Digital Commons Network^™

U.S. Current Account: Why Is It Increasingly Negative?, Joshua Champagne

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the reasons for the increasingly negative United States current account. The study incorporates information into a multivariate linear regression model to examine the influence of various economic indicators on the U.S. current account. The paper focuses more so on which variables create an increase in the current account and which variables cause deterioration and why the overall value of the current account is continually becoming more negative. The results show that the U.S. Current Account is negative because there is not enough government investment, savings, and private savings, along with a negative fiscal policy, combined with an …

Loco Labels And Marketing Madness: Improving How Consumers Interpret Information In The American Food Economy, Margaret Sova Mccabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

America's current food labeling scheme, as illustrated by the example of salt, is flawed when examined from the consumer and public health perspective. While the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act has sound scientific standards, those standards as currently applied to labels do not efficiently signal health information to consumers. Without better information on labels, consumers will continue to make poor choices at the grocery store. However, there are promising new ways to label. Both the United Kingdom and the domestic supermarket chain Hannaford’s have implemented simple health labeling on food packaging or grocery shelves to improve the amount and location …

Liberalization Of The Capital Market In Russia, Nejc Smole

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyzes the empirical events of capital market liberalization in Russia and refers to the procedure of capital market liberalization described in theory as a benchmark to assess the magnitude of events shaping the capital market liberalization in Russia.

The reformers of Russian regime change did not take a gradual approach of adjustments toward a successful socioeconomic transition. The state failed to create market-supporting institutions and instead rather proceeded with an ambitious program of synchronized application of policy changes and the economic liberalization. Lack of market-supporting institutions and an underdeveloped legal system in Russia have been the key tools …

Utopia Reconsidered: The Modern Firm As Institutional Ideal, John Dobson

Finance

This paper challenges Alasdair MacIntyre's assertion that the modern firm -such as Google, Unilever, or Microsoft -is inimical to human flourishing within an Aristotelian framework. The paper begins by questioning MacIntyre's rendering of utopian communities. It then addresses four specific criticisms of the modern firm to be found throughout MacIntyre's oeuvre, namely compartmentalisation, myopia, inequality, and loss of community. Arguments are made to the effect that these criticisms do not vitiate the institutional role of the modern firm in an Aristotelian context. The paper concludes with an invocation of the modern firm as institutional ideal within an evolving utopian vision …

No. 48: The Quality Of Immigration And Citizenship Services In Namibia, Ndeyapo Nickanor

Southern African Migration Programme

The Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration (MHAI) in Namibia has sole responsibility for implementing and managing migration policy and legislation; the registration of births, deaths and marriages; and the issuing of identity documents, passports and emergency travel documents. The Ministry also manages visa and permanent and temporary residence applications and approves work permits.

In 2005, the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) was asked by the Ministry to conduct a systematic survey of the quality of services offered to citizens and non-citizens (the Services Quality Survey or SQS). The main objectives of the SQS were as follows:

• To compare …

An Economic Approach To Climate Change, Matt Bogard

Economics Faculty Publications

Economics is the study of choices, and how they are made compatible. The issue of global warming can be viewed in the context of a set of choices that lead to climate change. In a free society choices are made compatible via the price system. If prices do not reflect the true cost of carbon, then carbon intensive production and consumption choices may not be compatible given the choice sets across all members of society. For example, my choice to burn fossil fuels may be incompatible with your choice to live in a coastal area given certain climate change scenarios. …

Economic And Social Factors That Influence Life Expectancy And Infant Mortality, Kenneth Smith

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates life expectancy and infant mortality rates in randomly selected countries from around the world. This study takes into consideration many economic and social factors that could potentially have an effect on life expectancy and infant mortality in different countries. Factors are modeled using a least-squared regression model and are determined as significant based on their probability factor. Results show both positive and negative effects depending on the economic and social factor.

Health Insurance And The Labor Supply Decisions Of Older Workers: Evidence From The U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs, Melissa Boyle, Joanna N. Lahey

Economics Department Working Papers

This paper exploits a major mid-1990s expansion in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care system to provide evidence on the labor market effects of expanding health insurance availability. Using data from the Current Population Survey, we compare the labor market behavior of older veterans and non-veterans before and after the VA health benefits expansion to test the impact of public health insurance on labor supply. We find that older workers are significantly more likely to decrease work both on the extensive and intensive margins after receiving access to non-employer based insurance. Older workers are also more likely to …

Complementarity And The Measurement Of Individual Risk Tradeoffs: Accounting For Quantity And Quality Of Life Effects, Mary F. Evans, V. Kerry Smith

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

This paper considers the factors responsible for differences with age in estimates of the wage compensation an individual requires to accept increased occupational fatality risk. We derive a relationship between the value of a statistical life (VSL) and the degree of complementarity between consumption and labor supplied when health status serves as a potential source of variation in this relationship. Our empirical analysis finds that variations in an individual’s health status or quality of life and anticipated longevity threats lead to significant differences in the estimated wage/risk tradeoffs. We describe how extensions to the specification of hedonic wage models, including …

No. 49: Gender, Migration And Remittances In Southern Africa, Belinda Dodson, Hamilton Simelane, Daniel Tevera, Thuso Green, Abel Chikanda, Fion De Vletter

Southern African Migration Programme

Migrant remittances have become an important source of income for many developing countries, exceeding official development assistance. As a result, migration and remittance behaviour are becoming a growing focus of international attention. Understanding the processes and patterns of remittance behaviour can help shed light on their usage and impact, both on recipient households and on wider socio-economic development in migrant-origin countries. One key aspect of such an understanding is the gender dynamics of migration and remittance practices. Globally, there is evidence of the feminization of migrant flows, with women increasingly migrating as independent migrants in their own right. Female migrants …

Market Correlation: Effect Of Historical Events On The World's Largest Financial Centers From 1983-2003, Thomas Vo

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper studies the effect of various historical events on the market correlation among the three largest financial centers of the world: New York City, London, and Tokyo for the time period 1983-2003. The analysis focuses on those correlations associated with four historical events: the U.S. stock market crash of 1987, the London IRA Bombing of 1990, the Asian Currency Crisis of 1997 (particularly the day the Thai Baht fell), and the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks of 2001. The purpose of this study was to provide additional information that will provide the investment community with insights about maintaining market …

2008 American Incentive System Almanac, Don P. Diffine Ph.D.

Belden Center Monographs

No abstract provided.

Valuing The Paso Del Norte: Resident And Business Perspectives On The Value Of The Environment Relative To Reopening The Asarco Copper Smelter, Carlos Olmedo, Dennis L. Soden, Osvaldo Morera, Mathew Mcelroy, David A. Schauer, Sergio Pena , Cesar Fuentes, Mario E. Caire, Janet S. Conary, Roberto Tinajero, Daniel J. Quiñones, Elizabeth K. Gibson

IPED Technical Reports

In an earlier study, the economic impact of ASARCO reopening its smelter operations in El Paso was conducted. In impact analysis, the economic contribution of a business is only one side of the story since it tells what types of firms benefit from an impact, but it tells nothing about whether those benefits are equitable. These trade offs are policy analysis concerns that are best understood with all available information. In this regard, IPED has been contracted to examine other amenity and economic factors that may lend themselves in support and/or opposition to the reopening of ASARCO.

Sustainable Reuse Strategies For Vacant And Abandoned Properties, Kathryn W. Hexter, Cathryn Greenwald, Mary Helen Petrus

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

More Crabs, But Still No Barrel, John Henry Schlegel

Other Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Data Sources For New Mexico_2008, University Of New Mexico Bureau Of Business And Economic Research, New Mexico Economic Development Department

Historic Publications

DATA USERS CONFERENCE.

Stock Markets And Income Inequality: A Cross-Country Study, Elizabeth Mathew

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This paper conducts a comprehensive analysis to understand how stock market ratios affect net income inequality. The study of how finance impacts income distribution is relevant as the income distribution of a nation influences savings decisions, resource allocation, innovation incentives and public policy and hence impacts the process of economic development. Using a cross-sectional data set of 68 countries and panel data set of 61 countries from 1975 to 2005, I apply cross-sectional OLS and panel regressions to look at how stock market size, liquidity, and activity impact income inequality. While stock market size is found to strongly impact income …

Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane

Economics

Burkina Faso's rich civic institutions are rooted in the history of the precolonial Mossi kingdoms, the traditions of stateless societies in the southwest, the Islamic brotherhoods that structure the lives of Muslims, the hundred-year presence of the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant missionary societies, and popular struggles for representation during the colonial and postindependence periods. This heritage is a constant feature of contemporary political discourse, with critics accusing the current regime of betraying the country's political traditions. The regime's defenders emphasize its continuity with the past and its efforts to restore civic life after the excesses of the revolutionary period …

Moving Beyond Markets And Minimalism: Democracy In The Era Of Globalization, Richard Burchill

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Democracy as Human Rights: Freedom and Equality in the Age of Globalization by Michael Goodhart. London: Routledge, 2005.

Kentucky Annual Economic Report 2008, Kenneth R. Troske, John Garen, Devanathan Sudharshan, Roy A. Sigafus

Kentucky Annual Economic Report

No abstract provided.

Who Should Own The Air?: A Closer Look At Smoking Bans, Stacy Mcmullen

Honors Program Theses

Smoking bans result from public health concerns. There are well over 70,000 articles in peer-reviewed journals that link smoking with various health problems [Chaloupka et al. 2004-2005, 2]. There are also a number of states currently debating statewide bans. Are statewide smoking bans the answer to the tobacco problem or are they simply an example of excessive paternalism? The purpose of this paper is to examine the two sides of the argument and determine whether policymakers should implement smoking bans. It will show that, in the end, nonsmokers should own the air, and smoking bans should be implemented to protect …

Microcredit In Developing Countries: Evaluating Programs For Poverty Alleviation, Kelly Sue Nessa

Honors Program Theses

There is no question that poverty is a devastating problem in our world today; the UN estimates 34,000 children and 16,000 adults die each day from hunger or preventable diseases with poverty-related causes, totaling more than 18 million a year (Riddell, 2007). One way that poverty is exacerbated is through the inaccessibility of credit to the poor (Todaro, 2006). Microcredit/microfinance has become a popular way of addressing this problem, and this affects a great percentage of the world population that is impoverished. Therefore, a true evaluation of the benefits and downfalls of this economic tool should be addressed. The purpose …

Derail The Federal Gravy Train: A Normative Audit Of America's Economic Policy Debate, Don P. Diffine Ph.D.

Belden Center Monographs

No abstract provided.

A Leontief Model Of Municipal Budgeting, Phillip J. Bryson

Faculty Publications

Local budgeting in transition countries is an important process because it can reveal the extent to which fiscal decentralization has occurred. Because central planning regimes were highly centralized, adopting a market/democratic approach requires a devolution of power from the central government to regions and municipalities. A Leontief model is presented as a simple theoretical approach to local budgeting. Local revenues are considered as financial inputs and local expenditures as financial outputs. A method of measuring the degree of local autonomy as a part of the budgeting process is a part of this model.

The Effect Of Intellectual Property Protection On Economic Growth, Andrew Jonathan Mahurin

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This paper tests whether stronger intellectual property protection is good for a country. It focuses on the overall effect of intellectual property protection on per capita economic growth. To measure the strength of intellectual property protection, I use the Ginarte-Park index. An education and an investment variable are also included in the models.

The models are based on simple linear regressions involving a cross-section of countries. The models consistently showed a negative correlation between intellectual property protection and per capita economic growth. Moreover, I tested to see if the effect is different in some countries than in others, based on …

Economic Development: The City Of West Carrollton's Pathway To Growth, Christian J. Hansen

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This report is an overview of an economic development internship with the City of West Carrollton, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, Ohio. The first section explores the City’s administrative roles and structure. The second section contains a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (S.W.O.T.) analysis, which evaluates the City’s current economic factors. Next, the Location Quotient (L.Q.) method quantifies the area’s industry makeup. Summarized is the SWOT analysis and Location Quotient in a listing of industry recommendations based on economic growth trends. The third section is a discussion of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) as an economic development instrument. A cost versus …

An Analysis Of The Influence Of Ceo Characteristics On Research And Development Expenditures In Large American Corporations (2005 Data), Sun Gu Lee

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This study analyzes the influence exerted by CEO characteristics (specifically, CEO stockholding percentages and CEO age) on research and development (R&D) expenditures in large American corporations over the twenty year period from 1986 to 2005. Using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) to measure market share concentrations, and making specific reference to two Schumpeterian hypotheses on the correlation between R&D and increases in firm size, this study establishes a positive linear relationship between the dependent variable, R&D expenditure, and the independent variables of CEO stockholding, CEO age, firm size, and market share. This study next describes the corporate and market conditions which …

Risk Preferences And The Timing Of Marriage And Childbearing, Lucie Schmidt

Economics: Faculty Publications

The existing literature on marriage and fertility decisions pays little attention to the roles played by risk preferences and uncertainty. However, given uncertainty regarding the availability of suitable marriage partners, the ability to contracept, and the ability to conceive, women's risk preferences might be expected to play an important role in marriage and fertility timing decisions. By using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), I find that measured risk preferences have a significant effect on the timing of both marriage and fertility. Highly risk-tolerant women are more likely to delay marriage, consistent with either a search model …

Anatomy Of Foreign Aid To Ethiopia: 1960-2003, Adugna Lemi

Economics Faculty Publication Series

The purpose of this study is to present a portrait of the foreign aid flow to Ethiopia during the 1960 to 2003 period. Since the launch of Marshal Plan after World War II, the flow of foreign aid has been seen as the panacea to overcome underdevelopment. Ethiopia is not an exception to this view, and Ethiopia is one of the recipients of foreign aid not only to provide emergency relief but also to support longterm economic development. This study shows the flow of aid to Ethiopia in terms of major donors (bilateral and multilateral), method of delivery, and major …

National Woes Test Bay State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

Economic growth is slowing, and is projected to continue to decelerate into the second half of 2008, and then to rebound moderately. The slowdown is directly related to the impact of the declining housing market, the sub-prime mortgage shakeout in the finance sector, and the high cost of heating oil and gasoline. Credit tightening is threatening to curtail business activity and the solvency of investors and households involved in sub-prime lending or borrowing. High energy prices are reducing non-energy consumer spending. The impact of the declining housing market has already affected the state’s economy. Massachusetts is experiencing declines in housing …