Economics Commons^™

Institutional Divergence In Economic Development, Jonathan B. Wight

Economics Faculty Publications

The Anglo-American capitalist model (AACM) encompasses a set of theories and policies that advance the classical objectives of individual autonomy, wealth acquisition, and economic growth. In the twentieth century, the neoclassical goal of short-run Pareto efficiency was added yet remains in possible tension with these other aims. The AACM generally upholds the primacy of markets as the means for achieving its normative ideals through private, decentralized actions, with some exceptions. In the modern political arena this ideology is associated with the Reagan-Thatcher revolution of the 1980s and provides a framework for many who oppose statist solutions to social problems (Steger …

The Disconnect Between Employer Costs And Employee Value, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

There is a tremendous disconnect between the cost of compensation to employers and the value employees place on that compensation. Companies pay a lot more for workers than workers see in their paychecks. The average worker in the US costs his/her employee $29.52 per hour. But only $20.50 of that appeared in the worker's paycheck as wage and salary. The other $8.96 is attributable to other employer costs that employees do not immediately see. Of the $8.96, $2.04 is for paid leave, $0.71 is for supplemental pay, $2.60 is for insurance, $1.31 is for retirement savings, and $2.30 is for …

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, Fall 2010, Thomas L. Traynor

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Concurrent Sexual Partnerships Do Not Explain The Hiv Epidemics In Africa: A Systematic Review Of The Evidence, Larry Sawers, Eileen Stillwaggon

Economics Faculty Publications

The notion that concurrent sexual partnerships are especially common in sub-Saharan Africa and explain the region’s high HIV prevalence is accepted by many as conventional wisdom. In this paper, we evaluate the quantitative and qualitative evidence offered by the principal proponents of the concurrency hypothesis and analyze the mathematical model they use to establish the plausibility of the hypothesis.

We find that research seeking to establish a statistical correlation between concurrency and HIV prevalence either finds no correlation or has important limitations. Furthermore, in order to simulate rapid spread of HIV, mathematical models require unrealistic assumptions about frequency of sexual …

The Ties That Binds: Colonies , Culture And Education Among Immigrants, David Ortmeyer, Aaron Jackson, Michael A. Quinn

Economics Faculty Publications

There is concern among many policy makers of a dual problem: too many immigrants overall but not enough highly-skilled immigrants. Using recently available data we examine the factors which influence both the quantity and average educational level of immigrants in OECD countries in 1990 and 2000. We find that geographic proximity and former colonial relationships positively influence the overall number of immigrants but are negatively related to immigrants’ average educational level. By contrast, variables such as greater economic freedom, more generous asylum policies, and a common language and religion increase both the quantity and educational level of immigrants. More highly …

Review Of Brooks, Stephen, Ed., Montgomery And The Battle Of Normandy: A Selection From The Diaries, Correspondence And Other Papers Of Field Marshal The Viscount Montgomery Of Alamein, January To August 1944, James V. Koch

Economics Faculty Publications

(First Paragraph) The stated goal of Montgomery and the Battle of Normandy is to "bring together the most important Bernard Montgomery documents for the period 1 January to 20 August 1944, reproduce each of the chosen documents in full and arrange them in a straightforward chronological order" (p. x). It is fair to say this volume achieves this goal, even though a batch of Montgomery documents already reproduced in full in other volumes was not included here.

Sustainable Budgeting, Brian K. Strow, Claudia W. Strow

Economics Faculty Publications

At the forefront of current discussion and social conscience is the importance of ecological sustainability. An also important but often overlooked issue is the importance of sustainable budgeting practices for our various levels of government. Governments often provide social services such as food, clothing, shelter, education, public safety, or health care. If the money to pay for the social services comes from additional government debt, social services to future citizens become imperiled. In this paper, the authors set forth a theoretical framework for sustainable government decision making with special emphasis on sustainable governmental budgeting. The authors outline the intricacies of …

Philadelphia Fed Forecasting Surveys: Their Value For Research, Dean D. Croushore

Economics Faculty Publications

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has conducted both the Survey of Professional Forecasters and the Livingston Survey for 20 years. Both surveys of private-sector forecasters provide researchers, central bankers, news media, and the public with detailed forecasts of major macroeconomic variables. The surveys have proved helpful for people who are planning for the future, and they have also provided useful input into the decisions of policymakers at the Federal Reserve and elsewhere. In this article, Dean Croushore provides an overview of the surveys and discusses the ways in which researchers have used the surveys.

Human Capital, Education, And Entrepreneurs: Evidence From The Yangtze River Delta, Zhining Hu, Jianghuai Zheng, Jialing Wang

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper seeks to examine the relationship between education demand and entrepreneurs in the process of enhancing the growth of human capital in China. We develop a theoretical model that incorporates the important roles played by human capital, education and entrepreneurs. Then, we derive an immigration condition under which the demand for education depends on the existence of entrepreneurs. Finally, we test whether this condition holds true in China, using a panel data set from the Yangtze River Delta which is considered a key barometer of Chinese economy. The empirical results reveal a significant positive relationship between entrepreneurs and education …

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, Spring 2010, Thomas L. Traynor

Economics Faculty Publications

Includes the article "Industry Employment Forecasts for the Dayton MSA."

Monopoly, Regulation, And Innovation, Matt Bogard

Economics Faculty Publications

Recently the Justice department has started investigations into alleged anti-trust violations by Monsanto. This has helped fuel a lot of already hyped discontent with one of the world’s leaders in innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture. This article discusses how the regulatory environment could possibly have contributed to more concentration and power in the biotech industry. Increasing regulation would likely have the opposite effect of creating a level playing field in the agriculture industry. From AgWeb, March 27,2010 http://www.agweb.com/blog/Economic_Sense_190/Monopoly_Regulation__and_Innovation_10771/

Does Social Capital Matter? Evidence From A Five-Country Group Lending Experiment, Alessandra Cassar, Bruce Wydick

Economics Faculty Publications

Does social capital matter to economic decision-making? We address this broad question through an artefactual group lending experiment carried out in five countries: India, Kenya, Guatemala, Armenia, and the Philippines, obtaining data from 10,673 contribution decisions on simulated group loans from 1,554 participants in 259 experimental borrowing groups. We carry out treatments for social homogeneity, group monitoring, and group self-selection. Results show that societal trust has a positive and significant impact on group loan contribution rates, that group lending appears to create as well as harness social capital, and that peer monitoring can have perverse as well as beneficial effects.

Review Of Willmott, H.P., The Great Crusade: A New Complete History Of The Second World War, James V. Koch

Economics Faculty Publications

(First Paragraph) The first edition of The Great Crusade (1989) was a fine, comprehensive, single-volume history of World War II. The revised edition is even better, though readers should be aware that this is a military history of the war that usually focuses on decision-making and activities at the operational level and above. The author sometimes speaks of individual fighting divisions, but almost never about individual soldiers. This work is thus not the place for the reader to discover the tales and yarns of individual soldiers. Those who hope to grasp what it was like to be a Marine storming …

Managing Public Higher Education Restructuring: Understanding College And University Cost Structures, G. Thomas Sav

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper focuses on understanding college and university costs as a prerequisitefor successfully managing ongoing issues associated with restructuring publiclyprovided higher education. Restructuring is well underway as a result ofglobalization, the European led Bologna Declaration, and U.S. nationallycompetitive forces. It potentially affects the mix and level of products that collegesand universities produce. To capture the possible cost implications of thosechanges, multi-product cost functions are empirically estimated for four levels ofU.S. public colleges and universities: doctoral, master, bachelor, and associatedegree granting institutions. Scale and scope estimates are derived for researchand three teaching outputs, including undergraduate, graduate, and professionaleducation. Findings regarding product …

The Prebisch-Singer Hypothesis: Four Centuries Of Evidence, David I. Harvey, Neil M. Kellard, Jakob B. Madsen, Mark E. Wohar

Economics Faculty Publications

We employ a unique dataset and new time series techniques to re-examine the existence of trends in relative primary commodity prices. The dataset comprises 25 commodities and provides a new historical perspective, spanning the 17th to the 21st centuries. New tests for the trend function, robust to the order of integration of the series, are applied to the data. Results show that eleven price series present a significant and downward trend over all or some fraction of the sample period. In the very long run a secular, deteriorating trend is a relevant phenomena for a significant proportion of primary commodities.

Private Giving Crowding Government Funding In Public Higher Education, G. Thomas Sav

Economics Faculty Publications

Problem Statement:

Private giving and government funding are critical revenue sources for public colleges and universities. If increased private giving reduces government funding, then that type and extent of crowding out carries important managerial and public policy implications.

Approach:

The study used a government funding reaction function and an instrumental variable approach to empirically estimate the potential for crowding out.

Results:

The study examined the extent to which private giving reduces or crowds out state government funding of public colleges and universities. Government free riding was at question and investigated to determine how active it is in terms of private …

Moral Markets: The Critical Role Of Values In The Economy By Paul J. Zak (Book Review), Jonathan B. Wight

Economics Faculty Publications

This volume contains the fruits of a two-year seminar on ethics and economics funded by the John Templeton Foundation and administered through the Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research. Participants came from the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities, and included Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith and other figures such as Frans de Waal, Herbert Gintis, Robert Frank, and Robert Solomon (for whom the book is dedicated in memoriam). The book’s editor, Paul Zak, is a pioneer in the emerging field of neuroeconomics, which uses medical technology to discover the physiological manifestations of cooperative and altruistic behavior. A theme of …

Costs Of Defending Against Rising Sea Levels And Flooding In Mid-Atlantic Metropolitan Coastal Areas: The Basic Issues, James V. Koch

Economics Faculty Publications

Rising ocean levels have resulted in increasingly severe flooding in numerous metropolitan coastal areas. What would it cost to minimize or eliminate such damage? Relatively little economic work has been done to provide an answer, at least partially because some authorities believe attempts to deal with flooding ultimately are futile. Further, discussions of funding always involve massive welfare transfers from the non-flooded to the flooded. The cost of erecting a single mile of new sea wall exceeds $35 million in 2009 dollars and annual maintenance costs range between 5 and 10 percent.

Estimating The Impact Of Migration And Remittances On Agricultural Technology, Michael A. Quinn

Economics Faculty Publications

The rapid growth of international migration and remittances has led to a wealth of research examining these trends. One of these lines of research attempts to determine the relationship between migration, remittances and the adoption of “Green Revolution” high yield variety (HYV) seeds. This literature proposes that migration and remittances may increase HYV use by reducing household risk and credit constraints. Given the large scale of both migration and remittances, getting an accurate measurement of these impacts is crucial to designing and implementing policies in rural areas. This paper examines the relationship between migration, remittances and agricultural technology. The credit …

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, Fall 2009, Thomas L. Traynor

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Experimental Study Of The Holdout Problem In A Multilateral Bargaining Game, John J. Cadigan, Pamela Schmitt, Robert Shupp, Kurtis Swope

Economics Faculty Publications

When an economic exchange requires agreement by multiple independent parties, the potential exists for an individual to strategically delay agreement in an attempt to capture a greater share of the surplus created by the exchange. This "holdout problem" is a common feature of the land-assembly literature because development frequently requires the assembly of multiple parcels of land. We use experimental methods to examine holdout behavior in a laboratory bargaining game that involves multi-person groups, complementary exchanges, and holdout externalities. The results of six treatments that vary the bargaining institution, number of bargaining periods, and cost of delay demonstrate that holdout …

Order And Creativity In Virtual Worlds, Evan W. Osborne, Shu Z. Schiller

Economics Faculty Publications

Economies are driven by dynamic creativity, but some sorts of creativity, especially if predatory, can destroy an economy. This tradeoff has been known for centuries to political philosophers who have analyzed physical space, but has not been addressed in virtual space. Like physical economies, virtual economies face the tradeoff of encouraging freedom to experiment, while discouraging experiments that damage society. Physical societies solve this problem both through encouraging competition and giving government the unique power to punish destructive activities. In virtual societies, this tradeoff has yet to be adequately assessed. Guided by the economic modeling of order and creativity, in …

Using Video Clips To Teach Creative Destruction, Arthur M. Diamond Jr.

Economics Faculty Publications

Stories are memorable and convincing. One way to efficiently tell stories is through movie and video clips. I summarize several video clips that may be useful in teaching aspects of Schumpeter’s important theory of creative destruction. Among the clips discussed are: Hugh Laurie’s Protest Song, electric light segment from a documentary on the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition, eBay Toy Boat Ad, Miss Princess Fun Brick Ad, Moscow toilet paper queue scene, the New York coffee aisle scene from Moscow on the Hudson, and Peck and DeVito’s speeches from Other People’s Money.

JEL Codes: A2, O31, O43

Empirical Analysis Of Provincial Energy Efficiency In China, Chu Wei, Jinlan Ni, Manhong Sheng

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper proposes an energy efficiency index based on the data envelopment analysis approach. The index is used to examine energy efficiency in China. Using 1997-2006 panel data for 29 provinces, we find that energy efficiency is negatively associated with the secondary industry share in GDP, the state-owned economic share in GDP and the government expenditure share in GDP, and is positively associated with the technical level and non-coal share in energy consumption. In addition, we find that there exists a large gap in energy efficiency among eastern, central and western regions. The eastern region has a significantly higher energy …

Complexity, Cofactors, And The Failure Of Aids Policy In Africa, Eileen Stillwaggon

Economics Faculty Publications

Global AIDS policy still treats HIV as an exceptional case, abstracting from the context in which infection occurs. Policy is based on a simplistic theory of HIV causation, and evaluated using outdated tools of health economics. Recent calls for a health systems strategy – preventing and treating HIV within a programme of comprehensive health care – have not yet influenced the silo approach of AIDS policy.

Evidence continues to accumulate, showing that multiple factors, such as malnutrition, malaria and helminthes, increase the risk of sexual and vertical transmission of HIV. Moreover, complementary interventions that reduce viral load, improve immune response, …

Gender And Environmental Strategies In India, Sirisha C. Naidu

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Portfolio Size On International Equity Home Bias Puzzle, Jinlan Ni

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper investigates a new explanation for the international equity home bias puzzle based on an endogenous asymmetric information model. Using a cross-sectional mutual fund data set, it is found that the degrees of home bias across fund managers are negatively correlated to the asset sizes under their management. This result is consistent with the theoretical prediction in the endogenous asymmetric information model—the portfolio managers with the larger assets tend to acquire more information regarding foreign equity and, hence, hold more foreign equity holdings.

Commentary, Dean D. Croushore

Economics Faculty Publications

It is a pleasure to discuss Richard Anderson and Charles Gascon’s (2009) article on their attempt to develop a state-space model to measure potential output growth in the face of data revisions. They use the methodology of Cunningham et al. (2007) applied to real output, to see if they can develop a better measure of potential output than other researchers. Such an approach seems promising, and they develop a unique method to study the data.

2008 Virginia Beach Tourism Economic Impact Study, Gilbert R. Yochum, Vinod Agarwal

Economics Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to estimate the total economic impact and the direct taxes and fees generated by the 2008 in-flow of visitors to the City of Virginia Beach's tourist industry. Total tourism economic impact is defined as the sum of direct, indirect and induced output, employment and earnings that result from visitor spending in Virginia Beach.

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, Spring 2009, Thomas L. Traynor

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.