Economics Commons^™

Active Labor Market Programs: Conceptual Framework, Christopher J. O'Leary

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Trends. Zero-Sum Games And Terrorism: Israeli And Palestinian Contestants, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The construct of the zero-sum game has several denotations in the political psychological literature on conflict.

The Search For Stock Market Bubbles: An Examination Of The Nyse Index, Andrew J. Economopoulos, Avinash G. Shetty

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

Many have put forth reasons why the stock market has climbed to new and unprecedented heights. Two reasons are examined: (1) investors are expecting prices to increase and are bidding up price irrationally; (2) investors have moved to a long-term strategy and are requiring a lower risk premium. For the latter reason, the rise in stock prices is due to a change in the fundamentals, and for the former reason the rise represents the classical bubble. The evidence indicates that risk preferences have changed while price momentum does not appear during bubble periods.

Introduction, Ken Mccormick

Major Themes in Economics

No abstract provided.

The Economics Of Corruption In Developing Countries, Ramchandra Akkihal, Harlan M. Smith Ii, Roger Adkins

Economics Faculty Research

Official corruption, unfortunately, is endemic in the developing world. One factor in the spread of this illegal activity has been the propensity of developing-country governments to intervene heavily in their economies, often in the attempt to guide, direct, and control economic activity in order to promote the desired pace and style of economic development. Such regulatory efforts, though now on the wane in much of the developing world, continue to generate opportunities in many countries for bureaucrats in control of scarce resources to allocate them on a non-market basis, to further their own economic, political, and social prospects.

Efficiency And Performance Of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits): An Empirical Examination, Can Topuz

Doctoral Dissertations

This study has a threefold purpose. Its first objective is to investigate input and output efficiencies in the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry. Its second objective is to understand the impact of size, property share, loan production, debt ratio, property and geographic diversification, control and governance variables, overall risk, capital risk, growth rate, and management type on a number of efficiency measures, including profit, cost, allocative, technical, pure technical and scale efficiency. The third objective is to assess the impact of structural and regulatory changes in the industry on REITs' productivity, technology, and efficiency changes.

I have estimated the …

Analysis Of Small Business Lending In Texas, Steve A. Johnson, David A. Schauer, Dennis L. Soden

IPED Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Can Temporary Employment Scar Your Future Earnings? Wage Mobility By Type Of Work Contract In Spain, Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, Ricardo Serrano-Padial

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Cover - Table Of Contents

Major Themes in Economics

No abstract provided.

Financial Performance Of Insurance Companies Following Initial Public Offerings, Kulkanya Napompech

Doctoral Dissertations

The quality of insurance companies is a very significant societal issue. Policyholders pay premiums assuming indemnity of their potential losses. It is essential that an insurer be able to meet its contractual obligations when a loss occurs. An initial public offering provides an infusion of capital and an expansion of resources available to a firm. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine the financial and operating impacts of initial public offerings during 1980–2000 on insurance companies.

Chapter 2 examines changes in operating performance of property/casualty insurance companies following initial public offerings. I find that following initial public offerings, …

Asp -Pricing: A Black -Scholes Option Pricing Formulation, Chaitanya Singh

Doctoral Dissertations

The Applications Service Provider (ASP) arrangement has engendered a revolution in the area of corporate information technology (IT) by transforming software from a packaged off-the-shelf product to an on-line virtual service.

The focus of this study is to establish a sound mathematical foundation for evaluating software rental agreements (embedding exit flexibility) by incorporating a real options framework (based upon the Black-Scholes approach) into the traditional capital budgeting technique. The static discounted cash flow or net present value analysis may not adequately serve as a ‘barometer’ of outsourcing value due to its inherent weaknesses. On the other hand, the options approach …

Leadership: The Missing Variable In The Economic Development Of Sub-Saharan Africa, Osei K. Bonsu

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Contemporary economic theories, modernization and dependency, have overlooked the fact that the development process depends on the interaction of social factors. Specifically, the theories have ignored the role of leadership in analyzing economic development. This dissertation seeks to incorporate the importance of leadership into the analysis of development. It argues that sub-Saharan African countries have not developed economically because leaders in the region have been less than successful in establishing a culture conducive to industrialization. African leaders have failed to establish the high moral and scientific cultures necessary to promote economic progress. In place of those cultural attributes, the leaders …

Competition In Or For The Field: Which Is Better?, Eduardo Engel, Ronald Fischer, Alexander Galetovic

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

A principal, who wants prices to be as low as possible, contracts with agents who would like to charge the monopoly price. The principal chooses between a Demsetz auction, which awards an exclusive contract to the agent bidding the lowest price (competition for the field) and having two agents provide the good under (imperfectly) competitive conditions (competition in the field). We obtain a simple sufficient condition showing unambiguously which option is best. The condition depends only on the shapes of the surplus function of the principal and the profit function of agents, and is independent of the particular duopoly game …

From Nash To Walras Via Shapley-Shubik, Pradeep Dubey, John Geanakoplos

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We derive the existence of a Walras equilibrium directly from Nash’s theorem on noncooperative games. No price player is involved, nor are generalized games. Instead we use a variant of the Shapley-Shubik trading-post game.

Partially Linear Models With Unit Roots, Ted Juhl, Zhijie Xiao

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper studies the asymptotic properties of a nonstationary partially linear regression model. In particular, we allow for covariates to enter the unit root (or near unit root) model in a nonparametric fashion, so that our model is an extension of the semiparametric model analyzed in Robinson (1988). It is proven that the autoregressive parameter can be estimated at rate N even though part of the model is estimated nonparametrically. Unit root tests based on the semiparametric estimate of the autoregressive parameter have a limiting distribution which is a mixture of a standard normal and the Dickey-Fuller distribution. A Monte …

Valid Edgeworth Expansions For The Whittle Maximum Likelihood Estimator For Stationary Long-Memory Gaussian Time Series, Donald W.K. Andrews, Offer Lieberman

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

In this paper, we prove the validity of an Edgeworth expansion to the distribution of the Whittle maximum likelihood estimator for stationary long-memory Gaussian models with unknown parameter donpap26_black.jpg (3566 bytes) . The error of the (s-2)-order expansion is shown to be o ( n ( s -2)/2 ) – the usual iid rate — for a wide range of models, including the popular ARFIMA(p,d,q) models. The expansion is valid under mild assumptions on the behavior of spectral density and its derivatives in the neighborhood of the origin. As a by-product, we generalize a Theorem by Fox and Taqqu (1987) …

The Effects Of Family, Social And Background Factors On Children's Educational Attainment, Megan De Serf '02

Honors Projects

In a perfect world, children of all races, socioeconomic backgrounds, and family types would not only have the opportunity to receive a higher education, but they would also take full advantage of these opportunities. The educational level of children in the ghettos of Chicago or St. Louis would be equal to their suburban counterparts. However, it is not a perfect world, and educational attainment of children and young adults from varying backgrounds differ greatly.

Czech Voucher Privatization: A Case Of Decision Making Under Uncertainty, Katia Hristova '02

Honors Projects

Voucher privatization, a kind of large-scale privatization, was of special importance. It was conducted by the Czech Government in order to redistribute property among the population in a situation of complete lack of domestic private capital. All citizens over the age of 18 had the opportunity to obtain a voucher book. However, by providing little information about the process, the Government was really aiming only at the knowledgeable citizens who would be successful entrepreneurs. Voucher privatization was also thought of as a way to speed up the transition in the economy.

English Language Proficiency And The Earnings Of Mexican Immigrants, Jeremy Sanford '02

Honors Projects

Since 1965, the US has seen increasingly large numbers of immigrants crossing its borders. Indeed, more immigrants are arriving now than at any point in the past; the 1990's saw a higher number of immigrants enter the US than any previous decade (INS 1999). A disturbing corollary to the recent explosion in immigration is the corresponding decline of immigrant earnings relative to the earnings of natives. A cursory glance at the literature strongly suggests the changing national origin of immigrants as the main cause of this relative earnings decline. As a prime example, Mexican immigrants now outnumber any other national …

The Relationship Between Economic Freedom And Soci-Economic Development, Anisha Madan '02

Honors Projects

The concept of economic freedom is not a novel one in economic theory. Since the time of Adam Smith, if not before, economists have believed that the freedom to choose and supply resources, compete in business, trade with others, and secure property rights are central ingredients of economic progress (North and Thomas, 1973). Adam Smith (1776-1937) explained how the invisible hand of the marketplace enhanced the wealth of nations. David Ricardo (1821-1912) advocated free trade as a means of producing economic growth. Milton Friedman said, "I believe that free societies have arisen and persisted only because economic freedom is so …

Economic Currents: The State Of The State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The Commonwealth’s economy appears to have bottomed out and may already have started to expand. The Massachusetts Leading Economic Index for February forecasts that real gross state product will grow at an annualized rate of 1.8 percent through August. This is the fourth consecutive positive reading. Furthermore, the current economic index has remained steady for three months in a row.

A Tale Of Two Decades: Changes In Work And Earnings In Massachusetts, 1979–1999, Randy Albelda, Marlene Kim

Economics Faculty Publication Series

Over the past twenty years, Massachusetts has replaced the mantle of old-style manufacturing with a robust “new economy.” Our economic vitality has never been better. But not all individuals benefited from the 1990s boom as they had from the one a decade earlier. Some of our residents are worse off than they were before.

April 2002, Syracuse Department Of Economics

Economics - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Living Wages And Local Governments, Timothy J. Bartik

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Student Attitudes Towards The Market System: An Inquiry And Analysis, Charles Breeden, Noreen Lephardt

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Organ Donation System: Revision In Three Phases And Counterarguments To Concerns Presented By Proponents Of The Current Altruistic System, Beth Gansen

Major Themes in Economics

In 1984, organ donation was formally organized in the United States under the National Transplant Act. The legislation established many necessary institutions, but did not address the issue of rising demand and stagnant supply. Altruists believe education is the answer, but this approach has sentenced thousands to death. Commercialization of organ procurement is a viable solution. Commercializing the procurement sector will increase efficiency, alleviate shortages, and save lives. The policy and legal implications are complex but a basic outline for a commercialized system is derived from researchers’ suggestions, economics, and lessons from the commercialized sperm donation system. Objections to commercialization …

A Bubble On The Mighty Mississippi: An Application Of A General Model Of Speculative Bubbles To The Mississippi Bubble Of 1716-1720, Alex Knight

Major Themes in Economics

Speculative economic bubbles are a common phenomenon but are not wholly understood. Bubbles progress through a series of nine stages. A shock triggers a profitable redistribution of assets, credit creation and new investments; speculation fuels the economy; doubts burst the bubble. The Mississippi Bubble, in early 18th century France, presents an example to which this model may be applied. The history of the Mississippi Bubble, and a brief IS-LM analysis, show that speculative bubbles can be like a lively party: loud and boisterous, but with a mess to clean up afterwards. The French economy was left with a national hangover …

Economic Development Incentive Wars: What Influence Do State And Local Economic Development Incentives Have On The Location Decisions Of Firms?, Chris Lockie

Major Themes in Economics

State and local policymakers throughout the country experience tremendous pressure from their constituents to create policy tools that spur job growth and reduce unemployment in their jurisdictions. One tool that has been viewed by policymakers as useful in stimulating job growth and reducing unemployment has been economic development incentives. Despite this view, there has been growing concern over the cost effectiveness of these incentives. This paper provides a comprehensive discussion of the issues surrounding economic development incentives and evidence from four different methods of study as to the influence incentives have had on employment growth in states and counties throughout …

The Private Prison Debate: A Look Into The Efficiency Of Private Prisons Vs. Public Prisons, Megan Swanson

Major Themes in Economics

The resurgence of private prisons during the 1980s has caused a lot of debate. If a private firm can run a prison more efficiently than the government, the government should allow privatization. Factors such as cost, quality of service, competition and liability must be examined in order to determine whether a private prison is more efficient than a public prison.

The State Lottery Tax: An Equity Analysis, Ben Smith

Major Themes in Economics

This paper finds the state lottery tax to be vertically inequitable. The tax is inherently regressive, meaning poorer income classes spend a larger share of their income on lottery products than higher income classes. The paper also finds the lottery tax to be horizontally inequitable. Older people, males, less educated individuals, and minorities (except Asians) all tend to spend more on lottery products than their respective counterparts. Policy makers should lower the implicit tax rate from its current level of 44% to 19%. A decrease in the tax rate will increase state revenue, increase consumer surplus, possibly stimulate the economy, …