence of greater instability in recurrent expenditure.

Ag Policy And The Food And Agriculture Act Of 1981, Galen Kelsey

Economics Commentator

No abstract provided.