Digital Commons Network^™

Part 2: Another Year In Recovery: Virginia's Metropolitan Areas, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

If Virginia is to continue its recovery from the pandemic economic shock of 2020, this growth will largely come from Virginia’s metropolitan areas. We ask whether Virginians have returned to the labor force in the aftermath of the pandemic and explore how unemployment rates may not reflect the availability of labor. Lastly, we examine how population change may influence the future of Virginia’s metro areas.

Targeting Using Differential Incentives: Evidence From A Field Experiment, Yubraj Acharya, Jiyoon Kim

Economics Faculty Research and Scholarship

In a field experiment in Nepal, we varied the amount of financial incentives provided to health outreach workers by the ethnicity of the client they recruited for a free sugar level assessment. We find that our differential incentive in the ratio of 2.5∶1, geared toward encouraging a disadvantaged referral, raises the chances of such a referral by 11.6 percentage points (95% confidence interval, 1.1–22.1). This effect translates to an incentive elasticity of referral of 0.2. There is no evidence that the outreach workers refer less sick individuals to benefit from higher financial incentives; nor do they target fewer overall referrals.

Green, Clean, And Mean? China’S Foreign Direct Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa Economy, Makuochukwu Okoma

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is an investigative study that utilized the Panel Vector Autoregressive (PVAR) model that examines the impact of China’s Foreign Direct Investment on the environment and economy of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In evaluating this impact, 43 SSA countries were analyzed and subdivided into various income levels; three arguments were proposed and tested.First is China’s FDI in SSA, “green.” Does China’s FDI lead to sustainable growth and development for the environment in SSA.? Second, does China’s FDI clean up pollution through the reduction of Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions? Lastly, does it lead to economic growth and development in SSA? The …

Impacts Of Profamilia Program Spread On Contraceptive Use And Fertility Rates In Colombia During Its Introduction, Katherine C. Specht

Honors Theses

I examine the effect of the Profamilia program during its beginning years over the 1960s and 1970s as it spread across Colombia. I find that Profamilia effectively delays first birth, intercourse, and age at marriage, and reduces the probability of having had a teen birth. These outcomes were also linked to increased literacy rates, improved educational attainment, and an increase in employment. Birth spacing and contraceptive use increased. These findings support current research that improving access to family planning services is an effective method for decreasing women’s fertility and improving educational and employment opportunities for women. The implication that having …

Bean To Buck: Examining The Effects Of The Global Coffee Commodity Market On Smallholders In Colombia, Alexander Ozols

Honors Theses

Utilizing global coffee commodity prices as an exogenous variable on households' consumption, I examine how global coffee commodity price fluctuations affect the well-being of households in the third-largest coffee-producing nation, Colombia. The results show that rural regions and regions designated as part of the "Coffee Axis" are most affected by fluctuations in prices. While results on other regional distinctions are not significant, the size of a household's farming operation dictates how increases in consumption are affected. Lastly, I show that changes in coffee prices, do not have any effect on whether a small or large farm will switch to growing …

From Soup To Nuts - The Efficiency Of Non-Profits: Evidence From U.S. Food Banks, Mary A. Mattingly

Masters Theses

Nonprofits are a growing part of America’s economy and play an import role in fulfilling the needs of society in addition to private firms and government agencies. Economists haven’t researched nonprofits as much as other firms in the past, but this is starting to change. This project looks at the efficiency of 20 food banks in the United States using Data Envelopment Analysis. The results show that American Food Banks appear to be using their funds efficiently, but others could learn to use their inputs and outputs in a more efficient manner. As more data becomes available, this area of …

Consumer Guilt And Sustainable Choice: Environmental Impact Of Durable Goods Innovation, K. Sudhir, Ramesh Shankar, Yuan Jin

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

The paper develops a modeling framework to study how sustainability interventions impact consumer adoption of durable goods innovation, firm profit and environmental outcomes in equilibrium. Our two period model with forward looking consumers and a monopoly firm introducing an innovation in the second period accommodates three key features: (1) it builds on the psychology literature linking reactive and anticipatory guilt to consumers’ environmental sensitivity on initial purchase and upgrade decisions; (2) it disentangles environmental harm over the product life into that arising from product use and dumping at replacement; and (3) it clarifies how a taxonomy of innovations (function, fashion …

Poverty And Elderly Labor Supply In Thailand, Ruoshan Zhao

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The aim of this study was to estimate the impact of poverty on elderly labor force participation and investigate the relationship between poverty and the intensity of work (i.e., working days). Labor supply by the elderly is increasingly one of the most concerning issues in developing countries. Based on studies on the elderly, researchers have made significant findings regarding the labor participation rates of older adults. However, there is a lack of research on the relationship between the labor force participation rate and poverty among the elderly in Thailand. This study used the probit regression model and Tobit regression model …

Scoping The Potential For A Digital Led Recovery From Covid-19 In Africa, Rashmi Banga, Karishma Banga

Journal of African Trade

Abstract In this paper, we analyse the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for Africa's trade in digitizable products, digitally deliverable services (DDSs), and e-commerce, and we outline the challenges of a digitally led recovery from the pandemic for African countries. The analysis is based on macro- and micro-level data and a review of extant literature. We find that almost 60% of the global exports of digital products in 2020 originated from the EU, with another 16% from North America. Africa's share in global exports of digital products, by contrast, was less than 1%. In the case of intra-Africa trade, exports …

Extreme Temperatures During Pregnancy And Adverse Birth Outcomes: Evidence From 2009 To 2018 U.S. National Birth Data, Gulcan Cil, Jiyoon Kim

Economics Faculty Research and Scholarship

We provide the first estimates of the impacts of prenatal exposure to extreme temperatures on infant health at birth using the latest national birth data from 2009 to 2018 from all U.S. states. We consistently find that an additional day with mean temperature greater than 80°F or less than 10°F increases preterm births and low birthweight. Strikingly, the adverse effects are borne disproportionately by Black and Hispanic mothers, suggesting that the projected increase in extreme temperatures may further exacerbate the existing birth health disparities across different race/ethnicity groups. We also contribute by investigating the impact of deviations from the normal …

Part 1: Inflation, Uncertainty, And Volatility Undermine Virginia's Recovery, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

If the story of 2020 was the pandemic and the tale of 2021 was the recovery, then rising inflation and interest rates dominated the narrative of 2022. The economic recovery remained incomplete, with jobs returning to pre-pandemic levels but some Virginians remaining outside the labor force. Now, with the possibility of a recession in 2023 looming, we ask how Virginia fared over the last 12 months and what are the prospects for future growth?

Economic Policy And Equality : Neoliberalism And Gender Equity In Latin America Since The 1970s, Donnett Annmarie Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Neoliberalism has been a persistent concern for policymakers, scholars, and the general public in Latin America due to its negative effects on women. This paper examines the relationship between neoliberal economic policies and gender equality from the 1970s to 2003 in the region. I use a mixed-methods approach to test the two major competing theories from the literature that discuss women’s status under neoliberal reform. I find that neoliberal economic policies did not improve the status of women but reduced gender disparity. Neoliberalism led to the worsening of men’s status, which caused the status of women to seem better. Overall, …

The Community Reinvestment Act: Reimagined, Jonathan Raefski

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

America has long been considered the land of opportunity. However, the American Dream’s attainability has not been widespread. Instead, wealth continues to be funneled into the hands of the select few. In an effort to combat income inequality and to provide capital reinvestment for historically left behind groups, Congress enacted the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in 1977. The idea behind the legislation was to stimulate lending and extend credit to areas that were affected by redlining, classism, or other prejudicial practices that enabled income inequality. This thesis aims to analyze the legislation to understand both the strengths and weaknesses of …

Private Equity – The Rescue Or Destruction Of Financially Distressed Investments, Alex Wilson

CMC Senior Theses

This paper investigates the effect PE-backing has on portfolio companies in financial distress. Inspired by the more recent questioning of the morality of the Private Equity industry, this paper analyzes the change in financial health after a PE buyout transaction and directly compares that of financially distressed firms during the same time period that were not PE-backed. This study utilizes a dataset made up of financially distressed, public US firms as of 2009, and assesses the change in Z-score ~10 years after PE investment to determine whether PE-backing has an effect on the change in financial health. The negative coefficient …

The Effect Of Medicaid On Recidivism: Evidence From Medicaid Suspension And Termination Policies, Gultekin Gollu, Mariyana Zapryanova

Economics: Faculty Publications

Although people who go through the prison and jail system in the United States have significant health care needs, many leave it with no health insurance and, as a result, they experience gaps in access to care. Exploiting variation in Medicaid eligibility policies for incarcerated individuals across states and using administrative prison release data, we find that suspending rather than terminating Medicaid upon incarceration decreases the probability of returning to prison within 1 and 3 years of release by 2.91 and 4.58 percentage points, respectively. These effects are observed among different types of prisoners, but are greater for Black and …

Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans’ Opinions About Water, Climate, And Energy: 2022 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz, Amanda Tupper

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans receive their home tap water from city water or municipal water systems. Just over two-thirds of rural Nebraskans receive their drinking water from a municipal system. One-quarter have private well water and seven percent are on a rural water system.

Many rural Nebraskans have tested their home tap water for nitrates. However, a similar proportion indicated they have not tested their water or are unsure. Persons with higher household incomes are more likely than persons with lower incomes to have tested their home water for each of the items listed. Many persons with the lowest household incomes …

Are Hispanics Less Likely To Receive Vocational Rehabilitation Services?, Alberto Migliore, John Shepard

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

In the US, 16% of people with cognitive disabilities self-report to be of Hispanic ethnicity (US Census Bureau, FY 2020). However, among people with intellectual disabilities who received vocational rehabilitation services, only 11% (-5%) are Hispanic (N = 32,823, RSA911, FY2020).

Sustainability In The New England Ski Industry, Sydney E. Gendreau

Honors Theses and Capstones

The goal of this study is to explore the extent to which sustainable investments are worthwhile for the New England ski industry. Research has shown that the New England ski industry will be greatly impacted by the effects of climate change within the near future. Anthropogenic climate change over the next several decades will cause frequent low snow winters, increases in night time winter temperatures, and overall shorter winters. Detailed economic analysis has shown that low snow and warm winters result in roughly $54 million in lost revenue for the New Hampshire ski industry in the past (Burakowski, Magnusson, 2012). …

“The Real Cost Of Mining: How Digging For Rare Earth Metals Could Pose A Greater Cost Than Evs Can Save”, Brahim Khalil Yatim

Honors Theses and Capstones

The Paris Climate Agreement proposes to have 20% of all road transport vehicles be electric by the year 2030. Implementation of this policy is critical to help obtain a 2 degrees Celsius reduction in the increase of global temperatures by 2030. This paper dives into the true costs of taking on a project that large scale. This study finds that though the benefits of this project would result in a 351,785,600 tons of GHG saved by the electric conversion there are significant environmental and human costs associated with the mining necessary to complete the agreement's goal. With current technologies and …

Negotiating The Bbnj Agreement : Exploring The Caribbean Community's Engagement From A Blue Economy Perspective With Special Focus On Environmental Impact Assessment Provisions, Kahlil Hassanali

World Maritime University Ph.D. Dissertations

The countries of the world are engaged in negotiations to develop an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (The BBNJ agreement). In the BBNJ process, the member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) participate as a regional bloc and have been actively involved in the negotiations. This thesis applies an action research methodology along with a mix of methods, including the reading of primary, secondary and grey literature; document content analysis; interviews and informal conversations; …

Paso Del Norte Economic Indicator Review, January, Hunt Institute For Global Competitiveness

Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Islamic Financial Principles On Mitigating The Covid-19 Financial Crisis In Pakistan, Mohammed Monzur Murshid

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a global financial crisis. Governments and central banks around the world took unprecedented measures to mitigate the effect of the pandemic-triggered financial crisis and maintain the stability of the financial system. The purpose of this cross-sectional quantitative study was to examine the capability of the Islamic financial system to mitigate the effect of the pandemic-induced financial crisis on the economy of Pakistan in 2020. The International Monetary Fund enhanced dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (IMF-DSGE) model provided the framework for this study. Data collection included conventional financial sector parameters, Islamic financial sector parameters, and country-level macroeconomic data …

Economic Propaganda In The United States, Brooklyn Montgomery

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis aims to identify and analyze three different forms of economic propaganda: cultural, structural, and political. I first examine ‘Do What You Love’ culture and its impact on the labor force. Chapter Two explores the propagation of neoliberal economics as an objective study, and the final chapter analyzes the use of Black capitalism as a political mechanism to quell Black radical sentiment. In detailing these phenomenons, I investigate the implementation, normalization, and effects, as well as the material repercussions of these ideas and structures.

Rural Development In Papua New Guinea: Mining, Logging, Agriculture, And Alternatives, Tj Askew

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines multiple approaches to providing rural, indigenous Papuans with improved social services and economic opportunities. Rural Papuans, who make up 80 percent of the population, face below average rates of nutrition, education, disease, crime, and other quality of life indicators. Due to location, land use rights, lack of infrastructure, and minimal access to economic markets, the PNG government has struggled to provide rural communities with basic social services. Historically, the development of resource extraction projects such as mining, logging, and agriculture have been the main strategies used to improve the livelihood of rural Papuans, with limited success. This …

The Federal Reserve’S Qe Practices Impact On Inflation: A Comparative Analysis Of The Gfc And Covid-Eras, Robert Driscoll

CMC Senior Theses

This paper investigates and compares the effects of the Fed’s quantitative easing policies on US inflation during the Global Financial Crisis and the Covid-era up to February of 2022. As inflation continues to rise, a quantitative measurement of the Fed’s monetary policy response to recessions and its resulting effect on the price level is becoming increasingly relevant. Supporting the quantity monetary theory, I test the impact of the Fed’s increasing their total assets and securities on their balance sheet on CPI and core CPI. Using multiple time series regressions and a single lag component on the analyzed variables. The model …

How A Supply Chain Stumble Changes A Company’S Policies And Progress 20 Years Later: A Case Study Of Gap Inc., Alexandra Futterman

CMC Senior Theses

Gap Inc. is the third-largest American retailer. Founded in 1969, Gap Inc. holds four brands, Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta. In the late 1990s and early 2000s Gap Inc. made headlines for child labor abuses along with many other large brands. After this negative attention, Gap Inc. began developing policies and practices to combat ethical supply chain issues. These policies included a Human Rights Policy, a Code of Vendor Conduct, working conditions standards, and even capacity building programs that boarded company reaches into communities they touch. In conjunction with the policies Gap Inc. has published several social responsibility …

Cross-Cultural Examination Of Vacation Policy On Employee Satisfaction And Happiness, Ketan D. Parekh

CMC Senior Theses

With the advent of technological advancement, entrepreneurship, and a higher emphasis on meritocracy, societies across the globe have experienced intense competition to outdo one another. This has pushed companies to place increased importance on worker productivity; large and small companies want to see their employees work harder, longer, and faster. With this increased demand for work, companies today are making sure they have suitable reward systems to ensure worker satisfaction and quality work production. However, what these reward systems look like and how they function contrast significantly across cultures, especially as it pertains to corporate leave policies. This thesis examines …

The Health Effects Of Anthropogenic Pm2.5 Emissions, Andrew Charles Meyer

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study analyzes the health impacts of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), a common anthropogenic pollutant resulting from vehicles, manufacturing, and wood burning. PM2.5 is an emission of particular concern given its small size of roughly 2.5 micrometers, allowing it to stay in the atmosphere for up to 10 days and penetrate the deepest area of the lungs, the alveoli. This penetration can lead to adverse respiratory and cardiovascular health outcomes, and ultimately lead to an increased mortality rate. This study utilizes data from 1,885 counties in the U.S. between 2001 and 2017, and included health outcome, PM2.5 , and demographic …

Corporate Taxes And Union Wages In The United States, Alison R. Felix, James R. Hines Jr.

Articles

This paper evaluates the effect of U.S. state corporate income taxes on union wage premiums. American workers who belong to unions are paid more than their non-union counterparts, and this difference is greater in low-tax locations, possibly reflecting that unions and employers share tax savings associated with low tax rates. In 2000 the difference between average union and non-union hourly wages was $1.88 greater in states with corporate tax rates below four percent than in states with tax rates of nine percent and above. Controlling for observable worker characteristics, a one percent lower state tax rate was associated with a …

Equality Offshore, Martin W. Sybblis

Faculty Articles

Global governance architecture, crafted by wealthy nations, has perpetuated the subordination of developing jurisdictions. The Article offers a novel and surprising analysis of governance tools used by wealthy countries and inter-governmental organizations to constrain offshore financial centers (OFCs) by focusing on the tools’ disparate impacts on tax havens whose populations comprise predominantly Black and Brown people. With tax haven issues garnering increasing attention, this Article provides a pathbreaking conceptual framework for examining the international tax, crime, and business discourse on OFCs. It also illuminates how the actions of powerful international actors, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development …