Digital Commons Network^™

Income Polarization And Income Inequality In Connecticut During The Great Recession, A. E. Rodriguez, Scott J. Lane

Economics & Business Analytics Faculty Publications

In this paper, using Bureau of the Census family income data we formally examine the income polarization hypothesis for the State of Connecticut. We ask and answer two questions. First, did the polarization of income deteriorate over the Great Recession years of 2007-2009? If the observed clustering around two opposite poles that existed in Connecticut prior to the Great Recession increased between the years immediately prior to the recession and immediately after (2006-2010) it would be consistent with the perception that the size of the middle class decreased over this period. Second, have income polarization and income inequality fared significantly …

Explaining China’S Economic Performance From The Perspective Of Non-Conventional Determinants, Jingjing Yang, Sana Khalil

Business Review

We analyze forecasts concerning China’s growth slow-down and future prospects concerning its economic performance. Extending the discussion on China’s possibility of going through a slow-down in future, we focus on the avoidance of such a possibility by drawing forth the role of gross capital formation, trade openness, higher education enrollment ratio, higher education expenditure, R&D expenditure, population growth and number of inventions in determining per capita income. These non-conventional determinants: number of inventions, government R&D expenditure, higher education enrollment ratio and higher education expenditure, show not only significantly positive link with per capita income but also exhibit strong explanatory power …

Disparitas, Konvergensi, Dan Determinan Produktivitas Tenaga Kerja Regional Di Indonesia, Aisyah Fitri Yuniasih, Muhammad Firdaus, Idqan Fahmi

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Indonesia has been still experiencing regional economic disparity problems, including in labour productivity. This study employs dynamic panel approach to analyze convergence and to identify determinants of regional labour productivity during the period of 1987-2011. The System Generalized Method of Moments (Sys-GMM) estimation results show that regional convergence process occurs with speed of convergence of 0.06518 per year. Physical capital stock, human capital stock, total trade, and real wage give positive impacts. Therefore, government should prioritize in overcoming labour productivity disparity in Eastern Indonesia in which are more unequal than in Western Indonesia where interventions should be greater for provinces …

State Incentives For Innovation, Star Scientists, And Jobs: Evidence From Biotech, Enrico Moretti, Daniel J. Wilson

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We evaluate the effects of state-provided financial incentives for biotech companies, which are part of a growing trend of placed-based policies designed to spur innovation clusters. We estimate that the adoption of subsidies for biotech employers by a state raises the number of star biotech scientists in that state by about 15 percent over a three-year period. A 10 percent decline in the user cost of capital induced by an increase in R&D tax incentives raises the number of stars by 22 percent. Most of the gains are due to the relocation of star scientists to adopting states, with limited …

Mobile Phones And Growth Of Microenterprises: A Case Study Of Safaricom’S “Zidisha Biashara” Customers, Geoffrey Wandeto Mwangi, Freddie R. Acosta

DLSU Business & Economics Review

The study aimed at establishing the impacts of mobile phones usage on the growth of microenterprises. The study focused on mobile phones (and not telephony or telecommunications in general) because of the speedy adoption and widespread usage of mobile phones witnessed in Kenya over the last 10 years. The objectives of the study were based on three indicators of business growth, that is, income, profitability (cost management), and customer base. The study adopted a descriptive design method since it aimed at discovering and describing if a relationship exists between the variables. The study purposively sampled 100 microenterprises from Safaricom’s Zidisha …

Banking Crises And The Volume Of Trade, Yifei Mu

All Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three chapters. The first two chapters investigate the correlation between banking crises and bilateral trade flows. In the first chapter, we focus on how banking crises may impact the bilateral trade flows over time. We attempt to disentangle the financial shocks' impacts on trade flow by factors that are related to exporters and importers. The second chapter assesses how banking crises impact the extensive and intensive margin of the trade. The third chapter attempts to use frontier model to analyze the bidding behaviors and collusion in the different submarkets of low-price, sealed-bid construction procurement.
Since 2007 …

Does Size Matter? Scaling Of Co2 Emissions And U.S. Urban Areas, Michail Fragkias, José Lobo, Deborah Strumsky, Karen C. Seto

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Urban areas consume more than 66% of the world’s energy and generate more than 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. With the world’s population expected to reach 10 billion by 2100, nearly 90% of whom will live in urban areas, a critical question for planetary sustainability is how the size of cities affects energy use and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Are larger cities more energy and emissions efficient than smaller ones? Do larger cities exhibit gains from economies of scale with regard to emissions? Here we examine the relationship between city size and CO₂ emissions for U.S. …

An Econometric Analysis On Pricing And Market Structure In The U.S. Airline Industry, Jiajun Liang

The Macalester Review

This paper examines the relationship between market power and airfares in the U.S. aviation industry. I performed Hausman-Taylor and random effects estimation techniques on quarterly data of the top one thousand most heavily traveled city pairs from 2009 to 2012. Overall, the regression results may be interpreted in such way that while higher concentration at a route level increases ticket prices, it nonetheless reduces average airfare at the airport level. For policy implications, it may suggest that higher market concentration has at least some merits to the consumers, most likely caused by the cost saving due to economic use of …

The Disparate Neighborhood Impacts Of The Great Recession: Evidence From Chicago, Sonya Williams, George C. Galster, Nandita Verma

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

We advance scholarship about how macroeconomic forces differentially manifest themselves across local spaces by developing a holistic conceptual framework and empirical analyses involving multilevel change modeling. Unlike prior work, we examine differential rates of change in neighborhood indicators. We illustrate our approach with Chicago data measuring the crime, housing, and economic domains of neighborhood quality- of-life over the 2000-2009 period. We find that the local dynamic manifestations of macroeconomic cycles were far more nuanced than have been previously observed. Neighborhood indicators moved along distinct trajectories, sometimes but not necessarily tracking each other or the overall business cycle, and they changed …

Analysis Of External Debt Dynamics In Ecowas Economies, A. C. Chuku

Economic and Financial Review

This paper recognised the importance of identifying the core determinants of external debt dynamics in ECOWAS economies. Using a panel dynamic generalised least squares procedure, the study sought to identify the core determinants of external debt dynamics in 12 ECOWAS economies from 1970 to 2009. Overall, the findings revealed six core determinants of external debt in ECOWAS economies. Inflation, external reserves, per capita income and real oil prices were inversely related with external debt ratio; while, GDP gap and real effective exchange rate depreciation directly affected external debt. Significant dissimilarities were observed in the influence of government size and inflation …

Medical Metropolis: The Impacts Of The Healthcare Industry On Rochester, Minnesota, Agata J. Miszczyk

Geography Honors Projects

Specialized-function cities are dominated by one or two related industries that comprise the majority of the economic base of the area. Rochester, Minnesota is a prime example of such a city. The case of Rochester challenges much of conventional theory regarding economic diversification and spillovers of different economic systems. This case study presents new ideas regarding these spillovers and the success of specializations, as well as provides an in-depth analysis of the affect the Mayo Clinic - a premier medical facility – has on the local infrastructure and economy. This study illustrates how the healthcare industry has shaped Rochester's urban …

Game Change: What Have We Learned? Pt. 1, William J. Antholis, Robert E. Lang, William E. Brown, David F. Damore, Helen R. Neill, Bradley S. Wimmer

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Who We Are, What We Do, Where Are We Going

Brookings Mountain West is a partnership between UNLV and the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution.

Goals and Objectives

Create high-quality, independent, impactful programs, publications, and activities that address issues of critical importance to greater Las Vegas and the Intermountain West region.

Serve as a platform to bring ideas and expertise together and facilitate local, metropolitan, and state discussions about the West’s future.

Enhance local, regional, and state research and public policy discussions.

Essays On Agglomeration, Access To Medical Services, And The Real Estate Market, Jing Li

Economics - Dissertations

This dissertation comprises three papers that study how external economies of scale help to explain geographic variation in access to medical services as well as potential implications on the real estate market. Specifically, the first two papers examine whether an increased concentration of the hospital service industry promotes productivity in treating patients and if so, what are the specific channels through which agglomeration economies might take place in the health care industry. The third paper explores how the productivity variation is reflected in the real estate market.

Chapter 2 examines two factors that help to explain geographic variation in health …

China's 80后 And 90后: The Next Generation Of Leaders In The World's Next Superpower, A Students-Teaching-Students Course, Patrick Slavin

Senior Honors Projects

In light of China’s recent reemergence as a global superpower, it is becoming increasingly important for westerners to understand its history and culture. For current college students, the culture of China’s youth is particularly pertinent.

In this project, a course, HPR 107: Chinese Youth Culture, was designed and taught through the Students-Teaching-Students program, which provides senior Honor’s Program students the opportunity to design and teach their own Honor’s Program course. The HPR 107 course focuses on China’s 80后 and 90后 generations, those born in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively.

This multi-faceted project includes: subject matter research, course development, pedagogy development, …

Cracking The Tax Codes: How State Tax Laws Influence The Number Of Manufacturing Jobs Within Their Borders, Nick Lorenson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

With the recent economic downturn, jobs have been at the forefront of people’s concerns. Policy makers in every state have promised their constituents new jobs. Of particular importance are high paying jobs. Manufacturing jobs tend to be a well-paying and highly sought after form of employment. However, in recent decades, the percentage of manufacturing jobs has been declining in the United States. Also, manufacturing facilities have shown an increased likelihood of relocating to different states. I theorize that manufacturing facilities relocating and expanding in different states is primarily due to state tax policies. This phenomenon has increased within recent years …

The Economic Theory Of Deregulation, Samuel D. Gass

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

One of the consequences of the financial crisis of 2008 was a renewed focus on the issue of deregulation. The broadly recognized connection between the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression and the systematic deregulation of our financial markets dating back over three decades reinvigorated the economic and political debate around the appropriate balance between market freedom and government regulation. This paper explores this theme historically, analyzing several economic markets that were highly regulated prior to the late 20^th century. Through this analysis it establishes a foundational framework for the study of the widespread deregulation of the late …

Incorporating Personality Trait Pyschology Into Economic Decision Making Models, Sohaib Hasan

All Theses

In this thesis, we compare the abilities of Big Five locus of personality traits, religiosity, risk aversion, contextual, and historical variables in explaining behavior in the Trust Game, the Minimum Effort Game, and a Cheap Talk Game. We find that that behavior in the games is largely explained by contextual and historical variables, with some influence from personality traits. This suggests that, while there is a role for personality traits in explaining behavior in economic settings, most variation is explained by the context of economic interactions and the results of previous interactions.

Essays On Academic Achievement And Student Behavior In Public Schools, Wael Soheil Moussa

Economics - Dissertations

This dissertation examines the student academic achievement through various mechanisms, put in place by the public school district, classroom student behavior, and negative external shocks to the students' living environment. I examine the impacts of various treatments on student short and long run academic outcomes such as math and English test scores, grade retention, special education diagnoses, as well as high school graduation. Each essay will be presented as a chapter of the dissertation.

The first essay uses student-level administrative data from New York City Public Schools to examine the impacts of school entry age on student academic outcomes (including …

Essays On Agglomeration, Homeownership, And Labor Market Outcomes, Jie Dai

Economics - Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two essays on the labor market impact of agglomeration economies and that of homeownership. The empirical analyses use different U.S. data and econometric techniques to examine the impact on different labor market outcomes such as volatility of hours worked and men's employment.

The first essay is motivated by the labor market pooling model from Krugman (1991). The paper adds to a small but important literature that provides evidence on the microeconomic foundation of agglomeration economies. Using various years of data from the American Community Survey and the County Business Patterns survey, I show that the agglomeration …

Land Management, U.S. Bureau Of, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides a historical overview and current assessment of the role played by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management in its ownership of federal lands in western states and its efforts to balance economic development of natural resources and conservation of these resources on these lands.

Energy, U.S. Department Of, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides information about the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies and how DOE influences federal energy policy and scientific research in the western U.S.

Defense, U.S. Department Of, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides an overview of U.S. Department of Defense activities in the western U.S. including the military's increasing emphasis on Asia-Pacific strategic trends and developments.

Conservatism, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides an overview of late 20th and early 21st century conservatism and its impact on western U.S. politics and national politics. Stresses the roles played by individuals such as Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan,and George W. Bush and their influence on western conservatism. Analyzes how conservatism has been influenced by policy research institutions and advocacy groups such as the Claremont Institute and Focus on the Family. Reviews areas of collaboration and contention in western conservatism between economic, national security, and social conservatives and more libertarian elements. Examines the rise of the Tea Party movement in response to Obama Administration policies and …

Agriculture, U.S. Department Of, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides a succinct organizational history of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its impact on the American West.

Colorado River Compact (1922), Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides an overview of the 1922 Colorado River Compact seeking to fairly distribute Colorado River water to Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming and their increasing populations.

Hydroelectric Power, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides a historical overview and contemporary analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of federal government support for hydroelectric power in the American West.

Oil Industry, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides an overview of the historical and contemporary development of the American oil industry and how it has impacted U.S. natural resources policies in the American west.

Mining, Uranium, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides an overview of uranium mining's role and influence in the American West with comparative information on uranium mining in foreign countries.

Subsidies, Agricultural, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides historical and contemporary information on U.S. Government agricultural subsidies and how they affect agricultural policy in the Western U.S.

Negotiating Neoliberalism: Community-Based Organizations And The Production Of Urban Place, Caroline S. Devany

Geography Honors Projects

Focusing on two community-based organizations’ roles in producing urban place, this thesis contributes to the “New Urban Politics” literature that explores the neoliberal governance of space. Synthesizing participant observation, informant interviews and ideas introduced in Henri Lefebvre’s Production of Space my thesis explores the possibility of aesthetic practices rooted in everyday life to create alternate subjectivities of people and place. While both organizations engage urban governance in ways that do not directly contest neoliberalization, they each affirm participants as agents in the production of urban place in ways that can destabilize the marketization of everyday life.