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Essays On Macroeconomics With Financial Frictions, Wei Wang May 2015

Essays On Macroeconomics With Financial Frictions, Wei Wang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation develops three independent yet related frameworks to identify economic mechanisms through which financial frictions affect the aggregate economy over the business cycle and along the path of economic development. There are three chapters in this dissertation. In each chapter, a theoretical model is constructed based on motivating empirical facts, followed by quantitative analyses disciplined and evaluated by data at both the macro- and micro-level.Chapter 1, Financial Frictions and Agricultural Productivity Differences, explores the role of financial frictions in accounting for agricultural employment share and labor productivity differences across provinces in China. A two-sector general equilibrium model with a …

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The Impact Of Research And Development On Economic Growth And Productivity In The U.S. States: Online Appendix, Luisa Blanco, James Prieger, Ji Gu May 2015

The Impact Of Research And Development On Economic Growth And Productivity In The U.S. States: Online Appendix, Luisa Blanco, James Prieger, Ji Gu

School of Public Policy Working Papers

This online appendix accompanies the article forthcoming in the Southern Economic Journal. This appendix contains additional information on the data and methodology used in the article, as well as results from additional and supplementary estimations.

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Gold Mining And Unequal Exchange In Western Amazonia: A Theoretical Photo Essay, Gordon L. Ulmer May 2015

Gold Mining And Unequal Exchange In Western Amazonia: A Theoretical Photo Essay, Gordon L. Ulmer

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

I combine fieldwork photography and ethnographic documentation of gold mining in Madre de Dios, Peru, to examine the localized material, social, environmental, and health outcomes of the global gold boom. This 'theoretical photo essay’ examines how local and global forces coalesce around gold mining and influence peoples and environments in Western Amazonia. I use embodiment theory in anthropology, ecological economics, and theories of underdevelopment to understand local consequences of the global gold trade and to elucidate how opulence and the machinations of capital accumulation in economic centers of the world occur at the expense of human lives and environments in …

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The Metro Manila Report: National Landscape, Current Challenges And Opportunities For Growth, Institute For Societal Leadership, John W. Ellington May 2015

The Metro Manila Report: National Landscape, Current Challenges And Opportunities For Growth, Institute For Societal Leadership, John W. Ellington

Institute of Societal Leadership Research Collection

Although Western colonisers have, to varying degrees, shaped the political structures and economies of nearly all modern Southeast Asian nations, they achieved an unmatched level of cultural and institutional penetration in the Philippines. Far from the Indic influences that inspired Angkor Wat, Borobudur and Bagan, the island group was only marginally sanskritised during the pre-colonial period. With some notable exceptions in the south, Muslim communities were also never able to establish firm roots. Mindanao, Sulu and even southern Luzon were home to maritime sultanates beginning in the late 14th century, but a Spanish victory over the Muslim Rajah of Maynila …

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The Determinants Of Broadband Access And Usage In Turkey: Do Regions Matter?, Emin Köksal, Bülent Anil May 2015

The Determinants Of Broadband Access And Usage In Turkey: Do Regions Matter?, Emin Köksal, Bülent Anil

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The aim of the paper is to examine the determinants of broadband internet access in Turkey, and in particular, whether the probability of adopting broadband access varies by region. This study also attempts to find out whether there are regional disparities in engaging in various online activities. The 2012 ICT Household Survey that was conducted and administered by TURKSTAT is used. Probit model of probability of adopting broadband access is estimated and results are consistent with the earlier studies: Education, gender, age and household size matter. Besides this, the probability of adoption in West and Central Turkey is higher than …

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The Influence Of Economic Performance In The 2014 Midterms: A Gubernatorial Tutorial, Justin M. Markon May 2015

The Influence Of Economic Performance In The 2014 Midterms: A Gubernatorial Tutorial, Justin M. Markon

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Who is responsible for the state economy, and does it matter in electing the state chief executive? Until now, numerous researchers have examined the influence of the economy and other factors in gubernatorial elections. However, the most recent studies at the state level did not include economic conditions or found them to be insignificant. This project will examine the thirty-six gubernatorial elections in 2014 and analyze both national- and state-level economic indicators. After investigating the economic performance factors in relation to the election results, it appears that economic conditions did not influence vote choice in the November 2014 gubernatorial elections, …

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Making Connections: How Do Immigrants' Social Networks Influence Their Employment Outcomes?, Charmaine S. Runes May 2015

Making Connections: How Do Immigrants' Social Networks Influence Their Employment Outcomes?, Charmaine S. Runes

Economics Honors Projects

This paper examines the relationship between the size of local ethnic networks and immigrants’ likelihood of being self-employed in 11 metropolitan areas in the U.S. I use American Community Survey data from 2005 to 2011. A two-stage discrete choice logistic specification models agents’ decisions to have a job or not, and if so, to work for wages or be self-employed. Generally, the likelihood of being self-employed decreases with network size, but the opposite holds true for salaried employment. I also interview self-employed Hmong in Saint Paul to explore the effect immigrants’ attitudes toward different employment options have on their work …

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A New Approach To Measuring Poverty In The United States: A Household's Ability To Consume, David Ashelman May 2015

A New Approach To Measuring Poverty In The United States: A Household's Ability To Consume, David Ashelman

Applied Economics Theses

The definition of poverty is a social construct. As such, quantitatively measuring poverty is problematic, and creates ineffective poverty-alleviation policy. This thesis examines the historical measure of poverty in the United States, compares U.S. poverty measurements to Great Britain and Canada, and then proposes a new way to measure poverty. Instead of measuring income as the defining factor of poverty, the new poverty measurement suggested eliminates income factors and focuses on a household’s ability to consume in a non-comparative manner. When quantifying a household’s ability to consume, implications arise in economic policy for anti-poverty programs, defining the middle class, minimum …

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Three Essays On Panel Data Estimation, Alexander Houser May 2015

Three Essays On Panel Data Estimation, Alexander Houser

Dissertations

This work discusses various aspects of panel data estimation. In chapter one, an algorithm for semiparametric random effects estimation is proposed. The performance of bootstrap-based confidence intervals for the proposed estimators are examined and found reasonable. The algorithm is also applied to a set of U.S. state level medical expenditure data to estimate the medical Engel curve. In the second chapter, the predictive performance of various parametric and semiparametric panel data estimators is compared on the same dataset of U.S. state level medical expenditures as well as out of sample forecast performance and bootstrap bias-corrected mean square errors of the …

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The Conundrum Of The Disparity Of Growth Between Indian States, Alexa Cicely Shannon May 2015

The Conundrum Of The Disparity Of Growth Between Indian States, Alexa Cicely Shannon

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

How is it that Indian states that seemingly have similar advantages can perform so differently? The objective is to study the relationship between government involvement, and the impact of these factors on economic growth. The goal of this research paper is to determine if there is a correlation between state resources or party affiliation and the outlay from the central government and also to determine if there is a correlation between government outlay and the eventual number of state enterprises and in turn if those state enterprises had an effect on the current GDP Per Capita.

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Downtown Parking Meter Demand In El Paso, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., E. Pallarez, Adam G. Walke May 2015

Downtown Parking Meter Demand In El Paso, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., E. Pallarez, Adam G. Walke

Border Region Modeling Project

Prior research establishes that the price of parking in the city centre often impacts the decision to travel downtown and the mode of transportation utilized. Other factors that influence the decision to drive and park downtown have received less attention. This study uses time series data to analyse the demand for metered parking spaces in El Paso, Texas, USA. In addition to meter rates, the determinants of demand include personal income, gasoline prices, and the price of a substitute good, parking garage spaces. Because international bridges connect downtown El Paso to neighbouring Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, the impacts of trans-boundary …

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Climate, Latitude And Wealth, Trevor Greg Stringham May 2015

Climate, Latitude And Wealth, Trevor Greg Stringham

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

So many of the world's most impoverished nations are found in warm climate regions that some economists have referred to "tropical" as synonymous with "underdeveloped". In this paper I study the difference in GDP per capita throughout the world based on latitude, and show that there is a significant, positive correlation between distance from the equator and GDP per capita. I find that consumption is different in wealthier countries and that these differences are correlated with latitude. I use these differences in consumption as a new approach to evaluating the problem of what causes temperate climate nations to be rich …

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Resistance, Acquiescence Or Incorporation? An Introduction To Land Grabbing And Political Reactions ‘From Below’, Marc Edelman, Ruth Hall, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Ian Scoones, Ben White, Wendy Wolford May 2015

Resistance, Acquiescence Or Incorporation? An Introduction To Land Grabbing And Political Reactions ‘From Below’, Marc Edelman, Ruth Hall, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Ian Scoones, Ben White, Wendy Wolford

Publications and Research

Political reactions ‘from below’ to global land grabbing have been vastly more varied and complex than is usually assumed. This essay introduces a collection of ground- breaking studies that discuss responses that range from various types of organized and everyday resistance to demands for incorporation or for better terms of incorporation into land deals. Initiatives ‘from below’ in response to land deals have involved local and transnational alliances and the use of legal and extra-legal methods, and have brought victories and defeats. The relevance of political reactions to land grabbing is discussed in light of theories of social movements and …

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Public Transit And Property Values: Did The Metro Blue Line Affect Home Prices In Minneapolis?, Clemens A. Pilgram Apr 2015

Public Transit And Property Values: Did The Metro Blue Line Affect Home Prices In Minneapolis?, Clemens A. Pilgram

Economics Honors Projects

This study estimates the accessibility premium commanded by single family homes located near LRT stations using home sales data from Minneapolis covering 1990 to 2014. The region’ first LRT, the “Blue Line”, was announced in 1998 and opened in 2004. I find mixed evidence for an increase in home values following the introduction of LRT service to South Minneapolis using a repeat sales model. My central estimate suggests that no such premium exists when including all years of data. However, limiting my data to fewer years of operation, I am able to reproduce prior studies’ positive premiums.

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Impact Of Women Empowered Through Community Savings Groups On The Wellbeing Of Their Families: A Study From Mgubwe, Tanzania, James Kesanta, Billy Andre Apr 2015

Impact Of Women Empowered Through Community Savings Groups On The Wellbeing Of Their Families: A Study From Mgubwe, Tanzania, James Kesanta, Billy Andre

Interdisciplinary Journal of Best Practices in Global Development

This study explores the impact of economic empowerment among women and the well-being of their families and their communities through a community savings and loans association model. The research, conducted in Mgubwe, Tanzania, consists of 83 respondents from four villages, representing 12 Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs). Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using Focus Group Discussions (FGD), survey questionnaires and key in-depth interview methodologies. The findings indicated women who participate in community-based micro-lending associations have positive impacts on their children’s education, health, and livelihoods. The findings also revealed members of community savings and loans groups do not collectively …

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White Paper On Valuing Transportation Infrastructure, Randall W. Eberts Apr 2015

White Paper On Valuing Transportation Infrastructure, Randall W. Eberts

Reports

No abstract provided.

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Precarity And Gentrification: A Feedback Loop, Samuel Stein Apr 2015

Precarity And Gentrification: A Feedback Loop, Samuel Stein

Graduate Student Publications and Research

How do rent hikes and labor precarity conspire to reinforce each other against tenants and workers? Samuel Stein explains the mechanisms that link these two trends affecting citizens and calls for a tightening of rent-control laws to stop the spiraling descent of American residents into poverty.

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Evaluating The Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act’S Btop Program On Broadband Adoption, James Prieger, Janice A. Hauge Apr 2015

Evaluating The Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act’S Btop Program On Broadband Adoption, James Prieger, Janice A. Hauge

School of Public Policy Working Papers

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) spent $4.7B during 2009-2013 to, int. al, increase broadband adoption in underserved communities. We characterize the BTOP grants and examine the impact of the awards on broadband adoption. Econometric specifications controlling for award endogeneity related to observed and unobserved county-level factors find that spending is apparently associated with increased broadband adoption. Further investigation, however, reveals that the impacts of spending are nonlinear and even nonmonotonic over the range of county-level BTOP spending in the data. Controlling for trends to reduce the potential for spurious correlation between spending and outcomes …

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Multilevel Marketing Diffusion And The Risk Of Pyramid Scheme Activity: The Case Of Fortune Hi‐Tech Marketing In Montana, Stacie A. Bosley, Kim Mckeage Apr 2015

Multilevel Marketing Diffusion And The Risk Of Pyramid Scheme Activity: The Case Of Fortune Hi‐Tech Marketing In Montana, Stacie A. Bosley, Kim Mckeage

School of Business All Faculty Scholarship

While statisticians have simulated the expected rate of growth in pyramid schemes, this research examines actual data on the spread of an alleged pyramid scheme in Montana. Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing (FHTM) was a multilevel marketing firm, sued by six states and the Federal Trade Commission and permanently shut down in 2014. Data from a settlement with the State of Montana provide a population of participants in a geographic region with definable markets and offer unique insights into local contagion. The authors analyze the pattern of FHTM adoption within a diffusion-of-innovation framework. The findings confirm that nearly all adoption results from …

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Trees Grow On Money: Urban Tree Canopy Cover And Environmental Justice, Michail Fragkias Apr 2015

Trees Grow On Money: Urban Tree Canopy Cover And Environmental Justice, Michail Fragkias

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study examines the distributional equity of urban tree canopy (UTC) cover for Baltimore, MD, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Raleigh, NC, Sacramento, CA, and Washington, D.C. using high spatial resolution land cover data and census data. Data are analyzed at the Census Block Group levels using Spearman’s correlation, ordinary least squares regression (OLS), and a spatial autoregressive model (SAR). Across all cities there is a strong positive correlation between UTC cover and median household income. Negative correlations between race and UTC cover exist in bivariate models for some cities, but they are generally not observed using …

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A Probabilistic Model Of Benefit-Cost Analysis For Highway Construction Projects, Yue He Apr 2015

A Probabilistic Model Of Benefit-Cost Analysis For Highway Construction Projects, Yue He

Open Access Theses

Deterministic method occupies the predominant position in economic analysis. However, by using a single value to estimate the project value, deterministic method would hide the risk under it. Analysts may make incorrect judgments by looking at a value without knowing the likelihood of its occurrence and the consequences of its occurrence. A probabilistic model was developed in this study to address this problem. It was found in this study that the traffic flows on Indiana highways follow logistic distributions rather than normal distributions as generally believed. The application of the probabilistic model was illustrated through a case study. The results …

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Removing The Rust: Comparative Post-Industrial Revitalization In Buffalo, Cleveland, And Pittsburgh, Scott Nicholas Duryea Apr 2015

Removing The Rust: Comparative Post-Industrial Revitalization In Buffalo, Cleveland, And Pittsburgh, Scott Nicholas Duryea

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study seeks to understand the differences in post-industrial redevelopment among the cities of Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Part of the so-called "rust belt," these three cities experienced industrial decline from the 1960s through the 1980s, largely as a result of the economic globalization of heavy industry. Intensive manufacturing and output had come to a screeching halt, unemployment skyrocketed, outmigration ensued, and each metropolitan area faced formidable challenges to convert to service-oriented industries. Over the past twenty years, these cities, and the regions that encompass them, have begun to redevelop, although unevenly. At a glance, the Pittsburgh region appears to …

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The Curious Case Of Solu Khumbu: A Study Of The Effects Of Tourism In The Town Of Junbesi, Hannah Cho Apr 2015

The Curious Case Of Solu Khumbu: A Study Of The Effects Of Tourism In The Town Of Junbesi, Hannah Cho

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Before 1953, the year that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summited Everest, almost all Sherpas were subsistence farmers, traders, and herders. But ever since the 1980’s, Sherpas have taken over the trekking industry in this region. The increase of tourism and the monopolization of this industry have altered the livelihoods of Sherpas in Solu Khumbu. However, most tourism related research on Solu Khumbu has been done primarily on upper Khumbu, which has been affected by tourism drastically differently than Solu. I will be doing a case study of how the changes in tourism have affected Junbesi, a popular agriculture based …

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Extractivist Agribusiness Model: Analysis Of Social Resistances Emerging In Response To The Extractivist Agribusiness Model: A Case Study Of The Industrial Belt Of Gran Rosario, Alexa González Apr 2015

Extractivist Agribusiness Model: Analysis Of Social Resistances Emerging In Response To The Extractivist Agribusiness Model: A Case Study Of The Industrial Belt Of Gran Rosario, Alexa González

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In regards to human rights and environmental rights, there is a paradox that exists between the rhetoric and actions of the government regarding agribusiness. While the Argentine government increasingly connects their rhetoric to the promotion of these rights, they have allowed transnational corporations to modify the agricultural model in a way that exploits the land for the production of commodities. People living in fields where biotechnology is operated and urban-industrial zones where the commodities are exported report health problems and deaths in light of the corporations’ presence. Confronted with the degradation of their fundamental rights, those whose lives are being …

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Corruption And Entrepreneurship: Evidence From A Random Audit Program, Jamie Bologna, Amanda Ross Mar 2015

Corruption And Entrepreneurship: Evidence From A Random Audit Program, Jamie Bologna, Amanda Ross

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

In this paper, we examine the effect of corruption on business activity in Brazilian municipalities. Previous research that has examined the impact of corruption has relied primarily on survey or conviction data, which may be problematic as these measures likely to be biased. We use a new measure of corruption that draws upon random audit data of municipal governments’ finances in Brazil. We find that higher levels of corruption cause reductions in the number of businesses operating in an area. Furthermore, we find that these effects become larger over time, suggesting that corruption is more detrimental to long-run economic activity. …

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Governance And Private Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa, Idrissa Mohamed Ouedraogo, Pascal T. Kouman Mar 2015

Governance And Private Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa, Idrissa Mohamed Ouedraogo, Pascal T. Kouman

International Journal of African Development

Africa is one of the world regions whose development potentials are particularly important. But despite this situation, Africa is one of the continents where poverty exists on a large scale. More than 44 % of the African population lives below the poverty line. Yet, various forms of development strategies have been designed and implemented in the African countries. In 1992, in its publication Governance and Development, the World Bank refers to the quality of government as the cause of the failure of several of these strategies. Attention is henceforth focused on how governments organize the management of state and …

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International Journal Of African Development, Vol. 2, Issue 1 Mar 2015

International Journal Of African Development, Vol. 2, Issue 1

International Journal of African Development

Complete issue of International Journal of African Development, Volume 2, Issue 1.

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Minnesota’S Hot, Michael Hemesath Mar 2015

Minnesota’S Hot, Michael Hemesath

Administration Publications

No abstract provided.

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A Framework For Measuring County Economic Resilience, Mulugeta Kahsai, Junbo Yu, Mark Middleton, Peter V. Schaeffer, Randall Jackson Mar 2015

A Framework For Measuring County Economic Resilience, Mulugeta Kahsai, Junbo Yu, Mark Middleton, Peter V. Schaeffer, Randall Jackson

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

The study provides a framework to develop economic resilience index for West Virginia counties based on the premise that county economic resilience depends on its physical and human resources, structure and diversity of its economic base (employment and income diversity), entrepreneurial activity and business dynamics and scale and proximity (spatial issues). Using 17 indicators along four of the six proposed dimensions, a preliminary economic resilience index has been created for West Virginia counties for the years 2000 and 2005. Geospatial maps are also developed to explore the evolution of the geographical patterns of economic resilience across time. The effectiveness of …

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Signed Peer Reviews As A Means To Improve Scholarly Publishing, Linwood H. Pendleton Mar 2015

Signed Peer Reviews As A Means To Improve Scholarly Publishing, Linwood H. Pendleton

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Peer review is a necessary process with a long history of complaints, including over-solicitation of a small number of reviewers, delays, inadequate numbers of reviewers, and a lack of incentives to provide strong reviews or avoid reviews with little helpful information for the author. In the era of Web-based distribution of research, through working paper or project reports, anonymous peer reviews are much less likely. The Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics will use signed peer reviews and an open communication process among authors, reviewers, and editors. This approach, to be developed over time, should lead to stronger communication of …

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