Economics Commons^™

Economic Interdependence Along A Colonial Frontier: Capitalism And The New River Valley, 1745-1789, B. Scott Crawford

History Theses & Dissertations

Historians have generally placed the beginning of capitalism in the United States in the early- to mid-nineteenth century. This assumes that the industrialization of the New England states fostered in a modern economic environment for the country as a whole. However, evidence of modern economic principles existed on the Virginia frontier as early as the mid-eighteenth century. As frontier settlers aspired to emulate eastern society, they not only sought to recreate a lifestyle similar to the one they left behind, but also set up similar governing practices, which in turn created social stratification similar to that which existed in the …

Social And Economic Opportunity In Seventeenth-Century Charles County, Maryland, Garett William Hughes

History Theses & Dissertations

This study explores social and economic opportunity within Charles County in the context of the seventeenth-century and the founding of the Maryland colony. By illustrating the strong cross-Atlantic ties between England and the Chesapeake region, as well as the impact that a high population turnover rate and unsteady tobacco economy had upon the Maryland colony, this study first establishes the environment that those settlers who chose to immigrate to the Chesapeake inhabited. Further, by utilizing community connections, personal relations, and the legal system, the men and women of Charles County developed new methods in which to access opportunity. The source …

A Historical, Theoretical, And Empirical Study Of Ppp Using Traditional And Alternative Methodologies, Kerry E. Clendenon

Economics Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Subsidies On Public Transit Long-Run Costs, Kofi Obeng, Wayne K. Talley, Christopher Colburn

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper investigates sources of public transit long-run cost increases attributable to transit subsidies. The sources include wage, vehicle capital price and service increases. Service expansion is found to be the major source. Transit cost increases related to subsidies are classified as input price, output and finance effects of these subsidies. Transit costs are more responsive to federal operating subsidies, followed in declining order by local operating, state operating and capital subsidies, respectively.

Tobacco And Its Role In The Life Of The Confederacy, D. T. Smith

History Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the role that tobacco played in influencing Confederate policy during the American Civil War. Surprisingly, very little research has been done on this subject; historians have virtually ignored the influence of tobacco upon Southern economic interests between 1850 and 1870.

The southern tobacco-producing states grew 439,183,561 pounds of raw tobacco in 1860. Southern manufactured tobacco was worth $21,820,535 in 1860, and along with other agricultural products, especially cotton, played an important economic, political, and diplomatic role in the life of the Confederacy. The tobacco industry represented a very strong interest group in the Upper South during the …

Japan Looks At An Uncertain China: The Role Of Japan's Aid To China, Yixin Yang

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis discusses the role the Japanese aid has played in accommodating the structural change of Sino-Japanese economic relations and in dealing with the economic and political crisis that has jeopardized their bilateral relations and Japan's own national interest. Japan's early resumption of economic aid to China after Tiananmen reflects how aid philosophy differs from that of most of the other Western aid donors. The conclusions are that Japan's large loan to China has played a vital role in maintaining and strengthening Sino-Japanese economic relations, that the aid has made the interdependent relations between the two countries an asymmetric one, …

In The Shadow Of Oriental Culture: A Study Of The Impact Of Confucianism On Japan's Economic Development After World War Ii, Xuedong Xu

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Japan's fast economic growth after World War II can be ascribed to different factors. This study seeks to determine whether the cultural factor, more specifically Confucianism in Japanese version, has constituted the dynamism behind the success stories of Japan. The study approaches the problem by examining the Confucian doctrine and original works of important Japanese philosophers concerning the Confucian ethics and values, which are recrystallized into new organizational patterns in industrial corporation. While the period after World War II is the focus of the study, the unique features of Japanese industry like "Life-time Employment" and "Groupism" are reviewed to determine …

Information Technology And Wealth: Cybernetics, History And Economics, Elin Whitney-Smith

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Capitalism developed where and when it did because there was high information access. There was high information access because of a major advance in information technology--the press. Where the technology was not controlled by the "powers that be" there was economic growth and a shift in the entire social structure. Where it was controlled there was no structural change and there was economic ruin. The development of capitalism is a major step change in economic growth. It is also a major change in the way people organize themselves into groups.

Major step changes in the growth and in the organization …

The Guaranteed Minimum Price And Price Stabilization In The Wheat Market, Therese L. Soullier

Economics Theses & Dissertations

The government of the United States offers a guaranteed minimum price per bushel to farmers in return for a reduction in acreage planted. Through this program, the government attempts to control the supply of wheat and stabilize the price of wheat. There is growing debate in the United States as to the effectiveness and prudence of the current program.

This thesis will examine the effectiveness of the guaranteed minimum price program, using the two-stage least squares procedure to examine a demand and supply model. The study will look at the relative stability of the price of wheat and how and …

The Truncated Cauchy Distribution: Estimation Of Parameters And Application To Stock Returns, Paul G. Staneski

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

The problem addressed in this dissertation is the existence and estimation of the parameters of a truncated Cauchy distribution. It is known that when a number of distributions with infinite support are truncated to a finite interval that the maximum likelihood estimator of the scale parameter fails to exist with positive probability. In particular, necessary and sufficient conditions which give rise to instances of non-existence have been found for the exponential (Deemer and Votaw (1955)), gamma (Broeder (1955), Hegde and Dahiya (1989)), Weibull (Mittal and Dahiya (1989)) and normal distribution (Barndorff-Nielsen (1978), Mittal and Dahiya (1987), Hegde and Dahiya (1989)). …

Economic Considerations For Artificial Reef Development In Coastal Virginia, Dean Thomas Devereaux

OES Theses and Dissertations

The contingent valuation method, recommended by the U. S. Water Resources Council, was used to estimate the economic value of sport fishing and diving at the Chesapeake Light Tower Artificial Reef. The study is based on a random sample of 170 anglers and 33 divers who participated in telephone, personell and mail-in surveys in 1985 and 1986.

The average user value (consumer surplus) was $21.13, $110,75, and $13.30 for head boat anglers, private boat anglers and sport divers, respectively, who claimed to have used the reef in 1985. Variation in consumer surplus was statistically affected by trip expense, distance from …

Bark Or Bite Perspectives On Economic Sanctions For Foreign Policy Objectives, Rodney W. Skotty

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Economic sanctions have been used throughout history to coerce target nations to acquiesce in the objectives of nations that impose them. The record of achievement, using sanctions as a tool of foreign policy, has been poor. Regardless, nations continue to use economic sanctions to attain their goals despite their relative ineffectiveness. And as nations apply sanctions frequently to resolve international conflicts, such frequency tends to impair the credibility of sanctions as an implement of foreign policy. The fact that they are imposed frequently, also reflects that they are used to rectify lesser violations of the international norm. In view of …

Small Farmers' Cooperatives In Brazil, 1964-1984 Reasons For Success Or Failure, Henry H. Gerber

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study is concerned with cooperative business enterprises of small farmers. The topic has been chosen because peasants' association in supply and marketing cooperatives is considered an essential element in rural development. The author's field experience leads him to agree in principle with this assumption. But, as exemplified by Brazil, a variety of factors (ecological, sociohistorical, legal, economic and so forth) may hinder or help the inception and survival of cooperatives.

Thus, if a government aims at integrating the small producer into the national economy as supplier and consumer (as in Brazil), measures to implement t~is policy must not be …

Economics Of The Pacific Whiting, Merluccius Productus, Fishery, Eric Anderson

Economics Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) Interest in the economics of Pacific whiting, Merluccius productus, production and consumption has been simulated in recent years by expanding U.S. participation in the fishery formerly dominated by foreign fishing and processing. This has raised several questions within the U.S. fishing industry: 1) Will it be profitable for additional U.S. fisherman and processors to enter the fishery? 2) What configuration will the U.S. Pacific whiting industry take? and 3) What will be the nature of markets for Pacific whiting products? This paper summarizes the conclusions of several reports and studies which bear on these questions.

I.G. Farben's Petro-Chemical Plant And Concentration Camp At Auschwitz, Robert Simon Yavner

History Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the history of the petrochemical plant and concentration camp run by I.G. Farbenindustrie (the dominant German chemical company during World War II) at Auschwitz to decide upon the degree of Farben’s involvement with Hitler and the Holocaust. The study traces the construction of the plant to determine Farben's participation at Auschwitz. The main sources consulted were the transcripts of the postwar Farben trial at Nuremberg along with eyewitness accounts of members of the prosecution staff. Based on the court's verdict, one might conclude that I.G. Farben operated in a state of coercion during the war and could …

Princess Anne County: A Study In Material Wealth, Todd Grant Duncan

History Theses & Dissertations

This is a study of material culture in Princess Anne County, Virginia, from 1691 to 1823, based on court records. These documents allow the historian to determine the economic worth of a group of individuals, analyze the types of people comprising this group, categorize the types and quantities of possessions owned, and differentiate between economic groups according to possessions and currency listed. Trends of ownership for the whole period, the determination of individual occupations, and the occupational content of the people of the county at large are also discussed. Other areas focused on included the level of literacy, the role …

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.

Conservation According To The Pure Theory Of Exhaustible Resources, George Lymbouris

Economics Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to develop a theory for defining optimal conservation and applying definition to the prevailing rate of domestic petroleum production. Optimal conservation is defined as action designed to achieve or to maintain, from the point of view of society as a whole, the maximum present value of natural resources (or of a natural resource). The proper "action" is defined according to the pure theory of exhaustible resources. The literature survey is a chronological series of articles concerning this theory.

Through building a model which shows that optimal conservation occurs when the marginal internal rate of …

The Concept And Theory Of Value-Added Taxation, Stacy R. Barnes

Economics Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Economic Aspects Of Water Pollution By Naval Vessels In The Port Of Charleston, South Carolina, John Edward O'Connor

Economics Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Railroads And Urban Rivalries In Antebellum Eastern Virginia, Peter C. Stewart

History Faculty Publications

Railroad construction provided a focus for the acceleration of economic rivalry between Richmond, Petersburg, and Norfolk from the 1830's through the 1850's. Richmond's place as a political center provided legislative leverage and attracted able promoters and sufficient capital. Richmond outdistanced its rivals handily, with Petersburg gaining little more than Norfolk. The rivalry left an enduring legacy. Based on railroad archives, manuscripts, and newspapers; 60 notes.

Motivation And The Poor Worker, Charles Barry Pfitzner

Economics Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

An Assessment Of The Validity Of The Unemployment Variable As A Determinant Of Changes In Money Wages In Wage-Estimation Models, James L. Jennings

Economics Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

Portsmouth, Virginia: The Growth And Burdens Of Property Taxes 1952-1967, Nicholas C. Kyriakides

Economics Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Empirical Test Of Linder's Trade Hypothesis, James Norman Carnes

Economics Theses & Dissertations

Attempts have been made recently to empirically test several theories of the basis of international trade. These efforts have been concentrated mainly on the empirical testing of the Heckscher-Ohlin and the classical international trade theorems. The results so obtained are both complementary and conflicting. Although a greater degree of empirical relevance has been observed in the Ricardian model than in the Heckscher-Ohlin theorem, so far no sophisticated effort appears to have been made at the empirical testing of Linder's trade hypothesis.

Linder's thesis is that a country cannot achieve comparative cost advantage in that line of production for which there …

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

Economics Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Economic Base Study Of The Southeastern Virginia Planning District, Toby Lee Jarman

Economics Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

The Elasticity Of Investment Demand: An Empirical Survey, Donald E. Schatz

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 …

Oil And Planning In The Economic Development Of Iran, Jahangier Saleh

Economics Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.