Digital Commons Network^™

Sustainability Initiatives In East Bayside Neighborhood Portland, Maine, Garvan Donegan, Henry Heyburn, Caitlyn Horose, Matt Klebes, Jennifer Riley, Damon Yakovleff, New England Environmental Finance Center

Planning

This is a bundle containing research on sustainability initiatives that could be implemented in the East Bayside neighborhood of Portland, ME. These six essays were prepared by the Spring, 2010 Sustainable Communities Class known as CPD 602 at the University of Southern Maine. The class is part of the core curriculum of the Community Planning and Development program of the Muskie School of Public Service at the university. The instructor for the class was Samuel Merrill, Ph. D. who is also director of the New England Environmental Finance Center at the University. These papers were prepared in conjunction with Alan …

The Optimal Recycling Rate, Thomas C. Kinnaman

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

No. 52: Migration, Remittances And ‘Development’ In Lesotho, Jonathan Crush, Belinda Dodson, John Gay, Thuso Green, Clement Leduka

Southern African Migration Programme

Lesotho is one of the most migration dependent countries in the world. Migrant remittances are the country’s major source of foreign exchange, accounting for 25% of GDP in 2006. Lesotho is also one of the poorest countries in the world due to high domestic unemployment, declining agricultural production, falling life expectancy, rising child mortality and half the population living below the poverty line. The majority of households and rural communities are dependent on remittances for their livelihood. Households without access to migrant remittances are significantly worse off than those that do have such access.

Since 1990, patterns of migration from …

The Crime Rate In America: How Influential Is The Economy In Affecting The Level Of Crime?, Joseph Kuhar

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper explores the determinants of the crime rate, and whether or not the economy and its many indicators play a substantial role in affecting this rate. Many factors affect the crime rate in a given country/state/area including the number of police, the rate at which crime is reported, as well as the population. This paper will explore the following variables: the crime rate (dependent), number of police, conditions that affect the crime rate, the reported crime rate, and the reporting rate. It will also analyze the following economic conditions and whether or not they have a substantial effect on …

The Long-Run Relationship Between Inflation And Unemployment In Malaysia, Matthew Tremblay

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the long-run relationship between inflation and unemployment in the economy of Malaysia between 1972 and 2004. Basing my model off of an investigation by Fair (1997), this study will attempt to quantify the relationship between inflation rates, unemployment, wage rates, changes in production, and a measure of demand pressure. Using macro-level data from various sources, it is expected that the results will suggest periods of high inflation are directly related to high unemployment, decreased wage rates, lower production levels, and substantially weak demand pressures.

The Impact Of Socioeconomic And Environmental Factors On Infant Mortality In The U.S., Tai Abukasis

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines socioeconomic and environmental agents that may affect infant mortality rates among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics in the United States. Data was collected at the state level from both federal and private databases. Three separate ordinary least squares regressions were taken for each of the aforementioned demographics. The correlations between the independent variables and infant mortality were examined from a racially-based perspective to further evaluate potential underlying causes regarding geographic, financial, and environmental constituents. Analysis of the regressions revealed that particular variables affect the rate of infant deaths among races differently and that racial disparity continues to exist …

Determinants Of Teen Pregnancy: An Empirical Assessment Of Oecd Countries, Maxine Pamela Outerbridge

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This research paper investigates the determinants of teen pregnancy to uncover potential correlations among several social and economic factors. The study incorporates empirical data into a multivariate linear regression model to examine the impact of various socioeconomic variables such as education, income, health expenditure, abortion rates, and derive a comparison of the status of teen pregnancies among OECD countries. This study expands earlier research that concentrated on several of the most developed nations by emphasizing the socioeconomic status of women throughout the OECD members and uncovering the significance of governmental initiatives to improve such status. This study also aims to …

Asset Distribution And Productivity: Best Practices For Developing This Synergistic Relationship, Wendy Lee Willbanks Wiesner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Productivity is an essential component of lasting corporate success. It is also a critical ingredient in the recipe for making a vibrant and prosperous community.

Economics recognizes that both capital and labor make contributions to productivity through the functions of investment and production. Enhancements to productivity can be obtained in multiple areas, including technological advancement, corporate expansion, market penetration, and product development. Sustained productivity growth, however, is predicated upon continual process improvement and market innovation.

Identifying precisely "who" and "what" are contributing to productivity is challenging. Because capital and labor interact, it is difficult to determine whether the positive effect …

A Quantile Estimation Approach To Identify Income And Age Variation In The Value Of Statistical Life, Mary F. Evans, Georg Schaur

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

In theory, heterogeneity in individual characteristics translates into variation in the marginal willingness to pay for a mortality risk reduction. Two dimensions of heterogeneity, with respect to income and age, have recently received attention due to their policy relevance. We propose a quantile regression approach to simultaneously explore these two sources of heterogeneity and their interactions within the context of the hedonic wage model, the most common revealed preference approach for obtaining value of statistical life estimates. We illustrate the approach using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We find that the impact of age on the wage–risk …

The Role Of Social Protection Programs In Remittance-Centered Development Policy: A Case Study Of Morocco, Helena R. Swanson-Nystrom

International Studies Honors Projects

Remittances serve as a financial lifeline for households in emerging economies around the world, affording basic social services such as food, education, and healthcare. Alternatively, remittances from diaspora populations are an opportunity for countries to finance development projects. The case of Morocco illustrates the central role that remittances can play in the development policy of countries with high labor out-migration. Yet using remittances for long-term development requires public social protection programs to substitute for the redirection of these private funds used by individual households.

The Relationship Between Economic Freedom And Economic Growth: The Transistion Process In Vietnam And China, Hanh T. Vu

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The relationship between economic freedom and economic growth has always been frequently discussed in the economic literature. Economic freedom is often believed to enhance economic growth, which in turn creates more economic freedom. The first part of this paper studies the transition process in China and Vietnam from a planned economy to a free market economy. The transition process, which takes place over the period of more than two decades, allowing more economic freedom, and implementing some elements of a free market, has boosted the growth rate in both China and Vietnam, and increased considerably the standard of living of …

Estimating Willingness To Pay For River Amenities And Safety Measures Associated With Shale Gas Extraction, Thomas C. Kinnaman

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Globalization And Economic Growth In Sub-Saharan Africa, Hadiatou Barry

Gettysburg Economic Review

This study analyzes Sub-Saharan Africa through the framework of globalization. The study‘s objective is to determine whether globalization is a significant factor when associated with economic growth in the region. Using panel data from 1995-2005 for 41 countries and the KOF globalization index, an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model was employed to examine the relationship between globalization and other traditional factors of economic growth such as trade, foreign direct investment, loans, aid, natural resources, corruption, and rule of law. The study shows that globalization has a positive, though statistically insignificant impact on the economic growth of Sub-Saharan Africa. However, globalization …

Corporate Social Responsibility In Emerging Markets - The Importance Of The Governance Environment, Marc Fetscherin, Shaomin Li, Ilan Alon, Christoph Lattemann, Kuang Yeh

Faculty Publications

• This study examines how country-level, industry-level, and firm-level factors affect the extent of corporate communication about CSR in Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC). In particular, using the data of 105 largest MNCs from BRIC, we investigate the CSR motives, processes, and stakeholder issues discussed in corporate communications.
• On the country level, we use a newly developed framework of the governance environment which differentiates between rule-based and relation-based governance. Our study reveals that the governance environment of a country is the most important driving force for the communication intensity about CSR.
• Our results show that firms communicating …

Advancing Individual And Societal Development At The Community Level: Role Of Ngo Microcredit And Leadership Training, Denise M. Lucy, Jayati Ghosh, Edward Kujawa

Collected Faculty Scholarship

In many countries throughout the world micro-credit loans are utilized to empower women by seeking to reduce the poverty of families and communities. Originally Non-governmental organizations’ (NGO) microcredit programs focused on funding women’s businesses. In so doing, NGOs encourage and support women’s empowerment leading to community building, as well as to advancing women’s individual gender equity. This descriptive study is based upon interviews of 100 women who participated in microcredit loan programs run by a Bangladeshi NGO, entitled, Nari Uddog Kendra (NUK). The case study examines the participation and impact of NUK’s business development and leadership training programs. The study …

2010-7 Non-Production Benefits Of Education: Crime, Health, And Good Citizenship, Lance J. Lochner

Centre for Human Capital and Productivity. CHCP Working Papers

No abstract provided.

No. 53: Migration-Induced Hiv And Aids In Rural Mozambique And Swaziland, Jonathan Crush, Inês Raimundo, Hamilton Simelane, Bonaventura Cau, David Dorey

Southern African Migration Programme

South Africa’s gold mining workforce has the highest prevalence rates of tuberculosis and HIV infection of any industrial sector in the country. The contract migrant labour system, which has long outlived apartheid, is responsible for this unacceptable situation. The spread of HIV to rural communities in Southern Africa is not well understood. The accepted wisdom is that migrants leave for the mines, engage in high-risk behaviour, contract the virus and return to infect their rural partners. This model fails to deal with the phenomenon of rural-rural transmission and cases of HIV discordance (when the female migrant is infected and the …

America's Health Care Economics: Probing Questions And Second Opinions, Second Edition, Don P. Diffine Ph.D.

Belden Center Monographs

No abstract provided.

Local Government Services And Regional Collaboration Grant Program: Advantage Sharing Program Feasibility Study, Wright State University Center For Urban And Public Affairs

Economic Development

The Advantage Sharing Program, or ASP, is a multi-county collaboration comprising Greene, Miami and Montgomery Counties. The program’s purpose is to provide additional dollars to economic and workforce projects that have been developed by local governments. The projects submitted by local governments address the needs of businesses that are locating, expanding or sustaining operations. ASP provides to local officials a source of additional funding to meet business needs. Local governments apply for funds after their best offer does not secure a development agreement. This funding does not replace incentives typically offered by local governments. Requests for funding are made to …

2010 American Incentive System Almanac, Don P. Diffine Ph.D.

Belden Center Monographs

No abstract provided.

Incubation Push Or Business Pull? Investigating The Geography Of Us Business Incubators, Haifeng Qian, Kingsley E. Haynes

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

The primary purposes of this paper are to present the geographic distribution of US business incubators and to explore geographically bounded factors that influence the location of business incubators. Our data show that US business incubators are unevenly distributed across the urban/rural division, states, as well as counties. Factor analysis identifies three common factors from 27 demographic, social, and economic variables drawn from publicly available data at the county level. These factors include agglomeration, welfare, and business/entrepreneurship. The results of binominal logistic regressions suggest that incubators are more likely to be found in counties with high levels of agglomeration but …

The Economic Impact Of Project Arriba On El Paso, Texas, David A. Schauer, Elizabeth K. Gibson

IPED Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

2010 Economic Impact Of The University Of Texas At Brownsville And Texas Southmost College On Cameron County, Texas, David A. Schauer, Elizabeth K. Gibson

IPED Technical Reports

The University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) and Texas Southmost College (TSC) continue to be a significant contributor to the Rio Grande Valley regional economy and its 1.1 million residents. UTB/TSC’s educational services to the region trace back to 1926. At present, UTB/TSC provides educational opportunities in over 150 undergraduate and 23 graduate programs for over 17,000 students. In doing so, UTB/TSC employs more than 2,500 individuals and has an annual operating budget exceeding $120 million, clearly making it a significant contributor to the regional economy. UTB/TSC is one of the largest business concerns in the Rio Grande Valley. The …

2009 Workforce Solutions Employer Survey, Mario E. Caire, Melissa Gonzalez, Roberto Tinajero

IPED Technical Reports

The Institute for Policy and Economic Development (IPED) at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) was contracted by Workforce Solutions - Upper Rio Grande (WS-URG) Workforce Development Board (WDB) to conduct a client satisfaction survey. For purposes of this survey, “client” refers to employers who have used WS-URG business services such as job postings, job fairs and hiring fairs. The goals of the survey were to assess the quality of business services offered to clients and client satisfaction with those services. The survey also collected data on an employer’s industry classification and size in terms of number of …

See No Evil? Revisiting Early Visions Of The Social Responsibility Of Business: Adolf A. Berle’S Contribution To Contemporary Conversations, Erika George

Seattle University Law Review

Much corporate legal scholarship considers such fact patterns as beyond the scope of the discipline’s core concerns. Yet, increasingly, questions are asked concerning the scale and scope of modern corporate power. This Article will challenge the conventional understanding of what the core discipline of corporate law should encompass and argues that the failure to focus on precisely these sorts of factual scenarios involving allegations of corporate complicity in human rights violations and environmental degradation is misguided and short-sighted.

Contingent Valuation Studies And Health Policy, Matthew D. Adler

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Coastal Empire Economic Monitor, 3rd Quarter, 2010, Armstrong Atlantic State University Center For Regional Analysis

Coastal Empire Economic Monitor

The Coastal Empire Economic Indicators are designed to provide continuously updating quarterly snapshots of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area economy. The coincident index measures the current economic heartbeat of the region. The leading index provides a short term forecast of the region’s economic activity in six to nine months.

Imprisonment And (Inequality In) Population Health, Christopher Wildeman

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

This article extends research on the consequences of mass imprisonment and the factors shaping population health and health inequities by considering the effects of the imprisonment rate on population health and black-white inequality in population health using state-level panel data from the United States (1980-2004). My results imply that increases in the imprisonment rate harm population health, though the effects on the infant mortality rate and female life expectancy are more consistent than are the effects on male life expectancy. My results also imply that these health effects are concentrated among blacks, implicating mass imprisonment in the persistence of black-white …

Department Of Economics Publication List 2010, Penny Stover

Economics Pamphlet Series (1985-2016)

This compilation lists published works authored by Department of Economics faculty members and other staff working on projects funded through the Department of Economics. Publications resulting from their research and academic activities are indexed by author at the end of this pamphlet for easy access by the public. The articles were published between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009.

Behavioral Response To Endogenous Risk In The Laboratory, Shabori Sen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Risk is endogenous when an individual is able to undertake mitigation or self protection actions that reduce the risk that he faces. Most risky environments studied in economics involve endogenous risk. This dissertation studies the conceptual and behavioral implications of introducing endogeneity in the controlled environment of the laboratory. The dissertation consists of three different experiments designed to examine how endogeneity affects risk attitudes and risk perceptions in simple experimental set ups. All three experiments employ a virtual reality scenario where the subject is able to form his own beliefs, based on naturalistic cues provided by the virtual reality experience. …