Economics Commons^™

The Relationship Between Housing Price And Proximity To Public Land In Denver, Co, Connor Wyman

Honors Theses

This study examines how proximity to public lands influences housing values. This will be done using a hedonic pricing strategy, which is useful when analyzing heterogeneous goods such as a house or apartment. The data for this study comes from the American Community Survey (ACS) of Denver, CO from 2010 and 2017. This study also includes four variables related to distance from large open public spaces: one each for the distance from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, Cherry Creek State Park, and Chatfield State Park. Multiple linear regressions were used to analyze the …

Game Theory In Cricket, Shabab Ahmed

Honors Theses

The paper uses the natural setting of cricket to test theoretical predictions in game theory. In this setting, the agents play a one-shot-two-person constant sum game. The paper assesses whether trained professionals in cricket follow the `mix' of strategies predicted by Nash equilibria. The test uses a unique dataset derived from commentary data comprising of bowler and batsman strategies and outcomes. The paper creates a model for bowler-bastman interactions in cricket and uses this in conjunction with the data to generate predicted Nash equilibrium frequencies. These predicted frequencies are then compared with the actual frequencies from the data. My study …

Investigating The Effect Crime Has On Uber And Yellow Taxi Pickups In Nyc, Kebing Li

Honors Theses

How to manage the relationship between Uber and the local taxi industry has been a long-lasting and hot topic for most of the major cities around the world. Whether Uber is stealing money from and undermining the local taxi drivers or it is beneficial for public transportation has no certain conclusions. In this paper, we focus on the city of New York, where both Uber and traditional Yellow Taxi play important roles in public transportation and city culture in general, and we are trying to investigate the factors that are going to affect Uber and Yellow Taxi pickups in New …

Analyzing The Impact Of Home Locales On Access To Tertiary Education; Trends In Students’ Access To Bucknell University, Emily Tevebaugh

Honors Theses

Access to postsecondary education has been found in previous studies to be correlated with socioeconomic status as well as with various other indicators, such as parents’ education levels and cultural expectations. However, addressing the impact of home locales and geographical proximity to colleges in addition to these individual characteristics is a crucial part of understanding college access. In this honors thesis, the following questions will be examined: how has access to college and the decision to matriculate changed in recent years? How does distance from colleges and differing characteristics of home locales influence acceptance to a university and the decision …

Tmi : An Examination Of Excess Returns Surrounding Phase Iii Fda Approvals, Luke Chiotelis

Honors Theses

Over the past three decades, the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical industry has had the largest growth rate of any sector in the U.S. economy. Currently, the largest 10 companies have a market cap of over 700 billion dollars. In the past 20 years, Biotech has outperformed the Standard and Poor’s 500 index earning superior returns for those willing to invest in this risky, high growth industry (Bloomberg L.P.). This upward trend is expected to continue as both institutional and private investment in biotech continues to soar.

A better understanding of the FDA approval process and the way a company’s stock price …

Rationality, Revisions, And Real-Time Data, Jason Hall

Honors Theses

Revisions to macroeconomic variables are a significant part of the process by which researchers, the general public, and the government get information about the state of the United States' economy. They are also substantial: this can have large implications for forecasting, macroeconomic research, business decisions, and monetary and fiscal policy. In this paper, I examine the cyclicality of various aggregate variables in U.S.data, and determine that of the major NIPA variables analyzed, only consumption andreal imports revisions display a large degree of cyclicality. I also examine the rationalityof the same set of variables under different definitions of the final value, …

An Investigation Of Recreational Marijuana Laws And Traffic Fatalities, Todd Darby

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates whether the implementation of a recreational marijuana law in Colorado is associated with a change in traffic fatalities. This thesis utilizes Colorado state-level data in regression analysis with a menu of dependent traffic fatality variables from the Fatality Accident Reporting System data. The only significant relationship found is between the implementation of the recreational marijuana law and marijuana-related traffic fatalities, where the law is found to be largely and positively related with marijuana-related traffic fatalities. However, this paper can draw only limited conclusions owing to the lack of a counterfactual and the short period of post-implementation data …

Do Global Cities Make Green Cities? How Global Governance Impacts Transportation In Bogotá And Medellín, Eleanor Jackson

Honors Theses

This thesis examines how global and local governance has combined to deliver effective and sustainable public transportation in cities by comparing Bogotá’s bus rapid transit (BRT) system, TransMilenio, with Medellín’s mass transit system, STIMVA, often referred to as Metro de Medellín. After considering the rationales used to justify local and global authority over climate change, this analysis problematizes the supposed benefits of empowering global and local actors by highlighting the conflicts of interest that plague the elites who mediate the global and the local. In analyzing the global and local interactions, this work draws from extensive literature to highlight three …

Understanding The Causes Of Female Labor-Force Participation Stagnation In The U.S., Sophia Fosdick

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the stagnation and decline in U.S. women’s labor force participation from the 1990s onwards. Through literature analysis and economic theory, I determined that different subgroups in the U.S. female population between the ages of 25 and 54 had differing trends in labor supply behaviors. I then used regression analysis of U.S. Census data from years 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010 to chart these behaviors and understand the groups facing the largest decline. Through my data, I found that uneducated mothers of young children were facing the largest decline, with an increasingly negative response as the decades progress, …

Understanding Factors Of Sexual Behaviors In Teenagers In Mississippi, Jackson Colburn

Honors Theses

The primary purpose of this study is to determine the associations between socio-demographic factors and sexual behaviors in teens based on bivariate analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey for 2015. In conducting a comparative analysis of survey data for both the United States and the state of Mississippi, this study aims to depict a picture of the state of teen sexual behaviors both nationally and in Mississippi. A secondary quantitative analysis of the Mississippi survey dataset also sets out to highlight any possible significant relationships between teen sexual behaviors and certain …

The Effect Of Instructional Expenditures On Student Outcomes: Evidence From St. Louis-Area Public School Districts, Noah Antle

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to contribute to the broader conversation over the relationship between school spending and student outcomes. Using twenty-two public school districts in the St. Louis area, annual data on instructional expenditures and two measures of student outcomes (average composite ACT score and the percentage of high school graduates to enroll at a 2- or 4- year college or university within 180 days of graduation) was collected by request from the Missouri Department of Education and Secondary Education. Regression analysis was conducted with this data to determine whether or not raw changes in instructional expenditures per student or the …

Economic Base Analysis Of The City Of Commerce, Texas With Relation To Hunt County And Texas, Rebekah Cooper

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Regional One Child Policies And Economic Development In China From 1997 To 2010, Austin Hayes

Honors Theses

The one child policy enacted by the Chinese government in 1979 has restricted the sizes of Chinese families and led to an abnormal male-dominated sex ratio. Abnormal sex ratios can have a variety of economic consequences that could work together to reduce the general welfare of the regions they exist in. This study aims to evaluate the effect of sex ratios on GRP (gross regional product) and GRP per capita through a series of linear regression models. Data used in this study was collected from the National Bureau of Statistics in China, a Chinese government organization in charge of collecting …

Lending Club’S Note Trading Platform Facade: An Examination Of Peer-To-Peer (P2p) Lending Secondary Market Inefficiency, Stephen Harvey

Honors Theses

The original objective of the study was to monitor and analyze the inefficiencies in Lending Club’s Peer-toPeer (P2P) secondary market, in order to exploit these inefficiencies for a risk-free return. Upon a threemonth examination and analysis of the secondary market, the findings indicate that arbitrage conditions do not exist as a result of the observed volume of the marketplace being vastly lower than initially believed. Only 0.44% of note listing instances on Lending Club’s secondary market over the three-month period resulted in successful trades. As a consequence, investors assume a purported level of liquidity that is never met, thus they …

Mechanism Design, Matching Theory And The Stable Roommates Problem, Yashaswi Mohanty

Honors Theses

This thesis consists of two independent albeit related chapters. The first chapter introduces concepts from mechanism design and matching theory, and discusses potential applications of this theory, particularly in relation to dorm allocations in colleges. The second chapter investigates a subset of the dorm allocation problem, namely that of matching roommates. In particular, the paper looks at the probability of solvability of random instances of the stable roommates game under the condition that preferences are not completely random and exogenous but endogenously determined through a dependence on room choice. These probabilities are estimated using Monte-Carlo simulations and then compared with …

What Effects Did United Airlines' De-Hubbing Of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Have On Cleveland Passengers?, Joshua A. Young

Honors Theses

This paper uncovers the effects on passengers from United Airlines’ 2014 de-hubbing of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE). Airline networks are often reorganized for efficiency; during the process, an airport may gain or lose hub operations, affecting passengers in different ways depending on the market environment. I take an empirical approach using difference-in-differences models to analyze 28 quarters of Bureau of Transportation Statistics data. I find that de-hubbing contributed to significant reductions in airfare per mile out of CLE. This is consistent with past cases of de-hubbing where low-cost carriers were present. However, quality measures, including the number of nonstop …

Sacrifice, Benefit, And Reciprocity: Evidence From A Trust Game, Mirco Dinelli

Honors Theses

Social preferences have generated much interest in recent economic literature. While reciprocity has been closely examined by several economists using gift exchange and other games, much of their focus is on the effect of intentions and motivations. Instead, I focus on two strictly outcome-based factors in the context of a trust game: sacrifice made by the giver and benefit received by the recipient. I attempt to isolate these influences by varying the multiplier across variations of the trust game to create comparison groups that differ in one of these factors, but not both. Unable to control for all expected sources …

Distance In Diocese : Annual Appeal Giving In The Catholic Church, Elaine Wissuchek

Honors Theses

The distance between a donor and a charity is hypothesized to affect charitable giving for self-regarding and altruistic reasons. Distance increases transaction costs, reducing the potential extrinsic benefits received by donors; it decreases social pressure for giving, and limits the ability of donors to monitor the charity’s management. Donors also have intrinsic preferences for proximity. This study does not find the hypothesized negative correlation between distance (measured as driving time) and donations to annual appeals for Catholic dioceses.

The Effects Of Perceived Quality On Tuition And Net Tuition, Isabella Xianxin Thomas

Honors Theses

This paper examines the effects of perceived quality on tuition and net tuition utilizing both direct and indirect measures to account for quality and the U.S News and World Ranking to measure perceived quality. Tuition is the sticker price, whereas net tuition is the sticker price less discounts. Judgments of quality will be more apparent in tuition, therefore perceived quality and tuition should have a larger relationship than net tuition and perceived quality. When regressed with quality variables held constant on tuition and net tuition, effect of reputation on prices is captured. The coefficient for perceived quality on tuition had …

Acute Illness And Job Lock, Lauren Passero

Honors Theses

This paper assesses if the experience of an acute illness generates decreased job mobility among workers with employer-sponsored health insurance. An acute illness may increase the perceived value of health insurance and “lock” workers into jobs that provide health insurance as compensation. Using difference-in-difference tests, I evaluate the presence of job lock among workers impacted by acute health problems in Panel 19 of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The results provide inconclusive evidence of job lock related to the experience of an acute illness. Further research on acute illness-related job lock can explore the potential long-term impact of job lock …

The Euro Effect On Trade In The Emu Core And Periphery: A Pre And Post-Crisis Analysis, Kerri Harner

Honors Theses

As the world financial crisis hit Europe in 2008, the financial shock had asymmetric effects across the eurozone; by 2010, its effects led to a sovereign debt crisis in the euro area. The shock created a clear distinction between strong, core economies in the European Monetary Union (EMU), and a struggling indebted periphery that fared worse in the period of crisis. The sovereign debt crisis revealed inherent fragility in the EMU. In light of recent populist movements, the common currency is under unprecedented scrutiny. This study seeks to assess the euro effect on exports for a clearly distinguished EMU core …

Globalization And Immigration: How A Changing Demographic Landscape Influenced The 2016 Presidential Election, Jacob Rusnock

Honors Theses

The 2016 presidential election results varied significantly from many forecasts. The media proposes that the radically atypical candidacy of Donald Trump motivated pockets of the electorate to support the Republican Party more so than they had in past elections. This paper examines the following questions: Which traditional predictors of the election failed to foresee a Republican victory? If the traditional predictors were unsuccessful, can the results be explained using county level economic and demographic data? Is there evidence to support the media’s proposed explanations of the results? By utilizing the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey data, this paper examines some …

The Effectiveness Of Promotions In Minor League Baseball : A Study Of The Eastern League, Collin R. Zucker

Honors Theses

Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is comprised of 247 teams playing in 17 leagues at six different levels. Every team in these leagues is an affiliate of a Major League Baseball (MLB) team, but many are privately owned and are therefore financially independent. While MiLB primarily serves as a development environment for future MLB players, profit maximization is still a goal of various front offices. Minor League Baseball has existed for over a century but only recently have teams been regarded as profitable investments. In Forbes’ “Most Valuable Minor League Teams” list published in 2016, the average value of the top …

An Analysis Of Skill-Biased Technical Change Across Demographic Groups, Madison Lindsay

Honors Theses

I adopt a measure of task-based routineness from Autor and Dorn (2013) to investigate the effects of routineness on various demographic groups. I analyze data from the Current Population Surveys between 1976 and 2017 to determine which groups, separated by race, gender, and age, are most strongly affected by routine-biased technological change. My findings suggest that women are most negatively affected by occupational routineness. Further, both women’s concentration in highly routine occupations and women’s educational attainment trends from 1976 to 2017 could explain women’s increasing susceptibility to changes in routineness.

The Effect Of Bike Lane Infrastructure On Urban Housing Markets, Bracken Woolley

Honors Theses

Across the United States, cities are increasing their level of investment in bicycle infrastructure. The environmental and health benefits of this infrastructure are clear, but less research has been conducted on its economic impacts. This study examines the effect of bicycle infrastructure, specifically bike lanes, on New York City housing markets. Specifically, I look at the impact of bike lane length on median rent and percent vacancy in a given census tract. In addition to the independent variable of focus, bike lane length, census-based data was used to control for other economic and demographic factors that could impact property values. …

The Role Of Automatic Mood On Risk Appetite, Makail Johannesson

Honors Theses

Numerous studies over the past few decades have indicated links between subtle psychological influences and decision-making. It is often thought that individuals make conscious choices based on their preferences regardless of whether those preferences are optimal or not. However, it has been shown that most of our behaviors, judgements, and decisions are often a product of unconscious influences. These influences are significant in both simple and complex life situations, including the realm of financial decision making. In this experiment, participants primed with positive evaluative stimuli reported a more positive mood while those primed with negative evaluative stimuli reported a more …

The Future Was A Riot: Causes Of Youth Unemployment In Spain And Challenges To Immigration And The Welfare State In The Era Of The Common Market (1999-2016), Andrew Hayes

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to exam the causes behind unusually high youth unemployment in Spain, even after the 2007-8 financial crisis has subsided. The primary means of investigating these causes is through constructing a set of empirical models and then using these models to perform several time-series regressions to find whether changes in educational patterns, demographics, and immigration have had any concrete effect on the youth unemployment rate and social capital. Some qualitative work is done; particularly in describing the legal structure surrounding unemployment and in the description of the Spanish welfare state. In my research, I find …

An Analysis Of Mississippi Tax Incentives, Bruce H. Brawner

Honors Theses

The locational decisions of firms present a complex economic and political problem for State Legislatures across the United States of America. It is well known that individual states compete against one another, offering large packages of incentives to firms who open within their borders — a process popularly known as the race to the bottom. This thesis examines public subsidy information reported by the Mississippi Development Authority alongside wage and employment data from 1990 to 2016 in a local projection framework to examine whether or not treatment effects of local government spending are significant. I then employ the same method …

Examining The Impact Of University Sports Success On Freshman Act Scores: An Empirical Analysis, Connor Yackels

Honors Theses

My study presents a model in which incoming freshman ACT scores are a function of football, basketball, and baseball regular season and postseason success, using academic variables as controls. I contribute to the existing literature by including baseball in the analysis in addition to football and basketball, using ACT scores instead of SAT scores, using a unique and expanded set of variables to measure sports success, and more recent data. For the time period 2006-2014, I find weak evidence that supports the hypothesis that athletic success positively influences ACT scores.

Crime And The Business Cycle In Mississippi, Taylor Thrasher

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the relationship between crime and the business cycle in Mississippi. Working with a theoretical model of the individual's decision to commit a crime, I show that an increase in legal income decreases an individual's propensity to commit crime. I then use regressions to estimate the long-run and short-run income elasticities of violent crime, burglary, larceny, and vehicle theft. The long-run empirical model shows how income growth effects crime growth, and the short-run empirical model shows how income variability effects crime variability. In the long run, I find that as income increases (decreases), both burglary and larceny decrease …