Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Women’S Intrahousehold Bargaining Power On Child Health Outcomes In Bangladesh, Eleanor M. Schmidt

Undergraduate Economic Review

Trends in developing economies suggest that as relative female intrahousehold bargaining power improves, consumption preferences favor basic needs which promote child welfare. This study seeks to examine whether greater household bargaining power by Bangladeshi women is related to an improvement the health of their children. Results suggest that certain aspects of bargaining power, including female participation in decision-making about child health care, large household purchases and daily needs, are associated with larger child height-for-age z-scores. There exists a positive correlation between children in families where their mothers have decision-making authority and child health outcomes.

A Household Model Of Careers And Education Investment, Jessica F. Young

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper develops a two-stage non-cooperative household game, in which parents make career decisions and an investment into their child’s human capital. The model is solved for Nash equilibrium outcomes and extended for a cooperative solution. In non-cooperative pure strategies, both parents choosing to work is a Nash equilibrium, though there are alternative outcomes when the conditions underlying the career decision are varied. The investment behaviour of agents is analysed. We find that choices are critically affected by the magnitude of the cost (and reflected quality) of a high education investment relative to a low investment, and the intrinsic value …

Undergraduate Economic Review: Recent Trends Report, Jake Mann

Undergraduate Economic Review

The Undergraduate Economic Review is a peer-reviewed, internationally distributed open-access journal aimed at promoting high quality undergraduate research. It is supported by the Ames Library and the Department of Economics at Illinois Wesleyan University. The journal has been in existence for eight years, and has published many notable articles from a variety of undergraduate institutions. This report provides an overview and preliminary analysis of statistics and data from Berkeley Electronic Press and Google Analytics reports.

The Growing Concern Of Poverty In The United States: An Exploration Of Food Prices And Poverty On Obesity Rates For Low-Income Citizens, Catherine Gillespie, Kathy Gray, Ethan Bailey, John Zivalich

Undergraduate Economic Review

Studies demonstrate the link between income and obesity, determining factors to explain the strong correlation between high body mass index and low socioeconomic status. Many focus on uncovering predictors but few use a systems approach: identifying the interaction among predictors and their relative magnitude concerning obesity. This study asks: do poverty or food price indicators have a statistically stronger relationship with obesity?

By collecting data, evaluating trends, and analyzing statistics, this study extends research by revealing a stronger relationship between obesity and food prices as opposed to obesity and poverty.

Immigrants, Medicaid, And The Deficit Reduction Act, Nicholas T. Fritsch

Undergraduate Economic Review

This study examines the effects of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) on immigrant Medicaid participation using data from the 2005 and 2007 March supplements of the Current Population Survey. The DRA made changes to Medicaid coverage laws by requiring proof of citizenship for eligibility rather than a sworn statement, as was the case prior to the DRA, thus reducing the non-citizen/non-legal permanent resident use of Medicaid. A difference-in-difference methodology is used, and the research finds that the laws were effective in decreasing non-citizen use of Medicaid relative to citizens, though there is a possibility of “chilling effects” on eligible non-citizens.

Demand For Money And Exchange Rate: Evidence For Wealth Effect In India, Sahadudheen I

Undergraduate Economic Review

External factors such as variations in exchange rates should, to some extent, affect the composition of optimal money holdings. It was Robert Mundell who proposed the idea that demand for money could depend on the exchange rate in addition to the income and interest rate. Changes in exchange rate may have two effects on the demand for domestic currency, wealth effect and currency substitution effect. The main objective of the paper is to examine the effects of exchange rate on domestic demand for money in India covering the period of 1998Q1 to 2009Q4. The statistical and time series properties of …

Shanghai As An International Financial Center - Aspiration, Reality And Implication, Raph Luo

Undergraduate Economic Review

China’s rapid economic development, especially in the financial sector, has ignited the discussion of the re-emergence of Shanghai as a leading international financial center (IFC). Much still remains to be done for Shanghai to catch up with established centers such as New York and London, including deepening its capital markets and opening itself up to cross-border capital flows. While Shanghai’s current financial development has been made possible largely by China’s past economic conditions and policies, recent reforms are also likely to guarantee Shanghai the position as a world-class onshore IFC in the near future. The rise of Shanghai will likely …

Returns From Self-Employment: Using Human Capital Theory To Compare U.S. Natives And Immigrants, Nikola Popovic

Undergraduate Economic Review

The focus of this paper is to examine the economic returns from self-employment when comparing natives and immigrants. I hypothesize that returns from self-employment will increase with age and education, and that immigrants from China, India, and the Philippines will have higher returns while immigrants from Mexico will have lower returns than natives. I also hypothesize that immigrants with high levels of education will earn more than natives with the same amount of education. The OLS regressions show that human capital variables explain the differences in self-employed income between natives and immigrants, as the literature suggests.

Economic Shocks, Trade And International Relations, Jack Barnes Thompson

Undergraduate Economic Review

In an interdependent world, trade has unavoidable game aspects. A model with two agents is used to determine the impact of trade and a military alliance between two major world players, North America and China, and an external non-actor, South Korea. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of cooperative actions and outcomes by the two agents on a two-track policy for South Korea. We also study a variant to the game by considering a change in international relations. Welfare implications are also observed.

Does The Economy Determine The President? A Regression Model For Predicting Us Presidential Elections, Roy K. Roth

Undergraduate Economic Review

There is a prevalent belief that the economy determines the President. If the economy is good, the President keeps his job, if it is bad, he is out. A large body of econometric literature has been published on this topic. This paper takes a new approach. I look not at how the popular vote changes with economic conditions, but how the electoral vote changes. I further examine how these changes affect the probability that the incumbent party stays in office. I find that economic conditions may not be as important as they have been purported to be.

Interest Rate Policy In China: The Impact Of Suppressed Deposit Rates On Household Income From 2000-2007, Zhuliang James Zhang

Undergraduate Economic Review

An often-overlooked impact of China’s policy of maintaining low interest has been the suppression of household interest income, which has increased the propensity of households to save while decreasing their consumption rates. This paper posits that from 2000 to 2007, deposit rates in China were suppressed annually by around 720 basis points, imposing an implicit tax on annual per-capita income of 12.8% on average. Raising deposit rates will increase household income and boost consumption in the medium-term if the Chinese government is able to initiate policy shifts that distribute the gains of economic growth more equitably to households. Research advised …

Economic Freedom And Fiscal Performance: A Regression Analysis Of Indices Of Economic Freedom On Per Capita Gdp, Jason R. Ockey

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper explores whether different forms of economic freedom drive fiscal performance. We also seek to determine which specific measurements of economic freedom have the most statistically significant impacts. Though the results of our analysis show that economic freedom does impact levels of per capita GDP, the interpretation of these results is more complicated. Because some indices of economic freedom have negative effects on per capita GDP or are statistically insignificant, it is important to note that simply generally increasing a country’s overall level of economic freedom will not necessarily spur economic growth or increase fiscal performance. This paper does …

Predicting Community College Tuition And Enrollments And Simulating The Initial Effects Of President Obama's American Graduation Initiative, Allison Frederick

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper will identify the effects of supply and demand side factors on community college enrollment quantities and tuition prices and predict the initial effects of President Obama’s American Graduation Initiative. This bill proposes $12 billion of government spending, through grants and financial aid, in order to increase the number of community college graduates by 5 million over the next ten years. Limitations regarding the endogeneity of government appropriations prevents the forecasting of government funding increases; however, the model predicts that financial aid increases from the American Graduation Initiative will increase community college enrollments by over half a million.

The Role Of Entrepreneurship In Economic Growth, Daniel Smith

Undergraduate Economic Review

This study confirms that the level of entrepreneurship in a given country has a significant positive effect on the level of economic growth in that country. Contrary to some established theories, this study has found evidence that the level of entrepreneurship in a given country is not explained by the levels of the traditional causes of economic growth in that country (specifically the amounts of labor, capital, and knowledge that a country possesses as well as the presence or absence of market friendly government policies). Instead, entrepreneurship acts as an independent factor.

Determinants Of Bank Profitability In Ukraine, Antonina Davydenko

Undergraduate Economic Review

The Ukrainian banking system exhibits low profitability compared to other transitional countries in the region. This study examines the determinants of bank profitability in Ukraine. It relates bank specific, industry specific and macroeconomic indicators to the overall profitability of Ukrainian banks. The study uses a panel of individual banks’ financial statements from 2005 to 2009. According to the empirical results, Ukrainian banks suffer from low quality of loans and do not manage to extract considerable profits from the growing volume of deposits. Despite low profits from the core banking activities Ukrainian banks manage benefit from exchange rate depreciation. This study …

Theories Of Gold Price Movements: Common Wisdom Or Myths?, Fan Fei, Kelechi Adibe

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper examines several of the explanations commonly provided regarding gold and its price movements. We consider the safe haven, inflation hedge, and dollar destruction hypotheses. The results are mixed. Our data does not support the theories that gold is a safe haven or an inflation hedge. We find that gold is a zero-beta asset and there is a strong negative correlation between gold and the value of the US dollar in the post Bretton-Woods era. The decomposition of gold prices under a semi-structural model finds the aggregate demand shock, monetary policy shock, and precautionary demand shock of gold all …

Building A Meritocracy: The American Precedent For Wealth Redistribution, Micah D. Bobo

Undergraduate Economic Review

This work investigates the use of wealth redistribution mechanisms in establishing and promoting meritocratic practices in early United States history. From the fifteenth to eighteenth century, the reward system used in exploration, colonization incentives, and land redistribution techniques are examined. During the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the effects of industrialization and education on social mobility are reviewed. Finally, the social and economic factors resulting in southern secession, particularly slavery, are examined. While the concept may be unpopular in modern society, wealth redistribution mechanisms were essential to cultivating merit-based social mobility and overall societal stability throughout the period covered.

High School Graduation Rates In The Metro-Detroit Area: What Really Affects Public Secondary Education, Thomas A. Wilk

Undergraduate Economic Review

Education is essential to the future productivity of workers in the Metropolitan Detroit area, so determining what impacts high school graduation is vital to predicting the future success of our economy. This research investigates what key aspects in our society affect the high school graduation rate: poverty level, violent crime rate, student body, class size, local school taxes, and standardized test scores. Results from multiple regressions using school district and city data from the CCD and FBI suggest that poverty levels and violent crime in the Metro Detroit area significantly, negatively influence high school graduation rates. Reforms to public policy …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Team Payroll On Regular Season And Postseason Success In Major League Baseball, Noah L. Schwartz, Jason M. Zarrow

Undergraduate Economic Review

Major League Baseball, like other American professional sports, has become a multibillion dollar industry. The institution of free agency has led to the escalation of payrolls and altered the make-up of rosters by dramatically reducing owners’ monopsony power. The ability of large market clubs such as the New York Yankees to compete continually for the game’s greatest prize illustrates the power of the dollar. This paper examines four distinct periods from 1977 to 2008 in order to assess the influence of pecuniary advantages on regular season and postseason outcomes. Payroll exerts great influence in the regular season, but not in …

The Effect Of Changes In The Federal Funds Rate On Stock Markets: A Sector-Wise Analysis, Kunaey Garg

Undergraduate Economic Review

The federal funds rate is an indicator of monetary policy that investors in the stock market scrutinize very closely. This paper determines the relationship between changes in the federal funds rate and sector stock indexes. The paper goes on to determine why particular sectors are more sensitive to interest rate changes than others. Weekly returns of the Dow Jones ICB classified financial, energy, utilities, materials, industrials, consumer goods, consumer services, information technology, healthcare and telecommunications sectors are analyzed using separate OLS regression models for each sector. The results show that the utilities, financials, telecom and basic materials sectors are the …

Nafta Toward A Common Currency: An Economic Feasibility Study, Kelly Hugger

Undergraduate Economic Review

The recent emergence of the Euro, combined with the completion of a decade of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has sparked interest in adopting a common currency for North America. This study examines the likelihood that Canada, Mexico, and the United States will adopt a common currency under fixed exchange rate regimes. The benefits and costs of a common currency are explored using the theory of optimum currency areas (OCA). Empirical research focuses on several variables including intra-regional and intra-industry trade, trade openness, gross domestic product, inflation rates, interest rates, economic growth rates, business cycle synchronization, factor mobility, fiscal …

The Extended Heckscher-Ohlin Model: Patterns Of Trade Between The U.S. And China, Mark Clements

Undergraduate Economic Review

Though there have been many attempts to extend the Heckscher-Ohlin model in order to account for empirical data, I intend to examine John Romalis’ model of factor proportions and commodity structure. The purpose of this paper is to examine Romalis’ model to see if it is supported by empirical data on trade between China and the United States. In order to do this, I will use data from the 2000 and 2005 U.S. Census trade data CD-ROM to determine if Romalis’ extended Hecksher-Ohlin model of international trade can explain the U.S.-China pattern of trade.

Is Selling Sex Good Business? : Prostitution In Nineteenth Century New York City, Ida Bastiaens

Undergraduate Economic Review

This study examines the impact of red light districts on the New York City’s land values for the years 1867 to 1870 using the monocentric model and bid-rent function as the foundation for the analysis. The results suggest that the Tenderloin red light district is a positive amenity, while the Bleecker and Washington Square red light district is a disamenity. The history of prostitution in New York City provides valuable insight into causes for the differences in the marginal impacts of prostitution on Manhattan’s urban environment. In the end, despite prostitution’s ongoing profitability well into the twentieth century, the strong …