Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Politics Of Economics: A Study On The Effect Of Political Affiliation On Economic Aptitude, Anthony Nader

Honors Projects in Economics

This research is based on a June 2010 Wall Street Journal article outlining a study conducted on the economic literacy of adults versus their political affiliation (Klein, 2010). Adults were surveyed on eight questions regarding simple economic knowledge and then asked their political affiliation. The study found that people who consider themselves very conservative on average answered 1.3 questions wrong, versus an average of 5.26 questions wrong for people who consider themselves very liberal. This same effect was to be measured in the classroom as to whether or not conservatives tended to fare better in economics classes than liberals. The …

The Evolution Of The “Southwest Effect”, Daniel Webb

Honors Projects in Finance

The “Southwest effect” - a large decrease in fares paired with an increase in traffic - has been discussed around the airline industry since the term was first coined in a government study in the early 1990s. But the airline industry has drastically changed since then - Southwest has become the largest domestic airline, and many of its competitors have had the chance to restructure through bankruptcy.

This study examines some of Southwest's latest city additions, as well as a few of the airline’s intra-California routes where it is now a dominant player. Using publically-available government data, the change in …

How One Trade Could Change The World: High Frequency Trading And The Flash Crash Of 2010, Sarah Perlman

Honors Projects in Finance

Financial markets are controlled directly by a small population of people, but have direct effects on almost every aspect of the global community. Financial markets are now flooded with computerized algorithms that have drastically changed the face of trading. As with any advances in technology, there are always unforeseen events that create new challenges, and adjustments that need to be made. In our increasingly global and technological world, one wrong click of the mouse in New York could affect the stock markets in London, Tokyo, and Brazil. On May 6th, 2010, such a situation occurred and caused the Dow Jones …

Gender Discrimination Across U.S. States: What Has Changed Over The Past Thirty Years?, Joshua Ballance

Honors Projects in Economics

This study examines changes in the gender wage gap and level of gender discrimination in the United States over the period1980-2010 at the national and state levels. Using data from the U.S. Current Population Survey, this study applies the Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition to separate the explained and unexplained variations in the gender pay gap. The unexplained variation proxies the level of gender discrimination faced by U.S. workers. The wage equation estimated utilizes the Heckman methodology to control for sample selection bias. Results with and without sample selectivity controls are included in this paper.

This study reports the gender pay gap in …

The Influence Of Childhood Poverty On Life Chances- The Case Of Academic Performance, Katherine Mccabe

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

The purpose of this research is to explore, identify, and address how children who grow up in poverty face greater challenges in adulthood than those who grow up nonpoor. The two main areas of interest are the differentials of child well-being and school achievement. The daily hardships that poor children face include inadequate nutrition, fewer learning experiences, instability of residence, lower quality schools, exposure to environmental toxins, family violence, homelessness, dangerous streets, and less access to friends, services, and jobs. Through a literature review and analyses of a national probability data set on high school students, I demonstrate how growing …

The Environmental Kuznets: For High, Middle And Low Income Latin American Countries, Allia Afifi

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the relationship between environmental quality and economic development through the use of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. The study will examine the effect of economic development on the environmental quality for selected high, middle and low income Latin American countries. The model will look at emission levels (CO2 emissions in metric tons per capita) in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Columbia, Honduras and Nicaragua as affected by changes in Gross Domestic Product. The results show that there is an inverted U-shaped curve representing the relationship between environmental degradation (CO2 emissions per capita) and GDP per capita, supporting the EKC hypothesis.

Crime Rate In Massachusetts Cities: Has The Negative Economy Affected This?, Karissa Guerette

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This review concentrates on the relationship between the effects the downturned economy has had on the crime rate. The paper examines specifically Massachusetts cities unemployment rate and average income, along with education level. With the financial crisis starting in 2008, this paper will take a look 2010, a couple years after the peak of the recession. The results show the increasing crime rates are positively related to the change of times with the economy leading to unemployment and lower income level.

Correlation Between Economic Factors And High-Technology Export In Asia-Pacific Nations, Jiyan Hu

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the correlation between high-tech exports in Asian-Pacific nations and the economic effects in term of economic growth. Some economic factors will be highlighted in this paper, such as foreign direct investment inflow, R&D expenditure, country openness as well as gross saving. The model will explain some economic factors are the key to determinant the volume of the high-tech export in Asian-Pacific nations. In order to understand the model and interpretation of each factor, high-tech export per worker will be targeted as a dependent variable. This paper will include data from 1997 to 2007 and it will be …

An Analysis On The Factors Affecting Fertility Rates Across The U.S., Britany St. Sauveur

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper analyzes the fertility rate or the number of live births per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years old. The research is based off of census data from the Statistical Abstract of the United States from 1990 to 2009. The purpose of researching fertility and birth rates is to explain the slight fluctuations during this time frame. This study looks into the factors as to why this change has occurred, such as race, education, marital status, economic impact, age, and region. The results from over the past 20 years have proven that these demographic and geographic factors have both affected …

Education And Income Inequality In Latin American Countries, Courtney Weiss

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

It is a common theory that education levels and inequality are highly correlated. In layman’s terms, as access to education increases, the earning potential of the poor also increases. Therefore, the poverty gap shrinks. However, when access to education is limited, there is a greater disparity between the earning potential of the rich and that of the poor, thereby expanding the poverty gap. The following paper examines and compares the education levels and income inequality across 14 Latin American countries. These countries experience “persistent” and “pervasive” inequality impacting all aspects of life (de Ferranti et al., 2004). Inequality will be …

How Consumer Sentiment Affects Personal Consumption, Gregory Hughes

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the relationship between consumer confidence and major economic indicators as it relates to the United States after the financial crisis of 2008. This study reveals the effect consumer sentiment has on economic forecasting as it relates to personal consumption. Macro level data used to indicate future economic performance is lacking without the inclusion of consumer confidence levels.

Pigs Debt Crisis: Macroeconomic Factors, David Fiorino

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

Italy’s public debt has seen large increases over the past few years, and as a result they were bailed out by other European Union members. Either their large trade deficits, inability to stimulate growth, or lack of tax revenues are all reason why Italy has fallen to such crisis. Other countries in the EU such as Portugal, Spain, and Greece have had similar debt problems and received a bailout as well. This paper will attempt to explain the relationship between the public debt to GDP ratio and some macroeconomic conditions using panel data from 1990 to 2010 for the countries …

Offshoring And The Effects On American It Workers, Kristen Bousquet

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper will use an existing model from Amiti and Wei (2009) to illustrate the potentially positive effects that offshoring will have on the productivity of American IT workers and the IT industry. The inputs that will be used to measure productivity are labor, capital, materials, service inputs, and the offshoring of materials and services and were collected from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Based on a previous study from Amiti and Wei (2009), the results may suggest that there is a positive correlation from offshoring and productivity.

The Effect Of Homeownership On Household Savings In The United States, Jacquelyn Ammirato

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines the effect of changes in house prices on the saving patterns of households in the United States of America. The paper uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Three empirical models are run, one for 2009, one for 2005 and one for 1999 data, to account for differences in household income, age of the head of household, employment status, and mortgage information. The results indicate that whether the home is owned or rented has a significant impact on household savings in each year.

Tax Rates On Alcohol: Does It Affect Demand For Particular States?, Matthew Schoenewolf

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

In this paper, different variables will be tested to figure out whether or not different levels of tax have a determinant on the consumption or demand for alcohol. The study will examine several variables including the sales taxes in each state, the different taxes on beer, wine and spirits, along with GDP per capita, death rates and whether or not there is an advertising ban in a particular state. The results from the research and tests performed focus on the factors that are closely correlated to the consumption of alcohol, with GDP per capita proving to be the most influential …

Gender Discrimination: What Factors Influence The Level Of Gender Discrimination Facing U.S. Workers?, Joshua Ballance

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper uses previous research conducted by the author which analyzes gender discrimination at the state level. Using state level discrimination coefficients, this paper looks to analyze why discrimination varies significantly across the United States. The empirical model is constructed using a panel data set over the past twenty years to develop a model that explains why variations in the level of gender discrimination faced by U.S. workers has persisted despite the fact that the level of gender discrimination has decreased over this period.

Does Money Matter? An Empirical Analysis On The Effects Of Campaign Financing In Recent Senatorial Elections, Joseph Cunningham

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This empirical analysis quantifies political science variables and tests to see if the sources of campaign finance money matters and ultimately determines the most important factors affecting a candidate’s chances of becoming elected. Using data from the 2004 and 2010 Senate elections, this paper tests the importance of a number of political science variables including party affiliation, sources of campaign financing, and incumbency, among others. The effects of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision and its democratic implications are also analyzed to see if money in politics weakens America’s democratic process. There are few studies in the field that are …

The Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Plan On The Job Market, Matthew Schur

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper will investigate the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on the job market. The ARRA, also known as the Stimulus or the Recovery Act, is a stimulus package that was passed by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on the 17th of February by President Barack Obama. The primary focus of this bill was to save and create jobs in response to the 2000’s recession that our economy faced. We will evaluate impact of the ARRA by using the latest census bureau data of each state and regression analysis. Our …

The Impact Of Defense Spending On Economic Growth In The United States, Nathaniel Harty

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper addresses whether or not the United States’ government’s choice to cut defense spending is going to have a negative impact on economic growth, and therefore slow down the US recovery. This paper analyzes the findings during the last 70 years regarding defense spending and its effect on economic growth, through comparing that relationship between studies under various circumstances. It then goes into detail of the most recent data from the United States to see if there is a casual relationship between defense spending and economic growth. This paper will use the Granger Causality Method to test the significance …

Social And Economic Factors Leading To Differences In Us State Unemployment, Taylor Neighbours

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper dives into the socio-economic factors that lead to differences in U.S. State unemployment rates. The study will look at and evaluate prior economic literature, including regression analysis, comparative statistics, and raw data from the BLS and Census Bureau. Further, it will take select parts from past models to create and analyze an economic regression model. The data to be found below is a cross-sectional interpretation of each of the 50 states for the years 2000 & 2010. The root causes for fluctuations in unemployment can help economists better understand how to monitor and manage unemployment levels on a …