Sexual Assault On Campus: The Impact Of The Women's Gymnastics Scandal On Michigan State, Bryan Mccannon, Kaleigh Strohl

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

In 2017 Larry Nassar was sentenced to 60 years for assaulting over 300 women during his career as team doctor for the U.S. women’s national gymnastics team and as an osteopathic doctor and professor at Michigan State University. The university received a stream of negative publicity for their role in the scandal. We identify the impact of the sexual assault scandal on the university. Using a synthetic control method approach, we estimate the differences between the real and “synthetic” Michigan State in several university outcomes. We find significant reductions in the number of applications, changes in gender ratio of incoming …

Aacsb Accreditation And Student Demand, Bryan Mccannon, Katherine Starr, Marisa Cameron

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

We ask whether AACSB accreditation has a meaningful impact on university admissions. To do this, we explore 16 U.S. institutions which first achieved this certification recently. We, first, document a modest, but nonzero, impact on university-wide undergraduate applications, without any changes in first-year enrollment, price, or quality of the incoming student body. Restricting attention to business schools, while initial evidence suggests that the accreditation is associated with a decrease in enrollments, we show that this is complicated by non-parallel trends prior to accreditation. Compared to their comparison institutions, universities who seek out accreditation were experiencing flatter business enrollments. Correcting for …

Save To Win: Using Contests To Promote Savings, Bryan Mccannon, Zachary Rodriguez, Roman Sheremeta

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

We ask whether linking savings accounts to contests can promote saving. We do this by offering contest-linked accounts to individuals in rural Uganda where poverty is a serious problem. Our design builds off of results in experimental economics documenting excessive competitiveness in contests, with the goal of harnessing this behavior for the good. We find that, properly designed, we encourage savings beyond both pre-treatment levels and the control group. We explore reasonable heterogeneous treatment effects and document long lasting impacts on wealth.

Do Elections Encourage Public Actors To Be More Responsive?, Bryan Mccannon, Corey Williams

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

In the U.S. many public services are provided by individuals who are selected in local elections. We ask whether elections encourage public actors to be responsive to citizens. We design a novel field experiment where we send an information request to a random sample of prosecutor offices. Whether someone replies to the request is our measurement of responsiveness. We show that offices whose head is up for re-election are more likely to respond. We also show that offices in states that appoint their local prosecutors are substantially less likely to respond than a matched set of offices with elected leadership.

The Right To Counsel: Criminal Prosecution In 19th Century London, Bryan Mccannon, Zachary Porreca

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Exploiting a novel data set of criminal trials in 19th century London, we evaluate the impact of an accused’s right to counsel on convictions. While lower-level crimes had an established history of professional representation prior to 1836, individuals accused of committing a felony did not, even though the prosecution was conducted by professional attorneys. The Prisoners’ Counsel At of 1836 remedied this and first introduced the right to counsel in common law systems. Using a difference-in-difference estimation strategy we identify the causal effect of defense counsel. We find the surprising result that the professionalization of the courtroom lead to an …

Expert Witnesses And Arbitration Outcomes: Insights From Public Procurement Contracts, Bryan Mccannon, Claudio Detotto, Marco Vannini, Riccardo Marselli

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

We explore the use of expert witnesses in arbitration proceedings by analyzing public procurement contract disputes in Italy. Balancing cost with accuracy, participants to a contract select arbitration when speedy dispute resolution is valued highly. Arbitration mechanisms tend to give arbitrators discretion in how to proceed. Consequently, principal-agent problems can arise. Using an IV approach, we show that the use of an expert witness causes a slowing down of the case resolution, without having an effect on the outcome of the dispute nor resolving uncertainty as measured by unanimous decisions by the panel of arbitrators.

Ranked Choice Voting In Mayoral Elections, Bryan Mccannon

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Numerous cities across the U.S. have recently switched to ranked choice voting in their local mayoral elections. Proponents argue that, by allowing voters to fully express their preferences over the candidates, voter satisfaction and, ultimately, turnout will improve. Opponents are concerned over the number of candidates who enter the race, as it increases the chances of someone only supported by a minority taking office. To date, there has not been an empirical analysis of ranked choice voting’s effects. First, using the Synthetic Control Method on three large U.S. cities who switched relatively recently, I explore the voting rule’s causal impact. …

District Attorney Compensation And Performance, Bryan Mccannon, Morgan Stockham, Gregory Deangelo

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Does prosecutor pay impact performance? We attempt to identify the causal effect of wages on a prosecutor’s effort by studying a large (41%), exogenous salary increase for district attorneys in New York state. We measure the performance of prosecutors by the likelihood that a conviction is upheld when appealed. If the efficiency wage theory accurately explains non-market actor behavior, then the exogenous wage shock should entice better performance. Alternatively, if individuals who hold public office are motivated primarily by an intrinsic desire to carry out their office duties to the best of their ability rather than strictly financial compensation, then …

Three Golden Balls: Pawn Shops And Crime, Bryan Mccannon, Zachary Rodriguez, Zachary Porreca

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

We ask what the relationship is between pawn shops and crime. The dominant narrative is that pawn shops reduce the transaction costs of crime and, consequently, promote it. We explore the alternative where pawn shops address the financial distress of those in need, which reduces the incentive to engage in crime. We exploit two distinct policies affecting access to pawn shops − severe licensing fees implemented in London in the early 1800s and state variation in the classification of pawn shops as essential businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic in spring 2020. For each, employing a difference-in-difference identification strategy, we provide …

The Impact Of The New York City Marathon On Hotel Demand, Joshua Martin, Joshua Hall

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Daily hotel data are employed, along with information on prices, revenue, demand and hotel occupancy, to analyze part of the local economic impact of the annual New York City (NYC) Marathon. As the largest competitive race in the world, the marathon attracts domestic and international competitors and spectators. The cancellation of the 2012 marathon due to Hurricane Sandy was estimated to lead to an increase of 4000 hotel nights as well as a 10% increase in the average daily room rate. Taken together, this is associated with a USD 3 million increase in hotel revenue. The results suggest a significantly …

Simon Nelson Patten, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

A brief biographical article on Simon Patten, the German-trained social economist who coined the term social work and continued to make contributions to social work and social welfare throughout his career.

Impact Of Ethanol Plant Location On Corn Revenues For U.S. Farmers, Ani L. Katchova, Ana Claudia Sant'anna

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

settings Open AccessArticle

Impact of Ethanol Plant Location on Corn Revenues for U.S. Farmers

by Ani L. Katchova 1,* andAna Claudia Sant’Anna 2 1 Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA 2 Division of Resource Economics and Management, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Sustainability 2019, 11(22), 6512; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226512 Received: 22 October 2019 / Revised: 11 November 2019 / Accepted: 15 November 2019 / Published: 19 November 2019 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Green, Closed Loop, Circular Bio-Economy) …

Willingness To Pay For Wind Versus Natural Gas Generation Of Electricity, Kofi Nkansah, Alan R. Collins

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

In 2009, West Virginia enacted an Alternative and Renewable Portfolio Act (APRA) to broaden its energy use for electricity beyond coal. A choice experiment survey was conducted to assess West Virginians’ willingness to pay (WTP) for 10 percent of electricity generated from wind energy versus natural gas. Results showed that residential consumers preferred electricity generated from wind, with annual per-capita WTP averaging from $19.25 to $26.75. Given the subsequent repeal of the APRA in 2015, we propose implementation of a voluntary green pricing program as an alternative policy to increase the share of renewable energy in West Virginia's energy portfolio.

The Public Choice Of Public Stadium Financing: Evidence From San Diego Referenda, Candon Johnson, Joshua Hall

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abstract: Local politicians and team owners frequently argue that the public financing of stadiums is important for local economic development. The sports economics literature, however, has largely found that new professional sport facilities do not generate any new net economic activity. We provide context to this literature by exploring the public choice in the public financing of stadiums. In 2016, San Diego had two ballot measures related to the San Diego Chargers. Measure C would allow officials to raise hotel taxes to pay for a new downtown stadium for the Chargers. Measure D would also raise hotel taxes, but explicitly …

Are Industry Clusters And Diversity Strange Bedfellows?, Randall Jackson

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

In this address, I review industry clustering and diversification strategies to compare and contrast their underlying foundations. The lack of a consensus choice of one or the other for regional economic development strategies along with the recognition that in the dynamic process of development these two processes are related leads me to conclude that clusters and diversity need not be such strange bedfellows after all, and that a rational approach to economic development can leverage the strengths of each and offset weaknesses. I follow this discussion by introducing a cluster assessment diversification strategy (CADS) apparatus that can be used to …

The Role Of Regional Science In Shale Energy Development, Randall Jackson, Christa D. Court, Nancy White

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The most recent boom in fossil fuel extraction is noteworthy through its extensive use of advanced technologies called hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The papers in this issue demonstrate the role that regional science can and should play in guiding policy, usefully complementing research from physical science and engineering disciplines that focuses on the important geological and environmental consequences of shale energy production. Furthermore, we underscore the need for expanding the traditional regional science focus in policy discussions pertaining to shale energy.

Regional Science Reconsidered, Peter V. Schaeffer, Randall Jackson, James O. Bukenya

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Because disciplines and their cores and boundaries are subject to change, a periodic introspective assessment can be useful in evaluating the relevance of a changing discipline to the equally dynamic and pressing needs of society. Similar examinations of other disciplines, notably economics, have been conducted in part as a means of minimizing the risks of declining credibility, policy relevance, and societal benefit. With the Southern Regional Science Association celebrating recently its 50th meeting, and as regional science itself approaches its 60th year, this paper provides a reexamination of the core of regional science. We consider the theoretical and methodological underpinnings …

Knowns, Unknowns, And Impacts, Randall Jackson

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the SRSA, Jackson sums up what we regional scientists do and do not know at this stage in the field’s development.

Spontaneous Order, Symbolic Interaction And The Somewhat-Less-Hidden Hand, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

An Evaluation Of Method For Constructing Commodity By Industry Flow Matrices, Walter R. Schwarm, Yasuhide Okuyama, Randall Jackson

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The lack of consistent, reliable data on interregional trade and interindustry transactions hampers complete analysis of regional models. This study implements and tests interindustry transaction flows in a national system of economic regions derived from an interregional accounting framework and initial information on interregional shipments. The method used to construct an interregional Commodity by Industry Flow matrix for the United States involves the construction of single-state SAMs. The interregional flows connecting states are estimated using a method based on the Commodity Flow Survey data published by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, which adjusts the estimated interregional SAM to insure the …

The Green Thumb Program, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The Green Thumb program was a prominent national feature of the rural “war on poverty” beginning in early 1966. A public works outdoor beautification program to employ low income older workers. It was modeled on the 1930s era Civilian Conservation Corps, and funded under contract to the National Farmers’ Union by the U.S. Labor Department. By the 1980s, when it was eclipsed by an experimental computer-based video text information delivery system for farmers of the same name Green Thumb had largely disappeared from public view. Today, a Google search with the phrase “Green Thumb program” turns up dozens of references …