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Full-Text Articles in Economic Theory

The Effect Of Income On Healthy Food Options, Hannah M. Doherty Apr 2022

The Effect Of Income On Healthy Food Options, Hannah M. Doherty

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper explores the effect of income per capita on the number of grocery stores and fast-food franchises in an area. Using a panel dataset to allow for the inclusion of every county in the United States across a period of three years, the results suggest that the income per capita of a county significantly impacts the number of grocery stores and fast-food restaurants in the area. Other factors such as education, age, and attributes regarding time constraints also play an important role in determining the number of grocery stores and fast-food franchises in a location.


Gambling With Debt: The English Premier League, Edward Robinson Jan 2021

Gambling With Debt: The English Premier League, Edward Robinson

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper aims to investigate the impact of debt on financial performance in the English Premier League from the 2000/01 season to the 2017/18 season. Panel model estimations concluded debt has a significant inverse relationship with financial performance. This relationship may potentially be stronger in larger clubs and could be present through human capital investment’s significant direct relationship with financial performance. This further emphasised usages of intangible assets as a player human capital investment indicator, rather than using wage costs like previous studies. Furthermore, filling a gap regarding how capital structures may be used to impact financial performance within’ football.


Sanctuary Cities And Their Respective Effect On Crime Rates, Adam R. Schutt May 2020

Sanctuary Cities And Their Respective Effect On Crime Rates, Adam R. Schutt

Undergraduate Economic Review

According to the U.S. Center for Immigration Studies (2017), cities or counties in twenty-four states declare themselves as a place of “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants. This study addresses the following question: Do sanctuary cities experience higher crime rates than those cities that are not? Using publicly available data, this regression analysis investigates the relationship between crime rates in selected cities and independent variables which the research literature or the media has linked to criminal activity. Results of this research reveal that sanctuary cities do not experience higher violent or property crime rates than those cities that are not sanctuary cities.


A Statistical Analysis Of Economic Perceptions In The 2015 United Kingdom General Election, Amarvir Singh-Bal Mr. May 2019

A Statistical Analysis Of Economic Perceptions In The 2015 United Kingdom General Election, Amarvir Singh-Bal Mr.

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper characterises the vote which took place in the United Kingdom's (U.K.) 2015 General Election as an ‘accountability instrument.’ In doing so, the research interrogates which sections of the electorate hold the incumbent government more accountable for economic outcomes between the 2010 and 2015 U.K. General Elections. The Rational Choice Theory and the Michigan Model are used in this study to present two interlinked, and yet distinct, hypotheses – that less politically informed and non-partisan voters are more likely to hold the government accountable for economic performances; compared to the politically informed and partisan voters within the electorate. Implementing …


The Economic Impacts Of A U.S. Withdrawal From Nafta: A Cge Analysis, Jonathan Liu May 2018

The Economic Impacts Of A U.S. Withdrawal From Nafta: A Cge Analysis, Jonathan Liu

Undergraduate Economic Review

The aim of this study is to examine the economic impacts of a U.S. withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Canada, Mexico and the United States. The shocks simulate scenarios in which the U.S instates penalizing tariff rates on NAFTA countries, a trade war between NAFTA members and a tariff reset to the WTO MFN rates. The effects of these tariff structures are analyzed under the framework of a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with a focus on macroeconomic variables and welfare. The findings show that, in all iterations, Mexico’s economy takes a substantial hit, America’s …


Measuring Health Outcomes Of Uncovered Employment: A Study Of Income, Social Mobility, Equality, And Health Indicators In An Under-Looked Segment Of The Labor Force, Zakariya Kmir Feb 2018

Measuring Health Outcomes Of Uncovered Employment: A Study Of Income, Social Mobility, Equality, And Health Indicators In An Under-Looked Segment Of The Labor Force, Zakariya Kmir

Undergraduate Economic Review

Economists have strongly supported the idea that unemployment causes many undesirable health outcomes. However, how does belonging to a different sector of employment tied closely to changes in minimum wage and inflation relate to overall health? To properly understand the numerical significance of health disparities in the uncovered sector of employment, this research is targeted at quantifying the relationship between the insured and non-insured within the uncovered sector. By substantiating the existence of severe health disparities as a function of the labor force dynamic, this research subsequently estimates the amount of inefficiency and negative health outcomes in the US economy …


Exploring Economic And Social Factors That Increase Economic And Well-Being Measurements Of Developing And Developed Countries, Kofi D. Boadu Jan 2016

Exploring Economic And Social Factors That Increase Economic And Well-Being Measurements Of Developing And Developed Countries, Kofi D. Boadu

Undergraduate Economic Review

The historical growth paths of developed and developing countries reveal the challenges that developing countries face in traveling the road from poverty to prosperity. Based on economic development literature, economic theory, and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression method, this research considers whether or not, and to what extent globalization characteristics, foreign direct investment levels (FDI), secondary school enrollment rates, information communication technology (ICT) as a percentage of trade imports, and happiness levels of 103 developing and developed countries, impact their GDP per capita levels. This paper will also take a look at alternative ways of viewing and measuring economic success.


Analyzing Options Market Toxicity And The Black-Scholes Formula In The Presence Of Jump Diffusion As Simulated With Agent-Based Modeling, William D. Elliott Mar 2015

Analyzing Options Market Toxicity And The Black-Scholes Formula In The Presence Of Jump Diffusion As Simulated With Agent-Based Modeling, William D. Elliott

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper presents new and significant research on the Black-Scholes Formula using the agent-based modeling software NetLogo. The software was used to simulate an options market subject to jump diffusion. Since the widely-used Black-Scholes Formula has at times proven unreliable, this research sought to understand circumstances that render the formula ineffective. It was hypothesized that markets would become difficult to trade in or “toxic” at low price volatility but high jump volatility. Further, it was predicted that kurtosis would alert the presence of toxic markets by accurately and consistently conveying whether jump diffusion was present.


State Failure And Political Instability: The Impact Of Educational Attainment In Africa, Jesse D. Neugarten Jan 2015

State Failure And Political Instability: The Impact Of Educational Attainment In Africa, Jesse D. Neugarten

Undergraduate Economic Review

I investigate the role of educational attainment on state failure and political stability across the African continent. For the empirical analysis, I estimate a Linear Probability Model (LPM) for State Failure by Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). I hypothesize that differences in educational attainment in Africa can explain differences in political stability and state failure. Furthermore, I believe that this effect has persisted over time and that early educational attainment in the late colonial and early independence era is a significant determinant of state affairs in more recent times. I find that early secondary educational attainment explains higher state stability, while …


Contingent Valuation Methodology: Evaluation Of Benefits Of Improving Water Quality In The Lake Tai Region, Zongda Tu Jan 2014

Contingent Valuation Methodology: Evaluation Of Benefits Of Improving Water Quality In The Lake Tai Region, Zongda Tu

Undergraduate Economic Review

Environmental economics is a relatively new field in the subject of economics. While the developing countries are growing and developing rapidly, the conflict between economic development and environmental preservation is becoming more and more irreconcilable. This methodology paper addresses the relationship between the water quality in the Lake Tai Region in China and economic benefits, and presents the contingent valuation methdology (CVM) to evaluate benefits.


Diet And Health Capital: An American Case Study, Matthew J. Klein Oct 2013

Diet And Health Capital: An American Case Study, Matthew J. Klein

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper begins to model diet's contribution to national stocks of Health Capital as defined in Kenneth Arrow et al.'s (2012) "Sustainability and the Measurement of Wealth" by developing a set of equations that link the diet of a nation’s average citizen to that nation’s per capita welfare over time. The model is applied to the American diet from 2005 to 2009. This research finds that even a small change in diet can have a large impact in whether or not a nation is sustainable over time.


Inflation Targeting And Growth: The Role Of The Tradable Sector, Luis Monroy Gómez Franco May 2013

Inflation Targeting And Growth: The Role Of The Tradable Sector, Luis Monroy Gómez Franco

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper provides an analytical explanation to the empirical association between monetary policy conducted according to the inflation targeting (IT) framework and the appreciation of the exchange rate, relating it to the literature on the effects of the exchange rate on growth. A two sector small open economy model is developed in which the behavior of the non tradable inflation and the nominal exchange rate are analyzed. The results indicate that the response to inflation variance under the IT regime causes the appreciation trend. Since this trend is not reversed immediately, increasing returns in the tradable sector affect capital accumulation.


Overfishing: Economic Policies In Finite Resource Biological Pools, Abdullah Nasser Feb 2013

Overfishing: Economic Policies In Finite Resource Biological Pools, Abdullah Nasser

Undergraduate Economic Review

Common-property fishing is a classic example of the tragedy of the commons. Driven by competition, rational fishermen are forced to overfish to maintain marketplace viability. This shortsighted strategy will lead to the depletion of the common resource pool, and ultimately the destruction of the local fishing industry. In this paper, we present a dynamic differential system of a finite-resource fishing pool to model choices faced by average fishermen. We show that the situation mirrors a Prisonor’s Dilemma on the short- and long-terms, where overfishing is always the dominant Nash equilibrium strategy. Additionally, we use the model to analyze a multitude …


A Household Model Of Careers And Education Investment, Jessica F. Young Nov 2012

A Household Model Of Careers And Education Investment, Jessica F. Young

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper develops a two-stage non-cooperative household game, in which parents make career decisions and an investment into their child’s human capital. The model is solved for Nash equilibrium outcomes and extended for a cooperative solution. In non-cooperative pure strategies, both parents choosing to work is a Nash equilibrium, though there are alternative outcomes when the conditions underlying the career decision are varied. The investment behaviour of agents is analysed. We find that choices are critically affected by the magnitude of the cost (and reflected quality) of a high education investment relative to a low investment, and the intrinsic value …


Returns From Self-Employment: Using Human Capital Theory To Compare U.S. Natives And Immigrants, Nikola Popovic Mar 2012

Returns From Self-Employment: Using Human Capital Theory To Compare U.S. Natives And Immigrants, Nikola Popovic

Undergraduate Economic Review

The focus of this paper is to examine the economic returns from self-employment when comparing natives and immigrants. I hypothesize that returns from self-employment will increase with age and education, and that immigrants from China, India, and the Philippines will have higher returns while immigrants from Mexico will have lower returns than natives. I also hypothesize that immigrants with high levels of education will earn more than natives with the same amount of education. The OLS regressions show that human capital variables explain the differences in self-employed income between natives and immigrants, as the literature suggests.


Economic Shocks, Trade And International Relations, Jack Barnes Thompson Feb 2012

Economic Shocks, Trade And International Relations, Jack Barnes Thompson

Undergraduate Economic Review

In an interdependent world, trade has unavoidable game aspects. A model with two agents is used to determine the impact of trade and a military alliance between two major world players, North America and China, and an external non-actor, South Korea. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of cooperative actions and outcomes by the two agents on a two-track policy for South Korea. We also study a variant to the game by considering a change in international relations. Welfare implications are also observed.


Economic Freedom And Fiscal Performance: A Regression Analysis Of Indices Of Economic Freedom On Per Capita Gdp, Jason R. Ockey Apr 2011

Economic Freedom And Fiscal Performance: A Regression Analysis Of Indices Of Economic Freedom On Per Capita Gdp, Jason R. Ockey

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper explores whether different forms of economic freedom drive fiscal performance. We also seek to determine which specific measurements of economic freedom have the most statistically significant impacts. Though the results of our analysis show that economic freedom does impact levels of per capita GDP, the interpretation of these results is more complicated. Because some indices of economic freedom have negative effects on per capita GDP or are statistically insignificant, it is important to note that simply generally increasing a country’s overall level of economic freedom will not necessarily spur economic growth or increase fiscal performance. This paper does …