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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Heaven? Is It Worth It?: The Effect Of Belief On Religious Participation And Signaling, Claudia R. Chin Jan 2023

Heaven? Is It Worth It?: The Effect Of Belief On Religious Participation And Signaling, Claudia R. Chin

Scripps Senior Theses

Religion has long been a subject that baffles economists because of its seemingly inefficient requirements. It is hard to get one's mind around why an individual would be willing to give up secular commodities for religion, or face the strict entry costs and stigma society associates with the religion. Although many reasons have been suggested, the most widely accepted solution to why we engage in these behaviors is Religious Signaling Theory (RST). RST argues that people engage in these ineffective costs as a way to signal their commitment to the religion, and religions were utilized by society to enforce these …


Neo-Whorfian Examination Of Cross-Linguistic Temporal Discounting Behavior, Piper Connelly Jan 2023

Neo-Whorfian Examination Of Cross-Linguistic Temporal Discounting Behavior, Piper Connelly

Scripps Senior Theses

This study examines differences in temporal discounting tendencies in German and French participants (recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk) through the lens of Neo-Whorfian cognition and the Linguistic Savings Hypothesis (Chen 2013). The LSH proposes that tendencies towards future-oriented economic decisions can be cognitively explained by literal morphosyntactic conventions of one’s native language. Our experiments (sooner-smaller/larger-later choices, endowment-investment task) failed to produce results aligning with the LSH, but uncovered the importance of controlling for risk appetite when specifically investigating intertemporal choice. There are several fruitful improvements to consider for the future, such as stricter sampling, taking richer detail of time preferences, …


Counties As Catalysts For Change_ Exploring The Economic Costs Of Child Maltreatment Through Its Connection To Incarceration, Kayla Solomon Jan 2023

Counties As Catalysts For Change_ Exploring The Economic Costs Of Child Maltreatment Through Its Connection To Incarceration, Kayla Solomon

Scripps Senior Theses

This study posits the question, what is the relationship between child maltreatment and adult incarceration at the county-level, and how can we utilize an understanding of it to inform child welfare strategies? Child maltreatment is a public health crisis and an obstacle to the United States Economy. Inspired by my high school capstone project on the connection between the foster care and criminal justice systems, I entered this project hoping to add to the myriad of literature that influences child welfare policy throughout California and the broader United States. This project serves to culminate my college career and exemplifies my …


Uncovering The Effects Of The Freedman's Bank Failure On Personal Property: An Analysis Of Newly Obtained Data From Kentucky And Georgia, Hannah Fowler Jan 2023

Uncovering The Effects Of The Freedman's Bank Failure On Personal Property: An Analysis Of Newly Obtained Data From Kentucky And Georgia, Hannah Fowler

Scripps Senior Theses

The Freedman's Savings and Trust Company (the Freedman’s Bank), collapsed in 1874, resulting in the loss of savings for many African American depositors. This study uses a difference-in-difference analysis to investigate the impact of the closure of the Freedman's Bank on the economic well-being of African American taxpayers in Georgia and Kentucky during the Reconstruction era. The analysis did not identify a statistically significant treatment effect; however, it highlights the potential of previously unused archival data sources for future research. The study also draws attention to the need for more comprehensive and rigorous research in this area, in order to …


The Subscription Video-On-Demand Industry – Past, Present, And Future, Emily Anderson Jan 2023

The Subscription Video-On-Demand Industry – Past, Present, And Future, Emily Anderson

Scripps Senior Theses

In the past few years, we have seen a massive change in television viewing habits. More Americans subscribe to video streaming services than to cable and satellite, and most subscribe to several. While the streaming industry is rapidly growing, it is unclear where the industry is heading, and projections in the literature vary. Using data I collected and aggregated into original data sets, I explore the evidence to uncover patterns and trends. Specifically, I analyze the pricing strategies that select streaming services have used over time. My research focuses on six popular subscription video-on-demand services with similar organizational structures: Netflix, …


Why Have There Been No Rich Women Artists? Examining The Gender Price Discount In The Contemporary Auction Market For Early Twentieth Century Mexican Avant-Garde Art, Lucy P. Bloomstran Jan 2023

Why Have There Been No Rich Women Artists? Examining The Gender Price Discount In The Contemporary Auction Market For Early Twentieth Century Mexican Avant-Garde Art, Lucy P. Bloomstran

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper examines the gender price discount for early twentieth-century Mexican avant-garde art in the contemporary auction market. A premium for art by men is established through the econometric analysis of a dataset of auction transactions taking place at major American and Mexican auction houses between 2000 and 2022. After this price discount for women’s art is established, a deep delve into gender discrimination in the creation and exhibition of Mexican Muralism and Surrealism is presented to provide possible art historical explanations for the results of the regression analysis.


Reality Tv’S Place In The Entertainment Landscape: A Look Into The State Of Contemporary Media Costs, Lila Rose Beckford Hoge Jan 2023

Reality Tv’S Place In The Entertainment Landscape: A Look Into The State Of Contemporary Media Costs, Lila Rose Beckford Hoge

Scripps Senior Theses

Previous literature has confirmed that reality television is less expensive to produce than scripted. This paper investigates both how production costs have developed overall, and how and why they differ between the two genres of scripted and unscripted television. After interviewing professionals in the industry, the results shed light on how the production processes have key differences, perhaps most important being the writer’s presence or lack thereof. The results expose reality television’s function in streaming platforms as retainment content. Streaming platforms are also examined as a catalyst for change in the industry’s landscape, bringing many disruptions along with them. Ad-based …


An Investigation On Wage Penalties: The Effect Of Foreign-Born Status On Employee Wages, Salaries, And Incomes In The United States And Canada, Lucy C. Dustman Jan 2023

An Investigation On Wage Penalties: The Effect Of Foreign-Born Status On Employee Wages, Salaries, And Incomes In The United States And Canada, Lucy C. Dustman

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper investigates whether there is a wage penalty that negatively affects foreign-born employees in the United States and Canada, addressing the following two questions: (1) Does being a foreign-born employee result in a wage penalty in the United States and Canada? And if so, (2) How does this penalty differ across the two countries over time? With data collected from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMs), four separate multiple linear regression models are estimated to compare the presence of wage penalties across various industries and occupations. These analyses cover the following comparisons: the United States in 1990 and …


Conspicuous Wellness: How Acquired Identities Affect Conspicuous Consumption, Katherine S. Eu Jan 2023

Conspicuous Wellness: How Acquired Identities Affect Conspicuous Consumption, Katherine S. Eu

Scripps Senior Theses

This research provides evidence that individuals will conspicuously consume based on their acquired identities, which parallels similar conclusions drawn for conspicuous consumption based on ascribed identities. Using data from 653 respondents, I found positive marginal effects of the “that girl” wellness identity on product choices, accounting for an individual’s potential higher willingness-to-pay, demographics, and speed of making product choices. I conclude that the more an individual associates themselves with an identity, the higher the likelihood of choosing products which align and signal membership in an identity subculture.


Esg Scores As A Measure Of Risk: The Relationship Between Environmental, Social, And Corporate Governance Ratings And The Financial Performance Of U.S. Oil And Gas Companies, Lauren Kim Jan 2023

Esg Scores As A Measure Of Risk: The Relationship Between Environmental, Social, And Corporate Governance Ratings And The Financial Performance Of U.S. Oil And Gas Companies, Lauren Kim

Scripps Senior Theses

This study investigates the association between ESG (environmental, social, corporate governance) scores on the financial performance of U.S. oil and gas companies, an industry facing significant ESG-related pressures. ESG scores evaluate a firm’s environmental impacts, social responsibility, and corporate governance practices and can be used as a form of evaluating a firm’s risk mitigation efforts. However, there is not sufficient evidence to conclude that there exists a relationship, positive or negative, between ESG scores and firm performance in this industry. Overall, the findings of this study highlight the growing interest in ESG investing and is useful for investors and firms …


Who Votes And Why: Economic And Psychological Predictors Of Political Participation, Rhea Malhotra Jan 2023

Who Votes And Why: Economic And Psychological Predictors Of Political Participation, Rhea Malhotra

Scripps Senior Theses

At the centre of democracy lies the right to vote. The United States of America is considered to be an emblem of democracy, so voting is naturally a topic of discourse in colloquial spheres especially given the long fight for equal voting access. In general, voting is a way for citizens to advocate their needs, interact with contemporary society, and prove their affiliation with their country. That being said, the individual reasons to vote differ from citizen to citizen, but patterns may still exist which is why it is important to explore which variables can predict voting outcomes. By doing …


Boom And Bust: Job Churn In The Technology Industry In The Covid-19 Pandemic Era, Aliza Mayer Jan 2023

Boom And Bust: Job Churn In The Technology Industry In The Covid-19 Pandemic Era, Aliza Mayer

Scripps Senior Theses

Layoffs in the technology sector since 2021 have dominated news cycles and raised concern amongst everyone, from investors to employees. However, there is limited literature regarding the reasoning behind these layoffs and whether they really are as concerning and dramatic as our modern-day news has expressed. In this paper, I examined the historical trends of employment and contributing factors and discerned that the current wave of layoffs has occurred for a few reasons. In the past, the technology sector has been very strategic with hiring and only does so when revenue permits. However, during the pandemic, the technology sector became …


A Study On Bangladesh's Grameen Bank And The Ready-Made Garment Industry: The Effects Of Rising Industrialization On The Reliance Of Microfinance, Elaine Yang Jan 2023

A Study On Bangladesh's Grameen Bank And The Ready-Made Garment Industry: The Effects Of Rising Industrialization On The Reliance Of Microfinance, Elaine Yang

Scripps Senior Theses

Microfinance institutions offered a solution to borrowing to the ultra-poor through a group lending scheme where social capital drove repayment rates. In Bangladesh, the Grameen Bank was globally recognized as a successful microfinance institution, increasing financial literacy and mobility to the ultra-poor. Tangentially, the ready-made garment industry boomed in some districts with a Grameen Bank presence, while other districts were not impacted at all. Using a difference-in-difference regression model and focusing on the Grameen Bank districts before and after their exposure to the RMG industry on the number of branches, branch members, outstanding loan amount, and zone membership percentage of …


Why Do Rich People Not Retire?, Xiya Li Jan 2022

Why Do Rich People Not Retire?, Xiya Li

Scripps Senior Theses

Work and leisure are central to the human condition. Scholars from many fields have tried to understand why Americans work so much. Many people believe that when they have enough money, they will retire. However, many people are not willing to retire even if they have enough money to do so. Most people who do not have enough money to retire do not even get any amount of leisure from their jobs. If the view that enough money directly leads to retirement is wrong, then it is time to reconsider using this logic to think of the possibility of retiring. …


Analyzing College On-Campus Residency Agglomeration Benefits And Their Impact On Student Outcomes, Emily Pedace Jan 2022

Analyzing College On-Campus Residency Agglomeration Benefits And Their Impact On Student Outcomes, Emily Pedace

Scripps Senior Theses

Economies of agglomeration have been shown to increase productivity in part due to technological/ knowledge spillovers. I look at public colleges and universities in California and Texas to examine if students living on-campus can generate enough agglomeration to boost productivity in the students. I use a unique data set with information collected from Common Data Sets, self-reported by the schools. When using an OLS regression with the averages of these variables, higher averages of on-campus residence is correlated to higher average graduation and retention rates for Texas and California. When using a fixed effects panel regression, I find changes in …


The Cost-Effectiveness And Feminization Of The Human Papillomavirus Vaccine, Audrey Jammes Jan 2022

The Cost-Effectiveness And Feminization Of The Human Papillomavirus Vaccine, Audrey Jammes

Scripps Senior Theses

Approved in 2006, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine provided a medical breakthrough in combating cancer by inoculating first female and then male adolescents in 2010. In 2016, a new HPV vaccine was approved for all adolescents. However, it is the most expensive vaccine created in the United States and its female centered prescription led to debates regarding the vaccine’s necessity and risks. For the STS portion of this paper, analysis of the language in the vaccine’s prescriptions from 2006, 2010, and 2016 demonstrates two implicit assumptions regarding female health built into the vaccine’s rollout. Comparison of the two assumptions to …


County Walkability And Small Business Receipts, Talia Perluss Jan 2022

County Walkability And Small Business Receipts, Talia Perluss

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the correlation between county walkability and small business receipts, as well as other possible demographic variables that could explain the success of small businesses, by using a fixed-effect panel regression model. Using county-level data in the years 2012 and 2017, this paper finds that there is a significant correlation between an increase in walkability and an increase in receipts. When running the fixed-effect regressions, this paper found that there is a moderately high positive correlation between walkability and per capita income, suggesting that the effects of an increase in walkability may also capture the effects of an …


The Economic And Social Decline Of Women's Colleges Across The United States, Alexandra Isabelle Rivasplata Jan 2022

The Economic And Social Decline Of Women's Colleges Across The United States, Alexandra Isabelle Rivasplata

Scripps Senior Theses

Women have been attending college at a greater rate than men for several decades. However, women’s colleges have been shutting down or transitioning to coeducation at incredibly high rates. Literature demonstrates the importance of women’s colleges due to their benefits on students’ future career success and psychological wellbeing. However, there is less research concerning the decline of women's colleges, and none regarding the economic and quantitative factors influencing their closures. Using a newly constructed, completely original data set, I perform a logistic regression and analyze variables related to the survival of women’s colleges. I find a high statistical significance of …


The Effect Of Female Managers On Mutual Fund Performance During Down Markets, Madison Gates, Madison I. Gates Jan 2021

The Effect Of Female Managers On Mutual Fund Performance During Down Markets, Madison Gates, Madison I. Gates

Scripps Senior Theses

Women in the finance industry have long been underrepresented. The mutual fund industry is no exception, with female managers in the United States falling stagnant at only 11% from 2000 to 2019. Given this low and stagnant number, this study seeks to understand if female managers impact mutual fund performance, specifically comparing down and up market periods. The data for this research was compiled from individual US mutual fund prospectus and fact sheet information in order to create a unique dataset containing the returns for every year between 2000 and 2019 as well as gender make-up, average experience, and team …


Black Maoism, But Make It Fashion: How The Black Panther Party Utilized Mao Zedong’S Marxist Interpretations In Conjunction With Fashion To Redefine Us Militarism, Chiugo Akujuobi Jan 2021

Black Maoism, But Make It Fashion: How The Black Panther Party Utilized Mao Zedong’S Marxist Interpretations In Conjunction With Fashion To Redefine Us Militarism, Chiugo Akujuobi

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the intersections present between the multifaceted, sociopolitical institutions of Marxism and communism with a highlight on their seedling Maoism; the revolutionary organization that is the Black Panther Party; and the art of fashion and processes that create modes of dress, that emblazon dress with identity, meaning, and purpose. The lenses with which these complex topics will showcase themselves and intersect are through militarism and militarization. These lenses and topics of intersection work in tandem to produce an examination of the Black Panther Party’s subversion and redefinition of the practices of militarism and militarization. Specifically, the main point …


Are Investment Banks Helpful Or Hurtful? An Analysis Of Intraday Volatility In The Direct Listing Process As Compared To Investment Bank-Involvement In Traditional Ipos, Alexis Paff Jan 2021

Are Investment Banks Helpful Or Hurtful? An Analysis Of Intraday Volatility In The Direct Listing Process As Compared To Investment Bank-Involvement In Traditional Ipos, Alexis Paff

Scripps Senior Theses

In this paper, I carry out an empirical analysis of the pricing volatility of direct listings as compared to traditional IPOs. Direct listings solve an efficiency problem in the US going-public market, in which well-funded, late-stage firms lack incentives to pursue a public listing, which would create liquidity for preexisting shareholders and allow for a more diverse body of public shareholders. Direct listings have been allowed on the New York Stock Exchange since early 2018, and four firms, Spotify, Slack, Asana, and Palantir, have gone public through this new listing mechanism. While underwriters are heavily involved in the IPO process, …


The Effect Of The Investment Tax Credit Policy On Renewable Energy Resources In The United States Relative To Europe, Laura B. Epperson Jan 2021

The Effect Of The Investment Tax Credit Policy On Renewable Energy Resources In The United States Relative To Europe, Laura B. Epperson

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper aims to explore the effect of the Investment Tax Credit policy on the production and usage of renewable energy resources in the United States and whether the implementation of this policy in the US helped close the gap with European Countries. It focuses largely on the economic theory of incentives, cost/benefit analyses, and the theory of externalities. To analyze this, data was collected from the World Bank and the Quality of Government Dataset and the effectiveness of this policy was measured using four outcome variables: Renewable Energy Consumption, Fossil Fuel Consumption, Renewable Electricity Output, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. …


The Impact Of Daca On The Labor Force: An Analysis On Non-Native Wage Growth, Chantal Balta Jan 2020

The Impact Of Daca On The Labor Force: An Analysis On Non-Native Wage Growth, Chantal Balta

Scripps Senior Theses

Considering the recent efforts of the Trump Administration to rescind the Deferred Act for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), I wanted to explore how this policy has impacted the American labor market since its inception in 2012. Specifically, this paper discusses the impact of DACA on non-native wage growth. By using data from the American Community Survey from the years 2000-2016, we will use a difference-in-difference model to see the impact of the policy on immigrants recorded in the dataset by using the native-born labor force as a control. Initial results indicate that there is no statistically significant impact on non-native wage …


What Drives Merger Waves? A Study Of The Seven Historical Merger Waves In The U.S., Katherine Ching Jan 2019

What Drives Merger Waves? A Study Of The Seven Historical Merger Waves In The U.S., Katherine Ching

Scripps Senior Theses

Historically, merger and acquisition (or M&A) activity has occurred in cyclical patterns, forming what are known as “merger waves.” To date, there have been a total of seven waves. Though it is widely acknowledged that merger waves exist, there is no consensus on what drives these waves. Through both qualitative and quantitative analysis, this paper aims to determine the causes of merger waves and looks at those causes through two different lenses: the neoclassical view, which states that economic shocks cause merger waves, and the behavioral view, which states that increases in merger activity are due to managerial behavior and …


To What Extent Do Religious Institutions Provide A Societal Value? Is The Tax-Exempt Status Justified?, Annabel Hou Jan 2019

To What Extent Do Religious Institutions Provide A Societal Value? Is The Tax-Exempt Status Justified?, Annabel Hou

Scripps Senior Theses

Religious institutions have been tax-exempt from almost all taxes for more than two centuries. The two primary justifications used to protect this ‘status’ is the constitution and the concept that churches provide positive externalities that believers and non-believers all benefit from. This paper examines the relationship between religiosity and five socially important characteristics: high school graduation rate, a divorce rate, incidence of domestic violence, and levels of substance abuse and crime. I run multiple simple and full regressions across 207 counties in Texas. In four of the five analyses, religiosity has a strong statistically significant desirable impact. With the addition …


The Impact Of Transportation Network Companies On Public Transit: A Case Study At The San Francisco International Airport, Lianne Renee Sturgeon Jan 2019

The Impact Of Transportation Network Companies On Public Transit: A Case Study At The San Francisco International Airport, Lianne Renee Sturgeon

Scripps Senior Theses

The emergence and rapid growth of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft, has challenged the transportation industry by offering a new mode of transportation to consumers. It is imperative that transit agencies and cities understand the effect of TNCs on public transit usage to make informed decisions. This study analyzes the impact of TNCs on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) ridership at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to measure the effect of TNCs on public transit. Using a fixed effects model to analyze hourly BART and TNC ridership data from 2011 to 2018, these findings suggest …


Examining The Role Of Intra-Household Bargaining In The Adoption Of Green Technology, Antara Anand Jan 2019

Examining The Role Of Intra-Household Bargaining In The Adoption Of Green Technology, Antara Anand

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper investigates factors that affect gender-based differences in intra-household bargaining power that are reflected in consumption decisions regarding the adoption of green technology. Using data from the Indian Human Development Survey-II and a probit regression analysis, I find that increasing the level of a woman’s education (a proxy for increasing bargaining power) increases the likelihood of her household adopting LPG, the cleanest fuel option available. I also create an experimental design to serve as a next step for future research and target data collection on individual-level factors and environmental outcomes. The setup is for a potential intervention that assesses …


Sanitation, Ek Prem Katha: The Impact Of Sanitation On Education In Indian Government Schools, Romanshi Gupta Jan 2019

Sanitation, Ek Prem Katha: The Impact Of Sanitation On Education In Indian Government Schools, Romanshi Gupta

Scripps Senior Theses

The Total Sanitation Campaign is an initiative launched by the Government of India in 1999 to accelerate sanitation coverage throughout the country. This thesis measures the impact of the Total Sanitation Campaign on education in Indian government schools. I assess whether access to toilets, access to water or access to both toilets and water impact the following parameters of education: literacy, current enrollment in school or completed years of education. Data is sourced from the Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS) 2005, sorted for the nineteen major states in India and aggregated at a district level for each state. The analysis …


Circadian Variations And Risky Decision Making, Sana Sra Jan 2019

Circadian Variations And Risky Decision Making, Sana Sra

Scripps Senior Theses

Over the past decades, decision making under risk has garnered a great amount of attention both in the field of economics and psychology. Although state-dependent variabilities of risk taking are well-documented, little is known about the effects of a person’s preferred time of day, or chronotype, in risky decision making. Under circumstances of circadian mismatch (e.g., when an “early bird” makes decisions in the evening), research suggests that decision making may reflect a greater reliance on heuristics, such as using stereotypes in social judgments. However, the effects of circadian mismatch on heuristics in risky decision making are relatively unexplored. This …


The Impact Of Four-Day School Weeks And Fifth-Day Programs On Delinquency And Problem Behaviors In Adolescents, Emily Collins Jan 2019

The Impact Of Four-Day School Weeks And Fifth-Day Programs On Delinquency And Problem Behaviors In Adolescents, Emily Collins

Scripps Senior Theses

In recent years, tightening budgets have forced school districts to find new ways to save money. One way that has become increasingly popular is to shorten the traditional five-day school week to only four-days a week. This change is budget friendly and may act through efficiency wage theory as a recruitment tool for better teachers. Despite the increasing prevalence of districts running on four-day weeks, many of the effects of the shorter week on students are still unclear. Utilizing district-level panel data from the Colorado Department of Education, Study One took a difference-in-differences approach to determine the effect of the …