Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Are There Differences In Household Borrowing Across Religions?, Seth Dunn

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This study explores the relationship between religion and economic behavior, specifically asking whether variations in household borrowing can be attributable to identification with different Christian religious traditions across the United States. The hypothesis of different borrowing behaviors across religions is motivated historically and theoretically. Historical data from l967 and 1971 are used in ordinary least squared and logistic regression analyses. Density of religious affiliations and relevant controls are used to predict households’ debt and attitudes towards different reasons for borrowing. Some differences across religions are found. This research contributes to a broader literature exploring the impact of religion on economic …

Understanding Factors Influencing Electric Vehicle Adoption: Evidence From Panel Data Analysis, Ryker Brian

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper investigates the factors influencing the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) using panel data from California. The analysis employs a panel data model with within effects to examine the relationship between EV adoption rates and various socio-economic factors. The continued analysis gives out-of-sample forecasted results for the 4 counties with the highest share of electric vehicles registered in 2021. Additionally, the paper explores the influence of supply-side issues and complementary infrastructure on EV adoption. An introduction to Hidden Markov Methods is then given as the next step in the research.

Gibberellic And Naphthalene Acetic Acid Effects On ‘Rupert’ Potato Variety, Logan Atkinson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Potato processing facilities often rely on early maturing potato varieties to maintain adequate supplies before harvest of more traditional varieties. The Rupert variety is an example of such an early-maturing variety. However, the Rupert variety has traditionally been characterized by low average stem counts and large tuber sizes. Abnormally large tubers can add difficulties and costs to the processor. Gibberellic acid (GA) and Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) are plant growth regulators that promote growth and have the potential to affect average stem count and in turn, decreases average tuber size. Across two trials and locations (Gooding and Jerome, ID) GA …

Multivariate Econometric Regression Of Factors That Determine Form Of Disposition Of Human Remains Using Archival Death Certificates, Salt Lake County, Utah, Delphine T. Feigenbaum

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This project considers the inescapable and burgeoning issues concerning the long-term allocation of scarce natural resources between the living and the deceased. America’s population growth will demand more space and maintenance resources used for disposition. To meet the forthcoming exigencies, economic planners need to address natural resource availability for future generations while incorporating sustainable and innovative technologies to prohibit environmental injustice.

The goals are to answer the following questions: How do demographical variables, age and sex influence the choice of disposition? How do cause of death variables influence the choice of disposition? I also evaluate the hypothesis that the average …

Time-Inconsistent Preferences And The Welfare Effects Of Financing Unfunded Social Security With Consumption Taxation, Emily E. Sorensen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

A sizable body of evidence suggests that individuals make retirement preparation plans for the future, but then they persistently fail to follow through and prepare adequately to fund their retirement. In parallel, observational and experimental evidence suggests that people discount the future hyperbolically, and a hyperbolic discount function leads to inadequate preparation for retirement in modeling applications. In this paper, I construct a life-cycle model of consumption, saving, and intensive labor supply in which the representative individual possesses a hyperbolic discount function. The model exhibits time-inconsistent dynamic optimization as the individual persistently formulates, breaks, and then re-formulates consumption, saving, and …

Mediated Cheap Talk With An Uncertain-Biased Expert, Xianzheng Sun

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

When bridging between experts and audiences, media firms often have their own biases which give them the incentive to manipulate information deliveries. This paper studies a cheap talk game in which media firms(moderators) can strategically design the delivery of experts’ messages to decision makers. A moderator is allowed to affect the delivery of messages by selecting experts and informing the decision-maker about the experts’ biases. I show that moderators can in equilibrium send partition-type messages to inform the receiver of experts’ biases, and moderation can improve communication informativeness.

Historic Downtown Streetscape Plan Price City, Utah, Patricia Beckert

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The idea of a small-town Main Street has profound meaning within the American culture that has prevailed for the past two centuries. Historically, Main Street serves as the beating heart of a community, a place where economic, social, cultural, and civic activities are centered (Francaviglia, 1996; Main Street America, n.d.). Since the beginning of the 19th century, many factors have led to the decline of Main Streets, and despite a variety of efforts from different stakeholders, that decline has only intensified in recent decades (Isenberg, 2008; Orvell, 2014 Howard, 2015). In 1980, after a three-year project conducted by the National …

Understanding The Barriers To Carbon Farming On Private Lands, Harrison Naftel

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Climate change caused by manmade greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most important challenges facing society today. Through effective management for carbon sequestration private agricultural lands could become an important part of the solution to this problem. This paper explores the many different methods that farmers, ranchers, and landowners could use to implement sequestration on their land and examines the barriers to further participation in these projects by reviewing the challenges in the world’s current carbon offset markets and offering possible solutions.

Misinformation, Fact Checking, And Immigration Voting Preferences, Katherine Van Shaar

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Although misinformation is rampant in social media and society, there is not an extensive literature exploring the impact of misinformation and fact checks on people’s political preferences relating to immigration policies in the US. The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of misinformation and fact-checking on people’s policy preferences about immigration. Using an experimental survey and a between-subject approach, we observe how anti-immigration politician’s statements (ranging from false to partially true) impact participants’ perceptions of hot-topic immigration issues with and without fact checks. We also study the correlation between people’s political affiliation and the impact of politicians’ …

A Welfare Comparison Of Historical Cost And Fair Value Accounting Regimes, Palmer Edholm

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

With ongoing controversy concerning fair value and historical cost accounting, existing accounting theory is focused on intra-firm decision making and is thus deficient in addressing the issue of maximizing social welfare. I propose models of historical cost and fair value accounting regimes which are embedded in models of monopoly and oligopoly. This allows for social welfare implications. I find that historical cost results in greater expected profits for both monopolists and oligopolists. However, if the market is elastic enough, a fair value regimes is welfare enhancing. Whereas, if the market is inelastic enough, historical cost is welfare enhancing.

Medicaid Expansion: Changes In Individual Health Outcomes, Julie Norman

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The Affordable Care Act is one of the biggest changes in the American healthcare system in the 21st century. One element of the ACA is medicaid expansion, which opened up federal funding for states to cover any individual earning below 138% of the federal poverty line. 21 states expanded medicaid in 2014 while 12 haven’t expanded. This paper utilizes the disparity for a natural experiment to determine the efficacy of the program. Outcome variables of interest include measurements of individual health, health access and utilization, and premature death rates. The results indicate positive, but small improvements due to the policy, …

Do Rational Agents Steal, Randy Hill

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Do Rational Agents Steal?

Modern economists from Adam Smith to the present have broadly assumed that rational agents respect property rights. This respect for property rights has been a feature of nearly all economic models from the beginning. This paper examines a simple two person, production and trade model where the agents are allowed to choose to steal. Even within this simple model, there are a broad range of parameters that affect the agents' choices. In most parameter sets, the agents choose to steal as the reward for conflict outweighs the opportunity cost of not engaging in conflict. The parameter …

Oaths And Evasion: Variable Honesty In Tax Evasion Games, Logan Krebs

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Previous research has indicated that an ex-ante pledge of honesty reduces the likelihood that participants will lie during a lab experiment. We show that a bandwagon effect, occurring when participants know that others are acting dishonestly, can erode the positive effects of honesty oaths. Taxpayers do not make their reporting decisions in a vacuum. They have access to information concerning how others in the community are behaving and develop perceptions around this information. We add these realistic features to a tax evasion game involving an ex-ante honesty oath. Results indicate that social context can reduce the positive effects of honesty …

Evaluating Short Term Effects Of Opportunity Zone Designation, Sarah M. Bennett

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 included a substantial economic development effort known as Opportunity Zones. These Zones cover 12% of the census tracts in the United States and are estimated to cost $1.6 billion in lost capital gains tax revenue. Our paper seeks to find whether this program has had an impact four years after going into effect, using an econometric analysis on changes in housing prices.

Willingness To Pay For Fact-Checking About Immigration: The Effect Of Partisan Cues, Jennifer Morales

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

I analyze the results of an online experiment designed to elicit individuals’ willingness to pay for fact-checking of statements related to immigration. Using a control and treatment group, I test whether individuals’ willingness to pay is affected by partisan cues. First, I outline this research’s position related to existing literature. I then describe the experimental design and analyze the results. Partisan cues are shown to have no statistically significant effect on participants’ willingness to pay for fact-checking.

Covid-19 Outcomes And The Incidence Of Slavery, Amanda Ortega

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Environmental factors have been shown to correlate with COVID-19 outcomes. This study advances the literature on health economics by examining the importance of socioeconomic factors. In addition to standard economic factors, I consider the relationship between the past incidence of slavery and COVID-19 outcomes. I analyze county-level U.S. Census data and Georgia Department of Public Health county-level COVID-19 data using regression analysis. I find that the Covid-19 county vaccination rate in Georgia is related to 1860 slave concentration. No statistically significant relationship is found between 1860 slave concentration and COVID-19 death rate, case rate, or vaccination rate when health, socioeconomic, …

Exploiting A Grading Policy Shift As An Instrument To Estimate Impact Of Grading On Teacher Evaluations, Gavin Johnson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Professors at a university plausibly have an incentive to give higher grades to students, and these higher grades will be reflected in student evaluations, which are used to assess teaching quality, which could have career impacts. This paper takes advantage of a policy shift at the business school at Utah State University that introduced suggested caps on the average course grades that teachers gave. This allowed instrumental variable analysis to correct for bias in OLS estimations of these impacts. The correlation between grades and students' evaluations of teachers was found to be positive suggesting that student evaluations of teachers are …

Performance And Contributions Of The Green Industry To Utah's Economy, Lara Gale

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Landscaping and nursery enterprises, commonly known as green industry enterprises, can be found everywhere in Utah, and are necessary to create both aesthetic appeal and human well-being in the built environment. In order to understand the impact that events such as economic shocks or policy changes may have on the green industry, the baseline performance and contribution of the industry must be specified for comparison following these shocks. This study provides a summary and evaluation of the current performance of the green industry in Utah, and estimates the industry’s contributions to Utah’s economy in terms of transactions between industries, employee …

The Economic And Health Impacts Of Community Gardens On Refugee Populations: Cric Garden Case Study, Joseph Montoya

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this paper is to examine the economic benefits of community gardens and incubator farms, both of which support the populations they serve from an economic viewpoint as well as socially, and as a benefit to public health and nutrition. The findings were gathered from the large body of research concerning the benefits of community gardens as well as program evaluation responses conducted with gardeners at the Cache Refugee and Immigrant Connection (CRIC) garden in Logan, Utah in 2020. They are also informed by experiences had and lessons learned while working as the garden manager. There is a …

We Can Use Machine Learning To Determine Which Financial Ratios Are Best For Investors, Collin Butterfield

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This study develops and tests the hypothesis that the machine learning algorithm, Random Forests, can be used to systematically pick financial ratios that would be best for indicating market trends and be used subsequently to perform comparable analysis to speculate whether a firm is over- or under-valued. Results show that financial ratio selection differs depending on the market sector to which a firm pertains. We examine the 11 financial sectors representing the key areas of the economy. We also look at four possible trading strategies that an investor could have: month-long, quarter-long, semi-annual, and annual to capture differing trading horizons.

Banking Scandals And Abnormal Cumulative Returns: An Analysis Of The Wells Fargo Fraud Scandal, Heather Christensen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In September 2016, Wells Fargo Company was fined a large amount of money due to its employees opening unauthorized accounts and credit cards under customer’s names. This paper examines the effects of the lawsuit announcement on the stock market as it pertains to finance, insurance, and real estate firms. The analysis will be completed using the cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) and various control variables through univariate and multivariate tests. The results of these tests show that the markets did not lose confidence or trust in banks. Instead, the Wells Fargo scandal generated positive CARs for other banks on the day …

Brexit And The Effects On European Adrs Vs British Adrs, Matthew Clint Bisbee

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Using a collection of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), this study examines the stock-price reaction of European, European Union, and British firms to the Brexit Referendum on June 23, 2016. Results show that non-European firms experienced greater returns than the market after the Brexit referendum. European, European Union, and British firms all experienced negative returns compared to the average market return. While at first glance British firms appeared to experience even greater negative returns as compared to firms in the European Union, overall there was no statistically significant difference between returns for firms in the European Union and firms in the …

Political Connections And Abnormal Stock Returns: An Analysis Of The Trump Nominations, Kennon Bacon

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Shortly after winning the 2016 Presidential Election, Donald Trump began announcing his Cabinet nominations. I examine cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) for firms with political connections to Cabinet and some non-Cabinet level appointments. Nominee and stock characteristics are aggregated, and I find positive and significant CARs surrounding the announcement dates. Additionally, the traits of being a Cabinet nominee, being a board member, and having a narrow confirmation margin all significantly explain the CARs for various event windows and subgroups. The annualized CARs around the announcement date for these firms are often greater than 100% in excess of the market, providing strong …

Potential Weather Data Anomolies Within The Usda's Pasture Rangeland And Forage Insurance Program, Chad Steven Van Orden

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this study is to delve into the functionality of the PRF insurance program. The primary goal is to uncover any underlying anomalies which may inadvertently skew data within the program. Because the USDA uses NOAA’s weather stations regardless of location or timing of activation, it is consequential that the collected precipitation data may be inconsistent across both time and space. This phenomenon could have substantial and significant effects on the RMA’s PRF insurance program, resulting in producers being compensated inaccurately for their insurance claims.

The Impact Of Immigration On Financial Markets, Jesse Baker

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper studies the impact of immigration policy on financial markets. I estimate the cumulative abnormal returns surrounding two events the effective start date of the Immigration Act of 1990 and the implementation of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of Nicaragua and Honduras in 1999. Focusing on agriculture, construction, and manufacturing firms, I find that the CARs surrounding the events are indeed positive and significant, suggesting that the market anticipated growth among industries that are likely to hire Central American immigrants.

Firm Leverage And Performance, Zongbin Li

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper examines the relationship between deviations from firm leverage and firm performance over time. Our results indicate that overlevered and underlevered firms both adversely affect corporate profitability. We use the 1987 tax cut as an event study, to reduce endogeneity concerns.

The Effects Of Demographic Changes On State Fiscal Balances In The U.S., Patrick Nartey

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The share of the population that is 65 or older keeps on rising over the years in the U.S. According to the 2017 US population projection, the rate of growth of older population is much faster than other age groups. The growing aging population will affect the economy in many ways, especially in fiscal balance of regional governments. The main goal of the study is to examine the fiscal implication of increasing old-age population in U.S states. The old-age dependency ratio is used to measure aging population, which derived by diving the population 65 years and over by the 18 …

Minimum Quotation Size And Market Quality: Evidence From The Modern Otc Markets, Kemerey Thompson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

I examine the effects of a change in the minimum quotation size on liquidity and volatility in the modern over-the-counter (OTC) markets. On November 12, 2012, the Financial Industry Regulatory Agency (FINRA) introduced a pilot program to adjust the minimum quote sizes for securities transactions in the OTC markets. I find that an increase in the minimum quote size decreases OTC market quality as spreads widen and volatility increases. In contrast, I find that a decrease in the minimum quote size improves OTC market quality, but the results are sensitive to the price of the security. These results offer important …

Economic Base In Emerging Economies: Estimating Regional Multipliers In Ecuador, Justin Perry

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

When a subnational input-output matrix is unavailable, a non-governmental organization (NGO) may turn to a shortcut method in order to project its indirect economic impact in a region. The location quotient is the most common choice in developed nations, but has serious theoretical flaws in a developing-nation context. We explore the minimum requirements method as a cost-effective yet robust method to project the impact of an NGO in the Imbabura province of Ecuador. We find that every $1 of exogenous local spending stimulates between $1.32 and $1.62 of indirect economic impact in the region.

Lobbying Legislation And Cumulative Abnormal Returns, Brenan Stewart

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (Pub.L. 110-81, 121 Stat. 735, enacted September 14, 2007) was passed by the U.S. Congress in order “to strengthen public disclosure requirements concerning lobbying activity and funding. It placed more restrictions on gifts for members of Congress and their staff, and provides for mandatory disclosure of earmarks in expenditure bills.” Treating this event as a natural experiment, we examine how this legislation affected the Cumulative Abnormal Returns (CARs) of firms that lobbied in the year(s) leading up to the passing of the legislation. We find that companies that lobbied in the …