Economic Policy Commons^™

The Impact Of Intellectual Property On Provincial Unemployment Rates In South Korea, Soon Ho Shin

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Intellectual property is drawing attention as an important policy tool to lower the unemployment rate in low-growth economies. The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) provides services that facilitate companies to effectively create intellectual property by operating local intellectual property support centers in connection with local governments. In this context, this research examine how the differences of intellectual property registration affect provincial unemployment rates by analyzing 10 years (2006-2015) of panel data with a fixed-effects regression model. According to my estimation results, intellectual property registrations have a statistically significant impact on provincial unemployment rates in South Korea. Since the reduction of …

Ginning Up Economic Growth? Evaluating The Effects Of County-Level Alcohol Sales, Nathan Smith

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The academic literature on the topic of legal alcohol sales is vast; from the effects on crime to population health outcomes. The economic development impact of alcohol sales, however, remains relatively unexplored. This research examines county-level data from the State of Arkansas between the years 2009 and 2014 in a cross-sectional time-series regression analysis to determine whether economic development benefits exist that can be attributed either directly or indirectly to legal alcohol sales. Ultimately, this study finds that alcohol sales are positively and significantly related with food service and accommodation employment as well as higher per capita personal income.

Did Municipal Stabilization Funds Effectively Smooth Expenditures During The Great Recession?, Lauren Kesselring

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Budget stabilization fund (BSF) is a general term for rainy day funds, contingency funds, and reserves. Historically, researchers have studies BSFs at the state level. However, after the Great Recession municipalities have increasingly adopted BSFs. So far, there are several unknowns surrounding municipal BSFs. The intent of this paper is to start addressing some of these unknowns. The paper seeks to answer the question, did municipal BSFs smooth expenditures over the Great Recession? This study uses data from Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government and eleven comparable municipalities.

The municipality BSF literature is in its infancy. Previous research has focused on state …

State Spending And Economic Growth: An Exploratory Analysis, Eli Levine

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

No executive summary.

Does Tax Revenue Diversification Help States Weather Economic Downturns? Evidence From The Great Recession, Nick Kilby

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This capstone seeks to build on previous research to assess the validity of the claim that revenue diversification is an effective policy tool for states to use during recessions in order to stabilize their revenue flow. Revenue diversification is defined as the degree to which states take advantage of various tax sources, rather than reliance on a few or one in particular. Previous research, especially by Carroll (2005) and Suyderhound (1994), has shown that states with higher revenue diversification rates experience lower revenue shortfalls during recessions and other economic downturns on average.

This paper will reassess these claims in terms …

The Modern Streetcar In The United States: Do Cities Have The Information Needed To Make Informed Choices?, Elle Hull

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Streetcars have made a comeback in cities in North American in the last several decades; there are now over 45 cities operating, building, or planning streetcars. The majority of these streetcars are viewed primarily as catalysts for economic development, rather than as a means of public transportation. However, the streetcar’s claim of promoting development is backed by surprisingly little evidence.

Although carrying out an analysis of the impact of streetcars on economic development is beyond the scope of this paper due to problems with data availability, methods of performing such an analysis are discussed. This includes a list of cities …

The Socioeconomic Impact Of Coal In The Appalachian Region Of Kentucky, Laura Oxley

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The coal debate seems to be in a state of inertia. Proponents of coal claim the industry brings economic benefit to Kentucky. Environmentalists claim the industry creates irreparable harm to the Appalachian Mountain region. While these opinions are not unfounded, seldom do stakeholders explore the impact incurred directly in the Appalachian communities that mine coal. Moving the debate to a discussion about coal’s direct impact in the communities that support the industry may broaden stakeholders’ perspective. Determining whether the industry helps or harms the Appalachian community may be the break in the debate’s stalemate. Thus, this paper explores the socioeconomic …

Letting Teams Walk: Exploring The Economic Impact Of Professional Sports Franchises Leaving Cities, Jesse Stephenson

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Cities often use public funding to help construct and renovate the facilities of large, private sports franchises. As the major sports leagues grow in popularity and revenue, cities have had to offer increasingly competitive incentive packages to owners in order to keep their team from relocating to more profitable markets or cities willing to issue public funding for new facilities. Much literature has been conducted on the economic impact of sports teams with a general consensus that there is usually no positive economic effect for cities that serve as homes for these teams from the largest leagues (NFL, MLB, and …

The Effect Of Direct Payments To Rice Farming Households In Korea, Jaehyung Kim

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

1) Background

Rice farming is a very important agricultural policy issue for the Korean government not only because rice is a staple food for the Korean population but because rice production is also an important source of income for those involved in rice farming. The importance of rice production to the agricultural sector of Korea is indicated by the fact that 49% of Korea’s agricultural land is devoted to rice production. Therefore, Korean agricultural policy has focused on rice production issues as well as the income of farmers involved in rice production.

To support rice farming income, the Korean government …

Deep And Chronic Poverty In The P.S.I.D. - Assessing The Panel Survey Of Income Dynamics Using Pα And Kα Indices, Paul G. Metzler

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Poverty, while an intuitive concept, proves harder to specify and measure, especially over time. Foster, Greer and Thorebecke (1984) introduced an axiomatically sound, and commonly used poverty index Pα that is later developed by Foster (2009) to include time spent in poverty. I use their dual-cutoff spells approach to determine the occurrence, depth, and severity of poverty in a longitudinal dataset.

Using the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics over the timeframe 1990-2010, high-risk populations are explored further, especially African Americans, unmarried females, and those without a high school diploma. I explore the proportions of poverty incidence to find head of …

The Federal Minimum Wage: The Effects Of The Minimum Wage On The Youth Employment And School Enrollment, Nurlan Kussainov

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The minimum wage has been a prominent topic of discussion among labor economists. According to Neumark and Wascher, the minimum wage has been a core element of public policy for several decades. The effects of minimum wage were brought back to light during the State of the Union address by President Obama, in which he proposed increasing the minimum wage to $9.00, a 24% increase.

This capstone project contributes to the discussion in determining the effects of the change in minimum wage on the youth population. The study uses aggregate data spanning nineteen years, from 1985 and 1990 to 2007. …

Analyzing The Impacts Of The 2010 World Equestrian Games On The Kentucky Horse Park, Pamela Henderson

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

There has been a growing trend in the United States for governments to invest in infrastructure specifically for sporting events. Proponents believe that arenas and large scale events will lead to economic development in an area. Contrary to this expectation, there is a large body of literature that contends that the economic impact expected from these projects does not generally come to fruition.

Lexington, Kentucky hosted the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in 2010. WEG is an international competition that features equestrian events and is held every four years in between the Summer Olympic Games. In order to prepare for the …

The Effects Of Elasticity On Government Revenue Of China, Maiduo Li

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This Capstone evaluates the elasticity of the revenue system in China, by classifying the revenue sources into three categories: the income tax, turnover tax, and charges and fees. By comparing the annual data and specific elasticity of each category between China and the United States, it is found that the revenue system in China, from 2007 to 2010, was relatively inelastic while the major component of the total revenue keeps pace with the steady growth of the economy. Such a revenue system, though it cannot have an explosive growth when the economy is turning better, can provide sustainable, stable revenue …

Federal Tax Policy And Charitable Giving: Revisiting The 1985 Study By Charles T. Clotfelter, Mary Catherine Tinnon

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This study was inspired and given its basic research design by a study conducted in 1985 by Charles T. Clotfelter, which sought to explain charitable giving by both individuals and corporations in relation to federal tax policy. Clotfelter determined that federal tax policy did influence charitable giving by corporations. The issue to be addressed here is, do the Clotfelter findings still hold true today?

The focus of this current study is on charitable giving by corporations only and the dataset was built from the same IRS Statistics of Income that Clotfelter used. Additional data were added from the Bureau of …

Educational Migration: Brain Drain In Kentucky, Dustin Pugel

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Kentucky has been steadily growing in its bachelor degree holder production over the past ten years, with almost 4500 more college degree holders produced per year in 2010 than in 2000. The literature has shown that this is good news for the economic growth prospects of the state, because a more highly skilled work force means a higher potential for production. This newly educated workforce, however, will not help Kentucky to grow if they take those skills elsewhere.

Using five-year American Community Survey data for Kentuckians over the age of 17, I was able to determine that Kentucky is not …

Corporate Income Tax Credits: Examining The Relationship Between Tax Credits And Employment, Elena Yatskovskaya

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Tax incentives - in particular, corporate tax credits - have been a prominent topic of discussion among government administrators, public economists, and political scholars. This capstone project will contribute to the discussion by addressing the relationship between tax credits and employment, and provide an empirical analysis to aid in determining the effect that tax credits may have on employment.

The study uses aggregate data spanning ten years, from 1999 to 2008, and representing 18 industrial sectors with 180 observations. The data are analyzed with the help of the two panel data regression models: Fixed Effects and Between Effects. The …

Local Economic Development: Researching Clusters In Woodford County, Kentucky, Tom Middleton

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Woodford Tomorrow, a citizen economic development planning group in Woodford County, is interested in promoting cluster development. Clusters are a geographic concentration of businesses and institutions which interact and collaborate within a particular economic sector. This report provides quantitative analysis of three clusters: (1) health, (2) agriculture, and (3) arts, entertainment, and tourism. The majority of this data comes from the consulting firm Economic Modeling Specialists Inc.

The agriculture cluster has many industries, specifically in the crop and animal production and manufacturing sectors, which appear to be potential industries to target. The hotel and motel industry seems to be an …

A Study Of The Effect Of Economic Policies On The Domestic Film Market, Gyeoreh Lee

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

These days, the U.S. films’ market share in the world is almost 70 percent and many countries have devised various means, including import quota, screen quota, subsidy, and tax concessions to protect the domestic film industry by preserving local film’s market share against U.S. film domination. Retaining these policies has important symbolic reasons because market share of the domestic film is related to preserving each country’s cultural sovereignty. However, the effectiveness of the economic policies is murky. If the policies do not bring any advantageous effect to the domestic film industry, there is no rational justification for sticking with them. …

Business Improvement Districts: Should Lexington Establish One?, Melissa A. Hagan

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Downtown districts are falling victim to surges of new development increasingly taking place outside the city as people seek to escape fast‐paced city life for a more peaceful life in the suburbs. As people move to the suburbs, they either take the businesses with them or the businesses fail to maintain profitability in empty downtowns. Downtown Lexington has been no exception. The recent developments of Hamburg Place and, more recent the developments around Fayette Mall have attracted even more business owners away from downtown.

A new implementation approach for revitalization is gaining momentum, as downtowns are introducing policies that enable …

State Corporate Tax Policy: Is Tax Competition The Main Determinant?, Gabriel Ramón Serna

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In the past few decades state corporate income tax policy and coordination/harmonization of corporate income taxes have been regularly discussed in the tax policy literature. The reason for this level of attention is that capital is assumed to be highly mobile across nations or unions with multiple jurisdictions with differential corporate tax rates (Bucovetsky, 1991; Cnossen, 2003; Frey & Eichenberger, 1996; Gordon, 1983; Isard, 1990; Keen & Marchand, 1997). Further, much of the literature focuses on states’ “race to the bottom” in terms of corporate income taxation or incentives to base capital in their jurisdictions, and the tendency for this …

Public Provision Of Service For The Elderly: An Empirical Analysis Of County-Level Senior Service Property Tax Levies, Brigitte Blom Ramsey

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Last year the baby boom generation began turning 60. Consequently, the number of senior citizens is expected to double by the year 2030. On average, a person reaching the age of 60 can expect to live an additional 22 years. (NCHS, 2003) Along with increased life expectancy comes a greater probability for chronic illness, physical impairment and loss of independence. Of those 85 and older, 55% will need some type of long-term care or personal assistance. (CBO, 2004)

A recent collaborative study, “The Maturing of America: Getting Communities on Track for an Aging Population”, notes that less than half of …

Should Louisville Build A Dual Tenant Or Single Tenant Arena?, Chad Allen Harpole

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research design was to make recommendations to Louisville Metro Council Members, members of the Kentucky General Assembly from Jefferson County and Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson on the potential revenue and economic impact a potential franchise of the National Basketball Association (NBA) could have on the proposed Louisville Arena Project and the city of Louisville.

Research in the literature review showed that stadiums, arenas and professional teams are poor investments by communities. Despite the research, the new Louisville Arena is going to be built because the Kentucky General Assembly included $75-million in bond financing for the …

Elasticity Of The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Tax Structure, Bradly Settle

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

No executive summary.