Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Green, Clean, And Mean? China’S Foreign Direct Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa Economy, Makuochukwu Okoma

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is an investigative study that utilized the Panel Vector Autoregressive (PVAR) model that examines the impact of China’s Foreign Direct Investment on the environment and economy of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In evaluating this impact, 43 SSA countries were analyzed and subdivided into various income levels; three arguments were proposed and tested.First is China’s FDI in SSA, “green.” Does China’s FDI lead to sustainable growth and development for the environment in SSA.? Second, does China’s FDI clean up pollution through the reduction of Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions? Lastly, does it lead to economic growth and development in SSA? The …

Discrimination Among College Football Head Coaches, Yusuke Fukuda

Honors Theses

Several major sports organizations have come under scrutiny in recent years for alleged discriminatory practices towards minority coaches. In this paper, I analyze whether minority college football head coaches are more likely to be fired and to earn a lower salary. I observe a sample of 300 head coaches from 132 Division-I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools between the years 2006 to 2021. After controlling for performance and experience variables and holding the time and school or conference variables fixed in a Cox hazard regression model, I find statistically significant evidence that minority coaches face a higher likelihood of being …

Impacts Of Profamilia Program Spread On Contraceptive Use And Fertility Rates In Colombia During Its Introduction, Katherine C. Specht

Honors Theses

I examine the effect of the Profamilia program during its beginning years over the 1960s and 1970s as it spread across Colombia. I find that Profamilia effectively delays first birth, intercourse, and age at marriage, and reduces the probability of having had a teen birth. These outcomes were also linked to increased literacy rates, improved educational attainment, and an increase in employment. Birth spacing and contraceptive use increased. These findings support current research that improving access to family planning services is an effective method for decreasing women’s fertility and improving educational and employment opportunities for women. The implication that having …

Municipal Reform In The Progressive Era: Spatial Spread And Fiscal Outcomes Of The Commission Government, Daniel T. Hiller

Honors Theses

The Galveston-Des Moines Plan for commission government, seen as an important municipal reform during the Progressive Era meant to address corruption and inefficiency in many cities, was pitched by business elites and spread like wildfire in the 1910s. Is there a spatial component to the spread of the adoption of the commission form of government? What are the municipal fiscal outcomes of adoption? This paper shows that there was a spatial spread to its adoption using a lagged state adoption proportion variable. This paper also reveals that promises made by business elites such as increased efficiency and projects to improve …

The Effects Of Personality And Risk Preferences On Effort-Based Behavior: A Game Theoretic Approach, Hannah M. Davidsen

Honors Theses

Our personality and preferences play a major role in the decisions we make in our everyday lives. Drawing from literature exploring how people innovate under different scenarios (Dubina, 2013), the present study expanded this topic to include any scenario where there is incentive to free-ride off of another’s effort. I designed a study in which participants (N=73) were asked to complete the Big 5 personality questionnaire, a cognitive reflection task, an altruism elicitation task, and a risk elicitation task, then were randomly paired with another participant to complete four different rounds of a public goods game. Each round of the …

Dynamic Double Auctions: An Analysis Of Secondary Sneaker Market And Its Future As An Nft Marketplace, Chris Zhu

Honors Theses

A theoretical analysis of a dynamic double auction over time shows that greater market density can result in more aggressive trading strategies from buyers and sellers. In addition, my model suggests a fast price discovery period initially, with impatient investors having a more aggressive approach. I confirm these results using resale sneaker data from the StockX website for five deadstock sneakers. I find that market density is positively correlated with bid prices, and the bid-ask spread decreases over time during the price discovery period. However, the results also indicate that sellers price in additional transaction costs and lags in their …

Bean To Buck: Examining The Effects Of The Global Coffee Commodity Market On Smallholders In Colombia, Alexander Ozols

Honors Theses

Utilizing global coffee commodity prices as an exogenous variable on households' consumption, I examine how global coffee commodity price fluctuations affect the well-being of households in the third-largest coffee-producing nation, Colombia. The results show that rural regions and regions designated as part of the "Coffee Axis" are most affected by fluctuations in prices. While results on other regional distinctions are not significant, the size of a household's farming operation dictates how increases in consumption are affected. Lastly, I show that changes in coffee prices, do not have any effect on whether a small or large farm will switch to growing …

Two Sided Matching: A Study Of Underemployment, Benjamin E. Plevin

Honors Theses

This paper lays out a general equilibrium framework to study and predict the underemployment rate. A heterogeneous labor market in which both workers and firms differ in skill type is considered and calibrated to simulate both unemployment and underemployment rates. Qualitatively, the model’s predictions match the empirical evidence suggesting underemployment decreases with increases to unemployment insurance. Quantitatively, the one-shot foundation limits the model’s predictive capabilities.

Is Monetary Policy Neutral? The Effectiveness Of Monetary Policy Transmission Across The Income Distribution, Cameron Dyer

Honors Theses

This paper analyzes the role of the interest rate channel of monetary policy on household consumption sensitivities across the income distribution. To study this, I build a heterogenous agent model where households experience interest rate shocks as a proxy for monetary policy in addition to income shocks. I find that the poorest quintile increases consumption by about 4.5% in response to a recessionary interest rate cut, with this effect weakening for each additional quintile. When interest rate shocks differ by income group, the poorest lose about 3.6% of consumption and monetary policy’s effect on aggregate consumption weakens. When the income …

เสถียรภาพของภาคการเงินและภาคเศรษฐกิจจริงภายใต้ความเสี่ยงด้านต่ำและด้านสูงของราคาบ้าน, พงศ์ภัค ศรีสิงหสงคราม

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยชิ้นนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาผลกระทบและปัจจัยสำคัญทางด้านภาคเศรษฐกิจจริงและปัจจัยทางด้านภาคการเงินต่อราคาบ้านเมื่อเกิดสภาวะความเสี่ยงด้านสูงและความเสี่ยงด้านต่ำสำหรับกลุ่มประเทศตลาดเกิดใหม่ และกลุ่มประเทศพัฒนาแล้ว ในการศึกษานี้ได้มีการแบ่งกลุ่มของข้อมูลเป็น 2 กลุ่มหลัก ได้แก่ กลุ่มปัจจัยในภาพรวม และกลุ่มปัจจัยย่อย ทั้งนี้เพื่อตอบวัตถุประสงค์ผู้วิจัยได้มีการนำเทคนิค Feature Importance ด้วยการใช้อัลกอริทึม Random Forest และเสริมด้วยแบบจำลอง Semi-parametric Quantile Regression ซึ่งจะช่วยให้แบบจำลองเหมาะสมกับการวิเคราะห์การแจกแจงการกระจายข้อมูลที่ไม่ปกติ ผลการศึกษาแบ่งตามลักษณะกลุ่มประเทศดังนี้ สำหรับกลุ่มประเทศพัฒนาแล้วพบว่าปัจจัยทางด้านอัตราดอกเบี้ยนโยบายการเงินที่มีสัดส่วนสูงที่สุดในการกำหนดราคาบ้านทั้งในช่วงความเสี่ยงด้านสูงและด้านต่ำอีกทั้งเมื่อปัจจัยดังกล่าวปรับตัวเพิ่มขึ้นยังส่งผลต่อราคาบ้านให้ลดลงอย่างมีนัยสำคัญทางสถิติสำหรับทุกควอนไทล์ ทั้งนี้เมื่อพิจารณาเฉพาะในปัจจัยย่อยของกลุ่มตัวแปรต่างๆ ที่มีความสำคัญที่สุดและส่งผลต่อราคาบ้านในแต่ละกลุ่มจะพบว่าปัจจัยที่ควรสังเกตุและมีความสำคัญมากเพื่อรักษาเสถียรภาพของราคาบ้านได้แก่ ปัจจัยด้านรายจ่ายเพื่อการอุปโภคบริโภคของรัฐบาล, ปัจจัยด้านดัชนีราคาด้านสินค้าและบริการเบ็ดเตล็ด, ปัจจัยด้านดัชนีราคาด้านการนันทนาการและวัฒนธรรม, ปัจจัยด้านการลงทุนแบบพอร์ตโฟลิโอผ่านตราสารทุน, ปัจจัยด้านสัดส่วนสินเชื่อภาคครัวเรือนเทียบกับผลิตภัณฑ์มวลรวมภายในประเทศ และปัจจัยด้านดัชนีอัตราแลกเปลี่ยนที่แท้จริง เป็นต้น สำหรับกลุ่มประเทศตลาดเกิดใหม่พบว่าตัวแปรทางด้านดัชนีอัตราแลกเปลี่ยนที่แท้จริงและสัดส่วนสินเชื่อต่อผลิตภัณฑ์มวลรวมในประเทศมีสัดส่วนสูงที่สุดรวมกันอยู่ที่ประมาณสัดส่วนร้อยละ 60 ถึง 70 ของตัวแปรทั้งหมดในแบบจำลองในการกำหนดราคาบ้าน ทั้งนี้สำหรับประเทศพัฒนาแล้วอัตราแลกเปลี่ยนที่แท้จริงเมื่อเกิดการแข็งค่าขึ้นจะส่งผลต่อราคาบ้านในทิศทางลดลงอย่างมีนัยสำคัญทางสถิติสำหรับทุกควอไทล์ ทั้งนี้เมื่อพิจารณาเฉพาะในปัจจัยย่อยของกลุ่มตัวแปรต่างๆ ที่มีความสำคัญที่สุดและส่งผลต่อราคาบ้านในแต่ละกลุ่มจะพบว่าปัจจัยที่ควรสังเกตุและมีความสำคัญมากเพื่อรักษาเสถียรภาพของราคาบ้านได้แก่ ปัจจัยด้านรายจ่ายเพื่อการอุปโภคบริโภคของครัวเรือน, ปัจจัยด้านการสะสมทุนถาวรเบื้องต้น, ปัจจัยด้านดัชนีราคาด้านสินค้าและบริการเบ็ดเตล็ด, ปัจจัยด้านการลงทุนแบบพอร์ตโฟลิโอผ่านตราสารหนี้, ปัจจัยด้านสัดส่วนสินเชื่อภาคเอกชนเทียบกับผลิตภัณฑ์มวลรวมภายในประเทศ, ปัจจัยด้านเครื่องมือ Loan-to-Value และ ปัจจัยด้านปริมาณเงินตามความหมายกว้าง เป็นต้น ดังนั้นเพื่อรักษาเสถียรภาพของภาคการเงินและภาคเศรษฐกิจจึงนั้น ผู้ออกนโยบายควรที่จะมุ่งไปที่ปัจจัยที่มีความสำคัญและส่งผลต่อราคาบ้านให้เหมาะสมกับลักษณะของกลุ่มประเทศและพิจารณาการกับกำดูแลผ่านนโยบายเสถียรภาพด้านราคาบ้านตามสถานการณ์ให้เหมาะสม

From Soup To Nuts - The Efficiency Of Non-Profits: Evidence From U.S. Food Banks, Mary A. Mattingly

Masters Theses

Nonprofits are a growing part of America’s economy and play an import role in fulfilling the needs of society in addition to private firms and government agencies. Economists haven’t researched nonprofits as much as other firms in the past, but this is starting to change. This project looks at the efficiency of 20 food banks in the United States using Data Envelopment Analysis. The results show that American Food Banks appear to be using their funds efficiently, but others could learn to use their inputs and outputs in a more efficient manner. As more data becomes available, this area of …

Informational Intermediation, Market Feedback, And Welfare Losses, Wenji Xu, Kai Hao Yang

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper examines the welfare implications of third-party informational intermediation. A seller sets the price of a product that is sold through an informational intermediary. The intermediary can disclose information about the product to consumers and earns a fied percentage of sales revenue in each period. The intermediary's market base grows at a rate that increases with past consumer surplus. We characterize the stationary equilibria and the set of subgame perfect equilibrium payoffs. When market feedback (i.e., the extent to which past consumer surplus affects future market bases) increases, welfare may decrease in the Pareto sense.

Consumer Guilt And Sustainable Choice: Environmental Impact Of Durable Goods Innovation, K. Sudhir, Ramesh Shankar, Yuan Jin

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

The paper develops a modeling framework to study how sustainability interventions impact consumer adoption of durable goods innovation, firm profit and environmental outcomes in equilibrium. Our two period model with forward looking consumers and a monopoly firm introducing an innovation in the second period accommodates three key features: (1) it builds on the psychology literature linking reactive and anticipatory guilt to consumers’ environmental sensitivity on initial purchase and upgrade decisions; (2) it disentangles environmental harm over the product life into that arising from product use and dumping at replacement; and (3) it clarifies how a taxonomy of innovations (function, fashion …

Market-Minded Informational Intermediary And Unintended Welfare Loss, Wenji Xu, Kai Hao Yang

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper examines the welfare effects of informational intermediation. A (short-lived) seller sets the price of a product that is sold through a (long-lived) informational intermediary. The intermediary can disclose information about the product to consumers, earns a fixed percentage of the sales revenue in each period, and has concerns about its prominence---the market size it faces in the future, which in turn is increasing in past consumer surplus. We characterize the Markov perfect equilibria and the set of subgame perfect equilibrium payoffs of this game and show that when the market feedback (i.e., how much past consumer surplus affects …

“Strive For Gains!”: Perceived Fairness Of College Tuition Price Increases, Rachel Powell

Economics Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Poverty And Elderly Labor Supply In Thailand, Ruoshan Zhao

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The aim of this study was to estimate the impact of poverty on elderly labor force participation and investigate the relationship between poverty and the intensity of work (i.e., working days). Labor supply by the elderly is increasingly one of the most concerning issues in developing countries. Based on studies on the elderly, researchers have made significant findings regarding the labor participation rates of older adults. However, there is a lack of research on the relationship between the labor force participation rate and poverty among the elderly in Thailand. This study used the probit regression model and Tobit regression model …

Scoping The Potential For A Digital Led Recovery From Covid-19 In Africa, Rashmi Banga, Karishma Banga

Journal of African Trade

Abstract In this paper, we analyse the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for Africa's trade in digitizable products, digitally deliverable services (DDSs), and e-commerce, and we outline the challenges of a digitally led recovery from the pandemic for African countries. The analysis is based on macro- and micro-level data and a review of extant literature. We find that almost 60% of the global exports of digital products in 2020 originated from the EU, with another 16% from North America. Africa's share in global exports of digital products, by contrast, was less than 1%. In the case of intra-Africa trade, exports …

Eigenvalues + Shaikh Nassif Coronado Paper, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Eigenvalue distribution, matrix size and the shape of the rank-size eigenvalue moduli curve by Anwar Shaikh, Nassif, and Coronado (unpublished work).
• Shaikh, A. (2010, September 27). Bienenfeld approximation. (Unpublished manuscript note).
• Shaikh, A. (2020, August 8). Sraffa prices & normalization. (Unpublished manuscript note).
• Shaikh, A. (2021, June 15). Marx / Adrian. (Unpublished manuscript note).
• Shaikh, A. (2021, September 13). Economic Systems Research final review correspondence. (Unpublished manuscript note).
• Shaikh, A. (2021, December 27). Do subdominant normalized eigenvalues all approach 1? (Unpublished manuscript note).
• Shaikh, A. (2022, January 9). Greenberger. (Unpublished manuscript note). …

Extreme Temperatures During Pregnancy And Adverse Birth Outcomes: Evidence From 2009 To 2018 U.S. National Birth Data, Gulcan Cil, Jiyoon Kim

Economics Faculty Research and Scholarship

We provide the first estimates of the impacts of prenatal exposure to extreme temperatures on infant health at birth using the latest national birth data from 2009 to 2018 from all U.S. states. We consistently find that an additional day with mean temperature greater than 80°F or less than 10°F increases preterm births and low birthweight. Strikingly, the adverse effects are borne disproportionately by Black and Hispanic mothers, suggesting that the projected increase in extreme temperatures may further exacerbate the existing birth health disparities across different race/ethnicity groups. We also contribute by investigating the impact of deviations from the normal …

Data From: Short-Term Household Economic Stress Effects On Retail Activity In El Paso, Texas, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Patricia Arellano-Olague

Datasets

No abstract provided.

(Wp 2022-02) Keynes's Treatise On Probability 100 Years Later: Small Vs. Large Worlds And Closed Vs. Open Systems, John B. Davis

Economics Working Papers

The meaning and significance of Keynes’s Treatise on Probability has changed over the 100 years since its publication. Initially it stood on its own as an original contribution to probability theory. After The General Theory some saw the Treatise strengthening Keynes’s later arguments. Yet by the time New Classical Economics became dominant it became largely ignored. This paper attributes that later rejection to the mainstream economics’ reliance on Savage’s subjective expected utility restriction of probability thinking to what he called small worlds. It argues that his small worlds-large worlds distinction produces a small worlds-closed worlds conception of economics the mainstream …

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 …

Part 1: Inflation, Uncertainty, And Volatility Undermine Virginia's Recovery, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

If the story of 2020 was the pandemic and the tale of 2021 was the recovery, then rising inflation and interest rates dominated the narrative of 2022. The economic recovery remained incomplete, with jobs returning to pre-pandemic levels but some Virginians remaining outside the labor force. Now, with the possibility of a recession in 2023 looming, we ask how Virginia fared over the last 12 months and what are the prospects for future growth?

The Economic Obstacles To Electric Vehicle Adoption In Montana, Lily B. Duray

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Beginning in 2008, electric vehicles, otherwise referred to as EVs have increased in popularity. However, most rural areas like Montana still have not adopted these types of vehicles because of three major obstacles. By addressing EV driving range, availability of public EV charging stations, and the charging times of EVs, EVs can become a credible substitute for traditional vehicles in Montana.

Nssr Racist Poster, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• The New Jew, 2022. Paleolithic or Palestinian? [Poster]. The New School.
• Shaikh, A., 2022. Cambridge MA trip [Handwritten notes]. Anwar Shaikh, PhD.

Economic Policy And Equality : Neoliberalism And Gender Equity In Latin America Since The 1970s, Donnett Annmarie Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Neoliberalism has been a persistent concern for policymakers, scholars, and the general public in Latin America due to its negative effects on women. This paper examines the relationship between neoliberal economic policies and gender equality from the 1970s to 2003 in the region. I use a mixed-methods approach to test the two major competing theories from the literature that discuss women’s status under neoliberal reform. I find that neoliberal economic policies did not improve the status of women but reduced gender disparity. Neoliberalism led to the worsening of men’s status, which caused the status of women to seem better. Overall, …

The Community Reinvestment Act: Reimagined, Jonathan Raefski

Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy

America has long been considered the land of opportunity. However, the American Dream’s attainability has not been widespread. Instead, wealth continues to be funneled into the hands of the select few. In an effort to combat income inequality and to provide capital reinvestment for historically left behind groups, Congress enacted the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in 1977. The idea behind the legislation was to stimulate lending and extend credit to areas that were affected by redlining, classism, or other prejudicial practices that enabled income inequality. This thesis aims to analyze the legislation to understand both the strengths and weaknesses of …

Dead Money: Measuring The Influence Of Representatives On Government Spending, Adhitya Venkatraman

CMC Senior Theses

In line with popular criticisms of Congressional pork barrel spending, I find that that individual representatives do wield significant influence in securing government contracts for their districts. Using federal contract data organized at the congressional district level from FY 2001 – FY 2021, I estimate how individual members of the House of Representatives affect funding outcomes. My identification strategy leverages changes in contract funding that occur during exogenous vacancies occurring in the middle of a term. By comparing contract funding outcomes during vacant quarters to non-vacant quarters, I estimate the amount of individual influence exercised by representatives.

During vacant quarters, …

Private Equity – The Rescue Or Destruction Of Financially Distressed Investments, Alex Wilson

CMC Senior Theses

This paper investigates the effect PE-backing has on portfolio companies in financial distress. Inspired by the more recent questioning of the morality of the Private Equity industry, this paper analyzes the change in financial health after a PE buyout transaction and directly compares that of financially distressed firms during the same time period that were not PE-backed. This study utilizes a dataset made up of financially distressed, public US firms as of 2009, and assesses the change in Z-score ~10 years after PE investment to determine whether PE-backing has an effect on the change in financial health. The negative coefficient …

Do School Suspension Reforms Work? Evidence From Rhode Island, Terry Ann Craigie

Economics: Faculty Publications

In Rhode Island, out-of-school suspensions were excessively and disproportionately used to penalize low-level infractions. To address this problem, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed legislation, effective May 2012, prohibiting out-of-school suspensions for attendance-specific infractions. Four years later, the Assembly passed additional legislation to curb out-of-school suspensions for disruption-specific infractions. This study examines the impact of these suspension reforms on out-of-school suspension outcomes for treatment infractions and corresponding racial-ethnic disparities. To execute the analyses, the study uses student-level administrative data (AY 2009–2010 to AY 2017–2018) from the Rhode Island Department of Education, along with quasi-experimental estimation. The study finds that only …