Economics Commons^™

Legends, Lies, & Rewritten Lives: After The Little Bighorn: Forgotten Struggles Of Those Who Walked Away, 2nd Edition, Thomas B. Davidson

DU Textbooks

This Story surrounds an event that occurred one summer on June 25, 1876, along the banks of the Little Bighorn River in what is now the state of Montana. Seen from a 21st century perch, it is a story of a collision between two very different civilizations or empires. Both empire’s military fought in the manner of their society. This narrative will attempt to balance the believable truth of what happened in that contest between the military representatives of both societies while also trying to tell an engaging story, without drifting into naked partisanship, purple prose, or sensationalism. The narrative …

Prenatal Care, Pregnancy Risk, Birth Outcomes And The Role Of Neighborhood Characteristics, Monica Garcia-Perez Phd, Randy Huard Phd, Christopher Thoms Phd, David Tilstra Md

InnovateHER Meeting 2026

This study links 2024 CentraCare Health birth records with neighborhood census tract conditions from the National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA, 2020/2021) to examine how place, prenatal care, and clinical risks influence birth outcomes in Central Minnesota. Neighborhood factors are standardized and paired with measures of prenatal-care adequacy and pregnancy-risk indicators in a series of multivariate linear models to explore their effect on birth outcomes. Analyses adjust for maternal demographics and clinical risks to identify independent neighborhood effects. A privacy-preserving, tract-linked dataset is also created to help local partners target high-need prevention areas.

National Center For Children In Poverty Releases 2025/2026 Tanf Cash Assistance Policy Series, Karen Chatfield, Sydney Elltringham

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) at Bank Street Graduate School of Education has released its 2025/2026 TANF Cash Assistance Policy Series to help support policymakers and advocates in strengthening these vital supports.

Financial Literacy And Fraud Vulnerability In Digital Finance: Evidence From The 2024 Nfcs, Mercedes Palacios Diaz

Posters - 2026

Digital finance has expanded rapidly through fintech platforms and cryptocurrency markets, increasing access to financial services while also exposing individuals to higher levels of financial fraud. Most research treats fraud vulnerability as a single outcome, without distinguishing between financial loss and the ability to recognize scams. This study examines how financial literacy shapes fraud vulnerability through its effects on fraud victimization and scam awareness, highlighting its dual role in reducing financial losses and improving scam recognition. Fraud vulnerability is therefore analyzed across two distinct dimensions: realized financial loss and scam awareness.

Social Media Microtrends And The Economic Realities Of Young Consumers, Camila Berumen

Posters - 2026

This study expects to reveal how social media microtrends act as indicators of the economic realities' young consumers experience, including financial pressure, shifting spending habits, and changing values around consumption. By analyzing how these realities are expressed through digital trends, the research will provide a deeper understanding of how economic conditions are communicated in everyday online behavior. This research addresses the issue that traditional economic measures often overlook lived experience, especially among younger generations. By focusing on microtrends, the study offers a more nuanced and accessible way to understand how economic realities are felt and expressed, rather than just measured. …

From Ideas To Impact: Evaluating How Financial Technology Expands Financial Inclusion Across Countries, Shravani Atakari

Posters - 2026

Financial inclusion refers to access and use of financial services (World Bank, 2022). Traditional finance excludes users due to:

• High costs • Geographic distance • Limited credit History . Fintech expands access through digital tools Purpose: Analyze how fintech improves inclusion and what drives adoption

Research Questions How does financial technology reduce barriers to financial inclusion, and what factors influence its adoption among underserved populations? Objectives Identify key barriers to financial inclusion Analyze how fintech reduces these barriers Examine adoption factors (TAM + UTAUT) Propose solutions to improve adoption

Mica Productions: The Sad Truth Behind Cosmetic Corporations' Impact On Children's Well-Being In India, Nyleen Benavides

Posters - 2026

Mica is a shiny silicate mineral found in granite, crystals, or rocks. This mineral has attracted the eyes of many cosmetic corporations. Due to high rates of unemployment and poverty in Asian countries, particularly in India’s Jharkhand region, corporations have taken over to profit the exportations of mica. India relies on illegal child labor in mica mining sites that are not only hazardous to children, but the economy and ecosystem. Previous research has shown how cosmetic corporations use mica as one of their main ingredients for shiny pigmentations within their products. However, there is limited research that has indicated the …

Budgeting Apps, Financial Literacy, And Financial Control, Max Masabo, Abdullah Mohammad Mahi

Presentations - 2026

Our paper shows the real hidden connections between budgeting app usage and financial wellbeing of U.S Households

Budgeting Apps, Financial Literacy And Financial Distress: Evidence From U.S. Households, Max Ngenzi Masabo

Posters - 2026

• First, it provides the first large-scale, nationally representative evidence on how budgeting app usage relates to household financial distress in the United States. Contrary to the intended purpose of these tools, we find that app users, especially frequent users, experience significantly higher levels of financial strain. • Second, we show that financial literacy is a critical moderating factor. The adverse association between budgeting apps and financial distress is substantially stronger among low-literacy individuals, highlighting financial literacy as an essential safeguard against harmful fintech outcomes. • Third, we identify behavioral mechanisms through which budgeting apps may exacerbate financial difficulties. App …

Japan's 5-Year Plan With India: Rethinking Cultural Homogeneity In The Workplace, Sydeny Nieto

Posters - 2026

In 2025, Japan and India had finalized the Japan-India 5-year Action Plan, where Japan will open their workplaces to over 500,000 Indian citizens over the next 5 years. While studies show how the plan would help fix labor shortage and population problems, it lacks public analysis and the data supporting Japan's readiness to take on this demographic change. This research addresses this gap by analyzing both economic benefit and public perspective toward migration. Highlighting broader impacts the plan would have on Japan's society, along with cultural challenges it may pose for Japan.

Artificial Intelligence And The Future Of Global Inequality, Valentina Caceres

Posters - 2026

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a central tool in the global system, shaping economic growth, political power, and international influence. While AI is often celebrated for innovation and progress in different sectors like education, healthcare, security and more, its development is uneven and mostly concentrated in wealthy countries. Because AI is increasingly embedded in economic production, public administration, and social services, access to AI capabilities has become a key determinant of global competitiveness and influence. Many developing nations lack the capital, infrastructure, and technological capacity needed to compete in the global economy driven by AI. This imbalance matters because …

The David And Goliath Phenomenon: When Small Powers Win Big Wars, Vivian Pettigrew

2026 Research Poster Competition

After over a decade of war, hundreds of thousands dead, and twenty-four years of power, Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria collapsed in November of 2024 in just twelve days. The success of fragmented Syrian rebels against such a long-standing and powerful government challenges widely held assumptions about power and stability. This research addresses these challenged assumptions by examining the so-called “David and Goliath phenomenon," or cases in which smaller states or rebel groups come out victorious against greater powers. Understanding these cases is crucial to explaining predictability in war and regime vulnerability, while also having important implications for modern international …

Policy Snapshot : Health Insurance Trends Among Child Care Educators, Sara Amadon

Straus Institute for Thriving Children & Families

This brief compares the health insurance status of child care educators in 2019 and 2024—spanning the COVID-19 pandemic and preceding 2026H.R.1’s implementation—to highlight shifting coverage patterns and state-level solutions to safeguard this essential workforce.

Finanse Cyfrowe: Tesserakt, Jakub Górka

Monografie/Monographs

Monografia przybliża sposób, w jaki technologie cyfrowe (m.in. sztuczna inteligencja, big data, blockchain, chmura obliczeniowa) oddziałują na usługi finansowe oraz wspierają rozwój innowacyjnych modeli biznesowych podmiotów świadczących usługi finansowe, oddziałują na struktury rynkowe czy transformują rynki finansowe oraz jakie generują konsekwencje społeczno-ekonomiczne.

Digital Finance: Tesseract

The monograph presents how digital technologies (i.e. artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, cloud computing) affect financial services and support the development of innovative business models of financial service providers, influence market structures, transform financial markets, and generate socio-economic consequences.

5th International Annual Conference Proceedings: A New Global Order, Yet Again, Centre For Business And Economic Research (Cber), School Of Economics And Social Sciences (Sess)

Conference Proceedings

The School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS) and the Center for Business and Economics Research (CBER) at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, are pleased to announce the 5th International Annual Conference on "A New Global Order, Yet Again" In an era marked by geopolitical realignments, technological innovations, green transitions, climate change, and evolving trade dynamics, the global economic landscape is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Developing economies today face multifaceted challenges: leveraging new opportunities in a decentralized global system while managing debt insolvency risk, uncertainties in international trade, climate change vulnerabilities, and rising socioeconomic inequality.

This conference seeks …

Indiana At A Glance: County Trends, 2025 Edition, Roberto Gallardo

Purdue University Press Books

Indiana at a Glance: County Trends, 2025 Edition provides an overview of macro socioeconomic and demographic trends based on county-level data in ten-year periods in Indiana, the upper Midwest region, and the nation. Analyzing data primarily from 2013 through 2023, this book presents information that contextualizes the design and implementation of specific policies enacted by elected officials and community leaders, and reveals the impact these initiatives have on the public.

Inspired, in part, by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural America at a Glance reports, as well as the author’s more than twenty years of work in the field, …

Breaking Up Or Bound Together? Unraveling Us-China Economic Interdependence, Vinh Huynh, Guangjun Qu

Annual Student Research Poster Session

This study investigates the extent to which the U.S.-China trade war has altered bilateral trade flows and economic interdependence between the two largest economies in the world. The question at the heart of this research is whether the two countries have truly begun to “decouple” or whether they remain deeply interconnected despite political and economic tensions. Drawing on U.S. and Chinese trade data from multiple official sources, we examine both the scale and persistence of trade disruptions over time. Our analysis extends beyond the pre-pandemic years to include 2020 through 2024, allowing us to distinguish between the trade war’s temporary …

Entrepreneurship Over The Business Cycle, Ryan Rudderham, Miyu Aoki

Annual Student Research Poster Session

During economic recessions, individuals face a challenging decision: whether to seek traditional employment or start their own business. While recessions are a poor time for entrepreneurship due to reduced consumer spending and business productivity, these periods also feature high unemployment, which makes finding wage work difficult. This project developed a theoretical framework to study entrepreneurship over the business cycle by introducing labor market frictions, creating a tractable yet realistic structure for occupational choice. Traditional macroeconomic models struggle to capture entrepreneurial decision-making across business cycles. As such, this project looked at labor market frictions in building a theoretical framework. Over the …

Beyond Personal Responsibility: Government Support For The Substantive Human Condition, Martha T. Mccluskey

Contributions to Books

Government protection against systemic harm to human well-being is stymied by the liberal idea that power is most legitimately wielded by autonomous individuals taking personal responsibility for their substantive well-being. Instead, a robust vision of democracy and socioeconomic justice requires grounding legitimate power in institutional responsibility, replacing the formal individual actor of liberal theory with the universally embodied, embedded human subject developed in Martha Fineman’s Vulnerability Theory. This chapter connects the message of personal responsibility in neoliberal US welfare reform policies to rationales defending the government’s failure to alleviate systemic human harm in the 2008 financial crisis and the accelerating …

Legends, Lies, & Rewritten Lives: After The Little Bighorn: Forgotten Struggles Of Those Who Walked Away, Thomas B. Davidson

DU Textbooks

This Narrative is about an event that occurred on June 25, 1876, on the banks of the Little Bighorn River in what is now the state of Montana. Seen from a 21st century perch, it tells a story of a contest between the armed representatives of two different civilizations, each of which fought in the manner of its society. The narrative will attempt to balance the truth of what happened while also relating an engaging story, but without drifting into sensationalism. The narrative will go beyond a focus on the meeting of the soldiers from either group to explore the …

4th Sbs International Conference 2025: Transforming Business For People And Planet, School Of Business Studies (Sbs)

Conference Proceedings

The IBA-SBS International Conference (IBA-SBSIC) brings together scholars, professionals, and policymakers from around the world, providing a platform for learning, collaboration, and cutting-edge research. As we enter the 4th edition in 2025, the conference embraces the theme "Transforming Business for People and Planet."

The business landscape is evolving rapidly, with companies increasingly held accountable for their environmental footprint, ethical responsibilities, and social impact. Governments, regulators, and consumers now demand responsible business practices that align with sustainability and long-term financial resilience. Sustainability is no longer a choice—it is a necessity. Global movements toward climate action, social equity, and responsible governance are …

Fixed Income Mathematics, Kenneth S. Bigel

Open Touro Created

2025

Bond Math is at the center of the functioning of the bond markets, yet this critical sub-finance discipline is usually not accessible to the typical investor. This is an approachable study of the mathematical theories underlying Fixed Income instruments. It is not a study of bonds per se or the bond markets. The text commences with a basic review of the time value of money, i.e., the theory of compound interest. It then proceeds to discuss how bond prices and yields are determined. Next, it covers the relationships between bond prices and general movements of interest rates in the …

Will Vegas Bet On Itself?, Quintez Gatewood

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Abstract:

• Las Vegas faces a serious dilemma post covid, whats next? After having been decimated with the shot to hospitality it nearly collapsed the city.
• The question I am supposing is how do we prevent this?
• Like any investor would suggest, diversify your portfolio to mitigate risk. So why hasn’t Vegas done this with the job market?
• I seek to answer this by using models and illustrating how the outcome will be

Impact Of Remote Work On Wages In Nevada’S Labor Force, Lauren Tomlinson, Sean Atias, Renato Salazar, Ezrah Tayag

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Remote Work Evolution and COVID-19

• In 2019, 7% of full paid workdays were done remotely. During the pandemic, that number substantially grew to 60%, and by 2023 it shrunk down to 28%. Elements of remote work have even spread to multiple industries such as healthcare, finance, and education (Barrero et al., 2023).
• Direct relationship between self-perceived job performance and remote work productivity. However, living with children under 18 negatively impacts remote work engagement and productivity (Toscano & Zappalá, 2021).
• Remote work can be associated with increases in Total Factor Productivity (TFP). Between 2019 and 2021, a 1% increase in the …

High Stakes & High Heels: The Economic Potential Of Merging Gambling With Gentlemens Clubs, Anthony Hernandez, Tony Nohmy

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Purpose:

• Vegas used to be “Vegas”
• Gambling Hotspot
• Lost the “magic”
• On Property Gentlemen’s Clubs
• Similar to property exclusive restaurants or nightclubs

Live Entertainment Tax, Khalea Demesma

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

The Live Entertainment Taxis a 9% tax that is exclusively for casinos, nightclubs, and venues that have a minimum occupancy of 200. The Live Entertainment Tax is managed by both the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which oversees events that are held at gaming establishments, and the department of Taxation, which handles events held at all other venues. Clark County is home to the Las Vegas Strip, which is where the majority of the revenue from this tax is collected.

數繪搵工 : 香港就業市場的大數據系列報告之一, 潘毅, 陳安繁, 金舒衡, 宋鑫淼, 周洋, 錢忠凱

CCRD Research Report

面對中美貿易戰爭時代的經濟格局，深入洞察香港勞動力市場的結構性特徵、最新動態與潛在挑戰，對特區政府制定前瞻性的經濟、產業及社會政策至關重要。本研究旨在通過大數據分析，精準描繪當前香港網上招聘市場的全貌。研究團隊嚴格篩選了十個涵蓋綜合、行業垂直及靈活用工的高流量求職平台，利用網絡爬蟲技術系統性搜集了於2024年12月1日至2025年1月9日期間發佈的147,026條招聘廣告。經數據清洗（剔除重複及無效數據）後，最終納入142,901條有效數據。藉助先進的大型語言模型（Deepseek V3）進行自動化文本挖掘，本研究高效提取並分析了職位屬性、技能要求、薪酬福利等多維度關鍵信息，為揭示市場趨勢奠定了堅實的實證基礎。主要研究發現如下：

一、整體市場格局：傳統主導、需求兩極、透明度堪憂

1. 結構固化，服務業驅動顯著：香港招聘市場需求高度集中於傳統服務業（進出口/批發零售、金融保險、住宿膳食佔逾四成），地域上亦極度聚集於核心商業區。

• 職位供給以全職（逾八成）、初級崗位（佔四成）為主，輔以相當數量的高級職位（逾兩成），呈現「啞鈴型」職級結構。
• 工作內容則由管理與服務類（合計逾六成）主導。這反映了香港既有的服務型經濟結構。

2. 用工市場在技能需求上呈現「實用主義」與「兩極分化」。

• 學歷與經驗要求差異懸殊，既有大量低門檻崗位（近六成無需大專以上學歷），也穩定需求高學歷專才（近三成要求大學或以上）。
• 硬技能方面，基礎數碼能力（近四成需求）已成常態，特定行業重視專業資格；然而，對尖端技術（如AI/大數據，需求不足2%）的吸納明顯滯後。
• 軟技能則高度聚焦於團隊協作、注重細節與主動性等確保執行效率的務實品質，對創造力等需求相對較低。

3. 在工作質量與福利方面呈現「基礎保障為主，但透明度嚴重不足」的特點。雖然五天工作制、月薪及核心福利相對普遍，但大量關鍵信息的缺失限制了求職者對職位「實質質量」的全面評估。

• 工作時間安排：五天工作週雖為市場常態（佔過半數），但大量職位（逾七成）未註明具體工時。同時，對每週少於20小時工作的需求（佔一成）相對顯著，反映市場存在彈性工時空間，惟清晰度與選項不足。
• 薪酬福利：月薪制及基本福利普遍，惟薪酬透明度嚴重不足。月薪制佔主導，年假、醫療、花紅是最常提及的福利。然而，過半數職位未披露具體薪酬水平，是評估工作質量的最大障礙；已披露的薪酬主要集中於中等水平（1.5萬至2.5萬港元）。
• 平等機會聲明：普遍缺位，多元共融意識有待加強。絕大多數（近九成）招聘廣告未包含平等就業機會的聲明，反映相關實踐重視不足。

二、行業聚焦（以進出口貿易、批發及零售業為例）：放大市場特徵與問題

作為勞動力需求大戶，進出口貿易、批發及零售業的招聘特徵印證並放大了整體市場趨勢：

1. 該行業職位更聚焦前線服務與基層，兼職需求更高，深刻反映了其以客戶互動和彈性人手調配為核心的運營模式，職位結構明顯比整體市場更為「向下沉」。

• 服務職能佔絕對主導（48.8%），遠超管理類（25.5%）及市場平均。
• 兼職比例顯著偏高（19.1%），遠超市場平均（13.2%）。
• 職級需求極度偏向初級（54.5%），遠超市場平均（40.7%），高中層需求比例均低於整體。

2. 技能要求更顯著的「低門檻、重實踐」。該行業對求職者的硬技能要求普遍遠低於市場平均水平，更側重吸納能快速投入基礎崗位的人員；軟技能側重點亦有不同。

• 學歷門檻顯著更低（63.8%明確無需特定學歷）。
• 語言要求相對寬鬆，大量職位未明確要求。
• 基礎數碼技能需求偏低（28.8% vs 整體39.7%）。
• 專業資格要求極少（< 5%）。
• 軟技能更強調「熱情」（34.2%），取代了整體市場中對「注意細節」的高度關注。

3. 工作福利與質量：靈活性更高，透明度問題更嚴重。該行業提供了更多彈性選項，但伴隨著更嚴峻的信息不透明，尤其在薪酬結構和平等機會披露方面。

• 工作時間：提供低工時/彈性選項比例更高（2-3天工作合計近20%，< 20小時/週佔11.8%）。
• 薪酬福利：薪酬更集中於中低水平（1萬-2萬）；時薪制更普遍（19.3%）；薪酬月數信息缺失極為嚴重（68.4%未註明）。
• 平等機會披露：透明度極差，高達94.9%未提及平權聲明，劣於市場平均。

基於本研究揭示的香港招聘市場結構性特徵與挑戰，特別是考慮到中美貿易競爭及關稅戰對香港支柱產業（如進出口貿易）構成的直接衝擊，茲向特區政府相關部門提出以下五點核心政策建議：

1. 應對貿易衝擊，加速職業轉型： 為緩解中美關稅戰對相關行業（貿易、物流、部分零售）就業的直接影響，需要強化及調整僱員再培訓局 (ERB) 及職訓局 (VTC) 課程，重點推動受影響員工向具增長潛力的新領域（如綠色經濟、醫療保健、創科輔助崗位）進行技能轉移，並提升培訓津貼；同時，需檢討失業支援，研究設立短期失業專項援助。
2. 檢討與完善靈活就業保障： 因應零工經濟趨勢及兼職比例上升，需全面檢討現行勞工法例對靈活就業者的適用性（尤其工傷、醫保、強積金MPF等方面），並參考國際經驗探索創新的保障模式。
3. 策略性提升未來數碼技能： 儘管當前高端技術需求不高，仍需前瞻性佈局，一方面強化普及數碼素養，另一方面透過資助及課程開發，策略性提升AI、大數據等前沿技術培訓，為經濟長遠轉型及應對外部挑戰儲備人才。
4. 優先提升工時透明度： 針對大量職位未披露工時的普遍問題，建議要求招聘廣告列明預計工作時數範圍；對標準工時立法問題可考慮分階段或分行業推進。
5. 規範招聘信息披露： 解決薪酬、福利等關鍵信息缺失問題，應透過具約束力的守則或法規，要求招聘廣告披露薪金範圍、支付方式、主要福利等，並由勞工處監察執行；同時，鼓勵僱主自願加入平等機會 (DEI) 聲明。

Research Newsletter Faculty Of Arts & Sciences: Issue Iii, Faculty Of Arts And Sciences

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Archives

• Cutting-edge research
• Academic engagement
• Interdisciplinary research
• Public health
• Water-related conflicts
• Salinity tolerance
• Seed priming
• Thatta
• Phonology workshop
• Creative talks

An Evaluation Of Nhmrc Funded Dementia And Diabetes Research, Etienne Vignola-Gagné Phd, Dmitrii Malkov, Elisabeth Browning, Jörg Hellwig Phd, Luigi Rocco Phd, Henrique Pinheiro, Alexandre Bédard-Vallée

Public Reports

This report, commissioned by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), provides comprehensive insights into the research outputs, outcomes, and impacts of NHMRC-funded health and medical research in the areas of dementia and diabetes to support NHMRC's mission of ‘building a healthy Australia.’

Exploring Dominican University Nursing Student’S Perceptions Of Economic Barriers To Accessing Essential Women’S Health Products, Annabelle E. Burke

Nursing | Student Research Posters

Access to essential feminine hygiene products, including menstrual supplies and hygiene items, is a growing economic and public health issue. Rising product prices and reliance on costly disposable products contribute to financial strain for many women. Period poverty is the lack of access to menstrual products, education, and hygiene facilities due to financial constraints, and it negatively affects women’s physical and mental health, particularly among students and low-income populations. Research shows that limited access to menstrual products affects dignity, sanitation, and emotional well-being and is compounded by social stigma and cultural silence surrounding menstruation (Brinkley & Niebuhr, 2023). Findings from …