Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Archway Commencement Issue, May 2014

Archway (1946-2020)

2014 Archway Commencement Issue

Influence Of Family Communication On Organ Donation, Arielle Melino

Honors Projects in Communication

Organ donors are in high demand and although many individuals have a favorable attitude toward organ donation, very few are committed to donating. This study aims to examine the impact of mother-daughter relationships and the conversation that stems from this bond on decisions to donate. Some factors that exist within family communication such as attitudes, willingness to communicate, experience, and knowledge may not just impact the perspectives of adults but also the donation decisions of their college-aged children.

Running And Grit, Rohan H. Vakil

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

No abstract provided.

Active Vs. Passive Portfolio Management, Timothy Greenhill

Honors Projects in Mathematics

In the finance community there is a huge debate about whether or not active portfolio managers can provide better returns than passive managers. While active managers often provide excess returns, the costs of running an active fund offset whatever gains were made in the market. The objective of this report is to figure out whether or not active funds provide larger returns than passive funds on a cost adjusted basis. This report will identify which type of fund is a more cost effective investment, as well as identify different properties of funds and how they operate. The goal of doing …

Risk Of Eating Disorders And The Pressures To Be Thin: Female College Athletes Vs. Non-Athletes, Lauren Ganim

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

The objective of this study is to determine the relative level of risk female college athletes and non-athletes have in developing an eating disorder. In addition, the study identifies the pressures faced by each group and how these contribute to the risk of eating disorders. The study was conducted using two surveys: an EAT-26 test and a pressures questionnaire. The EAT-26 test is a standardized self-measure of symptoms and concerns characteristic of disordered eating (EAT-26 Self-Test). This was used to determine the amount of risk faced by each participant. The pressures questionnaire was used to determine what pressures each group …

The Impact Of European Elections On Their Stock Markets, Andrew Lafortune

Honors Projects in Finance

This paper seeks to provide insight on changes in the European political landscape and how these changes may affect the financial markets in Europe. By analyzing market trends in eight different European countries—Belgium, Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands, Great Britain, Switzerland and Greece—since 1990, this paper attempts to identify any significant relationships between the results of an election and the performances of the major stock indices of these countries. By comparing country index returns starting one hundred days before and ending one hundred days after each election date to a global index, this paper explores the amount of risk in each …

The Economics Of Suicide: An Empirical Study, Andrea J. Bergeron

Honors Projects in Economics

This study uses economic theory to investigate the impact of socioeconomic factors on the

suicide rate in the United States. Using a utility maximization framework based on

Hamermesh and Soss’ 1974 model, a panel data set from 2000-2010 is constructed for the 50

states and District of Columbia. This research adds to the literature in the field by focusing on

the more recent past and providing additional variables consistent with today’s challenges.

The results from the multiple regression analysis can be used to advocate policies that may

reduce the suicide rate in the future.

The National Cancer Institute’S Health Information National Trends Survey [Hints]: A National Cross-Sectional Analysis Of Talking To Your Doctor And Other Healthcare Providers For Health Information, Julie E. Volkman, Tana M. Luger, Kimberly Ll Harvey, Timothy P. Hogan, Stephanie L. Shimada, Daniel Amante, Keith D. Mcinnes, Hua Feng, Thomas K. Houston

Communication Faculty Journal Articles

Background: The need to understand preferred sources of health information remains important to providing patient-centered care. The Internet remains a popular resource for health information, but more traditional sources may still be valid for patients during a recent health need. This study sought to understand the characteristics of patients that turn to their doctor or healthcare provider first for a recent health or medical information need. Methods: Using the national cross-sectional survey, Health Information National Trend Study [HINTS], characteristics of those who sought a doctor or healthcare provider for a recent health information need were compared to other sources. Weighted …

Quitters Referring Smokers: A Quitline Chain-Referral Pilot Study, Kathryn Delaughter, Julie E. Volkman, Barrett D. Phillips, Thomas K. Houston

Communication Faculty Journal Articles

Background: Telephone counseling Quitlines can support smoking cessation, but are under-utilized. We explored the use of smoker peer-referrals to increase use of a Quitline in Mississippi and Alabama.

Findings: Collaborating with the Alabama and Mississippi Quitline, we piloted peer-referrals to Quitlines. Successful ‘quitters’ who had used the Quitline were contacted at routine follow-up and recruited to participate as a peer-referrer and refer their friends and family who smoked to the Quitline. Peer-referrers completed a training session, received a manual and a set of Quitline brochures a peer-referral forms. These peer-referral forms were then returned to the Quitline telephone counselors who …

Socioeconomic Determinants Of Violent Crime Rates In The U.S., Jacob Gesin

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper looks into socioeconomic factors affecting three racial groups within the United States, and the possibility of their effects on rates of violent crime. This study incorporates US census data in conjunction with FBI crime statistics in order to identify a correlation between select sociological variables experienced by different racial groups, and the rates of violent crime committed within those groups. Based on metropolitan areas by state for the year of 2012, the results of this study show that socioeconomic and family factors have a significant effect on violent crime rates regardless of race. Furthermore, violent crime rate gaps …

Socioeconomic Determinants Of Obesity In The United States, Jonathan Skaza

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the socioeconomic determinants of obesity (as measured by BMI) in the United States. Logistic regression is employed on cross-sectional data from the 2011-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The results show that, in general, holding other factors constant, individuals with a college diploma are less likely to be obese than those with a lesser education (except in extreme cases), married individuals are more likely to be obese than those that are not married, and females are more likely to be obese than males. Additionally, compared to white persons, Black and Hispanic persons have a greater …

An Analysis Of A High School Dropout In The United States, Matthew Walsh

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

The study explores the socioeconomic factors that lead to a student dropping out of high school. Unlike other papers this study focuses on the whole United States and the three primary ethnic groups within the country. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics, is used to investigate the crisis facing the future of the American economy across all fifty states. The results show that socioeconomic differences are predictive in the probability of a high school student dropping out prior to graduation

Determinants Of Foreign Direct Investment In Brazil, Matthew J. Duguay

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper is a time series analysis of the determinants of foreign direct investment inflows regarding the country of Brazil over the past 34 years. Brazil has seen rapid change throughout their country over the past few decades, and it now is one of the most popular hosts for foreign investors. GDP growth, trade openness, taxes, political instability, energy imports, and inflation are all as possible significant determinants of FDI inflows in Brazil that this model analyzes. The results show that inflation, trade openness, and political instability are the most significant variables when it comes to understanding FDI inflows.

Remittances And Economic Growth In Mexico: Long Term Implications, Sean Lambert

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines the impact of remittances on economic growth by looking at time series data from 1960 to 2012 from the country of Mexico. Using the OLS method, these data will be analyzed to see what the long term impact of remittances have been on the growth rate of Mexico. Drawing from the heavily established literature in the field of growth economics, this paper attempts to show the relevance of such theory in the case of the well documented phenomenon of remittances. Mexico is the world’s fourth largest net recipient of remittance inflows and the third largest trading partner …

The Impact Of Fdi And Trade Openness On The Economic Growth Of The Transition Economies, Regina Castro

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines effects of FDI inflows and trade openness on economic growth of three former Soviet Union economies: Kazakhstan, Armenia and Ukraine. The study uses a regression model that incorporates data sets for the period from 1992 to 2011 obtained from the World Bank. The regression result indicates that FDI inflows are positively correlated to the economic growth of the transition economies. However, impact of FDI would vary for each specific country depending on the degree of capacity of the host country to use FDI efficiently. Trade openness has also a positive effect on the real GDP per capita …

Demographics On Crime: A Look At The U.S.A., Nicolas Eceizabarrena

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This study aims to identify how change in social indicators and demographics affect crime, more specifically, the number of aggravated assaults. As policy makers attempt to reduce crime to improve social conditions, changes to social indicator and demographic variables would allow quantifying these changes. This study uses a cross-sectional data set for the fifty states in the United States of America for the 2005 period.

Learning By Exporting In India, Stephanie Lizardi

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines learning by exporting, in which a firm experiences growth in productivity after entering export markets. The results of existing studies show conflicting evidence regarding whether productivity gains result from learning by exporting or whether productivity gains lead to exporting. This paper discusses the relationship between entering exporting markets and subsequent product innovation. Using data from nearly 6,000 firms in India, the results suggest that learning by exporting occurs when firms enter export markets, but only during the first year.

The Effect Of Income Inequality On Happiness Levels, Spencer Carlin

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates and presents the impact of income inequality upon general levels of happiness. The study will examine the influence of the income gap upon life satisfaction. Incorporating information from OECD databanks and the World Bank into a standard model in happiness studies, we will examine the effect on nations measured Happy Life Years (HLY). After careful examination this study provides a conclusion that reinforces past studies. Income inequality has a consistent significant and negative impact on subjective well-being and happiness levels. The study contributes to the inequality happiness literature, by examining the effects of inequality on happiness amongst …

Institutions And Economic Growth In Bric Nations, Doug Flink

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper looks at the impact of institutions on economic growth in the six largest countries in BRIC countries, Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The study will us OLS to examine the time period between the years 2002 and 2011. More specifically, it will measure the effect of institutions through a variety of measures including democracy and regulatory related variables. Through ordinary least squares regression analysis, the variables for democracy and regulation will be significant and have a positive effect on economic growth. This study will show that quality of institution does in fact support economic growth.

The Predictive Power Of Commodity Futures Prices On South American Equity Markets, Aadithyan Manivannan

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the futures United States futures market the returns on the South American stock market. In particular the paper focuses on three key commodities—industrial sugar, copper, and coffee. The study looks into methods to isolate the effect of the United States commodity market from the returns of the equity exchanges in both the United States and South America. Once isolated, the relationship between the selected commodities and South American stock market returns can be estimated through quantitative analysis.

The Effects Of The First Round Of Quantitative Easing On Stock Prices In The United States, William Manak

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines the effects that the first round of the large-scale assert purchases known as Quantitative Easing (QE1) had on US stock prices. The paper focuses on the time period starting from the announcement of QE1 to before the second round of Quantitative Easing had been announced. This paper hopes to find a significant effect of stock prices in China as well as the exchange rate between the two countries, as the US and China are major trade partners. The effects of Chinese stocks and the exchange rate will be compared to the lower interest rates that had resulted …

Determinants Of Health In South American Countries, Andres Pernia

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates, analyzes, and expands the relationship between under-five mortality and socioeconomic and health system factors. The study utilizes fixed effect panel data to estimate the determinants of under-five mortality in 12 counties across South America. As expected, the results show that GDP per capita is statistically significant and is robust in all of the estimated models. In addition, improved sanitation, gender equality, access to improved sanitation facilities, provision of primary education, and governance are also statistically significant and have positive effect on child mortality.

Determinants Of Healthcare Expenditure In The Organization For Economic Cooperation (Oecd) Countries, Harry Waterton

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the factors that determine the expenditure in healthcare within the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries. The study will contain and be based around a regression model, using healthcare expenditure per capita as the dependent variable, for 10 of the 34 OECD countries. The data that will be analyzed ranges from 2000 to 2010 using the panel data analysis format, and will be extracted from the World Bank and OECD statistics websites.

Infant Mortality And Macroeconomic Changes In Latam, Daniel Mujica

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper would analyze the effects that economic indicators have over mortality rates in Latin America. Hence, the purpose would be to represent the drives of changes in mortality. This will be achieved by undergoing a thorough analysis of correlated variables that will create a significant outcome over this important problem that emerging countries in Latin America need to solve in order to achieve long term economic and social prosperity.

The Relationship Between Crime And Unemployment In China, Kuan Lu

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the relationship between crime and unemployment in China. The study incorporates the information, including data of the current crime rate, unemployment rate, income level, GDP growth, Gini index and urbanization rate, into a linear regression model to examine the influence of the unemployment rate on crime in China. The crime in China is measured by crime rate, which includes six specific types of crimes: homicide, assault, rape, robbery, theft and burglary. The results show that there is a positive relationship between crime and unemployment in China. When there is an increase in the unemployment rate, crime rate …

The Effect Of Immigration Status On Income In Southern States Of The United States, Camila Espinal

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

According to the U.S census Bureau, in 2013 nearly a third of the U.S population are immigrants and 7.7/189 million are illegal. I will develop an econometric model to show the effect of immigration status Income. The ultimate goal of the paper will be to demonstrate the significance of immigration status on an Individual’s income. This paper will analyze if a person’s immigration status has a significant effect on the individual’s average wage and salary by focusing on three major high immigration density states: California, Florida, and Texas. The paper will focus on Hispanic immigrants to ultimately determine if immigration …

The Effect Of Extending Unemployment Insurance Benefits On Northeast State Unemployment Rates, Guillaume Sabourin

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the effect of changes in the length of unemployment benefits on the unemployment rates of 10 northeast US states. This study includes the most likely variables that would influence the unemployment rate during the time span preceding and following the recent recession. The study observes various contributing factors to unemployment including median income, state GDP, demographics, education, and the construction, manufacturing, and financial services rate for each state. Using state-level data from government sources and a fixed effects empirical model, results suggest that unemployment benefit extensions result in a small but statistically significant increase in the unemployment …

Flight To Quality For Large Financial Institutions, A. Can Inci, Hsi Li, Joseph Mccarthy

Finance Department Faculty Journal Articles

Local correlation analysis is used to investigate flight to quality among large financial institutions before, during, and after the financial crisis of 2008-2009. While standard correlation captures general overall linear association, local correlation analysis more accurately captures changes in the associations in response to changing market conditions. Using raw, market-adjusted, and industry-adjusted stock returns of individual banks, we investigate the performance of troubled banks and the change in investing behavior. Investors react to noisy information from the financial difficulties encountered by banking institutions. This reaction results in flight to quality. While the traditional Pearson correlations capture general overall linear association, …