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Civilian Manufacturing And National Defense: Strategic Planning For Globalization's Challenges, Izeck Kohler

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis examines the interconnection between civilian manufacturing and national defense within the context of globalization. The study aims to identify the challenges faced by the United States in maintaining its manufacturing capabilities and to propose strategic solutions to address these challenges. Through a comprehensive analysis of historical data, case studies, and policy recommendations, the research highlights the critical role of specialized and process manufacturing sectors towards national defense. The findings suggest that the creation of a federal executive department, strategic investment, diversification, policy re-evaluation, and collaborating with allies are essential for sustaining national defense capabilities. The study concludes with …

Esg Federalism: How State Regulations Shape Esg Performance, Kameron Eck

All Master's Theses

This thesis examines how state-level environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regulations influence corporate ESG performance in the United States. Using a panel dataset that combines state ESG legislation, firm-level ESG scores from S&P Global, and financial data from Compustat (2019–2024), I employ fixed-effects regression models to analyze the relationship between state ESG regulations and corporate ESG performance. The analysis incorporates firm and year fixed effects to account for unobservable heterogeneity across companies and time, while controlling for firm-specific characteristics. Additionally, the study investigates whether board gender diversity moderates this relationship. The findings contribute to the understanding of ESG policy effectiveness …

Addressing Economic Instability And Workforce Turnover In Early Childhood Education: The Role Of Stipends, Wage Supplements, And Professional Development, Lucinda J. Leffler

Endeavors: Mississippi State Undergraduate Research Journal

Child care workers are vital to early childhood education, yet they face persistent economic instability, low wages, and high turnover rates. To address these challenges, states and policymakers have implemented stipends, wage supplements, and professional development programs aimed at improving financial security, job satisfaction, and workforce retention. This literature review examines the effectiveness of these initiatives across the United States, drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Vroom’s Expectancy Theory and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory to contextualize their impact. Research indicates that financial incentives significantly reduce turnover, while professional development fosters job satisfaction and career advancement. However, sustainability concerns remain, particularly with …

A Statistical Analysis Of Southern Land Grants In Addressing Declining College Enrollment, Kallen Zhou

Endeavors: Mississippi State Undergraduate Research Journal

With declining enrollment of higher education, it is crucial to analyze current mechanics in order to maintain higher education’s benefits to society. Currently, research is aware that land grants serve an important historical role in promoting enrollment, yet additional research is required on their contemporary impact on enrollment and institutional aid. Specifically, this study evaluates land grants universities - institutions established under the Morrill Act of 1862 - and data collected from their respective Common Data Sets on historical enrollment and institutional aid from 2013 to 2023. A point-biserial correlation analysis and two sample t-test are used to understand the …

Potential Fiscal Stability Effects Of The African Continental Free Trade Area: An Empirical Analysis, Simon Abendin, Duan Pingfang, Umer Shahzad

Journal of African Trade

This study analyzes the potential effects of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on fiscal stability, using panel data from 54 African economies that have ratified the AfCFTA from 2010 to 2021. The study uses a dynamic system GMM model to address endogeneity, simultaneity, measurement bias, and reverse causality issues. The findings indicate that the AfCFTA agreement may reduce government revenue and spending. Furthermore, the study found that the AfCFTA could lead to an increase in government debt

Assessing High-Speed Rail (Hsr) Policy And Politics In Washington State: Avoiding The Mistakes Of The Past, Landen K. Hashimura

All Master's Theses

While international standard high-speed rail (HSR) has yet to be successfully completed in the US, there is a national interest in the topic, as evidenced by recent federal initiatives to research HSR across various corridors. The Cascadia Corridor has been identified as a region with high potential for HSR, leading to an ongoing study in the State of Washington. Given the tumultuous history of American HSR development, the Cascadia HSR initiative needs to avoid the mistakes of the past. Two major contributing factors to this failure to build HSR are uneven political support for HSR and poor policy frameworks. Despite …

Too Essential To Fail: Lessons From County Fiscal Crises, Michael A. Francus

Journal Articles

This Article draws out the lessons of counties for municipal finance. To do so, the Article begins by unpacking the municipal finance regulations that have provided counties with extraordinary fiscal safety. The Article then turns to case studies of the eleven counties that either filed for bankruptcy or had state fiscal interventions since the passage of the Bankruptcy Code in 1978. Those case studies show how counties' finances can (in rare cases) go wrong despite well-designed municipal finance regulations. The case studies also show how counties have successfully responded to those crises through bankruptcy and fiscal intervention.

Using that analysis, …

Mexico Consensus Economic Forecast, Volume 28, Number 1, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Steven L. Fullerton

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

Thorstein Veblen: The Independent Thinker Whose Contributions Advanced A Distinct Tradition Of Heterodox Economics, John B. Hall

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Challenging Charles Camic’s perspective, this article argues that Thorstein Veblen’s time at the top amounted to about nineteen years; a fraction of his professional career. While drawing from and building upon challenges associable with a changing world which he faced – related to the ending of Laissez-faire and the rise of big business; the institutions initiated for prosecuting World War I; and the accompanying rise of the vested interests – Veblen’s writings effectively and propitiously provided a solid foundation for an American school of heterodox thought known as Original Institutional Economics.

Three Essays On The Interaction Between Macroeconomics, Money, And Government Bonds, Zejun Jiang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation, ''Essays on the Interaction between Macroeconomics, Money, and Government Bonds,” has three chapters that study how macroeconomics (e.g., inflation), government bonds, and money interact with each other. It provides insights into how households make optimal maturity choices in government bonds, how households own different types of government bond assets, and how money growth can help understand the cross-country inflation after COVID-19.

The first chapter develops an intertemporal portfolio choice model to investigate the optimal household portfolio choice for government bonds across maturities. The U.S. Treasury data displays a higher holding share of long-term government bonds. Adding uncertain labor …

Three Essays On Local Labor Markets, David Henry Nason

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays that employ applied econometric analysis to examine issues related to local labor markets. These analyses explore three distinct sources of structural change or policy interventions and evaluate their implications for regional labor markets. I examine the impact of occupational skill endowments on regional resilience to a recessionary shock, how exposure to increases in employer skill demand affects local labor markets, and whether grants extended by an existing federally chartered regional commission have a positive impact on distressed local labor markets within its service area.

The first chapter of this dissertation studies the impact that …

Three Essays On Education And Health Economics, Kalvin Mudrow

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The first chapter explores the impact of online education on student outcomes by comparing students pre-2020 school closures to students post-2020 school closures. Using student-level panel data from a large U.S. school district spanning 2017-2023 and two outcome variables, reading tests and end-of-level exams, I estimate the effects on different demographic groups, the dynamics of these effects over time, and how these effects differ across students ages. I find a significant decline in student performance after the move to online learning, with additional adverse effects on students who are classified as low-income, female, special education, or ELL. Mechanisms contributing to …

Economic Behavior And Policy Distortions: Evidence From Firms And Households, Seth Joseph Carter

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In Chapter 1, I reopen the question of whether U.S. firms experience effective tax decreases directly resulting from federal lobbying expenditures by introducing more rigorous causal-inference testing. I first model lobbying as a productive input for the legislator, affecting firm tax outcomes by influencing the share of scarce legislative attention afforded to industry tax priorities. Using multi-industry, firm-level data from 2007 to 2022, I exploit percentage changes in non-industry lobbying as a proxy for political competition facing firms through a novel application of Bartik, shift-share instrumental variable estimation and two-stage residual inclusion. Effects of induced firm lobbying shifts on reported …

Volatility Spillover Across Energy Markets, Mohammad Taisir Bani Hani

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study examines price volatility spillovers between two major world crude oil benchmarks, WTI and Brent, as well as between WTI and its refinery products using daily data from 1987 to 2023. The analysis focuses on two key phenomena: the financialization of commodity markets and the fracking revolution. To capture these dynamics, the study employs two models: the BEKK-GARCH model by Engle and Kroner (1995) and the D-Y volatility index by Diebold and Yilmaz (2009, 2012). Findings reveal that both phenomena significantly influence the direction and magnitude of volatility spillovers between these markets. Specifically, results from the D-Y index show …

Does The Acquirer's Complexity Affect The Market Reaction To M&A Decisions?, Rajib Chowdhury, John A. Doukas

Finance Faculty Publications

We examine whether and how acquiring firms' complexity affects investor perception at the announcement of M&A decisions. Using well-established data of firm complexity developed through combining machine learning and a lexicon of words, we find a significant positive relationship between acquiring firm complexity and cumulative abnormal returns (CAR), indicating that more intricate firms are viewed as more valuable or competent in mergers and acquisitions. This association is stronger for acquirers with high operating risk, organizational capital, R&D intensity, large and independent boards, and larger targets. We also present evidence that high-complexity bidders offer higher takeover premiums. Our study contributes to …

Are Csr Incidents Truly Bad News?, Chen Chen, John A. Doukas, Rongyao Gloria Zhang

Finance Faculty Publications

We revisit whether disclosures of negative Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) incidents adversely affect firms' stock prices. While univariate tests reveal significant negative abnormal returns around incident announcements, the effect disappears once firm characteristics, industry, and time‐fixed effects are controlled for. We find no robust evidence that CSR incidents or firms' Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments influence stock price reactions on the event day or across broader windows. These results suggest that previously documented negative market responses may be attributable to endogeneity. Our baseline results are consistent with informed trading behavior: short‐sellers do not increase activity in incident‐related stocks relative …

Exploring The Potential Use Of Health-State Indexes To Improve Estimates Of Health Benefits Of Environmental Regulation, Madison G. Drewry

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study explores a novel method to calculate the willingness to pay (WTP) for individuals of the general population to reduce the risk of having an illness. The purpose of the study is to observe the implications of the possibility to produce more accurate value of a statistical case (VSC) estimates for usage in regulatory agencies and environmental economics within benefit cost analyses (BCA). By joining aspects from both BCA and cost effectiveness analysis (CEA), such as the health-related quality of life (HRQL), and the value of a statistical life (VSL), this research aims to provide a more precise framework …

Measuring Income And Income Inequality, Conor Clarke, Wojciech Kopczuk

Scholarship@WashULaw

Income inequality is important, but attempts to measure it arrive at strikingly different conclusions. Why? We use recent disputes over measuring United States income inequality to return to first principles about both the income concept and inequality measurement. We emphasize two broad points. First, no measure of the income distribution is truly comprehensive, or could attempt to be comprehensive without making controversial choices. We document the practical and conceptual problems that the standard ideal—comprehensive Haig-Simons income—raises. Second, much of the controversy in this area turns on the many tradeoffs between starting with individual tax data versus more expansive income concepts. …

Three Essays On Sustainability Economics, Hélène Flore Nguemgaing

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As global economies face increasing resource dependencies and supply chain challenges, it becomes essential to understand the vulnerabilities that threaten economic stability. This dissertation investigates three empirical issues in agribusiness and critical minerals using econometric models to estimate the following: 1) the impact of supply chain disruptions on stock market returns during COVID-19; 2) the extraction of rare earth elements from acid mine drainage treatment by investigating the impacts of ownership and legislation in West Virginia and Pennsylvania; 3) China-to�FOBb (Free-on-Board) price transmission in rare earth elements markets: a copula-based dynamic tail dependence analysis.

The first essay evaluates how events …

Hunting And Fishing Ceos: Environmental Plunderers Or Saviors?, Thomas Covington, Steve Widler, Keven Yost

Finance Faculty Works

CEOs who participate in hunting and fishing benefit by appreciating natural environments and permanently consuming natural resources. We examine whether CEOs who hunt and fish make different environmental decisions and find that firms led by CEOs who obtain the most hunting and fishing licenses have lower environmental performance as measured by MSCI-KLD. This effect is strongest in the environmental category of climate change but also extends to pollution, waste, and the protection of natural capital. Furthermore, firms led by CEOs with the most hunting and fishing licenses are significantly more likely to pay a regulatory settlement for an environmental regulatory …

Complainer's Dilemma, Greg Leo, Jennifer Pate

Economics Faculty Works

Technological innovations have made complaining easier. Often, when it is easy to complain, only problems that meet a high threshold of complaints are addressed. We present a novel model of the strategic environment facing complainers and demonstrate that the properties of the resulting games' equilibria justify the existence of high complaint thresholds. By setting the thresholds appropriately, an administrator can prevent complaints that are not worth addressing. Policies that minimize the cost of complaining while requiring a large threshold are universally more efficient for large constituencies. Our results regarding the equilibrium for large constituencies are facilitated by the application of …

From Conscientious French Canadian To Enterprising American: Making Memory & Measuring Social Mobility Of French Canadians 1880-1940, Brooke S. Schwaderer

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis studies the social mobility of French-Canadian immigrants to the Keweenaw Peninsula 1880-1940 and memory among their descendants to explain how French-Canadian culture in the Keweenaw faded over time. Oral histories were conducted to gain an understanding of the current French-Canadian culture in the Keweenaw, understand how the current generation perceives changes in culture over time, and provide possible explanations for why French-Canadians thrived in the Keweenaw. Tax records from the Michigan Technological University Archives and social mobility scores, mother tongue, and homeownership information from the United States census was analyzed to measure language loss, and the social mobility …

Intergenerational Welfare Assessments, Sergi Barcons, Eduardo Dávila, Andreas Schaab

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper studies welfare assessments in economies with rich demographic structures. First, we show that perpetual consumption is the only unit that enables interpersonal comparisons in demographically disconnected economies, in which there is no date in which all individuals are concurrently alive. Second, we show that there exist feasible perturbations of Pareto efficient allocations in demographically disconnected economies that feature positive Kaldor-Hicks efficiency gains. Third, we show how welfare gains from reallocating consumption can be separately attributed to an incomplete markets and a demographic component. We use our results to derive new insights in three workhorse intergenerational models: i) Samuelson …

Pengaruh Bencana Alam Terhadap Pdrb Provinsi Di Indonesia: Pendekatan Model Pertumbuhan Solow-Swan, Nur Janah Wariyanti, Dwi Rahmayani

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Natural disasters are a problem for a country’s economy. This research aims to analyze the influence of natural disasters, Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF), Human Development Index (HDI), and Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) on the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) of 31 Provinces in Indonesia from 2011 to 2023. Research method uses panel data regression with Fixed Effect Model estimation. The results of this research show that GFCF and HDI can increase value GRDP in Indonesia. LFPR does not have a significant effect in a positive direction on GRDP in Indonesia and natural disasters do not have a significant …

Mengurai Dimensi Kemiskinan Di Riau: Pendekatan Multidimensional Dan Dampaknya Pada Pembangunan, Any Widayatsari, Harlen Harlen, Desi Damaiyanti, Misdawita Misdawita

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Poverty issues have always been in the world spotlight. Monetary poverty measurements are considered only to be able to capture a small part of the various poverty issues, so measurements involving multidimensions are needed. This study attempts to measure poverty based on multiple levels of deprivation experienced by people in Riau Province. This study uses aspects of health, education, and standard of living. The results of the study show that all indicators simultaneously have a significant impact on monetary poverty. These indicators are calorie and protein consumption, length of schooling, school sustainability, and housing-related indicators. In addition, differences were also …

Studi Komparasi Kesiapan Indonesia Menerapkan Carbon Trade 2025, Muhammad Rayhan Ali Ferdiansyah, Hanif Rosyadah, Fikri Fajar Ramadhan

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

This study aims to assess Indonesia’s readiness to implement carbon trading in 2025 to achieve net zero emissions by 2060. The research uses a mixed-method approach, combining literature review, multivariate linear regression, and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The results indicate that the Human Development Index (HDI) has a negative and significant impact on CO2 emissions in the long term. This impact is greater than the results observed in Singapore and Thailand. With established policies and a demographic bonus in 2045, optimizing human resources is crucial for achieving net zero emissions by 2060.

Capital Structure Models And Contingent Convertible Securities, Di Meng

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The 2007-09 financial crisis showed financial institutions are vulnerable during distressed times. As an alternative resolution to a government bail-out, contingent convertible securities (contingent capital or CoCos) were proposed by various researchers. CoCo is a hybrid capital security that converts from a bond to common equity when a pre-determined event occurs. The loss absorption mechanism of CoCo is essential to the financial health of a bank during a crisis as it provides an instant capital infusion when public capital is difficult to access.

In this thesis, we first implement a methodology to calibrate capital structure models for large Canadian banks. …

Introducing Justice And Rights To Students Of Economics, Mark D. White

Publications and Research

Most economics instruction is focused on outcomes, whether evaluated in terms of individual or collective welfare or well-being. This is consistent with economics’ roots in classical utilitarianism, and no consideration is usually given to the process by which these results obtain, which is a deontological concern of right and wrong. This can seem odd to economics students, especially in the context of trade-offs in which one party is benefited at the expense of another, or aggregate welfare is maximized while some individuals are harmed, with no consideration in either of rights, desert, or justice. This chapter argues for the importance …

Bed Allocation Model For Infection Control During A Pandemic, Rosemary R. Seva, Dennis E. Cruz, Lourdes Marie Tejero

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This study proposes a model of allocating beds in a hospital considering infection control during a pandemic. The problem was formulated using the quadratic assignment problem (QAP) in a multi-period planning horizon. The main objective is to

minimize the spread of infection by maximizing the total distance (TD) between areas assigned to the pandemic and non- pandemic patients. Model validation using GAMS showed that the assignment of patient groups to areas is determined by

the arrival rates of patients and the area’s capacity. The model was able to identify periods when the sharing of space was more advantageous. The model’s …

The Follower Fallacy: Revisiting Engagement Hypothesis By Evidencing Nonlinear Dynamics In Influencer Marketing, Pranjal Jain, Pooja Jain, Anju Jain

DLSU Business & Economics Review

The traditional premise posits a positive correlation between influencer following (indegree) and engagement metrics, covering likes, shares, comments, and so forth. This study aims to either affirm or dent this engagement hypothesis. Through a methodical analysis of engagement data, this research recognizes potential deviations from the anticipated linear trajectory. Contrary to antecedental social influence, campaign customization, indegree composition, and post components define diverse nonlinear trajectories, empirically challenging the existing research assumptions underlying hypothesis. By evidencing the multifaceted dynamics of influencer engagement, this study offers critical insights for marketers navigating the complexities of contemporary digital marketing landscapes, facilitating the optimization of …