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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Measuring The Effect Of Family Income On Undergraduate Behavior, Lindsey Brewer
Measuring The Effect Of Family Income On Undergraduate Behavior, Lindsey Brewer
Honors Theses
Educational equality has been an important and relevant issue in recent years, especially as tuition increases at colleges and universities make it increasingly difficult for low and middle-income families to afford education for their children. There are even more issues of educational equality that come into play once a student matriculates at a chosen school. This paper focuses on this area, expanding on existing literature that details family income’s impact on undergraduate behavior. Academic pursuits have been a topic for prior research in this area, but this paper also models extracurricular behavior as a function of family income. Results show …
Can Scouts And Nfl General Managers Predict Future Quarterback Performance At The Time Of The Nfl Draft?, Cain Montgomery
Can Scouts And Nfl General Managers Predict Future Quarterback Performance At The Time Of The Nfl Draft?, Cain Montgomery
Honors Theses
Every year the National Football League has a draft selection process to recruit new talent. Despite the overwhelming amount of analysis performed on players, bad draft picks happen every year. Little research has previously been done to determine whether player performance is predictable at the time of the NFL Draft. Rafferty and Johnson chartered new territory in 2008 with their study entitled Is the NFL Draft a Crap Shoot? The Case of Wide Receivers. The purpose of this paper is to help fill the void of literature on performance prediction by extending the study by Rafferty and Johnson to …
The Impact Of Social Pressures On Referee's Sanctions In Professional Soccer : A Case Study Of Penalty Kicks In The Mls, Mariano Harari
The Impact Of Social Pressures On Referee's Sanctions In Professional Soccer : A Case Study Of Penalty Kicks In The Mls, Mariano Harari
Honors Theses
This paper examines referee bias in the Major League Soccer (MLS), particularly looking at referees’ decisions regarding penalty kicks. After analyzing the 520 penalty kicks sanctioned since the inception of the MLS, this study ascertains that referees’ display a considerable bias favoring the home team when awarding the initial penalty kick of a game. Additionally, this study demonstrates that in matches with more than one penalty kick, the penalties are disproportionately awarded to each team, suggesting that referees are compensating or atoning for their initial calls. Moreover, when sanctioning a second penalty kick, there is a bias effect of 5.4% …
Forecasting Utility Of Uk Consumer Sentiment Indexes In Real Time : Do Consumer Sentiment Surveys Improve Consumption Forecasts In Real Time?, Bradford M. Smith
Forecasting Utility Of Uk Consumer Sentiment Indexes In Real Time : Do Consumer Sentiment Surveys Improve Consumption Forecasts In Real Time?, Bradford M. Smith
Honors Theses
This paper builds on recent research utilizing real time datasets in order to assess the forecasting utility of consumer sentiment indexes in the United Kingdom. Academic researchers have consistently found that consumer confidence indexes accurately predict consumer spending in the near term. Few of these examinations, however, have utilized out of sample forecasting and only one has incorporated real time data. In an effort to recreate the exact dataset that is available to economic forecasters in real time, this paper utilizes the recently published Gross Domestic Product Real-Time Database from the Bank of England in order to produce forecasts of …
The Evolution Of Campaign Finance And Its Reform: An Expoloration And Economic Analysis, Meghan Milloy
The Evolution Of Campaign Finance And Its Reform: An Expoloration And Economic Analysis, Meghan Milloy
Honors Theses
From the blunders of Theodore Roosevelt that initiated much of the debate on campaign finance reform to Bill Bradley's ideas on voting reform as a means to reform campaign finance, this is a topic that has inspired much debate and controversy. My hope is that throughout the following pages, through the history, opinions, and empirical evidence, the reader may formulate his or her own opinions on the good, evil, and necessity — or lack thereof — of reforming the system. History teaches where we have gone wrong. Econometric evidence tells us where we should go next. And opinions for future …
The Effects Of Market Sentiment On Crude Oil Futures Markets, Nathan Somayaji
The Effects Of Market Sentiment On Crude Oil Futures Markets, Nathan Somayaji
Honors Theses
This paper uses a behavioral finance approach to examine the effect of psychological factors on pricing in futures markets. Specifically, I assess the impact of the contemporaneous market sentiment on price discovery in crude oil futures markets. A considerable amount of previous research has shown that futures prices in crude oil markets lead spot prices, as futures act as a mechanism for determining spot prices. My analysis addresses whether the lead-lag relationship between futures and spot varies with differing market sentiment. I hypothesize that futures pricing will lead in times of increased uncertainty due to lower transactions costs and greater …
Cyclicality Of State Budgeting: A Political-Economy Analysis., Ian W. Cummins
Cyclicality Of State Budgeting: A Political-Economy Analysis., Ian W. Cummins
Honors Theses
This paper disentangles the effect of political ideology and budget rules on fiscal cyclicality across the U.S. states. Using panel data from 1963 to 2006, liberal states are found to be significantly less procyclical than conservative ones. The impact of balanced budget constraints is contingent on the ideological orientation of the state in which they are imposed. Tight balanced budget rules are not binding on conservative states, but are binding on liberal ones. Where they are binding, budget rules mediate the link between voter preferences and policy outcomes skewing them toward greater procyclicality.
Can Parallel Exchange Rates Forecast Commodity Prices?, John F. Roberts
Can Parallel Exchange Rates Forecast Commodity Prices?, John F. Roberts
Honors Theses
Commodity price uncertainty imposes large costs on society. On the macro level, it results in sudden and unexpected shifts in current account imbalances and real GDP volatility, while on the micro level, it leads to allocation inefficiencies. Accurate price forecasts have the potential to remove some of this uncertainty and allow for a more efficient distribution of resources, and thus, an increase in social welfare. Despite the obvious gains to be had from accurate commodity price forecasts, few models have been able to deliver these results. Chen, Rogoff and Rossi (2008) were the first to find a promising link between …