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2007

Colby College

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Economics

Divergent Effect Of Social Cohesion On Economic Growth In East Asia And Latin America, Horacio Diaz Adda May 2007

Divergent Effect Of Social Cohesion On Economic Growth In East Asia And Latin America, Horacio Diaz Adda

Honors Theses

In this paper I explore the link between social cohesion and economic growth in Latin America and East Asia. Unlike previous studies, I allow for different slope parameters for the different regions. Using ethno linguistic fractionalization as a proxy, I find that social cohesion has not played an important role in determining growth outcomes in Latin America. While social cohesion has not had a direct effect on growth nor institutions in Latin America, it helps explain a large degree of the growth differentials among Asian countries. Social cohesion mostly impacts growth through its effect on institutional quality. However, these results …

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Local Distributional Effects Of Government Cash Transfers In Chile, Claudio A. Agostini, Philip H. Brown May 2007

Local Distributional Effects Of Government Cash Transfers In Chile, Claudio A. Agostini, Philip H. Brown

Working Papers in Economics

Despite rapid economic growth and poverty reduction, inequality in Chile has remained high and remarkably constant over the last 20 years, prompting academic and public interest in the subject. Due to data limitations, however, research on inequality in Chile has concentrated on the national and regional levels. The impact of cash subsidies to poor households on local inequality is thus not well understood. Using poverty-mapping methods to asses this impact, we find heterogeneity in the effectiveness of regional and municipal governments in reducing inequality via poverty-reduction transfers, suggesting that alternative targeting regimes may complement current practice in aiding the poor.

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An Analysis Of Attendance At Major League Baseball Spring Training Games, Michael R. Donihue, David Findlay, Peter Newberry Feb 2007

An Analysis Of Attendance At Major League Baseball Spring Training Games, Michael R. Donihue, David Findlay, Peter Newberry

Faculty Scholarship

This paper examines the determinants of game-day attendance during Major League Baseball’s 2002 spring training season in Florida. Our model of game-day attendance includes location, quality of game, and time and weather variables. A censored Tobit estimation procedure is used to estimate our model. Our results indicate that the quality of the game, average ticket price, and several location-specific factors affect attendance. Specifically, our results suggest that changes in income have no effect on attendance while increases in ticket prices cause reductions in attendance. Furthermore, the estimated price elasticity of demand for Major League Baseball during the spring training season …

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Spatial Inequality In Chile, Claudio A. Agostini, Philip H. Brown Feb 2007

Spatial Inequality In Chile, Claudio A. Agostini, Philip H. Brown

Working Papers in Economics

Despite success in reducing poverty over the last twenty years, inequality in Chile has remained virtually unchanged, making Chile one of the least equal countries in the world. High levels of inequality have been shown to hamper further reductions in poverty as well as economic growth and local inequality has been shown to affect such outcomes as violence and health. The study of inequality at the local level is thus crucial for understanding the economic well-being of a country. Local measures of inequality have been difficult to obtain, but recent theoretical advances have enabled the combination of survey and census …

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Two Essays In The Indiana Family Cap Provision, Aimee Williams Jan 2007

Two Essays In The Indiana Family Cap Provision, Aimee Williams

Honors Theses

The first federal welfare program in the United States was established under the 1935 Social Security Act. The child welfare component of this bill was entitled Aid to Dependent Children (ADC). While only children were eligible to receive benefits, this program was partially intended to keep women out of the labor force during the depression so they would not take jobs that would otherwise go to men. In the 1950's and 1960's. this program was expanded to allow states to claim federal reimbursement for aid to unemployed parents and the spouse of an unemployed or incapacitated parent, becoming Aid to …

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Non-Participatory Poverty, Carrie Curtis Jan 2007

Non-Participatory Poverty, Carrie Curtis

Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS)

In a capitalistic market society, all individuals should have an equal opportunity to participate, with varying extents, in consumerism. Democracy entitles one to political participation but people have come to value consumer participation as having more importance as shopping and the exchange of goods and services have become an important part of everyday living. Yet not everyone can participate in consumerism and they end up suffering, especially the children living in poverty. These children internalize the message that since they cannot participate in a society based on material consumption, they cannot belong. Poverty not only causes individuals to experience their …

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Voices Of The Poor: Poverty And Growth In Albania, Magda Tsaneva Jan 2007

Voices Of The Poor: Poverty And Growth In Albania, Magda Tsaneva

Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS)

This paper uses three waves of panel surveys at the household level to study growth and poverty in Albania over the period 2002-2004. It attempts to answer two main questions. The first question is directed at finding the micro determinants of growth and aims to expose the obstacles households face to improve their economic situation. The main focus of the analysis is to investigate the importance of health, education, and infrastructure indicators for income growth. The second question asks whether growth in Albania during the period 2002-2004 has been pro-poor. I find that there is some evidence for a convergence …

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Science, Technology And The Garden Of Maine: Industrial Farming In Aroostook County, 1850-1900, Thomas J. H. Reznick Jan 2007

Science, Technology And The Garden Of Maine: Industrial Farming In Aroostook County, 1850-1900, Thomas J. H. Reznick

Senior Scholars Papers in Computer Science

In the mid-nineteenth century, northern Maine farmers existed amidst tension between capitalist and non-capitalist forces. This conflict is best described in terms of recent discourse on the question of rural capitalism, a topic debated by such scholars as Allan Kulikoff and Christopher Clark. This is an intricate and nuanced debate that this paper does not intend to treat with. Suffice to say, Maine farmers were caught between traditional social institutions associated with their trade that did not entail market production, and the rise of rural capitalism associated with burgeoning new markets. However, by the turn of the century, northern Maine …

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Voices Of The Poor: Poverty And Growth In Albania, Magda Tsaneva Jan 2007

Voices Of The Poor: Poverty And Growth In Albania, Magda Tsaneva

Honors Theses

This paper uses three waves of panel surveys at the household level to study growth and poverty in Albania over the period 2002-2004. It attempts to answer two main questions. The first question is directed at finding the micro determinants of growth and aims to expose the obstacles households face to improve their economic situation. The main focus of the analysis is to investigate the importance of health, education, and infrastructure indicators for income growth. The second question asks whether growth in Albania during the period 20022004 has been pro-poor. I find that there is some evidence for a convergence …

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