Digital Commons Network^™

Estimating Price Responsiveness For Service Of A Luxury Transportation Company: A Zero Inflated Poisson Approach, Sydney Butenhoff

All Theses

Estimating price sensitivity is crucial for premium service providers who face inconsistent client engagement. In this study, I investigate both observed ride demand and periods of client inactivity among ABC Transfer’s customers, meaning individuals who may not book rides in a given period but are not necessarily disengaged. ABC Transfer is a luxury ground transportation firm headquartered in upstate South Carolina. Using an unbalanced panel dataset spanning 2012 to 2024, I estimate a Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP) model to distinguish between individuals who might still be clients from those who are not likely to be clients any longer. The model accounts …

Outsourcing, Labor Market Frictions, And Employment, Mayara Felix, Michael B. Wong

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We estimate the labor market impacts of Brazil’s 1993 outsourcing legalization us-ing North-South variation in pre-legalization court permissiveness, and comparing security guards to less-affected occupations. We find that outsourcing legalization persistently reallocated jobs from older incumbent guards to younger entrants. Total employ-ment of guards and their entry from informality persistently increased, while average demographic-adjusted wages remained constant. Meanwhile, a wave of occupational layoffs displaced some incumbent guards from high-wage firms. The evidence suggests that the rise of non-core activity outsourcing reduced labor market frictions, facilitated by firm-level economies of scale in human resources and spillovers to non-adopting firms.

College Application Mistakes And The Design Of Information Policies At Scale, Tomás Larroucau, Ignacio A. Rios, Anaïs Fabre, Christopher Neilson

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We examine whether large-scale information interventions can improve college application outcomes in a centralized admissions system. Using nationwide surveys from Chile, we document widespread information frictions and frequent application mistakes, such as omitting attainable preferred programs or failing to include safety options. To address these frictions, we partnered with the Ministry of Education to implement a large-scale field experiment that provided applicants with personalized information on admission probabilities and program characteristics through customized online platforms. The intervention increased the probability that previously unmatched students received an assignment by 44% and improved placement into higher-ranked programs by 20%. Building on these …

Decision Field Theory For Human-Multi-Robot Collaboration: Human-Centric Decision-Making For Multi-Robot Systems, Ryan Mbagna Nanko

All Theses

At first glance, choosing between an apple and an orange appears to be a straightforward matter of personal taste; however, this seemingly simple preference opens a window into the multifaceted world of decision-making, revealing the complex interplay of cognitive processes, psychological, and behavioral-economic principles that guide our choices \cite{bandyopadhyayRoleAffectDecision2013}. By unpacking these nuanced perspectives, we uncover insights that can drive more effective human-robot interaction and collaboration.

Modeling human cognition requires understanding the evolution of choice utility and the influence of emotions. Decision Field Theory (DFT) stands out by capturing the fluctuating nature in human preferences over time, explaining why choices …

The Effect Of Tort Liability For Prescribed Burns On Wildfire Severity: Evidence From Georgia’S 2000 Policy Reform, John Patrick Phillips

All Theses

This paper aims to estimate the effect of Georgia’s shift in its prescribed fire tort liability standard from simple negligence to gross negligence on the area burned by wildfires on privately owned land. In response to wildfire damage, some states in the Southeast relaxed their liability standards, aiming to promote more prescribed burns and to better control future wildfires. Using the variation of these policy changes, I construct difference-in-difference models to estimate the treatment effect of Georgia’s policy change in July 2000, using counties in North and South Carolina as the control group. I stagger my regressions, adding covariates and …

My Performance Over Yours: Earned Entitlement, Performance, Luck, And Deservingness In Giving, Andrej Angelovski, Praveen Kujal, Jose M. Ortiz

ESI Working Papers

We study how three widely discussed cues—source of income (merit vs luck), own performance, and information about others’ work status and performance—shape redistribution. Prior to the dictator game, all 306 dictators and most of the 306 recipients complete the same real-effort matrix task in an online experiment that would yield either $4 or $1 for the dictators. In the Performance treatment the dictator’s payoff is based on their performance; in Luck, it is assigned by a 50-50 draw. We find that: (i) Earned entitlement is prevalent for high-performing dictators: they keep more for themselves; (ii) Earned entitlement is conditional …

Three Essays In The Economics Of Disagreements: Incentives, Measurement And Persistence, Mustafa W. Alam

All Dissertations

This dissertation presents three chapters that contribute to the study of economic forces shaping disagreements in society.

In Chapter 1, I demonstrate that political polarization can intensify due to innovations in the information market even if a population's ideological distribution is fixed. Viewership-maximizing news firms cater to a diverse audience who assess source accuracy using noisy private signals that vary in precision and ideological bias. If better-informed consumers disproportionately migrate to newer platforms for news (e.g., the Internet), traditional media firms increase news slant to appeal more to less-informed partisans on both sides of the ideological spectrum. This leads to …

Islamic Financial Inclusion As A Catalyst For Sustainable Development: A Dynamic Provincial Analysis In Indonesia, Muhammad Irnandas, Syarifah Salsabila Babud, Muhammad Agus Futuhul Ma'wa

International Journal of Islamic Economics and Business Sustainability

Islamic financial inclusion is recognized as a key factor in achieving sustainable development, yet its causal relationship with development outcomes remains underexplored, particularly in the context of Indonesian provinces. This study aims to analyze the impact of Islamic financial inclusion measured through accessibility, availability, and usage on sustainable development indicators, including economic growth, unemployment, and poverty rates, across 33 Indonesian provinces from 2014 to 2022. The research contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the role of Islamic financial inclusion in supporting sustainable development within a developing country context. Using the Panel Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) model, …

The Impact Of Green Finance, Trade Openness, And Fossil Fuel Subsidies On Renewable Energy Consumption: A Global And Asia-Pacific Perspective, Alya Ryanti Fitjriyah, Inayati Nuraini Dwiputri

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Fossil fuels are the major source of global emissions, with the Asia-Pacific region being the climate biggest polluter. Despite the global efforts to shift to cleaner energy, fossil fuels still dominate the energy mix. Therefore, renewable energy adoption needs to be encouraged more to improve economic sustainability. The Glasgow Climate Pact emphasises the importance of helping developing countries in addressing the climate change issue through financial support, capacity building, and technology transfer. Hence, this study examines the influence of green finance, open trade, and fossil fuel subsidies on renewable energy adoption in 38 countries from 2017 to 2023. By using …

Are We Witness To The Disintegration Of Capital’S Laws Of Motion? A Review Of Jodi Dean’S Capital’S Grave: Neofeudalism And The New Class Struggle (Verso Books, 2025), Kai Heron

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Review Of Jodi Dean, Capital’S Grave: Neofeudalism And The New Class Struggle (Verso Books, 2025), James R. Martel

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Will There Be A Pill For That? ‘Money Dysmorphia’ And The Medicalization Of Struggles For Subsistence, Bojan Savic

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

This article questions the rationality, operation, and effects of money dysmorphia as an emerging mental health diagnosis. It critiques the medicalization of financial angst amid the capitalist “polycrisis”, showing how the individuation and somatic pathologization of class subordination, socioeconomic precarity, and struggles for subsistence obscure capitalist inequalities, depoliticize them, and shield them from critique. I identify five concurrent strategies through which struggles for subsistence are medicalized: trivialization, reversal of social import, repetition, direct depoliticization, and the substitution of inequality with poverty. Furthermore, I show how the medicalizing discourse reifies money dysmorphia by constructing its social costs. The article concludes by …

Eviscerating The State: The New Oligarchic And Authoritarian Project To Undermine American Constitutional Democracy, Jean L. Cohen

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Crisis Communication And Governance Response: A Case Study Of Pt Antam’S 2025 Misinformation Scandal, Rizky Kertanegara, Arius Krypton

Jurnal Administrasi Bisnis Terapan

This study analyzes the crisis communication strategy employed by PT ANTAM Tbk in response to the spread of misinformation concerning allegations of gold-related corruption in 2025. The crisis was sparked by a social media post suggesting that ANTAM's gold products were counterfeit, although the actual issue involved unauthorized use of the brand by former employees. Using a qualitative case study and the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) framework, this paper evaluates the company’s strategic communication in mitigating reputational damage and maintaining stakeholder trust. Findings indicate that PT ANTAM deployed fact-based clarification, emphasized operational integrity, and reiterated strong corporate governance—aligned with …

Physical Activity Mediates Age Differences In Cognition Among Tsimane Forager-Horticulturalists, Phoebe E. Imms, Nikhil N. Chaudhari, Daniel Cummings, Daniel Eid Rodriguez, Giuseppe Barisano, Paul L. Hooper, M. Katherine Sayre, Edmond Seabright, Randall C. Thompson, M. Linda Sutherland, James D. Sutherland, Benjamin C. Trumble, Michael Gurven, Jonathan Stieglitz, Caleb E. Finch, Hillard S. Kaplan, Wendy J. Mack, Margaret Gatz, Andrei Irimia

ESI Publications

Background: The Tsimane and Moseten of the Bolivian Amazon are highly physically active and exhibit low rates of cognitive impairment and brain atrophy.

Methods: We use structural equation modelling to examine how their physical activity levels mediate the relationship between (1) age and cognition, and (2) age and cognition via brain volume (BV).

Results: Tsimane males (n = 305, mean ± SD age = 59.94 ± 9.68) and Tsimane females (n = 265, mean ± SD age = 59.28 ± 9.79) exhibit significantly higher levels of physical activity than Moseten males (n = 106, mean ± SD …

Triple Shock On External Sustainability In Indonesia, Aloysius Deno Hervino, Insukindro Insukindro, Sekar Utami Setiastuti, Amirullah Setya Hardi

Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking

This study evaluates Indonesia’s external sustainability by analyzing exports, imports, and net unilateral transfer payments. The study utilizes Indonesia’s data from the third quarter of 2005 to the fourth quarter of 2019, applying both a long-run dynamic model and a short-run forward-looking model incorporating triple shocks. This research excludes the period from 2020 onwards due to the economic upheaval in Indonesia resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak. This study concludes that Indonesia’s current account is unsustainable, as neither export nor import variables exhibit a long-term link, hence failing to meet intertemporal budget constraints. Furthermore, imports substantially influence long-term exports, which increase …

Exchange Rate And Indonesia Economic Growth, Ayi Supriyadi, Yanfitri Yanfitri, Trinil Arimurti, Sinta Atharinanda

Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking

We examine the effect of the exchange rate on the economy and the impact of the Dominant Currency Paradigm (DCP) on Indonesia’s export volume. This study employs multiple methodologies, namely the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, the non-linear version of ARDL, and panel regressions. The findings indicated that the depreciation of the exchange rate influenced economic expansion. The beneficial effect was mitigated by the influence of finance as seen in the company’s financial sheet. The findings also indicate the influence of DCP on the volume of international trade in Indonesia.

Does Digital Finance Move Together With Technology Innovation In China?, Zhu Wenhui, Zhang Jiajie, Hu Chuanxia, Dong Hanwei

Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking

Existing academic research has predominantly examined the unidirectional impact of digital finance on technological innovation, thereby neglecting the reciprocal interplay between these two domains. This study fills this gap by investigating the long-term bidirectional cointegrated relationship between digital finance and technological innovation. Using panel cointegration estimation methods on panel data from 286 Chinese cities during 2011–2020, empirical results reveal a long-term co-movement between digital finance and technological innovation. Pooled Mean Group estimation demonstrates that digital finance makes significant contributions to technological innovation in both long-term and short-term contexts. However, sub-sample analyses show that digital finance consistently boosts technological innovation in …

Selection In Surveys: Using Randomized Incentives To Detect And Account For Nonresponse Bias, Deniz Dutz, Ingrid Huitfeldt, Santiago Lacouture, Magne Mogstad, Alexander Torgovitsky, Winnie Van Dijk

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We show how to use randomized participation incentives to test and account for nonresponse bias in surveys. We first use data from a survey about labor market conditions, linked to full-population administrative data, to provide evidence of large differences in labor market outcomes between survey participants and nonparticipants, differences which would not be observable to an analyst who only has access to the survey data. These differences persist even after correcting for observable characteristics. We then use the randomized incentives in our survey to directly test for nonresponse bias, and find evidence of substantial bias. Next, we apply a range …

The Impact Of Insufficient Sleep On Dietary Choices And Physical Activity Behaviors: Evidence From A Randomized Cross-Over Trial, David L. Dickinson, Naomi Kakoschke, Sean P. A. Drummond

ESI Publications

The current study aimed to identify how manipulated sleep restriction affects dietary choices and physical activity (PA). Young adults were administered one week of well-rested sleep levels (WR: 8–9 h/night) and sleep-restriction (SR: 5–6 h/night) in their (naturalistic) at-home setting, using a randomized cross-over design. Participants made consequential bids for snacks/beverages following SR and WR in an auction task. Other primary outcome measures included daily self-reported dietary intake and actigraphy-measured PA. Multivariate regression analyses examined main and moderator impacts of SR on primary outcome measures. In total, 118 treatment participants completed the study (M = 20 years old, n = …

The Economic Effects Of Deportation On The U.S. Labor Market, Abigayle Lantz

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

The potential economic consequences of mass deportation policies on the U.S. economy, specifically those reliant on immigrant labor, are examined. Evidence from economic models and various studies reveals that mass deportation would result in significant disruptions, including labor shortages, decreased productivity, and higher costs for firms and people. Contrary to claims that native-born workers would benefit from increased job opportunities and higher wages, the evidence shows that mass deportation would harm native workers. Historical precedents, such as the Secure Communities initiative indicate that deportation efforts in the past have led to detrimental economic outcomes and disproportionately affected native workers. Additionally, …

Menguji Keberadaan N-Shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve Di Indonesia Dengan Model Ardl, Ridwan Pandu Sunaryo, Erny Tajib

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

The study aims to test the existence of the N-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and to determine the impact of fossil energy consumption and economic activity such as industrialization, urbanization, and trade openness on CO2 emissions in Indonesia from 1971 to 2021, using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL). The results of this study show that the relationship between per capita GDP and CO2 emissions in Indonesia has a reversed N-shape. Industrialization and per-capita consumption of fossil energy have a positive impact, while trade openness has a negative impact on CO2 per-capita emissions both in the short and long term. Meanwhile, urbanization …

Can Esg Reduce Credit Risk? An Empirical Investigation Across Asean-5 Markets, Arrafif Pratama Zaini, Maria Ulpah

The Indonesian Capital Market Review

Based on stakeholder theory and signaling theory, companies with strong ESG performance send signals to various stakeholders, thus building trust and influencing better credit risk evaluation. This study empirically examines the effect of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance on the credit risk of non-financial public companies in ASEAN-5 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand) over the period 2019-2023. Corporate credit risk is measured using 2 main approaches: the accounting-based and market-based models. Merton's KMV model calculates the probability of default (PD) using a market-based approach. In contrast, the Altman Z-Score predicts bankruptcy risk based on financial ratios in …

From Disruption To Integration: Cryptocurrency Prices, Financial Fluctuations, And Macroeconomy, Zhengyang Chen

Faculty Publications

This paper examines cryptocurrency shock transmission to financial markets and the macroeconomy using a Bayesian structural VAR with Pandemic Priors from 2015 to 2024. By affecting overall risk appetite, cryptocurrency price shocks generate positive financial market spillovers, accounting for 18% of equity and 27% of commodity price fluctuations. Real economic effects are significant in driving investment but remain limited, contributing only 4% to unemployment and 6% to industrial production variance. However, cryptocurrency shocks explain 18% of price-level forecast error variance at long horizons. Narrative analysis reveals sentiment and technology as primary shock drivers. These findings demonstrate cryptocurrency's deep financial system …

Decomposing Crowding Out Effect In The Philippines: Leveraging Fiscal Policy To Drive Inclusive Growth, John Paolo R. Rivera, Mary Grace R. Agner, Viory Yvonne T. Janeo, John Angelo F. Cristobal

DLSU Business & Economics Review

Fiscal stimulus programs have substantively kept the Philippine economy afloat during crises and in facilitating recovery. In pursuing steeper growth, there is a tendency to harness fiscal policy at the expense of crowding out private investment and consumption, which defeats the ultimate purpose of such policy. Using time series analysis, we assess the degree of crowding out effect in the Philippines and its implications for the effectiveness of fiscal policy as a macroeconomic stabilization and growth driver tool. Although scholarly literature has used aggregate government spending in probing the existence of a crowding out effect on aggregate investment and consumption …

Multifaceted Skepticism: A Comprehensive Approach In Auditing Practice, Ida Ayu Budhananda Munidewi, Unti Ludigdo, Ali Djamhuri, Wuryan Andayani

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This research uses a modified grounded theory approach to understand the behavior of auditors in Indonesia who have an Eastern cultural background in applying professional skepticism. The research results reveal that auditor behavior in practice applies multifaceted skepticism. Multifaceted skepticism refers to the idea that professional skepticism in auditing is not a one-dimensional approach. That recognizes the complexity of the audit environment and the need for auditors to consider various factors when applying their skepticism. Multifaceted skepticism brings us to a less simplistic view of professional skepticism, which until now has only been seen as an on-or-off switch. Instead, this …

Leveraging Capital Structures Of Philippine Publicly Listed Companies, Michael Angelo A. Cortez

DLSU Business & Economics Review

In this study, I revisit the determinants of corporate capital structures of publicly listed businesses in the Philippines, emphasizing major characteristics previously identified in academic literature, including tangibility, profitability, company size, non-debt tax shields, and growth. I investigate how companies’ financial actions correspond with or deviate from traditional capital structure theories within the context of the Philippine economy’s reliance on short-term, high-cost lending and its evolving capital market. Using a descriptive-exploratory approach to analyze 210 observations from 21 businesses listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2023, I performed a quantitative analysis of construct relationship using cross-sectional generalized …

Budget Deficit Spending Causes Inflation, Roberto B. Raymundo, Paulynne J. Castillo

DLSU Business & Economics Review

Using the Cochrane-Orcutt iterative procedure, the paper provides strong statistical evidence that inflation is a monetary phenomenon caused by budget deficit spending when the central bank buys government debt. Regression results validate that increasing budget deficits lead to the issuance of more debt securities the central bank uses to back the creation of new money. The central bank purchases government securities from commercial banks to implement expansionary monetary policy. The increase in money supply is not possible without the issuance of government debt securities, which, in turn, is only undertaken by the Bureau of Treasury when it finances budget deficits. …

Harnessing Zakat To Drive Inclusive Economic Growth: Prospects And Challenges, Moh Najikhul Fajri, Andini Kusumawardhani

Journal Of Middle East and Islamic Studies

This study aims to analyze the role of zakat in promoting local inclusive economic growth in Indonesia. This research uses secondary panel data of 34 provinces during 2017-2022. The analysis techniques used in this study include the Poverty Equivalent Growth Rate (PEGR) inclusive economic growth measurement method and the Static Panel Regression Fixed Effect Model. This study concludes that zakat is proven to be an effective instrument in promoting inclusive economic growth in Indonesia, with a significant impact on income distribution even though its potential is still not optimized. Unique findings reveal that inclusive growth recovered faster than GDP post-pandemic, …

The Rising Returns To R&D: Ideas Are Not Getting Harder To Find, Yoshiki Ando, James Bessen, Xiupeng Wang

Research Collection School Of Economics

R&D has grown robustly, yet aggregate productivity growth has stagnated. Is this because “ideas are getting harder to find”? Using microdata from the US Census Bureau this paper estimates R&D effectiveness in the manufacturing sector from 1976 to 2018. We find that the marginal effect of R&D on output and the gross marginal returns to R&D have risen sharply. But rivals’ R&D has also gotten more effective, raising expected obsolescence. But firm productivity growth rises with growth in the R&D stock. Higher obsolescence slows the accumulation of R&D capital, reducing the contribution to productivity growth and shortening innovation lives.