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Essays On Empirical Economics, Dorian Abreu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

CHAPTER 1: HIGH FREQUENCY TRADING AND MARKET LIQUIDITY

This paper provides evidence of the impact of High Frequency Trading (HFT) on liquidity. I use data from the NASDAQ OMX that identifies the trades of 26 HFT firms on 120 randomly selected stocks listed on the NASDAQ. I find that HFT improves overall market liquidity. However, the liquidity improvements come at the expense of the non high frequency traders. Results indicate that trades in which the HFT supply liquidity to non HFTs have a significantly wider spreads. This impact is larger for smaller cap stocks. Additionally, price impacts are largest when …

Empirical Essays On Retail Investors, Institutional Investors, And Anomalies, Yuqing Yang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of five chapters on market efficiencies through retail and international mutual fund investors.

Chapter 1 This chapter briefly introduces this dissertation.

Chapter 2 This chapter Anomalies Never Disappeared: The Case of Stubborn Retail Investors delves into the “stubborn” retail investors and finds that anomalies traded against by retail investors never disappear in the long run, defying the conventional wisdom that anomalies are disappearing in recent years as market efficiency improves. Incorporating retail trading, I develop asset pricing models that surpass existing prominent models in explaining these long-run alphas. I hypothesize that retail investors exacerbate anomalies: the more …

A Panel Data Analysis Of The Effect Of Corruption And Macroeconomic Factors On Inequality And Poverty In Latin America, Annie Mcdonald

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates how a country’s income inequality and poverty are affected by corruption, and other economic indicators. The study’s purpose is to find which countries harbor corruption that causes more inequality and poverty and if high or low levels of macroeconomic factors, like unemployment for example, cause an increase in inequality/poverty as well. The panel data will include 11 countries located in Latin America and it will cover a ten-year period (2012-2021). After running six regressions, the results showed there were some differences from other papers. It was found that certain countries exhibit unique challenges that contribute to their …

Broken Asset Bubbles: The Factors Affect Japan's Economy From Prosperity To Decline, Mark Yang

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

Japan was in the most prosperous period of the economy in the 1980s, during which the GDP growth rate of Japan was high-speed, and the economic scale of Japan was second only to the United States in the world. Japan became the second largest economy in the world. But the boom was the unsustainable illusion of a bubble economy of rising house and stock prices. In the early 1990s, the collapse of Japanese real estate and stock market prices severely affected the Japanese economy, leaving many banks and companies heavily indebted. Japan's economy fell into a decade-long stagnation known as …

The Causal Nexus Between Government Expenditure On Education And Individual Savings Behavior In Argentina, Amanda Spielman

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the possibility of interdependence between education and savings by looking at the relationship between a country’s government expenditure on education and the saving rate. Public education expenditure has been studied as an explanatory variable for economic growth, but similar studies determining its impact on household savings behavior are lacking. This research looks to determine Granger Causality using the Vector Error Correction Model between this measure of the quality of education and savings rate for Argentina. The results show bidirectional causality between the savings rate and government expenditure on education, as well as unidirectional causality with government expenditure …

Capital Flows And Corruption On Southeast And East Asia’S Economic Growth: A Panel Data Analysis, Tithvitou Teng

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the role of capital flows both from internal and external sources on economic growth, as well as the main social obstacle factor to growth, corruption. The paper attains this by conducting panel data analysis for Southeast and East Asian countries from 2005-2022. Sources of capital flows are divided into external sources, i.e. foreign direct investment (FDI) and personal remittance, and internal sources, i.e. domestic bank credit and stock market capitalization. The results show that corruption hinders economic growth and only some sources of capital have a positive impact on the economy while the effect of other sources …

Digital Currencies And Macroeconomic Performance: A Global Perspective, Tirimisiyu F. Oloko, Ahamuefula E. Ogbonna, Idris A. Adediran

Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking

In this study, we explore the IS-LM-BP framework in analysing the effect of digital currencies on macroeconomic performance from a global perspective. We augment the global macroeconomic dataset by Mohaddes and Raissi (2020) with digital currencies, and analyse the relationship between 2010Q1 and 2019Q4. Overall, we find digital currencies to have significantly positive short-run and no long-run impact on global output, inflation rate, interest rate, and equity stock return. Our results suggest that digital currencies have enhanced global macroeconomic performance, on average. Thus, we recommend that appropriate regulations, rather than an outright ban on digital currencies, should be implemented.

Trade Uncertainty And Bank Credit Growth: Evidence From China And The European Union Countries, Nazrul Hazizi Noordin, Mohamed Eskandar Shah Mohd. Rasid

Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking

This paper examines the relationship between trade uncertainty and bank lending using a sample of commercial banks in China and the European Union (EU) countries. Using a sample of commercial banks in China and the European Union (EU) countries during the period of heightened trade uncertainty from 2017Q1 to 2021Q3 measured by Ahir et al.’s (2018) World Trade Uncertainty (WTU) index, we show that trade uncertainty slows bank credit growth. We find no significant difference in the lending response to trade uncertainty between Chinese and EU banks. Our additional analyses indicate that the credit-reducing effect of trade uncertainty is stronger …

3rd Sbs International Conference 2025: Innovation And Disruption: Business Success Through Ai, School Of Business Studies (Sbs)

Conference Proceedings

From the time that Clayton Christensen (1997) highlighted the concept of disruption due to innovation, and its impact on businesses and economies, practitioners and researchers have diverted their attention to the evil it casts and the opportunities it presents. Innovations and improvements in technologies have more often than not resulted in disruption of business models prevalent at that time. The three industrial revolutions have marked definitive shifts in performance and perspectives, and now the world awaits the outcome of the industrial revolution 4.0. Disruptions do not come only from revolutions. This is evident from the very recent incidence of the …

Stride: A Tool-Assisted Llm Agent Framework For Strategic And Interactive Decision-Making, Chuanhao Li, Runhan Yang, Tiankai Li, Milad Bafarassat, Kourosh Sharifi, Dirk Bergemann, Zhuoran Yang

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-4 have revolutionized natural language processing, showing remarkable linguistic proficiency and reasoning capabilities. However, their application in strategic multi-agent decision-making environments is hampered by significant limitations including poor mathematical reasoning, difficulty in following instructions, and a tendency to generate incorrect information. These deficiencies hinder their performance in strategic and interactive tasks that demand adherence to nuanced game rules, long-term planning, exploration in unknown environments, and anticipation of opponents’ moves. To overcome these obstacles, this paper presents a novel LLM agent framework equipped with memory and specialized tools to enhance their strategic decision-making capabilities. We deploy …

Role Of Transformational Leadership Model In Decisions Making: A Single Case Study Of The Ministry Of Economy And Finance Of The Republic Of Benin., Theodore Mennas Hinnoutondji Yetongnon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Numerous African countries are facing challenges in their socio-economic development due to ineffective leadership. Implementing appropriate leadership styles may help to improve living standards and prevent development delays. To understand the specificities and role of the Transformational Leadership Model (TLM) in the financial decision-making process of the current leaders of the Republic of Benin, a qualitative exploratory single case study was conducted based on the transformational leadership theory. The study involved nine experienced financial leaders and managers who have implemented the TLM in the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Benin for at least 5 years from …

Algorithm As Experiment: Machine Learning, Market Design, And Policy Eligibility Rules, Yusuke Narita, Kohei Yata

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Algorithms make a growing portion of policy and business decisions. We develop a treatment-effect estimator using algorithmic decisions as instruments for a class of stochastic and deterministic algorithms. Our estimator is consistent and asymptotically normal for well-defined causal effects. A special case of our setup is multidimensional regression discontinuity designs with complex boundaries. We apply our estimator to evaluate the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which allocated many billions of dollars worth of relief funding to hospitals via an algorithmic rule. The funding is shown to have little effect on COVID-19-related hospital activities. Naive estimates exhibit selection bias.

Preference Conflict And Peace Studies: The Line Between Disagreement And Violence, Frederic R. Kellogg

Peace and Conflict Studies

Broadening the definition of conflict defines more comprehensively the condition of peace, focusing on how unresolved shared disagreements can lead to, or avoid, polarization and violence. The line between general disagreement and violent conflict lies in the adjustment of shared preferences. Matters like reproductive rights, medically assisted death, race and gender discrimination, while subject to political polarization, are open to peaceful redress through what John Dewey called the transformative continuum of inquiry, in which the crucial social response to shared problems includes dispute and conflict. Resolution of controversial social problems requires preference adjustment and habit change, often, if not always, …

Report Cards: Parental Preferences, Information And School Choice In Haiti, Michael Borger, Gregory Elacqua, Isabel Jacas, Christopher Neilson, Anne Sofie Westh Olsen

Discussion Papers

This paper studies school choice and information frictions in Haiti. Through a randomized control trial, we assess the impact of disclosing school-level test score information on learning outcomes, prices, and market shares. We find evidence that in markets where information was disclosed, students attending private schools increased test scores. The results also suggest private schools with higher baseline test scores increased their market share as well as their fees when the disclosure policy is implemented. While prices and test scores were not significantly correlated in the baseline survey, they exhibited a significant and positive correlation in treatment markets after information …

Essays In The Econometrics Of Choice Analysis With Applications In Health Economics, Maksat Jumamyradov

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Unobserved heterogeneity is one of the main concerns for applied economists, particularly when modeling preferences for health and healthcare. Applied economists have preferred the mixed logit model due to its flexible latent structure allowing various specifications of unobserved heterogeneity. Since the model does not have a closed-form, its estimation relies on simulation-based methods, specifically the maximum simulated likelihood (MSL) estimator, which has been the dominant estimation strategy. In the first section of this dissertation, which include chapters 1 through 5, I analyze biases of MSL when applied to the bivariate normal, bivariate Poisson-lognormal and mixed logit models.

Discrete choice experiments …

Exploring Wasta And Religious Values And Principles: A Case Study Of Employee Engagement In The Uae Hospitality Sector, Reimara Valk, Lina Yousif, Lynne Mcgarvey

Arab Economic and Business Journal

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the socio-cultural concept ‘Wasta’ as well as religious values and principles in employee engagement in the hospitality industry in the United Arab Emirates, embedded in the country’s socio-economic, cultural and institutional context. This study investigates employee engagement through the theoretical lenses of Positive Psychology and Positive Organizational Scholarship. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 41 employees in the case study hotel in Dubai, findings from this case study research show that the manifestation of EE is influenced by a country’s religious and socio-cultural context.

The Impact Of Refractive Error Correction On Harvest Productivity In The Guatemalan Coffee Sector, Bryce C. Everett

Master's Theses

Providing refractive error correction has the potential to bolster productivity within developing countries. Current literature is in agreement that interventions targeting those with uncorrected visual impairment can realize benefits in various sectors, with particular regard to agriculture. The design of this experiment attempts to derive the intent-to-treat (ITT) effect stemming from the provision of glasses to coffee harvesters in Guatemala. Methodology incorporates two distinct approaches: an ANCOVA model with basic controls and a fixed effects model with a control for farm-specific harvest trends. With daily harvest weight observations serving as a proxy for productivity, and a sample of 321 participants …

What The Stork Brought: Endogenous Fertility Preferences, Lucas Fortier Borden

Master's Theses

Where most existing literature on fertility preferences has described how fertility preferences shape outcomes, this paper provides insight into how the sex of a recent birth affects a mother’s fertility preferences. Utilizing data from the Demographic Health Survey from 1985-2020 in 81 countries containing 309,238 mothers who gave birth in the past 12 months and who have equal to or fewer than three children, I employ OLS with two-way fixed effects as my primary specification, examining the effects of the plausibly exogenous sex of a recent birth on sibship sex composition preferences. Results show that a recent daughter birth increases …

Heat And Social Behavior: The Effect Of Personal And Social Well-Being, Antonia Michele Sottile

Master's Theses

High temperatures have the capacity to cause catastrophic changes in social and economic systems, but does heat impact our social behavior, and is this potential effect moderated by a person's social and personal well-being? In this paper, I utilize data from a 5 country laboratory experiment and run a fixed effect regression model to understand the role of these metrics in determining behavioral outcomes. The results suggest that heat alone has no impact on egalitarianism, generosity, or selfishness, but that it does have a small negative impact on spite. Stress was also found to have a negative impact on spite, …

Does Endogamous Marriage Impact Women's Fertility Gaps In India?, Natalya Francis Schafer

Master's Theses

This study aimed to measure the possible impact endogamous (within-family) marriage practices could have on women's fertility gaps in India. Fertility gap in this study is defined as the difference between the ideal number of children a woman desires and the total number of children born to a woman at time of interview. In many developing countries ,such as India, it is common for women to be overachieving their fertility - having more children than desired. Data from the CIA.gov (2024) shows total fertility rates to be highest in developing areas across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and India. The …

Exploring The Relationship Between Load Shedding And Crime In Gauteng, Bhavesh Ram

Master's Theses

This study investigates the impact of load shedding, a recurring power outage phenomenon in South Africa, on crime rates in the densely populated Gauteng province. Using a novel dataset that combines Eskom's load shedding schedules with detailed crime statistics from 2015 to 2022, a fixed-effects regression model is employed to examine the relationship between blackout hours and various crime categories. Findings reveal that while load shedding does not significantly affect overall crime rates, it significantly increases the incidence of contact crimes and sexual offenses, particularly during daylight hours. Additionally, our results provide evidence that load shedding diminishes the ability of …

Financial Literacy And Aspirations: Experimental Evidence From Eastern Uganda, Ester Agasha

Master's Theses

Financial literacy and the cultivation of aspirations are pivotal in empowering individuals and fostering economic growth, particularly within disadvantaged com munities. Although prior research has extensively analyzed the individual effects of financial education and motivational interventions on economic behaviors, there is less clarity on how the synergy between them can collectively impact the socioe conomic status of individuals in developing economies, especially women. Through randomized control experiment(RCT), this study explored the effectiveness of two interventions; 1) a financial literacy digital gaming application and, 2) an aspirations intervention (a short video documentary and a follow-up curriculum) in not only enhancing financial …

To Burn Or Not To Burn: Causal Effect Of Farm Stubble Burning On Air Quality., Chaitanya Pasupala

Master's Theses

National Capital Region of India (NCR) experiences adverse air quality during winters with Air Quality Index (AQI) at hazardous levels. Though various factors like industrial and automobile emissions, biomass burning, and firecrackers during festive season contribute to NCR’s adverse air quality, farm stubble burning in neighbouring agricultural regions of Punjab and Haryana is considered a prominent one. The motivation and consequences of farm-stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana have been extensively studied but the causal effect of this burning on air quality of Delhi has neither been rigorously analyzed nor the effects quantified. This study aims to bridge this gap …

Inference In A Stationary/Nonstationary Autoregressive Time-Varying-Parameter Model, Donald W.K. Andrews, Ming Li

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper considers nonparametric estimation and inference in first-order autoregressive (AR(1)) models with deterministically time-varying parameters. A key feature of the proposed approach is to allow for time-varying stationarity in some time periods, time-varying nonstationarity (i.e., unit root or local-to-unit root behavior) in other periods, and smooth transitions between the two. The estimation of the AR parameter at any time point is based on a local least squares regression method, where the relevant initial condition is endogenous. We obtain limit distributions for the AR parameter estimator and t-statistic at a given point τ in time when the parameter exhibits unit …

Essays On The Political Economy Of Trade Liberalization And Domestic Reforms, Zeyuan Xiong

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation studies the interaction between domestic reforms and trade policies in developed and developing economies. It is composed of three chapters, covering topics of privatization reform and trade liberalization in China, trade liberalization of the United States after the Smoot-Hawley Act, and the evolution of labor market distortion in contemporary China.

Three Papers On Economic Justice And Fairness, Fan Yang

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation comprises three essays on economic justice and fairness. The first chapter investigates the effect of job continuity on new mothers’ labor supply following their first childbirth. The second chapter studies the impact of wages and other factors on women's work duration after childbirth. The third chapter analyzes the effect of disability within the family on the financial satisfaction of the female head or spouse. Chapter 1 investigates the effect of job continuity on the supply of labor of new mothers for the five-year period after their first childbirth. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), we …

Investigations Of Sorting And Non-Wage Market Clearing: Three Essays In Labor Economics, Andrew Smith

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation is comprised of three essays in labor economics. The first investigates a natural experiment in the internal labor market policies of the US Air Force. The second bounds the causal effects of attaining a college double major. The third studies the causes and consequences of queueing for government sector jobs in Brazil. The US Department of the Air Force, like many large organizations with rigid and central- ized internal labor markets, has recently introduced an algorithmically-assisted person-job matching system to replace their older, manual procedure. This change has been touted as a way to improve both organizational efficiency …

Essays On Foreign Direct Investment, Trade, And Export Quality, Yinhan Zhang

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation studies the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the exports of developing countries, drawing on evidence from China. It is composed of two chapters. In Chapter 1, I analyze the effects of R&D FDI on export quality, where R&D FDI is investments aimed at establishing offshore research facilities. I construct a novel dataset on China's outbound FDI using supervised machine learning. I analyze over 26,000 pieces of textual information on the primary business activities of Chinese overseas subsidiaries collected by the Ministry of Commerce and identify the objective of each outbound FDI project. I find a positive …

Assessing The Economic Consequences Of Sewage Overflows On California Housing Values, Nathalie M. Nyanga

Master's Projects and Capstones

Sewage overflows (SSOs) represent a critical environmental challenge in California, and the impact of SSOs on housing prices is a vital issue. The study aims to determine how the frequency of sewage overflow events affects housing price fluctuations and conduct an event study. Employing linear, lasso, ridge, and random forest regression analyses, the study predicts the severity of overflow. Notably, lasso regression emerges as the most effective model for predicting housing prices in the event of an SSO occurrence. Additionally, the event study analysis provides insights into the factors influencing housing prices.

Case Studies In Financial Accounting, Martina C. Gratz

Honors Theses

The thesis is a combination of four case studies that were completed in the 2023-2024 academic year under the supervision of Dr. Victoria Dickinson. The first two cases look at the impact of Chinese markets entering the New York Stock Exchange and the effect Environmental, Social, and Governance legislation will have on Americans and the accounting profession. The third case looks at the beliefs of Dr. Sowell and Dr. Carson and how the implementations of these beliefs can positively impact the United States economy. Finally, in the last case we focus on the Mississippi economy and a project that can …