Economics Commons^™

Application Of Optimization Techniques In Corporate Cash Management, Venkateswara Reddy Dondeti

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

For any individual person or firm, there is a trade-off between carrying too much or too little cash on hand to meet the day-to-day transactions demand for cash. The BAT model, named after three eminent economists, Baumol, Allais, and Tobin, is the foundation for almost all cash management models in use today. The goal of the BAT model is to minimize the total costs involving the brokerage fees and the opportunity cost of interest lost on the cash held on hand. The brokerage fees are incurred in connection with the transactions for liquidating securities and converting them into cash. The …

Supporting Renewable Energy Market Growth Through The Circular Integration Of End-Of-Use And End-Of-Life Photovoltaics, Erika Marsillac

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

Energy demand continues to grow with the world’s burgeoning population. Meeting energy needs through renewable sources allows for market growth with limited environmental impact, but sourcing constraints can limit production, creating industrial and environmental problems. The exploitation of end-of-use and end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) options that are traditionally treated as waste offers a valuable opportunity to support renewable energy market growth with fewer sourcing constraints and minimal environmental impacts, but this circular investment has not yet been broadly implemented, nor is broad guidance widely available to aid its implementation. From a business perspective, this paper discusses the technical issues, assesses the …

Two Essays On The Information Embedded In Flow Of Exchange-Traded Funds (Etfs), Hamed Yousefi

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a pooled investment vehicle with shares similar to common equities, and it can be bought or sold on the stock exchanges. As more money flow into an ETF, its assets increase as do the number of shares outstanding. The demand for ETFs, especially after the 2008 crisis, has grown remarkably in the United States. Features such as intraday tradability, tax efficiency, low fees, and transparency have contributed to the ETFs’ appeal to investors. According to Bloomberg terminal data, as of January 2021, there were 2584 U.S.-registered ETFs, with over $5.5 trillion assets under management. Recent …

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 …

Two Essays On Corruption, Fdi, And Digitalization, Mahdi Forghani Bajestani

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Corruption is detrimental to both society and economy and is yet prevalent in many countries. Thus, research in this field is imperative to help alleviate the problem. Drawing on institutional theory and eclectic paradigm, this dissertation seeks to first, delineate the mechanisms through which corruption influences economic decision-making, and second, identify its root causes and tools for controlling it.

This dissertation’s central research question is addressed in two essays. Essay 1 builds on insights from research on corruption in international business to advance our understanding of how perception of bribery in foreign markets shapes investment behaviors. The literature is dominated …

Institutional Stretching: How Moroccan Ngos Illuminate The Nexus Of Climate, Migration, Gender And Development, Shelby Mertens

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The global migration crisis the world has experienced thus far is only the tip of the iceberg. As the earth’s temperature continues to warm and extreme weather conditions worsen, millions of people across the globe will be displaced, and women in particular will face more difficult challenges. What the climate migration literature fails to study is these longer-term impacts beyond sudden onset disasters. Governments and institutions will be forced to respond and adapt to the new reality resulting from the climate crisis. This research provides a case study of Morocco and, by using institutional ethnography, investigates how NGOs working in …

The Poverty In Usa: An In-Depth Analysis Of The Last Two Decades, Sara Negri

Economics Theses & Dissertations

Poverty is a global problem that affects not only the undeveloped states but also the most developed ones. This research paper will analyze this problem in depth, trying to summarize several definitions, several causes that can lead to an increase in the poverty rate, and policies implemented by the government in order to reduce the total number of poor people. The author analyzed the poverty rate in each state of the United States from 1990 to 2019 using a panel data analysis. She found out that California is the state with the highest value of poor people in the U.S. …

Part 5: Viewed Through A Different Lens: Evaluating Virginia Higher Education, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

The University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and William & Mary historically have played important roles in the Commonwealth. They have assembled impressive records in admitting and graduating talented students who (predictably) do well after they leave these campuses. Except for our historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, no public four-year institution in Virginia enrolls a significant percentage of low-income students. We discuss what the Commonwealth and its public colleges and universities can do to make higher education more affordable.

Part 1: Shock And Awe? Covid-19, Vaccines, And The Recovery, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The COVID-19 pandemic shook the Hampton Roads economy. One in 10 workers were unemployed at the height of the pandemic, 4 in 10 small businesses were forced to reduce hours and thousands of residents left the labor force entirely. Yet, in the midst of the pandemic, housing prices and trade volumes through the Port of Virginia continued to rise. We explore the economic recovery and discuss whether Hampton Roads can rely on defense spending in the coming decade.

Part 2: Bounce Back? The Pandemic And Tourism In Hampton Roads, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Nearly 1 in 5 workers in the Hampton Roads hospitality and leisure sector lost their jobs in 2020. Even as the sector started to recover, employers found themselves in need of employees to fill available positions. Now, with tourists returning to the region, we look at how traditional hotels and short-term rentals fared over the last 18 months

Part 3: Earn While You Learn: The Apprentice School At Newport News Shipbuilding, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding is not only one of the nation’s premier schools for educating and training workers, but it also stands as an example of how 21st-century learning can occur in the region. In this chapter, we look at the apprenticeship model and delve into the unique aspects of The Apprentice School that have made it successful.

Part 4: All In: Casinos, Online Betting And The Future Of Gambling In Hampton Roads, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

In 1987, Virginia voters approved the state lottery, bringing legalized gambling to the Commonwealth. Fast forward to 2021: Virginians can now buy lottery tickets online, place sports bets on their phones and wager in historical horse racing parlors. Now, with casinos opening soon in Norfolk and Portsmouth, as well as Bristol, Danville and, likely, Richmond, we discuss the benefits and costs of casinos in Hampton Roads

Part 5: Whither Old Dominion University?, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and College of William & Mary historically have played important roles in the Commonwealth. They have set impressive records in admitting and graduating talented students who (predictably) do well after they leave these campuses. Nevertheless, the future viability and cohesion of the Commonwealth in this century will more likely be determined on campuses like Old Dominion University, for it is there that the critical social mobility challenge is being addressed in a meaningful way. We explore what the future may hold for ODU.

Part 7: Securing Release: Cash Bail In Hampton Roads, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis & Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

On any given day in 2019, on average, there were more pretrial inmates per 100,000 residents in Hampton Roads than in Virginia or the United States. To secure their release from jail, many inmates must provide collateral in the form of a secured bond. Now, with momentum building for reducing or eliminating cash bail in the Commonwealth, we estimate the costs and benefits of cash bail reform for cities and counties in Hampton Roads.

Part 6: The Decline Of Local Journalism, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Local journalism is in peril. Newspapers all over the country are reducing coverage, cutting staff, abandoning physical newsrooms or shuttering operations altogether. The United States has lost fully one-fourth of its newspapers since 2004, including 70 dailies and more than 2,000 weeklies and other nondaily papers. Hampton Roads has not escaped these cutbacks. We discuss the future of local journalism in Hampton Roads.

Part 1: Inflection Point? Covid-19, Vaccines And The Recovery, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

To say that most Virginians would prefer to forget 2020 might be an understatement. The COVID-19 pandemic threw tens of thousands of Virginians out of work, shuttered businesses and abruptly transitioned much of education into the world of remote learning. As 2021 draws to a close, the story has changed from one of shock to one of recovery. In this chapter, we examine the impact of the pandemic, the ongoing recovery and prospects for continued growth in 2022.

Part 6: The Winchester Metropolitan Area Outperforms The Commonwealth, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

Conversations about growth in Virginia primarily focus on the metropolitan areas of Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Richmond. Often forgotten in these discussions is how the smaller metropolitan area of Winchester has outperformed many of the larger metros in the Commonwealth. We explore why Winchester is growing and how this growth could change the quality of life of its residents in the future.

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2021, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University, Vinod Agarwal, Barbara Blake, Steve Daniel, Ashley Desilva, Addie Gregory, Elizabeth Janik, Nikki Johnson, James V. Koch, Tim Komarek, Feng Lian, Sharon Lomax, Christian Manty, Janet Molinaro, Brendan O'Hallarn, Hannah White, Jake Zalewski

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

[From the introductory material]

This is Old Dominion University’s 22nd 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, its president, Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., the Board of Visitors, the Strome College of Business or the generous donors who support the activities of the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy.

Over the past year, we have endured the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of vaccines and a return to a semblance of normality in …

Local Fiscal Adjustments From Depopulation: Evidence From The Post–Cold War Defense Contraction, Timothy M. Komarek, Gary A. Wagner

Economics Faculty Publications

In this paper, we estimate the long-term causal effect of population losses on local government revenue, expenditure, and debt by exploiting a quasi-exogenous change that reduced the number of US military personnel by about 40 percent between the late 1980s and 2000. Aggregating across governmental units within commuting zones, we find that real per capita total revenues and expenditures remained unchanged for remaining citizens. At the same time, however, we note several important compositional effects. First, local governments appear to have offset reductions in state intergovernmental aid by increasing property tax revenues. Second, they significantly shifted the composition of expenditures …

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 …

"Letters", James V. Koch, Seth Forman

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Fixed Costs And The Division Of Labor, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

How market size and the level of coordination costs determine the degree of specialization is studied in an infinite horizon model with the amount of capital determined endogenously. Firms producing the same intermediate good engage in oligopolistic competition and choose the degree of specialization of their technologies to maximize profits. A more specialized technology is a technology with a lower marginal cost, but a higher fixed cost. Interestingly, the relationship between the level of coordination costs and a firm’s degree of specialization is ambiguous. A firm in a country with a larger market size, more patient citizens, or a higher …

Developing An Institutional Arrangement For A Whole-Of-Government And Whole-Of-Community Approach To Regional Adaptation To Sea Level Rise: The Hampton Roads Pilot Project, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, J. Gail Nicula, Burton St. John Iii, Meagan M. Jordan, Michelle Covi, Carol Considine, Marina Saitgalina, Joshua Behr

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Adaptation to sea level rise (SLR) requires coordination among local, state, and federal entities and collaboration across governments, nonprofits, businesses, and residents. This coordination and collaboration are reflected in institutional arrangements associated with a whole-of-government and whole-of-community approach to regional adaptation. This study analyzes the development of an interlocal agreement (ILA), the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project (the Pilot Project), as an example of such an arrangement. This study assesses how factors throughout three phases of ILA development (initiation, implementation, and execution) influence outcomes and effectiveness. Drawing upon participant observation, document analysis, survey …

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #5: Perceptions Of The Economy & Employment, Social Sciences Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

Life in Hampton Roads 2021 - Perceptions of the Economy & Employment

Hampton Roads residents had mixed perceptions of the economy but showed some optimism about their own financial situation. Less than half (47.5%) of those surveyed rated the economic conditions in Hampton Roads as excellent (6.5%) or good (41%). More than four in 10 (41.4%) rated economic conditions as fair and 8% rated them as poor. Interestingly, despite the impacts of COVID-19, these ratings are not much different than in past years of the survey. In 2019, 49.9% of respondents rated economic conditions as good or excellent. This year’s …

Front Matter: 2021 State Of The Commonwealth Report, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

Cover, front matter, table of contents, sponsors, and other materials for the 2021 State of the Commonwealth Report authored by the Center for Economic Analysis and Policy at Old Dominion University.

2021 State Of The Commonwealth Report, Vinod Agarwal, Barbara Blake, Steve Daniel, Ashley Desilva, Nikki Johnson, James V. Koch, Tim Komarek, Feng Lian, Sharon Lomax, Christian Manty, Janet Molinaro, Brendan O'Hallarn, Terry Parker, Golbarg Roghani Araghi, Jake Zalewski, Robert Mcnab

State of the Commonwealth Reports

This is Old Dominion University’s seventh annual State of the Commonwealth 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, its president, Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., the Board of Visitors, the Strome College of Business or the generous donors who support the activities of the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy.

With the 2021 election in the rearview mirror, the question now becomes: Where does Virginia go from here? Our work seeks to contribute to this conversation without glossing over the …

Part 2: A Recovery At Different Speeds: Virginia's Metropolitan Areas, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis & Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

Virginia’s economic recovery in 2021 has been driven by the performance of some, but not all, of its metropolitan areas. While Hampton Roads and Richmond have lagged the performance of the state and nation since the onset of the pandemic, smaller metros like Blacksburg and Winchester have recovered jobs more quickly. As we near the end of 2021, we discuss how Virginia’s metros have fared over the last 24 months and present the challenges for creating growth across the Commonwealth in the coming years.

Part 3: Bounce Back? The Pandemic And Tourism In Virginia, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

For the Virginia hotel industry, the last 24 months have been challenging in a number of ways. The pandemic and associated social distancing measures resulted in a collapse of visitors and revenue in the spring and summer of 2020. In 2021, the Hampton Roads market set records for hotel revenue, but other markets continued to struggle. In this chapter, we look at how the markets in Virginia have performed over the past two years and how 2022 may bring good news for the hotel industry.

Part 4: Let It Ride: Casinos, Online Betting And The Future Of Gambling In Virginia, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

In 1987, Virginia voters approved the state lottery, bringing legalized gambling to the Commonwealth. By 2021, Virginians could buy lottery tickets online, place sports bets on their phones, wager in historical horse racing parlors and play “gray machines” in convenience stores, restaurants and bars. Now, with casinos opening soon in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth, we discuss the benefits and costs of casinos in the Commonwealth.