Digital Commons Network^™

Reassessing The Linkages Among Entrepreneurship, Institutions And Growth, Edinaldo Tebaldi, Joilson Giorno

Mathematics and Economics Faculty Journal Articles

This article examines the role of institutions and entrepreneurship to foster economic development under increasing complex economic structures caused by structural changes. The empirical work utilizes data from several sources including the Penn World Table 9.1, The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute, the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) at the MIT, and The International Country Risk Guide (ICRG). The empirical work circumvents the endogeneity and heterogeneity problem that plague cross-country regressions by using the Arellano and Bover (1995) and Blundell and Bond (1998) system GMM estimator. The results show that while entrepreneurship is positively correlated to economic development, this correlation …

U.S. Government Agency Podcasts, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Presents podcasts from U.S. Government agencies which can be discovered through the U.S. Government Publishing Office's Catalog of Government Publications. Agencies whose podcasts are presented include the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Peace Corps, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Government Accountability Office (GAO), National Park Service, Department of Justice, Federal Reserve System, and U.S. Naval War College.

Impact Of Snap On Food Insecurity: A Michigan And Indiana Case Study, Cecelia Chapleau

Honors Theses

Food insecurity is one of the most pervasive and concerning problems in the United States. Approximately 1 in every 13 households within the United States was food insecure at some point during 2022 (Rabbitt et al., 2023) Food insecurity occurs when households have a limited ability to access nutritious foods, there is a limited supply of safe, healthy foods, or they are unable to obtain food in socially acceptable ways (Anderson, 1990). Low food security is associated with adverse health outcomes like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and poor mental health, which contributes to the severity of the problem (Thomas …

Likelihood Ratio Test For Markov Switching Parameters, Li Zhang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

I propose a likelihood ratio test for fixed unit root against time switching unit root models. Our test is different from the existing jump detection literature centered on the application of various forms of Augmented Dickey-Fuller tests. Our methodology involves the inclusion of random coefficients, which effectively capture both expansion and contraction behaviors. We show that the contiguous alternatives converge to the null hypothesis at the order of $T^{-3/4}$, where $T$ is the sample size. Our test is asymptotically optimal in the sense that it maximizes a weighted power function. We derive the asymptotic distribution of our test under the …

How Covid-19 Changed Us: Compassion, Leadership, And Policy, The Lincy Institute

Lincy Institute Events

Nevada was one of the hardest hit states during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past three years, researchers at The Lincy Institute and other institutions collected interviews from 80 Nevada leaders across sectors including elected officials, leaders in education, community organizations, government agencies, and the business community. Four years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our communities continue to build a resilient and healthy Nevada. This forum discusses how the crisis prompted us to rethink how we lead and how we can prepare for future challenges. Following a presentation of the project and its deliverables, leaders across sectors discuss …

Green Transition And Financial Stability: The Role Of Green Monetary And Macroprudential Policies And Vouchers, Ying Tung Chan, Maria Teresa Punzi, Hong Zhao

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

This paper analyzes a mix of alternative policies in supporting the green transition and the phase-out of fossil fuels, without compromising financial stability. An environmental dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (E-DSGE) model with two sectors (green and brown) and endogenous default is developed to assess potential climate-induced financial stability threats that can be mainly generated through physical and transition risks mechanism. Those risks are evaluated through a compound capital depreciation shock and a carbon tax shock. The paper offers several findings. First of all, a too stringent carbon tax would increase the medium-term default rate in both sectors, harming financial stability …

Factsheet: Examining The Equity Of Vocational Rehabilitation Services For Rural Americans, Catherine Ispen, Will Hoard, Rtc: Rural

Employment

Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs are funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to assist individuals with disabilities to obtain, advance, or retain employment. Employment is a valuable outcome because it can increase economic independence and community participation. To achieve employment, VR programs offer a range of services such as assessment, counseling, training, and job placement. We conducted two studies using RSA-911 case-services data to better understand
how VR agencies are serving diverse populations. RSA-911 data includes information about each consumer who enters the VR program, including sociodemographic characteristics and VR services received. In our first study, we used RSA-911 data …

Exploring The Nexus: Foreign Direct Investment, Trade Openness And Gdp In Mexico And The Dominican Republic, Eduardo Peralta

Honors Projects in Mathematics and Economics

This paper will explore the causality between foreign direct investment (FDI), trade openness and GDP within Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The paper will analyze the economy of some countries in Latin America and the Caribbean as off the turn of the century, performing a time series analysis using a multivariate causal framework evaluating the causality between the three variables and determining the long and short run relationships between the variables. The paper estimates the Vector Autoregression (VAR) or Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) of the three variables to determine the short and long run causal relationship among the variables. …

The Economic Impacts Of State-Run Agricultural Energy Efficiency And Sustainability Grants – Are There Actually Long-Term Profit And Labor Market Benefits?, Amanda Spielman

Honors Projects in Mathematics and Economics

Farms, whether large, public corporations, or small family farms are often considered the backbone of America. Due to the impact of weather on crop production, the fluctuation in input prices, and the reliance of the rest of the economy on the agricultural industry, the government provides support programs and funding opportunities for farmers to help provide price and production stability. While some studies have been completed to assess the effectiveness of federally funded agriculture programs, little research has been done on the impact of state programs and is especially lacking on the effectiveness of sustainability programs. This study aims to …

Health And Healthcare: Designing For The Social Determinants Of Health And Blue Zones In North Nashville, Rebecca Tonguis, Honor Thomas, Olivia Hobbs

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Owned by North Nashville’s First Community Church, a now empty site in the Osage-North Fisk neighborhood of North Nashville has been identified as a potential site for a new location of The Store, in addition to a community-centric architectural development based on the social determinants of health and informed by the principles behind Blue Zones, the locations with the highest lifespans in the world. Opened by Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, The Store is a free grocery store that “allow[s] people to shop for their basic needs in a way that protects dignity and fosters hope”, for which North Nashville …

Economic Development Analysis Research Paper: Myanmar, Rhoda Belachew

Entrepreneurship & Economic Development Student Projects

As a country endowed with great natural resources and a rich agricultural base, remains one of Southeast Asia’s most economically underdeveloped nations. Years of political instability, conflict, and limited institutional capacity have pulled back economic growth. Myanmar continues to face internal challenges including youth unemployment, underutilized rural labor, and weak infrastructure, alongside external obstacles including global trade barriers and limited foreign investment. This paper will highlight the current population, it’s impact on GDP and other variables that contribute to the GDP. It will also examine the key challenges to Myanmar’s’ economic growth and evaluates which development model offers the most …

Three Essays On Fertility Rates In China, Lichun Cai

Dissertations

China is currently facing the issue of low fertility rates. In three chapters, I discuss the reasons for the low fertility rate in China from three different microeconomics perspectives, by using econometric methods including machine learning tools.

Chapter One considers the effects of income on fertility rate. There is a widely accepted view that the improvement of the education level has led to a decline in fertility. I critique this view and propose a new perspective: the childbirth choice of a family member is not only related to the education level, but also to the differences in education level between …

The Contribution Of The South Carolina Technical College System To Human Capital, Labor Force Participation, And Employment, Justin Land

Senior Theses

This thesis assesses the economic impact of the South Carolina Technical College System by applying a counterfactual analysis method to the study of human capital development and labor force growth from 2010-2019. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) are used to estimate the average years of schooling attained by a South Carolinian during the period and the counterfactual average were the Technical College System to not exist. This result is then combined with probit regression models of labor force participation and employment to estimate the Technical College System’s contribution to the labor …

The Impact Of Monetary Policy Shocks: Do Not Rule Out Central Bank Information Effects Or Economic News, Sebastian Laumer, Italo Morais Santos

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper reassesses the impact of monetary policy and central bank information shocks while accounting for the influence of economic news. We regress a set of monetary policy surprises on a measure of economic news and incorporate these new instruments into an SVAR model. Furthermore, we distinguish between the two shocks via sign restrictions on the instruments’ impulse response functions. Our findings indicate significantly stronger and more enduring economic effects for monetary policy shocks, while the economic effects of central bank information shocks are weaker, if not vanish entirely. Nevertheless, persistent financial effects prevent us from completely dismissing the existence …

Is Asia On The Precipice Of A Currency Crisis? Exploring Regional Risks And Implications On The Global Economy, Hannah Deng

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines the economic stability of Asia in the face of a potential currency crisis through drawing upon the historical context provided by the 1997 East Asian Financial Crisis. It systematically explores the characteristics and precursors of currency crises, analyzes the Asia-Pacific region’s response to past financial upheavals, and evaluates current macroeconomic vulnerabilities as well as policy frameworks. By juxtaposing the changes in Asia’s financial landscape from the late 20th century to the present, the study identifies persistent structural weaknesses and the region’s ongoing exposure to volatile global financial markets. It also considers the possibility of emerging markets establishing …

“Njangi Never Dies”: The Social Impacts And Non-Financial Benefits Of Njangis In Batoufam And Yaoundé, Cameroon, Georgia Schaefer-Brown

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Rotating Credits and Savings Associations (ROSCAs) are present in much of the developing world and are incredibly common in Cameroon. The financial impacts of ROSCAs have been researched extensively, but there has been less research on the social impacts and non-financial benefits. This research aims to fill this gap and add to the discussion of ROSCAs in Cameroon (called njangis), as well as demonstrate how njangis are social institutions. This project is in the specific context of njangis in Batoufam and Yaoundé, Cameroon. Interviews and observations informed the conclusion that there are extensive social impacts and non-financial benefits within the …

Emprendimiento, Informalidad Laboral Y Vulnerabilidad De Los Migrantes Venezolanos En La Economía Ecuatoriana, Destiny Carlisle

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

La movilidad humana, particularmente la movilidad interregional en América Latina, guarda una estrecha relación con el incremento de emprendimientos informales en la ciudad de Cuenca, Ecuador. Diversos factores y condiciones vulnerables impulsan la iniciativa de emprendimiento y la informalidad laboral entre la comunidad venezolana en Cuenca, destacando especialmente el rol de la violencia de género, la explotación laboral y la xenofobia, entre otros aspectos. En este contexto, dicha comunidad ha propiciado la creación de nuevos mercados que benefician tanto al sector formal como informal. Las organizaciones extranjeras han desempeñado un papel de particular importancia en el respaldo a la comunidad …

“It’S A No Brainer”: Ensuring Just Transitions In Iceland’S Fishing Industry, Olivia Bowers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Iceland’s government intends to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, aiming to target various economic sectors and industries for increased renewable-energy usage. One of its most important plans revolves renewable-energy usage in the fishing industry, which accounts for almost 12% of the country’s GHG emissions. This study aims to understand the perspectives of different stakeholders concerning renewable energy in the fishing industry, using these opinions and existing literature to provide recommendations for a just, equitable, and achievable energy transition. Additionally, this study particularly focuses on the opinions of actors in Vestmannaeyjar, an island community of 4,300 with an especially vibrant, significant, …

(Wp 2024-02) Stratification Economics: Historical Origins And Theoretical Foundations, John B. Davis

Economics Working Papers

Stratification economics (SE) investigates how economies are organized around group inequalities, especially by race and gender but also by ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, etc. Its historical origins and theoretical foundations have both a structural strand that addresses how and a social behavioral strand. SE's structural strand goes back to Ricardo and Marx regarding the relationship between growth and distribution, and then draws on recent economic theory of noncompeting groups and dual economy models of labor market segmentation. SE's structural strand produces an inequality-based understanding of economics' standard goods taxonomy. The social behavioral strand builds on Du Bois's psychological …

The Montana Travel Industry - 2023 Summary, Melissa Weddell

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

2023 summary infographic of the Montana travel and recreation industry.

Conflict In The Congo: A Critical Assessment Of Section 1502 Of The Dodd-Frank Act, Rodney Ford

Senior Honors Theses

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the poorest and most troubled nations in the world. With a convoluted and often tragic history, a significant cause of economic underdevelopment and political instability in the Congo has been the illicit expropriation of the country’s vast reserves of high-value minerals. In the early 2010s, Congress attempted to address the “conflict minerals” dilemma through the enactment of Section 1502 of the Dodd Frank Act. The conflict minerals rule aimed to break the supposed link between the illegal exploitation of minerals and the perpetuation of violence. Drawing upon books, journal articles, research …

The Will To Chaos And Disorder: The Behemoth As A Model Of Political Economy, Bernard E. Harcourt

Faculty Scholarship

The history of political economy is tormented by beasts. The most famous is the Leviathan, the giant serpentine monster that figures in Hobbes’s masterpiece of modern political theory. Robert Fredona and Sophus Reinert spotlight another sea monster, the Kraken, that giant octopus or squid with a particular morphology (i.e., its tentacles) that so fittingly describes the grip of multinational corporations, stateless financial capital, social media, and tech giants today. But there are still other monsters in the bestiary of political economy. In this essay, I highlight the Behemoth, a land monster that captures another critical dimension of political economy: the …

Extending Mnrega To Address The Social, Economic And Ecological Costs Of Climate Change And Create Public Sector Climate Jobs, Shriraksha Mohan

Student Papers in Local and Global Regional Economies

Job Guarantee policies make public sector jobs available for those who are able and willing to work. Job guarantee schemes must work in a democratic and inclusive manner to tackle both unemployment and precarious employment, with the goal of eliminating poverty-wages and poor labor standards. In India, a social welfare measure for job guarantee, MNREGA – Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, was enacted in 2005 with the aim to guarantee the constitutional ‘right to work’. MNREGA scheme guarantees employment for 100 days to one individual in every rural household. In the context of climate-related events and disasters, this …

Skills, Majors, And Jobs: Does Higher Education Respond?, Johnathan G. Conzelmann, Steven W. Hemelt, Brad J. Hershbein, Shawn Martin, Andrew Simon, Kevin M. Stange

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

How does postsecondary human capital investment respond to changes in labor market skill demand? We quantify the magnitude and nature of this response in the U.S. 4-year sector. To do so, we develop a new measure of institution-major-specific labor demand, and corresponding shift-share instrument, that combines job ads with alumni locations. We find that postsecondary human capital investments meaningfully respond. We estimate elasticities for degrees and credits centered around 1.3, generally increasing with time horizon. We provide evidence that both student demand and institutional supply-side constraints matter. Our findings illuminate the nature of educational production in higher education.

Accounting For The Gift: Theology And Ethics In Accounting, Daniel Sebastian

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Accounting is often assumed to be a neutral presentation of the facts of economic activities and actions. Its double-entry system means that it is always in balance and comports to the rigor of mathematical formulas, and it is taken to be a matter of empirical counting that lends it certainty as well. The dissertation argues that this description of accounting is inadequate. Accounting is better seen as a political tool and technology for producing trust that can help resolve social conflicts. As such, accounting is not value-neutral but carries within it a particular sociality that has moral implications. These moral …

Optimistic Oracle, F. S. Aijazuddin

Faculty Research - Newspaper and Magazine Articles

Ishrat’s career is described in Sibtain Naqvi’s meticulously researched, well-structured biography Unravelling Gordian Knots: The Works and Worlds of Dr Ishrat Husain (2021). Dr Ishrat was perhaps too modest to write it himself. Naqvi is its surrogate parent. Ishrat’s family migrated from Agra in December 1947. His father established a legal practice in Hyderabad (Sindh), where Ishrat showed precocious promise by clearing his Matric exam at the age of 12. He graduated from Sindh University, then the University of British Columbia (Canada), after which he joined Pakistan’s Civil Service in 1964. That batch achieved a legendary reputation as an elite …

Exploring The Comparability Between Eq-5d And The Eq Health And Wellbeing In The General Australian Population, Peter Lee, Lidia Engel, Erica I. Lubetkin, Lan Gao

Publications and Research

Objectives

Methods

Financial Regulation Beyond Stability, Kathryn Judge

Faculty Scholarship

This essay briefly reviews the ways stability has dominated regulatory and academic discourse about financial regulation. It then uses anti-money laundering (AML) and the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHL Banks) — the oldest government foray into housing policy — as case studies to show that banks and the financial system are already deeply engaged in efforts to further other important government policies. These case studies affirm just how hard it can be to promote healthy public-private coordination, while also revealing why such arrangements have become so pervasive. More than anything, the aim here is to force acknowledgment of the myriad …

How Academics & Policymakers Can Collaborate Effectively: Lessons From Using Behavioral Science To Improve U.S. Federal Government Policies, S. O'Flaherty, L. Martin, Syon Bhanot, C. Hall, S. Jilke, T. Simko, M. Steffel

Economics Faculty Works

The U.S. government administers many public programs and services. Creating programs that work requires an understanding of the psychological processes that influence behavior. To this end, policymakers may collaborate with academics who have expertise in behavioral science to generate ideas for improving existing programs, procedures, or policies; to test existing programs; or to design wholly new programs that address societal problems. Such collaborations also enable academics to test new or established theories in real-world settings. In this article, we draw on our collective experience in the U.S. Office of Evaluation Sciences, where we have worked on studies that evaluate various …

The Digital Commercial Revolution: U.S. Business Sales And The Entrepreneurial Exploitation Of Information And Communications Technology, John T. Scott

Dartmouth Scholarship

Businesses have taken the opportunities, made possible by information and communications technology (ICT), to develop and use digital platform services and other digital tools to support sales. This paper estimates a model of U.S. business sales and uses the estimated model to assess the economic impact of the digital commercial revolution of the first two decades of the twenty-first century. The estimations show that the entrepreneurial initiatives—that drove the digital revolution in commerce by capitalizing on the new technologies made available by the ICT revolution—came to fruition in the wake of the Great Recession. For 2019, the last year before …