Digital Commons Network^™

Latino Middle Class Income-Earners In New York City In 2006, Miriam Jiménez

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors of racial/ethnic groups in New York City in 2006 – particularly the income rates of the Latino population.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: For this study, the middle class refers to those population sectors that fall between $35,000—$59,999 and $ 60,000—$100,000 in annual personal income. Middle-class income earners account for approximately 25.7% of …

Employment And Training Policy In The United States During The Economic Crisis, Christopher J. O'Leary, Randall W. Eberts

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper examines labor market conditions and public employment policies in the United States during what some are calling the Great Recession. We document the dramatic labor market changes that rapidly unfolded when the rate of gross domestic product growth turned negative, from the end of 2007 through early 2009. The paper reviews the resulting stress on labor market support programs and the broad federal response. That response came through modifications to existing programs and the introduction of new mechanisms to help Americans cope with job loss and protracted unemployment. The particular focus is on federally supported public programs for …

What Should Michigan Be Doing To Promote Long-Run Economic Development?, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper argues that Michigan can take cost-effective actions to significantly improve the primary state economic development goal: higher per capita income of Michigan's residents. Higher per capita income of Michigan's residents can be achieved through state policy actions that use cost-effective means to either lower the marginal costs of businesses that expand in the state, or boost the skills of state residents. In this paper, I offer eight ideas for how to lower marginal business costs and boost skills. Four of these ideas focus on lowering marginal business costs. Four other ideas focus on boosting skills. For each of …

Nonparametric Tests Of Conditional Treatment Effects, Sokbae Lee, Yoon-Jae Whang

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We develop a general class of nonparametric tests for treatment effects conditional on covariates. We consider a wide spectrum of null and alternative hypotheses regarding conditional treatment effects, including (i) the null hypothesis of the conditional stochastic dominance between treatment and control groups; (ii) the null hypothesis that the conditional average treatment effect is positive for each value of covariates; and (iii) the null hypothesis of no distributional (or average) treatment effect conditional on covariates against a one-sided (or two-sided) alternative hypothesis. The test statistics are based on L 1 -type functionals of uniformly consistent nonparametric kernel estimators of conditional …

State Of The U.S. Ocean And Coastal Economies 2009, Judith T. Kildow, Charles S. Colgan, Jason D. Scorse

Publications

This nation’s coasts and oceans contribute much to the United States economy. For the past ten years, the National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP) has compiled time-series data that track economic activities,demographics, natural resource production, non-market values, and federal expenditures in the U.S. coastal zone both on land and in the water. On the website www.oceaneconomics.org, the public—government officials,academics, industry, and advocacy groups—have had interactive access to this information and used it widely for many different purposes. This report features highlights from this collection to heighten appreciation for the value of the ocean and this nation’s coasts among an even …

New Mexico Labor Market Review 10-05-2009, 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 August 2009.

Estimates Of The Costs And Benefits Of Expanding The Early Childhood Education Program In Kentucky, Christopher Jepsen, Kenneth R. Troske, Casey Brasher

CBER Research Report

Excerpt from the executive summary:

Kentucky officials are being encouraged to expand the availability of Kentucky’s state-funded preschool program. The current program restricts eligibility to three- and four-year-old students with disabilities and four-year-old students with family incomes up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

Workforce Development And Its Impact On Latinos In New York State, José Cruz, Jacqueline Hayes

Policy Documents

Latinos in the New York State’s labor force grew in numbers by 61% during this period compared to 22% for blacks and only 3% for non-Hispanic whites. From these proportions it follows that the workforce development efforts in the state should pay special attention to minority workers, especially Latinos. This report assesses the degree to which available resources in this area are being used to service this group of workers.From this review, the authors infer that of the millions of dollars invested in workforce development efforts in the state, the proportion allocated to address the Latino workforce is astonishingly small. …

The Value Of Statistical Life: Pursuing The Deadliest Catch, Kurt E. Schnier, William C. Horrace, Ronald G. Felthoven

Economics - All Scholarship

Observed trade-offs between monetary returns and fatality risk identify estimates of the value of a statistical life (VSL), which inform public policy and quantify preferences for environmental quality, health and safety. To date, few investigations have estimated the VSL associated with trade-offs between returns from natural resource extraction activities and the fatality risks they involve. Furthermore researchers have been unable to determine whether or not one’s VSL is stable across multiple decision environments using revealed preference methods. Understanding these tradeoffs (and the VSL that they imply) may be used to inform resource management policy and safety regulations, as well as …

Anatomy Of Public Health Research: Tobacco Control As A Case Study, Michael L. Marlow

Economics

Tobacco is unhealthy, and apparently it is not hard to convince people that government programs are somehow not only effective but necessary to reduce smoking. Early efforts were successful because they focused on raising prices through tax hikes. Then smoking bans became the focus. Bans have so far been imposed on restaurants and bars in 27 states and Washington, D.C., and it is argued that they will change social norms in ways that lower smoking. Spending programs represent a more recent strategy, and these are the focus of this commentary. State governments fund antismoking advertisements that run in newspapers and …

Smoking Bans And Air Quality: Reply, Michael L. Marlow

Economics

No Abstract

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, Fall 2009, Thomas L. Traynor

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Co-Development In Mali: A Case Study Of A Development Phenomenon Exploited By Immigration Policy, Diane Galatowitsch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This case study establishes a historical basis for migration from Kayes, contextualizes co-development in immigration and development literature, and provides insight into how organizations implementing migrant financed projects in Mali define and perceive the concept of co-development. In my research, I pulled together scholarly articles, organizational documents, reports, and conducted semi-structured personal interviews that were scattered across the fields of history, migration, and development and pulled together an analysis of co-development in Mali. Challenging the concept of co-development as an effective immigration policy and a development strategy, this paper reflects the concept’s true benefits to Malian society. Finally, the conclusion …

Rationality And Humanity: A View From Feminist Economics, Julie A. Nelson

Economics Faculty Publication Series

DOES RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY (RCT) HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT to contribute to the humanities? Usually the arguments for answering “yes” to this question go something like the following: The application of RCT has proved to be a powerful tool in economics and the social sciences, leading to clear and rigorous insights unattainable from less precise methods. Therefore, by also harnessing this power, the disciplines in the humanities could advance toward becoming more elegant, rational, and forceful in their explorations of human behavior. As an economist, I’d like to address this argument on its home ground. Has the use of RCT advanced …

Where Have All The Michigan Auto Jobs Gone?, Randall W. Eberts, George A. Erickcek

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Health-Care Debate And Nebraska's Latino And Immigrant Populations - Ollas Policy Brief No. 2, Lourdes Gouveia, Yuriko Doku

Latino/Latin American Studies Policy Briefs

No abstract provided.

Opacity: A Socioeconomic Study Of Diamond Mining In South-Eastern Cameroon, Steven Fox

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Diamond mining in the southeastern Cameroon is on the cusp of a boom of development. Artisanal diamond miners served as the “beacon” for an industrial mining company, C&K, to explore and attempt to gain permission to commence exploitation. There are massive social, economic and environmental implications depending on the execution of exploitation. It is the role of the government bodies and the corporation to identify sustainable methods to develop this untapped natural resource and the surrounding infrastructure. The region is an isolated throwback; its basic functions are, in essence, dated four decades. They need improved simple infrastructure, although the local …

Perceptions Of Microfinance In Cameroon: A Case Study Of Unics, Yaoundé, Ian Long

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The subject of this project is the common perceptions that exist towards microfinance in Cameroon within the community of those who work with or are influenced in some way by microfinance institutions. Furthermore, the project focuses on the ways in which these perceptions affect the institutions, the actions of the institutions amidst and in response to these perceptions, and to what extent these actions have a positive effect on the community and the firms themselves. I also examine to a certain degree the relationship between the two main goals of category two and category three microfinance firms: specifically, the fulfillment …

Cool Head, Warm Heart: Governance And The Mission Of Microfinance In The Case Of Mc2 Micro-Banks, Cameroon, Claire Ruffing

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The concept of a cool head and a warm heart co-existing is a Buddhist principle which attempts to illustrate compassion and pragmatism as mutually compatible, not mutually exclusive. Without intelligent management, compassion is lost in its ineffectiveness, and without compassion, intelligence is purposeless reason. This equilibrium is exactly the vision of microfinance that drives this paper: an important social and moral idea that is nevertheless affected by the world and environment in which it operates. By examining the governance mechanisms affecting microfinance in Cameroon, namely the Ministry of Finance and the management structure of the firms themselves, an idea emerges …

A New Kind Of Middle Man: Looking At Fair Trade In Nepal, Julia Wilber

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The discipline of Development studies has gone through an evolution of changes in its relatively short time in existence. It has, among other things, left a legacy of vocabulary that is used to define many international interactions. Ideas of the colonizing first world juxtaposed against the colonized third world have given way to notions of an industrialized West and North comprised of developed nations and a backwards East and South made up of developing countries. Colonialism in the age of Imperialism left power and economic disparities across the world. The trends of colonial empires where the colonizer benefited from the …

A Few Drops Of Oil Will Not Be Enough, Stephen James

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn provide a rich description of the various kinds of violence, deprivation, depredation and exploitation that women experience on a vast scale in the developing world. They write of sex trafficking, acid attacks, “bride burning,” enslavement, spousal beatings, unequal healthcare (something the USA still struggles with), insufficient food, gendered abortions and infant and maternal mortality. They are right to identify the education of women and girls as part of the solution to the widespread “gendercide.” However, their approach focuses too much on the capacity, indeed the virtue or heroism, of individual women. It does not take …

Interview With Dr. Ishrat Husain, South Asia

Faculty Research - Newspaper and Magazine Articles

The World Bank has been providing assistance to developing countries since it was established in 1945. The Bank is the largest provider of both intellectual and financial aid to developing countries. What makes it more distinguishable is that, unlike episodic involvement of the IMF, which comes in on for a period of a year or two to help the ailing economies, World Bank is a long-term development partner of the developing countries.

An African-American Resources And Needs Assessment Of The West Bloomington Area, Phase 1, Karishma Amatya, Nicholas Beaty, Jamie Boban, Joanna Bossi, Tyler Curtis, Casandra Fritzsche, Andrew Griffin, David Johnson, Sasha Miranda, Dana Overman, Emily Putnam, Jared Ulschmid, Tessa Zevallos

Community Project Design and Management Reports - Sociology

Over the course of the Fall 2009 semester, students in the Community Project Design and Management class worked with members of West Bloomington to recognize the growing needs within the community. Along with the African-American Focus Workgroup (AAFW) and the West Bloomington Revitalization Partnership (WBRP), the students completed Phase 1 of an African-American resources and needs assessment resulting in this report. This document reflects needs, wants, and hopes of the West Bloomington community and the AAFW. Comprehensively, this document is meant to serve as a bridge between community members and AAFW members.

As Bloomington as a whole continues to grow …

Identification Of A Heterogeneous Generalized Regression Model With Group Effects, Steven T. Berry, Philip A. Haile

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We consider identification in a “generalized regression model” (Han, 1987) for panel settings in which each observation can be associated with a “group” whose members are subject to a common unobserved shock. Common examples of groups include markets, schools or cities. The model is fully nonparametric and allows for the endogeneity of group-specific observables, which might include prices, policies, and/or treatments. The model features heterogeneous responses to observables and unobservables, and arbitrary heteroskedasticity. We provide sufficient conditions for full identification of the model, as well as weaker conditions sufficient for identification of the latent group effects and the distribution of …

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2009, James V. Koch, Vinod Agarwal, John R. Broderick, Grace Chen, Chris Colburn, Vicky Curtis, Steve Daniel, Larry "Chip" Filer, Adrian Gheorghe, Susan Hughes, Elizabeth Janik, Yingxue Li, Feng Lian, Sharon Lomax, Linda Mcgreevy, Janet Molinaro, Jason Phenicie, Ken Plum, Gilbert Yochum

Economics Faculty Books

This is Old Dominion University's 10th annual State of the Region report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion or it's president, John R. Broderick. The report maintains the goal of stimulating thought and discussion that ultimately will make Hampton Roads an even better place to live. We are proud of our region's many successes, but realize that it is possible to improve our performance. In order to do so, we must have accurate information about "where we are" and a …

The International Law Of Economic Migration: Toward The Fourth Freedom, Joel P. Trachtman

Upjohn Press

This volume examines the welfare economics, political economy, and legal experience in international economic migration, and on the basis of its analysis, suggests the structure of a multilateral framework agreement on international economic migration.

Sustainable Prosperity In The New Economy?: Business Organization And High-Tech Employment In The United States, William Lazonick

Upjohn Press

Lazonick explores the origins of the new era of employment insecurity and income inequality, and considers what governments, businesses, and individuals can do about it. He also asks whether the United States can refashion its high-tech business model to generate stable and equitable economic growth.

New Mexico Labor Market Review 09-08-2009, 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 July 2009.

Flexible Work Arrangements: Improving Job Quality And Workforce Stability For Low-Wage Workers And Their Employers, Jessica Glenn, Liz Watson

Published Reports

In 2009, workers and their families across the country felt the impact of serious economic downturn, with unemployment reaching a 26-year high. While recent news suggests things may be improving, we cannot forget that for many low-wage and hourly workers -- who now represent over a quarter of the U.S. workforce -- the recession only exacerbated their ongoing struggle to hold down quality jobs while caring for their families.

Low-wage workers face many of the same challenges that the rest of us face in reconciling our work, family and personal lives, but for many of these workers, it's simply a …

Economy Of Pakistan – Challenges And Prospects, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Talks, Speeches, & Discourse

It is indeed great honour and pleasure for me to be spending this morning with you. I am quite cognizant of the fact that this is one of the finest institution Pakistan has and I always keep saying that if we had institutions like C & SC replicated in our civilian life, the country would be much better off, therefore, I commend you and I am sure that all of you would be rising stars of Pakistan Armed Forces and would make a contribution which is badly required for the uplift of the country. Gentlemen! I am going to talk …