Digital Commons Network^™

Eco-Humanitarianism: A Political Ecological Framework For Humanitarian Resilience, Roksanna Keyvan

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

No abstract provided.

Export Processing Zones: Misguided Vehicles Of Globalization, Isabella Calise

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of A Geopolitical Policy—Case Study Of “Korea Limitation Order” Upon The Cultural Entertainment Industry In China, Zhilin Li

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

This paper examines the impact on the South Korean Cultural Entertainment Indus- try(CEI) of China’s “Korea Limitation Order”. In November 2016, Beijing restricted South Korean artists from holding concerts and the broadcast of South Korean TV dramas and banned cooperation between the two countries in the entertainment in- dustries. This paper focuses on the effect this had on exports of cultural products and relating industries from Korea, and how Korea was able to adjust to this geopolitical shock. I examine exports from Korea to China, Japan, and the United States using data from Cultural Entertainment Industry Products Exports, such as …

Development Analysis Of South Africa: Potential Impacts Of The Democratic Alliance’S Presence In The New Coalition, Mitchell Susswein

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

No abstract provided.

Does Bilingualism On Resumes Affect Callback Rates?, Autumn Halfpenny

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

I study the influence of bilingualism in Spanish on the likelihood of receiving a callback for female customer service positions in the Chicago area. Data are collected from sixteen unique resumes submitted to 131 different job postings in an audit study, with applicants differing in bilingual ability. Bilingualism in Spanish significantly in- creases the likelihood of a callback by 17.86%-25.4%, implying bilingualism is valued in customer service roles. This suggests that bilingualism in Spanish may increase job prospects. While previous research studies this using observational and survey data, I use an audit study design with resumes to obtain causal results. …

Housing Construction In Washington, Dc: A Spatiotemporal Perspective, Willem Ells

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Pandemic School Closures On Standardized Testing Outcomes: Evidence From Connecticut, Michael Manieri

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

During the Covid-19 pandemic, schools around the nation closed to prevent the virus’s spread. Following these closures, students’ performance on standardized exams worsened. Using a two-way fixed effect model with district and year fixed effects, I examine if the use of non-traditional schooling modes (i.e. hybrid and virtual) during the pandemic is associated with lower ELA and Math proficiency rates in Connecticut public schools. I find that Connecticut public school districts’ Math and ELA pass rates on the annual Smarter Balanced exam significantly decreased as they used higher levels of virtual and hybrid education. The magnitude of this decrease was …

Bank Stocks And Roosevelt’S Bank Holiday, Marc Weidenmier, Angela Vossmeyer, Nathan Stella, Oncel Aldanmaz

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Roosevelt’s Bank Holiday in March 1933 aimed to halt bank runs and implement licensing for banks. Using a new hand-collected daily database, we examine how bank stocks and bond markets responded to this sweeping regulation. We find that New York City banks saw significant negative abnormal returns, while Chicago banks experienced positive returns, highlighting regional differences in perceptions of the policy. Corporate bond yields fell by 1.4 percentage points, lowering interest rates. Our findings show how markets reacted differently across regions and asset classes to this critical intervention.

Snap Benefits In A Recession: Mountain West State Projections, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet presents data on simulated recession impacts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the Mountain West. The Urban Institute’s “How Would a State Cost Share Affect SNAP in a Recession?” report provides recession projections based on the current SNAP policy – which allows SNAP to automatically expand in the event of a recession – as well as a 10% cost share scenario, for all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. This fact sheet focuses on recession projections for the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Births In The Mountain West, 2023, Lara Karaalp, Yashesvi Sharma, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet details data from a National Vital Statistics report on the number of births within the Mountain West in 2023. This report, offered through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), includes data on the race/ethnic demographics of mothers of American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Black, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, white, and Hispanic descent. This fact sheet explores birth data for the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, by the mother’s place of residence.

Tax Cuts And Jobs Act: A Study On Behavioral Economic Theory, Tax Incentives, And Christian Influence, Tyler James De Haan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Tax Cut and Jobs Act was tax legislation in the United States that affected the charitable giving tax deduction. The problem is that neoclassical economics assumes that a decrease in charitable tax deductions will decrease charitable behavior. The purpose of the study is to understand how Christian influence impacts charitable behavior after a decrease in the charitable tax deduction. The study’s methodology will be mixed methods. The study’s design will be an explanatory sequential cross-unit case study. The study sample consists of Christian and public university alumni associations. The data will be collected in two ways. First, data will …

Management Behavior Required For Creating Social Value In The Uae, André De Waal, Meerna Mroueh

Arab Economic and Business Journal

This study explores how specific managerial behaviors support social value creation in UAE-based Takaful organizations. Using the High-Performance Organization (HPO) framework - particularly the Management Quality factor - it analyzes data from 230 questionnaires and 59 interviews. Findings show strengths in trust and relationship-building, but weaknesses in decision-making, leadership effectiveness, and performance management. Compared to national and global HPO benchmarks, the case organizations scored lower, indicating cultural and organizational barriers. The study offers industry-specific recommendations and presents a practical approach for measuring the alignment between managerial behaviors and ESG, CSR, and EDI goals in Islamic financial institutions.

Three Essays In International Trade And Macroeconomics, Jun Nie

Economics Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the impact of international trade and trade policy on key economic outcomes, including income and productivity. The first chapter investigates the role of trade-induced technology diffusion in shaping global income inequality. When bilateral trade facilitates technology transfer, such diffusion can account for up to 85% of the income gap across countries. The second chapter focuses on the determinants of international trade in services. It highlights a significant link between service and manufacturing trade, conditional on the presence of foreign direct investment (FDI) relationships between trading partners. The third chapter evaluates the 2020 U.S. presidential election, aiming to …

Proceedings Of The 19th Facet Theory Conference, Samuel Shye

International Facet Theory Conference

No abstract provided.

The Social Dimensions Of Aquaculture: Food Sovereignty And Indigenous Rights In Ketchikan, Alaska, Morgan J. Davis

Capstone Collection

This research project asks how the growing commercial aquaculture industry in Ketchikan, Alaska, functions to alleviate or exacerbate local food insecurity; reinforce or undermine food sovereignty among Indigenous communities, and enhance or restrict community participation in the control of marine resources. Global initiatives have responded to food insecurity through agricultural inputs and technology to create higher yields; however, conventional agricultural production has contributed to and is increasingly vulnerable to climate change. To address higher demands for food, government agencies and development experts have looked towards Blue Growth and aquaculture as a solution for food insecurity and environmental concerns. While aquaculture …

Tracking Impact: Leveraging Pre-Existing Monitoring Tools For Assessing Indonesia’S Free Nutritious Meal (Makan Bergizi Gratis) Programme, Putu Geniki Lavinia Natih

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Indonesia’s Makan Bergizi Gratis (MBG) programme is among the largest school feeding initiatives globally, yet its rapid scale-up has outpaced the development of a robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) framework capable of assessing welfare-relevant outcomes. This paper examines whether pre-existing national survey instruments can be leveraged to strengthen outcome monitoring in the absence of MBG-specific microdata. Focusing on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) collected through Indonesia’s National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas), the study first situates experiential food insecurity within Indonesia’s broader food security landscape. It then applies a propensity score matching framework using participation in the Bantuan Pangan Non-Tunai …

The “Sweetest Sounding” Words Of Civil Rights: A Labor Origin Story Of The “Right To Work”, Thomas A. Castillo

History

This essay revisits the idea of “right to work” by offering historical context of Florida’s passage of its 1944 right to work constitutional amendment. A brief overview of the history of the term right to work and its contested nature indicates how the phrase likely led to confusion especially in the arena of political economy. A close evaluation of the amendment and its incongruent nature reveals the intent of its proponents was to deceive voters with the “sweetest sounding” words of civil rights while weakening their ability to organize labor unions. The history of safeguarding the free market entailed disciplining …

Bankruptcy, Ownership Turnover And The Fate Of U.S. Coal Mines, Sara Guffey, Shuichiro Nishioka

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

This paper examines the survival dynamics of U.S. coal mines following ownership turnover, with particular attention to the role of financial distress and bankruptcy procedures. Using mine-level data on production, employment, and ownership from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, we show that mines transferred through private workouts are substantially more likely to close within a few years. In contrast, court-supervised transfers reduce the likelihood of rapid shutdown relative to private transactions, but their survival rates remain indistinguishable from mines without ownership turnover. These results speak to the efficiency of bankruptcy institutions: private transactions, in line with White’s (1994) model, …

Intergenerational Transmission Of Health: Evidence From Indonesia, Fatima Khan

Theses and Dissertations

This study estimates the causal transmission of health from mothers to their children. Intergenerational associations in health and other human capital outcomes are well established, but those associations may not be causal due to common unobserved factors between a mother and her child. This study employs two-stage least squares, using weather variation as an instrument, to causally identify the relationship between maternal health and child health outcomes in five dimensions: height-for-age, self-reported health, blood pressure, lung capacity, and hemoglobin levels. The data are from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (1993--2014), a longitudinal survey that provides a 21-year look into the …

Estimating Price Responsiveness For Service Of A Luxury Transportation Company: A Zero Inflated Poisson Approach, Sydney Butenhoff

All Theses

Estimating price sensitivity is crucial for premium service providers who face inconsistent client engagement. In this study, I investigate both observed ride demand and periods of client inactivity among ABC Transfer’s customers, meaning individuals who may not book rides in a given period but are not necessarily disengaged. ABC Transfer is a luxury ground transportation firm headquartered in upstate South Carolina. Using an unbalanced panel dataset spanning 2012 to 2024, I estimate a Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP) model to distinguish between individuals who might still be clients from those who are not likely to be clients any longer. The model accounts …

Criminal Behavior Responses To Changing Penalties: Estimating The Impact Of Felony Theft Threshold Changes, Ezra R. Simmons

All Theses

This study estimates how criminal behavior changes in response to shifts in felony theft thresholds, contributing to broader evidence on the deterrent effects of criminal penalties. Using detailed incident-level crime reports, this study applies econometric techniques to evaluate how offenders responded to reduced penalties. Analyzed within is California’s Proposition 47, which raised the felony threshold for theft-related offenses from $450 to $950. The results show a significant increase in low-level shoplifting (approximately 21%) and more substantial rises (approximately 24% to 30%) in crimes within the threshold overlap ($450 to $950). Additionally, the value stolen in crimes below the $450 threshold …

Empowerment Through The Sisters Lifting As We Climb Network: Examining The Organization’S Impact On Black Women, Sharnay Hearn Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological case study examines the role of empowerment within the “Sisters Lifting as We Climb Network” through the experiences of Black women participants in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Utilizing in-depth semi-structured interviews, the research investigates the organization's origins, evolution, and social support mechanisms that foster empowerment, as well as participants' experiences with programs and activities over the past nine years. Additionally, the study identifies areas for organizational improvement to further enhance participant empowerment.

The findings of this research support the empowerment theory framework by clarifying the preconditions, processes, and outcomes of empowerment within the Network, which fosters sisterhood and enhances participants' …

Sustainability: Buzz Word Or Future Of Fashion? Measuring The Feasibility Of Outright Sustainability Among Fast Fashion’S Biggest Agents, Ryan Miller

Apparel Merchandising and Product Development Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

The fashion industry is currently experiencing unsustainable rates of pollution within its supply chains. The rapid increase in demand for short lead times perpetrated by large-scale retailers has led to hazardous practices negatively affecting both the environmental conditions and working conditions of producing countries. With this increased pressure, relationships between brands and suppliers have become untenable. Limited transparency and imbalanced power dynamics at the hand of the industry’s leading retailers require restructuring in order to build more sustainable and equitable supply-chain practices. Further, governmental regulation is currently limited in its capacity to enforce sustainable business practices on a global …

Evaluating The Tvr-Set: Insights Into Self-Employment From Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors, Catherine Ipsen, Luke Santore

Employment

This report examines the impact of pilot training on the use of the Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation Self-Employment Toolkit (TVR-SET), developed to support American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) programs. Of the 574 federally recognized Tribes in the U.S., 93 administer AIVRS programs aimed at improving employment outcomes for American Indians with disabilities. Self-employment is a vital pathway in reservation communities, promoting economic independence and cultural preservation. However, AIVRS programs face challenges in staff training and resources. The TVR-SET and its accompanying training address these gaps, enhancing counselors’ capacity to guide consumers in self-employment exploration and business development.

Outsourcing, Labor Market Frictions, And Employment, Mayara Felix, Michael B. Wong

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We estimate the labor market impacts of Brazil’s 1993 outsourcing legalization us-ing North-South variation in pre-legalization court permissiveness, and comparing security guards to less-affected occupations. We find that outsourcing legalization persistently reallocated jobs from older incumbent guards to younger entrants. Total employ-ment of guards and their entry from informality persistently increased, while average demographic-adjusted wages remained constant. Meanwhile, a wave of occupational layoffs displaced some incumbent guards from high-wage firms. The evidence suggests that the rise of non-core activity outsourcing reduced labor market frictions, facilitated by firm-level economies of scale in human resources and spillovers to non-adopting firms.

The Effect Of Tort Liability For Prescribed Burns On Wildfire Severity: Evidence From Georgia’S 2000 Policy Reform, John Patrick Phillips

All Theses

This paper aims to estimate the effect of Georgia’s shift in its prescribed fire tort liability standard from simple negligence to gross negligence on the area burned by wildfires on privately owned land. In response to wildfire damage, some states in the Southeast relaxed their liability standards, aiming to promote more prescribed burns and to better control future wildfires. Using the variation of these policy changes, I construct difference-in-difference models to estimate the treatment effect of Georgia’s policy change in July 2000, using counties in North and South Carolina as the control group. I stagger my regressions, adding covariates and …

Impacts And Insights: Assessing The Aftermath Of Yellowstone’S 500-Year Flood In Montana, Melissa Weddell, Kara Grau, Patrick Holland-Stergar, Christina S. Barsky, Lauren K. Mckeague

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

Tourism is shaped by many elements, including natural disasters and unexpected events, which can profoundly affect visitor patterns and destination choices. While disasters typically reduce tourist numbers, occasionally they can have a positive influence. The purpose of this report is to document the flood event, analyze its impact, recovery process, and the economic losses to the region, particularly in terms of tourism visitation and revenue to the area and its gateway communities. The project was a coordinated effort among researchers from the University of Montana’s Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research (ITRR), the Department of Public Administration and Policy, and …

Draining Development: The Changing Nature Of Corruption In Post-Independence India, Chandra Tiwari

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The economic growth of emerging economies, particularly India’s, stands at a crossroads as the fight against corruption intensifies. Corruption poses a significant threat to the overall development of a country, necessitating the convergence of technological advances with national and global initiatives to combat the issue. Despite several ongoing efforts taken by international bodies to enforce regulations, challenges persist in curbing this issue due to the fundamental behavioral and structural factors at play. This dissertation investigates the dynamic evolution of corruption within a cash-based economy, a period of trade openness, and the contemporary digitalized age in India through a comparative case …

Essays On The Impact Of Childbirth On Parenthood And Childcare, Titir Dey

All Dissertations

This dissertation studies the impact of childbirth and parenthood on the labor market outcomes and decisions of parents. Of the three chapters, the first two talk about how childbirth affects the labor supply decisions of the parents and the subsequent impact on earnings. The third chapter talks about the effect of disruption in the childcare arrangements on the employment outcomes of parents during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

The first chapter measures the short- and long-run declines (penalties) in annual earnings associated with the first childbirth for parents in the United States by exploiting the heterogeneity in their gender, educational attainment …

Constructing A State: Canals And The Transformation Of The Economy, Politics, And Finance In Nineteenth-Century New York, Youwei Xing

All Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays in economic history, unified by a focus on one of America's earliest transportation infrastructures, the canal system, in nineteenth-century New York. Each chapter explores a different aspect of the state's transformation: its economy, politics, and finance, each of which helped construct New York as the Empire State.

The first chapter studies the economic impact of canals on economic modernization from three aspects: sectoral transition, urbanization, and banking development. Contrary to much of the modern literature finds transportation infrastructure leads to decentralization, I find the opposite-evidence of centralization. Specially: (1) canal towns experienced a transition …