Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Measuring The Environmental Cost Of Hypocrisy, Arthur Caplan

Arthur J. Caplan

This paper provides an example of howto estimate the marginal environmental cost of hypocrisy using revealed behavior and self-identification survey responses from coffee drinkers regarding their use of cardboard and plastic (i.e., non-reusable) cups. Coffee shops provide a convenient microcosm for assessing the impact of hypocritical behavior because of (1) readily available, cheap substitutes (i.e., reusable coffee cups), (2) a relatively accurate estimate of the environmental (in particular, carbon) cost associated with using non-reusable cups, and (3) the ability to delineate hypocritical behavior by observing a choice with relatively few potential confounding factors. Hypocritical behavior is measured as a geometric …

A Study In The Urbanization Effect On The Honduran Pricing Mechanism, Sharik L. Peck Ii

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The effect of the Honduran capital city Tegucigalpa on prices is tested through a series of comparative regressions of the prices of similar goods between the capital and outlying cities and towns. Goods that have many brands or production centers are found to have prices that vary more significantly between locations. The effect of the size of packaging of goods in some significant cases runs counterintuitive to traditional economic reasoning showing no effect or even in certain circumstances obtaining a premium for large packaging not proportional to the contents. The Honduran market also allows for an examination of the effect …

The Shale Boon And The Effects On Energy Markets: A Look Into Natural Gas And Crude Oil Futures And Spot Prices And Their Relation To Economic Growth, Jesse Backstrom

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

A key political concern for the United States (US) since World War II has been its dependence on foreign energy. These concerns have arisen from a volatile nature of crude oil prices and the country’s preexisting beliefs of peak oil in the early 1970s, resulting in unpredictable energy markets. Highlighted have been episodes of rising oil prices leading to recessions, higher inflation rates, and economic stagnation (Brown and Yucel, 2013). Changing this story are recent gains in both crude oil and natural gas production, helping to vault the country to at least temporary energy stardom. In fact, 2014 statistics from …

The Empirical Study Of Size Effect, Book-To-Market Effect In Us Security Market, Zhe Zhao

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Banz (1981) found size effect using data over the period 1926–1975. This paper uses data from last 33 years from NYSE, Amex, and Nasdaq to test the existence of size effect and book-to-market effect. In this paper data is sorted by size and book-to-market ratio across quintiles. I runs the time-series regression taking advantage of CAPM model, Fama-French 3-factor model and Carhart 4-factor model to get three different alpha. With all next-month returns, this paper compares those low size/book-to-market next-month returns with those high size/book-to-market next-month returns and uses t-test to verify the existence of these two effects. This paper …

The Expected Value Of An Advantage Blackjack Player, Kamron Jensen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The following paper takes an in-depth look at the gambling game Blackjack, also known as Twenty-One, and asks the question: If the game is beatable, how much can one expect to win playing Blackjack? This paper starts by explaining how the game is played and continues by telling of how Thorpe (1962) discovered that the game can be beaten. It then goes into detail of how the game has changed over the past 50 years and what it takes to beat the game today. To find the expected value of a winning strategy, I create a computer program to run …

Did Market Quality Change After The Introduction Of Leveraged Etf's, Prem Shashi

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Leveraged and Inverse Leveraged ETFs were introduced in the summer of 2006 and have been becoming popular ever since. They became extremely popular during the nancial crisis of 2008 and that made them the obvious scapegoat taking the blame for the increase in volatility during that period. This paper examines how the S & P 500 market quality dened in terms of liquidity, volatility and eciency was aected after the introduction of 2x and 3x leveraged and inverse leveraged ETFs. I nd that after the introduction of the 2x leveraged and inverse leveraged ETFs, the market volatility decreased while the …

The Good News In Short Interest: Ekkehart Boehmer, Zsuzsa R. Huszar, Bradford D. Jordan 2009 Revisited, Jarom Von Julander

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

There are a few ways to examine excess market returns in financial literature. One common model used was the Capital Asset Pricing Model or the CAPM. In more recent years some researchers use the Fama French 3 Factor model (FF3F). Using this FF3F model researchers and investors alike have been searching for those excess returns, or the returns above what the market achieves, because everyone would like to “beat the market” as they say. In Boehmer, Huszar, and Jordan’s 2009 paper “The Good News in Short Interest”, the authors believe that they have found a way to get significant excess …

The Zions Direct Bond Auction Platform And Demand From University Investment Programs, Shaun Murdock

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the niche Zions Direct Auctions fixed income market for the information of the market managers at Zions Direct. The analysis first measures historical data to evaluate market metrics, and the second recommends Vector AutoRegression (VAR) econometric methods to determine if the auction yields within the market are affected by large increases in bidding and buying by the Zion's Bank University Investment Programs(UIPs). In the case that it does, restructuring or at least UIPs.

Predicting Tourist Inflows To Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Using Google Trends, Michelle E. De La Oz Pineda

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper seeks to demonstrate that the incorporation of search statistics in autoregressive models used to predict the arrivals of tourists to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, improve the predictive power of the models. This paper explores whether the Internet search information in “Punta Cana” in the United States and Canada between January 2004 and August 2013, reflects the behavior of this variable in real time by using nowcasting methodology that combines variables with different frequencies of time. We find that including the searches of “Punta Cana” that Canadians make on Google in the first week of a month helps predict …

Optimal Debt-To-Equity Ratios And Stock Returns, Courtney D. Winn

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Value maximization of a firm depends heavily on the financial leverage of the company. This is measured by the debt-­‐to-­‐equity ratio, which explains what proportions of debt and equity are being used to finance the firm’s assets. By adjusting this ratio, firms can influence their stock performance.

In this study, I estimate the value function for each firm and take the derivative with respect to the debt-­‐to-­‐equity ratio. By setting this equal to zero, I solve for the optimal debt-­‐ to-­‐equity ratio or the ratio that maximizes firm value. The difference between the optimal and historically observed debt-­‐to-­‐equity ratios is …

Heterogeneity Of Emergency Department Use And Cost: Evidence From The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment, Colby Russell Kearl

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In 2008, Oregon was given permission by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand the State’s Medicaid program (Oregon Health Plan Standard) by lottery (Allen, et al. 2010). This allowed for a randomized control study focused on the effect of Medicaid coverage on various factors. The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment (OHIE) was conducted to capitalize on this rare event (Allen, et al. 2010, Finkelstein, et al. 2012, Taubman, et al. 2014).

Calculating Willingness-To-Pay As A Function Of Biophysical Water Quality And Water Quality Perceptions, Carlos G. Silva

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

When estimating economic value associated with changes in water quality, recreation demand models typically depend upon either (i) biophysical measures of water quality as collected by natural scientists or (ii) the perception of water quality by recreationists. Models based upon biophysical metrics (such as oxygen concentration, pollutant concentrations, Secchi depth measurements, etc.) operate on the assumption that people can perceive and respond to these metrics, or respond to factors that are, indeed, correlated with the biophysical measure. Economists have often estimated willingness-to-pay (WTP) measures associated with unit changes in biophysical measures without examining the degree to which the measures are …

Stochastic Tests On Live Cattle Steer Basis Composite Forecasts, Elliott James Dennis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Since the seminal papers of Bates and Granger in 1969, a superfluous amount of information has been published on combining singular forecasts. Materialized evidence has habitually demonstrated that combining the forecasts will produce the best model. Moreover, while it is possible that a best singular model could outperform a composite model, using multiple models provides the advantage of risk diversification. It has also been shown to produce a lower forecasting error. The question to whether to combine has been replaced with what amount of emphasis should be placed on each forecast.

Researchers are aspired to derive optimal weights that would …

Three Essays On The Economics Of Controlling Invasive Species, Yanxu Liu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Invasive species have caused notable economic damages in agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and other industries over the past several decades. Invasive species control must therefore be designed to prevent the both the introduction and spread of invasive species. This dissertation examines the efficiency and efficacy of tariffs and inspections as a joint control mechanism at a home (i.e., importing) country's border. I find that a traditional tariff can be optimal in the short run when the invasive species level is directly related to a foreign (i.e., exporting) country's shipment size. However, in the long run a traditional tariff results in a …

The Benefits Of Animal Traceability Systems On A Foot-And-Mouth Disease Outbreak In Utah, Christian Michael Ukkestad

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent decades, a number of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks have occurred in countries that had been FMD-free for many years. The last FMD outbreak in the United States occurred in 1929 and the country contains a naïve livestock population, meaning it is susceptible to an outbreak. In the event of an FMD outbreak in the United States, the speed at which the source and contacts between livestock can be identified impacts both the implementation and effectiveness of mitigation strategies. The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the impact of higher levels of animal traceability on the immediate welfare …

The Optimal Cow Size For Intermountain Cow-Calf Operations: The Impact Of Public Grazing Fees On The Optimal Cow Size, Jesse Russell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The cattle industry is very competitive which is forcing cow-calf producers to strive for efficiency. Research has shown that as a cows mature weight increases, feed efficiency decreases, as well as reproductive efficiency and other production factors. The purpose of this paper is to (1) identify the economically optimum cow size when charging for grazing public lands on a true Animal Unit Equivalent (AUE) basis and (2) determine if the current practice of charging on a per head basis for grazing public lands has an effect on the optimal cow size.

To simplify the complexity of this problem, three different …

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative And U.S. Energy Markets, Kangil Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The dynamic mutual relationship between the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon permit price and energy prices in the U.S. is examined. Results show that the RGGI and electricity markets are not closely linked, although the carbon permit price is usually closely interrelated with energy prices. The loose relationship between the RGGI and electricity markets can be explained by the recent low carbon credit demand which stems from the low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions existent in the particular area covered by the RGGI. The low GHG emissions result from fuel switching due to recent low natural gas prices. Unlike the …

The Larrison Group (Tlg) Political Consulting And Fundraising Internship: Lessons Learned, Sadelle Crabb

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Larrison Group (TLG) is a boutique political consulting firm located in Georgetown in the District of Columbia. The firm was founded by the current president, Ms. Heather Larrison. TLG fundraises for various clients including several current Senators and Congressional candidates. Some past and present clients include: Governor Hailey Barbour of Mississippi, Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, and Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. TLG also provides political consulting and event planning services for multiple CEO' s in the New York City area. The internship is a paid position of two $600 stipends per month. Overall, I spent roughly 1,050 hours …

Crony Chronicles Website Redesign, Lindsey Marie Mcbride

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The policy team at the Charles Koch Institute is broken into different areas of research. During my summer internship, I was assigned to research crony capitalism with four other members of the policy team. Along with their research on crony capitalism, these team members maintained a website called cronychronicles.org. For a definition of crony capitalism, or cronyism, see Appendix C. The goal of the website was to be "the leading online resource for everything related to cronyism" (About Us). I was very interested in the research I was conducting on crony capitalism, and enjoyed contributing information to the Crony Chronicles …

Business Honors Internship Final Report: U.S. House Of Representatives, Adam T. Stewart

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

From May 6^th through August 9^th of 2013, I had the choice opportunity to intern for Congressman Rob Bishop in the United States House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. I consider this experience monumental in my undergraduate career. No other experience has allowed me to utilize all of the knowledge and skills gained in my dual economics and political science degrees.

Analysis Of Building Resiliency In An Ethiopian Pastoral System: Mitigating The Effects Of Population And Climate Change On Food Insecurity, Brigham Forrest

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Worldwide expenditures on international development in the form of assistance or “aid” have continued to increase as developed countries look to both help and influence developing countries. In 2011, more than $140 billion in development aid was distributed globally, more than double the amount expended for international development aid in 2003. Many of the countries that are in need of aid have governments that do not have the resources, the experience, political stability, or well-functioning institutions to effect long-term structural change to bring their people out of poverty.

Ethiopia is a country receiving large amounts of development aid, and one …

Measuring The Value Of Plastic And Reusable Grocery Bags, Jarod Dunn, Arthur J. Caplan, Ryan Bosworth

Arthur J. Caplan

Using data from an online survey of grocery store customers in Logan, Utah, we estimate the marginal effects on willingness to pay (WTP) for continued use of plastic grocery bags, and the marginal effects on willingness to accept (WTA) for switching to reusable grocery bags. We find both non-parametric and parametric evidence suggesting that individuals respond quite dramatically to moderate plastic-bag tax rates and reusable-bag subsidy rates. All else equal, older and lower-to-middle income individuals, as well as larger-sized households, are more likely to switch to using reusable bags exclusively when faced with a tax on plastic bags. Lower-to-middle income …

Measuring The Surplus Of Superficiality: The Case Of Dented Bumper Repair, Arthur Caplan

Arthur J. Caplan

This article uses data from a survey administered to 400 automobile owners in northern Utah to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) for removal of a superficial dent in the bumper of a typical owner’s vehicle. A unique set of controls are used to estimate the determinants of WTP for this particular manifestation of superficiality. Both parametric and nonparametric measures of meanWTP are also derived. To the extent that a driver’s demand for superficiality represents a market failure, e.g., due to imperfect information, or, in a normative sense, the influence of wasteful social norms, our welfare measures represent estimates of the potential social …

Benchmarking An Optimal Pattern Of Pollution Trading: The Case Of Cub River, Utah, Arthur Caplan, Yuya Sasaki

Arthur J. Caplan

This paper employs a recently developed, dynamic trading algorithm to establish a benchmark pattern of trade for a potential water quality trading (WQT) market in the Cub River sub-basin of Utah; a market that would ultimately include both point and nonpoint sources. The algorithm accounts for three complications that naturally arise in trading scenarios: (1) combinatorial matching of traders, (2) trader heterogeneity, and (3) discreteness in abatement technology. The algorithm establishes as detailed a reduced-cost benchmark as possible for the sub-basin by distinguishing a specific pattern of trade among would-be market participants. As such, the algorithm provides a benchmark against …

Cultural Influences On Women In Leadership: An Extension Of The Hofstede And Globe Dimensions, Andrea Rae Barlow

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Technology has forever changed the face of business. Although in the past business markets have been limited to local geographic areas, the concept of outsourcing has opened a diverse spectrum of international markets. An increase in supplies and consumers can improve business effectiveness and efficiency, but entering international markets can be detrimental if the business is unaware of the subtle differences the new market has in regard to leadership styles and cultural values. Hofstede's cultural dimension analysis has been the primary research study for many industry and academic professionals (Bond 2002; Hofstede 1997). However, many scholars are questioning whether Hofstede …