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Economics Faculty Publications

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Full-Text Articles in Economics

Cookin’ Jobs Numbers? Crazy Talk From Jack Welch, Louis D. Johnston Oct 2012

Cookin’ Jobs Numbers? Crazy Talk From Jack Welch, Louis D. Johnston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Coyote Use, Migration Duration And Remittances, David Ortmeyer, Michael A. Quinn Oct 2012

Coyote Use, Migration Duration And Remittances, David Ortmeyer, Michael A. Quinn

Economics Faculty Publications

The migration of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. is one of the largest bilateral migration flows in the world and remittances from these immigrants represent a crucial source of income for Mexican households. As the United States tightens controls on illegal migration, this may impact both migration durations and remittances. Tighter borders increase crossing costs, often because migrants need to pay smugglers (coyotes). Using data from the Mexican Migration Project, we find that higher crossing costs increase the probability of remitting, the remittance rate and the duration of stay as undocumented workers pay off the crossing debt. If immigrants did …


Intergenerational Transfers In Long Term Care, Monika Lopez Anuarbe Sep 2012

Intergenerational Transfers In Long Term Care, Monika Lopez Anuarbe

Economics Faculty Publications

How are parental inter-vivos transfers to their children and children’s informal care of parents influenced by personal characteristics, family conditions and state specific long term care policies? AHEAD data from 1993 and 1995 and a two-party choice model are used to guide the estimation of OLS and binary logit models of the amount and likelihood of inter-vivos transfers to children and informal care of parents. Results suggest that both parents’ characteristics and their offspring’s characteristics affect parental gifts to children and children’s time assistance to their parents, highlighting the interdependent nature of these decisions. Furthermore, though state policies did not …


Driving A Tank Off The Fiscal Cliff: Why Romney Doesn’T Believe In Budget Austerity, Louis D. Johnston Sep 2012

Driving A Tank Off The Fiscal Cliff: Why Romney Doesn’T Believe In Budget Austerity, Louis D. Johnston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


The Problem With Asking: Are You Better Off Than Four Years Ago?, Louis D. Johnston Sep 2012

The Problem With Asking: Are You Better Off Than Four Years Ago?, Louis D. Johnston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Regional Allocation Of Carbon Dioxide Abatement In China, Chu Wei, Jinlan Ni, Limin Du Sep 2012

Regional Allocation Of Carbon Dioxide Abatement In China, Chu Wei, Jinlan Ni, Limin Du

Economics Faculty Publications

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2011.06.002


Ceos Off The Clock, Kevin F. Hallock Sep 2012

Ceos Off The Clock, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

There is new and interesting academic work on how executives spend their time and the personal choices they make to maximize utility. From a compensation point of view, one issue that has been at the forefront with respect to executives is perks. One CEO compensation perk that has also received increased scrutiny but is surviving better than club memberships is the use of private aircraft. In a related April 2012 paper, "Executives' 'Off-The-Job' Behavior, Corporate Culture and Financial Reporting Risk" (National Bureau of Economic Research working paper), Robert Davidson, Abbie Smith and Aiyesha Dey consider other off-the-clock behaviors of CEOs …


Remembering Minnesota’S Mr. Economics, Walter Heller, Louis D. Johnston Aug 2012

Remembering Minnesota’S Mr. Economics, Walter Heller, Louis D. Johnston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Paul Ryan’S Views Of Government Seem More Influenced By Milton Friedman Than Ayn Rand, Louis D. Johnston Aug 2012

Paul Ryan’S Views Of Government Seem More Influenced By Milton Friedman Than Ayn Rand, Louis D. Johnston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Efficiency Estimates And Rankings Employing Data Envelopment And Stochastic Frontier Analyses: Evaluating The Management Of U.S. Public Colleges, G. Thomas Sav Aug 2012

Efficiency Estimates And Rankings Employing Data Envelopment And Stochastic Frontier Analyses: Evaluating The Management Of U.S. Public Colleges, G. Thomas Sav

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper estimates and compares operating efficiencies of publicly owned associate degree granting colleges in the United States using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Comparisons are based on panel data for 698 colleges over four academic years, 2005-09. Included are both constant and variable returns to scale DEA estimates along with half and truncated normal inefficiency SFA estimates. The values 0.56 vs. 0.45 represent the largest mean DEA-SFA efficiency differential. DEA results indicate that 13% of colleges are fully (100%) efficient while SFA puts that percentage at only 1.7%. Comparisons of rankings based on efficiency performance …


Productivity Growth And Efficiency Changes In Publicly Managed U.S. Comprehensive Universities: Data Envelopment Analysis And Malmquist Decompositions, G. Thomas Sav Jul 2012

Productivity Growth And Efficiency Changes In Publicly Managed U.S. Comprehensive Universities: Data Envelopment Analysis And Malmquist Decompositions, G. Thomas Sav

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper uses data envelopment analysis and Malmquist index decompositions in estimating productivity and efficiency changes of comprehensive degree granting, publicly owned U.S. universities. Panel data for 247 universities is employed for the academic years 2005-09. Results indicate that universities incurred productivity regress on the order of 4% per annum. The regress was due to declines in technological change that overpowered the efficiency gains achieved by universities. The latter derived from both university management and scale efficiency improvements. The dynamics of annual changes suggest that the financial crisis worsened productivity regress but created positive efficiency changes. It will, however, be …


Paying Professors, Kevin F. Hallock Jul 2012

Paying Professors, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

One of the most interesting quirks of academia is professional tenure. Many argue that tenure is necessary so that faculty can be protected by "academic freedom" to study the issues they find important without outside interference or pressures to conform. It is also, obviously, a nonmonetary reward and this security for life could offset higher salaries. Few accounts of the tenure system, however, recognize that while tenure essentially grants a job for life, it does not come with guaranteed lifetime raises. Some academic organizations, however, give roughly across the board annual raises. They don't seriously reward performance until a faculty …


Spillover Effects Of Crimes In Neighboring States Of Mexico, Mingming Pan, Benjamin Widner, Carl E. Enomoto Jul 2012

Spillover Effects Of Crimes In Neighboring States Of Mexico, Mingming Pan, Benjamin Widner, Carl E. Enomoto

Economics Faculty Publications

The recent surge in crime and drug-related violence in Mexico has had a profound effect on the Mexican economy. Thousands of businesses have closed in Ciudad Juarez, a city that borders the U.S., due to the violence that has erupted between drug cartels. It has been estimated by Rios (2007) that $4.3 billion of losses occur yearly to Mexico, due to illegal drug activity in the country. Using a spatial model, this paper analyzes the determinants of crime in Mexican states. It was found that high levels of total crime and drug-related violence in neighboring states of Mexico have spillover …


Stochastic Cost Inefficiency Estimates And Rankings Of Public And Private Research And Doctoral Granting Universities, G. Thomas Sav Jun 2012

Stochastic Cost Inefficiency Estimates And Rankings Of Public And Private Research And Doctoral Granting Universities, G. Thomas Sav

Economics Faculty Publications

Stochastic frontier cost and inefficiency estimates are provided for research and doctoral granting universities in the U.S. Separate sector estimates are produced for public and private non-profit universities. Panel data spanning four academic years, 2005-2009, is used to estimate underlying cost structures. Inefficiency is modeled as depending on institutionally specific environmental factors. Results indicate that public universities are on average more efficient than their private counterparts. The latter exhibit greater variability and when evaluated at the median inefficiencies there does not appear to be any statistically significant difference. Time varying inefficiency estimates point to public sector efficiency gains but private …


Does Graduating In A Bad Economy Penalize Your Pay Tor Life?, Kevin F. Hallock Jun 2012

Does Graduating In A Bad Economy Penalize Your Pay Tor Life?, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

Rigorous research has shown that the state of the economy when one graduates from college does matter. And, unfortunately, given the current slow-growth labor market, it matters not just for earning in the first job after college but also for compensation years in the future. Recessions are bad on graduates' pocketbooks, at graduation and in years to come. If that's not enough, it looks like recessions could be bad for these graduates' current and future health too. J. Catherine Maclean studies the effects of graduating from college during a bad economy on physical functioning, mental functioning and depressive symptoms on …


Governance And Executive Compensation In Nonprofits, Kevin F. Hallock May 2012

Governance And Executive Compensation In Nonprofits, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

Corporate governance has attracted much attention lately, justifiably many would argue. In the past couple decades, important legislative changes and public pressure have driven rapid changes in board governance and reporting, much focused on executive compensation, in particular. Still, there seems to be less focus on these issues in nonprofit organizations. This despite the fact that more than one-quarter of Americans volunteered through or for an organization last year, with the likely majority of these organizations being nonprofits. Adjusting for organization size, however, cash pay is not that different in for-profits and nonprofits. Resources exist for helping nonprofit boards govern …


Why Do We Tip?, Kevin F. Hallock Apr 2012

Why Do We Tip?, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

Some economists may argue that the billions of dollars a year spent on tipping are difficult to understand. After all, there is no requirement to tip. In a recent article "Why Tip? An Empirical Investigation for Tipping Car Guards" (Journal of Economic Psychology, February 2010), Stephen G. Saunders and Michael Lynn summarize potential reasons for tipping as: to increase the probability of good service upon repeat business, to reward good work, to redistribute income to service workers, to avoid societal disapproval or gain societal approval and to conform to internalized norms. Tipping hair stylists and babysitters clearly fits into the …


(Review) A Short History Of Ethics And Economics: The Greeks, Spencer J. Pack Apr 2012

(Review) A Short History Of Ethics And Economics: The Greeks, Spencer J. Pack

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Why We Don't Need To Worry About Inflation, Louis D. Johnston Mar 2012

Why We Don't Need To Worry About Inflation, Louis D. Johnston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


For-Profit College Entry And Cost Efficiency: Stochastic Frontier Estimates Vs Two-Year Public And Non-Profit Colleges, G. Thomas Sav Mar 2012

For-Profit College Entry And Cost Efficiency: Stochastic Frontier Estimates Vs Two-Year Public And Non-Profit Colleges, G. Thomas Sav

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper provides stochastic frontier cost and (in)efficiency estimates for private for-profit colleges with comparisons to public and private non-private colleges. The focus is on the two-year U.S. higher education sector where there exists the largest and fastest growing entry of for-profit colleges. Unbalanced panel data is employed for four academic years, 2005-2009. Translog cost frontiers are estimated with an inefficiency component that depends upon environmental factors defined by college specific characteristics. More experienced public and private non-profit colleges are found to be more cost efficient relative to the newer entrants. In addition, the newer for-profits exhibit greater efficiency variability …


Massive Kinked Bonuses, Kevin F. Hallock Mar 2012

Massive Kinked Bonuses, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

While most people are paid by the hour or with a yearly salary, some are also paid bonuses. And, some are paid very large, all-or-nothing bonuses. The author's favorite recent example is from last summer when golfer Darren Clarke earned a $3-million bonus from his sponsor. But it was how the payout was structured more than the amount that so intrigued him -- his sponsor's payout was all or nothing. How people are paid is fascinating. It is particularly interesting in this case of very, very large bonuses. The sports odds that Darren Clarke would win the tournament going into …


Examining Income Trends Around Minnesota, Louis D. Johnston Feb 2012

Examining Income Trends Around Minnesota, Louis D. Johnston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Illicit Money Flows As Motives For Fdi, M. Fabricio Perez Feb 2012

Illicit Money Flows As Motives For Fdi, M. Fabricio Perez

Economics Faculty Publications

We examine the role of FDI in facilitating money laundering and illegal capital flight, focusing on transition economies’ FDI outflows because they largely reflect current investment decisions rather than the inertia of past decisions. We estimate a model of FDI outflows in which illicit money flows influence the volume of FDI directed toward countries considered to be centers of money laundering. We show that traditional models of FDI are not able to account for these investment flows and that our results are robust when additional explanatory variables such as host country tax rates, governance, corruption, and cultural differences between the …


Is The Production Of Religious Knowledge Efficient? Managing Faith Related Postsecondary Institutions, G. Thomas Sav Feb 2012

Is The Production Of Religious Knowledge Efficient? Managing Faith Related Postsecondary Institutions, G. Thomas Sav

Economics Faculty Publications

The focus of this paper is on the efficiency of producing and managing religion based knowledge in postsecondary institutions. Panel data is used to estimate a stochastic cost frontier and associated inefficiencies for a panel of 222 U.S. bible colleges, theological seminaries, and other faith based higher education institutions over the 2005-09 academic years. Results indicate that institutions offering undergraduate only education are on average less inefficient than graduate only or combined undergraduate-graduate education institutions. Government provided student loans and private philanthropy are efficiency improving, while institutional debt acts to increase inefficiency. Time varying inefficiencies show efficiency gains over the …


Credit Rationing With Behavioral Foundations: Revisiting Stiglitz And Weiss, Alessandra Cassar, Bruce Wydick Jan 2012

Credit Rationing With Behavioral Foundations: Revisiting Stiglitz And Weiss, Alessandra Cassar, Bruce Wydick

Economics Faculty Publications

The seminal credit market model of Stiglitz and Weiss (1981) proposes that asymmetric information between borrowers and lenders creates a moral hazard in which borrowers to have an incentive to invest in risky projects, creating the basis for a rationing equilibrium in credit markets. Other recent behavioral work, argues that a different type of behavior is more central to credit market risk: the temptation for borrowers to use borrowed capital to meet short-term consumption needs rather than for productive investment (Banerjee and Mullainathan, 2010). In this note, we present a simple model that is able to explain credit rationing where …


Power, Race, And The Neglect Of Science: The Hiv Epidemics In Sub-Saharan Africa, Eileen Stillwaggon, Larry Sawers Jan 2012

Power, Race, And The Neglect Of Science: The Hiv Epidemics In Sub-Saharan Africa, Eileen Stillwaggon, Larry Sawers

Economics Faculty Publications

This work addresses racial stereotyping and the effect it has in distorting AIDS policy for sub-Saharan Africa.


Data Envelopment Analysis Of Productivity Changes In Higher Education For-Profit Enterprises Compared To Non-Profits, G. Thomas Sav Jan 2012

Data Envelopment Analysis Of Productivity Changes In Higher Education For-Profit Enterprises Compared To Non-Profits, G. Thomas Sav

Economics Faculty Publications

Data envelopment analysis is used to compare private for-profit colleges to publicly owned colleges in terms of their operating efficiency and productivity. Academic year 2005-09 panel data is used for two-year institutions in the U.S. Results indicate that for-profit efficiency exceeded that of public colleges. Malmquist index results show that colleges in both sectors increased managerial and scale efficiencies, but that both were hindered by technological regress to the extent that overall productivity declined. 2007-08 created efficiency declines across the board, but for-profits managed large technological gains that produced the only annual productivity improvement for either sector. The results are …


Cost Inefficiencies And Rankings Of Ivy Universities: Stochastic Panel Estimates, G. Thomas Sav Jan 2012

Cost Inefficiencies And Rankings Of Ivy Universities: Stochastic Panel Estimates, G. Thomas Sav

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper employs stochastic frontier analysis in providing estimates of the operating cost inefficiencies of private non-profit and public ivy universities in the U.S. Panel data for academic years 2005-09 is used to estimate cost frontiers under two alternative specifications that lead to estimated gross and net inefficiencies. Time varying inefficiencies are reported for each academic year and used to calculate university inefficiency rankings by sector. The results suggest that private ivy universities are less inefficient or more efficient than their public counterparts. However, public ivies appear to have made significant inefficiency adjustments perhaps in response to the global financial …


Comment, Dean D. Croushore Jan 2012

Comment, Dean D. Croushore

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Ethics And Critical Thinking, Jonathan B. Wight Jan 2012

Ethics And Critical Thinking, Jonathan B. Wight

Economics Faculty Publications

This chapter seeks to demonstrate that investigations in positive economics rely on ethical perspectives and practices, and further, that critical thinking requires a wider ethical viewpoint than normative economics generally permits. Positive economics generally relies, for example, on the unsung virtues of the investigator who demonstrates honesty and transparency in the search for truth. Ethical failures in this regard are not uncommon (DeMartino, 2011). But another unstated ethical perspective appears in the worldview from which a researcher sets out to model behavior. Modelers almost always assume that rationality requires that an economic actor undertake an action in pursuit of a …