Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

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

Mathematics and Economics Faculty Journal Articles

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

The Discriminatory Effects Of Monetary Policy Among Different Labor Market Demographics, Darren Stanton

Honors Projects in Economics

While great strides have been made in America’s pursuit of racial and gender equality, there is still a clear gap in terms of economic success (Carpenter & Rodgers, 2004). Current research has shown that one factor that could be contributing to this is the adverse effects that contractionary monetary policies designed to achieve a 2% average inflation rate has on these groups in the labor market (Seguino & Heintz, 2012). Existing literature suggests this is because of their lower attachment rate to their jobs, jobs that are more likely to be eliminated when interest rates increase. This research will seek …

Economic Growth And Cultural Attitudes Towards Women: An Empirical Investigation, Jake Barlow

Honors Projects in Economics

This study explores the relationship between cultural attitudes towards women and national GDP growth, across several countries. Data from the World Values from 2017 through 2020 wave has been utilized to determine cultural attitudes, and data from the World Bank and USAID has been utilized for building the economic growth model. The purpose of this study is to inform policy makers regarding the effects of policies that are pro gender equality and to identify the effects of gender inequality on economic growth, independent of other economic factors. In addition, this study also investigates the relationship between cultural attitudes towards women …

The Zero-Leverage Policy And Family Firms, Pedram Fardnia, Maher Kooli, Sonal Kumar

Finance Department Faculty Journal Articles

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to examine the zero-leverage (ZL) phenomenon in family and non-family firms.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors consider three hypotheses and empirically test them using a sample of the largest US firms over the 2001–2016 period.

Findings – The authors find that, on average, 19.20% of family firms have zero debt vs 10.42% for non-family firms. The authors also find that family firms strategically choose to be ZL to maintain financial flexibility for future investments and exercise control over the decision-making process, consistent with the hypotheses of financial flexibility and control considerations. However, non-family …

Cross-Quality Impacts Of Ncaa Division I Baseball And Softball, Laura Beaudin

Economics Faculty Journal Articles

Fifty years after Title IX, inequalities still exist between men's and women's sports. Most sport studies still fail to examine women's sports. This study explores the cross-quality impacts of Division I baseball and softball teams. The softball team win percentage is positively related to softball and baseball game attendance. However, models produce mixed results for the impact of the quality of the baseball team. Therefore, improving the strength of the softball team could increase softball and baseball game attendance, while improving the strength of the baseball team might only increase attendance at baseball games.

Earnings Management: Are Men From Mars And Women From Venus?, Sonal Kumar, Rahul Ravi

Finance Department Faculty Journal Articles

Research on gender and finance finds that women chief executive officers (CEOs) are relatively risk-averse and more ethical than their male counterparts. These differences are often presented as reasons for lower earnings management by firms led by women. A strand of contrasting literature however finds the notions of women being risk-averse and ethical not necessarily true for women occupying top leadership positions as women successful in shattering the glass ceiling adopt behaviors like men. This study attempts to understand the differences between the ethical tendencies of the two genders by examining if CEO power impacts the relation between CEO gender …

War And Money In Ngram Viewer, Robert H. Mcfadden, William Zywiak, Ronald P. Bobroff, Gao Niu

Finance Department Faculty Journal Articles

The second and fourth authors have been inviting Intro to Applied Analytics and Statistics 1 students to use the Ngram Database to explore historical topics of their choosing. This is the first article derived from this exercise. The first author examined the historical relationship between war and money from 1775 to 2005 in the American English corpus. This is followed by an examination of the 3-gram “cost of war” in the American English and British English corpora. Specific to the analyses presented here several military and economic events are discussed. More specifically, both economies and wars are somewhat unpredictable, with …

Financial Literacy And Investing Habits Of Generation Z As It Pertains To Financial Marketing, Meghan Mazzatto

Honors Projects in Marketing

As technology boomed at the end of the 20th Century and into the 21st Century, the methods young adults use to manage their finances have also evolved. Between moving financial investing and banking to the internet, robo-advising apps, college debt, and the generational reaction to the 2008 Financial Crisis, the world of investing has taken a drastic turn when it comes to young investors. The purpose of this study is to examine the financial habits of Generation Z in order for financial planning companies to better market to the upcoming Generation Z. A survey was used for this study to …

Team Incentives And Lower Ability Workers: An Experimental Study On Real Effort Tasks, Richard B. Freeman, Xiaofei Pan, Xiaolan Yang, Maoliang Ye

Economics Faculty Working Papers

Team incentives are important in many compensation systems that pay workers according to the output of their team as well as to their own output, with team bonuses often depending on whether the team meets or exceeds specified thresholds. Yet little is known about how team members with different abilities respond to compensation rules and thresholds. We contrast the performance of lower ability participants and higher ability participants in an experiment with three distribution schemes – equal sharing, piece rate sharing, and tournament style winner-takesall – in settings with and without a team threshold. Workers randomly assigned to equal sharing …

Young Adults And Money: The Covid-19 Pandemic, Michael Mariano

Honors Projects in Finance

This study looks to explore the relationship between the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and young investors. More specifically, this research looks to answer the question: how have young adults, ages 18-25, responded to the economic distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic with their investing decisions? Through analyzing a sample of young adults, ages 18-25, this study will develop a deeper and broader perspective on the unique impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the investing decisions of young adults. Using a mix of literary studies on similar historical events and a sample study of young …

Natural Disasters And Government Size: A Cross-Country Analysis, Justin Hainse

Honors Projects in Economics

re have been multiple studies within the field of economics concerning the various effects that natural disasters have on countries. The goal of the present study is to address the seemingly forgotten area of how natural disasters affect the size of a government. Using data from both the Emergency Events Database and the World Bank, a cross-country panel data analysis is performed to test the impact of natural disasters on government size. The results show that more deaths from a natural disaster is associated with countries having a larger government. These results aim to be useful for allowing governments to …

Disparities Within The Housing Market: Determinants Of Homeownership With An Emphasis On Sex And Race, Olivia Lemire

Honors Projects in Economics

A home is one of the wealthiest assets an individuals can hold and serves as a major indicator of economic wellbeing. The decision for someone to rent or buy a home is based upon many factors. Similar, to Hood (1999), this paper analyzes the relationship between determinants of homeownership and the probability that an individual owns their home using regression and probability models. The focus of this paper is the relationship between sex and race on homeownership. Results suggest that White males have the highest rate of homeownership, while Black females have the lowest rate of homeownership even after all …

Investing In Democratic Countries: An Investigation Of Democracy And Fdi, Maxwell Lajeunesse

Honors Projects in Economics

In this paper, the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows and democracy levels of upper-middle income nations using three different measures of democracy is investigated. An empirical analysis across the years 2010 through 2018 was conducted, using the democracy indicators and data from the United States Agency for International AID (USAID). These democracy indicators are the EIU Democracy Index, Polity5, and IDEA Global State of Democracy Indices. The importance of this research revolves around the benefits of FDI inflows and how countries may capitalize on these benefits. Additionally, FDI has increased rapidly in the past 20 years and democracy …

The Impact Of Female Leadership On Lgbtq-Supportive Policies, Samantha Bove

Honors Projects in Finance

In the past two decades, gender inequality in c-suites has received a large amount of attention. Thus, the number of women in top management roles has increased substantially. However, the corporate sector has also neglected other marginalized groups, specifically, members of the LGBTQ community. These individuals are important employees and previous literature has established the benefits, both financial and otherwise, that the presence of LGBTQ supportive policies have on American corporations. In this paper, I examine if the presence of women CEOs influences the LGBTQ policies that are implemented in that firm. This will be analyzed using an OLS regression …

Corporate Social Responsibility Within The American Craft Beer Industry: Environmental Sustainability And Community Engagement, Bradley Demild

Honors Projects in Management

Craft brewing and craft beer is emerging as an established business in the United States, with many states housing established regional breweries. As the United States looks to implement environmentally friendly practices in business operations, the goal of this report is to analyze the respective steps taken by the craft beer industry to achieve sustainability. Looking into environmental sustainability and community efforts holistically, the corporate social responsibly (CSR) practices of certified independent, craft brewers who are members of the Brewers Association of various sizes, lends insights into the current state of the industry. A combination of educational materials provided by …

Footballer Valuations: Valuing World-Class Football Players Against Transfer Fees, Louis Diblasi

Honors Projects in Economics

This paper aims to create a model to value European football players. It will do so by comparing a player's transfer fee and then measuring their value based on performances in the season after the transfer has occurred. The model will be applied to Europe's top five leagues: the English Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Ligue 1, and the German Bundesliga. This study takes variables from multiple past studies to be used in the model, and adds a valuation for goalkeepers, which has never been done before. The goal of this study is to measure the variables that contribute …

Firm Performance During The Covid-19 Crisis: Does Managerial Ability Matter?, Sonal Kumar, Leila Zbib

Finance Department Faculty Journal Articles

Challenged by the Covid-19 crisis, CEOs must rethink about how to operate and exist in the new working environment. We examine if managerial ability of the CEO impacts firm performance during the crisis period. We find a positive and significant association between the CEO managerial ability and both the cumulative raw and abnormal returns. We also find that firms with better CEO managerial ability are more resilient and have higher ROE than their counterparts. We find that the CEOs with higher managerial ability have higher pre-pandemic liquidity which in part explains the better performance amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Understanding Real Estate Market Dynamics: The Covid-19 Effect, Faith Winslow

Honors Projects in Finance

The covid-19 pandemic has led to significant shifts in consumer trends, including in the real estate market. Through multivariable regression, this study investigates how covid-19 has impacted the demand as well as pricing for houses in the United States. The findings contribute to the literature in a few major ways. First, they provide a current look at the impact of covid-19 on the housing market by analyzing monthly, state-level data from before and during the pandemic. Secondly, they provide clarity and supplement journals and research currently in the works. This is the first national study that looks at the effect …

Movin’ On Up? A Survey Experiment On Mobility Enhancing Policies, Jared Barton, Xiaofei Pan

Economics Faculty Journal Articles

We use a nationwide survey experiment in the United States to measure whether information on intergenerational economic mobility or policy-specific arguments influence support for six pro-mobility policies advocated by political entrepreneurs. We find the information treatments do not affect support, but the argument treatments significantly increase support for three of the policies. We also include a behavioral measure by allowing respondents the opportunity to write their U.S. Senators. We find argument treatments significantly increase the likelihood that letters address economic mobility and significantly promote advocacy for that policy in the letter, but no increase in advocacy from the information treatments. …

Coo2 Bhanga Munda Data, Asli Ascioglu, Padma Kadiyala

Finance Department Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Task Choice And Task Assignment On The Gender Earnings Gap: An Experimental Study, Kai Ou, Xiaofei Pan

Economics Faculty Journal Articles

Previous studies explain the gender earnings gap by gender differences in choosing competitive and higher-paying jobs. However, little is known about whether and how women’s earnings are affected when they choose more challenging jobs. In this study, we use a novel identification strategy to investigate 1) how the gender earnings gap arises from individuals’ self-selecting into different tasks and 2) whether mobilizing women to work on the tasks typically preferred by men increases women’s earnings and decreases the earnings gap. Our results show that men who prefer the hard and higher-paid task are more likely to obtain higher earnings regardless …

Does Student Performance In Introductory Economics And Business Courses Impact Ets Scores?, Peter J. Nigro, Laura Beaudin, David C. Ketcham, Michael A. Roberto

Finance Department Faculty Journal Articles

This study examines the impact of economics education on student performance on the Educational Testing Service Major Field Test in Business. We demonstrate that grades in introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics courses have a positive relationship with overall exam performance as well as sub-scores in most content areas of the test. Furthermore, we use a measure of “extranormal” ability in economics and demonstrate its positive relationship to test performance. “Extranormal” ability represents the portion of course grades that cannot be explained by prior academic achievement. Finally, we show that the relationship between “extranormal” ability and exam performance is much more limited …

Go Books, Go Bulldogs, Go Women: Examining The Factors That Affect Female Enrollment At Undergraduate Schools, Sarah Desantis

Honors Projects in Economics

This study investigates women's underrepresentation and the declining enrollment trend in undergraduate business programs by examining New England schools between 2015-2017. The study uses a linear regression model, testing a variety of variables including student characteristics and outcomes, college characteristics, funding and faculty, and women-related experiences measured against the dependent variable of percentage of women enrolled. The study found that (1) the presence of a women's center increases women enrollment; (2) the greater diversity representation on campus increases women enrollment; (3) women are more attracted to private universities and are less likely to attend with an increase in the undergraduate …

Prediction Of Individual Income: A Machine Learning Approach, Michael Matkowski

Honors Projects in Economics

The use of machine learning models to improve prediction problems and handle increasingly large datasets is a rising trend in economics. Prediction plays a particularly important role in applied economics because it provides critical insights to assess market outcomes. This study builds on previous literature to showcase the relative power of these modelling methodologies in economics through the prediction of income. This research utilizes data from the Current Population Survey from 2017 – 2020, containing 467,811 observations and 264 variables. 2017-2018 data served as training data for the models and 2019-2020 served as data for the two testing sets. The …

Are Community Banks A Driver Of New Business Formation? Empirical Evidence From The United States From 2005 To 2015, Christopher Dodd

Honors Projects in Economics

The number of small banks in the U.S. has dropped drastically since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC], 2018). Small businesses, which are essential to a well-functioning economy, often rely on banks as a source of financial capital. This study helps explain if the number of community banks in a state impacts new business formation and whether financial regulation passed following the GFC, specifically the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, moderates the significance of the relationship. This thesis contributes to the literature in a few major ways. First, it provides a …

Does Social Trust Affect International Contracting? Evidence From Foreign Bond Covenants, Paul Brockman, Sadok El Ghoul, Omrane Guedhami, Ying Zheng

Finance Department Faculty Journal Articles

Building on rational choice institutionalism theory and Williamson’s (J Econ Lit 38(3): 595–613, 2000) four-level social analysis framework, we investigate the influence of the informal institution of social trust on debt contract design in an international setting. Using a sample of non-U.S. firms that issue bonds in the U.S. debt market, we find that Yankee bond creditors impose fewer covenants on bond issuers domiciled in countries with a high degree of social trust. We further show that the inverse relationship between debt covenants and the informal institution of social trust is more pronounced for firms from countries with weak formal …

International Disease Epidemics And The Shadow Economy, Aziz N. Berdiev, Rajeev K. Goel, James W. Saunoris

Economics Faculty Working Papers

Adding to the emerging body of research related to the current coronavirus crisis, this paper studies the impact of disease epidemics on the worldwide prevalence of the shadow or the underground economy. The informal sector undermines compliance with government regulations and lowers tax collections. Our main hypothesis is that epidemics positively impacts the spread of the shadow economy. Using data on nearly 130 nations and nesting the empirical analysis in the broader literature on the drivers of the shadow sector, we find that both the incidence and the intensity of epidemics positively and significantly contribute to the spread of the …

University President's Gender And Graduation Rates, Alex Drezek

Honors Projects in Economics

Graduation rates have increasingly become a key metric that institutions use to measure their success. This study looks at the potential relationship between the gender of a university’s president and graduation rates. A dataset was created compiling the gender and tenure of presidents and the characteristics and graduation rates of 4-year institutions in New England. Three separate regression models were created to analyze the data. The variables with the strongest positive relationship to graduation rates are: grade point average (GPA), expected future earnings of students, expenditures made by the institution, and the proportion of full-time faculty employed. The variables with …

Millennials And The Alcohol Industry: Expenditure Variations Among Generations, Anthony Murray

Honors Projects in Economics

This paper explores the relationship age cohorts, or generations, have had with regards to alcohol expenditure over time. Articles from popular publications such as Business Insider claim Millennials are “killing” the alcohol industry due to their lack of consumption (Taylor, 2017), but provide little empirical analysis of any academic rigor to make such claims. These claims do matter, as they have implications for the alcohol industry itself as well as investors, law enforcement, the healthcare industry, and policy makers. This paper uses four cross-sectional decadal datasets spanning from 1986 to 2016 from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer …

Social Responsibility Of A Stock Exchange: Corporate Governance At Borsa Istanbul, A. Can Inci

Finance Department Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.