Economics Commons^™

Who Will Care For The Women?, Candace Howes

Economics Faculty Publications

Over 20 million people today, including children, working-age disabled, and elderly persons, require some sort of assistance to live safely. Largely because women live longer than men, well into the ages when the probability of needing care increases, 70 percent of elderly people who need long-term care are women. Furthermore, most long-term care is provided by women, mainly as unpaid care in the home, or as low-paid care in institutions and community settings (Stone & Weiner 2001). The United States faces a severe long-term care crisis because of the nation's inability to plan for the changing demographic balance. The crisis …

The Impact Of Military Forts On Agricultural Investments On The Great Plains In 1880, Christopher Decker, David T. Flynn

Economics Faculty Publications

We empirically investigate the relationship between agricultural development and proximity to military forts in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado in 1880. Agricultural investments are substantially higher in counties where a military fort is present, suggesting that military forts stimulated agricultural development on the Great Plains. However, the reverse is not true; there is no statistical support for the notion that forts necessarily located in counties where substantial development was already occurring. Moreover, we found that while the presence of a military fort has the effect of increasing agricultural development, there is no evidence that such a presence sustained agricultural development.

What Do Credit Bureaus Do? Understanding Screening, Incentive, And Credit Expansion Effects, Craig Mcintosh, Bruce Wydick

Economics Faculty Publications

We develop a theoretical model that explains the primary empirical results emanating from a multi-year study of the impact of credit bureaus in Guatemala. Our theory derives “screening” and “incentive” effects of credit information systems that mitigate problems of adverse selection and moral hazard in credit markets. We also derive a “credit expansion” effect in which borrowers with clean credit records receive larger and more favorable equilibrium loan contracts. The credit expansion effect increases default rates, partially counteracting the first two effects. We create a simulation model that allows us to examine the relative magnitudes of these effects in relation …

Moral Reasoning In Economics, Jonathan B. Wight

Economics Faculty Publications

The Teagle discussion analyzes why economics teachers have become overly narrow in their pedagogical perspectives, thus pulling back from fully supporting the liberal arts agenda. In Chapter 1, Colander and McGoldrick (p. 6) observe that the generalist approach that excites students by asking "big think" questions across disciplinary boundaries fails to generate new knowledge, while the narrow "little think" questions that can be answered often fail to develop the critical thinking skills necessary for liberal education. As one example, the authors cite the decline of moral reasoning in economics, which was once center stage in Adam Smith's analysis of society. …

The Influence Of Campaign Expenditures On Virginia House Of Delegates Electoral Success, Christopher Jones, James Monks

Economics Faculty Publications

For decades economists and political scientists have sought to identify variables that influence the electoral success of public officials. Most of the existing literature focuses on the determinants of federal elections. This study examines elections to the Virginia House of Delegates and finds that campaign expenditures, incumbency status, party affiliation, and district voting tendencies all are significant predictors of electoral success. Additionally, this study finds that the returns to campaign expenditures, in terms of the additional votes that they generate, vary based on incumbency, party affiliation, number of opponents in the race, and over time.

Teaching Economics, Jonathan B. Wight

Economics Faculty Publications

Ethical considerations intersect with economics education on a number of planes. Nonetheless, in terms of curricula, only a handful of economics departments offer courses specifically focused on ethics. This chapter addresses the ways in which instructors can incorporate ethical components into teaching principles and field courses in order to broaden economic understanding and to enhance critical thinking. It examines three pedagogical issues: the artificial dichotomy between positive and normative analysis; the limiting scope of efficiency in outcomes analyses; and the incorporation of alternative ethical frameworks into public policy debates.

Job Loss And The Fraying Of The Implicit Employment Contract, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

Most workers have one employment contract that is explicit and another one that is implicit. The explicit employment contract specifies working hours, compensation, and job tasks. The implicit contract involves expectations about the extent to which the employment relationship is not just a payment for labor on the spot market but instead is likely to continue over time. The possibility of a longer-term commitment between an employer and its employees in turn has a number of implications: for example, whether firms will seek to avoid mass layoffs unless or until absolutely necessary; whether firms may cushion the wages and compensation …

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, December 2008, Thomas L. Traynor

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Aristotle's Difficult Relationship With Modern Economic Theory, Spencer J. Pack

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper reviews Aristotle's problematic relationship with modern economic theory. It argues that in terms of value and income distribution theory, Aristotle should probably be seen as a precursor to neither classical nor neoclassical economic thought. Indeed, there are strong arguments to be made that Aristotle's views are completely at odds with all modern economic theory, since, among other things, he was not necessarily concerned with flexible market prices, opposed the use of money to acquire more money, and did not think that the unintended consequences of human activity were generally beneficial. The paper argues however, that this interpretation goes …

For Love, Money Or Flexibility: Why People Choose To Work In Consumer-Directed Homecare, Candace Howes

Economics Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of wages and benefits (relative to other jobs available to workers), controlling for personal characteristics, on the recruitment and retention of providers working in a consumer-directed home care program.

This article was written as part of a project titled ‘‘Building a High Quality Homecare Workforce: Wages, Benefits and Flexibility Matter,’’ which was supported by a research grant from the Better Jobs Better Care Program and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (#049213) and Atlantic Philanthropies (#12099) with direction and technical assistance provided by the Institute for the Future of …

A Long Spell Of Uncertainty, John Austin, Chris Decker, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Bruce Johnson, Lisa Johnson, Ken Lemke, Franz Schwarz, Scott Strain, Eric Thompson, Keith Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

We find ourselves in a period of sustained economic uncertainty. Today, like 6 months ago, the U.S. economy is on the brink of a recession. Weakness in lending activity, coupled with weakness in the housing sector and related manufacturing industries has stymied economic growth since late 2007. At times, recession seems imminent. But, the official measures, such as quarterly gross domestic product, do not clearly signal that the economy is contracting. Further, prices are rising rapidly for food and energy. That is the uncertainty. Will 2008 be remembered as a recession year, or as a period of disappointing but slow …

Endogenous Asymmetric Information And International Equity Home Bias: The Effects Of Portfolio Size And Information Costs, John M. Barron, Jinlan Ni

Economics Faculty Publications

Equity home bias is one of the major puzzles in international finance. This paper investigates the impact of asymmetric information on equity home bias in a rational expectation model where portfolio managers differ in their levels of initial portfolio size and information acquisition is endogenous. The model characterizes the information acquisition and investment decisions made by each portfolio manager, and the resulting equilibrium. We find that portfolio managers with larger portfolio size acquire information about the foreign asset; this is consistent with new evidence linking the degree of home bias across portfolio managers to portfolio size.

Taxation Causes Kentucky To Lag Tennessee In Growth, Stephen E. Lile

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Kentucky's Debt Relief Attempt, Stephen E. Lile

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, Spring 2008, Thomas L. Traynor

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Encouraging Filing: Tax Credits And Social Safety Nets, James Alm, Todd Cherry, Michael Mckee, Michael L. Jones

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ranking Economics Journals, Economics Departments, And Economists Using Teaching-Focused Research Productivity, Melody Lo, M.C. Sunny Wong, Franklin G. Mixon Jr.

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper constructs new rankings of economics journals, economics departments, and economists that employ a measure of teaching-focused research productivity, an area of growing importance in recent years. The ranking methodologies presented here use information from articles that were published from 1991 through the early part of 2005 within the "Journal of Economic Literature'"s "economic education" classifications (A200-A290). The "Journal of Economic Literature" tops the list of journals, followed by the "Review of Economics and Statistics and the American Economic Review". Among the top institutions are Vanderbilt University, Indiana University, and the University of Wisconsin. Others that rank high here, …

An Economic Approach To Climate Change, Matt Bogard

Economics Faculty Publications

Economics is the study of choices, and how they are made compatible. The issue of global warming can be viewed in the context of a set of choices that lead to climate change. In a free society choices are made compatible via the price system. If prices do not reflect the true cost of carbon, then carbon intensive production and consumption choices may not be compatible given the choice sets across all members of society. For example, my choice to burn fossil fuels may be incompatible with your choice to live in a coastal area given certain climate change scenarios. …

Institutional Ownership And Firm’S Dividend Policy, Jinlan Ni

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper examines the linkage between dividend policy and institutional ownership within the context of the dividend model of Allen, Bernardo and Welch (2000). Specifically, it provides an empirical test of Allen, Bernardo and Welch (2000)’s novel implication that a tax differential between institutions and retail investors effects dividend policies. Using merge data of US industrial firms from 1980-2002, our results indicate that the dividend paying decision is positively related with institutional ownership. That is, firms with higher institutional ownership are more likely to be dividend payers. Further, we find that the deferred tax or tax credits that the institutional …

Testing The Pecking-Order Theory: Evidence From Chinese Listed Companies, Jinlan Ni, Miaomiao Yu

Economics Faculty Publications

The pecking-order theory of capital structure, which predicts that firms prefer internal to external finance, is one of the most influential theories of corporate leverage. This article examines whether the financial structure of China's listed companies follows a pecking order from debt to equity. Using the entire cross-section sample of China's listed companies in 2004, the authors find no evidence that China's listed companies follow a pecking order when they need funds to finance investment projects. Further subgroup analyses indicate that big companies follow a pecking order and small and medium companies do not. These results suggest that the Chinese …

Social Position And Distributive Justice: Experimental Evidence, Kurtis Swope, John J. Cadigan, Pamela Schmitt, Robert Shupp

Economics Faculty Publications

Using a simple, double-blind dictator experiment, we examine the extent to which subjects' choices of distributive shares are influenced by unearned social position. We measure social position by the initial distributive shares (resources) and the subjects' ability to determine the final distributive shares (power). We find that subjects' decisions are consistent with Rawls' (1971) hypothesis that individuals expect a greater share when in a position with more power and initial resources. Finally, we test if subjects' choices under a laboratory veil of ignorance are consistent with Rawls' concept of distributive justice. "Veiled" individuals exhibit preferences that are less risk-averse and …

Economics Of Science, Arthur M. Diamond Jr.

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Ethical Lacunae In Friedman's Concept Of The Manager, Jonathan B. Wight, Martin Calkins

Economics Faculty Publications

This article challenges along two lines Milton Friedman's injunction that the sole role of the business manager is to maximize profits for shareholders using all legal and ethical means. First, it shows how Friedman overly narrows the manager's moral duties to consequentialist profit maximization and thereby fails to account for a wide range of values and virtues necessary for good management. Second, it illustrates how more oblique approaches to management as well as Adam Smith's virtue-based model better capture the moral imagination and relational aspects of leadership that are critical to good management today. In the end, this article suggests …

Risk And Recovery, John Austin, Chris Decker, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Bruce Johnson, Lisa Johnson, Ken Lemke, Franz Schwarz, Scott Strain, Eric Thompson, Keith Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

The crisis in the housing and financial sectors has led to a dramatic slowdown in U.S. economic growth. Fourth quarter GDP growth and job growth are expected to be anemic and the economy may fall into recession in 2008. Indeed, several of the dozen members of the Nebraska Business Forecast Council do believe that the U.S. economy will likely slip into recession during 2008. However, the overall consensus of the Council is that the U.S. economy will avoid a recession. Economic growth will be slow in the first three quarters of 2008 before recovering in late 2008 and 2009.

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, Fall 2007, Thomas L. Traynor, Jessica Livingston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Thriving At Amazon: How Schumpeter Lives In Books Today, Arthur M. Diamond Jr.

Economics Faculty Publications

Amazon.com’s “Search Inside the Book” feature provides a new and exciting tool for bibliometric research. Over the last few years, a growing number of books listed on Amazon. com reference Schumpeter in some way. As of May 3, 2007, Amazon listed 8,086 books that in some way refer to Schumpeter. Of these, I currently have names and titles of 3,719 books in the Schumpeter Amazon database. Of these, I have done content-analysis for 1,176 books that make reference to Schumpeter. The main result is that a significant number of the references to Schumpeter are related to creative destruction. The percent …

A Soft Landing And A Long Layover, John Austin, Chris Decker, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Philip Baker, Bruce Johnson, Lisa Johnson, Ken Lemke, Franz Schwarz, Scott Strain, Eric Thompson

Economics Faculty Publications

The U.S. economy achieved a soft landing in 2006. This was a desirable outcome. The economy needed a break from its rapid, and potentially inflationary, growth in 2004 and 2005, before taking off again. But, that new flight has been delayed. The aggregate economy has remained mired in slow growth in the first half of 2007. Pockets of the economy, such as the labor market, have been strong, but a weak housing sector has limited overall growth. Further, signs point to one or two more quarters of weaker growth, before the economy is able to take off again.

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, May 2007, Thomas L. Traynor

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Taxpayer Services And Tax Compliance, James Alm, Michael L. Jones, Michael Mckee

Economics Faculty Publications

An important trend in tax administration policies in recent years is the recognition that the traditional “enforcement” paradigm of tax administration, in which taxpayers are viewed and treated as potential criminals and the emphasis is exclusively on repression of illegal behavior through frequent audits and stiff penalties, is incomplete. A revised “service” paradigm recognizes the role of enforcement, but also emphasizes the role of the tax administration as a facilitator and a provider of services to taxpayer-citizens (Alm and Martinez-Vazquez, 2003). Indeed, many recent tax administration reforms around the world have also embraced this alternative paradigm with some success. However, …

The Effect Of Social Capital On Group Loan Repayment: Evidence From Field Experiments, Alessandra Cassar, Luke Crowley, Bruce Wydick

Economics Faculty Publications

An important question to microfinance is the relevance of existing social capital in target communities to the performance of group lending. This research presents evidence from field experiments in South Africa and Armenia, in which subjects participate in trust and microfinance games. We present evidence that personal trust between group members and peer homogeneity are more important to group loan repayment than general societal trust or acquaintanceship between members. We also find some evidence of reciprocity: those who have been helped by other group members in the past are more likely to contribute in the future.