Economics Commons^™

The Political Economy Of Global Private Currencies, Girish Sreevatsan Nandakumar

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines regulatory responses to global private currencies (GPCs). Through detailed analyses of the history and evolution of private digital currencies, and through case studies of the United States, the European Union, and China, this dissertation identifies five factors that condition regulatory responses: (1) compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) laws, (2) compliance with systems built for fiat currencies, (3) degree of transparency in operations, (4) culture of sovereignty within the nation, and (5) great power competition with other nations. Throughout the dissertation, various political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental (PESTLE) characteristics of GPCs are highlighted. This dissertation also …

A Quality Systems Economic-Risk Design Theoretical Framework, Abdallah S. Thefeid

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Quality systems, including control charts theory and sampling plans, have become essential tools to develop business processes. Since 1928, research has been conducted in developing the economic-risk designs for specific types of control charts or sampling plans. However, there has been no theoretical or applied research attempts to combine these related theories into a synthesized theoretical framework of quality systems economic-risk design. This research proposes to develop a theoretical framework of quality systems economic-risk design from qualitative research synthesis of the economic-risk design of sampling plan models and control charts models. This theoretical framework will be useful in guiding future …

The Politics Of Medicine: Power, Actors, And Ideas In The Making Of Health, Claire Wulf Winiarek

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The practice of medicine has become the prescribing of medicine. Reflecting a construct of health defined by Rationalism, individualism, and biomedical science, medicines (pharmaceuticals) are politically constructed to be the first – and sometimes only prescribed – line of defense against illness and disease. Pharmaceuticals also represent a highly desirable, ‘recession-proof’ component of many Nation-states’ (states’) export strategies, helping advanced economies, in particular, to maintain favorable trade balances and economic growth amidst the headwinds of deindustrialization.

Higher use and the overreliance on pharmaceuticals promote an outsized role for certain actors and ideas in the making of global health, referring to …

Technological Innovation Research: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach, Yu Sun, Zhaoyuan Yu, Ling Li, Yong Chen, Mikhail Yu Kataev, Haiqing Yu, Hecheng Wang

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

The paper explores the relationship among technological innovation, technological trajectory transition, and firms’ innovation performance. Technological innovation is studied from the perspectives of innovation novelty and innovation openness. Technological trajectory transition is categorized into creative cumulative technological trajectory transition and creative disruptive technological trajectory transition. A structural equation model is developed and tested with data collected by surveying 366 Chinese firms. The results indicate that both innovation novelty and innovation openness positively affects creative cumulative technological trajectory transition as well as creative disruptive technological trajectory transition. Innovation openness and creative disruptive technological trajectory transition both positively affect firms’ innovation performance. …

Exploring The Formation Mechanism Of Radical Technological Innovation: An Mlp Approach, Yun Sun, Hecheng Wang, Haiqing Yu, Yong Chen, Mikhail Yu Kataev, Ling Li

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper identifies three stages in the radical technological innovation process, namely formation process in niches, breaking out of niches and entering regimes, and new regime formation. It then adopts Multi-level Perspective (MLP) to explore the formation process, operating mechanism, breakthrough path, and impact factors of radical technological innovation. A three-phase model, which includes formation of radical innovation, breakout of radical innovation, and new regimes construction, is proposed to analyze radical technological innovation. The model is adopted in a case study to analyze the leapfrogging development of technologies in China’s mobile communication industry. This paper enriches technological innovation theory and …

Essay 1: How We Feel: The Role Of Macro-Economic Sentiment In Advertising Spending-Sales Relationship; Essay 2: It Was The Best Of Times; It Was The Worst Of Times: The Effect Of Emotional Uncertainty And Arousal On Healthy Food Choices, Leila Khoshghadam

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Essay 1: Controversies regarding the advertising spending-sales relationship have spawned many studies in marketing. Previous research on macroeconomic influencers of this relationship has focused mostly on objective macroeconomic indicators such as cyclical contraction and expansion. Extending these previous studies, the current research argues that sales response to advertising is also contingent upon the pervasive feelings present in the macroeconomic environment, above and beyond the influence from objective macroeconomic factors. Specifically, it argues that future outlook negativity and uncertainty in macroeconomic sentiment can affect the ad spending-sales relationship. Analyzing sales and advertising spending data for salty snacks in conjunction with macroeconomic …

Hedonic Games And Monte Carlo Simulation, Sheida Etemadidavan, Andrew J. Collins

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Hedonic games have applications in economics and multi-agent systems where the grouping preferences of an individual is important. Hedonic games look at coalition formation, amongst the players, where players have a preference relation over all the coalition. Hedonic games are also known as coalition formation games, and they are a form of a cooperative game with a non-transferrable utility game. Some examples of hedonic games are stable marriage, stable roommate, and hospital/residence problem. The study of hedonic games is driven by understanding what coalition structures will be stable, i.e., given a coalition structure, no players have an incentive to deviate …

Does Starting School Before Labor Day Affect High School Retention And Graduation: Evidence From Virginia's Kings Dominion Law, Timothy M. Komarek, Jay K. Walker

Economics Faculty Publications

Several states have required K-12 public schools to start after Labor Day in an effort to aid the tourism and hospitality industry. However, little is known about how these policies impact educational outcomes. We examine the impact of Virginia's post-Labor Day school start law on high school retention and graduation rates. We use a difference-in-differences model to exploit exogenous variation in school division start dates. Our results show small differences of up to three weeks have little effect on high school dropout and graduation rates. Our findings inform the debate on post-Labor Day school start laws and compulsory attendance age …

Dwelling In Time, Dwelling In Structures: Disintegration In World Politics, Jan Adam Nalaskowski

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation aims to propose a general theory of disintegration. This subject is not treated directly by some theoretical accounts and mistreated by others. European integration theories are fashioned to explain the greater integration process while game-theoretic approaches to withdrawals and secessions, even if treating disintegration directly, fail to include critically responsible factors. This dissertation offers a constructive criticism of both accounts. Since neither turning integration theories symmetrically around nor direct, game-theoretic assessment of disintegration help to provide sufficient explanation, it is suggested that the problem of symmetrical reversal and rational conduct must be revised.

Disintegration fails to follow the …

The Choice Of Technology And Equilibrium Wage Rigidity, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

In this general equilibrium model, firms engage in oligopolistic competition and choose increasing returns technologies to maximize profits. Capital and labor are the two factors of production. The existence of efficiency wages leads to unemployment. The model is able to explain some interesting observations of the labor market. First, even though there is neither long-term labor contract nor costs of wage adjustment, wage rigidity is an equilibrium phenomenon: an increase in the exogenous job separation rate, the size of the population, the cost of exerting effort, and the probability that shirking is detected will not change the equilibrium wage rate. …

Do International Corruption Metrics Matter? Assessing The Impact Of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, Omar Elemere Hawthorne

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the impact of Transparency International's (TI), Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and whether or not the CPI and hence TI matter. It examines the impact of TI's CPI on policymakers. It explores three areas: world's political and economic responses and Jamaica's policy responses to the CPI. Jamaica is selected for a case study due to TI's high corruption perceptions index rating for the country: a country that legally has strong anti-corruption laws but, nonetheless, sees its CPI ranking worsen almost yearly.

This study comprises mixed methodologies, using both qualitative and quantitative measures to assess the impact of the …

Two Essays On Earnings Quality And Corporate Decisions, Qian Sun

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation investigates how earnings quality as an information risk may facilitate our understanding of the choice of payment method in mergers and acquisitions and the value and the level of corporate cash holdings. In a world of asymmetric information and agency problem, Poor earnings quality implies the inadequate supply of relevant and reliable information for investors to monitor and discipline the behavior of firm managers to act in shareholder and stakeholder's best interest.

This study contributes to the literature in three folds. First, I add to the literature by postulating that earnings quality has a significant impact on the …

Two Essays On Ipo Earnings Management, Yong Sun

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation includes two essays that study initial public offerings (IPO) earnings management. The first essay examines the underwriter's certification and monitoring roles in IPO earnings management; the second essay explores the relation between IPO earnings management and post-IPO institutional ownership.

In the first essay, we investigate the certification role played by underwriters. We hypothesize that there is a negative relation between IPO earnings management and underwriter reputation and that there is a positive relation between underwriter reputation and firm operating performance. In addition, underwriters continue providing monitoring to the firms they take public. Using a sample of IPOs, we …

Revitalizing Deteriorated Urban Neighborhood Real Estate Markets Through Concentrated Homeownership Development: Determining The Spillover Effects Of New Homes On The Value Of Surrounding Homes, Jerry Michael Hawkins

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

The promotion of homeownership opportunities represents an important approach used by localities to support the revitalization of deteriorated urban neighborhoods. Homeownership is associated with a variety of social and economic benefits to the homeowner including increased residential stability and equity accumulation. The introduction of new homeownership opportunities into a deteriorated urban neighborhood as part of local public policy is intended to capitalize upon the anticipated positive social and economic outcomes. Such new homeownership development also presents the opportunity to generate positive spillover effects on the adjacent existing properties in the neighborhood which may ultimately result in higher real estate tax …

Two Essays On Lead-Lag Patterns Between Trading Volume And Stock Return In China Stock Markets, Xiaotian Zhu

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation systematically investigate the lead-lag relations between the trading volume and stock return patterns in China A share and B share markets through two streams of behavioral postulations. In the first part, we summarize all the potential lead-lag patterns between trading volume and stock returns and link them to the corresponding behavioral explanations. In particular, Lee and Swaminathan's (2000) Momentum Life Cycle theory best explains the strong negative relations between lagged trading volume and subsequent return in China A share market. The strong positive relations between lagged market return and subsequent trading volume found in both China's B share …

Nicaragua's Survival: Choices In A Neoliberal World, Stanley G. Hash Jr.

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

In January 1990 the Nicaraguan electorate chose to abandon the failing Sandinista Revolution in favor of the economic neoliberal rubric. However, since 1990 Nicaragua's economy has been stagnant. Today it is one of the four poorest states in Latin America having been one of the wealthiest before 1975.

The purpose of this work is to explain Nicaragua's poor performance since 1990. The hypothesis is that domestic independent variables are central to recovery and are the underlying causes of Nicaragua's failure to fully recover.

The abuses of the Somozas' ancien régime before the 1979 revolution are well documented; less well documented …

Three Essays On Real Estate Investment Trusts, Yan Lin

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation includes three essays that study on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). The first essay examines the shape of market demand curve by employing REIT equity fund flows as a proxy for REIT aggregate demand. An empirical framework is introduced to disentangle the price-pressure effect and the information effect. We do not find evidence for the price-pressure effect, which states that REIT equity fund flows directly affect REIT market prices. Instead, we find that the performance of REIT market prices does influence REIT equity fund flows. The results indicate that investors adjust their demand for REITs by investigating and …

Globalization And The Paradox Of Incorporation And Marginalization: An Exploratory Note On Sub-Saharan Africa, Charles R. Lartey

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Globalization has of late become the lingua franca of the study of the international political economic system. As its ideological counterpart, globalization has elevated neoliberalism to the status of an international theology. To harness the benefits of a globalizing world economy, conventional wisdom consider the dictums underlying neoliberal policies as “immutable laws” that must be adopted by both the developing and the developed world.

Utilizing a structured, focused analysis based on a case study of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), this research challenges the orthodox notion that the new international context of development that is instigated by the imperatives of globalization, and …

Relative Gains Problem And Case Studies Of Economic Cooperation In East Asia, Ping Deng

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Relative gains problem basically means unequal cooperative payoffs disproportionately favoring partners. With the relative gains problem widely accepted as a serious impediment to international cooperation, some scholars have theoretically argued or modeled several conditions that are most likely to foster a state's sensitivity to relative gains and thus substantially affect the prospects for cooperation. But little empirical work has been done to date. The central objective of this dissertation is to test whether those theoretical propositions can be supported by empirical evidence. For this purpose, we have deducted three hypotheses: (1) If a state faces military threat and zero-sum political …

Essay I. Intra-Industry Contagion And Competitive Effects Associated With Corporate Liquidation Announcements: Does Shareholder Governance Influence The Results? Essay Ii. Investors' Pricing Of Exchange Rate Risk In U. S. Firms That File For Bankruptcy, J. Terry Ray

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Essay I. Intra-industry contagion and competitive effects associated with corporate liquidation announcements: Does shareholder governance influence the results? This essay extends earlier research by investigating the role shareholder governance may play in the abnormal stock returns of the liquidating firms' competitors. The empirical model used for analyzing the abnormal returns includes variables to capture the influence of: leverage, Tobin's q, the Herfindahl index, Book Equity-to-Market Equity ratio, the level of institutional stock ownership, and the level of stock ownership by insiders.

The conclusion is leverage of the liquidating firm as well as its competitors is the major factor affecting the …

Core Size, Pricing, And Cost Structure, William K. Edwards

Economics Theses & Dissertations

This thesis presents a proof of an inverse limit theorem of the core of an economy. The implication of the theorem is that a larger core can be obtained by the formation of coalitions. A large core contains multiple Pareto optimal allocations from which society may select in order to maximize its welfare. Furthermore, this paper places an emphasis on pricing schemes that guarantee a core allocation under increasing returns to scale. Two pricing models are introduced that guarantee a non-empty core under increasing returns to scale.

Income Velocity In The United States, 1961-1968, William F. Kennedy

Economics Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Neo-Classical Contributions To The Theory Of International Trade, Mohammed Arifeen

Economics Theses & Dissertations

In a dynamic economy some of the most challenging policy problems tend to originate in the realm of international economic relations. In the post World War II period, these problems have been intensified and become more complex. Students of international economics often feel perplexed by numerous divergent and diametric views that well-trained and prudent men frequently offer for the solutions of what appear to be rather simple problems. Lack of understanding of the theoretical framework of international trade is largely responsible for students' puzzlement.

It is the purpose of this thesis to assemble a minimum framework of the theoretical issues …