Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, Fall 2011, Thomas L. Traynor

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Publicly Vs. Privately Controlled Higher Education Costs: Panel Data Estimates, G. Thomas Sav

Economics Faculty Publications

More so now than ever, budgetary problems and widespread reforms are generating questions regarding higher education costs among publicly controlled compared to privately controlled colleges and universities. Past studies have offered scale and scope estimates anchored in 1995 and earlier cross sectional data that could contain omitted variable biased. In contrast, this paper employs panel data spanning the 2005 through 2009 years to estimate a multiproduct cost function and scale and scope economies separately for public and private sector colleges and universities. The two-way fixed effects results indicate the presence of significant institutional and time effects. Overall, the findings suggest …

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, Spring 2011, Thomas L. Traynor

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cost Efficiencies And Rankings Of Flagship Universities, G. Thomas Sav

Economics Faculty Publications

Problem Statement:

Each state in the U.S. touts a premier university as the flagship of its publicly funded higher education system. With decreased government budgets and increased interest in public management reforms, these institutions are being pressured to provide evidence of and set examples for ever greater improvements in operating cost efficiencies. The problem, however, is that empirical measures of their efficiencies or inefficiencies can be sensitive and, therefore, vary widely depending upon the underlying model specification.

Approach:

The study used stochastic frontier analysis to estimate university cost inefficiencies over the 2005-09 academic years. Transom and Cobb-Douglas specifications were combined …

Water Resource Distribution: Neoliberal Versus A Social Provisioning Approach, Laura Dotson

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The purpose of this research is to examine how privatization of water resources has created social inequalities and environmental degradation on an international scale by understanding the ways in which water has become a market commodity, and how water resources are managed within a private framework versus a public framework. Two frameworks will be compared: neoliberal policy and the social provisioning approach to managing water resources. It is argued that social provisioning ought to be the focus of policy formulation so as to diminish the degree in which social inequalities and environmental degradation are generated by privatization. As a result, …

What Drives Productivity Growth At The Firm Level And Why Is It That Some Firms Outperform Their Peers?, Julie Ann Potter

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

Firms appear to outperform their peers when defined as exhibiting increased productivity growth. Specific factors have been shown to have a causal effect upon increased total factor productivity and thus the firm level with the implementation of: the use and diffusion of technological progress; diversification of firm assets through the acquisition of high productivity growth plant assets; the integration of information technology and information communications technology and the creation of innovative capacities and efficiencies. Likewise, specific factors have been shown to have a causal effect upon increased labor productivity and thus firm level productivity growth: the sharing of employee experiences …

Have Confidence In Your Interval Estimates: Improving Cognition Of Confidence Intervals Used In Business Forecasting, Jeffrey Maurath Price

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

Confidence intervals convey valuable information regarding the uncertainty of point estimates, and their utility to users of business forecasts is no exception. The conclusions drawn from these forecasts can be significantly impacted by the perception of a confidence interval's distribution, however. There is a tendency for business managers and other decision makers who lack statistical expertise, despite being generally well educated, to incorrectly assume confidence intervals are uniformly distributed. This study investigates the efficacy of various techniques for presenting confidence interval information at conveying the details of the underlying statistical distribution. The results demonstrate significant improvement in the accurate interpretation …

The Impact Of Opinion On Foreign Trade, Nikolaus Williams

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This paper examines the impact that opinion has on foreign trade. Specifically, the paper examines how opinion towards the U.S. impacts U.S. exports and how changes in opinion toward the U.S. impact U.S. exports. Using survey data from the Pew Global Attitudes Projects and export data, the paper examines these relationships for 21 countries between 2002 and 2010. Regression analysis of the panel data reveals that positive opinion levels and positive changes in opinion have statistically significant positive impacts on U.S. exports. However, this conclusion is somewhat tempered by the unbalanced nature of the available data which prevents a greater …

The Non-Linear Influence Of School Quality On Home Prices In The Dayton, Oh Msa, Thomas Andrew Welton

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This paper analyzes the Dayton, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) to examine the extent to which public school quality influences housing prices. Research is conducted in the Dayton region at both the city and neighborhood levels. City level analysis indicates a significant linear relationship between school quality and home prices. However, the results of this analysis are likely distorted by collinearity between school quality and neighborhood characteristics, such as crime rate. In an effort to mitigate collinearity and control for neighborhood characteristics, neighborhood level analysis is conducted using 933 individual homes located in areas where separate school districts border. The …