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Full-Text Articles in Public Economics

Essays On The Economics Of Sports Wagering Markets, Jacob Lamb May 2023

Essays On The Economics Of Sports Wagering Markets, Jacob Lamb

All Dissertations

Economists have long been enamored with using wagering markets and sports data to answer various economic questions. Wagering market data are readily available to answer any number of questions relating to sports and economics. However, most studies surrounding wagering markets have focused on searching for inefficiencies and, consequently, profitable betting strategies against the house. This dissertation takes a different approach, focusing on the information that can be extracted from efficient wagering markets and using that information to answer economic questions. Rather than hunting for inefficiencies, this dissertation confirms the efficiency of wagering markets and uses wagering markets to answer questions …


Three Essays On The Economics Of Public Libraries, Amir Borges Ferreira Neto Jan 2019

Three Essays On The Economics Of Public Libraries, Amir Borges Ferreira Neto

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This dissertation explores empirical issues concerning public libraries in the United States. In particular, it analyzes the direct and indirect effects to and from public libraries, on different issues such as charitable donations, labor market outcomes, institutions and technical efficiency. Chapter 1 discusses the economics of public libraries and its relevance. In addition, it provides an outline of the dissertation and its main contribution to the literature. Chapter 2, analyzes the determinants of donations to public libraries testing the crowding effect from government funding of public libraries. I find suggestive results of a crowd in effect with an inverted U …


Efficiency, But At What Cost? Evidence From A Dea Analysis Of Wv School Districts, Eduardo Minuci, Amir B. Neto, Joshua C. Hall Jan 2017

Efficiency, But At What Cost? Evidence From A Dea Analysis Of Wv School Districts, Eduardo Minuci, Amir B. Neto, Joshua C. Hall

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

West Virginia schools are consistently below the national average on the NAEP. Using Data Envelopment Analysis, we estimate the technical efficiency of West Virginia school districts. We find less variation in technical efficiency in West Virginia than in similar studies conducted in other states. This appears to be because of state policy imposing homogeneity of input usage. Due to the limited variation in technical efficiency across districts, we cannot analyze how non-school inputs such as socioeconomic factors affect technical efficiency across districts. Summary statistics organized by county economic status, however, suggest that socioeconomic status plays a role. Our results highlight …


Can Simple Mechanism Design Results Be Used To Implement The Proportionality Standard In Discovery?, Jonah B. Gelbach Sep 2015

Can Simple Mechanism Design Results Be Used To Implement The Proportionality Standard In Discovery?, Jonah B. Gelbach

All Faculty Scholarship

I point out that the Coase theorem suggests there should not be wasteful discovery, in the sense that the value to the requester is less than the cost to the responder. I use a toy model to show that a sufficiently informed court could design a mechanism under which the Coasean prediction is borne out. I then suggest that the actual information available to courts is too little to effect this mechanism, and I consider alternatives. In discussing mechanisms intended to avoid wasteful discovery where courts have limited information, I emphasize the role of normative considerations.


An Experimental Study Of Complex-Offer Auctions From Wholesale Energy Markets, Rimvydas Baltaduonis May 2014

An Experimental Study Of Complex-Offer Auctions From Wholesale Energy Markets, Rimvydas Baltaduonis

Economics Faculty Publications

A Payment Cost Minimization auction has been proposed as an alternative to the Offer Cost Minimization auction for use in wholesale electric power markets with an intention to lower procurement cost of electricity. Efficiency concerns have been raised for this proposal while assuming that the true production costs would be revealed to the auctioneer in a competitive market. Using an experimental approach, the study compares the performance of these two complex-offer auctions, controlling for the level of unilateral market power. The analysis finds that neither auction results in allocations that correspond to the true cost revelation. Two auctions perform similarly …


Identification And Estimation Of Outcome Response With Heterogeneous Treatment Externalities, Tiziano Arduini, Eleonora Patacchini, Edoardo Rainone Apr 2014

Identification And Estimation Of Outcome Response With Heterogeneous Treatment Externalities, Tiziano Arduini, Eleonora Patacchini, Edoardo Rainone

Center for Policy Research

This paper studies the identification and estimation of treatment response with heterogeneous spillovers in a network model. We generalize the standard linear-in-means model to allow for multiple groups with between and within-group interactions. We provide a set of identification conditions of peer effects and consider a 2SLS estimation approach. Large sample properties of the proposed estimators are derived. Simulation experiments show that the estimators perform well in finite samples. The model is used to study the effectiveness of policies where peer effects are seen as a mechanism through which the treatments could propagate through the network. When interactions among groups …


Income Inequality And Economic Incentives: Is There An Equity-Efficiency Tradeoff?, Lonnie K. Stevans Jun 2012

Income Inequality And Economic Incentives: Is There An Equity-Efficiency Tradeoff?, Lonnie K. Stevans

Lonnie K. Stevans

What is the basis and direction of relationship between income inequality and economic growth? The equity versus efficiency dictum which predicts a positive relationship between inequality, capital formation, and real GDP growth—emphasizes the importance of economic incentives. Subsequently, this was challenged by the incomplete markets and political outcomes theories, because of increasing empirical evidence of an inverse relationship between income inequality and economic growth. In this paper, a further explanation of the basis and nature of the inequality–capital–growth relationship is presented, which emphasizes the divergence between savings and investment. For the United States, over the period 1970–2006, we have found …


Assessing The Productive Efficiency Of Us Health Care: Comparison Of Analytical Methods, Amanda C. Clayton Apr 2010

Assessing The Productive Efficiency Of Us Health Care: Comparison Of Analytical Methods, Amanda C. Clayton

Honors Projects

In 2006, the US spent approximately 15.8% of its GDP on health care, more than any other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country and considerably larger than the 9.1% average of the 23 other peer nations included in this study (OECD Health Data, 2009). The US also had the lowest female and male life expectancies at birth compared to the same 23 OECD nations (OECD Health Data, 2009). This raw and partial evidence suggests that the US health care system may be performing inefficiently. The purpose of my research is to assess the efficiency of the US health …


Are Credit Unions In Ecuador Achieving Economies Of Scale?, Nick A. Marchio Jul 2009

Are Credit Unions In Ecuador Achieving Economies Of Scale?, Nick A. Marchio

Economics Honors Projects

This study tests the assertion that membership growth in credit unions is constrained by their unique structural features, such as their non-profit mission and member-based ownership. Although these features enhance inclusiveness, existing theory suggest that they work against efficiency when membership grows too diffuse. To address this issue, this study uses a model that takes into account existing theory on constrained-optimization in credit unions and theory on the adverse effects of diffuse ownership. Using data on 36 public credit unions in Ecuador, the empirical analysis finds evidence that credit unions can achieve economies of scale despite their problematic structural features. …


Originality, Gideon Parchomovsky, Alex Stein Mar 2009

Originality, Gideon Parchomovsky, Alex Stein

All Faculty Scholarship

In this Essay we introduce a model of copyright law that calibrates authors’ rights and liabilities to the level of originality in their works. We advocate this model as a substitute for the extant regime that unjustly and inefficiently grants equal protection to all works satisfying the “modicum of creativity” standard. Under our model, highly original works will receive enhanced protection and their authors will also be sheltered from suits by owners of preexisting works. Conversely, authors of less original works will receive diminished protection and incur greater exposure to copyright liability. We operationalize this proposal by designing separate rules …


Efficiency In Deregulated Electricity Markets: Offer Cost Minimization Vs. Payment Cost Minimization Auction, Rimvydas Baltaduonis Jan 2007

Efficiency In Deregulated Electricity Markets: Offer Cost Minimization Vs. Payment Cost Minimization Auction, Rimvydas Baltaduonis

Economics Faculty Publications

A payment cost minimization (PCM) auction has been proposed to solve the problem of inflated wholesale electricity prices. In the electricity industry, where even small changes in $/MW are worth tens of millions of dollars, it is highly important that policy makers have a good understanding of the tradeoffs and impacts of new institutional rules. In this paper we examine efficiency performance of the proposed PCM auction in contrast with the offer cost minimization (OCM) auction currently used by most independent system operators (ISOs) in the United States. For most of the analysis we concentrate on production efficiency, which is …


A Short-Run Johansen Industry Model For Common-Pool Resources: Planning A Fishery's Industrial Capacity To Curb Overfishing, Kristiaan Kerstens, Niels Vestergaard, Dale Squires Dec 2005

A Short-Run Johansen Industry Model For Common-Pool Resources: Planning A Fishery's Industrial Capacity To Curb Overfishing, Kristiaan Kerstens, Niels Vestergaard, Dale Squires

Niels Vestergaard

Current methods for assessing capacity and its utilisation in fisheries operate at the firm-level, but neglect industry capacity. Here, we introduce the Johansen-Färe measure of plant capacity of the firm into a multi-output, frontier-based version of the short-run Johansen industry model. The model determines firm capacity utilisation such that current industry outputs are maintained, while minimising the use of fixed inputs at industry level and assuming abundant variable inputs. Policy extensions relevant to combating overfishing include tightening quotas, seasonal closures, linking economic and plant capacity, decommissioning schemes and area closures, implementation issues and equity considerations. The application to the Danish …