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Articles 211 - 240 of 388

Full-Text Articles in Economics

Fiscal Policy And Its Effects On Economic Growth, Jordan J. Smith Jan 2017

Fiscal Policy And Its Effects On Economic Growth, Jordan J. Smith

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the impact of fiscal policy on economic growth during the time horizons of 1985, 1998, and 2014. Using cross country data from a minimum of 37 countries, it is found that international trade taxes share a partial correlation with economic growth. The magnitude of this relationship is found to be positive during all time horizons, and is diminishing over time. Estimates from 2014 suggest that a 10 percentage point increase in a country’s international trade tax will grant that country a .6% increase to their economic growth rate.

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An Empirical Analysis On The Effects Of Fbs College Football Success On Undergraduate Enrollment From 2000 To 2014, Liam Rice Jan 2017

An Empirical Analysis On The Effects Of Fbs College Football Success On Undergraduate Enrollment From 2000 To 2014, Liam Rice

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the theoretical connection between FBS College Football success and the undergraduate enrollment of schools in the Northeastern United States. With multiple texts qualitatively discussing the positive effects a winning football culture has on the amount of applicants an institution receives, this study attempts, using panel data, to discover quantitative connections in this field. Utilizing data from over 19 FBS colleges and universities from 2000 to 2014, this study finds that there is a significant, positive connection between undergraduate application rates and football wins, as well as championships. This study lays the foundation for future studies into the …

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The Effects Of Foreign Aid On Income Inequality In Africa, Sierra Moore Jan 2017

The Effects Of Foreign Aid On Income Inequality In Africa, Sierra Moore

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines the correlation between donations of foreign aid given to African countries and the income inequality, measured using the Gini coefficient, within those countries. A panel method is used in order to analyze trends in a number of countries over a period of time. The independent variables in this study are official developmental assistance, income group, inflation measured by CPI, polity, GDP per capita growth, and population growth. The results of this study show a negative relationship between foreign aid and income inequality, which is consistent with recent studies on the effectiveness of aid.

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The Effects Of Tax Rates, Technology, And Quality Of Life On Standard Of Living In Developed Countries, Benjamin Jackson Jan 2017

The Effects Of Tax Rates, Technology, And Quality Of Life On Standard Of Living In Developed Countries, Benjamin Jackson

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the relationship between tax rates, technology, and the quality of life on the standard of living in developed countries over time. The study uses an econometric model to understand and quantify these relationships. Standard of living will be measured by PPP GDP in this study. The results show the most significant variables that impact the standard of living are life expectancy at birth, openness to trade, the domestic savings rate, and corruption.

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The Effects Of The Affordable Care Act’S Individual Mandate On Ethnic And Racial Minorities, Zack Cyr Jan 2017

The Effects Of The Affordable Care Act’S Individual Mandate On Ethnic And Racial Minorities, Zack Cyr

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines the quantitative impact of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate on health insurance coverage rates. This study will include race, ethnicity, and immigration status into a conventional model for predicting insurance coverage rates. This will illustrate the groups in the US population that may have been most influenced by the individual mandate, and potentially experienced the largest changes in coverage rates under the ACA. The data utilized in this research is in two pools, 2010-2011 and 2013-2014, as these are the years preceding the ACA’s implementation and directly after. The results reveal that while there was …

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It's Not Just The Thought That Counts: An Experimental Study On Hidden Cost Of Giving, Xiaofei Pan, Erte Xiao Jun 2016

It's Not Just The Thought That Counts: An Experimental Study On Hidden Cost Of Giving, Xiaofei Pan, Erte Xiao

Economics Faculty Journal Articles

Receiving a gift can create an impulse to reciprocate, even when doing so may be inefficient and potentially harmful to a third party. This paper provides a theoretical framework for a pure gift effect on reciprocity impulses and experimental evidence that such an effect exists: that is, a gift receiver will favor an actual gift giver over an intended gift giver, even if the intended gift giver incurred the same costs and signaled the same intention to give. This result contrasts with the predictions of existing theories on social preferences. We also show that the pure gift effect is present …

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Greek Life: Perceptions On Campus And In The Workplace, Elena Freedman Apr 2016

Greek Life: Perceptions On Campus And In The Workplace, Elena Freedman

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

The purpose of this study was to determine perceptions of Greek students by four specific groups of people: undergraduate Greek students, undergraduate students who are not members of Greek organizations, Greek alumni, and hiring personnel. In addition, hiring professionals’ opinions and perceptions of Greek students were further explored to determine whether membership in a Greek organization is seen as an asset or a liability in the workforce. Attained or expected skills as a result of membership in a Greek organization were also elicited from Greek students, Greek alumni, and hiring personnel. Data analysis of stereotype responses showed that Greek students …

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What Is The True Cost To Stay In The Hospital?, Samantha Alicandro Apr 2016

What Is The True Cost To Stay In The Hospital?, Samantha Alicandro

Honors Projects in Mathematics

Currently, the unfortunate reality that receiving diverse health procedures can be extremely expensive is widely acknowledged and woefully accepted. However, have you inquired or been curious about the specific factors that influence the cost per day expensed by a hospital? Through examination, investigation, and evaluation operating SAS Enterprise Guide, SAS Enterprise Miner and Tableau I have attempted to arrive at a conclusion for this very question. Utilizing a 1.5 million row data set provided by Rhode Island, for the years 2003-2013, I analyzed the assorted elements conceivably bearing impact on the cost per day at a hospital. Regressions, decision trees, …

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Is It Worth Your Time? Biggest Contributors To Starting Salary For Bryant University Students, Brittany Sarza Apr 2016

Is It Worth Your Time? Biggest Contributors To Starting Salary For Bryant University Students, Brittany Sarza

Honors Projects in Finance

Students often wonder what curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities contribute to initial starting salary. Previous studies on this topic have indicated that the factors GPA, major/field of study, gender, and having an internship all increase starting salary. Prior research showed a positive and significant relationship between GPA and starting salary (Jones and Jackson, 1990), fields that require mathematical abilities had higher starting salaries in comparison to those fields without quantitative abilities (Paglin and Rufolo, 1990), 95% of the gender gap in starting salaries with women earning less than men could be attributed to college majors selected (McDonald and Thorton, 2007), …

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Global Economic Expansion And The Prevalence Of Militarized Interstate Disputes, Lucas Hahn Apr 2016

Global Economic Expansion And The Prevalence Of Militarized Interstate Disputes, Lucas Hahn

Honors Projects in Economics

Over the past several decades the entire world has experienced both the positive and negative effects of globalization. The question that this report will address is whether or not global economic expansion has led to a decline in the prevalence of militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) and what factors influence the prevalence of MIDs. This report will take an in-depth look at Thomas Friedman’s “Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention”. It also includes a quantitative analysis in which regression techniques were used to see how different economic factors influence the prevalence of MIDs, while also introducing a previously unused independent variable …

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Does Academic Performance Predict Workplace Productivity?, Jodie-Gaye Hunter Apr 2016

Does Academic Performance Predict Workplace Productivity?, Jodie-Gaye Hunter

Honors Projects in Economics

This research examines if college GPA affects productivity and compensation in the workplace. It uses data collected from a survey of approximately 23,000 Bryant University graduates in different stages of their career. About 10 percent of the alumni surveyed completed the survey. The econometric model used in this study allows estimating the effect of GPA on income after controlling for various demographic and socioeconomic variables, including education, major, occupation, gender, among others. The empirical work provides evidence that GPA has a positive and statistically significant impact on workplace productivity for females, but GPA seems to be a weaker predictor of …

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A Panel Data Analysis On Globalization And Income Inequality, Dave Mclean-Shinaman Jan 2016

A Panel Data Analysis On Globalization And Income Inequality, Dave Mclean-Shinaman

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

The paper investigates the relationship between globalization and income inequality using a comprehensive set of variables. It uses a panel data analysis of 51 countries over the time period of 2000-2013. The independent variables included are globalization, economic growth, education, economic freedom, and urbanization. Overall, the results suggest that globalization, as well as economic freedom and urbanization, have a significant impact on income inequality within developing nations. However, they differ in their effect on income inequality. Globalization is shown to decrease income inequality while economic freedom and urbanization in turn widen the income distribution gap. Meanwhile, results also suggest that …

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Tip-Off Titans: Hedonic Price Analysis Of Autographed Nba Memorabilia, Jeffrey Girgenti Jan 2016

Tip-Off Titans: Hedonic Price Analysis Of Autographed Nba Memorabilia, Jeffrey Girgenti

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

Studies have explored the economics surrounding the emergence of superstars, but relatively little research exists on the associated memorabilia markets. Using a sample of autographed artifacts, on sale through an internet outlet, hedonic analysis is used to gain insight into the significant characteristics of price determination. The data consists of current and former autographs of National Basketball Association (NBA) players on photographs. This study explores price differences with respect to a number of independent variables related to the artifact and player status. A notable difference emerges among framed and limited edition pieces, and pieces signed by top-ranked players.

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Corruption And Economic Growth In The Brics: An Empirical Analysis, Iemanjá Dos Santos Jan 2016

Corruption And Economic Growth In The Brics: An Empirical Analysis, Iemanjá Dos Santos

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the relationship between corruption and economic growth in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa; collectively known as the BRICS. Given the rapid rise of the BRICS and the international spotlight placed on them, this research study aims to explore the effect corruption has on the GDP growth of the states. To do this, a time-series analysis is conducted on each of the five states in order to analyze corruption’s effect on the individual countries. It is found that corruption only holds significance in Brazil and Russia, however, whilst there appears to be an inverse relationship between …

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How Does Student Debt Affect Household Formation?, Robert Young Jan 2016

How Does Student Debt Affect Household Formation?, Robert Young

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the impact student debt has on household formation. In order to determine what the impact is, an existing model around household formation was used and that model expanded it to include additional variables in order to add student debt into the model. Overall student debt at the individual and household levels has increased tremendously in the last 30 years. With student loan debt taking up a greater share of income for individuals and households, this research seeks to demonstrate that as student loan debt increases, the rate at which households are formed decreases. The findings of this …

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The Impact Of Government Debt Levels On Gdp Growth: A Panel Data Analysis, Guillaume Sabourin Jan 2016

The Impact Of Government Debt Levels On Gdp Growth: A Panel Data Analysis, Guillaume Sabourin

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper analyzes the impact of government debt-to-GDP levels on GDP growth in 6 European Union Nations and 5 Middle Eastern countries. While government debt levels shot up in the EU as a result of massive fiscal stimulus following the Great Recession, debt levels have been steadily decreasing in certain Middle Eastern countries. Several variables are observed to determine the relationship between debt and growth, including real interest rates, unemployment, inflation, population growth, trade, and consumption. For the EU nations studied, panel least squares analysis indicates that every 10% increase in government debt-to-GDP costs 30 basis points of GDP growth. …

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An Empirical Analysis Of The Effect Of Wealth On Health Indicators, Olivia Derogatis Jan 2016

An Empirical Analysis Of The Effect Of Wealth On Health Indicators, Olivia Derogatis

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper uses regression analysis with panel data in order to investigate the relationship between income and health indicators in ten high income countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate if income has a significant and positive effect on the health of a nation’s population. In theory, the health of the population in high income countries should be positively correlated to the country’s income because the wealthier a nation, the more available resources the nation has to allocate to health care spending. The dependent variables in this study are life expectancy at birth and infant mortality rate. The …

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Causal Relationship Between Terrorism And Economic Indicators, Jenna Labarre Jan 2016

Causal Relationship Between Terrorism And Economic Indicators, Jenna Labarre

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This study aims to understand the causal linkage between terrorism and various economic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product, Tourism, and Foreign Direct Investment by running a Granger Causality regression. The expected results will show that terrorism does indeed decrease or increase as a result of changes in these economic indicators. In order to test for Granger Causality a unit-root test will first be performed, followed by a cointegration test. The results show that each nation experiences a different causal relationship with each of these indicators. Inflation is the most significant causal indicators in terms of percentage of countries tested …

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Revisiting Government Size And Economic Growth: Does Institutional Quality Matter?, Julio Diaz Jan 2016

Revisiting Government Size And Economic Growth: Does Institutional Quality Matter?, Julio Diaz

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper revisits the relationship between government size and economic growth depending on the public sector quality. In this paper, an econometric panel study on a sample of 12 Latin American countries covering 1996-2013 period. It is important to note that the data has its limitation and may affect the quality of the study. The results show no significance in the relationship between government size and economic growth at any level institutional quality. These findings show a negative relationship between government size and economic growth. In addition, the results show a dependency between government size and corruption.

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The Relationship Of Savings And Economic Growth In Developing Nations, Zachary Westner Jan 2016

The Relationship Of Savings And Economic Growth In Developing Nations, Zachary Westner

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

The aim of this paper is to analyze the cause and effect relationship between economic growth and savings in developing countries. In this paper I used the co-integration model and the granger causality test which are typically used in finding the relationship between savings and economic growth. Before estimating the model, it was essential to determine the stationaries of the time series. To do so I used the ADF test (augmented dickey-fuller). The results confirmed the existence of a one-way causal relationship between Gross Domestic Savings and economic growth in developing nations.

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A Panel Analysis Of Fdi And Trade: Growth In Developing Countries, Matthew Guerriero Jan 2016

A Panel Analysis Of Fdi And Trade: Growth In Developing Countries, Matthew Guerriero

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the relationship between FDI and trade openness in 5 lower-middle income countries and 5 upper-middle income countries. This study utilizes a panel data regression analysis to determine what plays a role in growth and whether or not it varies depending on development level. The results show that lower-middle income countries should focus their attention on attracting FDI and upper-middle income countries should focus on increasing trade and decreasing government involvement in business operations.

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How Trade Liberalization Affects Unemployment Under The Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Panel Data Analysis, Steven Brodeur Jan 2016

How Trade Liberalization Affects Unemployment Under The Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Panel Data Analysis, Steven Brodeur

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

Between 1994 and 2000, NAFTA eliminated over 700,000 U.S. jobs from an increasing trade deficit. Will the TPP have similar detrimental effects? This study uses panel data to investigate the relationship between trade liberalization and unemployment among the TPP confirmed and interested signatories. The results show that a negative correlation exists between taxes on international goods and the net barter terms of trade index, indicating and ceteris paribus that the elimination of duties could result in a larger trade deficit for countries with comparably stronger currencies. Additionally, the fixed-effects GLS regression yields real exchange rates to be insignificant, supporting cheaper …

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Empirical Analysis Of Immigrant Wage Gap: Study Of Ethnicity And Language Proficiency, Dominik Kozlowski Jan 2016

Empirical Analysis Of Immigrant Wage Gap: Study Of Ethnicity And Language Proficiency, Dominik Kozlowski

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the effect of being an immigrant on a person’s wage. There is also a key focus on variables such as on language proficiency and ethnicity. Comparing the people that were born in New England to the people that were born in different areas of the world for the most recent data that was collected from the American Community Survey. The model shows and the research shows that immigrants’ wages are negatively affected because they are immigrants.

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Who Pays For Music?, Meg Aman May 2015

Who Pays For Music?, Meg Aman

Honors Projects in Management

The purpose of this capstone project was to determine the attributes of consumers that pay for music, specifically music streaming services. The recent decline in current individual track sales and the increase in the number of streamed songs, highlights the relevance of this topic. The increasing popularity in music streaming has caused much contreversy in the music industry. Many artists are unhappy with the low revenue they receive from songwriting royalties from these streaming services that offer a free platform. Artists are not the only ones who need consumers to pay for music, the music streaming sites that provide free …

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Perceptions Of Happiness And Its Determinants An Intergenerational Study Of What People Think About Money And Happiness, Bailey Cornell Apr 2015

Perceptions Of Happiness And Its Determinants An Intergenerational Study Of What People Think About Money And Happiness, Bailey Cornell

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

This study examines people’s perceptions of happiness. Specifically, it seeks to define the determinants of happiness, with a focus on the link between happiness and financial state. Of particular interest is an examination of differences in attribution (if any) on this issue between disparate age groups. An online questionnaire was created and then completed by 538 total participants. Belief that money can buy happiness was tested in two different ways: the Measure of Materialistic Attitudes Scale from the Handbook of Marketing, and the Money-Happiness scale, which was generated for this research. The study also evaluated people’s happiness levels using a …

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The Rhetoric Of Ben Bernanke: A Grounded Theory Approach, Andrew Langellier Apr 2015

The Rhetoric Of Ben Bernanke: A Grounded Theory Approach, Andrew Langellier

Honors Projects in Communication

The objective of this Capstone project is to determine how Ben Bernanke used rhetoric during his tenure as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2006 to 2013. The scope is limited to testimony delivered as opening statements to the Federal Reserve’s semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress and his prepared testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing. The research will attempt determine how Bernanke used rhetoric while testifying before congress, in particular how that rhetoric changes over the course of his tenure. While there is a substantial amount of research on the use of the …

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Financial Literacy And College Students: An Exploration Of College Students’ Attitudes, Behaviors, Influences And Preparedness For Financial Decisions After Graduation, Kerry Quirk Apr 2015

Financial Literacy And College Students: An Exploration Of College Students’ Attitudes, Behaviors, Influences And Preparedness For Financial Decisions After Graduation, Kerry Quirk

Honors Projects in Finance

Financial literacy is the level of understanding an individual has for different financial topics, including but not limited to, investment vehicles, retirement accounts, saving, budgeting, credit and taxes, and the use of such knowledge to change one’s financial behavior to create a more positive financial position for the future. Past research has shown that college students consistently have low levels of financial literacy. They also lack knowledgeable influences on their financial education. Because many college students will soon enter the workforce after graduation and will be responsible for managing their own salary, retirement accounts and investment options, they can be …

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The Discreet Trader, Seth Wing Apr 2015

The Discreet Trader, Seth Wing

Honors Projects in Finance

This paper examines insider trading, specifically trades by corporate insiders around quarterly earnings announcements. Announcements were broken up into three categories: earnings above analyst expectations, earnings below expectations, and earnings in line with expectations. Trade data was collected from the thirty companies of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 2012-’13. The trades were sorted by purchases and sales by date and analyzed with the earnings report of which the trades were made. Only trades in the interval from twenty days before the announcement date to twenty days after the announcement date were considered. The prediction was that corporate insiders would …

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Intergenerational Groups: How They Benefit The Workplace, Caitlyn May Apr 2015

Intergenerational Groups: How They Benefit The Workplace, Caitlyn May

Honors Projects in Management

With intergenerational groups becoming more common in the workplace, research is still focusing on how to manage working in intergenerational groups rather than how to promote the benefits of using intergenerational groups. Generations have different work values and attitudes. However, it is unclear whether putting diverse generations together will lead to better outcomes in a team setting. Using surveys and interviews of a convenience sample of all age groups, the study examines how generational perception influences the behavior and desire to work with other generations. Although there are stereotypes linked to each generation, respondents still desire to work with multiple …

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Innovation And Institutional Quality On Economic Growth In Asia, Nguyen Tran-Nguyen Apr 2015

Innovation And Institutional Quality On Economic Growth In Asia, Nguyen Tran-Nguyen

Honors Projects in Economics

When looking at the different effects of institutional quality on economic development, namely control of corruption, there are two different hypotheses that explain such effects. One is the “grease the wheel” hypothesis, which predicts that corruption is beneficial for growth, and the other one is the “sand the wheel” hypothesis, which says the opposite. Corruption is normally blamed for the slow economic growths in some countries, but some Asian countries’ exponential growths have proven the “grease the wheel” hypothesis otherwise. The “Asian experience”1 phenomenon occurs when corruption does not seem to hamper business activities in some Asian countries. This research …

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