Digital Commons Network^™

Grease Or Grit?: International Case Studies Of Occupational Licensing And Its Effects On Efficiency And Quality, Morris M. Kleiner Editor, Maria Koumenta Editor

Upjohn Press

The book provides a comprehensive approach to whether a dominant governmental institution in the labor market-occupational licensing-greases, which enhances, or on the other hand results in grit, which diminishes the efficient workings of labor and service markets in parts of Europe and the United States. The detailed case studies in the book indicate that an increase in the availability of service providers or enhanced competition does not have negative effects on the quality of the services provided, prices, or survey measures of consumer satisfaction.

Seize The Time: Needed Research On Local Economic Development In An Era Of Increased Attention To Problems Of Place, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Policy Papers

With the increased attention to place-based policies comes an increased need for policy-relevant research on local economic development. Within the policy area of local economic development, this paper identifies five types of research needs: 1) better definitions of local labor markets; 2) policy know-how on how local economic development’s benefits can be better spread to distressed neighborhoods; 3) evidence on what types of jobs have both good growth prospects in the U.S. economy yet also provide good long-run job opportunities in local labor markets for the majority of U.S. workers who lack a bachelor’s degree; 4) estimates of how local …

Climate Change Adaptation And Mitigation In A Small Archipelago: The Role Of Ecotourism In Malta, Karl Agius

International Journal of Islands Research

The aim of this paper is to present the potential of ecotourism to develop into a niche contributing to climate change adaptation strategies whilst making the existing tourism industry more resilient. The paper provides an overview of mitigation measures adopted in Malta by the aviation, tourism and hospitality industry as well as policy makers in the archipelago to respond to major challenges that climate change poses for tourism. These changes are vital to lure ecotourists and to support ecotourism development. Six main themes emerged from the research in the context of the role ecotourism can play as an adaptation to …

A Relational Approach To Networks In A Tourism Destination: Business And Family Networks In San Vito Lo Capo, Sicily, Giovanni Ruggieri, Salvatore Iannolino

International Journal of Islands Research

This article constructs a relational framework using the principles of the Network Approach to examining the business exchange structure of a tourist destination. Network Analysis is the methodology to analyse the metrics of collaboration and cooperation among destination companies. The model was applied in a remote tourist destination named San Vito Lo Capo on the island of Sicily, where tourism has significantly expanded in the last twenty years. The focus is on how groupings of small companies within family relations can govern and be responsible for tourism destination cooperation. As the main result, the existence was identified, of a relational …

The Nexus Between Tourism Demand And Regional Characteristics: The Case Of Japanese Islands, Kantaro Takahashi

International Journal of Islands Research

This paper explores the relationships between tourism demand and regional characteristics of the Japanese islands. A regression model was carried out for 113 islands designated by the Remote Island Development Act, which is one of the laws designed to promote rural areas in Japan. Results show that the transportation situation was related to the demand of arrival tourists, whereas the results were insignificant for the model with the response variable as lodging tourists. Meanwhile, location factors were significant for lodging tourists—that is, open sea areas have more lodging tourism demand than islands in inland sea areas. Furthermore, this study found …

Changes In The Development Of Social Policy In A Small Island Economy: Malta, Rose Marie Azzopardi, Joseph Azzopardi Dr, Maximilian Bonnici

International Journal of Islands Research

This paper analyses the development of social policies in Malta, with a particular focus on events which have impacted on the country’s growth and subsequently on its social security system and policies involving housing, health, education migration and employment. In recent decades, with costs to sustain an ever-growing web of social services becoming more demanding, governments have tried to encourage more self-help and to lessen the heavy dependence on aid structures within the system, pushed at times by recommendations from regional and international institutions. The smaller the economy the more open it is likely to be. Consequently, it is impacted …

Ijir Title Page And Table Of Contents Vol. 3, Kevin A. Griffin, Giovanni Ruggieri, Patrizia Calò, Razaq Raj

International Journal of Islands Research

No abstract provided.

The Great Student Swap, Aaron Klein

Policy Briefs and Reports

For the last twenty years, nearly every flagship university in the U.S. has been decreasing its share of in-state students and enrolling more students from out of state, a phenomenon I call the “Great Student Swap.” Using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), I examine every “flagship” public university by comparing incoming first year students from 2002 through 2018 (those who would have graduated in the spring 2022 assuming the traditional four-year timeframe for completion). I find that the share of out-of-state students has risen by an average of 55 percent since 2002 and that 48 of …

Charging Drivers By The Gallon Vs. The Mile: An Equity Analysis By Geography And Income In California, Samuel Speroni, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Michael Manville, Brian D. Taylor

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study used data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey California Add-On sample to explore how replacing the current state vehicle fuel tax with a flat-per-mile-rate road-user charge (RUC) would affect costs for different kinds of households. We first estimated how household vehicle fuel efficiency, mileage, and fuel tax expenditures vary by geography (rural vs. urban) and by income. These findings were then used to estimate how much different types of households pay in the current per-gallon state fuel tax, what they would pay if the state were to replace fuel taxes with a flat-rate road-usage charge (RUC) that …

Historical Political Economy: What Is It?, Jeffrey Jenkins, Jared Rubin

ESI Working Papers

In this chapter, we define what historical political economy (HPE) is and is not, classify the major themes in the literature, assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of the literature, and point to future directions. We view HPE as social scientific inquiry which highlights political causes or consequences of historical issues. HPE is different from conventional political economy in the emphasis placed on historical processes and context. While we view HPE in the most inclusive manner reasonable, we define it to exclude works that are either solely of contemporary importance or use historical data without any historical context (e.g., long-run …

A Modern Guide To Tourism Economics, Chapter 1: Introduction, Robertico Croes, Yang Yang

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This Modern Guide captures the evolution of foundational tenets, theories, frameworks and models that buttressed tourism economics into an evolving discipline, shining light on both new and old approaches. It systematically examines current and future trends and issues related to new economic perspectives, consolidating the notion of tourism economics as a discipline.

Are West Virginia Banks Unique?, Eduardo Minuci, Scott Schuh

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

Many factors contribute to weak economic growth in Appalachia, but little research has examined the role of banking heterogeneity and efficiency across states. This paper documents how West Virginia (WV) banks' financial behavior differs from other U.S. banks and shows these differences cannot be explained fully by the composition of banks in the state. Despite experiencing faster banking consolidation, West Virginia still has more and smaller banks that are less efficient and profitable. WV banks' customers and managers heavily favor liabilities (time deposits) and assets (real estate loans) with longer maturity and lower risk and returns. Although shares of time …

Expulsive Greening: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of Green Gentrification In The Resilience Paradigm, Brooklyn 2010–2020, Rose Jimenez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: This project analyzes the spatial coincidence between gentrification typologies and urban greening in Brooklyn, New York from 2010 to 2020. Assets formed under the NYC Green Infrastructure Program were chosen as a proxy for urban greening to represent the spatial practice specifically within the 21st-century climate change resilience paradigm of development. Methods: First, five indexes measuring variations of economic and demographic conditions related to gentrification were applied to Brooklyn for comparative analysis: NOAA’s Social Vulnerability Indicators of Gentrification Pressure, The NYC Heat Vulnerability Index, The Small Area Index of Gentrification, Typologies of Gentrification and Displacement, and The Housing Risk …

Socioeconomic Status, Health, And Health Behaviours Of School-Aged Adolescents : The Psychosocial Mechanisms Of Social Capital, Evelyn Aboagye Addae

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

Psychosocial social capital is advocated as a protective health asset and a non-monetary safety net that protect adolescents’ developmental outcomes against effects of socioeconomic inequalities. This study utilised advanced mixed research methods, and socioecological and health asset approaches to offer evidence on social capital’s psychosocial mechanisms and pathways through which socioeconomic status (SES) affects adolescents’ health and health behaviours. This is to offer appropriate policy and practice proposals in Ghana. The quantitative and qualitative studies respectively employed a multi-stage stratified cross-sectional survey data of 2,068 and 54 in-school Ghanaian adolescents (13-18yrs) in focus group discussions. Various univariate and bivariate (cross-tabulation-Chi …

Odu Researchers Attempt To Forecast Flood Impacts In Real Dollars, News @ Odu

News Items

No abstract provided.

Going Dutch Duplication, Authencity And Reprogrammed Experience, Iris Mach

IntAR Interventions Adaptive Reuse

No abstract provided.

Million Donkey Hotel And Other Memories Of Stone, Michela Bassanelli

IntAR Interventions Adaptive Reuse

No abstract provided.

New Pasts, Old Experiences The Spectacle Of Authenticity At Cairo's Museum Of Agriculture, Samaa Elimam

IntAR Interventions Adaptive Reuse

No abstract provided.

Teaching Fisheries Bycatch: Exploring Economic And Behavioral Drivers Of Bycatch Through A Classroom Game, Mitch B. Priestley, J. Forrest Williams, Sahan Dissanayake

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents a pedagogical exercise to explore the economics of price-based fisheries bycatch. In the exercise students experience the economic incentives that lead to bycatch due to highgrading; the discarding of low-value fish. We first discuss existing fisheries economics pedagogical activities and how our exercise is distinct. We then identify over forty economics, environmental studies, geography, management, and philosophy courses where the exercise could be played. Next, we describe the game and share results and student feedback. Finally, we provide discussion prompts and extensions to illustrate how incentives and policies can change fishing behavior to lead to sustainable fisheries.

U.S. Financial Literacy: Does Urban-Rural Residency Matter?, Mckenzie Leanne Carvalho

Theses and Dissertations

Financial illiteracy broadly affects people’s financial and economic well-being. The purpose of this thesis is to identify how the magnitudes of financial literacy determinants change under different residency settings. A county-level calculation of financial literacy is created, and logit and negative binomial regressions are employed to compare the relationship between demographic variables and financial literacy in metro/non-metro and urban/rural counties. Data on individual’s financial knowledge and personal characteristics is obtained from the FINRA National Financial Capability Study. Urban and rural residency is determined using USDA ERS Rural-Urban Continuum Codes and the Index of Relative Rurality. These results provide an improved …

Valuing Angling On Reservoirs Using Benefit Transfer, Richard T. Melstrom, Mark A. Kaemingk, Nicholas W. Cole, John C. Whitehead, Christopher J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope

Biology Faculty Publications

Economic assessments are rarely applied to inland recreational fisheries for management purposes, especially when compared to fish, habitat, and creel assessments, yet economic assessments can provide critical information for management decisions. We provide a brief overview of economic value, key terminology, and existing economic techniques to address these issues. Benefit transfer, a technique used to measure economic value when an original analysis is not practicable, is conducted by drawing on existing estimates of economic value in similar contexts. We describe an application of benefit transfer to measure the economic value of several recreational fisheries in Nebraska, USA. We examine two …

Three Essays In Health Economics, Mir Nahid Mahmud

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation comprises three empirical essays. The first essay estimates the long-term health and socioeconomic impact of early life nutritional deficit using the Bangladesh Famine from 1974-1975 as a natural experiment. The second essay investigates if pubic health insurance coverage of “ immigrant children¬” changed as a result of the lift of the “five-year-ban” in the Children Health Insurance Reauthorization Act-2009. The final chapter estimates the relationship between child health conditions and maternal employment using conventional econometric models. To expand the analysis and contribute to the literature, I estimate the relationship by implementing a Multiple Indicator Multiple Causes Model (MIMIC).

Moderate, Overlooked Weather Events And Local Labor Markets, Michael Ellis

All Theses

A substantial amount of research exists on the economic effects of natural disasters and extreme weather, as well as comparatively minor variations in daily weather conditions such as precipitation, temperature, and wind. I construct a sample of over a million storms that range from intense daily weather conditions to extreme weather. I analyze written descriptions of the damages caused by many of these storms to identify 93,743 weather events within the sample that appear to be underemphasized in the existing economic literature. These storms cause more damage and disruptions to commerce than 63.5% of storms in the sample, yet do …

The Mangrove Walks: An Econometric Analysis Of Climate Migration Drivers From Coastal Bangladesh And Their Geopolitical Impacts, Kendall Scott Byers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coastal Bangladesh is subject to extreme climate change forces upon poor, rural populations. The aim of this thesis is to determine the strength of environmental drivers of migration and discern whether planned or catastrophic migration predominates in the polder areas of Bangladesh. I use regression analysis on a 1,025 household, 2016 IRRI/IWMI analysis of Polder 28/1, 28/2, and 30 within Satkhira district to determine factor correlations with migration. Progressive salinization is the strongest environmental driver, while flooding decreases migration through trapping household capital investment. Religion has the greatest correlation with migration. Hindus migrate less frequently, but do so with more …

Three Chapters On Investments And Financial Institutions, Cao Fang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Only the stock selection (“alpha”) decisions of fund managers who trade on firm-specific information should have predictive return content. Faced with the same information, skilled fund managers make similar stock selection decisions. In Chapter one, we introduce a new measure - stock investment quality - which uses fund quality to weight asymmetries in private information reflected in deviations of fund from peer group ownership on stocks in a style segment. We show stocks ranked high on investment quality generate significantly higher excess returns that persist through the ensuing year. The positive investment quality–future return relationship is robust to alternative fund …

The Effect Of Right-To-Work Laws On Subjective Well-Being: A Case Study Of Oklahoma, Tyler Qualls

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Using Oklahoma as a case study, this thesis applies a synthetic controls model to investigate the causal effect of right-to-work (RTW) laws on the well-being of the total population with a particular focus on the most affected subset, blue-collar workers and the less educated. The effect of RTW laws leads to a significant decrease in the happiness of blue-collar workers. To be specific, while results show a possible increase in unhappiness in the total population immediately following the adoption of the RTW law, for the more vulnerable blue-collar workers, the statistically significant negative effect of the law on happiness is …

The Political Economy Of Global Private Currencies, Girish Sreevatsan Nandakumar

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines regulatory responses to global private currencies (GPCs). Through detailed analyses of the history and evolution of private digital currencies, and through case studies of the United States, the European Union, and China, this dissertation identifies five factors that condition regulatory responses: (1) compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) laws, (2) compliance with systems built for fiat currencies, (3) degree of transparency in operations, (4) culture of sovereignty within the nation, and (5) great power competition with other nations. Throughout the dissertation, various political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental (PESTLE) characteristics of GPCs are highlighted. This dissertation also …

Labor Market Implications Of Taiwan’S Accession To The Wto: A Dynamic Quantitative Analysis, Pao-Li Chang, Yi-Fan Chen, Wen-Tai Hsu, Xin Yi

Research Collection School Of Economics

We study the effects of Taiwan’s accession to the WTO in 2002 on the labor market dynamics in Taiwan during 1995–2020. Based on the dynamic hat algebra of Caliendo, Dvorkin and Parro (2019), we modify the framework to allow for differently skilled labor inputs (low, middle, high) and sector-skill dynamic choice by workers. We map the model to the labor-market transition data in Taiwan (based on quasi-longitudinal household surveys), the country-sector-specific skill shares in production, and the bi-lateral trade flows and import tariffs, for 61 economies and 22 sectors for the period 1995–2007. We study the counterfactual dynamics if the …

Medicaid Expansion: Changes In Individual Health Outcomes, Julie Norman

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

The Affordable Care Act is one of the biggest changes in the American healthcare system in the 21st century. One element of the ACA is medicaid expansion, which opened up federal funding for states to cover any individual earning below 138% of the federal poverty line. 21 states expanded medicaid in 2014 while 12 haven’t expanded. This paper utilizes the disparity for a natural experiment to determine the efficacy of the program. Outcome variables of interest include measurements of individual health, health access and utilization, and premature death rates. The results indicate positive, but small improvements due to the policy, …

Do Rational Agents Steal, Randy Hill

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

Do Rational Agents Steal?

Modern economists from Adam Smith to the present have broadly assumed that rational agents respect property rights. This respect for property rights has been a feature of nearly all economic models from the beginning. This paper examines a simple two person, production and trade model where the agents are allowed to choose to steal. Even within this simple model, there are a broad range of parameters that affect the agents' choices. In most parameter sets, the agents choose to steal as the reward for conflict outweighs the opportunity cost of not engaging in conflict. The parameter …