Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Information Shocks And Partisanship On The Evolution Of Covid-19 In Connecticut, Joslin Valiyaveettil

Honors Scholar Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of life within the United States since early 2020. How people decided to behave during this time heavily influenced the trends that followed, triggering both health and behavioral economic concerns. Those trends seemed to vary based on the area and the beliefs of those constituents. This paper explores how partisan beliefs had an impact on the changes in case rates that occurred within the top 30 most populated towns in the state of Connecticut. In July 2020, former President Donald Trump sent out a tweet publicly endorsing face masks for the first time. …

How The Level Of Job Complexity Impacts The Gender Wage Gap Across Occupations, Zytlaly Magaña Corona

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The present study focused on unpacking the social and structural aspects of job complexity to better understand its effects on the gender wage gap. Previous research on the job complexity-compensation dynamic has primarily focused on cognitive complexity. Job complexity across occupations were examined using work activity data from O*NET and merging it with the Current Population Survey data sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (N=67,003). Results revealed that higher complexity jobs in this study yielded greater wage disparities across different occupations as predicted. Furthermore, physical activities and gaining knowledge from the Generalized Work Activities were the two most …

From Self-Sufficiency To Import Dependence In The Republic Of The Marshall Islands: Data Issues And Challenges, Debra L. Claypool

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Although it appears likely that the profoundly asymmetrical political and economic relationship between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has contributed to the abandonment of traditional agriculture, import-dependency, and a decrease in quality of life for the citizens of the RMI, limits in existing quantitative data make it impossible to model exactly how this occurred. Therefore, rather than seek to model this causal relationship, the researcher employed three existing ethnographic studies to establish a quantitative measure of the transformation itself. Using additional government documents to supplement the existing data, a measure of relative percentage of …

Borderplex Business Barometer, Volume 5, Number 5, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Steven L. Fullerton, Ana Gutierrez Zubiate

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

Byzantine Empire Economic Growth: Did Climate Change Play A Role?, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Different chroniclers of the history of the Byzantine Empire have noted various economic data gleamed from historical documents and accounts of the empire at different periods of time. Research for this paper has not uncovered any estimates of long term, annual macroeconomic data (gross domestic product (GDP), national income (NI), etc.) for the empire during its existence. Such data has been estimated to one extent or another for other nations and societies that have existed during the middle ages. This paper attempts to provide conjectures on approximate real GDP per capita trends for the empire over its existence from AD …

Exploring Equity In Health And Poverty Impacts Of Control Measures For Sars-Cov-2 In Six Countries, Sedona Sweeney, Theo Prudencio Juhani Capeding, Rosalind Eggo, Maryam Huda, Mark Jit, Don Mudzengi, Nichola R. Naylor, Simon Procter, Matthew Quaife, Lela Serebryakova

Community Health Sciences

Background: Policy makers need to be rapidly informed about the potential equity consequences of different COVID-19 strategies, alongside their broader health and economic impacts. While there are complex models to inform both potential health and macro-economic impact, there are few tools available to rapidly assess potential equity impacts of interventions.
Methods: We created an economic model to simulate the impact of lockdown measures in Pakistan, Georgia, Chile, UK, the Philippines and South Africa. We consider impact of lockdown in terms of ability to socially distance, and income loss during lockdown, and tested the impact of assumptions on social protection coverage …

Measuring The Significance Of Precautionary Savings: Empirical Evidence From The Psid, Sokaina El Bekri

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Many economic models assume frictionless worlds with perfect insurance markets. A notable exception is the standard incomplete markets (SIM) model which allows for incomplete insurance markets that result in precautionary savings among agents. In this paper, I test for evidence in support of precautionary savings using both macro and micro-level data. Using aggregate data, I find that the unemployment rate is negatively correlated with savings and consumption, and positively correlated with household debt. If the unemployment rate rises, savings and consumption fall the next period while household debt increases. At the micro level, panel data analysis shows strong evidence of …

Investing In Our Future: A State-Level Analysis Of The Relationship Between Education Funding And Economic Growth, Corinna Campbell-Green

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research paper aims to investigate associations between education investments and economic growth on the state level. These relationships are measured in terms of two dependent variables: state gross domestic product output and cumulative personal incomes by state. These dependent variables, or indicators of economic growth were selected from previous supportive literature. The present study analyzes publicly available aggregate school finance data reports and aggregate GDP output reports for the year of 2018. Two hypotheses were tested to assess these associations. The results of the present study showed significant, positive associations for both tested hypotheses. This study further supports existing …

The Impact Of Mindfulness On Healthy Food Choices, Kaylea Hopfer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The practice of mindfulness has a long history in research, particularly psychological studies. In this paper I examine the effects of a short mindfulness intervention on healthy food purchases. Specifically, I developed an online survey and recruited 634 participants via Prolific between July 24 - July 27, 2020. I randomly assigned participants to either a mindfulness manipulation or a control condition. Following treatment (or control) participants completed a food choice task and various other control. Following the survey, I analyzed data using R version 4.0.2 (2020-06-22) and R-Studio. I estimated three different regression models, ordinary least squares (OLS), Poisson, and …

In-Fill Asymptotic Theory For Structural Break Point In Autoregression, Liang Jiang, Xiaohu Wang, Jun Yu

Research Collection School Of Economics

This article obtains the exact distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator of structural break point in the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process when a continuous record is available. The exact distribution is asymmetric, trimodal, dependent on the initial condition. These three properties are also found in the finite sample distribution of the least squares (LS) estimator of structural break point in autoregressive (AR) models. Motivated by these observations, the article then develops an in-fill asymptotic theory for the LS estimator of structural break point in the AR(1) coefficient. The in-fill asymptotic distribution is also asymmetric, tri-modal, dependent on the initial condition, and delivers …

Boosting: Why You Can Use The Hp Filter, Peter C. B. Phillips, Zhentao Shi

Research Collection School Of Economics

We propose a procedure of iterating the HP filter to produce a smarter smoothing device, called the boosted HP (bHP) filter, based on L2-boosting in machine learning. Limit theory shows that the bHP filter asymptotically recovers trend mechanisms that involve integrated processes, deterministic drifts, and structural breaks, covering the most common trends that appear in current modeling methodology. A stopping criterion automates the algorithm, giving a data-determined method for data-rich environments. The methodology is illustrated in simulations and with three real data examples that highlight the differences between simple HP filtering, the bHP filter, and an alternative autoregressive approach.

Parkersburg Area Economic Outlook: 2021-2025, Joseph Gutmann, Sarah Ihlenfeld, Sofia Nunez, Ryan Snyder

Bureau of Business & Economic Research

The Parkersburg Area economy has generally struggled over the past several years. Even though the region outperformed many other portions of West Virginia during the early- to mid-2010s, the five-county area has failed to gain much traction since 2015. Indeed, the Parkersburg Area lost nearly 4,000 jobs between early-2015 and mid-2017. The region did see a modest rebound in job growth during 2018 and 2019, due in large part to gains in manufacturing and construction activity.

The Effects Of The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program On Non-Targeted Interventions, Anna Kate Peterson

20th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2021)

According to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, the rate of hospital readmissions for Medicare patients fell from 18.3 percent in 2010 to 17.1 percent in 2016. Still, since avoidable readmission within 30 days of discharge is a negative healthcare outcome and costly, whether the readmission is due to low-quality care or random complication, it captures the attention of healthcare cost-conscious policymakers. The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), implemented in 2012, aims to decrease readmission following selected procedures. This research analyzes the effect of the HRRP on readmission rates that were not a part of the HRRP’s intended scope, referred …

Identity For Development: India’S Biometric Id Program And Access To Public And Private Services, Meher Kaur

Honors Theses

Since its rollout in 2009, Aadhaar, India’s biometric identification system, has generated unique IDs for nearly 95% of India’s population. Since 2009, a variety of public and private services in India have been linked to Aadhaar. This linkage is intended to improve access to public welfare and private services for marginalized groups, such as third gender individuals and rurally located groups, who were historically left out of public welfare programs due to the absence of formal identification. However, there is a general lack of research on how effective Aadhaar is in linking individuals to state and private services and how …

Going Green: A Comparative Analysis Of Green Urbanism In Paris And Shanghai, Jeanne Torp

Honors Theses

As climate change becomes more pressing with each day and as we scramble to slow down the challenges it poses, adapting the means of operation within our cities will become an invaluable tool for reducing humanity’s carbon footprint. This paper seeks to study the ways in which green infrastructure in global cities can be used to do just that—adapting to and mitigating the effects of challenges resulting from climate change. In order to provide a broad overview of the effectiveness of such green infrastructure systems across the globe, this research will focus on two cities that vary greatly in their …

Periodontal Parameters And Anti-Cardiolipin Antibodies Following Periodontal Therapy In Chronic Periodontitis, Wan Majdiah Wan Mohamad, Noor Rashidah Saad, Siti Lailatul Akmar Zainuddin, Haslina Taib

Journal of Dentistry Indonesia

Anti-cardiolipin (anti-CL) antibodies are autoantibodies which are directed against cell membrane phospholipids. A significant number of periodontitis patients showed positive for anti-CL antibody. Objective: This study aimed to determine the periodontal parameters and anti-CL antibodies levels before and after non-surgical periodontal therapy in chronic periodontitis. Methods: This cross-sectional study had been carried out at Periodontal Clinic, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia. Thirty five chronic periodontitis (CP) and 39 non-periodontitis (NP) patients underwent clinical periodontal examination at baseline. Plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), periodontal pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment loss (CAL) were measured. Scaling …

Assessment Of Gingival Status And Gingival Overgrowth Among Immunosuppressed Patients In Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital, Wan Majdiah Wan Mohamad, Syamimi Izzati Mat Zaid, Haslina Taib

Journal of Dentistry Indonesia

Drug-induced gingival overgrowth (DIGO) is defined as an abnormal growth of the gingiva due to adverse effect of some drugs such as immunosuppressant, calcium channel blocker, and anticonvulsant. Immunosuppressive drugs play an important role in controlling organ transplant rejection and were widely used to treat different diseases. Objective: Immunosuppressive drugs are used for prevention of transplant rejection and management of autoimmune disease. Drug-induced gingival overgrowth (GO) is abnormal growth of gingiva due to adverse effect of these drugs. This study aimed to assess the gingival status, the prevalence of gingival overgrowth and its associated factors among immunosuppressed patients. Methods …

The Role Of Peer Influence On Oral Health Knowledge And Behaviors Among Adolescents, Maryam Sadeghipour Roudsari, Seyed Peyman Shariatpanahi, Mahshid Namdari, Mohammad Hossein Khoshnevisan, Mahsa Malek-Mohammadi, Mohammad Hadi Foroughmand

Journal of Dentistry Indonesia

Although many researchers, in different social sciences fields, are being attracted to the new potential promotional phenomenon, the influence of peer connections, the literature in dental public health is very poor. Objective: This article investigates the role of peer influence on individuals’ oral health knowledge and behavior among adolescents. Methods: The purpose of the study was to explore the correlation between secondary school students’ oral health u and knowledge within friendship groups. A valid and reliable questionnaire was developed. A total of 421 students (228 boys and 193 girls) aged between 12-13 years old participated in the study. …

Multiple Oral Ulcerations In A Seizure Patient With Undiagnosed Brain Arteriovenous Malformation, Ambar Kusuma Astuti, Febrina Rahmayanti

Journal of Dentistry Indonesia

Multiple ulcerations are rarely caused by a traumatic event, but seizures can induce repeated injury to the oral mucosa. A patient with a seizure history possesses a challenge in their dental management. Objective: In order to describe a case of multiple oral ulceration in a post-seizure patient with undiagnosed arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in the left parietal lobe and provide short guidelines for dentists in managing patient with a seizure history. Case report: A 23-years old female had multiple oral ulceration in the right and left buccal mucosa and her tongue. She reported having a seizure attack six days before. …

Normalizing Community Mask-Wearing: A Cluster Randomized Trial In Bangladesh, Jason Abaluck, Laura H. Kwong, Ashley Styczynski, Ashraful Haque, Md. Alamgir Kabir, Ellen Bates-Jeffries, Emily Crawford, Jade Benjamin-Chung, Salim Benhachmi, Shabib Raihan, Shadman Rahman, Neeti Zaman, Peter J. Winch, Md. Maqsud Hossain, Hasan Mahmud Reza, Stephen P. Luby, Ahmed Musfiq Mobarak

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Background: A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that face masks can slow the spread of COVID-19 and save lives, but mask usage remains low across many parts of the world, and strategies to increase mask usage remain untested and unclear. Methods: We conducted a cluster-randomized trial of community-level mask promotion in rural Bangladesh involving 341,830 adults in 600 villages. We employed a series of strategies to promote mask usage, including free household distribution of surgical or cloth masks, distribution and promotion at markets and mosques, mask advocacy by Imams during Friday prayers, role modeling by local leaders, promoters …

The Impact Of Community Masking On Covid-19: A Cluster Randomized Trial In Bangladesh, Jason Abaluck, Laura H. Kwong, Ashley Styczynski, Ashraful Haque, Md. Alamgir Kabir, Ellen Bates-Jeffries, Emily Crawford, Jade Benjamin-Chung, Shabib Raihan, Shadman Rahman, Salim Benhachmi, Neeti Zaman, Peter J. Winch, Md. Maqsud Hossain, Hasan Mahmud Reza, Abdullah All Jaber, Shawkee Gulshan Momen, Faika Laz Bani, Aura Rahman, Tahrima Saiha Huq, Stephen P. Luby, Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Background: Mask usage remains low across many parts of the world during the COVID- 19 pandemic, and strategies to increase mask-wearing remain untested. Our objectives were to identify strategies that can persistently increase mask-wearing and assess the impact of increasing mask-wearing on symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. Methods: We conducted a cluster-randomized trial of community-level mask promotion in rural Bangladesh from November 2020 to April 2021 (N=600 villages, N=342,126 adults). We cross-randomized mask promotion strategies at the village and household level, including cloth vs. surgical masks. All intervention arms received free masks, information on the importance of masking, role modeling by community …

Darkness Falls Upon America’S Backyard: An Evaluation Of Central Appalachia’S Past Economic Woes And A Blueprint For The Region’S Future Economic Development, Jack Bergantino

Honors Scholar Theses

The United States prides itself as a nation that offers equity and opportunity to its citizens. However, in recent decades, regions of relative wealth and poverty have come to define the American landscape. Coastal communities have fared well with consistently declining rates of unemployment and increasing rates of college graduation. In contrast, Central Appalachia, which comprises parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, continues to falter with diverging employment and income levels relative to other areas of the country.

This report discusses the economic history of the Appalachian region and considers three case studies, concentrated in McDowell, Harrison, and …

Extension-Led Demonstration: Grameen Microfinance Methods And Capital Access For Low-Income Female Entrepreneurs, Mark A. Edelman

Journal of Extension

A nonprofit community development financial institution and Extension collaborated to conduct a demonstration project to evaluate efficacy of Grameen peer-group microfinance methodology in addressing barriers faced by low-income women entrepreneurs in a small metro area. Program performance metrics achieved by 284 culturally diverse, low-income entrepreneurs (almost all women) over 5 years included a program loan repayment rate of 99%, increased average client income, bank savings accumulation, and increased opportunities for improved credit scores. Client survey responses indicated program methods developed confidence and skills in finances, leadership, and teamwork. Extension professionals may play various roles in such endeavors.

Asylum Policy In France: A Case Study Of Governing Party Incentives & Seine Saint-Denis : Une Étude De Cas Sur L’Impact Des Partis Au Pouvoir Sur La Politique D’Asile, Jacob Kang

International Relations Honors Papers

Following an increase in displaced persons globally in the 2000s and 2010s, governments around the world have been required to adjust their response to the growing need for refuge. Even internally within countries, there was variation in how the governing political party revised asylum policy. This thesis seeks to explain that variation in asylum policy in France between 2007 and 2019 under three different parties in power. Its explanations focus on the ideology and electoral incentives of governing parties and it focuses on the general economic status of the country. Based on literature and historical context, three factors are primarily …

An Assessment Of The Economic Conditions In The City Of Battle Creek, Kathleen Bolter, Jim Robey, Gerrit Anderson, W.E. Upjohn Institute For Employment Research

Reports

The City of Battle Creek offers current and future residents many benefits including a lower cost of living, growing health care and manufacturing sectors, and relatively high wages for the region. At the same time, the City of Battle Creek, like many small-sized midwestern cities, faces many challenges. Its workforce is shrinking and aging. Residents lack the educational attainment needed to compete in the twenty-first-century economy. And, economic, social, racial, and ethnic divisions exist within the city. Together, these issues could risk the ability of the City of Battle Creek to reach a new level of competitiveness and attract new …

A Comparative Analysis Of Bohemian And Irish Immigration During The Antebellum Period, Emily Suchan

Honors Projects

Compare and Contrast the immigration experience of an Irish and Bohemian (Czech) immigrant. This essay describes the history of both regions and analyzes the political and economic stressors for immigration during the second half of the nineteenth century. This essay specifically follows the Irish Famine immigrants and the Czechs who settled in Cleveland, OH

Covid-19: The Impact Of A Nation’S Political Economic Structure On Its Labor Market Spending Policies, Mary Margaret Baldy

Business and Economics Honors Papers

The onslaught of COVID-19 in March 2020 claimed the lives of millions and caused a global economic downturn marked by vast unemployment. Previous research has focused on how fiscal policy is utilized by advanced developed nations and their objectives with respect to fiscal policy. This paper aims to examine how a given nation’s labor market spending policies are impacted by its political economic structure. In order to delineate between and analyze the approaches of different political economic structures, this paper utilizes Nordic, Liberal, and Asian States constructs. In order to investigate the impact of political economic structure on labor market …

Sunk Or Dunk?: An Empirical Analysis Of The Effect Of Sunk Cost Fallacy In Professional Basketball, Hailey Dicicco

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This project is divided into two sections. The first section is a comparison between the NBA and WNBA, using performance metrics from game statistics. Using performance characteristics, an empirical analysis was used to determine if the number of minutes played was determined by consistent parameters across these organizations. This finding showed inconsistency. The WNBA showed higher valuation for blocks, steals, and assists while the NBA showed higher valuation for three-point percentages and defensive rebounds.

The second section of the paper evaluates the sunk cost fallacy and its impacts in the NBA. The WNBA was not able to be included in …

Youth Disconnection During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mark Borgschulte, Yuci Chen

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth disconnection—i.e., the share of young people who were neither in school nor at work. Youth disconnection offers important advantages, relative to unemployment or participation rates, as a measure of the labor market for the most marginal and disadvantaged youth. Before the pandemic, approximately one out of eight young people between the ages of 18 and 24 were disconnected. The disconnection rate increased dramatically in April 2020 because of the pandemic; however, it has decreased quickly since that time. The increase in the disconnection rate at the beginning of the …

Community Health Assessment: Kalamazoo, Kathleen Bolter, Jim Robey, Gerrit Anderson, W.E. Upjohn Institute For Employment Research

Reports

No abstract provided.