Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

How Did The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act Of 2017 Effect Small Businesses?, Jackson Pittman

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 marked a significant overhaul of the United States tax system, promising to stimulate economic growth and enhance the competitiveness of American businesses. Amidst its broad-reaching reforms, the TCJA introduced several provisions directly impacting small businesses, aiming to alleviate their tax burdens and foster entrepreneurial activity. This thesis endeavors to evaluate the multifaceted effects of the TCJA on small businesses, examining its implications for their financial performance, investment behavior, and overall economic contribution.

Preliminary findings suggest that the TCJA has produced a generally positive result for small businesses. On one hand, reduced …

Economic Anomalies Following The Handover Of Hong Kong, Nathan Martin

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper seeks to examine and provide a possible explanation for economic anomalies in Hong Kong following its handover to China. Hong Kong was on a 99-year lease to the United Kingdom from China before being handed back over July 1^st, 1997. Due to the “one country, two systems” policy espoused in the handover agreement that was to be implemented for fifty years, this event marks a rare natural experiment of a peaceful regime change without a significant change in governance. This paper seeks to understand the impact of the act of regime change on selected key macroeconomic …

County-Level Unemployment Dynamics Following The Covid Recession: The Effects Of Ppp Loan Take Up, Preston Antes

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a nationwide shutdown, dragging the US into a recession. To combat the effects of the pandemic on the economy, Congress created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) with the focus of preserving jobs and providing liquidity to small businesses. PPP created low-interest, forgivable business loans with forgiveness tied to a few benchmarks, providing a de facto cash transfer to small businesses. Did PPP preserve jobs? When examining Mississippi, this paper shows that counties with high cyclical unemployment participated more intensely in the program. Furthermore, the research shows that as loan totals grew within a county, local labor …

Essays On Entrepreneurship, Yoshiko Oka

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the determinants of successful entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial entry. It consists of three chapters.

Chapter 1 estimates the effect of regional concentrations of related industrial firms and business owners' cognitive and non-cognitive traits on their business survival. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the County Business Patterns, I find that incorporated businesses that operate in a location where similar businesses are clustered together have a significantly higher chance of survival. However, the effect of location appears to be insignificant for unincorporated businesses. On the other hand, the results show that businesses that are …

To Be Or Not To Be: The Relationship Between Economic Diversity And Unemployment Rates In Canadian Cities During The Covid-19 Induced Shock, Yahaya Alphonse

Major Papers

Regional scholars have broadly studied the role of economic structure in shielding a community from economic shocks. This research has generally involved comparing diversity against specialization. This study compares differences within varying degrees of economic diversity in Canadian cities. Canada has received very little attention in this field despite the importance this knowledge could provide in shaping Canadian economic policy. This paper aims to fill in this gap by analyzing the role economic diversity played in acting as a structural buffer to the COVID-19-induced economic shock. This analysis is done utilizing a Herfindahl Hirschman Index to measure economic diversity and …

Examining Migration Flows Across Kentucky's Counties, James Brady Stein

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The state of Kentucky is home to many rural counties which experience high levels of outward migration due to their relatively unfavorable economic conditions. While migration trends nationally have begun to plateau, migration flows from county to county show a much more volatile story. This study will examine the relationship between economic opportunity and migration flow estimates in Kentucky’s counties through a multiple regression approach with the response variable being annual migration flow estimates, with multiple predictor variables showing the economic composition of the county. Variables used in this regression include annual unemployment rates, educational attainment levels, county poverty rates, …

Opportunity Cost Of Student Loan Debt Forgiveness: Testing The Impact Of Four Policy Options On United States’ Economy, Emelia Akhlaghi

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Nearly 45 million Americans are trapped in a student loan debt. In total they owe more than $1.75 trillion. Research shows that such a high amount of debt harms the U.S. economy in several ways, preventing anything from small business development to new house purchases, and even weddings and procreation. It is an issue that stakeholders have tried to address by offering different relief measures ranging from re-financing to debt cancellation. Debt cancellation has remained high on the agenda of the Democrat political leadership. This is the reason that student loan debt cancellation was on the agenda of each democrat …

An Anomaly In Unemployment Rates: A Comparative Analysis Of Federal Governments’ Responses To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Trent Arney

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom experienced extremely low unemployment rates compared to similarly developed nations. As a result of the ensuing national recessions, the United States’ and Canada’s Phillip’s Curves shifted, while the United Kingdom’s remained steady. Each of these three nations pursued relatively similar monetary and fiscal policies; however, the United Kingdom’s government-supported wage policy had different requirements and specifications than that of the United States’ and Canada’s. The United Kingdom’s government-supported wage policy prioritized saving jobs while the United States’ and Canada’s policies prioritized saving firms, leading to the disparity in national unemployment rates observed during …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Employment Characteristics, Eliana Shatkin

Theses and Dissertations

The following study examines ways in which COVID-19 has disrupted the United States labor market. My findings present disproportionately negative effects of COVID-19 on employment, labor force participation, worker absence, and weekly working hours for the female population in my sample, as well as veterans, disabled persons, and racial minorities.

The Job Guarantee As It Relates To People With Disabilities, Tyler Christopher Emerson

Senior Projects Spring 2022

We accept unemployment as an inevitability in our capitalist economy even when it is purportedly functioning at full capacity. Some economists propose that the government could directly intervene in the labor market to meet the peoples’ demand for jobs. Work in modern America is a central aspect of participation in society that directly impacts individuals’ identities. Unemployment is, therefore, a key mechanism of social exclusion. The Federal Job Guarantee seeks to provide work directly for the unemployed with work that serves the public good.

People with disabilities disproportionately suffer from unemployment, underemployment, and often leave the workforce entirely. The majority …

Disenfranchised Residents’ Perceptions Of The Public Transportation Accessibility-Job Opportunity Mismatch In San Bernardino, California, Maggi Elgeziry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractPeople access employment opportunities at a more affordable rate by using public transportation. In San Bernardino, California, poverty, minority populations, and low-skilled individuals all exceed national rates. This research explored how a cheap and reliable means of transportation would facilitate access to job opportunities that would otherwise be relatively expensive for this disadvantaged population to access. Research has documented the benefit of public transportation in communities where public transportation is pivotal in helping disadvantaged populations access job opportunities. Common good theory (CGT) was used to explain the shared benefit that communities reap when working together for a common socioeconomic purpose. …

Impacting Black Youths’ Unemployment Through Online Social Networking And Online Social Capital, Adolphus Emmanuel Archie Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Blacks have the highest unemployment rate when compared to other subsets of the United States population. Black youths have the highest unemployment rates when compared to other racial subsets in the United States. These facts have been constant since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began reporting this statistic in the early 1970s. In order to close the gap between the rate of unemployment of Black youths when to compared to other racial groups, many types of civic programs have been implemented from all levels of governments. None of these programs or efforts have reduced Black youths’ unemployment nor closed …

Reducing Family Risk Factors Caused By Poverty Through Family Support Services, Aaliyah C. Williams

MSU Graduate Theses

This study aims to determine whether preventative measures are effective if implemented while a family is in crisis, through Family Support Services (FSS), to alleviate Risk Factors, prevent family separation and ensure prolonged family stability, instead of as services to reunify a family that already separated due to a lack of resources. This study examined the Poverty Related Risk Factors of Homelessness, Single Parenthood, and Unemployment as Risk Factors that families enrolled in Ozarks Area Community Action Corporation (OACAC) Head Start experience as negative influences on child development and Family Unity and analyzed OACAC Head Start’s implementation of FSS as …

The Impact Of Immigration On Unemployment And Wages In The United States: Evidence From Seven States, Carol Ohenewa Bruce-Tagoe

Masters Theses

Immigration and Immigration policies have been a source of debate for political parties in the United States, especially its impact on the labor market. This research investigates how immigration affects unemployment and wages in the U.S. by using a balanced panel dataset of seven states from 2007 to 2019. The states (California, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, and Massachusetts) sampled recorded the highest immigrant population and contain key gateway cities. I estimate two models: unemployment growth rate, and wages growth rate. The results of the pooled OLS estimation confirm that immigration has a trivial impact on the U.S. …

The Effects Of Corporate Tax Rates And Foreign Investment On Unemployment In Tax Haven Nations, Timothy M. Campbell

Honors Theses and Capstones

Corporate tax haven nations are infamous for offering corporations lower tax rates so that they can operate at lower costs and increase their profits. How the tax policies of tax havens impact the citizens of those nations is seldom discussed. This paper aims to determine if the policies undertaken by tax havens to increase foreign investment benefit the welfare of the citizens of those nations in terms of employment rate. Using a small preliminary sample of havens and non-havens, an inverse relationship is observed between corporate tax rate and foreign direct investment, and corporate tax rate and employment. A larger …

Battling Youth Unemployment In France: Can Macron Put Young People To Work?, Adriana C. Bolivar

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

High unemployment has been a persistent struggle for the French economy, especially over the last 30 years under presidents Mitterrand, Chirac, Sarkozy, Hollande, and now Macron. In recent years, this problem has particularly plagued young workers making them the “lost generation” of Europe. This paper studies the history of youth unemployment in France and assesses the impact of government policies and cultural norms on young workers. Additionally, it highlights the trade-off between workers’ rights and economic growth in an attempt to draw attention to the importance of culture and context in development.

The factors that have driven French structural youth …

Reducing Youths Unemployment In Nigeria: The Development Of A Technical And Vocational Education And Training Survey Instrument, Omotola Olabisi Akinsola

Doctoral Dissertations

Youth unemployment has been on the rise for many years in Nigeria. Despite the high number of youths enrolled in formal education in Nigeria and the number of graduates each year, job opportunities to absorb these graduates are few. TVET has been proposed as an educational intervention in reducing youth unemployment.

A systematic review revealed that the interventions aimed at reducing youth unemployment were pooled into four categories: the use of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in schools, the introduction of entrepreneurship education in schools, the engagement of public-private partnership (PPP), and career guidance counseling for students.

In …

The Poverty In Usa: An In-Depth Analysis Of The Last Two Decades, Sara Negri

Economics Theses & Dissertations

Poverty is a global problem that affects not only the undeveloped states but also the most developed ones. This research paper will analyze this problem in depth, trying to summarize several definitions, several causes that can lead to an increase in the poverty rate, and policies implemented by the government in order to reduce the total number of poor people. The author analyzed the poverty rate in each state of the United States from 1990 to 2019 using a panel data analysis. She found out that California is the state with the highest value of poor people in the U.S. …

Strategies Worker-Owned Cooperatives Use To Remain Profitable During Economic Downturns, Termaine Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

New managers of worker-owned cooperatives who fail to adapt to changing conditions can threaten the organization’s viability. Some new managers of worker-owned cooperatives may lack the strategies they need to maintain consistent employment levels during economic downturns. Grounded in the expected utility theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the strategies used by managers of worker-owned cooperatives to maintain consistent employment levels during sustained periods of low revenue. Participants comprised seven managers of worker-owned cooperatives with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in the Midwest of the United States managing cooperatives during sustained periods of …

Strategies Worker-Owned Cooperatives Use To Remain Profitable During Economic Downturns, Termaine Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

New managers of worker-owned cooperatives who fail to adapt to changing conditions can threaten the organization’s viability. Some new managers of worker-owned cooperatives may lack the strategies they need to maintain consistent employment levels during economic downturns. Grounded in the expected utility theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the strategies used by managers of worker-owned cooperatives to maintain consistent employment levels during sustained periods of low revenue. Participants comprised seven managers of worker-owned cooperatives with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in the Midwest of the United States managing cooperatives during sustained periods of …

Activating Hope: How Functional Support Can Improve Hope In Unemployed Individuals, Rylee P. Walter

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Hope is an adaptive mindset that enables one to work toward their goals and thwart obstacles they encounter in doing so. However, the stress associated with some situations, such as unemployment, can block hopeful thinking, causing one to become stuck in unmotivated and inflexible thinking patterns and therefore potentially trapped in the distressing situation. Through an online survey, this study explored whether functional support would predict reportedly low hope states in unemployed individuals (N = 235). More specifically, we predicted that functional support would encourage reappraisal of (and thus buffer against) distressing unemployment-related emotions, with that reappraisal altering the …

The Effect Of Low Skill Job Opportunities On Postsecondary Enrollment, Mallory Radesic

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research examines the effect that low skill job opportunities have on the probability of enrollment in postsecondary institutions between men and women, namely the construction and manufacturing industries. The research is based on the human capital investment theory, which states that individuals will enroll in postsecondary institutions when the perceived benefits outweigh the costs. More job opportunity heightens the opportunity cost of enrollment, hence lowering the probability of enrollment. After running a probit model, there is evidence that enrollment is countercyclical and that enrollment decisions do not vary significantly between men and women. I find that a 1 percent …

Poverty And Social Security Experiences In Australia: Experiences Of Wellbeing For Recipients Of The 2020 Jobseeker Payment, Kira Huntley

Theses : Honours

The relationship between poverty caused by social security payments below the poverty line and poor wellbeing among recipients has long been established in academic research. In April 2020, recipients of Australia’s main unemployment benefit, Newstart, were temporarily lifted out of poverty due to their transition onto JobSeeker, a payment implemented to support Australian workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns in the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. This study sought to understand the experiences of wellbeing that receiving this increased payment and being embedded within a change policy framework engendered for participants who transitioned from Newstart to JobSeeker. …

Impact Of Unemployment Insurance Benefit Generosity On Re-Employment Wages During The Great Recession, Hayden Cobb

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper examines the impact of the replacement ratio on re-employment wages during the great recession. This is done using a data set from IPUMS CPS displaced workers supplement between 2005 and 2012. Using OLS analysis, I estimated the impacts of the replacement ratio on the ratio of re-employment wages to pre-unemployment wages. I found that a replacement ratio of one would lead to a 77.6% increase in the ratio of re-employment wages to pre-unemployment wages, without the consideration of any other variables. The findings of the replacement ratio support economic theory and contradict the findings of some major papers …

Social Determinants Of Health: The Impact On Health Outcomes And Hospital Profitability, Danielle Mcpherson

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Hospitals are experiencing decreasing profitability due to increasing healthcare cost. In this paper, I demonstrate that there is financial value to hospitals by addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) as this strategy improves health outcomes and yields cost savings. I estimate the impact of SDOH on the health outcomes using an IV probit regression analysis and estimated the impact of health outcomes on cost using a basic linear regression. I estimate that improving SDOH by one standard deviation will result in hospital cost savings as follows: addressing Violent Crime will decrease hospital cost between 0.16% and 0.21%, addressing Supplemental Nutrition …

A Multicultural Study Of The Experience Of Grief Following Involuntary Job Loss, Diane Lacen

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

A MULTICULTURAL STUDY OF THE EXPERIENCE OF GRIEF FOLLOWING INVOLUNTARY JOB LOSS

by DIANE BYRD LACEN

B. A., English, The University of New Mexico, 1989 M. A., Secondary Education, The University of New Mexico, 1996 M. A., Counseling and Guidance, New Mexico Highlands University, 2005 Ph.D., Counselor Education, The University of New Mexico, 2020

ABSTRACT

Unemployment affects many individuals and families in today’s world. This qualitative multiple-case study design examined how individuals from diverse backgrounds experienced grief following involuntary job loss. A purposeful sampling consisted of nine adults who represented the multicultural diversity in New Mexico. Triangulation of methods included …

Oil Price Changes And Unemployment Rate In The U.S. And Chile, Agamani Maity

Master's Theses

Abstract

There is a recurring question in theoretical, empirical and policy work is what the effects of higher oil prices are on the country’s macroeconomic aggregates. Empirical evidence in support of the view that fluctuation in the economy due to the interaction of macroeconomic variables is caused by oil price was based on inappropriate econometric models. These studies do not capture the composition of the price of oil that is affected by the exogenous oil shocks and has an indirect or direct impact on the macroeconomic aggregates. In this study, we decompose the change in oil prices into three structural …

Mind Your Youth: Youth Unemployment And Islamic Radicalization, Caleb Ray

Honors Theses

This study examines the potential existence of a correlation between youth unemployment and Islamic Radicalization in the MENA using data from the World Bank, the Global Terrorism Database, and the Arab Barometer. It aims to add to the current body of research regarding socioeconomic drivers for radicalization and terrorism.

Perceived Employment Barriers Involving Program Managers Assisting Unemployed Young African American Males, Michael P. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For unemployed, young, African American males who face significant barriers to jobs, public employment training centers have become a critical last option. For 2016, the U.S. federal government appropriated more than $6.9 billion to states for Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act programs and approximately $3.4 billion in federal formula funding for partner programs. The research problem in this study concerns the lack of adequate employment-based policies and programs that guide the workforce employment process between program managers and recipients, in particular, young, African American males. Guided by Ingram, Schneider, and DeLeon’s theory of social construction and policy design, this study examined …

How Does A Higher Minimum Wage Affect The Economy?, Harrison Wyatt Dunn

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

This paper collected and collated data from multiple governmental sources as well as other research studies and written sources to examine whether raising the minimum wage from 7.25$ to 15$ would affect the economy and if it does—how drastically. Data collected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Department of Labor, A Guide to Cost Benefit Analysis by Edward Gramlich, etc. This data was then collated into an easily comparable and viewable form. Then it was put into Stata and run through various regressions to determine the impact of the minimum wage on the factors of unemployment and income per …