Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

What Is The Effect Of Trade On The Gender Wage Gap In The Mexican Manufacturing Sector?, Jimerson J. Asencio Ferrufino

Economics Honors Projects

This study examines the effect of trade-induced price changes on the gender wage gap in Mexico before and after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. By applying the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem, a result in trade theory that links relative goods prices and relative wages, this paper tests whether changes in relative prices of female-intensive goods can explain changes in female relative wages. Using household employment surveys and production data from Mexico’s National Institute of Geography and Statistics (INEGI) for the 1988 to 2010 period, we find that (1) the gender wage gap in manufacturing has increased after NAFTA …

How Does Average Protein Consumption Affect Happiness?, Nina Wellander

Economics Honors Projects

This paper uses individual-level data to examine the potential link between average protein consumption and happiness within 87 countries between the years of 1981 and 2007. After controlling for other variables that influence happiness as outlined in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, I find that average protein consumption has a statistically significant effect on average subjective well-being. Specifically, the results show that as average protein consumption as a percentage of total caloric intake increases, happiness increases.

How Does Light Rail Transit Affect Urban Land Use?, Needham B. Hurst

Economics Honors Projects

This paper estimates the effect of the Hiawatha Light Rail Transit (LRT) line on land use change in Minneapolis, MN, between 2000 and 2010. I use a binomial logit model and find that within the 1-mile submarket near LRT, the effect of distance to LRT stations on land use change had a different radius and magnitude depending on existing land use. The effect of LRT on conversions of low-density housing to denser uses only extended out to 90 feet from stations after LRT went into operation. Vacant and industrial land were the most likely to experience land use change, especially …

El Rol Esencial De La Educación Y La Salud En La Estrategia Microfinanciera: Un Comentario Sobre El Neoliberalismo Contemporáneo, Julia Smith

Latin American Studies Honors Projects

Abstract

This thesis answers the question: “What is the relationship between microfinance and neoliberalism?” by arguing that microfinance is an effective strategy for poverty eradication and community development only when it is coupled with public education and health for all members of society. Therefore, countries need to change their policies in these areas to ensure that microfinance institutions are successful in ending poverty. This thesis engages with scholars such as David Harvey and Mohammed Yunus who provide the theoretical framework for neoliberalism and microfinance and more importantly with Milford Bateman and Yogendra Bahadur Shakya who argue that microfinance can never …

The Paradoxical Effect Of Intercity Transportation And Communications Infrastructure On Urban Concentration: The Dispersion-Concentration Model, Alvaro Ballarin Cabrera

Economics Honors Projects

This study examines the effect of intercity transportation and communications infrastructure on urban concentration on a sample of 84 countries between the years 1960 and 2010. By comparing the effects of interregional transportation and communications infrastructure on primacy and urbanization, I find that (1) such investments promote population dispersion amongst connected areas and (2) population concentration from unconnected locations into connected ones. Therefore, intercity transportation and communications infrastructure is only effective at reducing excessive concentration when the dispersion effect exceeds the concentration effect.