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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2008

Bryant University

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Articles 1 - 17 of 17

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

An Analysis Of Current Healthcare Proposals: Obama And Mccain, Dan Terrell Dec 2008

An Analysis Of Current Healthcare Proposals: Obama And Mccain, Dan Terrell

Honors Projects in Economics

The healthcare system of the U.S. is broken. The next opportunity for overwhelming healthcare system reform will be when the next president takes office. This paper analyzes the 2008 presidential election candidates McCain and Obama healthcare proposals through a look at key players in the current healthcare system (government, pharmaceuticals, doctors, hospitals, and health insurance companies) and the affects of implementing such a plan. The presidential plans are presented side by side. Projected outcomes of the changes offered by Obama will be an increased role of the government and decreased power of the health insurance companies while increasing coverage. The …

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Revisiting Feminism: Who’S Afraid Of The F Word?, Delia D. Aguilar Oct 2008

Revisiting Feminism: Who’S Afraid Of The F Word?, Delia D. Aguilar

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

"While preparing for today I discovered that I had already used the 'F' word in a panel presentation at Sarah Lawrence College almost 15 years ago. This was something I had completely forgotten. But that time I was questioning feminism itself: what’s wrong with the 'F' word?"

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Adolescent Females And Their Mothers, Julie E. Volkman, Kami Silk Jan 2008

Adolescent Females And Their Mothers, Julie E. Volkman, Kami Silk

Communication Faculty Journal Articles

Recent research indicates environmental factors and personal behaviors are related to breast cancerrisk, but adopting a healthy lifestyle as early as adolescence can serve a protective function. Toinvestigate perceptions of breast cancer risk and the environment, 10 focus groups (N = 91) wereconducted with adolescent females (n = 55) and mothers (n = 36) across four counties in the Midwest,USA. The Uncertainty Management Theory provides a framework for discussing statements, andresults suggest that uncertainty is maintained through ambiguity about environmental risk factorsand breast cancer. Recommendations for prevention messages are presented.

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An Analysis Of The Female Labor Force Participation Rate In The U.S. 1980-2004, Larry Martins Jan 2008

An Analysis Of The Female Labor Force Participation Rate In The U.S. 1980-2004, Larry Martins

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This research uses census data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to examine the female labor force participation from 1980 to 2004. These statistics are used to find the determinants of women’s decisions to enter the job market. The purpose of studying the female involvement in the labor force is to illustrate if females are still having trouble in the market. This article also reviews historical labor force statistics to determine how the labor force has changed and which factors have affected its changes between 1980 and 2004. The model, estimated with U.S. data, has provided empirical support for the …

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Factors Affecting Health Care Spending, Jennifer Resende Jan 2008

Factors Affecting Health Care Spending, Jennifer Resende

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

With an aging population and an increase in health care spending across many nations, there is a need to determine what is affecting this increase and whether this trend can be expected to continue into the future. This paper aims to investigate the possible differences in health care expenditures in different countries. The study incorporates the use and analysis of several independent variables that are believed to affect health care spending in an array of countries including life expectancies, the increase in aging populations, health care spending on private sectors, and the quality of health care as represented by the …

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The Importance Of Governance To A Stable And Developed Economy, Peter Litvinenko Jan 2008

The Importance Of Governance To A Stable And Developed Economy, Peter Litvinenko

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the assumption that proficient governance is essential in securing a stable economy. It studies and analyzes many relevant variables that one would find controlled by the government in its economy. My results show that these established nations all have differences in terms of debt and balance of trades but all seem to agree on the importance of maintaining a morally stable and efficient government structure that allows them to compete in the world economy.

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U.S. Current Account: Why Is It Increasingly Negative?, Joshua Champagne Jan 2008

U.S. Current Account: Why Is It Increasingly Negative?, Joshua Champagne

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the reasons for the increasingly negative United States current account. The study incorporates information into a multivariate linear regression model to examine the influence of various economic indicators on the U.S. current account. The paper focuses more so on which variables create an increase in the current account and which variables cause deterioration and why the overall value of the current account is continually becoming more negative. The results show that the U.S. Current Account is negative because there is not enough government investment, savings, and private savings, along with a negative fiscal policy, combined with an …

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United States Homeownership Rates: The Effect Of Macroeconomic Factors On The Domestic Real Estate Market, Alexander Grande Jan 2008

United States Homeownership Rates: The Effect Of Macroeconomic Factors On The Domestic Real Estate Market, Alexander Grande

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines the correlation between U.S. economic indicators and the domestic real estate market. The analysis of the study’s findings and results show that some indicators adversely affect homeownership rates in conjunction to the overall state of the market during the time frame depicted. The regression is from a model used on an international level and it is taken and applied here to the domestic market of one country; the United States. The results from the research and tests performed highlight the economic indicators that are closely correlated to the rate of homeownership.

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Determinants Of Gasoline Price: Can Consumer Spending Make A Difference?, Jonathan Stachelek Jan 2008

Determinants Of Gasoline Price: Can Consumer Spending Make A Difference?, Jonathan Stachelek

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the determinants to gasoline prices in the United States. The regression contains five different independent variables: the price of imported oil per barrel, the number of barrels of oil imported to the United States, the number of barrels of oil produced domestically in United States, the commodity price of oil, the number of automobiles purchased monthly in the United States, and the dependent variable, Gasoline Price. By using these variables in a linear regression model, the results show that the price of gasoline is primarily driven by the price of imported crude oil, followed shortly thereafter by …

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Causality Between Defense Spending Gdp And Economic Growth, Ryan P. Daley Jan 2008

Causality Between Defense Spending Gdp And Economic Growth, Ryan P. Daley

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper addresses whether or not the government members of the “Coalition of the Willing” military expenditure as a participant in the war in Iraq will help to generate domestic economic growth on the eve of an impending recession. This paper analyzes the findings during the time period 1989-2006 regarding military expenditure as a percentage of GDP, and its effect on GDP growth, through comparing that relationship between studies and in different political, socioeconomic circumstances. It also performs the same tests on the most recent and complete set of data available for the 31 member nations of the Coalition, to …

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Economic And Social Factors That Influence Life Expectancy And Infant Mortality, Kenneth Smith Jan 2008

Economic And Social Factors That Influence Life Expectancy And Infant Mortality, Kenneth Smith

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates life expectancy and infant mortality rates in randomly selected countries from around the world. This study takes into consideration many economic and social factors that could potentially have an effect on life expectancy and infant mortality in different countries. Factors are modeled using a least-squared regression model and are determined as significant based on their probability factor. Results show both positive and negative effects depending on the economic and social factor.

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The Impact Of Sectoral Performance On The Stock Market: Does Volatility Equal Explanatory Power?, Jeffrey Haydock Jan 2008

The Impact Of Sectoral Performance On The Stock Market: Does Volatility Equal Explanatory Power?, Jeffrey Haydock

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the real impact of sector performance on the overall stock market and the possibility that the primary culprit of negative or positive performance isn’t necessarily the one that significantly drives overall market performance. The study compares average gain or loss by sector with regression analysis to determine if the largest gainer or loser is also reflected in regression analysis after beta calculation. The results show that there is very limited correlation between the two measures suggesting that major volatility in one sector doesn’t necessarily have the greatest impact on total market movement.

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The Interaction Between The Stock Market, Monetary Policy And Inflation In Singapore And Malaysia, Lindsey Kahler Jan 2008

The Interaction Between The Stock Market, Monetary Policy And Inflation In Singapore And Malaysia, Lindsey Kahler

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates and compares the interactions among the stock market, monetary policy, and inflation in both Singapore and Malaysia from 2005 through 2007 using bivariate and multivariate vector autoregressive cointegrating specifications. The Granger-causality test shows that for Malaysia there significant unidirectional relationships of inter-bank loan rates to inflation, and inflation to Kuala Lumpur stock returns. For Singapore there is only one significant marginal unidirectional Granger-causality relationship of inflation to Straits Times stock returns. There are no reciprocal relationships in either country. Based on changes in the stock market, the multivariate results show negative changes on the interbank interest rates …

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The Social And Behavioral Factors That Affect Obesity In Oecd Countries, Sanjana Desai Jan 2008

The Social And Behavioral Factors That Affect Obesity In Oecd Countries, Sanjana Desai

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the factors that affect obesity in the population of the member countries of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This study incorporates existing information of the most likely variables that would influence obesity in these member countries for a decade (1990-2000). The study looks at contributing factors that are both innate and acquired, such as Alcohol Consumption, Low-birth weight, sugar consumption, smoking (consumption of tobacco), and protein intake and public and private expenditure on education. Using macro-level data from various sources, the results generally suggest that factors like alcohol consumption, low-birth weight and sugar consumption …

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Causality Relationship Between Foreign Exchange Rates And Stock Market Close: Evidence From Singapore, Jeffrey Shew, Jr. Jan 2008

Causality Relationship Between Foreign Exchange Rates And Stock Market Close: Evidence From Singapore, Jeffrey Shew, Jr.

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper attempts to examine whether or not a causal relationship exists between exchange rates and stock market returns. By using the Granger Causality model, causality relationships were determined for four data sets created through the use of significant structural breaks between 1990 and 2006 in Singapore. The results suggest that over the course of 16 years there exists no relationship between exchange rates and stock market returns. However, from 1990 up until the Asian Financial Crisis exchange rates led stock prices as suggested by Granger et al. (2000). The other two time series, between the Asian Financial Crisis and …

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Differing Immigrant Wages: Causes For Differences In Immigrants Standards Of Living, Sahana Zutshi Jan 2008

Differing Immigrant Wages: Causes For Differences In Immigrants Standards Of Living, Sahana Zutshi

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper looks at the relationship between immigration workers and their differing standards of living based on various variables. The variables chosen were gender, place of origin/ethnicity, number of years living in the United States, education level and finally, the age of the immigrants. The model incorporates all these variables and then finds the connection between them and the earning status of the immigrants. The results show that gender and ethnicity often impact the earnings negatively whereas age, number of years living in the US and education level impact immigrant earnings positively.

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Are They For Real? Activism And Ironic Identities, Amber Day Jan 2008

Are They For Real? Activism And Ironic Identities, Amber Day

English and Cultural Studies Journal Articles

A new breed of political activist has begun to appear on the streets and in the news. They are no longer trying to out-shout their opponents, but are agreeing with them instead, enthusiastically taking their adversary’s position to exaggerated extremes. It is a practice here termed “identity-nabbing,” in which participants pretend to be someone they are not, appearing in public as exaggerated caricatures of their opponents or ambiguously co-opting some of their power. This paper focuses on three groups in particular: The Billionaires for Bush, Reverend Billy, and the Yes Men. Each group stages elaborate, ironically humorous stunts as a …

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