Economics Commons^™

Part 7: K-12 Private Education: Southside Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Eighty-six private (independent) K-12 schools exist in Southside Hampton Roads. Commonwealth regulation of their activities is minimal (often virtually zero) and hence there is great variation in their goals, operations and transparency.

Part 6: A Powerful Economic Engine: The Impact Of Eastern Virginia Medical School, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The economic impact of EVMS approximates $800 million annually and at a time when other economic engines are sputtering, the medical school has become an increasingly important economic force in our region.

Part 8: Homeschooling: Our Fastest-Growing Alternative In K-12 Education, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

1.6 percent of all K-12 students in Hampton Roads are homeschooled. While homeschooling families ordinarily must satisfy a stated set of standards, they can claim a religious exemption and this essentially obviates those standards. Hence, there is great variation in the nature and substance of homeschooling in our region.

Part 9: Modeling And Simulation In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The demise of JFCOM has reduced the size of, but hardly eliminated, modeling and simulation in our region. Old Dominion University’s VMASC continues to show the way and now is heavily involved in medical simulation work.

Economics, Innovations, Technology, And Engineering Education: The Connections, John M. Ritz, P. Scott Bevins

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Throughout history the success of economies around the world has in large part been influenced by technological growth and innovations. Along with such growth and innovations came higher living standards and an improved quality of life for citizens residing and participating in those economies. However, not all countries were able to grow and develop at the same rate, resulting in considerable differences in economic welfare across populations. As nations around the world address the 21st century, economic growth and prosperity for some nations will depend upon how well their citizens are equipped and motivated to seek new technological discoveries and …

A System Dynamics Model For Simulating Ambulatory Health Care Demands, Rafael Diaz, Joshua G. Behr, Mandar Tulpule

VMASC Publications

Introduction: This article demonstrates the utility of the system dynamics approach to model and simulate US demand for ambulatory health care service both for the general population and for specific cohort subpopulations over the 5-year period, from 2003 to 2008. A system dynamics approach that is shown to meaningfully project demand for services has implications for health resource planning and for generating knowledge that is critical to assessing interventions.

Methods: The study uses a cohort-component method in combination with structural modeling to simulate ambulatory health care utilization. Data are drawn from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National …

Effective Popular Financial Reports: The Citizen Perspective, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Meagan M. Jordan

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

The article presents a study that investigates the views of citizens on the efficiency of financial reports in the U.S. Researchers did a survey to discern the perspectives of respondents about the effectiveness of the said reports in informing other individuals about government finances. Moreover, results reveal that 80% of respondents believed that the reports are effective. [Associates Programs Source, EbscoHost database]

Are Low Wages Risk Factors For Hypertension?, J. Paul Leigh, Juan Du

Economics Faculty Publications

Objective: Socio-economic status (SES) is strongly correlated with hypertension. But SES has several components, including income and correlations in cross-sectional data need not imply SES is a risk factor. This study investigates whether wages-the largest category within income-are risk factors. Methods: We analysed longitudinal, nationally representative US data from four waves (1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005) of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The overall sample was restricted to employed persons age 25-65 years, n = 17 295. Separate subsamples were constructed of persons within two age groups (25-44 and 45-65 years) and genders. Hypertension incidence was self-reported based on …

Formal And Informal Care: An Empirical Bayesian Analysis Using The Two-Part Model, Juan Du

Economics Faculty Publications

Informal care provided to the elderly by their children is proposed as a less expensive alternative to institutional long-term care. This paper explores how the elderly's consumption of medical care changes in response to changes in the informal care they receive from their children. Many earlier studies have ignored both the endogeneity of informal care and the complicated nature of health care utilization data. This paper develops a two-part model with informal care treated as an endogenous regressor and imposes exclusion restrictions on the selection process. The model is fitted using the Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods, in …

Do International Corruption Metrics Matter? Assessing The Impact Of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, Omar Elemere Hawthorne

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the impact of Transparency International's (TI), Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and whether or not the CPI and hence TI matter. It examines the impact of TI's CPI on policymakers. It explores three areas: world's political and economic responses and Jamaica's policy responses to the CPI. Jamaica is selected for a case study due to TI's high corruption perceptions index rating for the country: a country that legally has strong anti-corruption laws but, nonetheless, sees its CPI ranking worsen almost yearly.

This study comprises mixed methodologies, using both qualitative and quantitative measures to assess the impact of the …

Analysis Of Discrete Choice Probit Models With Structured Correlation Matrices, Bhaskara Ravi

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

Discrete choice models are very popular in Economics and the conditional logit model is the most widely used model to analyze consumer choice behavior, which was introduced in a seminal paper by McFadden (1974). This model is based on the assumption that the unobserved factors, which determine the consumer choices, are independent and follow a Gumbel distribution, widely known as the Independence of irrelevant Alternatives (IIA) assumption. Alternate models that relax IIA assumption are the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) models, which allow dependency between unobserved factors. However, GEV models do not incorporate all dependency patterns, other choice behaviors such as …

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2011, James V. Koch, Vinod Agarwal, Christopher B. Colburn, Vicky Curtis, Steve Daniel, Susan Hughes, Elizabeth Janik, Feng Lian, Sharon Lomax, Janet Molinaro, Ken Plum, Jim Sylvester, Ayush Toolsidass, Shara Weber, Gilbert Yochum

Economics Faculty Books

This is Old Dominion University's 12th 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 …

Decontextualizing Development: A Critical Examination Of American Popular Discourse On Foreign Aid, Jeffrey Haines

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Humanitarian foreign aid is a controversial topic, subject to much popular debate. Although there is much available polling and survey evidence about public stances on the issue, there have been significantly fewer attempts at more in-depth analyses of the public discourse. This thesis is an attempt to explore the popular discourse on aid in more depth, including its rationales, assumptions, and values.

It concludes that both sides of the American public in the debate often make use of similar types of assumptions regarding international affairs, suggesting often deeper agreement than the debate may indicate. It is argued that the set …

Richmond Iron: Tredegar's Role In Southern Industry During The Civil War And Reconstruction, Lisa Hilleary

History Theses & Dissertations

The American South contained few iron industries in the decades before the Civil War. Not until the Civil War did southern states produce significant quantities of vital industrial products, such as iron. Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, was a rare exception. Under the ownership of Joseph R. Anderson, the company established a national reputation for quality products. Prior to the war, Tredegar did business with northerners and with the Federal government. During the war, Tredegar became one of the main weapons suppliers to the Confederate military. Since this iron company physically and economically survived the war, Anderson regained many …

The Behavior And Choices Of Serial Bidders In M&A Transactions: A Prospect Theory Approach, Ahmed Essam El-Din El-Bakry

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This paper investigates the impact of previous losses incurred by U.S serial bidders on their M&A strategic choices and premiums paid to acquire targets. The Hubris and Overconfidence theories suggest that managers tend to overpay as a result of exaggerating their ability to extract value and manage post-acquisition integration process between the acquiring firm and its target. Managerial overconfidence, which is signaled by conducting several acquisitions within a short time period or by other manager-specific investment attributes, has been shown to contribute to increasing premiums in M&A transactions and subsequent poor post-acquisition performance.

Experimental findings in the area of psychology …

Two Essays On The Effect Of Macroeconomic News On The Stock Market, Ajay Kongera

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation uses macroeconomic variables. In the first essay I use macroeconomic variables to determine if these variables affect the market's returns and volatilities, and in the second essay I examine whether the 11-month returns can be explained by these variables.

Using macroeconomic variables and forecasts of these variables on a quarterly basis from the Survey of Professional Forecasters, I first develop macroeconomic surprise variables. The macroeconomic surprise variables are then modified by dispersion of forecasts to adjust for surprises from uncertainty. Dispersion adjusted forecast surprises have not been used extensively in the literature. I also use a monetary shock …

Part 1: Putt, Putting Along: Our Regional Economy, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

We’re doing better than the nation, but seem to be stuck in neutral. 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 uncertain.

Front Matter: The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2011, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Cover, front matter, table of contents, and other materials for the 2011 The State of the Region report authored by the Regional Studies Institute at Old Dominion University.

Part 2: Apartment Housing In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Vacancy rates have fallen as home ownership rates have declined. Monthly rents are among the highest in the southeast region of the country. These conditions may lead to an upsurge in apartment construction.

Part 3: A Simple Guide To Transportation Needs And Planning In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

What transportation needs do we have, how are they prioritized, and is there any hope that the region and the commonwealth will have sufficient revenue available to address them?

Part 4: The Economic Plight Of African American Men In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The worldwide recession significantly worsened the economic condition of African American men. There are multiple reasons why this was so and credible solutions often are controversial.

Part 5: Whro Marks It's 50th Anniversary, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Virginia’s first educational, noncommercial television station has become a multimedia leader. Like most major media, however, WHRO lives in a rapidly evolving environment that could challenge its existence.

Part 6: The Concrete Connection: Economic Growth For Virginia's Eastern Shore?, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The economic impact of dredging the Cape Charles Harbor exceeds $3.2 billion if it results in that site being used to produce concrete for new bridges, tunnels and wind turbines.

Part 7: K-12 Independent Education On Virginia's Peninsula, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Thirty-five private (independent) K-12 schools exist on the Peninsula. Because commonwealth regulation of their activities is minimal, there is great variation in their goals, operations and transparency.

Part 8: If It Bleeds, Does It Still Lead? Local Television Evening News In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The evening news broadcasts of the four major stations in the region continue to feature frequent reporting of violent crimes, especially by members of minority groups. WAVY featured the most crime coverage and WVEC the least.

Confucianism And The Legalism: A Model Of The National Strategy Of Governance In Ancient China, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

The Confucian school emphasizes family value, moral persuasions, and personal relations. Under Confucianism, there is a free-rider issue in the provision of efforts. Since national officials are chosen through personal relations, they may not be the most capable. The Legalist school emphasizes the usage of incentives and formal institutions. Under the Legalism, the ruler provides strong incentives to local officials which may lead to side effects because some activities are noncontractible. The cold-blood image of the Legalism may alien citizens. By exploiting the paternalistic relationship between the ruler and the ruled under Confucianism and the strength of institution-building under the …

Globalization Of Chinese Firms: Theoretical Universalism Or Particularism, Ilan Alon, John Child, Shaomin Li, John R. Mcintyre

Management Faculty Publications

Research on the globalization of Chinese and other emerging markets' companies has only just begun and is on the verge of taking off. As it does so, additional thought should be given to the ontological and epistemological underpinnings of the theories attempting to capture the phenomenon. Should Western-centric theory prevail? Be adapted? Or abandoned in favour of new indigenous approaches to theorizing, based on context? Finally, should the context itself be the basis of theorizing? While the debate will not stop here, the future may hold a multiplicity of approaches, both indigenous and internationalized, for explaining emerging markets' contexts and, …

Education And Economy: The Impact Of Investment In Human Capital Through Education On Unemployment, Zafer Pirim

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The impact of investment in human capital on economy has always been discussed in the literature. Existing studies in the literature generally focus on short term impacts of investment in human capital. While some studies see significant impact, some other ones see little or no impact. This study manipulated data that was cover a long span of time, a 25-year period. In this study the researcher inquired whether there is a significant correlation between education and economy in terms of the impacts of investment in human capital on unemployment over a long span of time. In this empirical study panel …

What Influences The Changes In Reit Ceo Compensation? Evidence From Panel Data, John M. Griffith, Mohammad Najand, H. Shelton Weeks

Finance Faculty Publications

This study examines what influences the changes in REIT CEO compensation using the following performance measures: average three-year total returns to shareholders, market value added, Tobin's q, and change in funds from operations. The impact of managerial power on the change in compensation is also examined. The empirical evidence indicates that firm performance and size do not influence the change in CEO salary, while risk, tenure, title, ownership, and age have significant impacts. Bonuses are not influenced by risk, size, or CEO power; however, they are influenced by performance. Option awards are affected by performance and CEO power.

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2010, James V. Koch, Vinod Agarwal, Linda Candler, Lynn Clements, Chris Colburn, Vicky Curtis, Steve Daniel, Susan Hughes, Elizabeth Janik, Feng Lian, Sharon Lomax, Linda Mcgreevy, Janet Molinaro, Ken Plum, Wayne Talley, Ayush Toolsidass, Gilbert Yochum

Economics Faculty Books

This is Old Dominion University's 11th 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 …