Digital Commons Network^™

Economic Currents: The State Of The State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

Business is looking up in Massachusetts: Buoyed by the state’s high-technology industry, sales, profits, and exports are all showing growth. Housing starts and consumer spending also grew strongly in the second quarter. Employment rates and the jobs market are another story: Growth of employment in Massachusetts has lagged that of the nation, and only began to pick up early in 2004, whereas the nation’s job turnaround began last summer. Nonetheless, consumer confidence remains strong, as the wages and salaries of those who are employed are rising. If this recovery mimics the last cycle of this kind, job growth will accelerate …

The Timing, Intensity, And Composition Of Interest Group Lobbying: An Analysis Of Structural Policy Windows In The States, John M. De Figueiredo

Faculty Scholarship

This is the first paper to statistically examine the timing of interest group lobbying. It introduces a theoretical framework based on recurring “structural policy windows” and argues that these types of windows should have a large effect on the intensity and timing of interest group activity. Using a new database of all lobbying expenditures in the U.S. states ranging up to 25 years, the paper shows interest group lobbying increases substantially during one of these structural windows in particular--the budgeting process. Spikes in lobbying during budgeting are driven primarily by business groups. Moreover, even groups relatively unaffected by budgets lobby …

Receiving The Headian Legacy: International Lawyers, South-To-North Resource Transfers, And The Challenge Of International Development, Obiora Chinedu Okafor

Articles & Book Chapters

Written over fifteen years ago by Ivan Leigh Head, a highly distinguished Canadian international lawyer, foreign policy expert, and international development thinker, the words contained in the above quotation point firmly at this great man's analytic incisiveness and hint at the sheer depth of his fairness of mind. For although the net transfer of resources from the much poorer geopolitical "South" to a far richer "North" remains to this day one of the most important obstacles to international development, rarely have the dominant accounts of international development given this phenomenon the pride of place that it surely deserves.

An Analysis Of The Gap Between Economic Incentives And Public Participation, Rafael Ranieri

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

No abstract provided.

Cost Effectiveness Of Treating The Metabolic Syndrome In The Uninsured In Montgomery County, Deepa Bangalore

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

Treating the uninsured in cases of cardiovascular emergencies has demonstrated to be a large expense to the health care system, primarily borne by the society as they contribute to taxes/levies that support local hospitals for indigent care. Interventions to reduce the cardiovascular risk factors among the uninsured are expensive but have proven to be an effective alternative to the present situation, which is to treat them only in cases of emergencies. The metabolic syndrome (MS) poses a threat particularly to the uninsured population because of its asymptomatic nature. Detection and treatment of MS at its onset provides substantial clinical benefit …

The Economic Benefits Of International Education At Wright State University And In The Greater Miami Valley, Sonia A. Ninon

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

International students in the U.S have seldom been viewed as big contributors to local economies, in particular and to the U.S in general. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of international students in the United States, particularly at Wright State University (W.S.U), on the Greater Miami Valley Area.

This economic impact study will use previously compiled information extend on it to ascertain the impact of international education in the Miami Valley and by extension to the United States. Public policies towards international students will also be evaluated.

The conclusion is that international students have had a …

Manufacturing Industry Cluster And High-Technology Industry Analysis Of Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area, Ergun Meric

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The aim of this study is to analyze the competitiveness of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area manufacturing cluster and I evaluate the region's high tech capacity.

Cluster analysis is an important tool which is widely used by regional economists to assist firms and local governments in their decision making process and development strategies.

In the first section of this study, the theoretical framework of cluster analysis is explained by referring to authors who contributed to the development of the concept in recent years. Location quotient analysis is used to compare the region's capability with other MSAs and nationwide. By using …

Social Capital And Economic Development: Possible Links And The Implications For Economic Policy, Allan Ochieng Oginga

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This research project was carried out with three principle objectives. First, I provide a primer investigation of what social capital means and examine its possible relevance in the discipline of economics and I highlight some of the numerous conceptual debates surrounding the theory. Secondly, I shed light on the historical progression and time line for the implications of social capital. That is, where we were in the past, where we are at the current time and where we (as economists) are possibly heading with this into the future. Lastly, I highlight some of the major challenges in applying an empirical …

A Comparative Static Analysis For Invasive Species Management Under Risk Neutral Preferences, Pamela Safford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the optimal ex-ante mix of self-protection and self-insurance technologies employed to reduce the risk of biological invaders in the presence of exogenous variables within the probability and damage functions. This is accomplished by using a theoretical endogenous risk model that extends previously developed frameworks. This thesis contributes to the previous work in two ways. (1) Employing a general framework with simultaneous decision making over self-protection and self-insurance, this thesis analyzes how each parameter including income, the costs of each activity, an exogenous factor that affects only the probability of an invasion, and a separate exogenous factor that …

Pull Factor Estimates For Retail Sales In West Virginia Counties, David W. Hughes

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Pull factors provide a measure of retail trade capture. Pull factors for total and twelve subcategories of retail sales for all West Virginia Counties are analyzed based on 1997 Census of Retail Trade data. A method for estimating missing data points and the use of Rand-McNally trade regions both facilitate estimation of the pull factors. Results indicate that hypothesizes concerning pull factors for central places in West Virginia generally hold. However, other elements influence pull factor estimates. The most important of these is the impact of state sales tax policy, which reduces pull factors for border cities through lessened retail …

By A Thread: How Child Care Centers Hold On To Teachers, How Teachers Build Lasting Careers, Marcy Whitebook, Laura Sakai

Upjohn Press

Marcy Whitebook and Laura Sakai examine how child care programs and their staff subsist in a field characterized by low pay, low status, and high turnover and what the impacts of these factors are on the quality of child care provided.

Adequacy Of Earnings Replacement In Workers' Compensation Programs: A Report Of The Study Panel On Benefit Adequacy Of The Workers' Compensation Steering Committee, National Academy Of Social Insurance, H. Allan Hunt, National Academy Of Social Insurance

Upjohn Press

The Workers’ Compensation Steering Committee of the National Academy of Social Insurance formed the Benefit Adequacy Study Panel to review the literature on benefit adequacy and to develop an approach to document what is currently known—and not known—about benefit adequacy in WC programs. The panel documents the extent to which WC cash benefits replace workers’ lost wages, and assesses the adequacy of that wage replacement.

Kids At Work: The Value Of Employer-Sponsored On-Site Child Care Centers, Rachel Connelly, Deborah S. Degraff, Rachel A. Willis

Upjohn Press

Connelly, DeGraff, and Willis chronicle the trends in the growth in on-site child care programs and perform analyses that shed light on the value of employer-sponsored child care to employees. The authors note that employees may not be the only ones to benefit. Employers may be able to gain wage savings for the firm.

Leaving Welfare: Employment And Well-Being Of Families That Left Welfare In The Post-Entitlement Era, Gregory Acs, Pamela Loprest

Upjohn Press

Acs and Loprest pull together information from a host of leaver studies to provide a bottom line assessment of what was learned. They compare welfare leaver outcomes across geographic areas and the nation as a whole. This effort allows them to paint a comprehensive picture of the employment, income, and hardships families experience after leaving welfare.

Workplace Justice Without Unions, Hoyt N. Wheeler, Brian S. Klaas, Douglas M. Mahony

Upjohn Press

Wheeler, Klaas, and Mahony provide a thorough analysis of organizational justice systems by exploring nonunion systems of workplace justice and comparing them with the union system, American courts, and systems in 11 other countries.

Job Training Policy In The United States, Christopher J. O'Leary Editor, Robert A. Straits Editor, Stephen A. Wandner

Upjohn Press

This book provides a broad overview of federally funded job training programs as they exist today. The notable list of contributors review what training consists of and how training programs are implemented under WIA. In particular, they examine training service providers and methods of delivering training services, including the use of individual training accounts and eligible training provider lists. Performance management under WIA is examined, as well as the effectiveness of training programs. In addition, public training programs are compared to private training provided in the United States and to public training programs offered in other industrial nations.

Population Aging And The Rising Cost Of Public Pensions, John Bongaarts

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Rapid population aging is raising concerns about the sustainability of public pension systems in high-income countries. The first part of this study identifies the four factors that determine trends in public pension expenditures: population aging, pension benefit levels, the mean age at retirement, and the labor force participation rate. The second part presents projections to 2050 of the impact of demographic trends on public pension expenditures in the absence of changes in pension benefits, labor force participation, and age at retirement. These projections demonstrate that current trends are unsustainable, because without reforms population aging will produce an unprecedented and harmful …

Moyens De Subsistance Des Adolescentes. Questions Primordiales Et Outils Essentiels : Rapport D'Un Atelier, Carey Meyers

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report, co-published by the Population Council and the International Center for Research on Women, describes a workshop convened in Cairo in 1999 to learn more about the nature of both younger and older adolescents' work experience, differentiate the particular needs and potentials of adolescent girls, and identify programs and policies that might have promise for supporting them.

Taxes, Deadweight Loss And Intertemporal Female Labor Supply: Evidence From Panel Data, Anil Kumar

Center for Policy Research

Very few existing studies have estimated female labor supply elasticities using a U.S. panel data set, although cross-sectional studies abound. Also, most existing studies have done so in a static framework. I make an attempt to fill the gap in this literature by estimating a lifecycle-consistent specification with taxes, in a limited dependent variable framework, on a panel of married females from the PSID. Both parametric random effects and semi parametric fixed effects methods are applied. I find evidence of larger substitution effects than found in female labor supply literature with taxes, suggesting considerable distortionary effects from income taxation. The …

How Bank Risk Profiles Affect Their Strength : An Assessment Of Banks In The Asia-Pacific Region, David E. Allen, Mahendra Chandra, Jaime Li Ping Yong

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper analyses bank relative riskiness by testing the sensitivity of Asia-Pacific banks to overall market risk, global credit risk shocks, interest rate risk shocks and maturity risk shocks. The banks’ risk profiles are categorised according to their capitalisation levels and functional degree of diversification. Our results indicate that highly capitalised banks yield higher average stock returns whilst functionally diversified banks have less volatile returns. Generally, banks that adopt capital adequacy guidelines and hold higher capital levels have greater protection from these risks. Functionally diversified banks are also more strongly positioned against system-wide shocks to the banking sector.

Will A Rise In Consumption Tax Share Increase The Effectiveness Of Government Spending?, Y H. Cheung

Research outputs pre 2011

The Australian tax reform in July 2000 gave heavier weights to consumption tax in the tax mix at the expense of the income tax. This paper shows that the trade off among the tax-mix policy parameters depends on the structure of the economy. Given that the reform is tax-revenue neutral and no change in monetary stance, a rise in the share of consumption tax in the tax mix may increase the effectiveness of government spending in stabilising the economy if certain contain is fulfilled. A numerical example is included for illustration purpose.

Coastal Empire Economic Monitor, 2nd Quarter, 2004, 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.

Private And Public Contributions To Financing College Education, Nabeel Alsalam, Seth H. Giertz, Dennis Zimmerman

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

Introduction and Summary The cost of four years of undergraduate education, including living expenses, now averages nearly $80,000 at public colleges and over $100,000 at many private institutions. Tuition and fees have risen steadily since 1980, fueling concern that college is becoming prohibitively expensive for many families. In two decades, tuition and fees at public universities more than doubled, from $1,883 (in 2001 dollars) in 1980 to $4,281 in 2001.
,br> A major component of higher education represents an investment, with the returns accruing in the form of greater productivity (and income) for future workers. As such, education is a …

The Ethnic Question In Law And Development, Lan Cao

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Agency-Structure Model And The Embedded Individual In Heterodox Economics, John B. Davis

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

A Global Lottery And A Global Premium Bond, Tony Addison, Abdur Chowdhury

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

Proposals are evaluated, from both an economic and an ethical viewpoint, for development funding through a global lottery, along with a complement to this: a global premium bond (a loan instrument in which the interest takes the form of a lottery prize, the capital being repayable on request, so that it has the characteristics of a savings product, which makes it potentially attractive to ethical investors). The chapter starts by looking at how a global lottery might work, evaluating the issue by discussing lottery operators and their regulation, the market for lotteries, competition between the global lottery and national lotteries, …

Transnational Labor Mobilizing In Two Mexican Maquiladoras: The Struggle For Democratic Globalization, Victoria Carty

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

The struggle to improve workers' rights in Mexican maquiladoras and export processing zones elsewhere in the world is central to the politics of global economic integration. State-centered development is increasingly compromised by supranational institutions and trade agreements. Meanwhile, multinational corporations are relocating at an unprecedented rate to overseas locations. Export processing zones are notorious for poor working conditions and result in a "race to the bottom." The maquila sector in Mexico is a prime example of this phenomenon. This article uses two case studies to examine ways in which grassroots organizing has successfully resisted low wages and poor working conditions …

Presidents, Profits, Productivity, & Poverty: A Great Divide Between The Pre- & Post-Reagan U.S. Economy?, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper examined profits, productivity, and poverty in the United States from 1961 through 2002. Results indicated that the "great divide" thesis regarding the U.S. economy before and after the Reagan administration depends on which measure of the economy is the focus of attention. In addition, on some measures where before and after differences were detected, the nature of those differences was paradoxical. Corporate profits as a share of national income, for example, were highest in Democratic rather than Republican administrations and despite the increased income inequality of the post-Reagan years, individual and family poverty rates remained relatively constant after …

Exploring Children’S Rights In The World Of Work, Jean N. Scandlyn

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Children of Other Worlds: Exploitation in the Global Market by Jeremy Seabrook. London: Pluto, 2001. 166pp.

Building A Better World, Pierre Landell-Mills

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Global New Deal: Economic and Social Rights in World Politics by William Felice. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002. 204pp.