Economics Commons^™

Intermediate Inputs And External Economies, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

Is the degree of external economies (at the industry level) higher than the degree of internal increasing returns (at the firm level)? If so, what is the exact source of this difference? In the general equilibrium model in which firms producing final goods choose the degree of specialization of their technologies, external economies arise from the usage of intermediate inputs and the existence of internal increasing returns. It is frequently assumed that increasing returns are absent at the firm level while present at the industry level. In this model, the existence of increasing returns at the firm level is necessary …

International Trade With Increasing Returns In The Transportation Sector, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

In this general equilibrium framework, the transportation sector is modeled as a distinct sector with increasing returns. A more advanced technology has a higher fixed cost but a lower marginal cost of production. Even with both manufacturing firms and transportation firms engaged in oligopolistic competition and optimally choosing their technologies, the model is tractable and results are derived analytically. Technology adoptions in the manufacturing sector and transportation sector are reinforcing, and multiple equilibria may exist. Firms choose more advanced technologies and the prices decrease when the size of the population is larger.

What Constitutes The Success Or Failure Of Multinational Corporations (Mncs) In Foreign Markets? A Case Study Of Chinese And American Mncs, Shiwei Jiang

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Scholars have identified multinational corporations (MNCs) as increasingly important and influential actors in international politics. However, mainstream international studies scholarship has failed to explain why MNCs succeed or fail in entering foreign markets. Market entry is a particularly vexing question for U.S. and Chinese firms seeking to compete for each other's consumers. As this study shows, surprising differences in success among U.S. firms in China, as well as Chinese firms in the U.S., suggest that statist and market factors interact with corporate strategies in confounding ways. Through case studies in the internet, automobile and fast food industries, this dissertation builds …

Two Essays On Attracting Foreign Direct Investment: From Both A National And Firm Level Perspective, Ryan Lawrence Mason

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Countless studies with a wide variety of financial and economic indicators have been conducted over the years within the context of international business research, all searching for hints or signals as to what makes the never ending process of globalization progress. Our research follows these efforts while focusing specifically on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Our first study sets out to empirically test if nations adopting the inflation targeting (IT) monetary policy are more successful in attracting inbound and outbound FDI cash flows than those nations utilizing alternative monetary policies. IT is a relatively new policy which was first put into …

The Impacts Of In-State Procurement Preference Policies On The Economy Of South Carolina, Sawsan A. Abutabenjeh

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

This research examined the impact of South Carolina's in-state preference policies on the economy of the state. To achieve this purpose, the research sought to answer the question: what are the impacts of implementing the in-state procurement preference policies on the economy of the state of South Carolina? The question was answered by using seven economic indicators: jobs, personal income, real disposable income, output (sales), Gross State Product (GSP), value added and state's population. The data related to the in-state preference policies were collected from the South Carolina Procurement Services Office. The data was then analyzed using the Regional Economic …

Fair Trade An Analysis Of The Effects On Poverty Alleviation And Empowerment For Women In Developing Countries, Maribel Concepcion Lora

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis approaches the economic development model of Fair Trade with a critical analysis on determining its success in alleviating poverty and empowering women of the developing world. Because international labor regulations are not consistently enforced in all producer countries, the Fair Trade model has established labor standards that ensure above all, a fair wage and safe working conditions for producers participating in the international market. As a recent strategy of economic development, Fair Trade has made great strides to empower poor producers in impoverished countries; however there has been limited analysis focused on its impact for improving the quality …

Part 1: It Could Have Been (Much) Worse, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Sequestration, it turns out, did not damage our regional economy nearly as much as originally anticipated. Unfortunately, some daunting economic challenges still loom on the horizon.

Front Matter: The State Of The Region Hampton Roads 2013, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Cover, front matter, table of contents, and other materials for the 2013 The State of the Region report authored by the Regional Studies Institute at Old Dominion University

Part 2: Our Housing Market Turns The Corner, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

At long last, residential home sales and prices are up, while unsold housing inventory and foreclosures are down.

Part 3: Coal: A Very Important Economic Engine In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

More coal is exported from Hampton Roads than any other port in the United States. The annual economic impact of this coal activity on our region approaches $1 billion.

Part 5: Asian Indians In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

This “model” minority group in our region has attained significant economic success and civic influence.

Part 6: Virtual Education At The K-12 Level In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Online education in our region is growing rapidly in a laissez-faire manner that exhibits little accountability.

Part 4: Where Our City And County Governments Spend Their Money, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

City and county governments in our region focus their spending on education and public safety. However, the specific choices they make sometimes can be surprising. Governmental units now face politically difficult decisions, such as closing under-enrolled schools.

Part 7: Mental Health Care In Hampton Roads: "Streeting," Guns And Budgets, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Virginia no longer institutionalizes many mentally ill individuals, but mental health budgets are insufficient to meet demands. The Commonwealth’s rather lax gun laws limit our ability to keep guns out of the hands of dangerously mentally ill people.

Part 8: Ok, Now What Should We Do? Is It Richard Florida's "Creative Classes" Or Instead "Back To Basics" That Should Guide Our Future Regional Economic Growth?, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Richard Florida’s “creative class” theory of why cities and regions grow is popular, but does not explain the world as well as traditional theories that focus on human capital and technology. This chapter recommends specific policies for our region that are more likely than Florida’s to stimulate economic growth and critiques several hot, current policy issues.

Political Economy Of Vietnam: Market Reform, Growth, And The State, Joshua M. Steinfeld, Khi V. Thai

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Choice Of Technology And Rural-Urban Migration In Economic Development, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper studies a general equilibrium model of rural-urban migration in which manufacturing firms engage in oligopolistic competition and choose increasing returns technologies to maximize profits. Urban residents incur commuting costs to work in the Central Business District. Surprisingly a change in the size of the population or an increase in the exogenously given wage rate will not affect a manufacturing firm’s choice of technology. This helps to explain why firms in developing countries may not adopt labor intensive technologies even under abundant labor supply. An increase in the number of manufacturing firms increases both the employment rate and the …

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2013, James V. Koch, Vinod Agarwal, Kelly Brown, Chris Colburn, Vicky Curtis, Steve Daniel, Elizabeth Janik, Lian Feng, Sharon Lomax, Molinaro Janet, Ken Plum, Ayush Toolsidass, Gary Wagner, Shara Weber, Gilbert Yochum

Economics Faculty Books

This is Old Dominion University's 14th annual State of the Region report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion or it's president, John R. Broderick. The report maintains the goal of stimulating thought and discussion that ultimately will make Hampton Roads an even better place to live. We are proud of our region's many successes, but realize that it is possible to improve our performance. In order to do so, we must have accurate information about "where we are" and a …

The Response Of Commercial Banks To Credit Stimuli, Denise Williams Streeter

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation calls upon the theory of financial intermediation (Diamond and Dybvig, 1983) and the credit channel theory of monetary policy effectiveness (Bernanke and Gertler, 1995) to show how commercial banks responded to the trillions of dollars of innovations to stimulate the credit markets during the 2008 global financial crisis. Specifically, loan-level data is used to conduct univariate, regression, and event-study analyses to address the research question of, "Did United States- and European Union-based commercial banks respond to credit stimuli with increased commercial lending during the stimulus period of October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2011 when compared to the …

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2012, James V. Koch, Vinod Agarwal, Chris Colburn, Vicky Curtis, Steve Daniel, Susan Hughes, Elizabeth Janik, Feng Lian, Sharon Lomax, Janet Molinaro, Ken Plum, John A. Sokolowski, Ayush Toolsidass, Gary Wagner, Shara Weber, Gilbert Yochum, Michael Zugelder

Economics Faculty Books

This is Old Dominion University's 13th annual State of the Region Report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion or it's president, John R. Broderick. The report maintains the goal of stimulating thought and discussion that ultimately will make Hampton Roads an even better place to live. We are proud of our region's many successes, but realize that it is possible to improve our performance. In order to do so, we must have accurate information about "where we are" and a …

Guardians Of The Countryside Public Choice Theory And The Farm Lobby In The Eu's Common Agricultural Policy, Amy J. Costa

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Through various waves of reform, the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy remains inefficient without meeting all of its stated goals. The MacSherry reforms of 1992 resulted in the opposite of what leaders intended: higher spending and a growing bureaucracy. Later in the 1990s, Agenda 2000 slashed its originally planned cutbacks after farmers protested. Though support exists for reducing spending on agriculture, market intervention remains.

This thesis explores the problem through the use of public choice theory. -Consumers make too large a group to organize effectively or inform themselves about the issue, while farmers consist of a smaller group with well-defined …

Developments In The Global Energy Markets And Constructing The Future Of The Persian Gulf Security, Nihat Cengel

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study analyses the global energy projections and regional dynamics in the Persian Gulf. It is shown that the future projections in the world energy markets signify the importance of cooperation between developed and developing countries. It is also suggested that connected to the global economic crises and the regional demand change in the energy market, there is a growing need for international support to the Persian Gulf security.

I argue that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) could play a crucial role for eliminating political conflicts and maintaining the regional stability. As a result, collective arm transfer to the region, …

A Study Of Failures In The Us Banking Industry, Joseph Trendowski

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation studies failures in the U.S. banking industry following the 2008 financial crisis. The dissertation offers an exhaustive review of the organizational failure literature, and changes in the banking industry environment over the past century. It takes three theoretical perspectives - institutional, industrial organization and resource-based view- to analyze failures in the banking industry.

The review and analysis allows me to trace the roots of recent bank failures to external (institutional, competitive) and internal (resource structure, strategy, risk) factors, and propose several hypotheses linking such factors with failures. The hypotheses are tested using a data-set that included all bank …

Securing South Africa's Future Grandmothers Against Poverty And Aids As A Model For Social Development Change, Savannah Lynn Eck

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Focusing on the role of elder women in South Africa as a lens to understand the central connections among HIV/ AIDS, poverty and Human Security provides a distinct approach to analyze women's contributions to community development and social change. Drawing from the theories of Gender and Development and Human Security, this research aims to highlight HIV/ AIDS as a social and political security issue, while underscoring the vitality of the inclusion of women in the processes of peace building, reconciliation, education and social development. Furthermore, the influential role of elder women in South Africa will serve as a model in …

Front Matter: The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2012, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Cover, front matter, table of contents, and other materials for the 2012 The State of the Region report authored by the Regional Studies Institute at Old Dominion University

Part 1: Gathering Steam: The Regional Economy Recovers (Slowly), Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

We continue to do better than the nation, but our regional economic recovery has been slow. The port, regional tourism and residential housing have yet to regain the ground they lost during the recession and the outlook for defense spending is hazardous.

Part 2: How Much Is Too Much? Comparing Income Inequality And The Cost Of Living In Hampton Roads To New York City, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Incomes are distributed more equally in Hampton Roads than nationally and certainly more so than in New York City. At least 80 percent of households in Hampton Roads are better off in economic terms than the comparable 80 percent in New York City.

Part 3: Attorneys And Law Firms In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The national market for attorneys is glutted and this has resulted in stagnant salaries, unemployed attorneys, falling law school enrollments, and rising dissatisfaction of attorneys with their lot in life. The situation in Hampton Roads does not differ substantially.

Part 4: Do We Have Enough Physicians In Hampton Roads?, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads will require approximately 1,000 additional physicians in 2025. If one-quarter of Eastern Virginia Medical School graduates remain in the region, then by 2025, EVMS will supply 504 of the needed physicians. The resulting shortage will affect physician availability, quality and pricing.

Part 5: Does The Commonwealth Balance It's Budget On The Backs Of Local Governments?, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

We examine the Commonwealth’s fiscal practices and conclude that the answer to this question often is yes.