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The Boston Mpo Planning Process And Low-Income Suburban-To-Suburban Transportation Needs, Phillip Granberry, Michael Landon, David Terkla

Economics Faculty Publication Series

The rapid evolution in the Boston MPO transportation planning process is discussed as well as its particular application to the suburban-suburban transportation needs of low income individuals. The results of two experiments designed to improve access to transportation for low income suburban individuals are discussed and policy suggestions are made for improving such access.

The Dynamics Of Income Diversification In Ethiopia: Evidence From Panel Data, Adugna Lemi

Economics Faculty Publication Series

Block and Webb (2001) in Food Policy address the issue of the dynamics of livelihood diversification in Ethiopia. Their study uses the ratio of per capita income derived from crops to the sum of all other incomes as an indicator of livelihood diversification for the years 1989 and 1994. Their study focuses only on drought-prone areas during the survey years. The aim of the present study is to explore further the demographic and economic determinants of the dynamics of income diversification using survey data. The data used in this study cover larger and more representative sample and was colleted from …

Fueled By Technology Market Demand, Massachusetts Economic Growth Increases, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The pace of economic growth in Massachusetts has picked up significantly, beginning in the fourth quarter of last year, reflecting improved worldwide markets for information technology equipment in the last half of 2005. This resurgence in technology markets helped reverse a deceleration in state economic growth that the state experienced between mid-2004 and the third quarter of 2005. The Massachusetts economy has performed better over the last six months than at any time since the current expansion began in the second quarter of 2003. The recent pace of expansion matched the long-term average growth in real gross state product of …

Look For Little Growth In The First Half Of 2006, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The state’s economy remains stuck in slow gear, and may no longer even be moving forward. In the face of slow employment growth, a population and brain drain, a sharp spike in energy costs, volatile consumer confidence, housing prices that are clearly cooling, increasing federal budget deficits, trade deficits and rising interest rates, perhaps it’s good news that the economy has been able to grow at all.

2006 Year In Review: Slow And Steady Does It For 2006, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The state’s economy continued to expand in 2006, continuing a path of slow, steady growth that began in 2003. By most measures, such as employment, output, labor force, and population growth, it was the best year so far of the recovery, but not by much; and the pace of expansion has been much slower than that of the two prior ones of the 1990s and 1980s. Weighing on the economic accomplishments of the year was a decline in the housing market and a rise in unemployment of the state’s residents, setting the stage for a likely slowing of growth in …

Inter-Industry Gender Wage Gaps By Knowledge Intensity: Discrimination And Technology In Korea, William C. Horrace, Beyza P. Ural, Jin Hwa Jung

Center for Policy Research

A new gender wage gap decomposition methodology is introduced that does not suffer from the identification problem caused by unobserved non-discriminatory wage structure. The methodology is used to measure the relative size of Korean gender wage gaps from 1994 to 2000 across industries, differentiated by industrial knowledge intensity, where knowledge intensity is the extent to which industries produce or employ high-technology products. Korea represents an important case study, since it possesses one of the fast growing knowledge-intensive economies, among industrialized countries. Empirical results indicate that over this period, discrimination (the unexplained portion of the gender wage gaps) in Korea was …

The Effect Of Macroeconomic Conditions On Traffic Fatality Rates Across The United States, Katie R. Greenwalt

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This study uses state-level data to estimate the effects of macroeconomic conditions on traffic fatality rates. Data was averaged over a five year period (1999-2003) and regression analysis was used to estimate a model to explain the impact of unemployment rates and income on traffic fatalities per vehicle mile traveled across the 50 United States. Variables were also included to control for other factors that affect state fatality rates. These factors include per capita alcohol consumption, speed limits, the percentage of teenage drivers, the relative strength of teenage driving laws, and average state temperature. A dummy variable was also included …

Assessment Of The Technology Of Genetic Modification In Light Of Its Socio-Economic Implications, Valentina Lootens

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

Since Watson and Crick discovered the “double helix” in 1953, the arguments about the benefits and danger of genetic modification remain largely unanswered, particularly in the relation to food supply. Today, genetic modification or genetic engineering are global issues. Governments, scientific organizations, corporations, research institutions, and scholars hotly dispute the advantages and disadvantages of GM technology. However, unfortunately, the population at large is left in darkness about this new technology and its consequences for human health, environment and society. Moreover, genetic engineering creates a special problem: unlike many new technologies it is irreversible. Once introduced into the food chain, GM …

Regulating Occupations: Quality Or Monopoly?, Morris M. Kleiner

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Modeling Small Business Growth, Migration Behavior, And Household Income In Appalachia: A Spatial Simultaneous Equations Approach, Gebremeskel H. Gebremariam, Tesfa Gebremedhin, Peter V. Schaeffer

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

In this paper, a spatial simultaneous equations model of business growth, migration behavior and median household income is empirically estimated. The empirical simultaneous model is developed from the equilibrium relationships among these variables where each variable is assumed to adjust to its equilibrium level with a substantial lag through a partial equilibrium adjustment process. We use Generalized Spatial Three-Stage Least Squares estimator to estimate the empirical model using data from 418 Appalachian counties for 1990- 2000. The results suggest the existence of very strong interdependences among business growth, migration behavior and median household income in the form of feed-back simultaneities, …

Northeast Ohio Employment And Wage Trends: Economic Brief, January 2006, Ziona Austrian Ph.D.

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This brief is a second release of a publication that provides a broad overview of employment and wage trends for Northeast Ohio (NEO). It updates the first brief with data for the first quarters of 2004 and 2005. Its objective is to provide a quick, current, and informative report on the region’s economy. NEO is defined as a 14-county area composed of four metro areas – Cleveland, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown – and three additional adjacent counties (Ashtabula, Columbiana, and Wayne). This brief begins with longer-term analysis from 1993 followed by short-term trends from the first quarter of 2003 through …

Unreimbursed Emergency Department Costs Incurred By Hispanic Workers And Their Dependents In Central Kentucky, Sandra L. Senft

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Health care costs in the United States are a concern to policy makers, healthcare providers, and the population using medical services. Because fewer individuals have health insurance, as costs continue to rise, so have the levels of charity care provided through the Emergency Departments at many hospitals. Hispanics are a growing population thought to be receiving an increasing portion of this care. The Hispanic population in Kentucky has seen a significant increase in recent years, in large part because of the demand for agricultural workers. It has been established that a sizeable part of the Hispanic migrant worker community is …

The Working Life: The Labor Market For Workers In Low-Skilled Jobs, Nan L. Maxwell

Upjohn Press

Maxwell presents the results of a survey of 405 employers, which queried them about jobs requiring no more than a high school education and no more than one year of work experience. These data allow her to establish the link between skills and low-skilled jobs and to reveal the current state of the labor market facing low-skilled workers. The data also highlights the knowledge and skills that employers require in low-skilled jobs and the abilities that individuals who apply for those jobs bring to the table.

Quality Of Care In Appalachian Nursing Homes: Doing More With Less?, Mary W. Carter, Shuhui Wang

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Despite comprising nearly 10% of the nation’s nursing home population, little is known about the quality of care provided by nursing homes located in rural Appalachia. However, anecdotal evidences suggests that the economic disadvantages associated with the Appalachian region may lead to higher concentrations of certain structural and organizational attributes previously shown to affect nursing home quality. In response, this study sought to examine empirically whether nursing homes located in Appalachia differ in the number of deficiency citations received in comparison with nursing homes located elsewhere, and to explore the extent to which factors other than quality of care determine …

County-Level Determinants Of Local Public Services In Appalachia: A Multivariate Spatial Autoregressive Model Approach, Gebremeskel H. Gebremariam, Tesfa Gebremedhin, Peter V. Schaeffer

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

A multivariate spatial autoregressive model of local public expenditure determination with autoregressive disturbance is developed and estimated in this paper. The empirical model is developed on the principles of utility maximization of a strictly quasi concave community utility function. The existence of spatial interdependence is tested using Moran’s I statistic and Lagrange Multiplier test statistics for both the spatial error and spatial lag models. The full model is estimated by efficient GMM following Kelejian and Prucha’s (1998) approach using county-level data from 418 Appalachian counties. The results indicate the existence of significant spillover effects among local governments with respect to …

A Dynamic Cge Analysis Of Exhaustible Resources: The Case Of An Oil Exporting Developing Country, Hodjat Ghadimi

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

An extensive literature concerned with optimal depletion of an exhaustible resource, with only a few exceptions, ignores the economy-wide and sectoral distribution effects of resource depletion. This paper presents a dynamic computable general equilibrium model to link the underlying natural resource base to economic performance. The model consists of an intra-temporal price endogenous model of a market economy, embedded in an inter-temporal optimal growth and development model. It is an optimization model that determines the optimal development path of the economy, hence, the inter-temporal depletion problem subject to workings of a multi-sector market economy. This general equilibrium approach captures the …

The Influence Of Socioeconomic And Environmental Factors On Health And Obesity In Rural Appalachia, Anura Amarasinghe, Gerard D'Souza, Cheryl Brown, Hyungna Oh

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

A recursive system of ordered self assessed health (SAH) and a binary indicator of obesity were used to investigate the impact of socioeconomic and environmental factors on health and obesity in the predominantly rural Appalachian state of West Virginia. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data together with county specific socioeconomic and built environment indicators were used in estimation. Results indicate that an individual’s risk of being obese increases at a decreasing rate with per capita income and age. Marginal impacts show that as the level of education attainment increases, the probability of being obese decreases by 3%. Physical inactivity …

The Impact Of County Level Factors On Obesity In West Virginia, Anura Amarasinghe, Cheryl Brown, Gerard D'Souza, Tatiana Borisova

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

A panel estimation of county prevalence of obesity indicates that while the percentage of the population with a completed college degree and the number of food stores available per thousand population are negatively and significantly correlated to county obesity rates, mean commuting time, average annual wage and the total number of business establishments per thousand population positively and significantly contribute to obesity. Educational attainment that raises both human and social capital, as well as changes in the built environment can play a vital role in controlling obesity in West Virginia (WV).

A Spatial Analysis Of Obesity In West Virginia, Anura Amarasinghe, Gerard D'Souza, Cheryl Brown, Tatiana Borisova

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

A spatial panel data analysis at the county level examines how individual food consumption, recreational, and lifestyle choices ― against a backdrop of changing demographic, built environment, and policy factors ― leads to obesity. Results suggest that obesity tends to be spatially autocorrelated; in addition to hereditary factors and lifestyle choices, it is also caused by sprawl and lack of land use planning. Policy measures which stimulate educational attainment, poverty alleviation, and promotion of better land use planning and best consumption practices (BCPs) could both reduce obesity and result in sustainable development of regions where obesity is prevalent and the …

Tap And Reposition Youth (Try): Providing Social Support, Savings, And Microcredit Opportunities For Young Women In Areas With High Hiv Prevalence, Annabel Erulkar, Judith Bruce, Aleke Dondo, Jennefer Sebstad, James K. Matheka, Arjmand Banu Khan, Anne Gathuku

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Tap and Reposition Youth (TRY) was a multiphase initiative undertaken by the Population Council and K-Rep Development Agency (KDA), the oldest and largest microfinance institution in Kenya. The overall aim of the project was to reduce adolescents’ vulnerabilities to adverse social and reproductive health outcomes, including HIV infection, by improving their livelihoods options. The project was launched in low-income and slum areas of Nairobi, Kenya, where rates of HIV infection are alarming and where young women are disproportionately affected.

Benefits For All: The Economic Impact Of The New Jersey Child Care Industry • Infant/Toddler, Preschool And Out-Of-School Time Programs, Brentt Brown, Saskia Traill Ph.D., Caroline Purnell Tompkins, The New Jersey Child Care Economic Impact Council, The John S. Watson Institute For Public Policy Of Thomas Edison State College

Center for the Positive Development of Urban Children

The child care industry includes infant/toddler care and education, preschool and out-of-school time care and education programs in for-profit, nonprofit and public settings that educate and nurture children’s development and enable their parents to work and update their skills. This report examines the economic impact of New Jersey’s child care industry and presents a complete picture of its gross receipts, number of employees and how the industry provides benefits for all. The child care industry is integral to family and economic life of New Jersey residents:

1. Child care and education programs with quality learning environments support New Jersey’s future …

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Pinning Down The Value Of Statistical Life, Thomas J. Kniesner, W. Kip Viscusi, Christopher Woock, James P. Ziliak

Center for Policy Research

Our research addresses fundamental long-standing concerns in the compensating wage differentials literature and its public policy implications: the econometric properties of estimates of the value of statistical life (VSL) and the wide range of such estimates from about $0.5 million to about $21 million. We address most of the prominent econometric issues by applying panel data, a new and more accurate fatality risk measure, and systematic selection of panel estimator in our research. Controlling for measurement error, endogeneity, individual heterogeneity, and state dependence yields both a reasonable average level and narrow range for the estimated value of a statistical life …

Fourth Annual Henry Lecture: Families Alone: The Changing Economics Of Rearing Children, Elizabeth Warren

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Teaching The Ethical Foundations Of Economics: The Principles Course, Jonathan B. Wight

Economics Faculty Publications

When we analyze the source of humor, one ingredient is surely incongruity, the juxtaposition of opposites. So when Tom Lehrer, the consummate Harvard mathematician, openly calls for plagiarism, this is funny because it is exactly the opposite of what we expect - it is absurd. And yet, from the viewpoint of modern economics, is plagiarism really so absurd? We teach our students to maximize short-term profits (in a moral vacuum). We drill them that producers minimize private costs of production (without reference to ethical codes of conduct). We expect economic agents to operate with atomistic selfishness, assuring them that this …

Further Studies In Rio Grande Valley History, Milo Kearney, Anthony K. Knopp, Antonio Zavaleta

Studies in Rio Grande Valley Regional History Series

Salt: basis of wealth in South Texas / David J. Mycue -- The Zavaleta Family : a legacy of public service / Antonio N. Zavaleta and James E. Zavaleta with Theresa Zavaleta -- Carnaval y fiestas Mexicanas de Matamoros / Rosaura Alicia Davila -- A history of the development of Brazos Santiago Pass / Carl Chilton -- El Retraso español y su interés final por la colonización del Bajo Bravo / Arturo Zarate Ruiz - Fugitive slaves and free Blacks in South Texas / Alberto Rodriguez -- reporting from the Rio Grande : how the press saw the Brownsville area …

An Optimum Currency Area In South Asia: Is It Plausible?, Nilanjan Banik, Basudeb Biswas, Peter J. Saunders

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

This article is an empirical investigation of the potential feasibility of an optimum currency area (OCA) in South Asia. Under an OCA, member countries share a common currency (like the Euro), and forego autonomy with respect to monetary policy instruments. Countries are good candidates for forming an OCA if there is a long-run relationship in the trend (permanent) component of output. Our results indicate existence of such a long-run relationship in the trend component of gross domestic product (GDP) among the member countries in South Asia. Hence, the South Asia region has the potential to form an OCA.

Historical Perspective On Performance Budgeting: Performance Budgeting In The United States Before 1960, Dan Williams

Publications and Research

With the assistance of A. E. Buck, Herbert Hoover coined the term Performance Budget in 1949 to rebrand cost data budgeting. Cost data budgeting originated in 1912 in Richmond County (Staten Island), New York. It is strongly associated with the National Commission on Municipal Standards and the Committee on Uniform Street Sanitation Records, which are both direct derivatives of Clarence Ridley’s original work in making sense of performance measurement under the title Means of Measuring Municipal Government, his 1927 dissertation at Syracuse University. Ridley subsequently led the International City Managers Association for nearly 30 years. He teamed with A. E. …

Rational Alcohol Addiction: Evidence From The Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, Badi H. Baltagi, Ingo Geishecker

Center for Policy Research

Alcohol consumption in Russia is legendary and has been reported to be the third leading cause of death in the former Soviet Union after heart disease and cancer. Are Russian alcohol consumers rational addicts? This paper uses eight rounds of a nationally representative Russian survey spanning the period 1994-2003 to estimate a rational addiction (RA) model for alcohol consumption. This is done in a panel data setting as well as on a wave by wave basis. The profile of the Russian drinker finds a huge difference between males and females and the model is estimated by gender. We do not …

Trends In High Incomes And Behavioral Responses To Taxation: Evidence From Executive Compensation And Statistics Of Income Data, Nada O. Eissa, Seth H. Giertz

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

This paper examines income trends from 1992 to 2004 and the responsiveness of different income measures to tax changes for corporate executives and for the very highest income U.S. taxpayers. We detail the growth in executive compensation and break down the components of that growth by sources, such as the value of options and stock grants, as well as bonus income. We then examine income trends at various points in the income distribution for executives and for all taxpayers. An empirical strategy similar to that employed by Goolsbee (2000) is then used to examine the responsiveness to tax rates of …

External Debt And Growth Dynamics, Si Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Based on an extended growth model, this thesis further explores the joint dynamics between external debt and growth. The model explicitly expresses this growth dynamic mechanism incorporating external debt as an important explanatory variable with risk premium and other related structural factors. The interactions between external debt and growth are interpreted as directly and mainly through the channel of capital accumulation and indirectly through technology change. These constitute the functional form foundation to solve the main concern on the effect of external debt upon growth adjustment path. The numerical simulations of the model indicate that when external debt is assumed …