Economics Commons^™

Affordable Care Act And Your Ag Business, Marilyn R. Schlake, Carroll S. Welte, Charlotte Narjes, Jim Crandall

Cornhusker Economics

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is steadily moving forward. Whether you agree or disagree with the ACA, the fact is that it is currently the national law. Already we are seeing changes affecting how hospitals, doctors and insurance carriers operate. Regulations impacting individuals and businesses in the areas of benefits covered, maximum out-of-pocket costs, taxes and penalties began on October 1st. Spend time now to evaluate how these changes will affect you, your family and your business operations.

A Book Review Of Capitalist Manifesto: Understanding The Market Economy And Defending Liberty, Brad Ward

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The purpose of this paper is to review the book A Capitalist Manifesto: Understanding the Market Economy and Defending Liberty by Gary Wolfram. In a time of political unrest throughout the industrialized and developing world, Wolfram defends the free market economic system and educates the reader as to the various benefits of capitalism. According to the author, governments should create concise laws and regulations that allow individuals to pursue their ambitions without unnecessary interference. Wealth redistribution, a trait associated with socialism, leads to stagnant economies and minimal innovations. The roles that banks and the government play in the economy are …

Multinational Enterprise Entry Modes In Sub-Saharan Africa: An Eclectic Paradigm Perspective, Isaac Yao Addae, Martinez Vencia Addae

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The use of entry modes by multinational firms has received increased attention from international business scholars. Based on the context of sub-Saharan Africa, this research reviews the locational benefits offered to MNEs by in this region. Borrowing from the eclectic paradigm of international production, the research also examines the effects of each type of entry on the locational advantages offered to MNEs. Propositions are presented to suggest which mode of entry MNEs should pursue in African markets, based on the existence of locational advantages that complement existing firm-specific advantages. Practical and research implications are discussed, in addition to considerations for …

Exchange Rate Volatility And Foreign Direct Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa, Emmanuel Ekow Asmah, Francis Kwaw Andoh

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an important source of financing development. It enhances efficiency and raises skills of local manpower, facilitates transfer of technology, generates employment and promotes productivity resulting in broad welfare improvements. Although FDI could have a substantial impact on the growth of African economies, poverty reduction and the achievement of various dimensions of human development as articulated in the Millennium Development Goals, its flows to Africa, though growing steadily have been relatively low, volatile, and highly concentrated in a few countries. One of the factors that have been identified in the literature as key drivers of FDI …

Determinants Of Savings Rate In Rural Nigeria: A Micro Study Of Kwara State, Oluwakemi Adeola Obayelu

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The inability of households to save over time has significant influence on the rate of capital accumulation and economic growth in developing countries. In order to understand this trend, this research assesses savings rates and its correlates in rural Kwara state, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to obtain data from 120 households. This was then analyzed using two descriptive statistics: the generalized linear model and the Tobit regression model. Results show that majority of the rural households were male-headed (81.0 percent) and combined farming with other non-farming activities (73.5 percent). The Tobit regression model reveals that age squared …

Health Care Reform: Perceptions Of Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans, 2013 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans currently have health insurance. Only nine percent of rural Nebraskans do not have health insurance while the majority of residents have health insurance through job benefits. These responses are nearly identical to 2004 when this question was last asked.

Persons living in the North Central region, persons with lower household incomes, persons who have never married, persons with lower education levels and persons with food service or personal care occupations are the groups most likely to be uninsured.

Most rural Nebraskans expect to have health insurance next year. Only two percent of residents do not plan on …

Conservation Compliance Under The House And Senate Versions Of The 2013 Farm Bill: A Role For Empathy Nudging?, Hans J. Czap, Natalia Czap, Gary D. Lynne, Mark E. Burbach

Cornhusker Economics

Current and past farming practices have led to significant environmental degradation in the form of soil erosion (sediments), as well as fertilizer and chemical related water pollution. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has long tried to implement policies to temper such negative effects on the environment. The 2008 Farm Bill which currently guides agricultural and related environmental/conservation policy is being revised on this front. The United States Senate and the House of Representatives are each currently proposing a version of the 2013 Farm Bill to change the existing system, making it more efficient in achieving environmental (and other …

Regional Broadband Plan Priorities Presented To The Nebraska Public Service Commissioners, Charlotte Narjes, Roger Terry, Connie Hancock, Rebecca J. Vogt, Jan Jackson Cejka

Cornhusker Economics

Nebraska Broadband Initiative regional plan priorities were presented to the Nebraska Public Service Commissioners in July. These priorities were created by extension led planning teams located across the state. The Departments of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication (ALEC), along with Extension are collaboratively working on the broadband initiative.

Cafio-Prg Develops Novel Approach To Policy Research, Konstantinos Giannakas

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has received a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture under the Policy Research Centers Program. This grant has supported the establishment of a Policy Research Group (PRG) as part of the Center for Agricultural and Food Industrial Organization (CAFIO) in the Department of Agricultural Economics. CAFIO-PRG is led by the Project Director, Professor Konstantinos Giannakas, and its main focus is on the development of a novel, empirically relevant, integrated, multi-market framework of policy analysis.

Consumer Attitudes And Labeling Regime Key To The Market Potential Of Food Nanotechnology, Miah Tran, Amalia Yiannaka, Konstantinos Giannakas

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

Research shows that, even though most consumers lack knowledge and understanding of the technology, they nevertheless have strong opinions as to its potential risks and benefits. Advocates are determined to not repeat the mistakes of biotechnology. Understanding the factors determining the market acceptance of food nanotechnology and its potential impact on the different interest groups involved can inform the design of effective policies and strategies governing food nanotechnology innovations.

Country-Of-Origin-Labeling Creates Winners And Losers Among Consumers, Producers, And Retailers, Konstantinos Giannakas, Alejandro Plastina, Daniel Pick

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

Public Law 107-171, the United States Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, required country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef, lamb, pork, fish, perishable agricultural commodities, and peanuts. While the aim is to benefit domestic consumers by allowing them to make informed decisions, the effects of COOL have been the subject of a heated on-going debate. Advocates of COOL argue the existence of an “overwhelming” consumer support for country of origin information and benefits that substantially outweigh the costs of this labeling regime. Opposing groups have expressed concerns about the potential competitive disadvantage that non-integrated producers might face due to …

Consumer-Oriented Gm Products Can Hurt Producers, Konstantinos Giannakas, Rim Lassoued

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

Despite their important agronomic benefits to agricultural producers, GM products (GMPs) have been facing a, rather strong, consumer opposition. This opposition varies significantly between countries and so does the countries’ regulatory response to products of biotechnology. While the US treats biotech products as substantially equivalent to their conventional counterparts and does not require their segregation and labeling, the European Union (EU), based on its “precautionary principle” and consumers’ “right to know,” has instituted a mandatory labeling regime that is regarded as the strictest in the world.

Food Labeling Standards Have Significant Welfare And Distributional Impacts, Konstantinos Giannakas, Nicholas Kalaitzandonakes, Alexandre Magnier

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

Discussions on the appropriate regulatory norms for genetically modified (GM) foods date back to the early 1980s. Thirty years later, a consensus on what such norms should be remains elusive. Some countries, including the United States and Canada, consider GM foods substantially equivalent to their conventional counterparts and do not require segregation and labeling of these products. Others, including the European Union, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and China have introduced mandatory labeling regimes.

Empathy Nudging Increases Conservation Of Farming Land, Natalia V. Czap, Hans J. Czap, Gary D. Lynne, Mark E. Burbach

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

One of the major challenges of environmental policy with regard to conservation is that it must often rely on voluntary and non-selfish actions of individuals. Traditionally policy makers rely on direct regulation and financial incentives, but both approaches face problems. Regulations may lead to resentment and the costs of perfect enforcement are prohibitively high. Financial incentives can be perverse and may lead to unintended consequences, including crowding out of intrinsic motivation. In addition, behavioral economics and economic psychology studies demonstrate that the assumptions of the neoclassical economic models (such as self-interest only, rationality, and willpower) on which the policy design …

2013 Farm Bill: An Experimental Test Of The Senate And House Proposals, Natalia V. Czap, Hans J. Czap, Gary Lynne, Mark E. Burbach

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

The 2008 Farm Bill currently guides agricultural and related environmental/conservation policy. Versions proposed by the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, to be implemented in the 2013 Farm Bill after differences are resolved, aim to achieve environmental (and other food related) goals, while also seeking significant spending cuts. While both versions propose to eliminate the Direct Payments program, they differ with respect to how other crop supports should work and whether crop insurance subsidies should be linked to conservation practices. The Senate Bill supports a policy design based on cross‐compliance, that is, crop insurance subsidies are conditional on …

Is There A Best Cow Size For Beef Cattle Producers?, Matthew Stockton, Sunil P. Dhoubhadel, Leslie Aaron Stalker

Cornhusker Economics

There are individuals in the beef cattle industry who claim there is a need for smaller brood cows, because smaller cows are more efficient and therefore more profitable. On the other hand, there are those who claim the larger the cow the better, and these generally are those who feed calves to slaughter. The proponents of both sides seem to have logical reasons that support their claims. So who is right?

The Economic Costs Of Tax Policy Uncertainty: Implications For Fundamental Tax Reform, Seth H. Giertz, Jacob Feldman

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

The U.S. faces tremendous short-term policy uncertainty, including about $5.4 trillion in tax increases over the next decade. These changes are set to take effect on January 1, 2013. It is unlikely that these changes will fully materialize, but what will happen is anyone’s guess. Over the long term, uncertainty also looms large since the U.S. federal tax system is expected to bring in far less revenue than Congress is projected to spend. In this paper, we detail the tax policy uncertainty that the U.S. faces and the economic literature to assess how this uncertainty may be affecting the economy. …

Economic Impact Of The Ability Of Nebraska Agriculture To Irrigate: The Case Of 2012, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Decision Innovation Solutions

Nebraskiana Publications: Resources and Materials on the 37th State

With the harsh 2012 growing season behind for Nebraska crop producers, sights are now on the prospects for 2013. An exceptional drought gripped much of the United States from mid-June to the end of the growing season. In many regards, the drought persists in many parts of the country. Without significant moisture accumulations prior to spring planting 2013, drought conditions may continue into next year’s growing season. Since the drought of 2012 became a cause of concern in mid-2012, there have been discussions regarding ways to limit the use of water for agricultural purposes. Many of these discussions will result …

Essays In Inflation And Monetary Dynamics In Developing Countries, Simon K. Harvey

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation is consists of three essays. In the first essay, I analyze how the information contained in the disaggregate components of aggregate inflation helps improve the forecasts of the aggregate series using inflation data from Ghana. Direct univariate forecasting of the aggregate inflation data by an autoregressive (AR) model is used as the benchmark with which all autoregressive (AR), moving average (MA) and vector autoregressive (VAR) models of the disaggregates are compared. The results show that directly forecasting the aggregate series from the benchmark model is generally superior to aggregating forecasts from the disaggregate components. Additionally, including information from …

International Knowledge Flows And Technological Advance: The Role Of International Migration, Kacey N. Douglas

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Immigration is a major aspect of globalization. As the world becomes increasingly integrated, it becomes important to learn more about the effects of immigration on global economic growth. According to Robert Solow’s long run growth model, technological advance is the only form of economic growth sustainable in the long run. Those who contribute to technological advance – highly skilled labor – however, increasingly emigrate from lesser developed to more developed countries in a process known as brain drain. This process has been shown to lead to a permanent increase in income and growth in the host country relative to the …

West Of Eden: Resource Wars And Nature-Cultures In The American West, Scout Calvert

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

The richness and variety of the western landscape is what is at stake in hot political contests for the resources of the West: much of this public land is available to economic activity, including for mining, grazing, logging, and recreation. These uses threaten to outpace the land’s ability to renew these resources along with others, like air and water. Now in the first decade of the millennium with a new environmental awareness emerging partly from media coverage of global warming and peak oil, The American West at Risk offers a wide-ranging look at the degradation of the environment in the …

Natural Resources In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Use And Priorities: 2012 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben

Nebraska Rural Poll

Many rural Nebraskans say they already recycle a lot and face no barriers. However, many rural Nebraskans cite lack of programs and difficulty getting materials to drop-off sites as barriers to recycling. Persons living in or near smaller communities are more likely than persons living in or near larger communities to say their community doesn’t offer recycling. However, most rural Nebraskans say their community offers either curbside pickup or drop-off recycling for all of the materials listed with the exception of glass bottles.

Most rural Nebraskans are in favor of building the Keystone XL pipeline, but think it should be …

Quality Of Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Perceptions Of Well-Being And Church Life: 2012 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, Philip Schwadel

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans are positive about their current situation. And, they continue to be generally positive about their future situation. Over one-half (51%) of rural Nebraskans think they are better off than they were five years ago and just under one-half (45%) think they will be better off ten years from now. Certain groups remain pessimistic about their situation. Persons with lower household incomes, older persons, and persons with lower educational levels are the groups most likely to be pessimistic about the present and the future.

When asked if they believe people are powerless to control their own lives, most …

Impact Of Work Values And Individual Attributes On Citizenship And Task Performance: A Test In A Developing Country Context, Anil Chadrakumara

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

This study examined the impact of work values and individual characteristics on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and task performance (TP). Based on the arguments of Social Capital Theory, a theoretical foundation was developed to use work values as antecedents of OCB. Analyzing 416 responses from Sri Lankan manufacturing sector employees, it was found that gender and employment category were related to citizenship performance, while level of education was related to task performance. More importantly, the impact of work values (work norms, work ethics, and intrinsic values) on OCB was found to be more significant than that of demographic factors. Overall, …

Technology And The Export Behavior Of Small, Locally- Owned Firms: New Insight, Densil A. Williams

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

This paper investigates the relationship between technology and the export performance of small, locally-owned firms in the Jamaican economy. The literature argues that technology is an important variable in influencing the export performance of small firms given its technological ability to generate competitive advantage for the firm. However, the results from empirical studies are not always consistent. To investigate this issue, the paper uses survey data collected through face-to-face interviews of 92 exporters and non-exporters to estimate a logistic regression model of the firm’s export behavior. The results revealed that firm size, is the most critical factor that determines export …

Measuring Water Poverty Index In Urban Areas Of Punjab, Kanwal Zahra, Syed Hussain Haider, Afzal Mahmood, Sami Ullah

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The urban population of Punjab is growing rapidly. It is projected that there will be a 25 to 30 percent increase in urban population by 2020. This rapid population increase is causing major problems in the efficient provision of urban services in these cities. To evaluate the effect of this population increase, this paper tries to produce an integrated assessment of water stress and scarcity, linking physical estimates of water availability with socioeconomic variables that reflect poverty, i.e., a Water Poverty Index. It is understood that poor households face the problem of the accessibility of potable water, and this results …

Supply Response, Exchange Rate And Domestic Price In Nigeria, Emmanuel C. Ani, Samson Adeniyi Aladejare

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of exchange rate and domestic price on export trade in Nigeria. Firstly, based on the literature review and findings of the study in the area, the paper aligned itself within the premise of the traditionalist view which concludes that non-oil export trade in Nigeria is predicated by currency depreciation via lower export prices. Secondly, the introduction of domestic prices, alongside naira rate of exchange as major determinants of non–oil exports in Nigeria, has the implication of showing that currency devaluation could be used to improve the balance of payment …

The Us Financial Crisis, Emerging Markets And The Effects Of Imf Loans, Bridgette Bain

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The main hypothesis of this paper is that emerging markets with outstanding debt from the IMF and their economies are more severely affected by shocks to the world than countries that do not undertake IMF debt. The effect that shocks have on these economies is also dependent upon the size of the debt borrowed. This paper analyzes the effects that outstanding IMF debt has on emerging markets. Essentially, it observes the responses of emerging markets to shocks in their economy when they are indebted to the IMF. We observe 35 emerging markets as defined by Dow Jones in 2010 and …

The Elasticity Of Taxable Income With Respect To Marginal Tax Rates: A Critical Review, Emmanuel Saez, Joel B. Slemrod, Seth H. Giertz

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

This paper critically surveys the large and growing literature estimating the elasticity of taxable income with respect to marginal tax rates using tax return data. First, we provide a theoretical framework showing under what assumptions this elasticity can be used as a sufficient statistic for efficiency and optimal tax analysis. We discuss what other parameters should be estimated when the elasticity is not a sufficient statistic. Second, we discuss conceptually the key issues that arise in the empirical estimation of the elasticity of taxable income using the example of the 1993 top individual income tax rate increase in the United …

Empathy-Based Conservation: An Interdisciplinary Approach To Conservation Policy And Decision-Making, Kaitlyn Delashmutt

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

In the late 20^th century, neuroscientists in Italy discovered a neuron in the brain capable of mentally mimicking the emotions derived from the actions of others (Rizzolatti and Craighero, 2004). It is the process that makes your elbow ache when someone else knocks their elbow on the counter or the uncontrollable smile that creeps up when someone smiles at you. No questions asked, people intuitively sense what others are feeling. The old school of thought was that humans deduced through logic and reason the actions of others and interpreted the emotions through a rational process (Carew et al, 2008). …