Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Artificial Intelligence Implementation On Total Factor Productivity, Matthew Toy

Honors Theses

Investment in and availability of artificial intelligence has become a central concern for most developed economies because of is expected positive impact on an economy. Unlike other forms of capital investment, investment in AI may lead to innovative products and processes that should increase productivity. However, AI’s overall effect on productivity remains largely unknown. Adopting AI replaces labor with capital, which will have a positive effect on labor productivity, but overall productivity may remain the same or even decrease. I look at the impact of AI implementation on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) in order to assess its effect on the …

An Empirical Analysis Of Climatic, Geographic, And Cultural Determinants Of International Tourism, Ethan Straus

Honors Theses

Each year, billions of people visit different countries all around the world. For many of those countries, tourism is their primary industry, leading to millions of jobs and dollars in revenue. It is expected that by 2020 total International Tourism Receipts will reach 2 trillion US dollars annually. Currently, tourism employs an estimated 200 million people around the world. With the continued progression of climate change, the tourism industry is facing a newfound threat. Global temperatures and the seal level are both expected to rise significantly by the end of the century. Additionally, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has …

An Economic Analysis Of The Rise In Franchise Values In The Four Major North American Sports Leagues From 2008-2016, Anthony Alan Desantis

Honors Theses

North American professional sports franchise values have been growing rapidly over the last 10 years, leading some to wonder how this rise might mirror previous economic booms such as those of the internet and housing sectors, and thus impact the future of the sport industry. To investigate this phenomenon, financial and other team-specific data was acquired from Forbes, while metropolitan area statistics were mostly gathered from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census. The results of this study showed that revenue, metropolitan area population and GDP, multiple teams in the same metro area and the same league, and …

Does Player Performance Outside Of Major League Baseball Translate To The Mlb?, Ian Vogt

Honors Theses

Statistical analysis has transformed the way front offices across Major League Baseball manage the rosters of their teams. However, much of this statistical analysis is limited to evaluating players playing in the American major league environment. Little has been done in the way of using statistical analysis to evaluate how performance translates from league-to-league, and the market for international and college players remains highly inefficient, despite expansion of these player pools. My study is an attempt to make this market a more efficient one.

I measure the correlation between performance in two top international baseball leagues (Nippon Professional Baseball and …

Innovation And Finance: A Firm Level Analysis On Emerging Markets, Emily Zangrillo

Honors Theses

Economic theory suggests that the more financially constrained a firm, the lower its ability to allocate resources for innovation. I test this theory using firm-level survey data that covers 29 Eastern European and Central Asian countries. The survey is conducted in 2002, 2005, and 2009, and covers nearly 12,000 enterprises. I construct two baseline probit models to test the impact of financial constraints on firms’ ability to innovate a new product or upgrade an existing product. Existing literature suggests that the more financially constrained a firm, the less likely they are to innovate. Previous studies have also noted the reverse …

Contemporary Slavery: A Historical Perspective, Keilah Creedon

Honors Theses

While awareness is spreading about the 29 million people around the world who are currently enslaved, there is often a lack of understanding about what slavery is like today versus our common conception of slavery under the transatlantic slave trade. After exploring the connection between the abolition of slavery in the past and the introduction of coercive labor practices under colonial rule, I explain how slavery never truly ended and elaborate on the most common forms of contemporary slavery found today. This includes a case study focused on coercive labor in cocoa production. Using a solution oriented approach, I address …

Intra-Firm Trade From U.S. Multinational Enterprises To Emerging Market Economies: An Assessment Of The Impact Of The Global Recession And Intellectual Property Rights, Trang Nguyen

Honors Theses

The level of US intra-firm imports from Emerging Markets, EM, (i.e., imports of MNEs from their foreign affiliates) has increased from 149 billion USD in 2002 to 347 billion USD in 2012. A similar magnitude is observed for US arm’s length imports (i.e., imports of MNEs from third parties in foreign countries). This thesis estimates the responsiveness of US intra-firm and arm’s length imports to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection indicators, “Doing Business” indicators, and to the Global Recession. I use two panel data sets, one covering 332 industries (3-digit NAICS) and 43 emerging countries from 2002 to 2012, the …

Automobiles Autarky And Authority: The Effects Of Nazi Centralized Economic Planning 1932-1942, Andrew Stinchfield

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the benefits and drawbacks of Nazi centralized economic planning. From an entirely political and economical standpoint, Hitler and the National Socialists’ highly regulated and restrictive policies were initially beneficial for Germany because they created a centralized economic vision and improved national morale. The liberal ideology of the Weimar Republic resulted in major class divisions within the nation, where laissez-faire economics left middle-citizens marginalized and at the mercy of profit-seeking big businesses. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 exposed the weaknesses of liberalism and resulted in a massive rise in political resentment. The regime accumulated power because their …

The Twisting Fed: How Changing Open Market Operation Compositions Affect Long-Term Interest Rates And Subsequently Influence Capital Expenditures, Michael Owen Miller

Honors Theses

The Federal Reserve has been highly active in the past decade in its attempts to lower long-term interest rates and spur economic growth. This thesis will investigate how the Federal Reserve’s actions have influenced long-term Treasury yields and whether the manipulation of the long-term interest rate helps stimulate economic growth through capital investment. To examine how the Fed’s actions affect long-term yields we study the maturity composition of the Fed’s Open Market Operations (OMOs). As the trend of proportional purchases shift farther out along the yield curve, we expect the long-term interest rate to decrease. The impact of shifting long-term …

The Relationship Between Openness And Economic Performance A Case Study Of The Five Leading Emerging Markets In Southeast Asia: Vietnam Philippines Thailand Indonesia Malaysia, Trang Pham

Honors Theses

For the last two decades, the Southeast Asian countries have emerged as the fastest growing economies in the world, together with making significant progress in economic liberalization. The thesis studies the impact of economic openness on growth and volatility in the five leading Southeast Asia countries: Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines. The results obtained include: 1) economic openness is a driving force for the rapid growth of the five countries during 1990-2010, 2) during transition into an open economy, volatility cannot be eliminated; however, if a country has sound macroeconomic policies, a reasonable ratio of foreign direct investment to …

Middle Class Political Competition And Economic Growth, Jorge A. Enriquez Murillo

Honors Theses

Middle class individuals play a fundamental role in countries’ political and economic spheres. Their political demands for a fair tax system and public goods provisions enhance positive economic performance and development. A large share of income held by the middle class, according to Easterly (2001), is positively related to economic growth and political stability. Similarly, Alesina and Rodrik (1994) –among other political economic studies- highlight that a well-endowed median voter population influences the implementation of growth-enhancing economic policies. This study examines the interplay between political competition and a politically active middle-class and its subsequent effect on economic growth. The dependant …