Economics Commons^™

Central Bank Nigeria Annual Report And Statement Of Accounts For The Year Ended 31st December, 2009, Central Bank Of Nigeria

CBN Annual Report

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the Year Ended 31st December, 2009 revealed that the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 6.7% YoY, compared to 6.0% in the previous year. This growth was driven by the non-oil sector, with the non-oil GDP growth rate of 8.3%. Within the non-oil sector, the agricultural sub-sector grew by 6.2%, while the whole-sector and retail sectors recorded growth rates of 11.5 and 10.5 per cent, respectively. The robust output recorded during the previous three years was driven by the government's optimism, which reflected in the oil …

Volatility Risk, Zhiguang Wang

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Legal Regimes And Political Particularism: An Assessment Of The "Legal Families" Theory From The Perspectives Of Comparative Law And Political Economy, John W. Cioffi, D. Gordon Smith

BYU Law Review

The “legal families” theory of corporate law and ownership structures pioneered by Rafael La Porta, Florencio Lopez-deSilanes, Andrei Shleifer, and Robert Vishny provides one of the most influential accounts of why “law matters” in shaping economic organization and outcomes. However, the empirical bases and theoretical logic of the theory contain serious flaws and limitations. First, as has been pointed out by a number of critics engaged in this revision, the legal origins literature contains numerous problematic characterizations of substantive law that expose the serious problems of quantitative operationalization of legal rules as a mode of comparative legal analysis. Second, the …

Project Animate: Promoting Student Civic Participation Through Latino Voter Mobilization - Ollas Report No. 6, Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado

Latino/Latin American Studies Reports

This project sought to expand voter outreach and mobilization of new registered and Latino voters through a series of activities in the greater Omaha metropolitan area. Following the successful development of a voter mobilization project undertaken in the 2006 election cycle, this project conducted door-to-door canvassing activities utilizing students to distribute nonpartisan voter information and engage in “get out the vote” activities with new Latino registered voters.

Working Paper No. 62, Uses Of Abduction In Economic Science, Daniel Urban

Working Papers in Economics

This inquiry considers the meaning of abduction and its uses in Economic Science. Abductive logic is discussed at some length, in order to clarify how it is used in this inquiry. In addition, abduction is traced from its appearances in the writings of pragmatist philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce and how its meaning is later carried on in Thorstein Veblen’s Institutional Economics. Peirce’s influence proves foundational for Veblen’s contributions, as well as for the writings of John Roger Commons. My research suggests that after Commons, Peirce’s influence in economics wanes. Additionally, the use of retroduction in critical realism provides a contemporary …

Sportsbook Pricing And The Behavioral Biases Of Bettors In The Nhl, Rodney Paul, Andrew Weinbach

Falk College Research Center

The betting market for the NHL is investigated using actual betting percentages on favorites and underdogs from real sportsbooks. Sportsbooks do not appear to attempt to price to balance the book as betting percentages are not proportional to set odds. As in the NFL and NBA, bettors are shown to have a strong preference for favorites and road favorites in particular. Simple strategies of betting against significant imbalances toward the favorite are shown to generate positive returns. Although not pricing to balance the book, sportsbooks do not appear to price to exploit known bettor biases in all cases. Clear bettor …

Pension Policy: The Search For Better Solutions, John A. Turner

Upjohn Press

Turner identifies the current problems facing pension policy for U.S. employer-provided pension plans and recommends solutions to those problems based on his examination of pension systems in other industrialized nations.

Smes, Open Innovation And Ip Management: Advancing Global Development, Stanley P. Kowalski

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] Micro-Small-Medium Enterprises (abbreviated herein henceforth as “SMEs”) are global drivers of technological innovation and economic development. Perhaps their importance has been somewhat eclipsed by the mega-multinational corporate entities. However, whereas the corporations might be conceptualized as towering sequoia trees, SMEs represent the deep, broad, fertile forest floor that nourishes, sustains and regenerates the global economic ecosystem.

[. . .]

Broadly recognized as engines of economic and global development, SMEs account for a substantial proportion of entrepreneurial activity in both industrialized and developing countries. Indeed, their role as dynamos for technological and economic progress in developing countries is critical and …

Ua37/29 Gary Ransdell - Fed. Reserve Board - Bernanke Speech To Economic Club Of Washington, St. Louis Federal Reserve Board

WKU Administration Documents

Email sent to members of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board of speech given by Ben Bernanke at the Economic Club of Washington.

Investigating The Economic Footprint Of Cultural Tourism In Aruba, Robertico R. Croes

Dick Pope Sr. Institute Publications

Aim: The purpose of this study is to assess the economic impact of the cultural tourism market in Aruba and determine whether cultural tourism could enhance the Aruba product. Design: 386 intercept surveys to international tourists at the Reina Beatrix Airport were conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics of Aruba during the month of July, 2009. The survey design was the result of a series of focus groups with industry and local cultural stakeholders. The data collected was assessed with SPSS 17 by the researcher to identify the segments and their spending behavior. Based on their spending behavior, an …

Washington Pension System Review, H. Allan Hunt

Testimonies

No abstract provided.

Ua37/29 Gary Ransdell - Fed. Reserve Board - Ben Bernanke Confirmation Hearing Q&A, St. Louis Federal Reserve Board

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Question and answers from Ben Bernanke's confirmation hearing as distributed to members of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board.

New Mexico Labor Market Review 12-04-2009, New Mexico Department Of Workforce Solutions

Historic Publications

This issue of the New Mexico Labor Market Review presents October 2009 employment, unemployment, wage, and economic activity data for New Mexico, its counties, and metropolitan areas.

Ua37/29 Gary Ransdell - Fed. Reserve Board - Ben Bernanke's Confirmation Hearing Testimony, St. Louis Federal Reserve Board

WKU Administration Documents

Email sent to members of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board regarding Ben Bernanke's confirmation hearing testimony.

2009 Workforce Solutions - Urg Employee Survey, Guadalupe Corral, Melissa Gonzalez, Elizabeth K. Gibson, Mario E. Caire

IPED Technical Reports

The Institute for Policy and Economic Development (IPED) at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) was contracted by Workforce Solutions - Upper Rio Grande (URG) to conduct an employee satisfaction survey as part of a larger evaluation project in which Workforce Solutions – URG’s business clients and jobseekers were also surveyed. The employee survey focused on issues related to how employees feel about various topics with regard to their work experiences at Workforce Solutions - URG. The goals of the survey were to evaluate how employees feel about Workforce Solutions as a place to work and in the …

A Pitch For Microfinance: Using An Animation To Promote An Economic Movement, Yelena Kozlova

Art and Design

Microfinance refers to the idea of providing financial services to low-income clients. The purpose of this project was to create an animation using Adobe Flash that could be published online to inform the public about microfinance and to encourage the viewers to take part in this movement.

Sustainable Employment Creation: A Strategic Concern For The Philippine Economy, Fernando T. Aldaba, Reuel R. Hermoso

Economics Department Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Connecting Youth And Communities: Customized Career Planning For Youth With Psychiatric Disabilities, Kim Brown, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Employment

Young people with psychiatric disabilities are significantly overrepresented in the juvenile justice system, tend to be employed sporadically if at all, and frequently have negative connections within and to their communities. Recent research conducted in Montana with youth who have developmental and/or physical disabilities demonstrates the effectiveness of using a customized career planning model to increase linkages to resources and access to community- based employment. Side benefits include improved self-esteem and positive community connections. The customization model holds promise as a way to reduce the risk factors young people with psychiatric disabilitiesf ace and increase the resiliency factors that can …

Rhode Island Current Conditions Index — December 2009, Leonard Lardaro

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

No abstract provided.

The Traits Of Colleges And Universities That Influence Crime, Rita Palermo

All Theses

Crime on college and university campuses has been a growing problem in recent years. Schools desire to decrease crime, but often do not understand the best and most efficient way to do so. In this paper, we will attempt to understand which attributes are most influential by looking at features and crime rates for 492 different schools for which the FBI had released relevant crime data in 2006.
The data showed that many of the variables such as campus size, number of student organizations, school setting, school size, and many other topics, had a noticeable relationship with the total crime. …

Recursive Methods In Discounted Stochastic Games: An Algorithm For Delta Approaching 1 And A Folk Theorem, Johannes Hörner, Takuo Sugaya, Satoru Takahashi, Nicolas Vieille

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We present an algorithm to compute the set of perfect public equilibrium payoffs as the discount factor tends to one for stochastic games with observable states and public (but not necessarily perfect) monitoring when the limiting set of (long-run players’) equilibrium payoffs is independent of the state. This is the case, for instance, if the Markov chain induced by any Markov strategy profile is irreducible. We then provide conditions under which a folk theorem obtains: if in each state the joint distribution over the public signal and next period’s state satisfies some rank condition, every feasible payoff vector above the …

A Specification Test For Instrumental Variables Regression With Many Instruments, Yoonseok Lee, Ryo Okui

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper considers specification testing for instrumental variables estimation in the presence of many instruments. The test proposed is a modified version of the Sargan (1958, Econometrica 26(3): 393-415) test of overidentifying restrictions. The test statistic asymptotically follows the standard normal distribution under the null hypothesis of correct specification when the number of instruments increases with the sample size. We find that the new test statistic is numerically equivalent up to a sign to the test statistic proposed by Hahn and Hausman (2002, Econometrica 70(1): 163-189). We also assess the size and power properties of the test.

Measuring Freedom: An Analysis Of The Economic Freedom Index, Derek Mcafee

All Theses

The creation and empirical use of economic freedom indices has produced a growing amount of literature over the last decade. A survey of this literature is provided, and the difficulty of measuring this concept, as well as the usefulness and limits of the various indices are discussed. The indices are reduced to their components, and testable models are used in order to determine which components are most important. Secure property rights are found to be the most important component driving the results. The results are consistent with previous studies, which indicate that greater economic freedom is related to greater growth …

Selling Information, Johannes Hörner, Andrzej Skrzypacz

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We study a dynamic buyer-seller problem in which the good is information and there are no property rights. The potential buyer is reluctant to pay for information whose value to him is uncertain, but the seller cannot credibly convey its value to the buyer without disclosing the information itself. Information comes as divisible hard evidence. We show how and why the seller can appropriate a substantial fraction of the value through gradual revelation, and how the entire value can be extracted with the help of a mediator.

Selling Information, Johannes Hörner, Andrzej Skrzypacz

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We characterize optimal selling protocols/equilibria of a game in which an Agent first puts hidden effort to acquire information and then transacts with a Firm that uses this information to take a decision. We determine the equilibrium payoffs that maximize incentives to acquire information. Our analysis is similar to finding ex ante optimal self-enforcing contracts since information sharing, outcomes and transfers cannot be contracted upon. We show when and how selling and transmitting information gradually helps. We also show how mixing/side bets increases the Agent’s incentives.

Selling Information, Johannes Hörner, Andrzej Skrzypacz

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

An Agent who owns information that is potentially valuable to a Firm bargains for its sale, without commitment and certification possibilities, short of disclosing it. We propose a model of gradual persuasion and show how gradualism helps mitigate the hold-up problem (that the Firm would not pay once it learns the information). An example illustrates how it is optimal to give away part of the information at the beginning of the bargaining, and sell the remainder in dribs and drabs. The Agent can only appropriate part of the value of information. Introducing a third-party allows her to extract the maximum …

Economics Of The Super Bowl, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

The Super Bowl is America’s premier sporting event. This paper details basic economic facts about the game as examines the controversy surrounding the purported economic impact of the game on host communities. While the league and sports boosters claim that the game brings up to a $500 million economic impact to host cities, a review of the literature suggests that the true economic impact is a fraction of this amount.

Use Of Unemployment Insurance And Employment Services By Newly Unemployed Leavers From Temporary Assistance For Needy Families: Final Report, Christopher J. O'Leary, Kenneth J. Kline

External Papers and Reports

This study examines participation in Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Employment Services (ES) by adults who received cash welfare benefits through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Among those who leave TANF for employment, we measure the rates of subsequent unemployment, application for UI, eligibility for and receipt of UI benefits, and the use of Wagner-Peyser funded ES. We also investigate the correlations between UI and ES services receipt with reemployment and future independence from TANF. The analysis is based on person-level administrative program records from four of the nine most populated states between 1997 and 2003. Evidence suggests that three-quarters …

Commercialization Of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology In North America: Pathways To Success In Northeast Ohio, E. Brandon Henneman, Et Al.

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The feasibility of hydrogen as a source of energy has been researched in one capacity or another for over a century. The first usage of the term ‘hydrogen economy’ is attributed to 11John Bockris in 1970. At the time, Dr. Bockris was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. During a discussion at the General Motors technical center in Michigan he used this term to describe his vision of United States cities being supplied with energy derived from the sun. Typical of a disruptive technology, many years of laboratory testing have created a hydrogen fuel cell product that is ready …

Evaluation Of Best Management Practices To Reduce Nutrients Runoff In Watersheds In Arkansas, Hector German Rodriguez Diaz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are many non point sources (NPS) of pollution issues across the state of Arkansas. Each region of the state has different concerns. Many watersheds have been included in the Arkansas's 2008 303(d) list for NPS impairments with sediment and nutrients being the primary causes of concern. This research hypothesized that there are no cost or net returns risks when adopting best management practices (BMPs) to control nutrients runoff and that selection, timing, placement and cost have no impact on the implementation of BMPs. Using two priority watersheds, the L'Anguille River and the Lincoln Lake, as examples, the environmental benefits …