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Claremont Colleges

2011

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Articles 91 - 120 of 135

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Performance Of The Indian Banking Industry Over The Last Ten Years, Saumya Lohia Jan 2011

Performance Of The Indian Banking Industry Over The Last Ten Years, Saumya Lohia

CMC Senior Theses

This paper analyzes the performance of Indian banks over the period of the last ten years. It uses the CAMEL Framework to determine the performance of public and private banks in India. The paper also conducts an empirical analysis to determine the share price performance of Indian banks relative to the share price performance of banks in Hong Kong, Europe and the US. This paper finds that private banks perform better than public banks overall based on the CAMEL Framework. In addition it also finds that the Indian banks share price performance is dependent on the share price performance of …

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Immigration And Identity Politics: The Senegalese In France, Justine Dodgen Jan 2011

Immigration And Identity Politics: The Senegalese In France, Justine Dodgen

CMC Senior Theses

As immigrants arrive in a new culture, they must modify their behaviors to adapt to their host society. Through a review of current literature, I will examine the psychological and sociological aspects of immigration and the effects on migrant identity. I will argue that migrants most desire a bicultural identity, in which they retain some elements of their ethno-cultural identity while adopting some values of French society. The construction of a bicultural identity presents a challenge due to the particular philosophical foundations of the French nation-state and French culture. In the next chapter, I will analyze the challenges Senegalese migrants …

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Blood Money: A Study Of The Effect Of Fighting On Player Salaries In The National Hockey League, Matthew G. Morton Jan 2011

Blood Money: A Study Of The Effect Of Fighting On Player Salaries In The National Hockey League, Matthew G. Morton

CMC Senior Theses

Fighting has been a centerpiece of the National Hockey League since it was formed in 1917. Although rules have been introduced regulating the physicality of play in the NHL, fighting is demanded—and encouraged—by fans and players alike. Fans have long been attracted to the violence of professional hockey; previous studies have documented that professional hockey is a “blood sport” that generates revenues with violence. This research investigates the effect of fighting on player salaries in the NHL, examining the way in which fighting has become a strategic element of the game, describing the way players enforce their own “Code” of …

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Past Financial Reporting Credibility: Does It Influence Market Perceptions Of Fair Value Assets?, Jason M. Rehhaut Jan 2011

Past Financial Reporting Credibility: Does It Influence Market Perceptions Of Fair Value Assets?, Jason M. Rehhaut

CMC Senior Theses

During the financial crisis, many assets became illiquid and ceased trading on the open market, thus classifying them as level three assets. This study attempts to determine whether fair value asset disclosures, especially level three assets, were viewed by the market as valued correctly, given the amount of subjectivity involved. This paper will discuss prior literature on the topics of fair value accounting, various earnings quality measures, and corporate governance impact on fair value disclosures. Using models similar to prior papers, many of the coefficients of interest proved insignificant. However, the models improved when examining only the least credible firms.

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The Effect Of Culture On Female Labor Force Partcipation, Joycelyn J. Ho Jan 2011

The Effect Of Culture On Female Labor Force Partcipation, Joycelyn J. Ho

CMC Senior Theses

This article looks at the effect of culture on female labor force participation. Proxies of culture used are Globe cultural social practice dimensions, and Hofstede cultural dimensions. This article finds that globe cultural dimensions have a stronger explantory value that Hofstede cultural dimensions. It confirms that gender eglaitarianism is a predictor of female labor force participation. It also suggests that assertiveness and uncertainty avoidance are also predictors of female labor force participation.

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Strategic Significance: A Model Of G-20 Membership, Patrick Eagan-Van Meter Jan 2011

Strategic Significance: A Model Of G-20 Membership, Patrick Eagan-Van Meter

CMC Senior Theses

The membership of the Group of 20 was selected without any official criteria. This paper investigates whether group membership can be explained through the consideration of several different factors that coincide with the mission of the organization. I found strong evidence that membership in the Group of 20 was based on some combination of land mass and economic output. The results demonstrate that these factors are highly predictive of group membership.

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Democratic Strength And Terrorism: An Economic Approach, Brian P. Winter Jan 2011

Democratic Strength And Terrorism: An Economic Approach, Brian P. Winter

CMC Senior Theses

There has been much literature about the economic effects of terrorism in democratic countries, but this literature often considers democracy to be a binary variable. This paper sought to explore how the effects might differ depending on the strength of a democracy. In the end, I found that the numbers of attacks and the effects of those attacks do not follow a linear path. The results for autocracies and anocracies require further analysis, but democracies have revealed interesting results. It seems that democracies as a whole have more terrorist attacks, but, within this group, the more democratic a country is …

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Predicting Enrollment Decisions Of Students Admitted To Claremont Mckenna College, Michael Zaytsev Jan 2011

Predicting Enrollment Decisions Of Students Admitted To Claremont Mckenna College, Michael Zaytsev

CMC Senior Theses

College admission has become increasingly competitive in the internet era. This is especially true for the highest caliber of students and institutions. College admission is a process filled with asymmetric information. One of the biggest asymmetries occurs when schools admit students not knowing whether or not students will actually enroll. This uncertainty is economically costly to schools. As national rankings become more and more influential, schools are more sensitive to their rank and the statistics that determine them. One of these is yield, the percentage of admitted students who enroll. This paper examines data on admitted students to Claremont McKenna …

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Fiscal Impact Of Privatization In Developing Countries, Alexander H. Sunderland Jan 2011

Fiscal Impact Of Privatization In Developing Countries, Alexander H. Sunderland

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the fiscal impact of privatization revenues in 47 developing countries. There are many reasons that privatization is attractive for the central government of developing countries. If substantial, these revenues from the sale of state owned enterprises can present a potential solution to persistent deficits. On the other hand, the privatization revenues could be used to finance an even larger deficit. In this paper, I will discuss previous research on the fiscal impact of privatization revenues, the factors that contribute to persistent fiscal budget deficits and explain how empirical research on the fiscal impact of privatization in the …

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Work Attribute Importance And Loyalty Intention: Millennial Generation Psychological Contract, Laura M. Bottorff Jan 2011

Work Attribute Importance And Loyalty Intention: Millennial Generation Psychological Contract, Laura M. Bottorff

CMC Senior Theses

This study investigated the importance that junior and senior job-seeking undergraduates (Millennial generation members) place on transactional and relational work attributes; how ratings vary by gender, experiences with layoff, and intended loyalty; and how well ratings match with actual attributes offered by organizations. Results are discussed in context of psychological contract theory. Students (n = 199) and recent graduates working full-time (n = 180) took separate online survey. Students indicated the importance of various work attributes (Ng, Schweitzer, & Lyons, 2010), loyalty intentions, and other related questions. Graduates answered only work attribute questions related to their current employer. Work attributes …

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Policy Analysis Of Rural Development Strategy In Mexico: Creation And Management Of Infrastructure Systems, Carlton J. Rueb Jan 2011

Policy Analysis Of Rural Development Strategy In Mexico: Creation And Management Of Infrastructure Systems, Carlton J. Rueb

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores rural development strategy in Mexico within the context of infrastructure development. It finds that although the tenants of decentralization and neoliberalism on which the strategy is based are conducive to gains in productivity, equity, and environmental sustainability in rural Mexico, the current government apparatus creates a number of market failures which limit the beneficial potential of the development strategy. Lessons learned from the Mexican experience should be applied in other contexts for development strategies.

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Public Dollar Private Owners; Tax Subsidies For New Stadiums In Professional Sports, Grant J. Bunnage Jan 2011

Public Dollar Private Owners; Tax Subsidies For New Stadiums In Professional Sports, Grant J. Bunnage

CMC Senior Theses

The growing popularity of North American professional sports over the last twenty years directly coincides with the recent trend of urban communities using tax dollars to publically subsidize professional football, baseball, and basketball stadiums. Communities across North America invest substantial amount of public tax dollars in private facilities in light of a consensus among policy analysts that the economic impact of the new stadium is greatly exaggerated. The economic impact of new stadiums has been extensively researched, the focus of this paper rather, is to examine the impact publically subsidized facilities built in the last twenty years have on the …

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Democratization In Sub-Saharan Africa: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Ashley W. Munetsi Jan 2011

Democratization In Sub-Saharan Africa: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Ashley W. Munetsi

CMC Senior Theses

Democracy's advance on the African continent has been mixed, this article analyzes three countries which reflect this situation. Ghana represents the good, a country now considered a liberal democracy; Kenya represents the bad, although possessing the right conditions to advance its democracy the country has slid into an ambiguous zone; the Democratic Republic of Congo represents the ugly, after showing initial promise it still has significant issues halting its burgeoning democratic progress. These three countries represent the prototypical situations facing democratizing Sub-Saharan countries and analyzing them can inform what factors aid or have hindered democratic progress not only for them …

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Tie The Knot Or You Tighten The Noose? The Current Effect Of Pre-Marital Cohabitation On Marriage Survival Rates, Matthew D. Beienburg Jan 2011

Tie The Knot Or You Tighten The Noose? The Current Effect Of Pre-Marital Cohabitation On Marriage Survival Rates, Matthew D. Beienburg

CMC Senior Theses

Pre-marital cohabitation has become a mainstream practice among couples in the United States, yet initial empirical evidence demonstrated significant correlations between cohabitation and subsequent marital instability. Later studies disputed a causal relation and have attempted to show a weakened connection over time, but have themselves suffered from the use of exclusively older and/or unreliable data. This paper uses figures from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997-08) and the National Survey of Family Growth (2006-08) to provide an updated analysis of cohabitation’s effect on marriage over the past decade. Using proportional hazard and competing risk models, this paper confirms a …

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Redistricting In California: Its Effects On Voter Turnout In Minority Populations And Misrepresentation, Carlos A. Hernandez Jan 2011

Redistricting In California: Its Effects On Voter Turnout In Minority Populations And Misrepresentation, Carlos A. Hernandez

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis analyzes the history behind reapportionment and how the task of redistricting has differed in the past decades. For the most part, there was always been a public outcry when the task was in the hands of the Legislature. Fear of political gerrymandering and the creation of safe districts was enough for people to pass a series of initiatives to try and correct the system. While many initiatives failed to pass, Proposition 11, passed in 2008, created the Citizen’s Redistricting Commission—a 14-member committee put in charge of drawing this years’ plans. This paper also looks at population trends in …

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The Gift That Keeps Giving: Fdi Inflows In China, Joseph Chang Jan 2011

The Gift That Keeps Giving: Fdi Inflows In China, Joseph Chang

CMC Senior Theses

This paper investigates the primacy of foreign direct investment inflows in liberalizing China’s economy and whether the long-term gains from economic openness will justify its inefficient energy uses and growing regional income disparities. By examining the history of FDI inflows in China, it becomes evident that FDI inflows were an instrumental part in institutional and technological development in China. I extend the argument to take into account how these developed infrastructures react to China’s growing energy demand in light of a shrinking world supply. Lastly, I perform a meta-analysis on the Environmental Kuznets Curve theory and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis, …

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The Impact Of Terrorism On Foreign Direct Investment: Which Sectors Are More Vulnerable?, Shivani Agrawal Jan 2011

The Impact Of Terrorism On Foreign Direct Investment: Which Sectors Are More Vulnerable?, Shivani Agrawal

CMC Senior Theses

The impact of conflict and violence on foreign direct investment (FDI) is not a topic that has been done justice by the literature, and what few studies exist have contradictory results. This paper studies the impact that transnational terrorism has on FDI inflows by economic sector, in developed countries. Results indicate a statistically significant negative correlation between terrorist events and total FDI inflows. Amongst a list of 12 broad industrial sectors, FDI inflows for manufacturing, trade and repair, and construction were found to have a statistically significant negative correlation with terrorist events.

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A Reexamination Of Us Heroin Policy, Daniel Fogel Jan 2011

A Reexamination Of Us Heroin Policy, Daniel Fogel

CMC Senior Theses

Misguided drug policy in the United States has led to many severe social and economic problems that have burgeoned over the past century. I analyzed heroin policy specifically, investigating new treatment methods and alternative decriminalization policies that would ameliorate some of these problems.

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Running Backs In The Nfl Draft And Nfl Combine: Can Performance Be Predicted?, Chris Blees Jan 2011

Running Backs In The Nfl Draft And Nfl Combine: Can Performance Be Predicted?, Chris Blees

CMC Senior Theses

Berri and Simmons (2009) investigate the relationship between the NFL Combine and the NFL Draft. They find that a quarterback’s performance in the Combine can have a significant impact on that player’s draft position. However, they find that no known aspect of a quarterback before they are drafted is an indicator of success in the NFL. I examine if these relationships exist for the Running Back position. I find similar results to Berri and Simmons: that performance in the Combine does have an effect on that player’s draft position, but that no aspect of a running back’s pre-draft characteristics can …

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The Effects Of Industry On Cross-Border And Domestic Ipo Underpricing, Emily K N Hirano Jan 2011

The Effects Of Industry On Cross-Border And Domestic Ipo Underpricing, Emily K N Hirano

CMC Senior Theses

Increasing numbers of foreign firms are holding cross-border IPOs in attempts to raise capital in markets outside of their home nation. Within the United States cross-border IPOs consistently experience greater amounts of underpricing than domestic IPOs. This paper examines the effects of SIC industry classifications on cross-border and domestic IPO underpricing from 2004-2010. Analysis demonstrates that in various industries, SIC classification has a significant impact upon underpricing in comparison to other industries. While in other industries, significance is solely exhibited through the differing impacts of domestic and cross-border IPOs, within the industry itself, upon underpricing. The most significant industry effect …

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Striving For A Happier America: Lessons From Denmark, Leanne P. Ringquist Jan 2011

Striving For A Happier America: Lessons From Denmark, Leanne P. Ringquist

CMC Senior Theses

American society has lost sight of one of its most valued virtues: Happiness. Research has showed that the United States is behind many other countries in the overall happiness of its citizens. Leading the world in well-being is Denmark. This paper’s aim is to explore possible factors that could be facilitating the well-being of Danish citizens, and applying them to American society. In this search, I explore universal individual factors, as well as factors that lead to the development of a culture and dispositions of its citizens. From these factors, as well as unique characteristics of both countries, I hypothesized …

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A New Experiment On Rational Behavior, Myles R. Macdonald Jan 2011

A New Experiment On Rational Behavior, Myles R. Macdonald

CMC Senior Theses

Behavioral economics is widely recognized as a rising field in economics, one whose discoveries and implications are not yet completed or understood. At the same time, economic theory plays an enormous role in our governmental and legal system. In particular, the Coase Theorem and its implications have affected nearly every area in the field of law and economics. This paper proposes a experimental test of Coasean bargaining in situations using two competitive players whose payoffs depend on minimizing their costs of mitigating the externality. A rational player’s action can be predicted ahead of time, and the rationality of the game’s …

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The Economic Impact Of Oil Price Shocks On Emerging Markets, Aanchal Kapoor Jan 2011

The Economic Impact Of Oil Price Shocks On Emerging Markets, Aanchal Kapoor

CMC Senior Theses

Recent spikes in oil prices have thrown light on how economic activity in emerging markets may be impacted by oil price shocks. This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the effect of oil price shocks on emerging markets. It tests for the existence of an asymmetrical relationship between oil prices and economic activity using a model developed by James Hamilton. It also assesses the impact of structural shocks to the real price of oil on output as proposed by Lutz Kilian. While our models find no consistent pattern within emerging markets, they do suggest that oil price shocks have a …

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The Great Indian Growth Puzzle: What Caused A Spike In 2003?, Aditya Bindal Jan 2011

The Great Indian Growth Puzzle: What Caused A Spike In 2003?, Aditya Bindal

CMC Senior Theses

This paper will employ unit root tests for finding structural breaks endogenously among India’s key macroeconomic aggregate series, as well as their components and subcomponents. The same analysis will be repeated, wherever data are available, for states. The results from these unit root tests will then be used in regression models for national and state level data to understand the causes behind structural breaks. We find that breakpoints cluster around 1982 and 2003 for most series at the national and state level. The services component appears to be a promising candidate for explaining the 2003 structural break in some of …

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Disputed Theory And Security Policy: Responding To The "Rise Of China", Joseph K. Clifton Jan 2011

Disputed Theory And Security Policy: Responding To The "Rise Of China", Joseph K. Clifton

CMC Senior Theses

Much has been written on the security implications of the "Rise of China," yet there is little consensus, posing a problem for policymakers. I highlight the areas of disagreement, arguing that the lack of consensus is a product of different theoretical positions. Since there is not an obviously correct theoretical position, policymakers must make decisions based on significant uncertainty. I argue that policymakers ought therefore reject costly and decontextualized theories, such as offensive realism, while still maintaining openness to theoretical knowledge.

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The Drug War In Mexico: Consequences For Mexico's Nascent Democracy, Katrina M. Weeks Jan 2011

The Drug War In Mexico: Consequences For Mexico's Nascent Democracy, Katrina M. Weeks

CMC Senior Theses

In recent years Mexico has been confronted with accelerating levels of violence related to drug trafficking organizations and counter-drug efforts. This paper examines the consequences of Mexico’s current drug trafficking situation on the country’s fledging democracy. In particular, the impact of the drug war on Mexico’s democratic consolidation is evaluated through civil-military relations, the judicial system, and the press. Conclusions about the prospects for Mexico’s nascent democracy are then examined.

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Examining The Effect Of Psychological Traits On Earnings And The Gender Wage Gap Within A Young Sample Of U.S. Employees, Marika May Jan 2011

Examining The Effect Of Psychological Traits On Earnings And The Gender Wage Gap Within A Young Sample Of U.S. Employees, Marika May

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the effect of psychological traits on earnings and furthermore whether it helps explain the gender wage gap. Public-use data collected from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health is used to evaluate the impact on earnings on seven psychological factors: masculine traits, self esteem, analytical problem solving approach, willingness to work hard, impulsiveness, problem avoidance, and self-assessed intelligence. Findings show that gender differences in psychological traits are significant and returns to observable characteristics differ somewhat by gender as well. Among the young sample of U.S. employees evaluated in this study, I find that up to 21 percent …

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The Impact Of Oil Prices On The U.S. Economy, Jacob H. Bauch Jan 2011

The Impact Of Oil Prices On The U.S. Economy, Jacob H. Bauch

CMC Senior Theses

Nine of the ten recessions since WWII have been preceded by relatively large and sudden increases in the price of oil. In this paper, I use time series analysis to forecast GDP growth using oil prices. I use the methodology from Hamilton (2009), and extend the dataset through 2010. Impulse response functions are used to analyze the historical performance of the model’s one-year-ahead forecasts. In April, 2011, the International Monetary Fund changed its forecast of 2011 GDP growth in the U.S. from 3.0% to 2.8% largely due to persistently high oil prices. My model suggests that the price increase in …

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Alleviating Social Disadvantages Of Rapid Economic Growth: A Case For Conditional Cash Transfer (Cct) Application In Old Siam, Anastasia Kostioukova Jan 2011

Alleviating Social Disadvantages Of Rapid Economic Growth: A Case For Conditional Cash Transfer (Cct) Application In Old Siam, Anastasia Kostioukova

CMC Senior Theses

The ongoing conflict between Thailand’s red shirt and yellow shirt parties is not purely political. This tension is rooted in a renewed awareness of regional economic and social inequality, a byproduct of rapid economic growth in the past. This thesis seeks to understand the overall consequences of unequal economic development in Thailand, as the rationale for asserting that a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program is an appropriate policy tool for the ongoing reconciliation efforts.

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Gender Inequality In The Law: Deficiencies Of Battered Woman Syndrome And A New Solution To Closing The Gender Gap In Self-Defense Law, Meredith C. Doyle Jan 2011

Gender Inequality In The Law: Deficiencies Of Battered Woman Syndrome And A New Solution To Closing The Gender Gap In Self-Defense Law, Meredith C. Doyle

CMC Senior Theses

Dr. Lenore Walker developed battered woman syndrome to address the issue of domestic violence and to give battered women a defense in situations in which they kill their abusive partners when they are not overtly threatening them. Self-defense law is based on male on male combat. Women are less able to protect themselves in an attack by a man, and so they may preemptively attack their sleeping partners to avoid a situation in which they cannot adequately protect themselves. Battered woman syndrome explains why these battered women act in a way that is irrational to a non-battered person. Walker's theory …

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