Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Country Roads, Take Me Away: Coal Mining And Migration In West Virginia, 1971-2010, James J. Slaughter

Honors Theses

West Virginia’s population peaked in 1950. Parallel to this, employment in the coal mining industry peaked in 1948. Popular discourse links these two trends together. It is suggested that the decline of the coal mining industry, which was previously a stable source of employment, has led West Virginians to leave the state searching for better job opportunities elsewhere. This thesis uses first-difference regression models to analyze the relationship between lagged year-to-year changes in coal-mining employment and year-to-year changes in net-migration to and from West Virginia. A positive and statistically significant relationship is found between 1-year lagged changes in coal mining …

The Diminishing Male Labor Force Population: What The American Time Use Survey Suggests About How Male Nonworkers Allocate Their Time, Rory Nizolek

Honors Theses

The male labor force participation rate has been declining for decades, dropping from nearly 90% down to 69.3% as of now. Using survey respondent data from the 2003-2017 American Time Use Survey, this paper investigates how nonworking males choose to allocate their time in a day. This paper examines how the time allocation has changed over time for males ages 25-34 as well as for those who have less than a high school degree because these two samples shows significant changes in time allocation. For the other samples, ages 35-44 and 45-54 as well as all education levels higher than …

The Shifting Dynamics Of International Reserve Currencies, Robert Righi

Honors Theses

Throughout most of post World War II period, the United States dollar has been globally accepted as the dominant reserve currency. This dominance comes with “exorbitant privilege” or special benefits such as not having a balance of payments problem. Therefore, with the shifting of global geopolitical balance of power in the age of Trump, along with the recognition by the IMF of the Chinese renminbi as an international reserve currency in 2015, it is important to understand the modern influence of reserve currencies. We provide an updated study of the status of the dollar, the euro, and in particular, the …

The Impact Of State-Level Naloxone Access Policies On Opioid Related Mortality And Admissions, Brian Shorr

Honors Theses

Opioids, both prescription painkillers and illegal drugs, were responsible for over 33,000 deaths in the United States during 2015. Naloxone treatment to combat opioid overdoses has been used in hospital settings for decades, and during recent years legislation has expanded training and distribution to first aid responders and high risk groups. Several studies have projected the efficacy of community-based opioid overdose prevention programs (OOPPs) and prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), but few have examined state naloxone access policies. This paper investigates the impact of three state policies – non-patient specific prescriptions, third-party prescriptions, and layperson legal immunity when administering naloxone …

Barriers: An Exploration Of Architectural Structures As An Indication Of Wealth And Socioeconomic Status, Lisa Demoranville

Honors Theses

I decided to explore the barriers and limitations of wealth through an investigation of architectural structures, focusing on popular industries and institutions on which our society commonly depends. I have noticed that places such as hospitals, schools, grocery stores, and restaurants differ dramatically depending on the neighborhoods in which they were located. This topic sparked my interest after living in Lima, Peru for a month, as I was able to observe the developing economy and dramatic division of wealth among the population. Certain questions about the divides and differences within a society and its culture started crossing my mind; not …

The Incidence Of Intra-State Violence: An Empirical Study On Ethnicity And Values, Kevin Fitzpatrick

Honors Theses

FITZPATRICK, KEVIN R. The Incidence of Intrastate Conflict: An Empirical Study on Ethnicity and Values. Department of Economics and Political Science, June 2019.

ADVISORS: Jeeten Giri, Lori Marso

What best explains conflict? Why do societies engage in violence, or better yet, why are some societies more likely to fall victim towards internal instability and civil war? This paper seeks to better understand what factors offer the most explanatory power for intra-state violence. Utilizing Geert Hofstede’s 6-D model of cultural dimensions, I construct a data set incorporating intra-state data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program/Peace Research Institute of Oslo to determine …

A Cross County Examination Of Fiscal Federalism In The 2016 Election, Sarah Kaplan

Honors Theses

The 2016 election has often been referred to as one of the most unorthodox elections in United States history. Both major candidates had their own unusual qualities about them. Hillary Clinton was the first woman to receive a major party’s nomination. Donald Trump ran with no political experience, using a rhetoric that was foreign to the established political world. And yet, Donald Trump did the unthinkable and was elected to the highest office in the nation. He triggered a voice that many felt was silenced in recent years. By laughing in the face of political correctness, and speaking about what …

Frames, Fallacies, And The Market For Lemons, Adam Field

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to illustrate the impact of an “endowment frame” on risk behavior in games of asymmetric information. Akerlof’s (1970) description of a “market for lemons” led to the creation of a modified screening game into which the endowment frame could be placed. The game was subsequently computerized and administered to 18 test subjects in the Mississippi Experimental Research Laboratory. At the beginning of the experiment, test subjects were randomly assigned to either a control or treatment group. Each participant played 20 rounds of the game and was compensated based on his or her performance. The …

How Will I Afford It? Financial Aid And Its Impact On Higher Education: Evidence From The State Of Mississippi, Daria Herasymova

Honors Theses

The cost of higher education, in real terms, doubled in the last twenty years, increasing faster than medical costs, the consumer price index and housing. In 1987, U.S. Secretary of Education, William J. Bennett, in the New York Times article, raised the concern that financial aid has unintended consequences of enabling higher education institution to increase tuition. In this paper, through collection of data and literature review, I examine the drivers behind the rising cost of higher education and test whether the postsecondary institutions in the state of Mississippi exhibit behavior, consistent with the Bennett Hypothesis. Using fixed-effects regression model, …

The Economic Impact Of The 2018 Conference Usa Baseball Tournament On The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Jonathan Brent

Honors Theses

This study aims to measure the economic impact of the 2018 Conference USA Baseball Tournament on the Mississippi Gulf Coast compared to holding the college sporting event at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Visitor spending and demographic data was collected through random intercept surveys outside MGM Park in Biloxi, Mississippi. The Economic Modeling LLC (EMSI) Input-Output model was used to determine the economic and fiscal impact of visitor spending during the sporting event. The impact to the six-county coastal region and the state of Mississippi as a whole was analyzed. The EMSI model projected an increase of …

Exploring Financial Literacy Of Independent Musicians In The Gig Economy, Benjamin Milam

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to gain insight into the elements of the career of independent musicians. Specifically, how they overcome or fail to overcome the challenges of a gig economy through knowledge and ability to properly manage scarce financial resources. The research questions posed are as follows: (a) Does higher financial literacy allow independent musicians to sustain and improve their career in the gig economy? (b) How do independent musicians use financial literacy to sustain their career? (c) How does industry experience affect the ability of independent artists to effectively allocate financial resources? To answer these research questions, …

Mexico: Neoliberalism, Popular Grievances, And The Rise Of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Irving Cortes-Martinez

Honors Theses

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, commonly referred to as AMLO, has become Mexico’s first leftist president in over seven decades. He has promised to get rid of Mexico’s problems through a peaceful but radical transformation, while placing the needs of the people first. For the past three decades, the nation’s political and economic systems have failed to create positive results. Mexico currently faces mass inequality and poverty, corruption and impunity, and insecurity and organized crime. Through his political activism and most importantly, his political narrative, AMLO has become a popular actor and is seen as the president who will implement lasting …

The Effects Of Natural Disasters On Subnational Economic Growth In Latin America And The Caribbean, Olevia Sharbaugh

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Business Cycle And Health: An Analysis Of How Macroeconomic Conditions Impact Health Outcomes In The U.S., Talitha Kumaresan

Honors Theses

The U.S. spends about twice as much per person on healthcare, yet the disease burden remains higher in the U.S. than in comparable countries (Sawyer and Cox 2018; Sawyer and Gonzales 2017). Although health status is perceived to be an outcome of individual decision making, the business cycle also affects health. While the effect of macroeconomic shocks on health outcomes has been studied extensively, results remain inconclusive. This analysis uses longitudinal data over 30 years and panel data models to examine the effect of macroeconomic conditions on obesity, diabetes, hypertension, depression, congestive heart failure, and heart attack or myocardial infarction. …

Do Global Cities Make Green Cities? How Global Governance Impacts Transportation In Bogotá And Medellín, Eleanor Jackson

Honors Theses

This thesis examines how global and local governance has combined to deliver effective and sustainable public transportation in cities by comparing Bogotá’s bus rapid transit (BRT) system, TransMilenio, with Medellín’s mass transit system, STIMVA, often referred to as Metro de Medellín. After considering the rationales used to justify local and global authority over climate change, this analysis problematizes the supposed benefits of empowering global and local actors by highlighting the conflicts of interest that plague the elites who mediate the global and the local. In analyzing the global and local interactions, this work draws from extensive literature to highlight three …

Understanding Factors Of Sexual Behaviors In Teenagers In Mississippi, Jackson Colburn

Honors Theses

The primary purpose of this study is to determine the associations between socio-demographic factors and sexual behaviors in teens based on bivariate analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey for 2015. In conducting a comparative analysis of survey data for both the United States and the state of Mississippi, this study aims to depict a picture of the state of teen sexual behaviors both nationally and in Mississippi. A secondary quantitative analysis of the Mississippi survey dataset also sets out to highlight any possible significant relationships between teen sexual behaviors and certain …

Analyzing The Impact Of Home Locales On Access To Tertiary Education; Trends In Students’ Access To Bucknell University, Emily Tevebaugh

Honors Theses

Access to postsecondary education has been found in previous studies to be correlated with socioeconomic status as well as with various other indicators, such as parents’ education levels and cultural expectations. However, addressing the impact of home locales and geographical proximity to colleges in addition to these individual characteristics is a crucial part of understanding college access. In this honors thesis, the following questions will be examined: how has access to college and the decision to matriculate changed in recent years? How does distance from colleges and differing characteristics of home locales influence acceptance to a university and the decision …

Analyzing Access To Higher Education: Through The Lens Of Socioeconomic Factors At Bucknell University, Autumn J. Patterson

Honors Theses

Access to higher education in the United States greatly varies depending on numerous characteristics; especially an applicant’s race and financial status. This thesis aims to answer the following questions regarding access to higher education at Bucknell University: How have socioeconomic factors affecting access evolved in the past twelve years? Has this change increased or decreased access for Bucknell students? Does the level of access change when gender and race are analyzed? Is Bucknell successfully leveling the playing field for all students regarding their earning potential after they graduate? Lastly, does the mismatch hypothesis apply to Bucknell? By utilizing data from …

An Investigation Of Recreational Marijuana Laws And Traffic Fatalities, Todd Darby

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates whether the implementation of a recreational marijuana law in Colorado is associated with a change in traffic fatalities. This thesis utilizes Colorado state-level data in regression analysis with a menu of dependent traffic fatality variables from the Fatality Accident Reporting System data. The only significant relationship found is between the implementation of the recreational marijuana law and marijuana-related traffic fatalities, where the law is found to be largely and positively related with marijuana-related traffic fatalities. However, this paper can draw only limited conclusions owing to the lack of a counterfactual and the short period of post-implementation data …

Game Theory In Cricket, Shabab Ahmed

Honors Theses

The paper uses the natural setting of cricket to test theoretical predictions in game theory. In this setting, the agents play a one-shot-two-person constant sum game. The paper assesses whether trained professionals in cricket follow the `mix' of strategies predicted by Nash equilibria. The test uses a unique dataset derived from commentary data comprising of bowler and batsman strategies and outcomes. The paper creates a model for bowler-bastman interactions in cricket and uses this in conjunction with the data to generate predicted Nash equilibrium frequencies. These predicted frequencies are then compared with the actual frequencies from the data. My study …

Investigating The Effect Crime Has On Uber And Yellow Taxi Pickups In Nyc, Kebing Li

Honors Theses

How to manage the relationship between Uber and the local taxi industry has been a long-lasting and hot topic for most of the major cities around the world. Whether Uber is stealing money from and undermining the local taxi drivers or it is beneficial for public transportation has no certain conclusions. In this paper, we focus on the city of New York, where both Uber and traditional Yellow Taxi play important roles in public transportation and city culture in general, and we are trying to investigate the factors that are going to affect Uber and Yellow Taxi pickups in New …

Determinants Of Net Foreign Direct Investment In The Usa, Jordan Burt

Honors Theses

This paper examines whether Net Foreign Direct Investment between the USA and its major trading partners (USNFDI) is affected by US Net Competitiveness (USNC), US Net Economic Freedom (USEF) and US Net Ease of Doing Business (USNE)^(*). Through the use of panel data methodology, the hypothesis that US NFDI is positively affected by USNC, USEF and USNE was tested with data from the Global Competitiveness Report (World Economic Forum), the Index of Economic Freedom (Heritage Foundation), the Ease of Doing Business Index (World Bank) and the World Fact Book (CIA). It was found that all three independent variables …

The Immigration Crisis In Italy: A Convergence Of Crises And What It Means For Globalization, Emma Salachi

Honors Theses

This paper is an analysis of what is deemed the “immigration crisis” in Europe as it affects the country of Italy. Originally, I had theorized that the effects of the immigration crisis on Italy were due solely to the failings of the Schengen Agreement. However, upon further research, I concluded the problems of the Schengen are only one part of a larger picture that finds its beginnings in the economic problems of Italy. The worldwide economic crisis of 2008 and the actions of the European Central Bank in the wake of the crisis created a separation in the European Union …

The Effect Of Instructional Expenditures On Student Outcomes: Evidence From St. Louis-Area Public School Districts, Noah Antle

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to contribute to the broader conversation over the relationship between school spending and student outcomes. Using twenty-two public school districts in the St. Louis area, annual data on instructional expenditures and two measures of student outcomes (average composite ACT score and the percentage of high school graduates to enroll at a 2- or 4- year college or university within 180 days of graduation) was collected by request from the Missouri Department of Education and Secondary Education. Regression analysis was conducted with this data to determine whether or not raw changes in instructional expenditures per student or the …

Understanding The Causes Of Female Labor-Force Participation Stagnation In The U.S., Sophia Fosdick

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the stagnation and decline in U.S. women’s labor force participation from the 1990s onwards. Through literature analysis and economic theory, I determined that different subgroups in the U.S. female population between the ages of 25 and 54 had differing trends in labor supply behaviors. I then used regression analysis of U.S. Census data from years 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010 to chart these behaviors and understand the groups facing the largest decline. Through my data, I found that uneducated mothers of young children were facing the largest decline, with an increasingly negative response as the decades progress, …

Tmi : An Examination Of Excess Returns Surrounding Phase Iii Fda Approvals, Luke Chiotelis

Honors Theses

Over the past three decades, the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical industry has had the largest growth rate of any sector in the U.S. economy. Currently, the largest 10 companies have a market cap of over 700 billion dollars. In the past 20 years, Biotech has outperformed the Standard and Poor’s 500 index earning superior returns for those willing to invest in this risky, high growth industry (Bloomberg L.P.). This upward trend is expected to continue as both institutional and private investment in biotech continues to soar.

A better understanding of the FDA approval process and the way a company’s stock price …

Rationality, Revisions, And Real-Time Data, Jason Hall

Honors Theses

Revisions to macroeconomic variables are a significant part of the process by which researchers, the general public, and the government get information about the state of the United States' economy. They are also substantial: this can have large implications for forecasting, macroeconomic research, business decisions, and monetary and fiscal policy. In this paper, I examine the cyclicality of various aggregate variables in U.S.data, and determine that of the major NIPA variables analyzed, only consumption andreal imports revisions display a large degree of cyclicality. I also examine the rationalityof the same set of variables under different definitions of the final value, …

The Relationship Between Housing Price And Proximity To Public Land In Denver, Co, Connor Wyman

Honors Theses

This study examines how proximity to public lands influences housing values. This will be done using a hedonic pricing strategy, which is useful when analyzing heterogeneous goods such as a house or apartment. The data for this study comes from the American Community Survey (ACS) of Denver, CO from 2010 and 2017. This study also includes four variables related to distance from large open public spaces: one each for the distance from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, Cherry Creek State Park, and Chatfield State Park. Multiple linear regressions were used to analyze the …