Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Comparative Evaluation Of The Cost Effectiveness Of Treating The Metabolic Syndrome In African Americans And The General Population, Joseph T. Tasosa

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The Metabolic Syndrome poses an important public health threat to the U.S. health care delivery system. Disparate access to quality health care makes African Americans (blacks) especially susceptible to the adverse effects of MS. Although direct evidence suggests that early treatment of MS risk factors saves lives, no study to date has compared the cost effectiveness of such measures in blacks and the general population. Interventions that promote early treatment of MS risk factors may improve public health but could also lead to excess costs that are ultimately borne by society. The objective of this study was to assess the …

The Chinese Telecommunications Manufacturing Industry: An Economic Analysis, Jiamin Qi

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The Chinese telecommunications manufacturing industry is one of the fastest growing industries in China. This paper addresses the question of how China can develop this industry and penetrate the U.S. market. To this end, I study the U.S. telecommunications manufacturing market to find market opportunities. Subsequently, I examine the Chinese telecommunications manufacturing industry, mainly focusing on the industry’s structures, and the vendors’ conduct and performance. Several government policies are discussed which will foster the development of this Chinese industry in the U.S. market. Moreover, I assess several strategies for overseas expansion by the Chinese telecommunications equipment vendors.

An Analysis Of The Gap Between Economic Incentives And Public Participation, Rafael Ranieri

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

No abstract provided.

Cost Benefit Analysis Of An Automated Labeling System For Green Tokai Co., Ltd., Glenn Charles Wintrich

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This project was conducted in order to analyze the causes of domestic trouble tickets (DTRs) at Green Tokai Co., Ltd., as well as provide recommendations on how to reduce them. DTRs cost Green Tokai $518,000 annually.

At the onset of this project it became clear that one of the major contributors to DTRs was the labeling process that was in place. Green Tokai was shipping incorrectly labeled parts to customers. This problem became the primary focus of the project, and several recommendations were made in order to reduce the DTRs due to labeling issues.

Many of the labeling issues could …

Momentum Strategies Versus Directional Momentum Strategies: A Comparative Study With Stocks, Zi Ning

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

In replicating the study by Akhbari and Gressis (2002) in mutual funds, this paper compares the profitability of traditional momentum strategy with the directional momentum strategies in stock markets. Not only the past quarterly return but also the patterns of monthly returns within a quarter are considered. The evidence shows that the raw return findings are similar to the findings in mutual fund study. However, the risk- adjusted returns are not consistent with the raw returns and statistically insignificant, very probably, due to the extremely small sample size.

Inventing Flight: The Centennial Celebration An Economic Impact Study On Tourism In Dayton, Ohio, Elina Blain

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This paper quantifies the local economic impact of the 2003 Inventing Flight Celebration in Dayton, Ohio. Using information from the Wright State University (WSU) Inventing Flight Survey of 1,502 visitors to the events and RIMS II multipliers for the Dayton/Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the local expenditures, income, and employment impacts are estimated. This paper includes a complete analysis of the WSU Inventing Flight Survey questions and responses in order to find out how this one-time Celebration affected the local economy. Both the short-term and long-term benefits of this regional tourism event are included in this study.

Manufacturing Industry Cluster And High-Technology Industry Analysis Of Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area, Ergun Meric

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The aim of this study is to analyze the competitiveness of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area manufacturing cluster and I evaluate the region's high tech capacity.

Cluster analysis is an important tool which is widely used by regional economists to assist firms and local governments in their decision making process and development strategies.

In the first section of this study, the theoretical framework of cluster analysis is explained by referring to authors who contributed to the development of the concept in recent years. Location quotient analysis is used to compare the region's capability with other MSAs and nationwide. By using …

Beyond The Reality Of Injury And Statistical Death: An Internship Experience In Forensic Economics, Henrietta Iranyi

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

Day after day, people get terminated, injured, or even killed. In forensic economics, more specifically, in personal injury and wrongful death litigation, the injured party is often allowed to receive compensation for the economic losses suffered. It is the job of an economic expert to evaluate the damages in the different personal injury and wrongful death cases. The following report demonstrates three different situations when economic damage evaluation would be performed by an expert. Two of the cases evaluate lost earnings (including fringe benefits) and lost support to the injured person and/or the immediate surviving family members. The third case …

Logistic Analysis Of Factors On Dropout Rate Of Wright State University, Xiaohui Shen

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The purpose of this project is to assess the effects of personal demographic characteristics, academic preparation and academic performance on the dropout rate of newly admitted undergraduate students of Wright State University (WSU). WSU is a public university and more than 95 percent of enrolling undergraduate students are residents of the State of Ohio.

Handling Competing Values In Ethics, Economics, & Management: A Cross-Cultural Empirical Study Of American & Danish Managerial Attitudes, Annemette Kruse Jensen

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This empirical cross-cultural research was conducted to confirm four hypotheses. The hypotheses included: 1) For American managers there will be at least a 0.55 correlation or more among their ethics, economic, and management attitudes; 2) American managers more than Danish managers will tend to emphasize control in their ethics, economic, and management attitudes; 3) Danish managers more than American managers will exhibit emphasis and correlation among Virtue Ethics, Community Capitalism, and Human Relations theories and attitudes; 4) Danish managers more than American managers will exhibit extreme managerial practice attitudes according to the Competing Values Framework. The limits of the research …

An Investigation Into The Sources Of Economic Growth Differentials Among Nations, John Roppenecker

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This study was conducted to comprehensively review established growth economics literature, analyze newly revised data sources, and reestimate generally accepted economic growth models using the revised data. Specific findings include the revalidation of the MRW model, discovery of a satisfactory alternative measure of human capital, sensitivity issues when performing Barro-style regressions, and data trends that may have an alarming impact on certain of the growth models.

Reestimation of the MRW model was found to be robust, and satisfactorily explains differences in productivity among nations. Additionally, human capital as measured by the literacy rate of the population was found to be …

Attracting Foreign Direct Investment To Latin America, Carlos A. Loredo

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The purpose of the paper is to examine the literature of foreign direct investment to evaluate what factors are determinant to attract inflows of foreign capital to Latin-American and Caribbean countries. The paper focuses on factors such as market size, degree of openness, rule of law, political stability, trade, regional integration, democracy, availability of natural resources, government efficiency, and infrastructure (i.e. energy generation, transportation systems, ports and telecommunication services). The regression results showed that the degree of openness, trade reform, education, market size, and infrastructure are the most important determinants of foreign investment. Based on my analysis, different Latin American …

Benefit Cost Analysis Of Parametric Pricing Model For Procurement Of F-16 Aircraft, Stephen Robert Peck

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This project was conducted in response to an Air Force decision to allow Department of Defense contractors to change the way that they propose efforts which will be produced under Department of Defense contracts at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base F-16 System Procurement Office (SPO).

The project consists of a benefit-cost analysis designed to specifically examine the benefits and the costs of the new system proposed. The future value of the costs and benefits were evaluated to determine the plausibility of the program.

The results were obvious. For a total cost of $30,905, the government could benefit almost $20 million. This …

The Impact Of The Ohio Lottery On Public Primary And Secondary Schools In Montgomery County, Delores Davis

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

In 1974, voters in the state of Ohio approved the institution of a lottery as a means to raise funds for their public primary and secondary schools. According to the legislative history of the Ohio Lottery, the purpose for the lottery is to provide a means for relatively poor school districts to enhance their own local tax base such that more public school funds could be produced locally to meet the special needs of their primary and secondary schools. Lottery operations have been conducted in most school districts for more than a quarter of a century. For a number of …

Measurement Of Information Technology Investment Payoff, Qing Wang

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This report evaluates the measurements of information technology investments payoff, and recommends a theoretical framework for testing the costs and benefits of Internet e-commerce investments. A number of research studies are referenced to evaluate the accuracy of the traditional, quantitative-oriented measurements and introduce a few contemporary, more qualitative-oriented alternatives. As one of the major types of information technology investments, Internet e-commerce is chosen as a case to evaluate the measurements by applying the theories generated from various research studies. Based on the case analysis, contemporary approaches are justified and adopted to establish a three-step framework of measuring Internet e-commerce investment …

Economic Impact Of International Students On The Dayton Local Economy For Academic Year 1997-1998, Willie Kim Kamara

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This study, the Economic Impact of Wright State University International Students on the Dayton Local Economy, examines the financial contributions of international students at both the graduate and undergraduate level to the Dayton area. The study was conducted in the fall of 1998 among 120 students drawn from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The study agrees with similar research findings. International students are a source of economic benefits in the regions where they reside. International students at Wright State University received grants and income from Dayton area residents. Consequently, it recommends that universities should take steps to recruit and retain …

An Empirical Study Of The Relationship Between Democracy And Prosperity, Yujie Zhang

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

Per capita wealth is far from evenly distributed in all countries of this world. For example, in 1992, real GDP per capita in Japan was about $15,105 (constant dollar using chain index). The corresponding measure for India was $1,282, or about 8.5% that of Japan. While the disparities are large in an absolute sense, they are small in comparison to the richest and poorest countries in the world. Are the rich countries and poor countries developing at the same rate? Have the poor countries shown any signs of catching up? What factors are correlated with the economic prosperity?

This paper …

Entrepreneurs And Entrepreneurial Development In State-Owned Enterprises Reform In China: Problems And Corruption, Baiwei Fu

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The report focuses on microeconomic reform in China, especially on entrepreneur problems and corruption in State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). China has about 145,000 SOEs employing 113 million people. State enterprises account for 70 percent of fixed assets but only 34 percent of industrial output. The total state enterprise debt is greater than China’s bank deposit base. In some cases, SOEs are unable to afford to pay worker salaries or make pension payments. Reforms caused large-scale lay-offs and plant closures in recent years.

Entrepreneurs’ corruption contributes negative effects to SOE reform. Corruption is one way of getting around political control and poor …

Measuring Health Care Micro-Economic Efficiency: A Case Study Of Massachusetts Hospital's Quality And Value Measurement With Risk Adjustments, Yanling Zhang

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This report has four main parts: 1) Introduction: The healthcare phenomenon, considerations and economic implications; 2) A case study of measuring health care quality and value for methodology investigation; 3) conclusions and 4) policy implications. The principal aim of this report is to discuss methods of measuring microeconomic efficiency in healthcare. In the introduction, economic theories including elasticity, demand and supply, competition, market failure and so on are applied to healthcare. Next the role of this report is placed within the context of organization I worked for with a case study to show how to measure quality and value with …

Income Growth Across The U.S. States: An Empirical Analysis, Weixiong He

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The purpose of this study is to test the convergence hypothesis that prevails the neo-classical economic literature. In light of research on cross-country economic growth, the paper is adopting the same kind of methodology in studying income growth across U.S. states. The paper starts with a survey of literature in the study of growth of convergence. Then it tries to define the term of “convergence” in various economic implications, in particular the notion of “ð-Convergence” versus “ß-Convergence”, “conditional convergence” versus “absolute convergence”, and such popular notion as “club convergence”. The paper then goes into the quantitative analysis of U.S. per …

The Economic Development And Environment Degradation In China, Fei Luo

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This paper is mainly to present the interrelationship between economic growth and environment pollution in China. The past two decades of drastic economic development in China has caused many environment problems and inflicted great pressure on China’s further development. On the other hand, the deplete of natural resources and damages to environment quality have also cost China a big part of GNP growth and posed threat to Chinese people’s health and living standard.

This paper also illustrates the reasons for China’s current environment condition. It, by employing the theory of Sustainable Development and also analyzing the current global environment, criticizes …

Interest Based Bargaining And The Japanese Management Style: Two Models For Cooperation In The Workplace, D. R. Fannin

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

Dealing with conflict between workers and managers is an ongoing concern for management specialists. Models have been introduced to help manage the conflict in the workplace. Two are examined in this thesis; Interest Based Bargaining and the Japanese Management Style. Both models seek to lessen the conflict in the workplace by utilizing problem solving tools and communication tools that will provide a balance of the control that governs the work process. Both models will find success difficult because the tendency of American managers is to resist empowering workers because they fear that empowering workers will result in decreased productivity that …

The Economics Of Projection Tube Production In The America Matsushita Electronics Company: A Case Study, Hirofumi Tanaka

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The sales of big screen projection television (PTV) have been increasing rapidly and will continue to increase since there is no economically feasible substitute for PTV. In 2002, annual sales are forecasted to be 70 percent more than in 1997. Therefore, the demand for projection tubes (major components of PTVs) is also expected to increase as much as the sales of PTV.

Matsushita Electronics Company (MEC), the second largest projection tube producer, relocated their projection tube plant from Japan to the U.S.(AMEC) in order to increase its sales by conforming to NAFTA regulation. This plant relocation will also enable MEC …

The Life Cycle Cost Analysis Of Foreign Aerospace Systems And Foreign Aerospace Budgets, John D. Teter

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The purpose of this project was to develop methodology capable of estimating current and future aerospace defense sector budget for foreign countries of interest (COI’s). The countries of major interest are either the pariah states such as Iraq and Iran or those with command or transition economies such as North Korea and China.

Banking Sector Reform In China, Linhai Pu

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The purpose of this research is to study the banking sector reform in China, its problems, its current situation, and its future direction. The banking system is at the heart of reforms which China is attempting to initiate the future consolidation of rapid economic growth initiated in the 1980s. The need for wide-ranging reform both of the monetary policy and of the state banking system is due to the excesses of the 1980s expansionary phase. As the channels of financing and o f credit allocation has become somewhat obsolete compared to reforms in the real sector o f the economy, …

Economic Development In China: Analysis Of Foreign Trade And Domestic Issues, Terry Lee Schau

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

China has become a major player in the global economy. At the current pace, this economy will eventually become the dominant force on the international scene. Presently, a number of issues exist that pose a threat to present and future economic growth. However, with the proper implementation of policies, China can avoid these threats and ensure positive economic performance for the future.

Wright State University Center For Economic Education Marketing Survey, Marcia Evers

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

In October 1997, Wright State University’s Center for Economic Education administered a survey to 1,246 primary and secondary school teachers within the Center’s 15-county designated service area. The target population of the survey consisted of those teachers that incorporate economic concepts and principles in their classroom curriculum. The primary purpose of the survey was to identify the reasons why enrollments for the Center’s courses were low and what could potentially be done to increase them. The results of the survey indicated that the low enrollment rates for the Center were mainly due to the need for increased advertising of the …

An Evaluation Of The Causes Of Urban Poverty In America: A Cross Section Analysis, Juan Loredo

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

In this study, I analyze and evaluate the determinants of poverty rate differentials among 77 urban centers in the United States, as described by Isabel Sawhill (1988). The regression results show that demographic changes, education, welfare programs, unemployment rates, per capita income and income inequality are the most important factors that have a strong statistical link to urban poverty rates. Based on my analysis, the crime rate is not a statistically significant determinant of the rate of poverty among American families.

The Feasibility Of Using Hedonic Pricing Models To Predict The Cost To The Air Force Of Aircraft Engines, Richard Albert Hyde Ii

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

The objective of this paper is to determine the feasibility of using hedonic pricing models to predict the cost to the Air Force of aircraft engines purchased under government contracts. A hedonic pricing model is constructed using an ordinary least square regression format. The distinguishing factor is that cost is always the dependent variable in a hedonic pricing model. The word hedonic means pertaining to pleasure. Economists relate pleasure to value. Therefore, the predicted coefficients of variables produced by the hedonic model, represent marginal values of each variable. The coefficients also show how the variables impact cost. A good hedonic …

Isolation Or Interdependence? The Impact Of Central City And Metropolitan Statistical Area Economic Growth On The Welfare In Poor, Inner-City Census Tracts, Amy C. Novak

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This paper critically analyzes the relationship between the central city low income census tract and the economic vitality of the central city and the metropolitan statistical area. It attempts to provide an understanding of the impact of central city and metropolitan statistical area (MSA) economic activity on inner-city, poor census tracts. This study began by examining ninety-six low income census tracts in twenty-four of the fifty largest US cities. The variables examined included income levels, employment, and social variables (educational attainment, female-headed households, type of employment, percent of persons in poverty, percent of persons receiving federal public assistance dollars) in …