Economic Policy Commons^™

Policy Frameworks And Citizens’ Use Of Fintech Solutions: The Pros And Cons In Egypt, Salma Al-Mohamady

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the significant influence of financial technology (FinTech) on the banking industry, consumer finance, and economic growth. It specifically concentrates on the swiftly changing FinTech environment in Egypt. The study investigates the impact of incorporating advanced technologies on worldwide financial practices, which has significantly transformed traditional banking models and facilitated the emergence of inventive financial services. The transition is clearly apparent in Egypt, where the expansion of FinTech has been driven by advances in regulations, adaptation to technology, and a population that is becoming more comfortable with digital solutions.

Using a combination of quantitative …

Green Transition And Financial Stability: The Role Of Green Monetary And Macroprudential Policies And Vouchers, Ying Tung Chan, Maria Teresa Punzi, Hong Zhao

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

This paper analyzes a mix of alternative policies in supporting the green transition and the phase-out of fossil fuels, without compromising financial stability. An environmental dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (E-DSGE) model with two sectors (green and brown) and endogenous default is developed to assess potential climate-induced financial stability threats that can be mainly generated through physical and transition risks mechanism. Those risks are evaluated through a compound capital depreciation shock and a carbon tax shock. The paper offers several findings. First of all, a too stringent carbon tax would increase the medium-term default rate in both sectors, harming financial stability …

Payments As A Tool For Policy, Aaron Klein

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

What are the implications of using payment systems to enforce foreign policy (against Russia, Iran, Cuba, etc...) and domestic policy (on-line poker, cannabis, etc..)? What are the long-term ramifications for the United States, with its dominant status as a global financial system and home to the world reserve currency, using payment systems to achieve its political objectives? In this lecture, Brookings Institution scholar and former deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the Department of Treasury, Aaron Klein discusses the pros, cons, and intended and unintended consequences of our current system. He proposes a path forward to maximize economic growth …

The Influence Of Societal Nationalist Sentiment On Trade Flows, Douglas Dow, Ilya Cuypers

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In recent years, the world has witnessed a backlash against globalization and a rise in populist and nationalist movements around the world. However, there appears to be little empirical research concerning how these movements, and especially nationalist sentiment, actually influence trade. Therefore, we explore how and when nationalist sentiment within a country influences trade. Our results indicate that the effect of nationalist sentiment on imports is mediated by lower participation in free trade agreements (FTAs) but not via tariffs. Furthermore, we are unable to confirm support for a direct effect of nationalist sentiment on imports, as predicted by the consumer …

Research On Integration Of Innovation Chain, Industrial Chain, Fund Chain, And Talent Chain, Changhong Nie, Feijie Zhao, Chuan Li, Tong Chen

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Promoting the integrated development of innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain is of great significance to the high-quality development of the economy, and its essence is to reduce the various barriers faced by the flow of innovation elements across organizational boundaries, improve the allocation efficiency, better stimulate the main role of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation, and enhance the overall efficiency of the national innovation system. This study analyzes “four chain” integration and puts forward the following suggestions. First, promote the systematic layout and systematic implementation of scientific and technological innovation policies. Second, explore the construction …

Predicting Sedentarism And Its Impact On Caloric Requirements, Jacob Michels, John C. Beghin

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

A recent study conducted by PhD candidate Jacob Michels and Agricultural economist John Beghin delves into the question of whether global estimates of food insecure populations need a reevaluation of their methodology to account for increasing sedentarism. This reevaluation is prompted by the increasing prevalence of sedentary lifestyles worldwide, which calls for a redefinition of caloric thresholds indicating the onset of food insecurity. In this short article, we provide a nontechnical summary of their investigation recently published in Michels and Beghin (2024).

How Climate Change Is Altering Energy Finance And Governance In China And The United Arab Emirates, Hans Gebauer

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Climate change is an environmental problem with catastrophic ecological, economic, social, and political impacts. The dramatic scale of the problem has appropriately earned it the name of “climate crisis.” As a protracted crisis, climate change will dominate national and international agendas while transforming institutional politics. Conflicts within policy communities, new interest alignments, social pressure on governments, and ecological collapse could conceivably transform the norms and institutions through which economics, policy, and politics are conducted. Nowhere is this clearer than the energy sector, which is responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions and wherein massive institutional shifts are just beginning to occur. …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Reflections On Empowering China’S Digital Economy To Enhance International Competitiveness Through Tax System Reform, Yang Xue, Lina Hu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

At present, promoting the continuous improvement of the international competitiveness of the digital economy has become a new track for countries to compete. The study stands that the tax reform in the digital economy era is based on the accelerated evolution from the industrial economy to the digital economy, the wider application scenarios of digital technology, and the continuous improvement of the breadth and depth of digital infrastructure coverage. This study analyzes the problems arising from the development of the digital economy at this stage, such as the decline in the regulatory role of traditional tax functions, the loss of …

Investment Fraud In The Mountain West, Riley Ruff, Vanessa Booth, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet focuses on investment fraud data in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. The original report includes data from “The 2023 State of Investment Fraud” study conducted by Carlson Law.

Congressional Briefing: Support America’S Circular Economy By Upcycling Bourbon & Brewing Wastes In Reauthorizing The Farm Bill, Samuel Kessler

Commonwealth Policy Papers

Following state level development of a new spent grain incentive system, leading to KY House Bill 627 in 2022, CPC’s Congressional Summit dialogue considered initial components and possibilities for designing an incentive to upcycle “keystone” organic wastes in regional economies across the US. For member offices, a set of general recommendations are provided for a national spent-grain upcycling incentive pilot program. It is suggested that staff of the Bourbon caucus consult with the references in this briefing and USDA Rural Development to consider further development of an incentive program in the reauthorization of the Farm Bill.

It is further urged …

The Covid-19 Pandemic And Work From Home, 2019-2021, Maryam Raja, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet presents data from the American Community Survey (ACS) Report, “Home Based Workers and the COVID-19 Pandemic,” which examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected commuting patterns and workplace systems. The data examine how the pandemic shifted norms in work culture and conditions in Mountain West states and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).

Road Maintenance Challenges: The Greatest Obstacle To Sustainable Development In South Sudan, Gai Chol Paul

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

Road infrastructure plays a crucial role in the sustainable development of any nation. It connects communities, facilitates trade, and enables essential service delivery. However, road maintenance is one of the most significant challenges hindering sustainable development in South Sudan. The poor roads hinder economic growth, access to essential services, and social cohesion and are in dire need of repair and upkeep. Thus, I developed this qualitative multiple-case study to explore challenges that hinder road maintenance in South Sudan. I collected data through document review and semi-structured interviews with four road engineers, and then thematically analyzed the gathered data. Three themes …

Insurance, Policy, And Education For Livestock Producers, Milan Chauhan, Bradley Lubben

Cornhusker Economics

Federal crop insurance programs have existed since the 1930s, but for livestock producers, federal insurance programs were virtually nonexistent until the past 20 years. Livestock producers may not face exactly the same production risks that crop producers face, but they do face similar production risks related to grazing capacity and forage production and of course face price risks just like crop producers do.

U.S. Trade And Investment Restrictions: Laudable But Costly Goals, Christine Mcdaniel

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo’s recent visit to China resulted in the announcement of a new “export control enforcement information exchange” between the United States and China. The laudable goal is to prevent China from using U.S. technology for military purposes against the United States or our allies. An information exchange may be a way to explain things to each other, but the fact remains that the export controls are indeed in place. China represents large revenue streams for three of the largest US chip producers—about 20% for Nvidia, 60% for Qualcomm, and 20-30% for Intel. If these U.S. companies cannot …

U.S. Trade And Investment Restrictions: Laudable But Costly Goals, Christine Mcdaniel

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo’s recent visit to China resulted in the announcement of a new “export control enforcement information exchange” between the United States and China. The laudable goal is to prevent China from using U.S. technology for military purposes against the United States or our allies. An information exchange may be a way to explain things to each other, but the fact remains that the export controls are indeed in place. China represents large revenue streams for three of the largest US chip producers—about 20% for Nvidia, 60% for Qualcomm, and 20-30% for Intel. If these U.S. companies cannot …

Smart Growth Strategies: Mountain West Metros, Issac Hernandez-Alcaraz, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet examines data on smart growth strategies provided by the Brookings Institution’s Smart Growth Tool and includes data on the economic and industry overview of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in five Mountain West states (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah). The Smart Growth Tool identifies high-impact economic and workforce development strategies that may help states and MSAs achieve inclusive and sustainable growth.

Geographic Distance And State's Grip: Information Asymmetry, State Inattention, And Firm Implementation Of State Policy, Xiyi Yang, Heli Wang, Xiaoyu Zhou

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this study, we develop the argument that geographic distance between the state and local governments undermines the state's capacity to influence the implementation of state policies by local organizations. Drawing from information economics and the attention-based view, we propose that physical distance reduces the state's monitoring effectiveness through two interrelated mechanisms: information asymmetry and state leaders' inattention to distant issues. Using data of Chinese public firms' implementation of environmental activities between 2008 and 2016, we find that firms conduct fewer environmental activities required by the state when they are regulated by local governments that are more geographically distant to …

Higher Education Exports Before And After Covid, John C. Beghin, Byungyul Park

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

Historically, the higher education system in countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developing (OECD), a grouping of advanced economies, and especially in the United States, has been a magnet for foreign students, both graduate and undergraduates. Graduate students tend to be supported by teaching and research assistantships from the hosting university and do not generate direct revenues for the hosting institution. They do contribute to the economy with their productivity in research projects and with their private consumption. In contrast, most undergraduate foreign students pay fees and tuition which are often higher than those paid by local …

Could Information About Honey Fraud Increase Consumers’ Valuation Of Domestic Honey In The Face Of Rising Honey Imports In The U.S. And Eu?, Christopher Gustafson, Antoine Champetier

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

The consumption of honey, which has been sought out by humans for use as food and medicine for thousands of years, has been increasing in recent decades with rising incomes and attention paid to food choices and health. In two decades, honey consumption in the U.S. has risen from 1.2 pound per capita per year to 1.9 in 2021. In the European Union, per capita consumption rose from 1.5 to 2.1 pounds per capita over the same period. While this might appear to be a boon for U.S. and EU beekeepers, honey is a heavily traded product, and imports from …

Trust In Public Programmes And Distributive (In)Justice In Taxation, Orkhan Nadirov, Bruce Dehning

Accounting Faculty Articles and Research

In the tax psychology literature, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the degree of distributive justice in taxation. This article aims to test the relationship between trust in public programmes and distributive justice in taxation at the cross-country level. The sample consists of 47 countries. Trust in public programmes and distributive justice in taxation are measured based on data collected from Wave 7 of the World Values Survey, which took place worldwide in 2017-2022. An Ordered Probit Model was utilised for the empirical analysis. This study finds that if taxpayers support preferential organisations like the police and universities, …

Can Sanctions End Wars?, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to extensive economic, financial, trade, and other types of sanctions directed at individual Russians and the Russian economy. Most European and North American countries as well as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Korea have enacted sanctions and many of them are also supporting Ukraine with military and economic assistance. Many other countries including China, India, and Brazil do not support the sanctions although 141 countries belonging to the United Nations (out of a total membership of 193) voted to condemn the war. Although the use of economic sanctions to influence the behavior of foreign …

Economic Impacts Of Investment Facilitation, Edward J. Balistreri, Zoryana Olekseyuk

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

After the successful adoption of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in 2014, investment facilitation is gaining importance as the next policy priority for a plurilateral agreement under the World Trade Organization (WTO). In fact, more than 110 WTO Members aim to conclude the negotiations on the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement by mid-2023 after only three years of formal negotiations. Investment facilitation refers to actions taken by governments designed to attract foreign investment and maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of its administration through all stages of the investment cycle. The IFD agreement focuses on allowing investment to flow efficiently …

How’S It Going With The Cptpp?, Christine Mcdaniel

Yeutter Institute International Trade Policy Review

There is no doubt that the United States is losing out on market access. But one of the original goals of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was for a rules-based trading regime in the Pacific, namely rules not written by China. Thanks to Australia and Japan that seems to be happening even with the U.S. no longer at the helm.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership or the awkwardly nicknamed CPTPP is a Pacific trading bloc that consists of 11 countries, spanning the Pacific Rim, and includes Malaysia and Chile. The member countries represent 13% of world GDP. Once the UK …

The Effect Of Four Decades Of Deregulation On Competition And Productivity Of The U.S. Freight Transportation Industry, Seungjae Shin

Theses and Dissertations

This study reviews the competition and productivity of the U.S. freight transportation industry for the past 41 years. This study investigated the trends of HHI market concentration index values and labor productivity values of rail and truck sectors and tried to find any relationships between the two values in the separate periods before and after the abolishment of the ICC. This study also investigated how the existence of a regulatory body impacted productivity of the freight transportation industry by using a Cobb Douglas production function on annual financial statement data in the U.S. stock exchange market. This study found that: …

America Without A Minimum Wage: Why The Federal Minimum Wage Should Be Abolished, Zachary Cary

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

Minimum wage policy may be the greatest economic policy issue where the common man has a strong opinion. Nearly every person has a view of how minimum wage policy should be enacted, whether it be in raising the federal minimum wage, changing the scope of authority in the federal government, or another policy. However, in discussing any kind of policy, the key details of the policy must be discussed in the framework of both how it would be affected and how it would impact its stakeholders. In this policy analysis, the Iron Triangle of Public Policy – the key executive …

Competing For Innovation: A Case Study Of Knoxville And Similar Metropolitan Areas, Lucille G. Marret

Baker Scholar Projects

Knoxville competes with other mid-sized metropolitan areas for economic development and business attraction at the national level. Cities such as Greenville, SC, Huntsville, AL, and Ann Arbor, MI have similar resources and attributes to Knoxville, yet they are consistently surpassing Knoxville in business attraction and expansion. It is necessary for policy makers to understand what factors are contributing to underperformance in order to better support Knoxville’s efforts to create an innovation fund. Comparing available assets and access to funding for each MSA reveals that Knoxville has the necessary resources through the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to …

Congressional Oversight Of U.S. Government Programs, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Provides detailed overview of how the U.S. Congress conducts oversight of federal agency programs. Contents include a letter from a member of Congress to an agency head concerning an environmental development in Indiana, information on the foundations of congressional oversight, details on how Congress may require agency reports on various subjects in public laws, an example of a congressionally mandated report by the Department of Defense, documentation of congressional funding of individual federal agencies, examples of congressional committee hearings, congressional committee issuance of oversight and investigative reports which may include dissenting opinions, Congressional Budget Office cost estimates on congressional committee …

A Transition Point: The Role Of The Global Power Shift In Facilitating Saudi Internal Reforms, Aidan Aguilar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The increasing political and economic influence of China represents a pivotal point within international relations. This paper aims to explore the implications of this global power shift on Saudi Arabia’s attempted economic reforms. The Kingdom’s reliance on oil has created an unsustainable economic model, and this model is intrinsically linked to Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the United States. Its growing relationship with China could create change. As such, this paper analyzes the intersection of economics and security in relation to the Saudi Vision 2030. I argue that, not only does China serve as an important source of the investment necessary …

Liquidity Constraints, Consumption, And Debt Repayment: Evidence From Macroprudential Policy In Turkey, Sumit Agarwal, Muris Hadzic, Changcheng Song, Yildirim Yildiray

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Using account-level credit card data from a large Turkish bank, we study the impact of a unique credit card policy that increases minimum payment on consumption and debt repayment. We show that the policy reduces credit card spending and debt, boosts existing debt repayment, and reduces credit card delinquency. The credit card debt of affected consumers falls on average by 50% two years into the policy’s implementation. An increase in minimum payment has a stronger effect than does a decrease of a similar magnitude. We build a benchmark life cycle model with soft liquidity constraint to explain the reduction in …