Macroeconomics Commons^™

Tax Preferences: A Numerical Exercise, Isaac Babatunde Olatunji

Major Papers

Tax preference focuses on individuals' perception and choice regarding specific tax policies or structure. It examines the extent to which individuals favor certain tax provisions, rates, or exemptions over others. Scholars and researchers have extensively examined tax preference from various perspectives. I performed a numerical exercise on one agent model and two agent model where agents have preferences over consumption, labor supply and tax preferences (dislike of the labor income tax). Under the one agent model there exist one household utility maximization problem and under the two agent model there exist two households with low productive ability and high productive …

Economic Anomalies Following The Handover Of Hong Kong, Nathan Martin

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper seeks to examine and provide a possible explanation for economic anomalies in Hong Kong following its handover to China. Hong Kong was on a 99-year lease to the United Kingdom from China before being handed back over July 1^st, 1997. Due to the “one country, two systems” policy espoused in the handover agreement that was to be implemented for fifty years, this event marks a rare natural experiment of a peaceful regime change without a significant change in governance. This paper seeks to understand the impact of the act of regime change on selected key macroeconomic …

Essays On Trade Policy, Ward Reesman

All Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two essays on international trade and trade policy, focusing on a quantitative evaluation of the causes and consequences of trade barriers and economic integration. In the first essay, I examine the role of a widely-used discriminatory trade barrier in shaping dynamic trade patterns of exporters across a range of affected and unaffected export markets. In the next chapter, I explore the heterogeneous economic determinants impacting the formation of economic integration agreements among countries, paying specific attention to the role of bilateral migration flows.

The first chapter estimates the dynamic trade effects of temporary trade barriers (TTBs), …

Trade Liberalization With Brics: A Cge Model Of Egypt, Kareem Ashraf

Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents an ex-ante impact assessment of a hypothetical FTA between Egypt and the BRICS from an Egyptian economy-wide and sectorial perspectives, with a granular look into manufacturing. The chosen methodology is a static SAM-based Computable General Equilibrium model calibrated to Egypt’s 2018-2019 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). With respect to existing literature, the paper uniquely stands in considering an Egypt-BRICS FTA with a granular assessment of manufacturing subsectors and in running a simulation of Egypt’s trade liberalization with the wider BRICS alliance, including the accession of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Ethiopia, and Iran, which joined the bloc along with Egypt …

Revisiting The Exchange Rate Pass- Through To Domestic Prices In Egypt, Ahmed Abdelhamid

Theses and Dissertations

Exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) refers to the extent to which the movements in the exchange rate influence domestic prices. This study revisits the exchange rate pass-through in Egypt using quarter data from 2006 to 2022. The study employs a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model to estimate the degree of ERPT. The findings suggest that ERPT in Egypt is incomplete, meaning that changes in the exchange rate do not fully pass through to consumer prices. The study also investigates the role of the money supply in absorbing the shocks in the nominal exchange rate. The study has important implications for policymakers …

Chinese Political Rhetoric And Ideology: Tension And Pretension, Israel Paredes

Honors Theses

This changing nature of the Chinese government’s ideology leads one to believe that its core beliefs are not dogmatic, despite the foundation for their ideology being rooted in specific societal and economic theories. Starting with Mao Zedong to modern day, the Chinese government officials will continue to support the original tenets (and, no doubt, future presidents’ additions to the tenets). However, the interpretation of their ideology over time is fluid and is used to support policies and actions during a political cycle. Chinese political leaders are unlikely to disagree with a past leaders, and will rather use their own interpretation …

Essays On Manufacturing And Growth, Hugo Vaca Pereira Rocha

All Dissertations

The first chapter of this dissertation studies the role of human capital in generating economic convergence through its impact on manufacturing productivity growth and allocation of labor across sectors of the economy. I confirm and extend existing results showing that productivity in manufacturing – unlike its economy-wide counterpart – has exhibited convergence; that is, countries further behind the technology frontier tend to catch up to those on the frontier. I then show that the convergence in manufacturing is (a) somewhat accelerated by countries’ tertiary education levels and (b) faster in high-tech industries. Perhaps surprisingly, this is not driven by tertiary …

Vietnam’S Gdp: Re-Assessing Growth Rate And Identifying An Alternative Indicator, My Linh D. Nguyen

Honors Theses

Since the economic reform known as Doi Moi (Renovation) in 1986, Vietnam has changed from one of the world’s poorest to a middle-income country in one generation (USAID, 2022). The country has consistently registered high and stable economic growth since the reform, averaging 6.3% from 1985 to 2021 (World Bank, 2022). High growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) is good news, but it has also raised questions that go both ways. On one side, there is much speculation that the government of Vietnam has manipulated economic statistics, compared to the case of China and India. As quoted in Kinh …

Asymmetric Effects In Geopolitical Risk And Foreign Reserves Accumulation Among Brics Countries, Kwame O. Asomaning

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

Over the past decade, the rise of Geopolitical Risk (GPR) has had a significant effect on macro financial variables, prompting central banks to accumulate reserves as a "war chest" to protect their economies from the detrimental effects of such shocks. This study examines the asymmetries in the long run, short run, and locational asymmetric effects on foreign reserves in the BRICS countries, using both the Nonlinear ARDL (NARDL) and Quantile ARDL (QARDL) models over the period 2000Q1–2021Q4. The results of the NARDL model suggest that GPR has long-run asymmetric effects for BRICS, while in the short run, all countries display …

Information, Communication, And Technology In Developing Countries: The Impediment To Nigeria Economic Growth, Fatima Ali Muhammed

Dissertations and Theses

Technological revolution has shifted the world to a post-industrial society as information communication and technology (ICT) govern the centrality of human interaction. ICT has become widely influential at all levels of life, especially socially and economically.

In the 21st century, innovative technologies have become a crucial element of accelerating all factors of production to deliver rapid and effective results in every sector of the economy. The Internet, as a component of ICT, has become the global computing network that facilitates the access, analysis and dissemination of infinite information rapidly using advanced technology.

Policy makers, researchers, business leaders, academics are all …

Determinants Of Profitability Of Commercial Bank In Afghanistan, Mohammad Osman Saeedi

Senior Projects Fall 2023

Over the past two decades, the global financial sector, particularly the banking industry, has undergone significant transformations impacting its performance. Recognizing the pivotal role of the financial sector in economic growth, this study focuses on Afghanistan's banking sector, tracing its roots to the establishment of the first commercial banking institution, Bank Millie Afghan, in 1933. Following decades of war, the banking sector experienced revitalization after 2001, marked by the emergence of a new government, international aid inflow, and increased business activities. Despite remarkable growth, Afghanistan's banking sector faces challenges such as security concerns, cultural issues, and a developing banking culture. …

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 …

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 …

Three Essays On The Political Economy Of The Cfa Franc, Francis Perez

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is organized into three essays. The second essay provides a historical overview of the CFA franc and explores why the CFA franc has survived for so long. It argues that a historical and dialectical materialist analysis of the CFA’s history can best explain both its extraordinary longevity and the periodic major reforms to its functioning. The third essay assesses whether the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) has an independent monetary policy by examining the relationships between BCEAO’s foreign reserves and base money, and between BCEAO and the European Central Banks’s policy rates. The fourth essay evaluates …

Essays On Spillover Effects Across U.S And China, Zhuo Xi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Chapter1: With the rapid development and continuous advancement of economic globalization, the links between countries around the world have become increasingly tight. Among them, the United States, as the world's largest economy, its monetary policy is bound to cause significant spillover effects on other economies around the world. By constructing a Threshold SVAR model with monthly data from 1996 to 2019, this paper empirically investigates the spillover effects of US monetary policy on China's economy during different U.S policy regimes. The transmission mechanism of such effects has been tested through different channels including policy channel, trade channel, asset value channel …

Macroeconomic Adjustments Of Global Convergence: Real Exchange Rate Response Of Asia-Pacific Growth, Kumarappan Annamalai

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three chapters.

Chapter 1 : PURCHASING POWER PARITY, REAL EXCHANGE RATE, PRICE LEVEL INDEX and HARROD-BALASSA-SAMUELSON EFFECT: LITERATURE SURVEY

In the light of the concepts explained in the introduction section, this chapter explores the seminal papers on the Purchasing Power Parity principle, the Real Exchange rate, and the Price Level Index, showing the evolution of PPP and the methodologies adopted in exploring the characteristics of PPP and the real exchange rates. Various characteristics might be stationarity or non-stationarity of the real exchange rates (RER), variance, correlation, half-life measures, linearity versus non-linearity, etc. Various methodologies adopted were …

Convergence And Hegemony: The United States And China In The 21st Century, Daniel Wilcox

Honors Theses

The extreme economic growth of the Republic of China is neither a new phenomenon nor a topic that has not been extensively examined, however, how this convergence of economic power between the United States and rising China translates to potential political power is an important area of discussion. The US has been forced to face a tumultuous beginning to the 21^st century. Characterized by unprecedented terrorist attacks, subsequent wars that have brought economic and moralistic costs, increasing domestic partisan division, and a questioning of what it is to be an American, it is an unthinkable reality following the 1991 …

Essays In Macroeconomic Policy, Meng-Ting Chen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three chapters that cover topics on macroeconomic policies.

Chapter 1 - Markups, Labor Share, and Wage Dispersion.

Increasing market power has an impact on labor market behavior. This paper argues that the decline in the aggregate wage after 1980 comes from both increasing aggregate product markup and decreasing aggregate labor markdown. Most of the decline is driven by the sharp decline in lower wage percentiles, which also contributes to the increasing wage dispersion. Further, both firms’ monopoly and monopsony power play important roles in explaining the decline in the aggregate labor share. I build a heterogeneous …

Financial Openness And Economic Growth, Doo Kyun Wang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

An ongoing controversy in economics relates to the effect of financial openness on economic growth. Despite their longstanding nature, these questions are not easily resolved. Theoretically, capital market liberalization can lower the cost of capital. Given perfect international capital mobility, this can cause factor price equalization and finally accelerate economic growth. In contrast with the strong theoretical argument, empirical studies on the effect financial openness have on growth are still inconclusive.

Given the diverse perspective, the goal of this paper is to further investigate the role and effect of financial openness on economic growth in different time periods and at …

Stuck In The Middle: An Analysis Of Economic Growth And The Technological Intensity Of Exports, Aya Abdel Halim

Theses and Dissertations

Driven by the persistence of some economies’ lower-middle-income status, also known as the middle-income trap, this research aims to identify the relationship between exports and their growth rates. A Cobb-Douglass model augmented by the different types of exports is employed, and the relationship is estimated for a panel of 77 lower-middle-income economies using multiple two-step system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model. This research’s contribution to the literature is two-fold: First, it analyzes exports from both an aggregated level (i.e., total exports) as well as at a disaggregated level by the technological intensity of exports. To add, the panel of …

Essays In Monetary And Macroprudential Policies, Mikheil Dvalishvili

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Chapter 1 Using a medium scale general equilibrium New Keynesian business cycle model with macroprudential policy and news shocks I study the effectiveness of various combinations of the monetary and macroprudential policies. I incorporate defaults both in the banking sector and households. The results show that out of the policy strategies considered the standard Taylor rule combined with the LTV requirement that reacts countercyclically to the deviation of house prices from the steady state yields higher welfare as compared with all the other strategies considered. Additionally, the standard Taylor rule combined with either of the countercyclical LTV requirements mitigates the …

New Institutional Economics: Political Institutions And Divergent Development In Costa Rica And Honduras, Maynor Alberto Loaisiga Bojorge

Honors Projects

For most of their histories, Costa Rica and Honduras were primarily agricultural societies with little economic diversification. However, around 1990, after the implementation of Washington Consensus reforms, the economies of both nations began to diverge. Costa Rica’s economy rapidly expanded for the following 30 years, while Honduras remained stagnant. Through a New Institutional Economics approach, I argue that institutional differences between Costa Rica and Honduras are responsible for the impressive economic growth Costa Rica has been able to achieve in the past few decades. Specifically, early political developments in Costa Rica have deeply imbedded relatively egalitarian values into the population, …

Disembedded Liberalism: The Global Pressure On Democracy, Hallie Spear

CMC Senior Theses

The international political order is at a crossroads with divergent paths. Liberal democracy is once again threatened on the international stage. What's more troubling is that the most stable and influential democracies, the United States, those in Europe and India, seem to be vulnerable to the autocratic wave sweeping through the world. This thesis completes a critical analysis to understand the root causes of the recent disruption to democracy the world has observed. Focusing on three established, diverse, and populous democracies, this thesis investigates the economic conditions at play that made each nation vulnerable to populism. Neoliberal economic policies implemented …

The Political Economy Of The Cost Of Foreign Exchange Intervention, Devika Dutt

Doctoral Dissertations

Central Banks around the world increasingly intervene in the foreign exchange market for a variety of reasons, such as maintaining exchange rate stability and maintaining a buffer against the impact of capital flight. In fact, research shows that central banks can lean against the macroeconomic policy trilemma through maintaining reserves and intervening in the foreign exchange market, and thereby secure policy space. However, securing this policy space can come at substantial cost. This dissertation explores the political economy of these costs of foreign exchange intervention. Chapter I discusses the concept of the direct cost of intervention, calculates these costs for …

Three Essays On Exchange Rate Models And Their Applications, Azza A. Mansour

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Chapter 1: This chapter attempts to identify the determinant of exchange rate pass-through into producer and destination prices using highly disaggregated firm-level data of importers and exporters of the Egyptian economy from 2009 to 2013. The main findings assert the hypothesis of complete exchange rate pass-through into destination prices at the lowest level of significance for the average exporting firm that is also importing. Furthermore, the firm with the highest import intensity has a lower percentage of pass-through into destination prices, indicating that the marginal cost channel plays a more significant role in determining the speed of the exchange rate …

Three Essays On Quantitative Easing Policy, Daniel Abraham Mengistu

Dissertations

The main objective of these three essays is to examine the impact of quantitative easing (QE) policies on macroeconomic indicators. The first essay focuses on the cross-border effect of U.S. QE shocks in Latin America, while the second and third essays focus on the effects of Japan’s QE policies on consumer and stock prices. In the first essay, I examine the global impacts of U.S. QE shocks on output and inflation in Latin American countries through trade linkages. It presents a monthly global model that combines individual country vector error-correction models in which domestic (endogenous) variables are related to the …

Essays On Market Structure, Price-Setting, And Spillovers, Nicholas J. Bauer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Chapter 01: This paper explores the firm’s pricing-setting behavior through the lens of market structure and exchange rate pass-through. The basis for this chapter stems from a four-tiered nested constant elasticity of substitution demand function, where firms have non-negligible sector and subsector market shares. This model allows the firm to compete against firms within the same subsector, as well as against firms within other subsectors. From this model, I identify three propositions. First, a u-shaped price response in both sector and subsector market shares to an exchange rate movement. Second, a hump-shaped price response in subsector market share and a …

An Inferentially Robust Look At Two Competing Explanations For The Surge In Unauthorized Migration From Central America, Nick Santos

Dissertations

The last 8 years have seen a dramatic increase in the flow of Central American apprehensions by the U.S. Border Patrol. Explanations for this surge in apprehensions have been split between two leading hypotheses. Most academic scholars, immigrant advocates, progressive media outlets, and human rights organizations identify poverty and violence (the Poverty and Violence Hypothesis) in Central America as the primary triggers responsible. In contrast, while most government officials, conservative think tanks, and the agencies that work in the immigration and border enforcement realm admit poverty and violence may underlie some decisions to migrate, they instead blame lax U.S. immigration …

The Catalytic Effect And The Imf: The Relationship Between Capital Inflows And Imf Program Characteristics, Matthew Levinson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Interventions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are believed to impact external capital inflows to recipient countries, which has the potential to amplify the overall effectiveness of IMF programs. However, the true extent of this catalytic effect remains debated. While previous studies have examined the catalytic effect of the IMF at the aggregate level, this research isolates specific types of IMF programs and analyzes their relationship with specific types of financial inflows for a better understanding of the heterogeneity in program effectiveness with respect to the catalytic effect. I find that program type plays a significant role in the strength …

Finance And Economic Performance Across Countries, Monika Islam Khan

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

My dissertation consists of three papers on finance and economic performance across countries. The first paper applies the gravity model of international trade to quantify the impact of the banking sector and the stock market on bilateral trade patterns. Following the study of capital structure, I evaluate the mix of external financing sources used for real investment at the macroeconomic level by differentiating between the relative roles of the banking sector and stock market development in determining trade patterns. Using aggregate bilateral trade data for 87 countries over 1976-2012, I find that stock market development has a substantial impact on …