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Income Distribution Commons

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Theses/Dissertations

CMC Senior Theses

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Full-Text Articles in Income Distribution

Did Demonetization Have A Bigger Impact On Ppis (Prepaid Payment Instruments) Or Mobile Banking In India?, Ansh Vora Jan 2023

Did Demonetization Have A Bigger Impact On Ppis (Prepaid Payment Instruments) Or Mobile Banking In India?, Ansh Vora

CMC Senior Theses

On November 8, 2016, Narendra Modi, prime minister of India, tele-advertised the entire nation and announced that India's highest value banknotes, the 500 and 1000 rupee “Rs” notes would be demonetized and taken out of circulation, effective midnight. Modi stated that this is an effort to reduce the large economy of black money, transition India into a digital economy, abolish funding of terrorist groups and illicit circulation of counterfeit notes. In this study, I choose to analyze the impact of demonetization on two digital payment methods - Prepaid Payment Instruments, “PPI” and Mobile Banking. The data used in this study …


A Philosophical And Empirical Investigation Into Buddhist Economics, Hannah Doyle Jan 2023

A Philosophical And Empirical Investigation Into Buddhist Economics, Hannah Doyle

CMC Senior Theses

There is a growing body of literature on Buddhist economics from a philosophical perspective; however, no work to date has sought to empirically validate it as an effective economic theory at a global scale. In my paper, I draw on the long history of Buddhist metaphysics to construct an account of Buddhist ethics and then proceed to derive a set of Buddhist economic principles. I draw on the World Happiness Report’s methodology to quantitatively demonstrate the relationship between Buddhist economic principles and the psychological wellbeing of a country’s citizens, as measured through their own evaluation of their quality of life …


Examining The Effectiveness Of Nba General Managers At Determining Value In The Nba Draft, And The Impact Of Drafting Team On Player Future Value, Benjamin S. Glass Jan 2023

Examining The Effectiveness Of Nba General Managers At Determining Value In The Nba Draft, And The Impact Of Drafting Team On Player Future Value, Benjamin S. Glass

CMC Senior Theses

This study examines the effectiveness of NBA general managers at accurately drafting in accordance with the future values of players. Using draft position as a metric representing perceived value at the time of the draft, and second contract size to represent value of a player at the time of free agency, I compare the effects of different draft positions on the expected size of a players second contract. By examining divergences in the expected negative linear trend, I can identify positions in the draft which are being over/undervalued. I additionally look at the effect of team on second contract size …


Finding Answers In Gaps: The Relationship Between Drugs And Mexico's Economy, Mariela Centeno Jan 2023

Finding Answers In Gaps: The Relationship Between Drugs And Mexico's Economy, Mariela Centeno

CMC Senior Theses

This paper sets out to understand the economic conditions that paved the way for the evolution and resilience of a powerful and resilient drug economy in Mexico. To do this, I examine the relationship between a proxy for drug movement from Mexico and large economic variables in the country. I use a dataset that incorporates the drug seizures from 1997 to 2022 to understand whether privatization and the resulting rising economic inequalities in Mexico paved the way for a growing drug economy. This paper builds on current literature regarding drug market estimates and drug economy interactions. Using an OLS regression …


Exploring The Generational Evolution Of Black-White Wage Inequality Across Geographic Regions Of The United States, Rachel Scharff-Hansen Jan 2022

Exploring The Generational Evolution Of Black-White Wage Inequality Across Geographic Regions Of The United States, Rachel Scharff-Hansen

CMC Senior Theses

Wages of black men trail those of their white counterparts despite decades of generational socio-political change. This paper examines the extent to which the black-white wage gap has evolved from individuals born in the Baby Boomer (births between 1956 and 1964) to the Millennial (births between 1977 and 1995) generation, an era assumed to reflect great shifts in anti-racist sentiments and opportunities in the late 20th century. Despite presumed progressive attitudes developed in this time period, I find that the black-white wage differential of the labor market in its whole has worsened from black earnings lagging 28.1% behind white …


Geographic Banking Discrimination In The United States, Simon Ross Gilbert Jan 2022

Geographic Banking Discrimination In The United States, Simon Ross Gilbert

CMC Senior Theses

Financial institutions in the United States have historically discriminated against Black Americans in a multitude of ways. One potential dynamic of unequal access that remains understudied is geographic in nature. That is, are commercial banks less likely to locate in neighborhoods with more Black people? Using a fixed effects and selection on observables model, I find that a 1 percentage point increase in an area’s Black population is related to a 0.11 decrease in the number of commercial banks in that area. This effect is localized primarily in urban areas, particularly in cities in the Mid-Atlantic, Upper Midwest, and Pacific …


Cross-Cultural Examination Of Vacation Policy On Employee Satisfaction And Happiness, Ketan D. Parekh Jan 2022

Cross-Cultural Examination Of Vacation Policy On Employee Satisfaction And Happiness, Ketan D. Parekh

CMC Senior Theses

With the advent of technological advancement, entrepreneurship, and a higher emphasis on meritocracy, societies across the globe have experienced intense competition to outdo one another. This has pushed companies to place increased importance on worker productivity; large and small companies want to see their employees work harder, longer, and faster. With this increased demand for work, companies today are making sure they have suitable reward systems to ensure worker satisfaction and quality work production. However, what these reward systems look like and how they function contrast significantly across cultures, especially as it pertains to corporate leave policies. This thesis examines …


Economic Propaganda In The United States, Brooklyn Montgomery Jan 2022

Economic Propaganda In The United States, Brooklyn Montgomery

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis aims to identify and analyze three different forms of economic propaganda: cultural, structural, and political. I first examine ‘Do What You Love’ culture and its impact on the labor force. Chapter Two explores the propagation of neoliberal economics as an objective study, and the final chapter analyzes the use of Black capitalism as a political mechanism to quell Black radical sentiment. In detailing these phenomenons, I investigate the implementation, normalization, and effects, as well as the material repercussions of these ideas and structures.


Sufficientarianism Revised: A Look At Past Theories Of Distributive Justice And Working Prospects For Future Theories, Georgia Dietz Jan 2021

Sufficientarianism Revised: A Look At Past Theories Of Distributive Justice And Working Prospects For Future Theories, Georgia Dietz

CMC Senior Theses

In philosophy, distributive justice is the economic, political, and social structure that constitutes a larger debate on how resources should be divided in society. What is a ‘fair’ way of distributing resources? Many philosophers have created different frameworks that attempt to answer this question. This paper will focus on the attempts that have been made by sufficientarians, then look at problems with these theories that have been pointed out by critics, and finally attempt to revise sufficientarianism altogether.


The Timing Of Childbirth: Does The Age Of First-Time Mothers Affect The Parental Gender Earnings Gap?, Anna Graves Jan 2020

The Timing Of Childbirth: Does The Age Of First-Time Mothers Affect The Parental Gender Earnings Gap?, Anna Graves

CMC Senior Theses

This paper assesses the impact the timing of first birth may have on the parental gender wage gap. Using data from the 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), I use a pooled, cross-sectional sample of full-time parents in the United States labor force to examine the relationship between earnings and age at first birth for mothers and fathers and any relative difference that arises between the two. My findings indicate the presence of a parental gender wage gap, and that the timing of first birth can significantly impact parental wages. In addition, my results suggest that the timing …


Healthy And Unhealthy Responses To American Democratic Institutional Failure, Thomas D'Anieri Jan 2020

Healthy And Unhealthy Responses To American Democratic Institutional Failure, Thomas D'Anieri

CMC Senior Theses

I have set out on the hunch that politics in America “feels different,” that we are frustrated both with our institutions as well as with one another. First, I will seek to empirically verify this claim beyond mere “feelings.” If it can be shown that these kinds of discontent genuinely exist to the extent that I believe they do, I will then explain why people feel this way and why things are different this time from the economic, political, and social points of view. Next, I will examine two potential responses, what I will call the populist and the institutional …


The Road To Human Emancipation - The Moral And Political Foundations Of Markets, William Shi Jan 2020

The Road To Human Emancipation - The Moral And Political Foundations Of Markets, William Shi

CMC Senior Theses

The thesis aims to provide both a real public ideology and the legal and socioeconomic structures to realize Karl Marx’s ideal of human emancipation. Marx argues that in capitalist society, the legal and political superstructure forces the ruling class to represent its interest as the public interest, which legitimizes the massive inequality in resources and social power. To demonstrate how to realize the substantive public interest, the two parts of the thesis have two goals. The first part aims to formulate a rightful candidate to the public ideology of human emancipation, which represents the substantive public interest rather than the …


Evaluating The Effects Of Nutritional Intake During Adolescence On Educational Attainment And Labor Market Earnings As An Adult, Mikaela Connell Jan 2018

Evaluating The Effects Of Nutritional Intake During Adolescence On Educational Attainment And Labor Market Earnings As An Adult, Mikaela Connell

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis, I analyze whether nutritional intake at the time of adolescence can impact academic attainment and earnings later on in life. Millions of children in the United States are living in food insecure households and do not have access to an adequate nutritious diet. Since adolescence is a time period of intense growth and development, it is essential to meet nutritional needs at this time. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), I measure the nutrition of a nationally representative sample of youth in the United States through their daily food intake, …


Salary Inequality In The Nba: Changing Returns To Skill Or Wider Skill Distributions?, Jonah F. Breslow Jan 2017

Salary Inequality In The Nba: Changing Returns To Skill Or Wider Skill Distributions?, Jonah F. Breslow

CMC Senior Theses

In this paper, I examine trends in salary inequality from the 1985-86 NBA season to the 2015-16 NBA season. Income and wealth inequality have been extremely important issues recently, which motivated me to analyze inequality in the NBA. I investigated if salary inequality trends in the NBA can be explained by either returns to skill or widening skill distributions. I used Pareto exponents to measure inequality levels and tested to see if the levels changed over the sample. Then, I estimated league-wide returns to skill. I found that returns to skill have not significantly changed, but variance in skill has …


Sustainable Mining For Long Term Poverty Alleviation In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Ellen Perfect Jan 2017

Sustainable Mining For Long Term Poverty Alleviation In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Ellen Perfect

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the poverty alleviation and peace-spoiling power of the mineral extraction sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to arrive at a set of strategic goals for the country moving forward. Although subterranean minerals are often a source or perpetuator of violence, the potential to lift the country’s rural communities out of extreme poverty makes the mining industry an essential part of the nation’s development strategies. Lessons from Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Uganda and Sierra Leone to arrive at best practices for increasing the multiplier effect of large-scale mining, formalization, beneficiation, capital …


The Interconnection Of The Great Recession, Income Disparity, Segregated Metropolitan Districts, And Their Significance To All In The U.S., Marcellus Demer Jan 2017

The Interconnection Of The Great Recession, Income Disparity, Segregated Metropolitan Districts, And Their Significance To All In The U.S., Marcellus Demer

CMC Senior Theses

In the United States, nobody can survive without depending on the income of oneself or of those that support them. Thus, economic opportunity and its skewed availability is pertinent to everyone. With income inequality in the United States measured in the early 2010s reaching some of the highest estimates among nations around the globe, people seek to investigate the forces behind this phenomenon and reverse it. This paper focuses on some of the many cycles and structures that exist to reinforce the challenges of achieving economic equality. Specifically, I extrapolate data to measure the correlations between the Great Recession and …


Conditional Cash Transfers And Their Effect On Poverty, Inequality, And School Enrollment: The Case Of Mexico And Latin America, Maria Romano Jan 2016

Conditional Cash Transfers And Their Effect On Poverty, Inequality, And School Enrollment: The Case Of Mexico And Latin America, Maria Romano

CMC Senior Theses

Over the past two decades, conditional cash transfer (CCT) has become one of the most widespread approaches to social development in Latin America. Spurred in large part by the evident and immediate success of Mexico’s CCT initiative, a multitude of countries began to invest heavily in this strategy hoping to reduce poverty and inequality in the short and long run. This paper examines the relationship between CCT program breadth and poverty, inequality, and secondary school enrollment over a thirteen year span in order to determine whether or not programs with the largest coverage were the most efficient. This question is …


The Evolution Of Black-White Wage Inequality Across Occupational Sectors In The Us Since The 1990s, Tianxiao Ye Jan 2015

The Evolution Of Black-White Wage Inequality Across Occupational Sectors In The Us Since The 1990s, Tianxiao Ye

CMC Senior Theses

This paper updates the current knowledge about Black-White wage inequality in the US male labor market by using the NLSY97 sample. Compared with the results obtained from the NLSY79 cohort, I find that the unconditional racial wage inequality is smaller today, but after controlling for premarket academic skills, the conditional racial wage gap remains roughly the same as it was twenty years ago. After dividing the labor market by occupational categories, I find that in the white collar sector, the racial wage gap has largely disappeared even without controlling for academic skills. In the blue collar sector, academic skills can …


Examining The Relationship Between Received Remittances And Education In Malawi, Kasvi Malik Jan 2015

Examining The Relationship Between Received Remittances And Education In Malawi, Kasvi Malik

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the relationship between received remittances and education using random samples from panel survey data from households in rural Malawi collected between 2008 and 2010. Past research as well as that conducted in this paper point to the fact that remittances and education share an important correlation. The results of this study indicate that on a microeconomic level, remittances have a highly significant and positive impact on household education. Other remittance-related factors such as the distance from agent, the remittance amount, and the type of account held by an individual also have a significant impact on the highest …


The Political Economy Of Environmental Justice: A Comparative Study Of New Delhi And Los Angeles, Ratik Asokan Jan 2015

The Political Economy Of Environmental Justice: A Comparative Study Of New Delhi And Los Angeles, Ratik Asokan

CMC Senior Theses

Though mainstream environmentalism, both in the U.S. and India, was initially rooted in social justice, it has, over time, moved away from this focus. The Environmental Justice Movement consequently arose to reunite social and environmental activism. In this thesis, I trace the historical relationship between the mainstream environmentalism, the Environmental Justice Movement, and marginalized communities. After providing this general overview, I examine two case studies – in Los Angeles and New Delhi respectively – where marginalized communities have been involved in Environmental Justice activities. My analysis reveals that marginalized communities often act in an ‘environmentalist’ or ‘environmentally friendly’ manner, without …


Against The Grain: The Imf, Bread Riots, And Altered State Development In The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan, David M. Leathers Jan 2015

Against The Grain: The Imf, Bread Riots, And Altered State Development In The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan, David M. Leathers

CMC Senior Theses

Since the end of World War II, and especially over the past three decades, there has been a dramatic increase of interactions between international financial institutions (IFIs) and states. This paper will explore these interactions by examining the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This paper rests on the assumption that the complex implications of these interactions are not yet comprehensively understood and will move towards that goal by setting forth a collection of new approaches to further understand IFI-state interaction. It will discuss Jordan’s economic and political history, structural adjustment policies implemented by the IMF, …