Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Raise The Seawalls: Local Governments & Flood Protection, Felix Stetsenko

Undergraduate Economic Review

Rising seas and more frequent and severe storms are increasing the risks and costs of flooding. Using 2009-2018 data for the U.S. state of Florida from FEMA’s Community Rating System program (CRS), which scores participating local governments on their flood risk mitigation activities: I study (1) whether increasing flood risks have led to increases in program participation and score among Florida towns and cities; (2) what risk, fiscal, and demographic factors are driving local governments to invest in CRS-recognized flood risk mitigation measures; and (3) the association between CRS measures and home values.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Efficiencies Of World Countries, Levent Kutlu

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

Greenhouse gas emissions have increased rapidly since the industrial revolution. This has led to an unnatural increase in the global surface temperature, and to other changes in our environment. Acknowledging this observation, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change started an international environmental treaty. This treaty was extended by Kyoto protocol, which was adopted on 11 December 1997. Using the stochastic frontier analysis, we analyze the efficiencies of countries in terms of achieving the lowest greenhouse gas emission levels per GDP output in the years between 1990–2015. We find that the average greenhouse gas emission efficiencies of world countries …

The ‘Dark Power’ Of Instagram: Prospects And Threats For Tourism Organisations, Nicola Capolupo, Valerio Giampaola, Gabriella Piscopo

International Journal of Islands Research

The key to understand and analyse the dynamic relationship between territories, organisations and tourists is currently undergoing significant changes. Due to both their endogenous and exogenous factors, territories should be read as complex adaptive systems (CAS), i.e. systems structurally composed of different sub-systems which interact with each other and help to improve the central systems thanks to the interconnections established among themselves. Thus, in this scenario, territories evolve into potential tourism destinations if these changes make them particularly attractive and capable of setting a profitable dialogue with new emerging tourists profiles. As a matter of fact, contexts and in which …

Evolution Of Tourism, Challenges, And Its Sustainability In An Island State: Case Study Of Malta, Silvio Attard

International Journal of Islands Research

This study analyses historic developments in Malta’s tourism industry, focusing on the changing characteristics of demand and supply. The recent surge in inbound tourism appears to be largely driven by increased air connectivity to and from Malta. The advent of low-cost carriers is considered an important positive supply shock on the local sector. At the same time, the sustained shift towards stays in private accommodation can be partly explained by changing preferences, but also by capacity constraints in collective accommodation establishments. Moreover, the paper discusses the economic importance of tourism for the Maltese economy. It also examines the issue concerning …

From Insularity To Islandness: The Use Of Place Branding To Achieve Sustainable Island Tourism, Angeliki Mitropoulou, Ioannis Spilanis

International Journal of Islands Research

This paper aims to outline the role that place branding plays in shaping a new framework for sustainable island tourism. Islandness, as a contemporary context, underlines that islands share a set of unique features and they need to be studied on their own terms; they combine elements of urban and rural regions at the same time. Place branding is evolving as a crucial element for differentiated marketing that conditionally can also form an alternative tool to achieve sustainability for island regions. Therefore, policy makers need to examine tourism policies for island regions through the lenses of Nissology. It is commonly …

Competitive Intelligence For Insular Territories, Pierre Fournié, Henri Dou

International Journal of Islands Research

For centuries, the intrinsic and ubiquitous parameters of insular territories have governed social, economic and political life within the island and with outer territories. Besides some biological and physical determinism, there exists a psychological factor that conducts islanders to feel that they possess a rich and a unique identity (Gombaud, 2007:593). Nowadays, islands are impacted by communication technologies and globalization, international law and politics. The opening to tourism, international trade and foreign capital, modifies the usual landmarks and often means that traditional activities and know-how are abandoned. Historically located at the periphery, islands suddenly appear at the centre of multiple …

Developing Island Identities Through Citizen Approaches? The Contribution Of Cultural Rights Exploratory Approach By Two Islands In Brittany, Leila Damak, Danielle Pailler

International Journal of Islands Research

The identity of insular territories is generally built from top-down and ‘institutionalised’ political logics. However, in the challenge for differentiation between territories and islands, these approaches have their limits. It appears necessary to coordinate external economic and tourism development issues with local territorial issues, by identifying cultural resources as understood by cultural rights. To deploy a renewed island territorial marketing, would be a question of implementing participatory projects and methodologies to meet the following challenges: How to create a common culture? How to promote citizen tourism? How to reveal the identities involved? Our research proposes to analyse the challenges of …

Wine Tourism In Island Destinations: The Case Of Crete, Nikolaos Trihas, Anna Kyriakaki, Efthymia Sarantakou, Konstantinos Tsilimpokos

International Journal of Islands Research

Wine tourism is a type of special-interest tourism which has recorded a remarkable growth over the past few years, creating challenges and opportunities for wineries and wine regions to diversify and gain a competitive advantage. Many wine regions around the world – including several island destinations such as Tenerife, Sicily, Santorini, Corsica, Sardinia – have recognised the economic benefits of wine tourism, although much effort is needed to transform a wine region into a wine tourism destination. Within this framework, this paper aims to explore the level of wine tourism development in the Greek island of Crete. To achieve this …

Ijir Title Page And Table Of Contents Vol. 1(1), Giovanni Ruggieri, Patrizia Calò, Razaq Raj, Kevin A. Griffin

International Journal of Islands Research

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Capitalist Workplace: How The Production Of Surplus Across The Economy Keeps Producers Divided, Costas Panayotakis

Publications and Research

This article analyzes the public and household sectors of the economy as sites of surplus production within contemporary capitalist societies. It also shows how the coexistence of structurally distinct spheres of surplus production creates divisions among workers in the private, public, and household sectors of the economy, thus amplifying the racial, gender, and other divisions which have often in the past kept working people divided. Fueling these cross-sector divisions is the appearance that private-sector workers are paid for their labor rather than for their labor-power. Thus, this article also explores an implication of this appearance which Karl Marx, the thinker …

Analysis Of Nine U.S. Recessions And Three Expansions, Ray C. Fair

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Nine U.S. recessions and three expansions are analyzed in this paper using a structural macroeconometric model. With two exceptions and one partial exception, the episodes are predicted well by the model, including the 2008-2009 recession, conditional on the actual values of the exogenous variables. The main exogenous variables are stock prices, housing prices, import prices, exports, and exogenous government policy variables. Monetary policy is endogenous. Fluctuations in stock and housing prices (housing prices after 1995) are important drivers of output fluctuations—large wealth effects on household expenditures.

The Economic Impacts Of Social Activism In Food Markets, Anubrata Deka, Emie Yiannaka, Konstantinos Giannakas

Cornhusker Economics

Private politics, usually led by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and social activists, focuses on changing the behavior of private economic agents through social pressure rather than through government action (although government action is also possible) (Baron, 2003). The food sector has been experiencing increased social pressure from social activist organizations to achieve diverse goals, ranging from improving food safety and food fortification to increasing transparency in food markets. A primary reason for the increase in organized activism in the food sector is the proliferation of the provision of credence attributes which are attributes unobservable through search or experience (consumption and use). …

Libraries At The Centre Of Community Transformation: A Bibliometric Study (2009-2019) Of The Influence Of Libraries On Segments Of Human Communities In Nigeria, Tochukwu Victor Nwankwo, Adizetu A. Ali Dr, Boniface U. Asadu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose – The objective of the research was to undertake a bibliometric study (2009-2019) on the influence of libraries on segments of human communities in Nigeria. The specific objectives are to determine the bibliometric newspapers, databases, and institutional repository components of the Nigerian Academic, Social, Economic, Judicial, Political, Health, Cultural, and Religious Communities.

Design/methodology/approach – The method adopted was the descriptive survey research design; specifically the online content analysis technique was co-opted. The study covered all the publications published for or about Library Transformation in Nigeria by both Nigerians and foreigners (2009-2019); that are domiciled in Nigerian Online Newspapers, Online …

Analysis Of Nine U.S. Recessions And Three Expansions, Ray C. Fair

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Nine U.S. recessions and three expansions are analyzed in this paper using a structural macroeconometric model. With two exceptions and one partial exception, the episodes are predicted well by the model, including the 2008-2009 recession, conditional on the actual values of the exogenous variables. The main exogenous variables are stock prices, housing prices, import prices, exports, and exogenous government policy variables. Monetary policy is endogenous. Fluctuations in stock and housing prices (housing prices after 1995) are important drivers of output fluctuations—large wealth effects on household expenditures. In explaining the 2008-2009 recession detailed financial variables such as credit-constraint variables are not …

On The Basis Of Sex: Personal Status Law Reforms And Economic Growth, Kylie Bring

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how law reform toward gender equity has an impact on economic growth in Arab countries in the Middle East. Personal status law reform granting women economic, social, and personal freedoms is spreading across the region and showing substantial change. Using case studies of major PSL reforms in Tunisia and Morocco, this thesis outlines qualitative and quantitative evidence to support the case that gender equity benefits the economic growth of the given country.

Affirmative Action And Mismatch: Evidence From Statewide Affirmative Action Bans, Leon Ren

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper empirically evaluates the mismatch hypothesis by exploiting the quasi-experimental variation in the adoption of statewide affirmative action bans. Specifically, this paper examines the effect of such bans on minority graduation rates using a difference-in-difference, synthetic control, and triple-difference approach. My results suggest that statewide affirmative action bans are associated with an increase in minority graduation rates, consistent with the mismatch hypothesis, at highly selective institutions. Moreover, mismatch effects are not confined to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors. JEL Codes: I28, J15

Improved Information In Search Markets, Jidong Zhou

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper studies how an improved information environment affects consumer search and firm competition. We find conditions for information improvement to have unambiguous impacts on search duration, price and consumer welfare. In many cases consumers benefit from information improvement regardless of how it affects the market price, but there are also cases where information improvement raises price significantly so that consumers suffer from it. Our model provides a unified way to consider the market implications of various types of information improvement such as search advertising, personalized recommendations, filtering, and VR shopping technology.

The Google Trends Uncertainty (Gtu) Index: A Measure Of Economic Policy Uncertainty In The Eu Using Google Trends, Luisa Weinberg

Undergraduate Economic Review

The objective of this research is to use Google search data to build the Google Trends Uncertainty (GTU) index, a weekly measure of uncertainty surrounding economic policy in the four largest economies in the European Union: Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. By obtaining the relative popularity of Google searches with economic policy uncertainty connotations given a specific timeframe and geographical area, the frequency with which people search for terms related to economic policy effectively serves as a proxy for actual economic policy uncertainty. In its entirety, the various elements of this research allow to accurately and unbiasedly measure economic policy …

Forecasting Economic Activity Using The Yield Curve: Quasi-Real-Time Applications For New Zealand, Australia And The Us, Todd Henry, Peter C.B. Phillips

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Inversion of the yield curve has come to be viewed as a leading recession indicator. Unsurprisingly, some recent instances of inversion have attracted attention from economic commentators and policymakers about possible impending recessions. Using a variety of time series models and recent innovations in econometric method, this paper conducts quasi-real-time forecasting exercises to investigate whether the predictive capability of the yield curve extends to forecasting economic activity in general and whether removing the term premium component from yields affects forecast accuracy. The empirical findings for the US, Australia, and New Zealand show that forecast performance is not improved either by …

Corruption And Cooperative Organizations, Konstantinos Giannakas, Murray E. Fulton

Cornhusker Economics

Although the literature is limited, there is evi-dence that corruption in cooperatives and inves-tor-owned firms (IOF) is widespread in develop-ing and transition economies where corruption generally is common. Cooperative corruption is also found closer to home. Two recent examples from the United States include the Ashby Farm-ers’ Cooperative Elevator in Minnesota where the general manager stole from the cooperative and the Tri-County Electric Cooperative in South Carolina where board members enriched them-selves with perks and benefits. In Canada, the PACE Credit Union was placed under the regula-tor’s control in 2018 after two senior executives were discovered to have received secret …

Seasonality In Fed Cattle Transactions And The Role Of Negotiated Cash, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

First paragraph:

Alternative Marketing Arrangements (AMA) have once again taken center stage in the cattle market over the last several weeks. It is common knowledge that the use of AMAs varies by geographical region with Southern Plains feedlots using a larger share relative to Northern Plains feedlots. A long-standing issue is whether each geographical region is contributing a perceived appropriate amount of negotiated cash trade to aid in price discovery. This issue has intensified as the national level of negotiated cattle continues to decline. Lower cash prices and increased volatility due to COVID-19 government quarantine measures and the Holcomb Fire …

Commodities Are Not Industries! A Value Chain Example, Randall W. Jackson, Patricio Aroca

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Leontief and Stone both received Nobel Prizes in Economics for development and extension of input-output (IO) analysis, a framework that has gained little traction in mainstream U.S. economics. Although IO modeling has gained renewed focus in several problem domains, many contemporary economists eschew Stone's enhancements, resulting in inconsistent analytics, even in top economics journals. In this paper, we use an increasingly common approach to value chain analysis as one example that demonstrates such conceptual misunderstandings and by presenting properly formulated alternatives, we demonstrate the extent of the consequences of neglecting the Stone enhancements and important role of reproducing results.

A Model To Explain Statewide Differences In Covid-19 Death Rates, James L. Doti

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

COVID-19 death rates per 100,000 vary widely across the nation. As of September 1, 2020, they range from a low of 4 in Hawaii to a high of 179 in New Jersey. Although academic research has been conducted at the county and metropolitan levels, no research has rigorously examined or identified the demographic and socioeconomic forces that explain state-level differences. This study presents an empirical model and the results of regression tests that help identify these forces and shed light on the role they play in explaining COVID-19 deaths.

A stepwise regression model we tested exhibits a high degree of …

Selling Consumer Data For Profit: Optimal Market-Segmentation Design And Its Consequences, Kai Hao Yang

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

A data broker sells market segmentations created by consumer data to a producer with private production cost who sells a product to a unit mass of consumers with heterogeneous values. In this setting, I completely characterize the revenue-maximizing mechanisms for the data broker. In particular, every optimal mechanism induces quasi-perfect price discrimination. That is, the data broker sells the producer a market segmentation described by a cost-dependent cutoff, such that all the consumers with values above the cutoff end up buying and paying their values while the rest of consumers do not buy. The characterization of optimal mechanisms leads to …

Lessons Learned: Lorie Logan, Mercedes Cardona

Journal of Financial Crises

Lorie Logan is executive vice president in the Markets Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the System Open Market Account (SOMA) manager pro tem for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), and head of Market Operations, Monitoring, and Analysis (MOMA).

Lessons Learned: Donald Kohn, Maryann Haggerty

Journal of Financial Crises

Kohn, an economist, is a 40-year veteran of the Federal Reserve System. He served as a member of the Board of Governors, and was vice chair, from 2002-2010, which included the years of the global financial crisis (GFC).

The United Kingdom's Asset-Backed Securities Guarantee Scheme (U.K. Gfc), June Rhee

Journal of Financial Crises

The key structures of housing finance in the UK in the years leading up to the global financial crisis of 2007-09 consisted of retail deposits, secondary market funding and wholesale interbank lending. Although retail deposits were the major funder of UK mortgages, secondary market funding, which included covered bonds and residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), accounted for 31% of UK mortgage lending in 2006. In 2007, the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market triggered a financial shock, and the shock quickly traveled beyond national borders. Regardless of differences in the UK mortgage market, investors’ concern over the prospects of the …

The United Kingdom's Credit Guarantee Scheme (U.K. Gfc), Christian M. Mcnamara

Journal of Financial Crises

The September 15, 2008, bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers resulted in a collapse of wholesale funding markets that threatened the ability of UK financial institutions to continue funding themselves. By the end of the month, two leading UK banks—HBOS and Bradford & Bingley—had to be rescued, and there was a real risk that the entire financial system could collapse. Faced with the need to stabilize the system, UK regulators on October 8 introduced a package of measures that included a £250 billion Credit Guarantee Scheme (the Guarantee Scheme) aimed at providing banks with access to needed funding. Under the Guarantee Scheme, …

Sweden's Guarantee Scheme (Sweden Gfc), Lily S. Engbith, Kevin Kiernan

Journal of Financial Crises

Although Sweden was not as directly impacted by the Global Financial Crisis as some other economies, Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, prompted Swedish authorities to take preemptive measures to protect domestic banks and financial institutions. One such program, announced on October 20, 2008, and implemented on October 29, 2008, was designed to preserve credit extension to businesses and households through what became known as the Swedish Guarantee Scheme. Per the terms of the Scheme, new short- and medium-term debt of maturities ranging from 90 days to five years issued by eligible banks would be guaranteed by the Swedish …

The Spanish Guarantee Scheme For Credit Institutions (Spain Gfc), Lily Engbith

Journal of Financial Crises

Given Spanish banks’ heavy investment in the housing and construction markets in the lead-up to the global financial crisis (GFC), the collapse of the subprime mortgage market and Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, impelled the government to implement stabilization measures to calm, recapitalize, and restructure its domestic banking sector. The Spanish Guarantee Scheme for Credit Institutions (the Guarantee Scheme) was one of the first interventions to be enacted, announced by Spain’s Ministry of Economy and Finance on October 13, 2008, by Royal Decree-Law 7/2008 on “Urgent Economic and Financial Measures in relation to the Concerted Action Plan of …