Digital Commons Network^™

Economic Impact Of Pharmacia On Kalamazoo County In 2001, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Small Business Lending In Texas, Steve A. Johnson, David A. Schauer, Dennis L. Soden

IPED Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Can Temporary Employment Scar Your Future Earnings? Wage Mobility By Type Of Work Contract In Spain, Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, Ricardo Serrano-Padial

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Financial Performance Of Insurance Companies Following Initial Public Offerings, Kulkanya Napompech

Doctoral Dissertations

The quality of insurance companies is a very significant societal issue. Policyholders pay premiums assuming indemnity of their potential losses. It is essential that an insurer be able to meet its contractual obligations when a loss occurs. An initial public offering provides an infusion of capital and an expansion of resources available to a firm. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine the financial and operating impacts of initial public offerings during 1980–2000 on insurance companies.

Chapter 2 examines changes in operating performance of property/casualty insurance companies following initial public offerings. I find that following initial public offerings, …

The Relationship Between Economic Freedom And Soci-Economic Development, Anisha Madan '02

Honors Projects

The concept of economic freedom is not a novel one in economic theory. Since the time of Adam Smith, if not before, economists have believed that the freedom to choose and supply resources, compete in business, trade with others, and secure property rights are central ingredients of economic progress (North and Thomas, 1973). Adam Smith (1776-1937) explained how the invisible hand of the marketplace enhanced the wealth of nations. David Ricardo (1821-1912) advocated free trade as a means of producing economic growth. Milton Friedman said, "I believe that free societies have arisen and persisted only because economic freedom is so …

A Tale Of Two Decades: Changes In Work And Earnings In Massachusetts, 1979–1999, Randy Albelda, Marlene Kim

Economics Faculty Publication Series

Over the past twenty years, Massachusetts has replaced the mantle of old-style manufacturing with a robust “new economy.” Our economic vitality has never been better. But not all individuals benefited from the 1990s boom as they had from the one a decade earlier. Some of our residents are worse off than they were before.

April 2002, Syracuse Department Of Economics

Economics - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Living Wages And Local Governments, Timothy J. Bartik

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Better Revenue Forecasting: Is Fiscal Stress A Stimulant? A Look At Nevada Local Governments, Richard A. Derrick

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Revenue forecasting is one of the most critical and often difficult tasks in governmental budgeting. It is critical because it determines the parameters upon which the budget is based. It is difficult because many outside influences can impact revenue results and cause variances with the forecast. If revenue is under projected, valuable services may not be provided during the fiscal year and an unexpected surplus may be created at year-end. By the time it becomes apparent that surpluses are developing, the damage to on-going programs and services, which may require consistency and budget stability for efficient delivery, may be done. …

Instrumental Variable Estimates Of The Labor Market Spillover Effects Of Welfare Reform, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

By increasing the labor supply of welfare recipients, welfare reform may reduce wages and increase unemployment among other less-educated groups. These "spillover effects" are difficult to estimate because welfare caseloads decrease in response to improvements in the economy, which leads caseload reductions to be associated with improvements in labor market outcomes. This paper corrects for the endogeneity of caseloads by using instruments that reflect policy. The estimates suggest that welfare reform has significant spillover effects: welfare reform reduces employment of male high school dropouts, and reduces wages of single mothers and male high school dropouts.

Organ Donation System: Revision In Three Phases And Counterarguments To Concerns Presented By Proponents Of The Current Altruistic System, Beth Gansen

Major Themes in Economics

In 1984, organ donation was formally organized in the United States under the National Transplant Act. The legislation established many necessary institutions, but did not address the issue of rising demand and stagnant supply. Altruists believe education is the answer, but this approach has sentenced thousands to death. Commercialization of organ procurement is a viable solution. Commercializing the procurement sector will increase efficiency, alleviate shortages, and save lives. The policy and legal implications are complex but a basic outline for a commercialized system is derived from researchers’ suggestions, economics, and lessons from the commercialized sperm donation system. Objections to commercialization …

The Private Prison Debate: A Look Into The Efficiency Of Private Prisons Vs. Public Prisons, Megan Swanson

Major Themes in Economics

The resurgence of private prisons during the 1980s has caused a lot of debate. If a private firm can run a prison more efficiently than the government, the government should allow privatization. Factors such as cost, quality of service, competition and liability must be examined in order to determine whether a private prison is more efficient than a public prison.

Leadership: The Missing Variable In The Economic Development Of Sub-Saharan Africa, Osei K. Bonsu

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Contemporary economic theories, modernization and dependency, have overlooked the fact that the development process depends on the interaction of social factors. Specifically, the theories have ignored the role of leadership in analyzing economic development. This dissertation seeks to incorporate the importance of leadership into the analysis of development. It argues that sub-Saharan African countries have not developed economically because leaders in the region have been less than successful in establishing a culture conducive to industrialization. African leaders have failed to establish the high moral and scientific cultures necessary to promote economic progress. In place of those cultural attributes, the leaders …

Czech Voucher Privatization: A Case Of Decision Making Under Uncertainty, Katia Hristova '02

Honors Projects

Voucher privatization, a kind of large-scale privatization, was of special importance. It was conducted by the Czech Government in order to redistribute property among the population in a situation of complete lack of domestic private capital. All citizens over the age of 18 had the opportunity to obtain a voucher book. However, by providing little information about the process, the Government was really aiming only at the knowledgeable citizens who would be successful entrepreneurs. Voucher privatization was also thought of as a way to speed up the transition in the economy.

New Mexico Labor Market Review 03-31-2002, New Mexico Department Of Labor

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 February 2002.

Ua12/2/1 Take Control, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Special job fair edition of the College Heights Herald. Articles:

• Directory of Organizations & Opportunities
• Shinall, Dave. Economists Say Recession Over; Students Still Worried
• Nations, Amber. Internships, Co-ops Provide Experience
• Schoenbaechler, Danny. Resumes, Interview First Steps to Job
• Sewell, Beth. Job Availability Depends on Major
• Corcoran, Kate. Local Entrepreneurs Pass on Words of Wisdom
• Youngman, Sam. Columnist Encourages Students to Stay in School as Long as Possible
• Ford, Sam. Freshman Balances Job, Homework, Married Life
• Sigman, Amber. Many Students Choose Jobs in Bowling Green
• Shinall, Dave. Military Recruitment Sees Increase
• Roberts, Amy. Students Find Pros of Working On & Off …

Design, Implementation, And Evaluation Of The Work First Profiling Pilot Project, Randall W. Eberts

External Papers and Reports

This report describes a new assessment and referral system that was designed to assist local welfare-to-work program staff in targeting employment services more effectively in order to help welfare recipients find jobs. The motivation for the development of this system was the potential effects of targeting services to meet the specific needs of customers. The system is based on statistical methods and uses administrative data typically collected by welfare-to-work agencies. The Kalamazoo-St. Joseph Workforce Development Board piloted the new system by integrating it within the existing Work First program that it administers for the local workforce development area. The pilot …

Arkansas Research And Technology Park: A Strategic Analysis, Jeffery T. Collins

Publications and Presentations

This study is a detailed strategic plan and economic impact analysis for development of a university related research and technology park to be located in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Arkansas Research and Technology Park (ARTP) is an essential component of the state’s overall strategy for equipping Arkansans to compete in the new economy.

It is critical to the economic vitality of the state that new and different types of employment be created. The ARTP is an effort to jumpstart formation of the knowledge-based economy in Arkansas by creating the clusters of expertise necessary to achieve critical mass in knowledge-based industry. This …

Five-Hundred Life-Saving Interventions And Their Misuse In The Debate Over Regulatory Reform, Lisa Heinzerling

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author argues that John D. Graham, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, holds strong anti-environmental biases and has perpetuated and encouraged a misrepresentation of his own research, which has largely influenced health, safety, and environmental regulation.

Macroeconomic Strategy In Wartime, James Tobin

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

In 2001-02 the United States has been hit by two quite different shocks, terrorism and recession. As usual in time of war, national defense is the highest priority for use of the country’s resources. Although the opportunities for international warfare are limited, the challenges to the homeland are virtually unlimited. The president’s fiscal year 2003 budget includes $48 billion additional for the military and $38 billion additional for homeland defense. Given the gravity of the threat, it is hard to understand why new expenditures are not undertaken as soon as and as large as possible. This would also be timely …

Cost-Benefit Analysis: Why Relative Economic Position Does Not Matter, Thomas J. Kniesner, W. Kip Viscusi

Economics - All Scholarship

The current debate over cost-benefit concerns in agencies' evaluations of government regulations is not so much whether to consider costs and benefits at all but rather what belongs in the estimated costs and benefits themselves. Overlaid is the long-standing concern that the distribution of costs and benefits needs some consideration in policy evaluations. In a recent article in the University of Chicago Law Review, Robert Frank and Cass Sunstein proposed a relatively simple method for adding distributional concerns to policy evaluation that enlarges the typically constructed estimates of the individual's willingness to pay for safer jobs or safer products. One …

Thinking About Local Living Wage Requirements, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper reviews what we currently know about the benefits and costs of different varieties of a "living wage": a local government requirement, now adopted by over 50 local governments, for wages above the federal minimum imposed on employers with some financial link to the local government. The review includes economic theory, empirical research on local labor markets, and empirical research on the living wage. The paper concludes that moderate living wage requirements applied to the local government's own employees, and contractors' and grantees' employees who are funded by the local government, may do more good than harm. Excessive living …

How Late To Pay? Understanding Wage Arrears In Russia, John S. Earle, Klara Sabirianova Peter

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We organize an empirical analysis of Russian wage arrears around hypotheses concerning factors that create incentives for firms to pay late and for workers to tolerate late payment, both reinforced by a prevalent environment of overdue wages. Our analysis draws upon nationally representative household panel data matched with employer data to show substantial interfirm variation with the probability of arrears positively related to firm age, size, state ownership, and declining performance. Estimation of a constrained multinomial logit model also reveals intrafirm, variation related to job tenure and small shareholdings in the firm. Workers tend to have higher arrears in rural …

Community-Based Targeting Mechanisms For Social Safety Nets: A Critical Review, Jonathan H. Conning, Michael Kevane

Economics

This paper interprets case studies and theory on community involvement in beneficiary selection and benefit delivery for social safety nets. Several considerations should be carefully balanced in assessing the advantages of using community groups as targeting agents. First, gains from utilizing local information and social capital may be eroded by costly rent-seeking. Second, the potential improvement in targeting criteria from incorporating local notions of deprivation must be tempered by the possibility of program capture by local elites, and by the possibility that local preferences are not pro-poor. Third, intended outcomes may be undermined by unforeseen strategic targeting by local communities …

Has Training Helped Employ Xiagang In China? A Tale From Two Cities, Benu Bidani, Chor-Ching Goh, Christopher J. O'Leary

Reports

This study evaluates the effectiveness of training programs for workers retrenched from Chinese state-owned enterprises in the cities of Shenyang and Wuhan. A variety of impact estimators were applied, however ordinary least squares (OLS) controlling for observable characteristic s was robust. We find that training dampens reemployment prospects in Shenyang but improves them in Wuhan. Training impact estimates computed by propensity score and log odds ratio matching imposing various support condition rules, yielded estimates very similar to those from the OLS. The estimates suggest that participation in training reduces the probability of being employed one year after participation by about …

New Mexico Labor Market Review 02-28-2002, New Mexico Department Of Labor

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 January 2002.

The Health Of Nations: The Contribution Of Improved Health To Living Standards, William D. Nordhaus

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Nations generally measure their economic performance using the yardstick of national output and income. It is not widely recognized, however, that conventional measures of national income and output exclude the value of improvements in the health status of the population. The present study develops a methodology and presents preliminary estimates of how standard economic measures would change if they adequately reflected improvements in health status. The study first discusses the theory of the measurement of national income, examines some of the shortcomings of traditional concepts, and proposes a new concept called ‘health income’ that can be used to incorporate improvements …

High-Tech Industrial Activity In Greater Cleveland 1992-2000, Robert Sadowski

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This briefing paper provides an analysis of high-tech activity in the Cleveland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) from 1992 to 2000. It begins by defining the term high-tech industry, using criteria developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). High-tech industries are then analyzed from the viewpoint of employment levels, average earnings, and number of establishments. The City of Cleveland’s share of high-tech activity is discussed along with a comparison of the Cleveland PMSA versus the U.S. The paper concludes with a summary analysis of Cleveland’s position n in the world of high-tech.

High-Tech Industrial Activity In Greater Cleveland 1992-2000: Technology-Oriented Employment Addendum, Robert Sadowski

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Isotonic Designs For Phase I Trials, Denis H. Y. Leung, You-Gan Wang

Research Collection School Of Economics

The purpose of a phase I trial in cancer is to determine the level (dose) of the treatment under study that has an acceptable level of adverse effects. Although substantial progress has recently been made in this area using parametric approaches, the method that is widely used is based on treating small cohorts of patients at escalating doses until the frequency of toxicities seen at a dose exceeds a predefined tolerable toxicity rate. This method is popular because of its simplicity and freedom from parametric assumptions. In this paper, we consider cases in which it is undesirable to assume a …