Digital Commons Network^™

Are All Sports Betting Losses Created Equal?, Dylan M. Hollick

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This study investigates how the cash out feature in sports betting influences bettor reaction to loss and short-term bet likelihood. The cash out changes the mechanics of a sports betting loss outcome in several ways. By getting some of the bet’s stake back through a cash out loss, the transaction mimics a larger loss-smaller gain joint outcome as opposed to a single loss at the time of the bet’s placement. The cash out also introduces the opportunity for regret or positive counterfactuals depending on the cash outs “correctness”. Using survey data from college students responding to hypothetical betting scenarios, it …

Cover Cropping: How Sustainability & Economics Can Work Hand In Hand (Pt. Ii), Emma Reyes

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Research finds that while the average rate of soil erosion under natural conditions occurs at less than 1.9 Mg per hectare per year, the current rate of erosion for United States agricultural soils occurs at 6.7 Mg per hectare per year (Nearing et al., 2017). This problem is further heightened by the fact that many farmers are concerned about the added expenses that may come from the use of sustainable practices. As a result, this may lead to an increase in the practice of more harmful conventional agricultural techniques if they continue to be considered more economically beneficial in comparison. …

Simulated Recovery: Measuring The Impact Of Structural Adjustment On Economic Development In Latin America, Daniel Espinal

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This paper uses synthetic control analysis to assess the long-term effects of structural adjustment policies on economic development. Focusing on Mexico as a case study, the findings indicate that these policies may have contributed to economic stagnation and widening inequality. By comparing actual outcomes with a synthetic counterfactual, the analysis reveals a notable divergence in performance over time. Reforms intended to stabilize the economy and promote growth—such as austerity, liberalization, and privatization—often led to reduced public investment, weakened institutions, and increased social vulnerability. The results support broader critiques of structural adjustment, suggesting that the costs of such interventions can outweigh …

Decade-Long Deals: The Forces Driving Mlb’S Lengthening Contracts, Benjamin Cuccolo

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This study investigates the economic and institutional factors that influence lengthening contracts in Major League Baseball. Using a dataset of 652 free agent position players that signed for two years or longer from 1991 to 2025, this paper explores how factors such as age, relative player performance, collective bargaining agreements, and risk management strategies affect contract length. Results from the regression model show that younger players that are higher performing are more likely to receive long-term deals. Additionally, those that are extended a qualifying offer also typically sign for longer term deals as suggested by the regression results. A separate …

Economic Development In Ten Massachusetts Communities: A Study Of Public Policy Implementation Methods And Outcomes, Derek Michael Bennett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Economic renewal and development are an essential elements of urban economic development within numerous cities in the United States. Little has been reported concerning methods used to implement policy to create the conditions desirable for economic growth and development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the corelative relationship between implementation methods used and the outcomes of economic growth and development policy, applying Pierson's (1993) Policy Feedback Theory as the theoretical framework. Using a mixed methods-based study of quantitative and quantitative methods, to examine the correlation between policy implementation practices and resulting barriers in local economic growth and development, …

Value Creation And Value Capture In Indian Garment Sector Bargaining, Russell Morton

Discussion Papers

This paper examines creation and distribution of surplus from global value chains (GVCs) in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) domestic supply chains. While GVC participation can enhance growth and productivity, low prices paid to small input suppliers raise concerns that gains from GVC participation accrue to the large exporters (the buyers). Supply-chain transactions often occur in bargained agreements with non-price terms that increase small supplier surplus, such as quantity stability and other insurance-like terms. Therefore, low input prices reflect both buyers’ share of surplus generated by non-price terms and buyer capture. I enrich a Nash bargaining model to study how …

Harrod And More, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Handwritten notes titled General 'Accelerator' Type Invest. Function (1984, December 30)
• Handwritten notes titled Finance, Invest, & Multiplier and related notes on investment financing and Keynesian multiplier effects (1984, October 17)
• Handwritten notes titled The fallacy of 'full adjustment' in multiplier process (1984, November 30)
• Handwritten notes titled Simple Reprod & Effective Demand and related notes including on the inventory cycle (1984, September 6)
• Handwritten notes titled Definitions of income, cons. & savings and related notes including Definition (1984, September 23)
• Handwritten notes titled Savings & invest (1984, September 25)
• Handwritten notes including equations related to investment …

2025 Acssc Program, Acssc Planning Committee

Annual Celebration for Student Scholarship and Creativity

No abstract provided.

Is Aid Good For The Poor In Sub-Saharan Africa?, Elisha Mavodyo

Business Review

We contribute to the aid-poverty literature in Sub-Saharan Africa in two fundamental respects. First, we sidestep the controversial aid-growth-poverty relationship by analysing the direct impacts of aid on poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. Second, in line with previous studies, we first analysed the impact of aid on poverty headcount, poverty gap, and poverty gap squared. We complemented this analysis with an analysis of the direct impact of aid on the incomes of the poor, followed by an analysis of aid on inequality. Such an approach allowed us to draw nuanced conclusions about how effective foreign aid is in alleviating not just …

The Economic Factors Of Suicide, Hogan C. Fox

Honors College Theses

This study examines how macroeconomic indicators influence state‐level suicide rates in the United States and, critically, how those effects differ by gender. Drawing on annual data from all fifty states over 2010–2020, I merge age‐adjusted suicide rates from CDC WONDER with five key economic indicator: real hourly compensation, labor productivity, employment rate, median income, and logged state GD, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. After comparing pooled OLS, random‐effects, first‐difference, and two‐way fixed‐effects specifications, I adopt a two-way, state‐and‐year fixed‐effects model for its superior fit and capacity to control for unobserved heterogeneity. …

Corporate Social Responsibility: Are There Financial Incentives?, Ashlyn Ryan

Economics Honors Projects

In the early 2000s, consumer trends increasingly influenced corporations to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). More recently, however, this trend has shown signs of reversing, which is puzzling, given that engagement in CSR may lead to enhanced company financial performance through channels of competitive advantage or risk reduction. Using event study methods, I analyze how investors respond to signals in the form of third-party recognitions for companies’ CSR activities. Third-party recognitions, may provide new information, altering investor behaviors and decision making. I find no statistically significant relationship between the announcement of these recognitions and either abnormal stock returns or …

From Delay To Payday: Easing Bureaucrat Access To Implementation Information Strengthens Social Protection Delivery, Eric Dodge, Yusuf Neggers, Rohini Pande, Charity Troyer Moore

Discussion Papers

Poor implementation frequently impedes social protection delivery in low-state-capacity settings. In such environments, reducing managers’ information acquisition costs may improve their grasp of frontline issues and program performance. However, in the presence of managerial rent-seeking, increasing the principal’s information may be key, and doing so just for managers can backfire. To assess this trade-off and implications for program performance, we collaborated with two Indian states to randomly vary bureaucrat access to PayDash, a digital platform for real-time tracking of worker payment processing for the national rural workfare program. In treated districts, PayDash expedited bureaucrat processing of workfare payments by 17%, …

Two-Stage Least Squares Estimation In A Spatial Lag Model Under A Complete Bipartite Network, Badi H. Baltagi, Long Liu

Center for Policy Research

This paper considers a spatial lag model with a complete bipartite network weighting matrix which is important in network theory. We show that two-stage least squares is equivalent to ordinary least squares and both estimators are inconsistent for the cross-section data case. This result has also been derived for the spatial lag model with an equal weight matrix by Kelejian and Prucha (2002). We also show that the fixed effects two-stage least squares estimator is consistent in case we have panel data and the spatial lag model includes time fixed effects. This is different from the result for an equal …

Do Gun-Purchase Waiting Periods Save Lives?, Grace E. Arnold, Mitchell Blaine Priestley

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We study the impact of gun-purchase waiting periods on suicide rates using county-level mortality data from 1991-2019. We find that waiting periods are associated with a reduction in both firearm and overall suicide rates of approximately 5% and 2%, respectively. Novelly, we find that counties that are within 50 miles from a state without a waiting period experience no statistically significant reduction in suicides. Our findings reveal that the decrease in suicides under a waiting period is driven by counties that are more than 50 miles from a non-restricted neighboring state.

Climate Change Adaptation Through Economic Democracy, Shriraksha Mohan

Best Integrated Writing

Mohan investigates and combines three different areas of literature and social movements to discuss the problem of climate change and economic adaptation. The value of this work is that it can be used to communicate among three independent types of social movements and inquiries. This can strengthen and connect dispersed yet overlapping efforts in addressing work issues, resource utilization, economic governance and participation, and ecological problems economies face today.

Lessons Learned: J. Christopher Flowers, Mary Anne Chute Lynch

Journal of Financial Crises

J. Christopher Flowers has been managing director, CEO, and chairman of the private investment firm J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC for many years. During the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007–2009, Flowers was involved with investing in some of the largest banks and financial institutions in the world and advising and consulting with them on possible acquisitions, mergers, and sales as several of these firms began to collapse. In the fall of 2008, Flowers worked closely with the Bank of America (BofA) on proposals to acquire Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, and he developed a plan for private investors to …

Lessons Learned: Giorgio Gobbi, Mercedes Cardona

Journal of Financial Crises

Giorgio Gobbi joined the Economic Research Department of the Bank of Italy in 1990 and was assigned to carry out analysis and research on the banking industry. From 1998 to 2004, he headed the department’s Financial Intermediaries Office and represented the bank at the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of International Settlements, and the European Central Bank. Starting in 2007, Gobbi headed the Financial Structure and Intermediaries Division within the bank’s Structural Economic Analysis Department. He was appointed deputy head of the Financial Stability Unit in 2013 and became head of the Financial Stability Directorate in 2014.

United States: Lehman Brothers Broker-Dealer Emergency Liquidity Program, 2008, Ayodeji George, Steven Kelly

Journal of Financial Crises

On Sunday, September 14, 2008, a deal to sell the United States investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LBHI) to United Kingdom–based Barclays fell apart. US authorities informed LBHI that, given the lack of rescue funds, it would need to file for bankruptcy before Monday morning to avoid additional chaos for the firm and markets. However, authorities understood Barclays was still interested in buying Lehman’s broker-dealer subsidiary, Lehman Brothers Inc. (LBI). Federal Reserve and Treasury officials were concerned about the impact that the sudden failure of LBI could have on financial markets. LBI had $87 billion in secured overnight repurchase …

United States: First Republic Bank Emergency Liquidity Program, 2023, Salil Gupta, Jack French, Steven Kelly

Journal of Financial Crises

First Republic Bank, a California-based institution with $212.6 billion in assets, lost $25 billion in deposits on Friday, March 10, 2023, following the closing of Silicon Valley Bank that morning. On Sunday, March 12, First Republic announced that it had access to $70 billion in unused liquidity owing to its borrowing capacity at the Federal Reserve, the Federal Home Loan Bank System, and JPMorgan Chase (JPMC). But First Republic’s depositors withdrew a further $40 billion of deposits on Monday, March 13. First Republic’s borrowings from the Federal Reserve rose as high as $109 billion between Friday, March 10, and Wednesday, …

United States: Citigroup Emergency Liquidity Program, 2008, Vincient Arnold

Journal of Financial Crises

By November 21, 2008, against the backdrop of heavy losses during the Global Financial Crisis, Citigroup counterparties were substantially pulling back from the firm. On November 23, the US Department of the Treasury, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Federal Reserve announced a support package for Citi composed of a capital injection and a loss-sharing arrangement on $300.8 billion of assets. Under the Asset Guarantee Program (AGP), Citi would absorb the first $39.5 billion in losses on a mutually agreed upon pool of risky assets; the Treasury and FDIC provided $15 billion in loss protection after that, combined with Citi’s …

Sweden: Carnegie Investment Bank Ab Emergency Liquidity Program, 2008, Sophia Alden, Jack French

Journal of Financial Crises

In October 2008, Carnegie Investment Bank AB (Carnegie) had trouble obtaining financing amid concerns about its financial health. However, Sweden’s central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank (Riksbank), and the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) still viewed Carnegie as solvent. Between October 27 and 28, the Riksbank lent Carnegie 2.4 billion Swedish kronor (SEK). As collateral for the loan, Carnegie and its holding company, D. Carnegie & Co. AB (D. Carnegie), provided all shares and subsidiaries in Carnegie as well as all shares in a sister subsidiary under D. Carnegie, Max Matthiessen Holding AB (Max Matthiessen). On November 10, 2008, the FSA …

Iceland: Kaupthing Emergency Liquidity Program, 2008, Sophia Alden, Léo Brougher

Journal of Financial Crises

Following the privatization of Iceland’s state-owned banks between 1998 and 2003, the three largest banks in Iceland—Glitnir, Landsbanki, and Kaupthing—grew rapidly, with consolidated assets increasing from 100% of Iceland’s GDP in 2004 to nearly 900% by the end of 2007. Initially, this growth was funded by debt issuances in the European medium-term note market; however, as cracks in the international financial system appeared in 2006, the banks turned to offering high-interest savings accounts through their foreign subsidiaries. Beginning in October 2006, Kaupthing launched “Kaupthing Edge,” an online savings and deposit platform operating in markets outside Iceland. When the United States …

Fighting "Fear Itself": The Bank Holiday Of March 1933, Matthew Jaremski, Gary Richardson, Angela Vossmeyer

Journal of Financial Crises

In the month preceding Franklin Roosevelt’s inauguration, a panic overwhelmed the U.S. banking system. Immediately after assuming office, Roosevelt declared a nationwide bank holiday and vowed to reopen only sound banks. Five days after the holiday ended, nearly 11,000 of the nation's more than 18,000 commercial banks had reopened. Nearly 4,000 never reopened or had to be reorganized. The holiday is often credited with helping reestablish financial stability, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying the reopening process and the way in which payment systems were restored. We detail the process of reopening the banking system using narrative records …

Navigating Work-Life Balance: A Study Of School Educators In Challenging Contexts, Laurent Yacoub, Sara Abou Ibrahim, Nadine Osman, Zubaida Daye, Nada Jabbour Al Maalouf

Arab Economic and Business Journal

Work-life balance has become an essential aspect of employees’ fundamental rights provided by the workplace in almost every industry. While WLB is widely recognized for enhancing employees’ productivity, motivation, and consequently, the overall success of the organization, limited research has focused on its role in the educational sector, particularly in Lebanon. In the educational sector, this concept is particularly important since this sector is known for the high amounts of workload during and after school hours. This study explores the impact of work-life balance on job satisfaction among both Lebanese and non-Lebanese teachers in private and public schools in Lebanon, …

Health Crisis And Currency Risk: Fresh Evidence From New Data Sets, Afees A. Salisu, Dinci J. Penzin, Yinka S. Hammed

Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking

With the aid of a method of predictability analysis that involves a feasible quasigeneralized least squares estimator, we examine the predictive power associated with the newly computed COVID-19 indices, which are disaggregated into six indices for currency market risks (realized volatility of exchange rate). Our sample size covers the period between December 31, 2019, and December 28, 2021. We note mixed outcomes for the major currency markets considered. On average, while the health crisis seems to have heightened the risks associated with Pounds Sterling, Australian Dollar and Canadian Dollar against USD, it exerts a moderating effect on the Euro, Yen …

Exit Policy, Liquidity Normalization, And Lts Implications On Central Bank Policy Transmission, Alexander Lubis, Rangga Pratama, Merlin Dwi Yunaniar, Wahyu Agung Nugroho, Dian Prima Susiandri

Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking

The objective of this study is to determine the implications for the effectiveness of monetary policy transmission by examining the impact of specific policy toolkits in both Advanced Economy (AE) and Emerging Market (EM) countries during crises and during normalization (exit policy) upon crisis resolution. The analysis conducted using the VECM method on a number of AE and EM countries demonstrates that the response of bank interest rates (credit) is consistent with changes in policy rates and substantially diverges from Quantitative Easing (QE) policy in both the short and long term. However, the efficacy of monetary policy transmission appears to …

Soft-Floor Auctions: Harnessing Regret To Improve Efficiency And Revenue, Dirk Bergemann, Kevin Breuer, Peter Cramton, Jack Hirsch, Yero S. Ndiaye, Axel Ockenfels

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

A soft-floor auction asks bidders to accept an opening price to participate in an ascending auction. If no bidder accepts, lower bids are considered using first-price rules. Soft floors are common despite being irrelevant with standard assumptions. When bidders regret losing, soft-floor auctions are more efficient and profitable than standard optimal auctions. Revenue increases as bidders are inclined to accept the opening price to compete in a regret-free ascending auction. Efficiency is improved since having a soft floor allows for a lower hard reserve price, reducing the frequency of no sale. Theory and experiment confirm these motivations from practice.

“Essential” Migrants: Evidence From The 2020 H-2b Visa Lottery, Parag Mahajan

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

I study how access to foreign-born workers impacts firms and local economics in times of acute crisis. The 2020 H-2B visa lottery randomly gave some U.S. firms the chance to hire low-wage, migrant workers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using administrative data across three government agencies, I find that access to H-2B workers led to decreased business closures, increased revenues, increased payroll, and increased employment in 2020. I also find suggestive evidence that these effects spilled over to non-participant firms within the same county.

Fiscal Policy In A Growth Context, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Lautzenheiser, M., & Yasar, Y. (2006). Circulation and effective demand: A comment on Nell. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 30(4), 651–656.

• Lecture notes titled Economic policy in a growth context: A synthesis of Keynes and Harrod (2001-05-30)

• Notes on Harrod-Godley synthesis [Handwritten notes] (2005-11-30)

• Concluding remarks on Economic policy in a growth context [Handwritten notes] (2005-11-30)

• Keynes & Harrod (2005-10-17, handwritten notes)

• Graphs modeling government spending on growth of output [Graphs] (undated)

• Corrections (2005-11-30, handwritten notes)

• Email exchange regarding the government sector in the Shaikh-Keynes-Harrod model (2005-11-30, 2005-12-01)

• Harrod dynamics [Handwritten notes] (undated)

• Notes on Economic policy …

  ---

  Go to article

Capacity Utilization, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Kalman filter cap utilization (2005-05-26, handwritten notes)

• Handwritten notes on Harvey's structural time series model [Handwritten notes] (undated)

• Regression output for D(LNYRMFG) with related handwritten notes (2005-04-25)

• Handwritten notes on ARDL models [Handwritten notes] (undated)

• Capacity utilization model discussing AR processes [Handwritten notes] (undated)

• Handwritten notes comparing Kalman filter, ARDL, and OLS models [Handwritten notes] (undated)

• Handwritten notes on time series model equations [Handwritten notes] (undated)

• Handwritten notes on error correction models [Handwritten notes] (undated)

• Handwritten notes discussing ARIMA and ECM [Handwritten notes] (undated)

• Handwritten notes discussing AR(3) and MA(3) models [Handwritten notes] (undated)

• One general cap. …

  ---

  Go to article