Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Analysis Of Socio-Economic, Lifestyle, And Health Care Determinants Of National Life Expectancies, Annie Feldman

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

Life expectancy is an important indicator of a population’s health and anticipated life-quality. Life expectancies have continued to rise in recent history, but there is great variance between countries. This paper analyzes potential reasons for country variation in the average human lifespan. Regression analysis is performed on data from 156 countries to infer explanations of observed variance. In this model, I chose factors from past research that have been highly significant. When selecting variables, I considered socio-economic, lifestyle, and health care financing measures. To explain national life expectancies, I tested variables including education, income, urban-to-rural living, alcohol and tobacco consumption, …

The Effect Of China Retaliatory Tariffs On Donations From Farmers In The Central Region Of The United States, Jiayi Chen

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

The Trump administration launched a series of actions to raise import tariffs against major U.S. trading partners, particularly China. In response, China retaliated against the U.S. by imposing higher tariffs targeting exports produced in Republican-supporting counties. Soybeans and corn are two targeted agricultural exports with the same tariff rates. However, due to the drastic difference in export amount to China, farmers in counties dominating in producing soybeans would have more negative economic impacts than counties mainly producing corn. In this paper, I use individual farmers’ donations to examine the effect of this retaliatory tariff shock from the trade war on …

Stock Market Analysis Using Linear Regression, Taran Rishi

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

This paper aims to identify the factors affecting the closing price of a stock in the S&P 500. It uses time series data for all companies that constitute the S&P 500 index. Data on closing price, opening price, highest price, lowest price, and volume of each day is used. It turns out that the opening price, highest price, and the lowest price are the most significant variables while predicting the closing price of a stock.

Influence Of Gdp Per Capita On Birth Rates, Derek Richard Koppes

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

his paper aims to explore the relationship between a country’s birth rate and GDP per capita. I use cross-sectional data for 108 countries from the CIA’s World Factbook and The World Bank. From the research, it is clear that countries with lower infant mortality rates and higher levels of female education have lower birth rates, but the impact of GDP per capita remains ambiguous. It appears the relationship between GDP per capita and birth rates may be mediated through factors such as female empowerment, better healthcare, contraception availability, and family planning resources.

Examine The Effects Of Real Effective Exchange Rates On Export Growth: A Closer Look Into Asian Developing Economies, Van Tran

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

My paper examines the impact of real effective exchange rate as well as its fluctuations on the growth of exports with a focus on the Asian region. The data is extracted from World Bank, International Monetary Fund and International Financial Statistics spanning 41 years from 1979 to 2020. Using the OLS estimator, my study finds that an increase in real effective exchange rate will lead to a decline in the exports growth rate. However, this effect is positive for Asian countries, possibly due to lower production costs. I also reach the conclusion that volatility will have no impact on exports.

How To Not Save The World From Covid-19: The Dire Consequences Of Giving Away The Vaccine Formula, Tristen Prouse

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

The debate over giving away the COVID-19 vaccine formula is a political hot topic. Violating intellectual property law (patents) to give away the vaccine is a tempting option for aiding other countries in the current global health crisis. In actuality, many problems exist with this proposed solution, including violating intellectual property law, disincentivizing innovation, undermining confidence in vaccine safety, harming America’s geopolitical objectives, and inefficiencies. The United States can and should aid the world in obtaining vaccines, but it should not do so by waiving patent law and giving away the vaccine formulas.

International Medical Graduates And Health Outcomes: A Way Out Or A Grave Mistake, Neel Lal

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

Insufficient healthcare access has been a principal concern for policymakers and health care providers. And yet, fewer Americans in 2015 had a primary care provider than in 2002. Worsening healthcare access presents an immediate problem and warrants a prompt solution. One potential solution to this problem involves integrating more International Medical Graduates (IMGs) into the medical workforce. In this investigation, we evaluated the effect of (1) IMG trainees (residents and fellows) and (2) all IMGs (including trainees) on mortality rates. We found no evidence that the addition of IMG trainees affects mortality rates, both in the aggregate and across different …

Average Life Expectancy Across Nations, Madison Eberhart

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

This paper analyzes life expectancy and the factors that influence it across several different countries worldwide. Data is collected from the World Bank DataBank. The cross-sectional data set contains variables for nation population, percentage of citizens with access to electricity, net income per capita, labor force participation rate, crude birth rate, population density, the percent of a nation’s population that is female, and the dependent variable being average life expectancy. This regression gives insight as to how strongly average life expectancy is affected by the different independent variables selected. It is important to understand how different elements and factors correlate …

Searching For True Happiness, Taylor Shipley

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

This paper takes a look into what variables might impact an individual's happiness. It utilizes the most recent World Happiness Report along with data collected from the UN. Two regressions were run, the first one using the variables GDP per capita, female and male life expectancy, unemployment rate, literacy rate, and consumer price index with a total of one hundred forty-eight countries. The second regression used the same variables along with corruption rating with a total of fifty-nine countries. It was found that GDP per capita, female life expectancy, and unemployment were the only three significant variables in the first …

Poverty Reduction By Getting Female Farmers Access To Cash And Credit, Sandra J. Thiman

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

Women represent the majority of agricultural labor in low-income countries, even though they have lower access to productive resources in agriculture. A major problem is the shortfall of independent income, control over finances, and lack of credit. Hence this paper examines whether women’s access to cash and credit can reduce poverty headcount. Moreover, advantageous outcomes such as an increase in yield, improvement in child health, and increase in sustainability may be achieved by allowing women farmers more access to finances. This research entails a comparative analysis between Kenya and Uganda, where I examine poverty headcount in comparison to financial policies, …

The Impacts Of Educational, Environmental And Economic Factors On The Happiness Index: Score Of A Country, Molly Mingus

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

In this paper I analyze the impacts of educational, environmental and economic factors on the Happiness Index Score of a Country through a linear regression model. By using the most updated data for 86 countries, I was able to create a well-rounded model of happiness that includes additional variables not previously used in happiness research. This model finds a positive relationship between the Percentage of a Population in Tertiary School and happiness. A negative relationship that is discovered in the model shows that there is evidence that an increase in a country’s Infant Mortality Rate has a negative effect on …

The U.S Dollar And Canada Dollar Exchange Rate, Emily Iehl

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

This paper explores the U.S and Canada Dollar monthly exchange rates from 1/1/1986 to 9/1/2019. The model shows that the U.S Dollar and Canada Dollar monthly exchange rate at time can be estimated using the Canada three month interest rate, U.S inflation rate, the price of oil, and U.S net exports. Ferraro, Rogoff, and Rossi (2011) explore the idea of forecasting exchange rates between Canada solely based on oil prices. Batten and Thornton (1985 p.22-23) discuss theory on inflation and interest rates determining currency exchanges. This paper will show that including all of these variables can be helpful in explaining …

The Impact Of Record Low Interest Rates In Brazilian Capital Markets, Allan F. Brenner

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

At a time in which most countries have been experiencing low to negative interest rates, Brazil is just now joining the global trend. The Selic rate (equivalent to the Fed Funds Rate) is the key tool for monitoring monetary policy by the Brazilian Central Bank (BCB). With recent cuts, the Selic has landed in 4.25%, a rate never experienced before in the Brazilian economy (Brazilian Central Bank, n.d.). This paper seeks to analyze the impact of record low interest rates in the Brazilian capital markets. The paper approaches the impacts of low interest rates from the perspective of individual investors …

The Influence Of China’S Retaliatory Tariff On Us. Automobile And Parts Exporters During Us - China Trade War, Jiayu Teng

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

The Sino-US trade war began from late 2017 has had large influence on the global economy. After US imposed sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports for illegal unfair trade practice in 2018, China also launched retaliatory tariff to fight back. This study is mainly focus on the automobile and parts industry, which is one of the significant industries influenced by this trade war. Except analyzing the US manufactures, Germany, Korean and Japanese exporters who gain tariff relief are also included to establish a comparison with US firms in this research to analyze how net weight (kg), trade values ($) and unit …

Exporting Ideology: Trade With China And Indices Of Democracy, Alissa Johnson

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

China’s practice of employing business sanctions to silence companies and individuals speaking out in favor of the Hong Kong protests has sparked concern among democracy and free speech advocates. This recent phenomenon, combined with Dwight Eisenhower’s rhetoric of “exporting democracy,” prompts the question: if the USA has engaged in policies aimed towards exporting democracy, could China also export autocracy? This paper uses panel data for 180 countries across 22 years (1996-2018) to examine the effect of a country’s trade with China as a proportion of its total trade on common indices of democratic freedom from the World Bank Group, Transparency …

Who Is For Immigration?, Alyssa Dixson

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

A version of this undergraduate research paper was presented at the Political Economy Conference in New York, New York, February 24-26, 2017

Immigration has been fervently debated in recent history. This research investigates what effect certain economic and non-economic variables have on individuals’ likelihood to be pro-immigration. This is extended to individuals in the United States, Great Britain, and Turkey, analyzed with separate regressions. My research uses data from the 2013 International Social Survey Programme and logit regression methods to explore the relationship, mimicking research done by Anne Maria Mayda, as reported in the 2006 paper “Who Is Against Immigration? …

Can People Survive On Carrots And Sticks? Enhancing Quality Of Life Through Financial Tools Of Foreign Policy Following Sen’S Capabilities Approach, Silvia Pellegrino

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

The passing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly marked the beginning of global collaboration on the issue of human dignity and freedom. Over the years, countries have been scrutinized over their ability to ensure all the rights listed in the UDHR; some have been very successful, some have been able to protect a few, and some have utterly failed.

A free global society makes for a more productive and equal one; human rights allow people to have safer housing, food, and education, which in turn allows them to pursue better …

English Proficiency And Earnings Of U.S. Immigrants, Toni F. Moeller

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

An earlier version of this research fulfilled a partial requirement of the Honors Thesis at the University of Northern Iowa.

Every year thousands of immigrants come to the United States and look to join the labor force. Most of these immigrants have a first language that is not English. This study analyzes how wage income, business and farm income, and investment income are affected by English proficiency in 2004, 2009, and 2014. I use data from the American Community Survey and a log-linear econometric model to explore this relationship. I conclude that wage income and business and farm income had …