Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Keyword
-
- Sports (28)
- Impact analysis (24)
- Mega-event (17)
- Tourism (17)
- Public finance (14)
-
- Stadiums (13)
- Football (10)
- Lotto (10)
- Gambling (9)
- Lottery (9)
- Olympics (9)
- Economic impact (8)
- World Cup (8)
- Baseball (6)
- Forensic economics (6)
- sports (5)
- College sports (5)
- Health insurance (5)
- Unemployment (5)
- Crime (4)
- Development (4)
- Genocide (4)
- Housing (4)
- Hurricane Katrina (4)
- Mega-events (4)
- New Orleans (4)
- Soccer (4)
- Affordable Care Act (3)
- Arenas (3)
- Basketball (3)
Articles 31 - 60 of 145
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Many Happy Returns? The Pro-Bowl, Mega-Events, And Tourism In Hawaii, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson
Many Happy Returns? The Pro-Bowl, Mega-Events, And Tourism In Hawaii, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
We use daily airplane arrival data from 2004 to 2015 from Hawaii’s Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to determine the net change in arrivals around a variety of sporting events. We find only one event generates a positive and significant net impact on arrivals: the Honolulu Marathon, which generates roughly 3,900 additional arrivals. No other sporting events result in a measurable increase in tourist arrivals including, notably, the NFL’s Pro Bowl, which receives a large subsidy from the state’s tourism authority.
Unemployment And Public Budget Impacts Of The Auto Bailout, Robert Baumann, Andrea Thompson
Unemployment And Public Budget Impacts Of The Auto Bailout, Robert Baumann, Andrea Thompson
Economics Department Working Papers
We estimate the impact of the 2009 financial rescue of two large American automobile companies (General Motors and Chrysler) on unemployment in Michigan. We conservatively estimate that the auto bailout saved about 7,700 workers from unemployment each month over a period of four-and-a-half years. This translates to a public savings of between $1.3 and $1.6 billion via lower transfer payments and higher tax revenues.
The Effect Of Natural Disasters On Housing Prices: An Examination Of The Fourmile Canyon Fire, Katherine A. Kiel, Victor Matheson
The Effect Of Natural Disasters On Housing Prices: An Examination Of The Fourmile Canyon Fire, Katherine A. Kiel, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
In September 2010, the Fourmile-Lefthand Canyon forest fire burned 6,181 acres, destroyed 169 homes, and caused $217 million in property damages making it by far the most expensive fire in Colorado history at the time. This paper examines how the fire affected housing prices in vulnerable neighboring areas that were not directly impacted by the fire, controlling for the property’s level of risk. This damaging fire may have increased home owners’ perceptions about the risk of living in forested areas subject to wildfires to a significant degree adding to the total direct economic losses from the fire. Utilizing a unique …
Economics And Genocide: Choices And Consequences, Charles Anderton, Jurgen Brauer
Economics And Genocide: Choices And Consequences, Charles Anderton, Jurgen Brauer
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper provides an overview of genocide and international law concerning genocide.
Measuring Food Consumption And Production According To Resource Intensity: The Methodology Behind The Cereal Equivalent Approach, Kolleen Rask, Norman Rask
Measuring Food Consumption And Production According To Resource Intensity: The Methodology Behind The Cereal Equivalent Approach, Kolleen Rask, Norman Rask
Economics Department Working Papers
The production of food is one of humanity’s fundamental and most critical endeavors, yet our understanding of its impact on limited global resources is not well developed. Food production supplies a basic human need, provides important employment for millions of the world’s poor, and generates significant export income for some countries, while using up valuable foreign exchange reserves for others. On the demand side, as population grows, demand for food grows commensurately. Even more importantly, as incomes grow, the per capita demand for food grows, and studies have shown that diet changes related to rising incomes result in a five-fold …
Economics And Genocide: Choices And Consequences, Jurgen Brauer, Charles Anderton
Economics And Genocide: Choices And Consequences, Jurgen Brauer, Charles Anderton
Economics Department Working Papers
Professional economists rarely write on questions of genocide. This surprises because a workhorse tool of the economics discipline concerns the analysis of behavior that takes place under constraints. All parties in genocide—perpetrators, victims, and third parties—face cost and resource constraints subject to which they seek to achieve their objectives, be it killing, surviving, or intervening. This essay characterizes and illustrates economic thinking about objectives, costs, and resources for each of the three groups. There is potentially much that economics can contribute to genocide studies and, vice versa, much that genocide scholars may learn from welcoming an economic perspective.
The Social Evolution Of Terror And Genocide Across Time And Geographic Space: Perspectives From Evolutionary Game Theory, Charles Anderton
The Social Evolution Of Terror And Genocide Across Time And Geographic Space: Perspectives From Evolutionary Game Theory, Charles Anderton
Economics Department Working Papers
This article uses evolutionary game theory to reveal the interpersonal and geographic characteristics of a society that make it vulnerable to a conquest from within by terrorist organizations and genocide architects. Under conditions identified in the space-less version of the model, entrepreneurs of violence can create the social metamorphosis of a peaceful people group into one that supports or does not resist violence against an out-group. The model is extended into geographic space by analyzing interactions among peaceful and aggressive phenotypes in Moore and von Neumann neighborhoods. The model also reveals policy interventions in which the social evolution of aggression …
Life-Care Awards In The Age Of The Affordable Care Act, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Victor Matheson
Life-Care Awards In The Age Of The Affordable Care Act, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
Prior to January 1, 2014, it would have been reasonable to assume that persons injured in an act of negligence would be forced to pay for their future medical care costs out-of-pocket rather than being able to rely on health insurance. The passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has the potential to radically change how victims pay for future medical expenses, and now nearly every tort award that provides money to the plaintiff for the full payment of medical costs without consideration of the availability of health insurance will serve to overcompensate victims for their expected medical costs. New …
Learning Tastes Through Social Interaction, Alice Hsiaw
Learning Tastes Through Social Interaction, Alice Hsiaw
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper offers an information-based model of social interaction, and analyzes optimal investment and pricing of services that facilitate interaction in a duopoly. Agents have uncertainty over their preferences but are aware that they are correlated with others’, so there exists an incentive to communicate with others in the population. When a firm’s good can be bundled with a coordination mechanism for its consumers, its value is endogenously determined due to a consumption externality. Although this mechanism increases total surplus, it is underprovided and consumer surplus decreases.
Nonmedical Prescription Drug Use: Theory And Policy Implications, Gabriele Camera, Bryan Engelhardt
Nonmedical Prescription Drug Use: Theory And Policy Implications, Gabriele Camera, Bryan Engelhardt
Economics Department Working Papers
The illicit nonmedical use of prescription drugs is studied in a model where individuals with imperfectly observable health conditions seek prescription drugs for either medical or nonmedical reasons. The equilibrium number of medical and nonmedical users is endogenous and depends on economic and non-economic barriers to drugs consumption, such as pricing, health care costs, refill policies, monitoring programs, and the medical community’s prescription standards. The results show policies centered around raising economic barriers reduces nonmedical use but inhibits medical use due to imperfect screening. Alternatively, the results suggest a national drug registry may be more effective at preventing nonmedical use.
The Value Of A Private Education: Differential Returns And Selection On Observables, Anil Nathan, Sovita Hean, Ryan Elliot
The Value Of A Private Education: Differential Returns And Selection On Observables, Anil Nathan, Sovita Hean, Ryan Elliot
Economics Department Working Papers
The academic value of a private education versus a public education is explored. This study first attempts to see whether there are differential returns to a private education based on ability level. It also intends to non-parametrically control for the selection on observables of the decision to attend private school. Using 8th graders from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, we find that the there is a positive effect on standardized math test scores using OLS. Based on quantile regression results, average students benefit most from a private education. Low-achieving and high-achieving students do not benefit as much. The …
Retirement Reversals And Health Insurance: The Potential Impact Of The Affordable Care Act, Joshua Congdon-Hohman
Retirement Reversals And Health Insurance: The Potential Impact Of The Affordable Care Act, Joshua Congdon-Hohman
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper uses the longitudinal aspect of the Health and Retirement Study to explore the characteristics associated with reversals in retirement (referred to here as "unretirement"). Through the use of survival time analysis, this paper shows that health insurance status and its source are signi cant predictors of unretirement decisions. The relationship is important as the potential impacts of the Affordable Care Act are considered. By comparing the role of health insurance provision to the impact of financial "shocks", the analysis finds that insurance is equally important as other financial explanations for retirement reversals. The analysis also shows that health …
Goal Setting And Energy Conservation, Matthew Harding, Alice Hsiaw
Goal Setting And Energy Conservation, Matthew Harding, Alice Hsiaw
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper develops a theoretical model of consumer demand for an energy conservation program that involves non-binding, self-set goals. We present evidence from a Northern Illinois goal-setting program, aimed at reducing residential electricity consumption, that is difficult to reconcile with standard preferences and is broadly consistent with a model of presentbiased consumers with reference-dependent preferences. We find that the need for commitment is correlated with program adoption, higher pre-adoption consumption, and lower responsiveness to goals. Consumers choosing realistic goals persistently save substantially more, achieving savings of nearly 11%, than those choosing very low or unrealistically high goals.
The Long-Term Game: An Analysis Of The Life Expectancy Of National Football League Players, Ruud Koning, Victor A. Matheson, Anil Nathan, James Pantano
The Long-Term Game: An Analysis Of The Life Expectancy Of National Football League Players, Ruud Koning, Victor A. Matheson, Anil Nathan, James Pantano
Economics Department Working Papers
The National Football League (NFL) has recently received significant negative media attention surrounding the safety of its players, revolving largely around the long term health risks of playing the sport. Recent premature deaths and instances of suicide associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy and other football related injuries have brought the sport under increased scrutiny. By comparing mortality rates of the general population to mortality rates of players from the 1970 and 1994 NFL seasons, we test whether or not participation in football is significantly harmful to the longevity of the players. We conclude that, in total, players in the NFL …
Optimal Capital Taxation And Consumer Uncertainty, Ryan Chahrour, Justin Svec
Optimal Capital Taxation And Consumer Uncertainty, Ryan Chahrour, Justin Svec
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper analyzes the impact of consumer uncertainty on optimal fiscal policy in a model with capital. The consumers lack confidence about the probability model that characterizes the stochastic environment and so apply a max-min operator to their optimization problem. An altruistic fiscal authority does not face this Knightian uncertainty. We show analytically that, in responding to consumer uncertainty, the government no longer sets the expected capital tax rate exactly equal to zero, as is the case in the full-confidence benchmark model. Rather, our numerical results indicate that the government chooses to subsidize capital income, albeit at a modest rate. …
The Impact Of Political Uncertainty: A Robust Control Approach, Robert Baumann, Justin Svec
The Impact Of Political Uncertainty: A Robust Control Approach, Robert Baumann, Justin Svec
Economics Department Working Papers
In this paper, we examine how candidate uncertainty affects the policy platforms chosen in a uni-dimensional, two candidate Downsian spatial model. The candidates, we assume, do not know the true distribution of voters. Following the robust control literature, candidates respond to this uncertainty by applying a max-min operator to their optimization problem. This approach, consistent with findings within the behavioral economics literature, protects the candidate by ensuring that her expected utility never falls too far, regardless of the true voter distribution. We show that this framework produces policy convergence between the two candidates but there is a multiplicity of possible …
Infrastructure Investments And Mega-Sports Events: Comparing The Experience Of Developing And Industrialized Countries, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson
Infrastructure Investments And Mega-Sports Events: Comparing The Experience Of Developing And Industrialized Countries, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
Countries vigorously compete for sports mega-events in hopes of generating an economic impact during the event but also long-term growth induced by the hallmark event. It is well understood that the economic legacy depends on the infrastructure that not only facilitates the games but also has far broader implications for sustainable economic activity in the host city’s economy. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which developing and developed countries adopt different strategies as it related to the composition of infrastructure enhancements that have implications for the generation of an economy legacy from the mega-sports event.
Endogenous Voting Weights For Elected Representatives And Redistricting, Justin Svec, James Hamilton
Endogenous Voting Weights For Elected Representatives And Redistricting, Justin Svec, James Hamilton
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper analyzes the merits of a novel method of eliminating the power of a gerrymanderer that involves an endogenous weighting system for elected representatives. This endogenous weighting system ties the voting weight of elected representatives in the legislature to the share of the voters who voted for that representative's party and to the share of representatives elected from that party. If the weights are set correctly, it can be shown in simple voting models like Gilligan and Matsusaka (1999) that redistricting has no influence on the policy passed by the legislature. This benefit, though, is out-weighed by the fact …
Workers' Responses To Incentives: The Case Of Pending Mlb Free Agents, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Jonathan A. Lanning
Workers' Responses To Incentives: The Case Of Pending Mlb Free Agents, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Jonathan A. Lanning
Economics Department Working Papers
This study examines ways in which workers respond to implicit incentives. Specifically, we examine the extent to which workers shift their effort to activities that are measured and which have been previously rewarded in the labor market. To examine this question, we examine the changes in the performance measures of professional baseball players in the season prior to the opportunity to freely negotiate their contract (free agency). We will examine different eras in baseball to examine if we can identify changes in behavior in this pivotal year based on changes to the current premium outputs for each time period.
Love, Toil, And Health Insurance: Why American Husbands Retire When They Do, Joshua Congdon-Hohman
Love, Toil, And Health Insurance: Why American Husbands Retire When They Do, Joshua Congdon-Hohman
Economics Department Working Papers
The provision of health insurance has previously been shown to be an important determinant of retirement timing among older Americans, but the existing literature has largely ignored some aspects of the inter-spousal dependence of health insurance benefits. Specifically, the literature examines only how retirement may affect the health insurance available to the potential retiree but not how it might affect a spouse's options. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, I find that the impact a husband's retirement might have on a wife's health insurance options has a statistically significant impact on a husband's rate of retirement that is …
Should Gambling Markets Be Privatized? An Examination Of State Lotteries In The United States, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
Should Gambling Markets Be Privatized? An Examination Of State Lotteries In The United States, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
State lotteries currently operate in 43 states across the US. Recently, three states have privatized their lottery operations, handing over the management of their lotteries to private companies in hopes of generating greater revenues for the state governments. Questions arise regarding the economic rationale for this decision and an economic model is presented to determine whether one state, Illinois, has been successful at generating more state transfer revenues as a result of privatization in its first year of results. The issue of lottery privatization is also examined
Student Uncertainty And Major Choice, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Anil Nathan, Justin Svec
Student Uncertainty And Major Choice, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Anil Nathan, Justin Svec
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper examines how model uncertainty affects students' choice of major. To account for this uncertainty, the students apply a max-min operator to their optimization problem. We show analytically that greater uncertainty in a particular major causes the student to be less likely to choose that major and that greater uncertainty across all majors causes fewer students to major in science, technology, engineering, and math. To test the model's assumptions and predictions, we have conducted a novel survey of college freshmen. The results from this survey are consistent with assumptions and implications of the theoretical model.
The Impact Of State Lotteries And Casinos On State, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
The Impact Of State Lotteries And Casinos On State, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
Over the past half century, there has been an increasing prevalence of legalized gambling in the US. At the same time there is a general recognition, empirically supported in the economics literature, that spending on lottery and gaming products tends to be regressive in nature. In addition, gambling addiction is a widely acknowledged social problem. This raises the question of whether the increased presence of casinos and state lotteries results in relatively more bankruptcy filings in the states that offer them. This paper adds to the existing literature by comparing the relative impact of the presence of lotteries to that …
Political Contributions And Insurance, Bryan Engelhardt, Justin Svec
Political Contributions And Insurance, Bryan Engelhardt, Justin Svec
Economics Department Working Papers
We propose a mechanism that eliminates the incentive for risk-averse agents to influence government policy via political contributions. The mechanism requires the government to create a political insurance exchange where agents can insure against the outcome of a government decision and firms selling insurance announce and commit to a price of insurance and their political contributions. If the exchange contains actuarially fair priced insurance, then the agent fully insures and neither the firm nor agent lobbies the government. The exchange is better than contribution limits because it is welfare-enhancing, more fair, and does not restrict speech.
The Role Of Expectations: An Application To Internal Migration, Robert Baumann, Justin Svec, Francis Sanzari
The Role Of Expectations: An Application To Internal Migration, Robert Baumann, Justin Svec, Francis Sanzari
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper examines the impact of unemployment on migration. In a theoretical model, we show that unemployment, per se, does not affect migration. Rather, migration only occurs when unemployment shocks force residents to update their expectations of the area's unemployment rate. Once these expectations change, migration reallocates labor to bring the economy back to equilibrium. To test this theory, we devise an empirical strategy using state level data in the U.S. from 2000 to 2010, we find strong empirical evidence that unemployment shocks outside of expectations have a far greater impact on migration than unemployment shocks that are within expectations.
A Model Of Tradeable Capital Tax Permits, Timothy P. Hubbard, Justin Svec
A Model Of Tradeable Capital Tax Permits, Timothy P. Hubbard, Justin Svec
Economics Department Working Papers
Standard models of horizontal strategic capital tax competition predict that, in a Nash equilibrium, tax rates are inefficiently low due to externalities - capital infl ow to one state corresponds to capital out ow for another state. Researchers often suggest that the federal government impose Pigouvian taxes to correct for these effects and achieve efficiency. We propose an alternative incentive-based regulation: tradeable capital tax permits. Under this system, the federal government would require a state to hold a permit if it wanted to reduce its capital income tax rate from some pre-determined benchmark. These permits would be tradeable across states. …
Assessing The Infrastructure Impact Of Mega-Events In Emerging Economies, Victor Matheson
Assessing The Infrastructure Impact Of Mega-Events In Emerging Economies, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
Developing countries that host mega-events such as the Olympic Games and World Cup invest enormous sums in stadiums and collateral infrastructure projects. The rapid investment in long-lasting physical stocks raises questions of equity and efficiency for national taxpayers and event attendees. This paper reviews several cases of historical and recent mega-events to assess the infrastructure costs, returns on infrastructure investments, and impacts of the events on urban development patterns. It will highlight cases where mega-event investments contributed to long-term economic growth.
Potential Effects Of The Affordable Care Act On The Award Of Life Care Expenses, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Victor Matheson
Potential Effects Of The Affordable Care Act On The Award Of Life Care Expenses, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
Plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits are entitled to compensation for future medical expenses. We argue that the “guaranteed issue” and “individual mandate” requirements of the recently passed Affordable Care Act (ACA) will allow victims to address their health needs through the purchase of a simple health insurance plan rather than direct compensation for an itemized list of health care needs. As such, damage awards for health expenditures should be capped at a maximum of $5,950 per year. Furthermore, the role of a life care planner should evolve into determining which life care expenses are covered under covered by the minimum …
The Lasting Effects Of Crime: The Relationship Of Discovered Methamphetamine Laboratories And Home Values, Joshua Congdon-Hohman
The Lasting Effects Of Crime: The Relationship Of Discovered Methamphetamine Laboratories And Home Values, Joshua Congdon-Hohman
Economics Department Working Papers
This study estimates a household’s willingness to pay to avoid the stigma of crime while minimizing concerns of omitted variable bias. By assuming methamphetamine producers locate approximately at random within a narrowly defined neighborhood, this study is able to use hedonic estimation methods to estimate the impact of the discovery of a methamphetamine laboratory on the home values near that location. Specifically, the analysis designates those closest to the site as the treated, while those slightly farther away act as the comparison group. The discovery of a methamphetamine laboratory has a significant effect on the property values of those homes …
Spousal Labor Market Effects From Government Health Insurance: Evidence From A Veterans Affairs Expansion, Melissa A. Boyle, Joanna N. Lahey
Spousal Labor Market Effects From Government Health Insurance: Evidence From A Veterans Affairs Expansion, Melissa A. Boyle, Joanna N. Lahey
Economics Department Working Papers
Although government expansion of health insurance to older workers leads to labor supply reductions for recipients, there may be spillover effects on the labor supply of affected spouses who are not covered by the programs. In the simplest model, health insurance on the job is paid for in terms of lower compensation on the job. Receiving health insurance exogenous to employment is akin to a positive income shock for the household, causing total household labor supply to drop. However, it is not clear within the household whether this decrease in labor supply will be borne by both spouses or by …