Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Elections And Economic Turbulence In Brazil: Candidates, Voters, And Investors, Tony Petros Spanakos, Lucio R. Renno

Department of Political Science and Law Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The relation between elections and the economy in Latin America might be understood by considering the agency of candidates and the issue of policy preference congruence between investors and voters. The preference congruence model proposed in this article highlights political risk in emerging markets. Certain risk features increase the role of candidate campaign rhetoric and investor preferences in elections. When politicians propose policies that can appease voters and investors, elections may have a limited effect on economic indicators, such as inflation. But when voter and investor priorities differ significantly, deterioration of economic indicators is more likely. Moreover, voter and investor …

Small Individual Loans And Mental Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial Among South African Adults, Lia C. H. Fernald, Rita Hamad, Dean Karlan, Emily J. Ozer, Jonathan Zinman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: In the developing world, access to small, individual loans has been variously hailed as a poverty-alleviation tool – in the context of "microcredit" – but has also been criticized as "usury" and harmful to vulnerable borrowers. Prior studies have assessed effects of access to credit on traditional economic outcomes for poor borrowers, but effects on mental health have been largely ignored.

Methods: Applicants who had previously been rejected (n = 257) for a loan (200% annual percentage rate – APR) from a lender in South Africa were randomly assigned to a "second-look" that encouraged loan officers to approve their …

Nigerian Stock Market Reflection Of The Global Finance Crisis: An Evaluation, Sere- Ejembi A. A.

Bullion

With its roots in banking, the sub-prime mortgage crisis that commenced in the United States in 2007 soon resonated in other sectors of its financial system, and the economy, at large. It spread quickly to the developed economies in Europe, including the United Kingdom, and Asia. In the case of the Nigerian stock market, following initial relative insulation, the speed of contagion and response was comparatively slower. However, the effects began to manifest in the first quarter of 2008. The objective of this paper, therefore, is to review the global financial crisis, in the context of its recent effects on …

Pareto Versus Welfare, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Many normatively oriented economists, legal academics and other policy analysts appear to be "welfarist" and Paretian to at least moderate degree: They deem positive responsiveness to individual preferences, and satisfaction of one or more of the familiar Pareto criteria, to be reasonably undemanding and desirable attributes of any social welfare function (SWF) employed to formulate social evaluations. Some theorists and analysts go further than moderate welfarism or Paretianism, however: They argue that "the Pareto principle" requires the SWF be responsive to individual preferences alone - a position I label "strict" welfarism - and conclude that all social evaluation should in …

The Evolution Of Reciprocity In Sizable Human Groups, Casey G. Rothschild

Economics Faculty Scholarship

The scale and complexity of human cooperation is an important and unresolved evo- lutionary puzzle. This article uses the finitely repeated n person Prisoners’ Dilemma game to illustrate how sapience can greatly enhance group-selection effects and lead to the evolutionary stability of cooperation in large groups. This affords a simple and direct explanation of the human “exception.”

Treatment Of Saltcedar (Tamarix Spp.): Economics And Feasibility, Christopher L. Thompson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The invasive species Saltcedar is affecting water and land resources throughout the western states of America. Because of great water use capabilities and other ecosystem detriments, Saltcedar has been targeted for treatment.

For successful management of Saltcedar, individual landowners need to be aware of the costs and benefits of treating Saltcedar. Eleven of the most commonly reported treatment methods were evaluated for firm level economic feasibility. Evaluated on the basis of treatment cost, treatment effectiveness, Saltcedar water-use, and re-vegetation water-use, a production plan of ten years was created for each treatment method. Some treatment methods required re-treatment and were evaluated …

A Critical Analysis Of The Cooperatives Working Together Program, Spencer N. Parkinson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study analyzes the effectiveness of the Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) program. This program is believed to have improved the farm-level price of milk since it began in July 2003. To date, no publicly available analysis addressing this question has been conducted. Total milk removed by the program was determined and expressed as a percentage of total milk produced nationally during the same time frame. Elasticity measures from prior studies were adapted to determine the impact of the program. This analysis suggests the program has had a significantly positive effect on the price of milk. Issues dealing with future action …

Changing The Paradigm Of Stock Ownership From Concentrated Towards Dispersed Ownership? Evidence From Brazil And Consequences For Emerging Countries, Erica Gorga

Cornell Law Faculty Working Papers

This paper analyzes micro-level dynamics of changes in ownership structures. It investigates a unique event: changes in ownership patterns currently taking place in Brazil. It builds upon empirical evidence to advance theoretical understanding of how and why concentrated ownership structures can change towards dispersed ownership.

Commentators argue that the Brazilian capital markets are finally taking off. The number of listed companies and IPOs in the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) has greatly increased. Firms are migrating to Bovespa’s special listing segments, which require higher standards of corporate governance. Companies have sold control in the market, and the stock market has …

Toward A Global Shareholder Society, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

With the American economy seemingly stalling, the global economy thereby imperiled, and another electoral campaign season well underway in the U.S., the "outsourcing" of jobs from the developed to the developing world is again on the public agenda. Latest figures indicate not only that layoffs and claims for joblessness benefits are up in the U.S., but also that the rate of American job-exportation has more than doubled since the last electoral cycle. This year's American political candidates have been quick to take note. In consequence, more than at any time since the early 1990s, continued American, and with it other …

Is American Health Care Uniquely Inefficient?, Alan M. Garber, Jonathan Skinner

Dartmouth Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Behavioral Public Finance, Edward J. Mccaffery

Edward J McCaffery

These are slides from a presentation to the Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research, Squaw Valley Conference, May, 2008 (at which event Michael Jensen got me to agree to post these slides as a pdf on SSRN . . . ). The task is to give an overview of what I hope to be an emerging field of behavioral public finance. Behavioral finance, as per Barberis and Thaler 2003 (and others), consists of two parts: (1) individual level heuristics and biases, which can lead to sub-optimal (inconsistent) judgment and decision-making, and (2) institutional arbitrage mechanisms. In private finance and …

Comments On Liebman And Zeckhauser, Simple Humans, Complex Insurance, Subtle Subsidies, Edward J. Mccaffery

Edward J McCaffery

These are brief comments on an excellent paper by Jeffrey Liebman and Richard Zeckhauser, prepared for a conference sponsored by the Urban Institute and Brookings on tax and health care policy. Liebman and Zeckhauser summarize the complexities involved in making optimal health insurance decisions, and offer generally cautionary notes about conflating these with tax law (a theme of the conference). Most importantly, Liebman and Zeckhauser suggest a positive role for employers in health care and insurance decisions, as better setters or framers of choice sets—witness 401(k) plans. In this Commentary, I applaud Leibman and Zeckhauser’s general work and particular observation, …

The Immigration Paradox: Alien Workers And Distributive Justice, Howard F. Chang

All Faculty Scholarship

The immigration of relatively unskilled workers poses a fundamental problem for liberals. While from the perspective of the economic welfare of natives, the optimal policy would be to admit these aliens as guest workers, this policy would violate liberal ideals. These ideals would treat these workers as equals, entitled to access to citizenship and to the full set of public benefits provided to citizens. If the welfare of incumbent residents determines admissions policies, however, and we anticipate the fiscal burden that the immigration of the poor would impose, then our welfare criterion would preclude the admission of relatively unskilled workers …

Taking Distribution Seriously, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Working Papers

It is common for legal theorists and policy analysts to think and communicate mainly in maximizing terms. What is less common is for them to notice that each time we speak explicitly of socially maximizing one thing, we speak implicitly of distributing another thing and equalizing yet another thing. We also, moreover, effectively define ourselves and our fellow citizens by reference to that which we equalize; for it is in virtue of the latter that our social welfare formulations treat us as “counting” for purposes of socially aggregating and maximizing.

To attend systematically to the inter-translatability of maximization language on …

Laboratory Experiments In Economics: Coming Of Age, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.

The Development And Testing Of A Purchasing Power Parity Method For Comparing Construction Costs Internationally, Rick Best

Rick Best

Over the past fifty to sixty years there have been numerous attempts to compare the performance of the construction industries of different countries. In almost all cases the cost of construction has been an important, sometimes the single parameter Cost performance has sometimes been equated to productivity, and productivity measurement and comparison is attempted by governments and their agencies on a regular basis.

Fundamental to these exercises has been the necessity to bring construction costs in different national currencies to a common base. This is imperative as amounts in different currencies cannot be directly compared.

Money market exchange rates do …

Phase Ii Florida’S Ocean And Coastal Economies Report, Judith T. Kildow Dr

Publications

Phase II of Florida’s Ocean and Coastal Economics Report was prepared for the Florida Oceans and Coastal Council and funded under contract #RM077 by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The Phase I report of Florida’s Ocean and Coastal Economies provided basic information that the NOEP compiles for all coastal states about employment, wages and output of those activities located geographically along Florida’s shoreline (Coastal Economy) as well as those activities directly dependent upon the oceans (Ocean Economy). That information not only described the status and trends of Florida’s Coastal and Ocean Economy but allowed comparison to economies in other …

Building A Knowledge Economy Index For The Fifty States With A Focus On South Carolina: The Clemson Knowledge Economy Index, Tate Watkins

All Theses

This paper seeks to express the relevance of the knowledge economy to economic growth and development and to demonstrate the construction of a knowledge economy index for the fifty states, with a focus on South Carolina. The effort involves a survey of economic literature, reports and indexes related to the knowledge economy. Once significant knowledge economy indicators are identified, regression analysis is performed to select the most promising indicators for use as variables in the index. Statistical testing is also used to determine weights for index components. The thesis project was supported by the South Carolina Research Authority, an organization …

Slides: Rethinking Western Water Law: Whatever Happened To The Public Interest?, Mark Squillace

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado Law School

15 slides

California Ocean And Coastal Investment Study Final Report, Kildow

Publications

The National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP), in cooperation with the California Coastal Conservancy and the Ocean Protection Council (OPC), completed this study to provide an inventory of state expenditures for the coast and ocean for fiscal years 2005-06 (FY 2006) and 2006-07 (FY 2007). The purpose of the study is to understand where current public investments are being made and whether further investments need to occur to be consistent with the OPC Strategic Plan as well as those of various state programs.

The Significance Of Statistical Significance: Two Authors Restate An Incontrovertible Caution. Why A Book?, Richard O. Lempert

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

“The Significance of Statistical Significance” reviews THE CULT OF STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE How the Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice and Lives by Stephen T. Ziliak and Dierdre N. McCloskey. The book’s core message is that statistical significance should not be equated with substantive significance and that empirical researchers should convey more information about the magnitude of relationships and effects than many now do. This review summarizes, approves of and elaborates on Ziliak and McCloskey’s message with special attention to concerns of the legal academy. It clarifies appropriate uses of significance tests within the research framework of controlling for plausible rival …

Deuda E Inflación: Volver Al Futuro, Martin Enrique Krause, Aldo Abram

Martin Krause

Argentina se ha visto beneficiada en los últimos años por los elevados precios de los commodities, permitiendo que la economía se recuperara de la profunda crisis de 1999-2002 y avanzara más allá aún. La bonanza que nos llega de Asia pareciera no tener límite, teniendo en cuenta la enorme capacidad de crecimiento con que aún cuentan China e India, al incluir como consumidores a cientos de millones de habitantes ávidos de progreso y de las oportunidades que les ofrecen las lentas pero continuas reformas que van llevando a ambos países a reglas más acordes a una economía de mercado.

Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditure Profiles: 2007, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report examines spending profiles of nonresident travelers to Montana. It displays the average daily expenditures by purpose of trip for different spending categories during 2007.

Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditure Trends: 1997-2007, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report shows the nonresident traveler expenditure trends for visitors of Montana from 1997-2007. It also displays the total actual expenditures and the total inflation-adjusted expenditures.

Cultural Advantage For Cities: An Alternative For Developing Countries, Florentin Smarandache, Victor Christianto

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Agency Costs, Charitable Trusts, And Corporate Control: Evidence From Hershey's Kiss-Off, Jonathan Klick, Robert H. Sitkoff

All Faculty Scholarship

In July 2002 the trustees of the Milton Hershey School Trust announced a plan to diversify the Trust’s investment portfolio by selling the Trust’s controlling interest in the Hershey Company. The Company’s stock jumped from $62.50 to $78.30 on news of the proposed sale. But the Pennsylvania Attorney General, who was then running for governor, opposed the sale on the ground that it would harm the local community. Shortly after the Attorney General obtained a preliminary injunction, the trustees abandoned the sale and the Company’s stock dropped to $65.00. Using standard event study methodology, we find that the sale announcement …

Economic Sanctions Against Human Rights Violations, Buhm Suk Baek

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

The idea of human rights protection, historically, has been considered as a domestic matter, to be realized by individual states within their domestic law and national institutions. The protection and promotion of human rights, however, have become one of the most important issues for the international community as a whole. Yet, with time, it has become increasingly difficult for the international community to address human rights problems collectively. Despite a significant development in the human rights norms, effective protection of fundamental human rights and their legal enforcement has a long way to go.

This paper will argue that economic sanctions …

Reflective Intensions: Two Foundational Decision-Points In Mathematics, Law, And Economics, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Article, transcribed from a symposium talk given by the author, examines two critical junctures at which foundational decisions must be made in three areas of theoretical inquiry - mathematics, law, and economics. The first such juncture is that which the Article labels the "arbitrary versus criterial choice" juncture. This is the decision point at which one must select between what is typically called an "algorithmic," "principled," "law-like," or "intensionalist" understanding of those concepts which figure foundationally in the discipline in question on the one hand, and a "randomized," "combinatorial," or "extensionalist" such understanding on the other hand.

The second …

A Security And Peace Mechanism For Northeast Asia: The Economic Dimension, Marcus Noland, Stephan Haggard

Marcus Noland

In this brief, we explore the economic dimension of multilateral security cooperation in Northeast Asia. We begin with a discussion of the purported security benefits of economic egnagement with North Korea. We then outline recent economic developments in North Korea, which provide a crucial background to any discussion of the issue. We raise some cautionary questions about the scope for multilateral economic cooperation in Northeast Asia before outlining how economic cooperation can complement long-run security and economic objectives on the peninsula, including economic reform in North Korea.

Zach's News, Georgia Southern University, Zach S. Henderson Library

University Libraries News Online (2008-2023)

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