Economics Commons^™

Three Brief Proofs Of Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, John Geanakoplos

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Arrow’s original proof of his impossibility theorem proceeded in two steps: showing the existence of a decisive voter, and then showing that a decisive voter is a dictator. Barbera replaced the decisive voter with the weaker notion of a pivotal voter, thereby shortening the first step, but complicating the second step. I give three brief proofs, all of which turn on replacing the decisive/pivotal voter with an extremely pivotal voter (a voter who by unilaterally changing his vote can move some alternative from the bottom of the social ranking to the top), thereby simplifying both steps in Arrow’s proof. My …

Are There Tradeoffs Between Farm Profitabilty And Environmental Quality In South Dakota's Big Sioux Aquifer Area?; Grain Market Volatility - Is $4.00 Cash Corn Possible In Eastern South Dakota?, Thomas L. Dobbs, John H. Bischoff, Burton W. Pflueger, Richard Shane

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

School-To-Work Programs To Facilitate Youth Employment And Learning, Kevin Hollenbeck

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Employment Act Of 1946: A Half Century Of Experience, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

The enactment of the Employment Act of 1946 established the Council of Economic Advisers and the congressional Joint Economic Committee. This paper discusses the role each has played since then involving economic policy.

Four Approaches To Tax Reform, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

This report explains four alternatives to the income tax: the flat tax, the saving-friendly USA Tax, a national sales tax, and a value-added tax.

Three Brief Proofs Of Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, John Geanakoplos

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Arrow’s original proof of his impossibility theorem proceeded in two steps: showing the existence of a decisive voter, and then showing that a decisive voter is a dictator. Barbera replaced the decisive voter with the weaker notion of a pivotal voter, thereby shortening the first step, but complicating the second step. I give three brief proofs, all of which turn on replacing the decisive/pivotal voter with an extremely pivotal voter (a voter who by unilaterally changing his vote can move some alternative from the bottom of the social ranking to the top), thereby simplifying both steps in Arrow’s proof. My …

A Stopping Rule For The Computation Of Generalized Method Of Moments Estimators, Donald W.K. Andrews

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

To obtain consistency and asymptotic normality, a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator typically is defined to be an approximate global minimizer of a GMM criterion function. To compute such an estimator, however, can be problematic because of the difficulty of global optimization. In consequence, practitioners usually ignore the problem and take the GMM estimator to be the result of a local optimization algorithm. This yields an estimator that is not necessarily consistent and asymptotically normal. The use of a local optimization algorithm also can run into the problem of instability due to flats or ridges in the criterion function, …

Market Experimentation And Pricing, Dirk Bergemann, Juuso Välimäki

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We present a continuous-time model of Bayesian learning in a duopolistic market. Initially the value of one product offered is unknown to the market. The market participants learn more about the true value of the product as experimentation occurs over time. Firms set prices to induce experimentation with their product. The aggregate outcomes are public information. As agents learn from the experiments of others, informational externalities arise. Surprisingly, the informational externality leads to too much learning. Buyers do not consider the impact of their experimentation on other buyers while the sellers internalize the gains from experiments conducted by the buyers. …

Semiparametric Estimation Of A Sample Selection Model, Donald W.K. Andrews, Marcia A. Schafgans

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper provides a consistent and asymptotically normal estimator for the intercept of a semiparametrically estimated sample selection model. The estimator uses a decreasingly small fraction of all observations as the sample size goes to infinity, as in Heckman (1990). In the semiparametrics literature, estimation of the intercept typically has been subsumed in the nonparametric sample selection bias correction term. The estimation of the intercept, however, is important from an economic perspective. For instance, it permits one to determine the “wage gap” between unionized and nonunionized workers, decompose the wage differential between different socioeconomic groups (e.g., male-female and black-white), and …

Two Brief Proofs Of Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, John Geanakoplos

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

The first proof shows that Arrow’s axioms guarantee neutrality: every social choice must be made in exactly the same way, which quickly leads to dictatorship. The second proof clarifies the last step, and also confirms the intimate connection between Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem and the Condorcet triple. The second proof shows that a doubly pivotal agent must be a dictator; the Condorcet triple guarantees the existence of a doubly pivotal agent. Neutrality guarantees the existence of a (symmetrically) doubly pivotal agent.

Three Brief Proofs Of Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, John Geanakoplos

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Arrow’s original proof of his impossibility theorem proceeded in two steps: showing the existence of a decisive voter, and then showing that a decisive voter is a dictator. Barbera replaced the decisive voter with the weaker notion of a pivotal voter, thereby shortening the first step, but complicating the second step. I give three brief proofs, all of which turn on replacing the decisive/pivotal voter with an extremely pivotal voter (a voter who by unilaterally changing his vote can move some alternative from the bottom of the social ranking to the top), thereby simplifying both steps in Arrow’s proof. My …

An Empirical Analysis Of Dutch Disease: Developing And Developed Countries, David Rudd '96

Honors Projects

Dutch Disease occurs when a country discovers a substantial natural resource deposit and begins a large-scale exportation of it. As a result, the country's currency appreciates, thereby reducing the competitiveness of the country's traditional export sector. Therefore, this tradable goods sector should contract, leading to structural changes and unemployment in the economy. Neary and Van Wijnbergen (1986) develop the theoretical underpinnings by identifying the two components of Dutch Disease: the spending effect and the resource-movement effect. Using these theoretical components, the paper attempts to account for the decline in the Netherlands' manufacturing sector and Nigeria's and Indonesia's agriculture sectors. The …

Individuals' Lifetime Use Of Nursing Home Services: A Dynamic Microsimulation Approach, Sarah B. Laditka

Center for Policy Research

Despite the projected growth in the number of older Americans who will use nursing home services as the baby boom generation ages, there is little information about the total amount of time we can expect people to reside in nursing homes. I estimate individuals’ lifetime use of nursing home services using data from the 1984-1990 Longitudinal Study of Aging and the 1982, 1984, and 1989 National Long-Term Care Survey. A Markov model of functional status was used to estimate monthly functional status transition probabilities. Discrete-time hazard models were estimated to determine characteristics that were associated with nursing home use. Microsimulation …

The Demand For Home Mortgage Debt And The Income Tax, James R. Follain, Robert M. Dunsky

Center for Policy Research

The goal of this paper is to learn more about the demand for the amount of mortgage debt owed by United States home owners. Mortgage debt is defined to be the amount of outstanding household debt secured by the owner’s principal residence; mortgages for second homes and other real estate are not considered, but second mortgages and home equity loans are. The analysis focuses on the behavior of individual households and examines variations in the their demand for mortgage debt with respect to a variety of characteristics such as household income, age, education, and other characteristics of the household. Of …

Work, Welfare, And The Burden Of Disability: Caring For Special Needs Of Children In Poor Families, Marcia K. Meyers, Anna Lukemeyer, Timothy M. Smeeding

Center for Policy Research

This paper addresses issues which arise at the juncture of welfare and disability policies. Using preliminary data from a recent survey of current and recent AFDC recipients in California, we find that disabilities and chronic health problems affect the mothers or children in 43 percent of all households in the AFDC system. The presence of one or more children with disabilities or chronic illnesses is found to have an impact on the economic well-being of families, with increased levels of direct hardship reported by families caring for one or more severely impaired children. Potential causes of higher levels of hardship …

Do Housing Programs For Low-Income Households Improve Their Housing?, Amy D. Crews

Center for Policy Research

The primary goals of the 1937 Housing Act were to provide safe and sanitary housing and to reduce crowding for low-income households. During the nearly 60 years since, the effective goals have expanded to include lowering housing costs, and by extension, to increasing nonhousing consumption. This paper examines the effect these programs have had on the overall consumption behavior of participants. Using data from the 1987 American Housing Survey (AHS), the results indicate that federal housing programs have little effect on the housing consumption of participants (4.4 percent increase), but an enormous effect on their nonhousing consumption (141 percent increase). …

Lower Chesapeake Maritime Enterprise: 1781-1812, D. Dennis Duff

History Theses & Dissertations

The American Revolutionary War, officially concluded by the Treaty of Paris of 1783, forever changed American maritime enterprise. An examination of the response of Lower Chesapeake merchants to elimination of the British monopoly on American seagoing commerce reveals that Virginia shipping activity recovered quickly after the conflict, then expanded and prospered until the War of 1812. In addition to propelling the Commonwealth's post-war economic resurgence, Virginia's prosperous foreign trading interests influenced political decisions on Constitutional ratification, establishment of Confederation period and early national commercial policies, and diplomatic initiatives to strengthen American overseas exchange.

Principal sources include customs records of the …

Testing The Standard View Of The Long-Run Unemployment-Inflation Relationship, Ray C. Fair

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

The results in this paper, based on estimating and testing price equations for 30 countries, do not support the standard view of the long-run relationship between unemployment and inflation. They overwhelmingly reject the dynamics implied by the standard view. Wage equations are also estimated and tested. The paper also attempts to estimate the functional form of the relationship between measures of demand pressure and price and wage levels, but no strong conclusions emerge.

Unemployment Insurance And Unemployment: Implications Of The Reemployment Bonus Experiments, Carl Davidson, Stephen A. Woodbury

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We translate the results of the three reemployment bonus experiments that were conducted during the 1980s into (a) impacts of a 10-percentage point increase in the Unemployment Insurance (UI) replacement rate on the expected duration of unemployment; and (b) impacts of adding 1 week to the potential duration of UI benefits on the expected duration of unemployment. Our approach is to use an equilibrium search and matching model, calibrated using data from the bonus experiments and secondary sources. The results suggest that a 10-percentage point increase in the UI replacement rate increases the expected duration of unemployment by .3 to …

The Barriers Present In More Developed Countries And Less Developed Countries Slowing The Implementation Of Substainability, Luke Giovine

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 1996 the natural resource base of the world is being depleted at a rate far below the sustainable level. This is very evident in less developed countries (IDC), where raw limited natural resources are being poorly utilized and/or exported to more developed countries (MDC). The More Developed Countries such as the United States, Japan, and Germany use a high amount of natural resources and energy to maintain their material Standard Of Living (SOL), and this is at rates above what their own country can sustain with its own natural resources within its own borders. Both MDC's and LDC's are …

Urban Growth Projections_April 1996, University Of New Mexico Bureau Of Business And Economic Research

Historic Publications

Urban Growth Projections for Albuquerque in 1996.

Pluralism, Multiculturalism And Group Rights, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

However prevalent may have been the longing for homogeneity, or at least social unity, in political thinking, the fundamental point which must be recognized is that cultural diversity or pluralism has been the most notable feature of society in the history of human set tlement. "Marginality and pluralism were and are the norm of civi lized existence."1 There are several reasons why this is the pattern revealed by history.2 The first has to do with the ubiquity of military conflict. Even among barbarians ethnic political unity was fragile because military conquests resulted in the mixing of peoples. But throughout history …

Design Of The Worker Profiling And Reemployment Services System And Evaluation In Michigan, Randall W. Eberts, Christopher J. O'Leary

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1993, Public Law 103-152, require each state employment security agency to implement a Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) system. WPRS systems are intended to identify unemployment insurance beneficiaries who are most likely to exhaust their regular benefits, and refer them quickly to reemployment services to speed the transition to new employment. This brief paper was prepared for a national colloquium on WPRS held June 11-14, 1996 in Atlanta. The paper summarizes work done by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research for the State of Michigan to design and implement a UI profiling model, …

New Mexico Labor Market Review 03-29-1996, New Mexico Department Of Labor

Historic Publications

The New Mexico Labor Market Review is a monthly publication presenting statistical data and analysis on labor market conditions throughout New Mexico. Issues examine statewide and regional trends in employment, unemployment, labor force estimates, industry activity, wages, occupational demand, and related economic conditions, often accompanied by feature articles on topics affecting the state’s economy. This issue covers February 1996.

Identification Of The Key Economic And Social Issues Facing The Greater Battle Creek Area, George A. Erickcek

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Importance Of Transportation Infrastructure Investments To The Nation's Future, Randall W. Eberts

Testimonies

No abstract provided.

Retained Ownership : Cattle, Dillon Feuz, Gene Murra

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Ua68/2 Intercambio Internacional, Vol. Xiv, No. 1, Wku Latin American Studies

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by WKU Latin American Studies program regarding science, politics and economic advances in Latin America as well as cooperative projects between WKU and universities across Latin America. The newsletter is written in both English and Spanish.

Books Received And Book Notices, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Book Listing for the Vol 19, No 1 Edition of the Pacific Studies Journal

Contributors: Vol 19 No. 1, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Contributors list of Vol. 19 (1996): Pacific Studies Full Issue 1