Economics Commons^™

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2012, James V. Koch, Vinod Agarwal, Chris Colburn, Vicky Curtis, Steve Daniel, Susan Hughes, Elizabeth Janik, Feng Lian, Sharon Lomax, Janet Molinaro, Ken Plum, John A. Sokolowski, Ayush Toolsidass, Gary Wagner, Shara Weber, Gilbert Yochum, Michael Zugelder

Economics Faculty Books

This is Old Dominion University's 13th annual State of the Region Report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion or it's president, John R. Broderick. The report maintains the goal of stimulating thought and discussion that ultimately will make Hampton Roads an even better place to live. We are proud of our region's many successes, but realize that it is possible to improve our performance. In order to do so, we must have accurate information about "where we are" and a …

Developments In The Global Energy Markets And Constructing The Future Of The Persian Gulf Security, Nihat Cengel

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study analyses the global energy projections and regional dynamics in the Persian Gulf. It is shown that the future projections in the world energy markets signify the importance of cooperation between developed and developing countries. It is also suggested that connected to the global economic crises and the regional demand change in the energy market, there is a growing need for international support to the Persian Gulf security.

I argue that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) could play a crucial role for eliminating political conflicts and maintaining the regional stability. As a result, collective arm transfer to the region, …

Guardians Of The Countryside Public Choice Theory And The Farm Lobby In The Eu's Common Agricultural Policy, Amy J. Costa

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Through various waves of reform, the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy remains inefficient without meeting all of its stated goals. The MacSherry reforms of 1992 resulted in the opposite of what leaders intended: higher spending and a growing bureaucracy. Later in the 1990s, Agenda 2000 slashed its originally planned cutbacks after farmers protested. Though support exists for reducing spending on agriculture, market intervention remains.

This thesis explores the problem through the use of public choice theory. -Consumers make too large a group to organize effectively or inform themselves about the issue, while farmers consist of a smaller group with well-defined …

A Study Of Failures In The Us Banking Industry, Joseph Trendowski

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation studies failures in the U.S. banking industry following the 2008 financial crisis. The dissertation offers an exhaustive review of the organizational failure literature, and changes in the banking industry environment over the past century. It takes three theoretical perspectives - institutional, industrial organization and resource-based view- to analyze failures in the banking industry.

The review and analysis allows me to trace the roots of recent bank failures to external (institutional, competitive) and internal (resource structure, strategy, risk) factors, and propose several hypotheses linking such factors with failures. The hypotheses are tested using a data-set that included all bank …

Securing South Africa's Future Grandmothers Against Poverty And Aids As A Model For Social Development Change, Savannah Lynn Eck

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Focusing on the role of elder women in South Africa as a lens to understand the central connections among HIV/ AIDS, poverty and Human Security provides a distinct approach to analyze women's contributions to community development and social change. Drawing from the theories of Gender and Development and Human Security, this research aims to highlight HIV/ AIDS as a social and political security issue, while underscoring the vitality of the inclusion of women in the processes of peace building, reconciliation, education and social development. Furthermore, the influential role of elder women in South Africa will serve as a model in …

Effective Popular Financial Reports: The Citizen Perspective, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Meagan M. Jordan

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

The article presents a study that investigates the views of citizens on the efficiency of financial reports in the U.S. Researchers did a survey to discern the perspectives of respondents about the effectiveness of the said reports in informing other individuals about government finances. Moreover, results reveal that 80% of respondents believed that the reports are effective. [Associates Programs Source, EbscoHost database]

Part 4: Do We Have Enough Physicians In Hampton Roads?, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads will require approximately 1,000 additional physicians in 2025. If one-quarter of Eastern Virginia Medical School graduates remain in the region, then by 2025, EVMS will supply 504 of the needed physicians. The resulting shortage will affect physician availability, quality and pricing.

Part 2: How Much Is Too Much? Comparing Income Inequality And The Cost Of Living In Hampton Roads To New York City, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Incomes are distributed more equally in Hampton Roads than nationally and certainly more so than in New York City. At least 80 percent of households in Hampton Roads are better off in economic terms than the comparable 80 percent in New York City.

Front Matter: The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2012, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Cover, front matter, table of contents, and other materials for the 2012 The State of the Region report authored by the Regional Studies Institute at Old Dominion University

Part 8: Homeschooling: Our Fastest-Growing Alternative In K-12 Education, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

1.6 percent of all K-12 students in Hampton Roads are homeschooled. While homeschooling families ordinarily must satisfy a stated set of standards, they can claim a religious exemption and this essentially obviates those standards. Hence, there is great variation in the nature and substance of homeschooling in our region.

Part 6: A Powerful Economic Engine: The Impact Of Eastern Virginia Medical School, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The economic impact of EVMS approximates $800 million annually and at a time when other economic engines are sputtering, the medical school has become an increasingly important economic force in our region.

Part 5: Does The Commonwealth Balance It's Budget On The Backs Of Local Governments?, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

We examine the Commonwealth’s fiscal practices and conclude that the answer to this question often is yes.

Part 3: Attorneys And Law Firms In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The national market for attorneys is glutted and this has resulted in stagnant salaries, unemployed attorneys, falling law school enrollments, and rising dissatisfaction of attorneys with their lot in life. The situation in Hampton Roads does not differ substantially.

Part 1: Gathering Steam: The Regional Economy Recovers (Slowly), Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

We continue to do better than the nation, but our regional economic recovery has been slow. The port, regional tourism and residential housing have yet to regain the ground they lost during the recession and the outlook for defense spending is hazardous.

Part 9: Modeling And Simulation In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The demise of JFCOM has reduced the size of, but hardly eliminated, modeling and simulation in our region. Old Dominion University’s VMASC continues to show the way and now is heavily involved in medical simulation work.

Part 7: K-12 Private Education: Southside Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Eighty-six private (independent) K-12 schools exist in Southside Hampton Roads. Commonwealth regulation of their activities is minimal (often virtually zero) and hence there is great variation in their goals, operations and transparency.

A System Dynamics Model For Simulating Ambulatory Health Care Demands, Rafael Diaz, Joshua G. Behr, Mandar Tulpule

VMASC Publications

Introduction: This article demonstrates the utility of the system dynamics approach to model and simulate US demand for ambulatory health care service both for the general population and for specific cohort subpopulations over the 5-year period, from 2003 to 2008. A system dynamics approach that is shown to meaningfully project demand for services has implications for health resource planning and for generating knowledge that is critical to assessing interventions.

Methods: The study uses a cohort-component method in combination with structural modeling to simulate ambulatory health care utilization. Data are drawn from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National …

Are Low Wages Risk Factors For Hypertension?, J. Paul Leigh, Juan Du

Economics Faculty Publications

Objective: Socio-economic status (SES) is strongly correlated with hypertension. But SES has several components, including income and correlations in cross-sectional data need not imply SES is a risk factor. This study investigates whether wages-the largest category within income-are risk factors. Methods: We analysed longitudinal, nationally representative US data from four waves (1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005) of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The overall sample was restricted to employed persons age 25-65 years, n = 17 295. Separate subsamples were constructed of persons within two age groups (25-44 and 45-65 years) and genders. Hypertension incidence was self-reported based on …

Economics, Innovations, Technology, And Engineering Education: The Connections, John M. Ritz, P. Scott Bevins

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Throughout history the success of economies around the world has in large part been influenced by technological growth and innovations. Along with such growth and innovations came higher living standards and an improved quality of life for citizens residing and participating in those economies. However, not all countries were able to grow and develop at the same rate, resulting in considerable differences in economic welfare across populations. As nations around the world address the 21st century, economic growth and prosperity for some nations will depend upon how well their citizens are equipped and motivated to seek new technological discoveries and …

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 …

Formal And Informal Care: An Empirical Bayesian Analysis Using The Two-Part Model, Juan Du

Economics Faculty Publications

Informal care provided to the elderly by their children is proposed as a less expensive alternative to institutional long-term care. This paper explores how the elderly's consumption of medical care changes in response to changes in the informal care they receive from their children. Many earlier studies have ignored both the endogeneity of informal care and the complicated nature of health care utilization data. This paper develops a two-part model with informal care treated as an endogenous regressor and imposes exclusion restrictions on the selection process. The model is fitted using the Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods, in …

Analysis Of Discrete Choice Probit Models With Structured Correlation Matrices, Bhaskara Ravi

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

Discrete choice models are very popular in Economics and the conditional logit model is the most widely used model to analyze consumer choice behavior, which was introduced in a seminal paper by McFadden (1974). This model is based on the assumption that the unobserved factors, which determine the consumer choices, are independent and follow a Gumbel distribution, widely known as the Independence of irrelevant Alternatives (IIA) assumption. Alternate models that relax IIA assumption are the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) models, which allow dependency between unobserved factors. However, GEV models do not incorporate all dependency patterns, other choice behaviors such as …