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Articles 1 - 28 of 28
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Brains Over Brawn: Are There Lower Levels Of Wage Discrimination Between The Sexes In Industries That Require Less Physical Strength And More Cognitive Skill?, Jessica Baier
Award Winning Economics Papers
With the advent of technological innovations, cognitive abilities have become increasingly valued in the workplace, while physical strength, an important requirement for manual labor, has become less important. One might expect, therefore, the gender wage gap to be lower in occupations that require more cognitive skills, as men’s comparative advantage should be lower in those industries. Using 2010 individual data from the PUMS, I test whether the gender wage gap varies by industry or occupation, grouped according to skill level. I decompose the gaps using the Oaxaca decomposition, and find that, while there is not a clear pattern of wage …
Do Commercial Banks’ Foreign Claims Affect Sovereign Bond Yields In The Euro Zone?, William Creedon
Do Commercial Banks’ Foreign Claims Affect Sovereign Bond Yields In The Euro Zone?, William Creedon
Award Winning Economics Papers
No abstract provided.
What Is The Optimal Subsidy For Exercise? Informing Health Insurance Companies' Fitness Reimbursement Programs, Molly E. Frean
What Is The Optimal Subsidy For Exercise? Informing Health Insurance Companies' Fitness Reimbursement Programs, Molly E. Frean
Economics Honors Projects
Health care costs account for 17% of US GDP and many programs and policies seek to reduce these costs. This paper focuses on exercise as preventive care due to its immense physiological benefits. I model the profit-maximizing choice of health insurance companies to subsidize exercise and the utility-maximizing choice of individuals to engage in exercise using a traditional principal-agent framework. I then use principles from behavioral economics and psychology to critique these models and provide further insight into understanding our underconsumption of such preventive services. I end with an evaluation of current programs and suggestions for improvement using empirical findings.
What Factors Influence Consumers’ Decisions To Purchase Energy Star Appliances?, Rosamond Mate
What Factors Influence Consumers’ Decisions To Purchase Energy Star Appliances?, Rosamond Mate
Economics Honors Projects
This paper examines how differences in operating costs and market availability affect ownership of Energy Star dishwashers and clothes washers. I use logistic regressions and data from the 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey and the EPA’s Energy Star program to quantify these effects. Results indicate that controlling for temporal changes is very important; after doing so I find that differences in availability of efficient appliances do not affect ownership patterns. Overall, the frequency of appliance use does not increase the household’s responsiveness to electricity prices, which suggests that consumers do not fully value efficiency when choosing among appliances.
Does School Quality Affect Real Estate Prices? The Effect Of Top-Tier Elementary Schools On Property Prices In Shanghai, Wanyi Li
Economics Honors Projects
This study adapted the hedonic pricing model and inspected how varying elementary school quality affects property prices in Shanghai. Because the variation of school quality appeared before the capitalization of the housing market, the obtained results suggest a causal relationship. The data set comprises top-tier elementary school information from eWOM, the yearly school attendance zones published by the government, and the Shanghai Existing Property Index, which has a sample of similarly structured apartments. Main results show that prices on average increase 41.9% more in the top-tier school districts under the standardized housing system, and range from 15.5% to 69.7% among …
Peace Through Justice?: Evaluating The International Criminal Court, Katherine Ann Snitzer
Peace Through Justice?: Evaluating The International Criminal Court, Katherine Ann Snitzer
International Studies Honors Projects
This thesis looks at the recently created International Criminal Court (ICC) and its early cases in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan. The central questions are: how does the Court impact peace building in the war-torn countries whose cases it handles? And is there a tension between peace and justice in these cases? The case studies demonstrate that while rhetoric linking peace and justice dominates the Court, the ICC is ill equipped to address the complex interaction of the two in specific countries. The Court’s narrow mandate and powers mean that practical and political concerns dominate its decision-making …
Empowerment By Design?: A Case Study Of Women Living In New Urbanist Neighborhoods, Charlotte C. Fagan
Empowerment By Design?: A Case Study Of Women Living In New Urbanist Neighborhoods, Charlotte C. Fagan
Geography Honors Projects
Post-World War II suburban developments are often designed with a strict division between the private and public spheres, and are often characterized as placeless, lifeless, and an intellectual void. Since suburbia is often defined as a feminized space, these stereotypes frequently fall on women. New Urbanism, as a design school, is a push-back against placeless suburbs, and attempts to integrate the public and private spheres. This case study examines two New Urbanist developments in the Twin Cities area with the intent of understanding how women interact with their built environment in suburban neighborhoods that are designed differently than traditional subdivisions. …
The Country-Specific Nature Of Apparel Elasticities And Impacts Of The Multi-Fibre Arrangement, Lauren A. Martinez
The Country-Specific Nature Of Apparel Elasticities And Impacts Of The Multi-Fibre Arrangement, Lauren A. Martinez
Economics Honors Projects
Beginning with Krugman and Helpman’s theory of demand for differentiated products, this paper estimates 104 direct price elasticities of demand for apparel in the United States. While the literature has established that apparel elasticities vary by category and across countries, I examine how price elasticities of demand for apparel vary by country, regions, product characteristics, and after the end of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement. Results suggest that the country has the greatest single explanatory power in predicting price elasticities, and additionally, the “race to the bottom” hypothesis in the apparel industry is supported through increasing elasticity of 3.4% from the mean …
Challenges To Policy Implementation: An Examination Of An Integrated Health Care Delivery System Demonstration Project, Kaitlin A. Roh
Challenges To Policy Implementation: An Examination Of An Integrated Health Care Delivery System Demonstration Project, Kaitlin A. Roh
Political Science Honors Projects
US health care costs are among the highest of all industrialized nations. In an effort to reduce costs and improve health outcomes, new delivery models – including accountable care organizations – have been developed. Yet, as revealed through interviews with key participants in Hennepin County's delivery project, significant challenges to implementing them exist. They include obstacles that inherently arise from implementing a means-tested health care policy within a competitive, federalized governing structure. Because these challenges are not unique to Hennepin County, this project can help similar projects and may push policy towards the integration of the health care and social …
Deciphering A Duality: Understanding Conflicting Standards In Sex & Violence Censorship In U.S. Obscenity Law, Rushabh P. Bhakta
Deciphering A Duality: Understanding Conflicting Standards In Sex & Violence Censorship In U.S. Obscenity Law, Rushabh P. Bhakta
Political Science Honors Projects
This research examines the division in US obscenity law that enables strict sex censorship while overlooking violence. By investigating the social and legal development of obscenity in US culture, I argue that the contemporary duality in obscenity censorship standards arose from a family of forces consisting of faith, economy, and identity in early American history. While sexuality ingrained itself in American culture as a commodity in need of regulation, violence was decentralized from the state and proliferated. This phenomenon led to a prioritization of suppressing sexual speech over violent speech. This paper traces the emergence this duality and its source.
“Because This Is Not The End:” Motivation And Change In People Living With Hiv/Aids, Chloe I. Souza
“Because This Is Not The End:” Motivation And Change In People Living With Hiv/Aids, Chloe I. Souza
Sociology Honors Projects
With great improvements in antiretroviral treatment, HIV/AIDS has become a condition people are living with throughout their lives. It is therefore important to understand how people mentally and emotionally cope with the onset of disease and create behavioral change to maintain health. Through interviews with residents living at a housing facility for people with HIV/AIDS, I found there are a variety of ways that individuals respond to illness. Behavioral change results from how people understand their identity in a personal and social context. People also vary in how they manage their disease, depending on the type of social support they …
Varying Task Demonstrability To Examine The Roles Of Social And Cognitive Factors In Group Transfer Learning, Adam J. Freedman
Varying Task Demonstrability To Examine The Roles Of Social And Cognitive Factors In Group Transfer Learning, Adam J. Freedman
Psychology Honors Projects
I investigated the importance of cognitive exposure and social interaction for group-to-individual transfer for low-and high-demonstrability tasks. I tested the hypothesis that transfer occurs for high-demonstrability tasks with or without social interaction, but transfer for low-demonstrability tasks only occurs if subjects engage in social interaction. During the transfer phase, subjects either worked in a small group, which permitted social interaction, or viewed a video of a yolked group, which only permitted the transfer of cognitive processes. Analysis of subjects’ pre-post performance difference indicated that transfer is constant regardless of the level of demonstrability. However, overall transfer for the high demonstrability …
Theology Of Global Citizenship: Belonging Beyond Boundaries, God Within Boundaries, Jisoo Hong
Theology Of Global Citizenship: Belonging Beyond Boundaries, God Within Boundaries, Jisoo Hong
Political Science Honors Projects
Though creating identity and belongingness under the sovereign requires an enclosure by boundaries, the very act of drawing boundaries imposes inevitable challenges. The limitations of the Westphalian system based on territorial boundaries are becoming more tangible with transnational flows threatening individual’s sense of belonging and the state’s exercise of sovereignty. Global citizenship is suggested as a possible “solution” transcending these arbitrarily drawn boundaries. Nonetheless, my political theological examination concludes that global citizenship is yet another translation of the human beings’ old wish for belonging to, protection from, and unity under a “god,” albeit with new boundaries that differentiate us from …
The Creation Of State-Level Regulatory Systems: A Case Study Of Post-Prohibition Alcoholic Beverage Regulation, Jeremy Carp
The Creation Of State-Level Regulatory Systems: A Case Study Of Post-Prohibition Alcoholic Beverage Regulation, Jeremy Carp
Sociology Honors Projects
To better understand the way in which local and national forces operate to influence the design of subnational regulatory systems, this paper analyzes the development of alcohol regulation in the post-prohibition era. In particular, I examine why, in the period between 1933 and 1935, some states adopted a monopoly system of alcohol regulation and others a license system of alcohol regulation. I use fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and case-based research to identify causal pathways leading to each regulatory outcome. I draw on state-level demographic, religious, and voting data, as well as measures of alcohol industry prevalence and prohibition …
Whose Line Is It Anyway? Examining The Media's Coverage Of Cabinet Secretaries' Speeches, Matthew G. Mullarky
Whose Line Is It Anyway? Examining The Media's Coverage Of Cabinet Secretaries' Speeches, Matthew G. Mullarky
Political Science Honors Projects
Previous research suggests that politicians and the press spin news stories through their remarks and coverage of remarks to their own benefit — but is this also true for remarks made by Cabinet Secretaries? For this project, I compared remarks given by DHS Secretaries with newspaper articles about those remarks. I find that Secretaries’ ability to shape issues is initially limited by the press; however, Secretaries succeed in conveying their message eventually. This is important because citizens should know what government officials are saying and what those statements mean; therefore, media coverage of those statements should be critical and accurate.
Socialization With Alcohol Or Alcohol As Socialization: An Actor-Network Theory Approach To Understanding College Student Alcohol Use, Sean B. Hoops
Socialization With Alcohol Or Alcohol As Socialization: An Actor-Network Theory Approach To Understanding College Student Alcohol Use, Sean B. Hoops
Sociology Honors Projects
Many studies of college student drinking focus on understanding the problematic consequences of alcohol use. This research, however, does less to illuminate the cultural meanings of the use of alcohol. To address this gap, I examine how students relate to drinking alcohol socially, paying particular attention to how drinking and non-drinking emerge as meaningful behaviors in particular social settings. I analyze drinking qualitatively, focusing on the student perception of the significance of alcohol consumption as part of social interaction to understand the impact that alcohol itself has on the social setting. By employing an Actor-Network Theory framework I conclude that …
Facial Expression Processing Is Holistic Or Feature-Based Depending On Stimulus Format: Evidence From The Composite Face Illusion And Gaze-Contingent Stimulus Presentations, Emily R. Prazak
Psychology Honors Projects
Controversy exists over whether facial expression recognition is a holistic or feature-based process. The present research explored whether stimulus format (photographic vs. schematic) affects the type of processing used. In a composite/noncomposite expression recognition task, holistic processing was observed for photographic stimuli and feature-based processing was observed for schematic stimuli. Moreover, holistic processing in the photographic condition increased when more than one individual was presented. Results suggest that facial expression processing is holistic under natural viewing conditions and provide a potential resolution to the previous controversy. Such findings may be corroborated by an ongoing follow-up study using gaze-contingent stimulus presentations.
Does Information Lead To Household Electricity Conservation?, Devon M. Kristiansen
Does Information Lead To Household Electricity Conservation?, Devon M. Kristiansen
Economics Honors Projects
This paper estimates the effect of information on residential electricity consumption. Household reading expenditure, education level of the household head, and state “green” electricity pricing program participation rate represent the probability that a household has encountered information relating the carbon emission externalities of energy consumption and human-driven climate change. Reading expenditure has a significant negative effect on household electricity consumption. Initial increases in educational attainment increase electricity consumption, but education beyond high school reduces it. The predicted social norm effect of green pricing participation is insignificant.
With Heart-Strings Attached: Funding Decisions As Identity Work In Nonprofit Organizations, Jonathan L. Cole
With Heart-Strings Attached: Funding Decisions As Identity Work In Nonprofit Organizations, Jonathan L. Cole
Sociology Honors Projects
Resource dependency theory states that nonprofit organizations’ acceptance of public monies is acceptance of government control. Through detailed grants, government agencies can enact their priorities through willing or unwilling nonprofit organizations that need government grants to survive. To complicate the extant literature on nonprofit autonomy, this study uses an expansion of Viviana Zelizer’s connected lives theory (2005) to ask, How do nonprofits select sources of funding for specific services in reference to their relationship with granting agencies? Using qualitative interview methods the study concludes that nonprofits are agents in relationships with government grant agencies, and that nonprofits use funding decisions …
A State Within A State: The Case Of Chechnya, Hanna Zimnitskaya
A State Within A State: The Case Of Chechnya, Hanna Zimnitskaya
International Studies Honors Projects
After the USSR's dissolution, Russia struggled to reassert its Great Power status by enhancing its internal might and territorial cohesion. Futile military campaigns against the rebellious Chechen people pushed the Kremlin to strike a bargain with an unorthodox warlord: Ramzan Kadyrov, who was to become a faithful ally, while in return Chechnya received an unprecedented level of autonomy. This thesis examines the dynamics of Kadyrov's ascent to power, specifically the Islamization of public space and the monopolization of Chechen security forces, and concludes that, in the long run, the unwavering consolidation of his rule menaces Russia's re-emerging 'greatness'.
Does Proximity To Wind Farms Affect The Value Of Nearby Residential Properties? Evidence From Washington And New York States, Natalie Camplair
Does Proximity To Wind Farms Affect The Value Of Nearby Residential Properties? Evidence From Washington And New York States, Natalie Camplair
Award Winning Economics Papers
The rapid growth of wind farms across rural communities in the U.S. has spurred concerns over the effect of wind turbines on residential property values. This paper presents a hedonic regression analysis of property values using a partial panel of properties from two counties in the United States. A total of 24 models are estimated. This paper compares the results of market and county-assessed data, interaction terms, and varying assumptions about the effect of wind turbines. This study finds weak evidence that property values near wind turbines are lower than nearby areas, but given methodological limitations and likely endogeneity bias …
U.S. Monetary Policy Announcements And Foreign Exchange Market Behavior, Qianyi Yang
U.S. Monetary Policy Announcements And Foreign Exchange Market Behavior, Qianyi Yang
Economics Honors Projects
This paper examines the time-varying and currency-dependency nature of exchange rate responses following the U.S. monetary policy announcements. Using high frequency exchange rate data in the past decade, we find that the exchange rates of most major currencies against the US Dollar respond negatively to the monetary surprises in the 2001 recession, while the response becomes positive during the 2008 recession. Meanwhile, the JPY has the opposite response than the other major currencies in the 2008 recession. These results further confirm the nonlinearity in the relationship between exchange rate dynamics and fundamental news announcements.
Time For Myself, Time For Others: Gender Differences In The Meaning Of Retirement, Kate L. Lanning
Time For Myself, Time For Others: Gender Differences In The Meaning Of Retirement, Kate L. Lanning
Sociology Honors Projects
Research has demonstrated that work is a meaningful activity that contributes to peoples' identities. This meaning, however, may depend on the stage of the life course that one is in, and may be gendered. To contribute to understanding the social meaning of work and potentially gendered life-course transitions, I examine the experiences of older adults with work and retirement. Through interviews with both retired and working older adults, I examine whether and how older men and women differ from each other in the workplace and in retirement. Men and women face different challenges if they continue to work and when …
The Walls We Build: Borderwork And Manipulation Of Power Relations In Hebron, Shahar Eberzhon
The Walls We Build: Borderwork And Manipulation Of Power Relations In Hebron, Shahar Eberzhon
Sociology Honors Projects
Although borders mark the beginning on one political administrative unit and the ending of another, individuals who live in borderlands translate the abstract ideas of borders into part of their daily, physical reality. Conflicts about borders indicate that despite their static representations on maps, people in borderlands may challenge the legitimacy and meaning of these boundaries. Social interactions that are created through the borderwork of using, resisting, and avoiding borders and through practices of exclusion and inclusion affect the daily lives of communities. The main question this research will therefore answer is how borderwork in contested borderlands produces the types …
Going Global: Explaining Participation In The Working Group On Indigenous Populations, Joshua Rubin
Going Global: Explaining Participation In The Working Group On Indigenous Populations, Joshua Rubin
Sociology Honors Projects
Due to indigenous peoples' focus on maintaining localized cultural difference, it is surprising that the indigenous rights movement has been so robust and pervasive on the global scale. World polity and transnational advocacy network (TAN) theories have attempted to explain the rise of the global indigenous movement, but unique features of indigenous peoples and their rights make the applications of these theories potentially problematic. This study looks at participation in the global movement empirically, attempting to answer the questions of why and when indigenous peoples participate. With a new data set, I use event history analysis to model participation in …
How Has The Introduction Of Antiretroviral Therapy (Art) Affected The Dynamics Between Aids And Economic Growth In Sub-Saharan Africa?, Jose R. Rubio
How Has The Introduction Of Antiretroviral Therapy (Art) Affected The Dynamics Between Aids And Economic Growth In Sub-Saharan Africa?, Jose R. Rubio
Economics Honors Projects
This paper quantifies the economic effect of the use of antiretroviral therapy as a frontline strategy to fight AIDS using data on 29 countries in Sub-‐Saharan Africa. To this purpose, I use two-‐stage least squares estimation defining both a health equation and an education and health capital-‐augmented structural Solow growth equation. Through the introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and HIV prevalence in the health equation, I indirectly link HIV and ART to economic growth. The results show that the HIV/AIDS epidemic reduces GDP per capita by 0.175% per marginal increase in HIV prevalence. ART increases GDP per capita by 0.048% …
Challenging Rust: Race And Rightsizing In Detroit, An American Post-Industrial Context, Andrienne Palchick
Challenging Rust: Race And Rightsizing In Detroit, An American Post-Industrial Context, Andrienne Palchick
Geography Honors Projects
Cities in the American Rustbelt face the considerable challenges of depopulation and economic decline, but they are also increasingly viewed as places ripe with opportunities for innovation and an exciting re-imagination of urban space. This paper examines the Detroit Works Project, a re-envisioning and revitalization initiative in Detroit, to explore larger questions of accessibility and inclusion in U.S. post-industrial cities. It is an investigation of how to structure these revitalization efforts within cities where networks of actors, who invested in urban industrial growth, created policies which built the geographies of unequal access, racial segregation, and systemic marginalization that persist today.
On A Condition Or A Mission?: Examining The Political Histories Of Anti-Poverty Policies In Brazil, Venezuela And Colombia, Diego A. Melo
On A Condition Or A Mission?: Examining The Political Histories Of Anti-Poverty Policies In Brazil, Venezuela And Colombia, Diego A. Melo
Latin American Studies Honors Projects
Political culture, fiscal constraints and institutional incentives have shaped the making and implementation of Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) in Latin America. However, why have CCTs consolidated in Brazil, been secondary in Colombia and remained absent in Venezuela? Brazilian authoritarian legacy and neoliberal rationality combined with strong federalism during economic downturn and provided room for experimentation in social policy, eventually leading to the incorporation and future universalization of CCTs (Bolsa Família). In contrast, less rationalized bureaucracies in Colombia and Venezuela have operated under strong presidentialism, allowing economic recessions and executive electoral incentives to shape weak CCT implementation (Familias …