Digital Commons Network^™

Health Insurance Availability And Entrepreneurship, Philip Decicca

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Despite a strong interest in entrepreneurship, economists have devoted little attention to the role of health insurance availability. I investigate the impact of a unique policy experiment—New Jersey’s Individual Health Coverage Plan—on self-employment. Implemented in August 1993, the IHCP included an extensive set of reforms that loosened the historical connection between traditional employment and health insurance by facilitating access to coverage that was not employer-linked. I find evidence that the IHCP increased self-employment among New Jersey residents, relative to various sets of comparison states. Consistent with key policy features, including pure community rating of premiums, I find larger behavioral responses …

The Employment And Fiscal Effects Of Michigan's Mega Tax Credit Program, Timothy J. Bartik, George A. Erickcek

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper estimates that Michigan's MEGA tax credit program to attract and retain businesses has large employment and fiscal benefits. MEGA provides discretionary tax credits to businesses, with the tax credit tied to the personal income taxes paid by employees on the new or retained jobs. We estimate the economic effects of MEGA using the Upjohn Institute's REMI model, and the research literature on how business location decisions respond to taxes. We estimate the fiscal effects of MEGA based on the research literature on how government spending and revenue respond to state personal income and population. The estimates suggest a …

Unemployment After Welfare Reform, Christopher J. O'Leary

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Finding Latino/As: Library Tools To Discover And Mine Social Data And Statistics For Latino/Hispanic Populations In The United States, Marisol Ramos, Shikha Sharma

UConn Library Presentations

The purpose of this presentation is to clarify the difference between Data Mining from Mining for Data when searching for information about the United States Latino/Hispanic American population and what tools are available at the Homer Babbidge Libraries for our faculty and students doing this type of research.

This presentation was part of the Puerto Rican and Latino Studies Institute's Terturlia series, March 31, 2010.

Determinants Of Housing Prices In Pittsylvania County, Jason Hall

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research is to determine the implicit factors influencing housing prices in Pittsylvania County, a rural county in Southside Virginia. Currently in Pittsylvania County there is a debate over whether or not to mine what is believed to be the largest deposit of uranium in the United States, containing approximately 119 million pounds of uranium ore at an estimated value of $7 billion to $10 billion. The Virginia Coal and Energy Commission issued its final approval for the National Academy of Sciences to study the debate from a socio-economic standpoint. The $1.2 million study is currently taking …

Microeconomic Analysis Of Hours Of Informal Care Per Week For Alzheimer's Disease Patients, Elizabeth Eckert

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

As more Americans are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the demand for treatment and care has been increasing. One of the most critical issues of caring for an Alzheimer's disease patient is the number of unpaid hours that many Americans are contributing to the care for Alzheimer's disease patient Providing unpaid care can cause issues for the caregivers such as high stress levels, financial problems, and difficulties at work, and thus can result in the patient not receiving the best possible care. Based on previously collected survey data, this econometric study evaluates the determinants of the average number of hours of …

New Mexico Labor Market Review 03-19-2010, New Mexico Department Of Workforce Solutions

Historic Publications

The New Mexico Labor Market Review is a monthly publication presenting statistical data and analysis on labor market conditions throughout New Mexico. Issues examine statewide and regional trends in employment, unemployment, labor force estimates, industry activity, wages, occupational demand, and related economic conditions, often accompanied by feature articles on topics affecting the state’s economy. This issue covers January 2010.

استعمال مصفوفة التحليل الاستراتيجي Swot لتقويم الأداء الجامعي, خالد صباح علي, كريمه عباس جعيلو, وعد هادي عبد الحساني

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

يهدف البحث الى ابراز اهمية تقويم اداء الجامعات الحكومية نظرا لما يوفره من معلومات عن الكفاءة والفاعلية وذلك من خلال وضع انموذج مقترح لتقويم اداء الجامعات العراقية باعتماد التحليل الاستراتيجي swot ، وتنبع مشكلة البحث من مشكلة ان تقويم الاداء المستند الى الاجراءات التقليدية لا يعد فعالا مما يؤدي الى الضعف في اعطاء صورة واضحة وشاملة عن أداء المؤسسة التعليمية ما لم يقترن بأدوات اخرى حديثة في تقويم اداء الجامعات الحكومية بشكل خاص من اجل الوقوف على مستوى كفاءة وفاعلية الأداء فيها. وأستند البحث إلى فرضية أساسية مفادها ” الاعتماد على ادوات التحليل الاستراتيجي swot في تقويم اداء الجامعات الحكومية …

Business In The New Environment, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Talks, Speeches, & Discourse

I am extremely grateful to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) for inviting me to address this august gathering. I do not remember as to how many times I have addressed the institute organized events but this respect for your profession in my heart has arisen because of the high professional standards you have been able to maintain. It gives me immense pleasure when the employers in UK, Middle East tell me that they would be more than happy to hire Pakistan qualified Chartered Accountants because they are well trained. I commend to other professional bodies in Pakistan …

The Social Strategy Game: Resource Competition Within Female Social Networks Among Small-Scale Forager-Horticulturalists, Stacey L. Rukas, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Jeffrey Winking

ESI Publications

This paper examines social determinants of resource competition among Tsimane Amerindian women of Bolivia. We introduce a semi-anonymous experiment (the Social Strategy Game) designed to simulate resource competition among women. Information concerning dyadic social relationships and demographic data were collected to identify variables influencing resource competition intensity, as measured by the number of beads one woman took from another. Relationship variables are used to test how the affiliative or competitive aspects of dyads affect the extent of prosociality in the game. Using a mixed-modeling procedure, we find that women compete with those with whom they are quarreling over accusations of …

Method Of Measuring The Economic Impact Of A Radiological Dispersal Event Within An Urban Environment, Antoine N. Munfakh

Theses and Dissertations

A radiological dispersal event (RDE) is the result of a Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) or a dirty bomb. An RDD is a low‐yield conventional bomb surrounded by radiological material (RM) such as Cesium‐137 or Cobalt‐60. Upon detonation, the blast of the conventional explosive is designed to spread the RM over a wide area. The RM will then be inhaled or ingested by people, or otherwise absorbed into the environment. An RDD is an affordable, feasible, and economically devastating option for terrorist groups. Possible RM could be stolen or acquired cheaply from the millions of radioactive sources used worldwide in industry, …

Countervailing Power In Wholesale Pharmaceuticals, Sara F. Ellison, Christopher M. Snyder

Dartmouth Scholarship

Using data on wholesale prices for antibiotics sold to U.S. drugstores, we test the growing theoretical literature on ‘countervailing power’ (a term for the ability of large buyers to extract discounts from suppliers). Large drugstores receive a modest discount for antibiotics produced by competing suppliers but no discount for antibiotics produced by monopolists. These findings support theories suggesting that supplier competition is a prerequisite for countervailing power. As further evidence for the importance of supplier competition, we find that hospitals receive substantial discounts relative to drugstores, attributed to hospitals' greater ability to induce supplier competition through restrictive formularies.

Legal Guide For Small Businesses In Mississippi, Harvard Law School Mississippi Delta Project Economic Development Team

Delta Directions: Publications

This Legal Guide for Small Businesses in Mississippi was prepared as part of the work of the GrowDelta Initiative. The GrowDelta Initiative is non-profit, independent group dedicated to fostering economic growth and development in the Mississippi Delta region. Our focus is on serving as an incubator and enabler for those considering new business ventures in the region. We focus on both high-level strategic business thinking and nuts-and-bolts practical guidance – both of which are necessary to succeed in today’s marketplace. The driving focus of The GrowDelta Initiative is to create a “Cycle of Success” whereby individuals can grow and learn …

Estimating Economic Activity From Space, Tilottama Ghosh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Accurate estimates of the magnitude and spatial distribution of both formal and informal economic activity is necessary to achieve various social and economic goals of societies and countries at different levels of analysis. However, collection of data on economic variables, especially of national and sub-national income levels is problematic due to various shortcomings in the data collection process. Additionally, the informal economy estimates are often excluded from official statistics. Thus, developing alternative methods for estimating these economic activities may prove to be useful and necessary. This research demonstrates the potential of developing spatially explicit estimates of economic activity from nighttime …

No. 23: Labour Migration Trends And Policies In Southern Africa, Jonathan Crush, Vincent Williams

Southern African Migration Programme

Since 1990, there have been major changes to longstanding patterns of intra-regional labour migration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). At the same time, new channels of migration to and from the region have opened. Labour migration is now more voluminous, dynamic and complex than it has ever been. This presents policy-makers with considerable opportunities and challenges. In order to understand the exact nature of these challenges, it is important to have a good grasp of current labour migration characteristics and trends. Unfortunately, reliable, accurate and comprehensive data on labour migration is not available. The quality and currency of …

Where The Ends Don’T Meet: Measuring Poverty And Self-Sufficiency Among Oregon’S Families, Melissa Rowe, Sheila A. Martin, Danan Gu, Webb Sprague

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

This report uses the Self-Sufficiency Standard developed by Dr. Diana Pearce at the University of Washington to analyze the extent to which Oregon households earn enough money to meet their basic needs without a public subsidy. This standard, a vast improvement on the federal poverty level, accounts for differences in the cost of living based on family structure, age of children, and county of residence. Dr. Pearce has defined the income required to meet basic needs for every county in Oregon and a number of household types. A large number of Oregon households not considered poor by the federal poverty …

Health Insurance Tax Credits And Health Insurance Coverage Of Low-Earning Single Mothers, Merve Cebi, Stephen A. Woodbury

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Affective Decision-Making: A Theory Of Optimism-Bias, Anat Bracha, Donald J. Brown

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Optimism-bias is inconsistent with the independence of decision weights and payoffs found in models of choice under risk, such as expected utility theory and prospect theory. Hence, to explain the evidence suggesting that agents are optimistically biased, we propose an alternative model of risky choice, affective decision-making, where decision weights — which we label affective or perceived risk — are endogenized. Affective decision making (ADM) is a strategic model of choice under risk, where we posit two cognitive processes: the “rational” and the “emotional” processes. The two processes interact in a simultaneous-move intrapersonal potential game, and observed choice is the …

Mountain Monitor-4th Quarter 2009, Mark Muro, Jonathan Rothwell

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

The Mountain West’s recovery from the Great Recession is spreading. Output is growing in every metropolitan area. Still, hiring remains elusive—a fact frustrating the entire nation, but perhaps more so in a region used to snapping, even roaring, back from recessions faster than the rest of the nation. Drawing on data covering the fourth quarter of 2009 (ending in December), this new Mountain Monitor—a companion product to Brookings’ national MetroMonitor and a quarterly resource produced by Brookings Mountain West, a partnership between Brookings and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas—surveys a region that is at once recovering and still …

Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Social Survey 2010 Highlights, Robert Futrell, Christie D. Batson, Barbara G. Brents, Andrea Dassopoulos, Chrissy Nicholas, Mark J. Salvaggio, Candace Griffith

Reports (USI)

UNLV sociologists conducted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Social Survey (LVMASS) to identify the socio-spatial distribution of attitudes and attributes relevant to urban sustainability in the Las Vegas Valley. The project goal is to understand how Las Vegas residents think about urban sustainability issues across three dimensions: 1) natural environment; 2) community and quality of life; 3) economy.

Learning Sustainable Development: Chimeneas De La Esperanza, Miriam V. Mollan Gundersen

Social Sciences

Social inequality and environmental degradation are motivating informed young people into action and connecting impoverished regions of the world with students in more developed nations. This Social Sciences senior project is to analyze an alternative development model designed by a group of Californian university students. The project, named Chimeneas de la Esperanza, is designed to help impoverished Nicaraguan women start a ceramics business. The major hurdle of this mission is to establish a market for the ceramics product. Energy efficient ceramic stoves and smoke ventilating chimneys would benefit the community and avoid an impacted crafts market. The project encompasses ideas …

The Challenges Of Power Supply In Enhancing Integration Processes In Ecowas Member Countries, O. L. Akinboyo

Bullion

The birth of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 1975 as an instrument for fostering regional development and unity was also due to the limited economic coherence within the sub-region. This prompted their leaders to embrace regional integration as a central element of their development strategy. There has been increased awareness among these countries that progressive integration holds great potential for minimizing the costs of market fragmentation and thus, represents a precondition for integrating the region into the global economy. Cooperation and integration is also necessary to improve West Africa's competitiveness and position it to maximize the …

Banking Sector Crisis And Resolution Options In Nigeria, U. Kama

Bullion

This paper x-rays banking sector crisis and its resolution options in Nigeria. The causes and impacts of banking crisis as well as the way forward for such crisis will also be examined. The paper is divided into six main sections. Following the introduction, Section 2 gives the conceptual/jurisdictional experience of banking crisis. Section 3 gives an overview of the structure of the Nigerian banking sector, the causes of banking crisis and its impacts on the economy, while Section 4 highlights the various banking sector resolution options and the Nigerian experience in banking sector crisis resolution. Section 5 highlights the way …

Fiscal Operations And The Efficacy Of Monetary Management In Nigeria, A. E. Idowu

Bullion

This paper underscores the need for predictable fiscal operations at all levels of government as a means of ensuring effective and efficient monetary management in the Nigeria federation. Following the introduction, section two discusses conceptual issues and the review of literature, section three discusses government's fiscal operations and challenges to monetary management, while section four examines fiscal reform and its impact on monetary management. Section five contains suggestion on the way forward and some concluding remarks.

Policies For Displaced Workers: An American Perspective, Christopher J. O'Leary

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

American employment policy for displaced workers started in the Great Depression with programs for the employment service, unemployment insurance, work experience, and direct job creation. Assistance for workers displaced by foreign competition emerged in the 1960s along with formalized programs for occupational job skill training. The policy focus on displaced workers was sharpened in the 1980s through the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act and the Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance Act. Field experiments on services to dislocated workers led to Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services systems in all states, and federal rules adopted as part of the North …

Crafting Coherent Policy Responses To The Crisis In The Philippines, Fernando T. Aldaba, Reuel R. Hermoso

Economics Department Faculty Publications

The onslaught of the global economic crisis has thrown many workers in different parts of the world out of their jobs and many in the developing economies have fallen into situations of poverty. In search for the proper response to the crisis, various governments have turned to stimulus spending as a strategy to preserve and create jobs for their affected citizenry. The ILO tripartite constituents – government, workers and employers – designed a Global Jobs Pact (GJP) during the International Labour Conference in 2009. The GJP serves as a guiding framework to national and international policies aimed at stimulating economic …

Collaboration Between The Public And Private Sectors For Urban Development, Sock-Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

In market economies, the government acts in many ways. In traditional public finance literature, the government taxes and provides public and merit goods. In addition, it regulates the behaviour of firms and individuals. In the context of market failures such as natural monopoly, high risk situations or long life projects, the government may choose to act as producer. In the past two decades, however, public sector collaboration with the private sector to achieve socio-economic objectives has become widely utilised as a method for the provision of the myriad of services that has come to be expected of governments.

A Model Of Voluntary Turnover For New Hires In State Government, Reese M. Thompson

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Why do new hires have a tendency to voluntarily quit their jobs more than tenured employees? This question has important implications for organizations and human resource managers who have to develop and implement human resource management (HRM) strategies that are designed to recruit and retain the best employees. An underlying theme of turnover research is that voluntary turnover is a negative outcome for an organization. While it has been suggested and established that job tenure affects turnover (Lewis, 1991; Cohen, 1993), very little research has been undertaken regarding the specific factors that drive retention of new hires (Shipp, Payne, & …

Mothers' Work And Children's Lives: Low-Income Families After Welfare Reform, Rucker C. Johnson, Ariel Kalil, Rachel E. Dunifon

Upjohn Press

This book examines the effects of work requirements imposed by welfare reform on low-income women and their families. The authors pay particular attention to the nature of work—whether it is stable or unstable, the number of hours worked in a week and the regularity and flexibility of work schedules. They also show how these factors make it more difficult for low-income women to balance their work and family requirements.

New Mexico Labor Market Review 02-04-2010, New Mexico Department Of Workforce Solutions

Historic Publications

The New Mexico Labor Market Review is a monthly publication presenting statistical data and analysis on labor market conditions throughout New Mexico. Issues examine statewide and regional trends in employment, unemployment, labor force estimates, industry activity, wages, occupational demand, and related economic conditions, often accompanied by feature articles on topics affecting the state’s economy. This issue covers December 2009.