Digital Commons Network^™

(Wp 2025-06) Ramsey And Keynes...And Sraffa And Wittgenstein: Change In Interwar Cambridge Economics And Policy, John B. Davis

Economics Working Papers

The Ramsey-Keynes exchange regarding the nature of probability is investigated in connection with the development of interwar Cambridge economics and Ramsey and Sraffa’s influences on Keynes and Wittgenstein. First discussed are Ramsey’s criticisms of Keynes and Wittgenstein; then Sraffa’s criticisms of Marshall and Wittgenstein. Ramsey was influenced by Peirce and pragmatism and Sraffa by Gramsci and the theory of cultural hegemony. Ramsey died in 1930 but Sraffa continued to interact with both Keynes and Wittgenstein. After his critique of Marshall he participated in the ‘Cambridge circus’ and turned to recovering the Classical economics of Ricardo. Keynes’s General Theory statement of …

An Empirical Investigation Of The Effects Of Gunshot Detection Technology In Detroit, Joe Davis

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This paper evaluates the impact of acoustic gunshot detection technology (GDT) on crime and policing outcomes in Detroit, Michigan. Leveraging the implementation of ShotSpotter across high-crime neighborhoods, I analyze outcomes including crime rates, emergency calls, police response times, and case clearance. My findings indicate that ShotSpotter installation is associated with a 6% reduction in violent crime but a modest increase in nonviolent crime. The technology also produces a large increase in the reporting of gunfire incidents—over 300% more gunshot-related calls for service—yet police respond 7% slower to ShotSpotter alerts than to citizen-reported gunshots. Consistent with prior research, I find no …

Strategic Interactions And Gender Cues: Evidence From Social Preference Games, Hernán Bejarano, Matias Busso, Juan Francisco Santos

ESI Working Papers

This paper studies trust, reciprocity, and bargaining using a large-scale online experiment conducted in six Latin American countries. Participants played trust and ultimatum games under randomly assigned conditions in which the gender of their counterpart was either disclosed or withheld. On average, disclosing counterpart gender does not yield statistically detectable effects in either game. However, statistically significant differences emerge by participants' own gender: on average men exhibit higher levels of trust, reciprocity, and generosity in bargaining than women. When disaggregating by participant-counterpart gender pairings, point estimates differ in sign across groups but are generally imprecisely estimated, and differences between interacting …

Does Investing In Schools Reduce Violent Crime?, Jamein Cunningham, Monique E. Davis, Kenneth Whaley

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Female Politicians And Corruption In Rural India, Somdeep Chatterjee, Shiv Hastawala, Elisa Taveras

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

This paper leverages random assignment of female quotas for leadership positions on Indian village councils to assess its causal effect on corruption. Since the mid-1990s, India has mandated that at least one third of village council chief positions be randomly reserved for women. Using data from the Rural Economic and Demographic Survey (REDS) 2006, we find that an additional term reserved for a female head as opposed to just a single one reduces both the occurrence and bribe amounts paid to the local government by households. This reduction is also observed in bribes paid to other local officials suggesting downstream …

Privately Owned Companies Dominate Renewable Energy Generation Ownership Around The World, Dyaran Bansraj, Theodor Florian Cojoianu, Xi Hu, Khaladdin Rzayev, Francisco Urzua

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Global sustainable finance policies are premised on publicly listed companies driving decarbonization through transparency, investor pressure, and capital market access. Analysing c. 20,000 corporate owners of renewable and fossil-fuel assets worldwide, we show the opposite: private firms own approximately 75% of global renewable generation capacity. This private dominance holds across all major technologies and regions, with listed ownership of renewable assets being the majority only in the oil & gas and technology sectors. The Paris Agreement did not alter this balance. Instead, ownership of the energy transition reflects countries' financial structures, with similar patterns observed across manufacturing, construction, and financial …

Resolving The Energy Efficiency Paradox: Leveraging Benefits For Saudi Arabia’S Building Sector, Fateh Belaïd, Mahelet G. Fikru

Economics Faculty Research & Creative Works

This article examines the economics of energy efficiency in Saudi Arabia's building sector, centering on the "energy efficiency paradox," the observed under adoption of cost-effective technologies despite their clear benefits—such as reducing energy use and associated emissions. We show that a mix of market barriers and behavioral biases—including split incentives, informational gaps, and the value-action gap—constrains adoption of energy-efficient solutions. Recent modeling suggests that improved air-conditioning labels could save up to 80 TWh of electricity annually, though rebound effects may erode some of these gains. Our analysis shows that tackling market failures is necessary but not enough. Strong building codes …

Voting Under Contradictory News, Arnab Mitra, Quazi Shahriar

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

How much do opposing news sources distort private information and how do voters use distorted contradictory information regarding candidate quality? In a two candidate voting game, we derive and experimentally test an “average-opinion” hypothesis, where two opposingly biased sources, capable of forming an unbiased estimate of candidate quality as well as a distorted estimate within a bound, symmetrically distort their reported estimates in opposite directions, and voters split the estimate difference to decipher the unbiased estimate. Data support the hypothesis and show that voters benefit from sources’ competition, compared to a control treatment without competition. When sources are allowed to …

What Do Americans Think About Federal Tax Options To Support Transportation? Results From Year Sixteen Of A National Survey, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Hilary Nixon

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report summarizes the results from the sixteenth year of a national public opinion survey asking U.S. adults questions related to their views on federal transportation taxes. A nationally representative sample of 2,539 respondents completed the online survey from February 3 to February 27, 2025. The questions test public opinions about raising the federal gas tax rate, replacing the federal gas tax with a new mileage fee, and imposing a mileage fee just on commercial travel. In addition to asking directly about support for these tax options, the survey collected data on respondents’ views on the quality of their local …

The Economic Impact Of Drought On Alfalfa Price Formation And Irrigation Modernization Feasibility In The Western U.S., Saba Ardakani

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This research examines how drought severity affects alfalfa hay prices across nine Western states from 2021 to 2024, using detailed economic analysis and market data. The findings show that droughts significantly raise alfalfa prices, especially when combined with other market and product factors such as forage quality and package, while other factors like corn prices also influence the market. Additionally, the research examines the economic potential of upgrading wheel-line irrigation systems with technologies such as low-pressure sprinklers and automated controls. Modernization substantially reduces water, labor, and energy costs while boosting crop yields, offering a practical solution for farmers. In Utah, …

Financial Safety Nets, Bank Risk And Depositor Behaviour In Central And Eastern Europe, Dorota Skała

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

We studied expansions in financial safety nets and their relation to bank risk and depositor behaviour in Central and Eastern Europe, using time-varying regulatory data. In general, we find that stronger deposit insurance and state aid granted to banks are linked with both bank risk and depositor behaviour. However, these relations critically depend on whether safety net instruments are used separately or simultaneously. When deposit insurance is strengthened or state aid is granted, we confirm the standard moral hazard behaviour of banks visible in higher bank risk. In parallel, we observe more elevated deposit growth, implying lower market discipline. Conversely, …

Connectedness Of Uncertainty, Volatility, And Stock Market Performance, Szczepan Urjasz

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

This study examines the dynamic connectedness and spillover effects among various financial and economic indicators, including uncertainty indices, market volatility, and stock market indices, from 3 June 2008, to 30 December 2024. This interconnectedness implies that shocks originating in one market or asset class can rapidly transmit to others, underscoring the potential for systemic risk and financial contagion. The US emerges as a significant net transmitter of influence within the global financial system, with the VIX playing a crucial role in influencing global financial conditions. Major European equity markets also transmit influence, while the Geopolitical Risk Index (GRI) and the …

Intergenerational Transfers In A Tractable Overlapping-Generations Setting, James Feigenbaum, T. Scott Findley, Sepideh Raei

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

Motivated by the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax (GSTT) in the United States, we examine how varying estate tax rates by the heir’s age affects welfare. Methodologically, we introduce a parsimonious constant elasticity of substitution (CES) bequest utility that is markedly more tractable than the altruistic specifications commonly used in the literature, delivering closed-form optimal rules and transparent parameterization. Using this new framework, we provide a proof of concept showing how transfers from older to younger generations can enhance equilibrium welfare in a dynamically efficient economy à la Samuelson (1975). We embed the tractable bequest utility in a two-period overlapping-generations model with …

A Capital Idea? The Welfare Effects Of Relocating Indonesia’S Government To A New City, Alexander D. Rothenberg, Radine Rafols, Yao Wang, Yi Jiang

Center for Policy Research

Many developing countries are planning to create new capital cities, a place-making policy designed to alleviate congestion and respond to climate change. To evaluate growth and welfare effects, we specify a dynamic quantitative spatial model with public employment, informality, fiscal transfers, and frictions in trade and migration. We calibrate the model with data from Indonesia and conduct policy experiments studying the creation of Nusantara in East Kalimantan. Despite increasing employment in the new capital region, we find that building Nusantara reduces national growth and welfare. Climate change attenuates its negative welfare effects, but only slightly.

South Carolina Reemployment Services And Eligibility Assessments (Resea) Randomized Controlled Trial Design Report, Gabrielle Pepin, Ethan Jenkins, Christopher J. O'Leary, Aaron Sojourner

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Immigration And The U.S. Economy Under Obama And Trump, Eliz Gevorgian

Political Science Student Research

This paper examines the economic effects of the United States' immigration policy under President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump. Between 2009 and 2017, the Obama administration introduced programs such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and expanded access to student and work visas. These actions coincided with steady GDP growth averaging about 2 percent per year and a decline in unemployment from 9.9 percent in 2009 to 4.7 percent in 2016. The Trump administration, in office from 2017 to 2021, implemented more restrictive immigration measures, including the 2017 travel ban, reduced refugee admissions, increased H1B visa scrutiny, and …

Racial Capitalism And Whitelash: Trumpism And The Politics Of Oppression Redux–A New Normal Or Just New Perfume In An Old Bottle?, Bhoomi K. Thakore, J. Scott Carter, Cameron Lippard, David G. Embrick

Fast Capitalism

There is no question that Donald Trump’s actions in his second presidential term have many people bewildered, shocked, and frightened. What was deemed “not normal” in his first term in office has quickly become the “new normal.” In this paper, we argue that part of the explanation for the rise, and repeated rise, of Trumpism lies in Donald Trump’s ability to fuel and maintain a whitelash against the social progress of the 20th and early 21st century. Not only has Trumpism picked up on the “reverse racism” sentiments that have sprouted as a result of racial, gender, and social progress, …

“This Is Not Normal”: The Global Academy’S Resistance To Authoritarianism And Academic Capitalism, Catherine A. Labrenz, Christian Adeleke, Maria Lúcia T. Garcia, Aline Pandolfi, Mara Mattioni, Fabíola Xavier Leal, Marcela Nava

Fast Capitalism

Summary: In the wake of rising authoritarianism and neoliberal retrenchment, academic institutions across the globe are increasingly pressured to suppress dissent, sanitize curricula, and deprioritize justice-based scholarship. Drawing from responses to political repression in Brazil and Argentina, this paper connects present-day U.S. conditions to transnational histories of academic resistance.

Findings: We locate today’s institutional silencing within the broader logics of academic capitalism and authoritarian governance, emphasizing how compliance, rather than critical engagement, is becoming the new normal.

Applications: Drawing on radical traditions of academic and professional resistance from the Americas, we present lessons learned and action steps …

Front Matter, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Masses, Platforms, And The New Data Domination: Repressive Desublimation Revisited, Raymond L.M. Lee

Fast Capitalism

The world now resembles a mosaic of platforms orchestrating subjective responses to myriad digital stimuli in everyday communication and conduct. People appear to find fulfillment mainly through intense engagement with platforms that thrive on data produced by online entanglements. This is a world society of data domination where power is derived from high-tech interconnectivity, focused on an interplay between technological innovations and mass distraction. Platforms are seen as digital monopolies banking on mass online participation for data extraction and control. In that sense, they foster new forms of desublimation that Herbert Marcuse would have regarded as a re-flowering of repressive …

Psychology, Philosophy, And The Practice Of Politics, Shimon Edelman

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

“This Is The New Normal?” Restoring Or Restricting Democracy Today In America, Timothy W. Luke

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Populism In The Technospheric, Jamie Ranger

Fast Capitalism

I argue that the technospheric condition - a socio-technical reality shaped by social acceleration, the industrialization of memory, and mediatization - serves as a structural catalyst for the repoliticisation of the status quo, necessitating a rethinking of Ernesto Laclau’s discursive approach to populism. Drawing on insights from Bernard Stiegler, Hartmut Rosa, and others, I characterize contemporary social life as deeply entangled with technospheric forces, which exacerbate social problems and provoke counterhegemonic responses. These responses, politically solidified in both emancipatory and reactionary populisms, are not only shaped by populist strategy but also increasingly influenced by algorithmic steering on social media. Thus, …

The Politics Of Parasites And Superfluous Majorities, Samuel Beckenhauer

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of Disappearance: Mahmoud Khalil And America’S Descent Into Fascism, Henry A. Giroux

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

The 100 Days Partnership Between Musk And Trump And The Crises Of American Democracy, Douglas Kellner

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Still Making It Up As He Goes: Revisiting The Hyper-Rhetorical Presidency In Trump’S Second Term, Richard Holtzman

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Timothy W. Luke

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Exploring Private And Governmental Interest In Bitcoin, Mina Khadem

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Regardless of one’s opinion, Bitcoin’s presence in the global economy is growing. However, Bitcoin’s emerging role and its implications are greatly under-researched, particularly in the context of government interest in Bitcoin. Nonetheless, increased private investment in Bitcoin and increased government interest in formally incorporating Bitcoin into existing economic systems, suggest a new development within the global economy that must be investigated. Through qualitative text analysis of pro-Bitcoin narratives presented in digital media platforms and official government policies and public statements, this thesis explores how private and government interest in Bitcoin is explained and framed within these contexts. This study finds …