Economics Commons^™

Islam And The Future Of The Economics, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Talks, Speeches, & Discourse

There are many protagonists in Pakistan who are pushing the country towards adopting an Islamic economic system. Western analysts and observers view such a move with apprehension and feel that this will lead to Pakistan's decoupling from the global economic system and its isolation from mainstream economic thinking. In their minds such behavior will create greater instability and amplify risks for the rest of the world. I believe these apprehensions are totally misplaced and the assumptions and premises on which the hypothesis about the Islamic economic system have been constructed are seriously flawed. As a practitioner I would hesitate from …

Alternative Technical Efficiency Measures: Skew, Bias And Scale, Qu Feng, William C. Horrace

Economics - All Scholarship

In the fixed-effects stochastic frontier model an efficiency measure relative to the best firm in the sample is universally employed. This paper considers a new measure relative to the worst firm in the sample. We find that estimates of this measure have smaller bias than those of the traditional measure when the sample consists of many firms near the efficient frontier. Moreover, a two-sided measure relative to both the best and the worst firms is proposed. Simulations suggest that the new measures may be preferred depending on the skewness of the inefficiency distribution and the scale of efficiency differences.

A Two-Edged Sword: The Economy Cooperation Framework Agreement Between The Republic Of China And The People's Republic Of China, Chi-An Chou

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

Ua37/29 Gary Ransdell - Federal Reserve Board - Final Guidance On Incentive Compensation, St. Louis Federal Reserve Board

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Email sent to members of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board announcing the final guidance on incentive compensation issued by the Federal Reserve, OCC, OTS and FDIC.

Contract Over Target Baseline (Otb) Effect On Earned Value Management's Cost Performance Index (Cpi), Dennis E. Jack

Theses and Dissertations

Cost growth is a problem in U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions. A particular component of cost growth is a cost overrun or Over Target Baseline (OTB). In 2009, Trahan found that the Gompertz growth curve better predicted program Estimates at Completion (EAC) for OTB contracts. In 2010, Thickstun studied “the relationships between overruns and a variety of factors,” but found OTB occurrences “random” and questioned the benefit of the OTB process (Thickstun, 2010). In this research, we study OTB‟s ability to effect improved program cost performance; we examine OTB‟s effect on the cumulative Cost Performance Index (CPI) slope after …

Ua37/29 Gary Ransdell - Federal Reserve Board - Ben Bernanke On Squam Lake Report, St. Louis Federal Reserve Board

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Email sent to members of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board of Ben Bernanke's speech regarding the Squam Lake Report: Fixing the Financial System.

A Clashing Viewpoint Concerning India: A Critique Of Goldman Sachs 2007 Report, Ashok K. Roy, Aniruddha Bagchi

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

The centerpiece of the 2007 Report by Goldman Sachs is the prediction of India's phenomenal economic growth and power in the next few decades. In this article we critique the conceptual validity of that prognosis. In particular, we highlight several hard and soft infrastructure impediments to India's emergence as a major economic power.

Brain Drain, Waste Or Gain? What We Know About The Kenyan Case, Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Over the last three decades, Kenya and many other countries in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) have experienced rapid emigration to the developed world. The general view is that emigration from developing countries especially Africa has led to brain drain and brain waste. However, recent research on emigration from Mexico provides evidence of significant gains from emigration. This recent finding highlights the importance of looking at individual countries' diasporas. In this review paper, I focus on trends in the Kenyan diaspora. More importantly, I summarize what we know from the literature and data on Kenya with respect to issues of brain …

Globalization And The Unending Frontier: An Overview, Olutayo C. Adesina

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

The decisive events and the determining forces unleashed by globalization hold on the one hand, the potential for expanding the scope of political, social and economic processes, and on the other, erode people's connection to the way they live, the people they live with and the places they live in. They also intensify alienation and disengagement. The essays, themes, arguments and macro-level analysis in this volume try to make sense of the dynamics of globalization. They survey the potentials of the phenomenon and forces of globalization, and the capacity of these highly disruptive and contentious change processes to direct, affect …

Africa's Debt Crisis: Perspectives On Nigeria's Escape From External Debt Trap, Solomon O. Akinboye

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

In sharp contrast with the image of an "oil-rich" country, Nigeria is paradoxically a heavily indebted poor country. While the country's oil production reached 2.5 million barrels per day in 2004, its total external debt stock at the end of 2004 was estimated at $35.9 billion. The debt crisis has been aggravated by the burden of debt servicing, which has absorbed the nation's budgetary and foreign exchange resources with deleterious impact on the critical sectors of the economy. The paper critically examines Nigeria's external debt profile and efforts toward its alleviation. It argues that the debt burden constitutes a major …

Africa's Contemporary Global Migrations: Patterns, Perils, And Possibilities, Paul Tiyambe Zeleza

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

The literature on international migration is dominated by economic and political perspectives. This paper begins with the culturalist readings to remind ourselves that there is more to international migration than the search for greener pastures or flight from political terror. It is about the movement of human beings, a story that is as old as humanity itself, going back to the great migrations within and out of Africa to populate the planet. But those who advance the culturalist perspectives also need to be reminded that in our contemporary world more often than not people migrate to sell their labor power …

From The Alliance Of Economies To The Alliance Of Civilizations: Turkey's Strategic Role And Importance, Murat Doral

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

In "The Clash of Civilizations;' Huntington hypothesized that the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between groups of different civilizations, and concluded that the "clash of civilizations" will dominate global politics in the future. In addition, Huntington declared Turkey as one of the "torn countries" and tried to make connections between its Muslim identity and its delayed ED membership. The growing trade and investments volume tell us that regardless of our differences, people around the world understand the benefits of economic cooperation and would prefer this route to starting a war of civilizations.

Natural Fibers And Fiberglass: A Technical And Economic Comparison, Justin Andrew Zsiros

Theses and Dissertations

Natural fibers have received attention in recent years because of their minimal environmental impact, reasonably good properties, and low cost. There is a wide variety of natural fibers suitable for composite applications, the most common of which is flax. Flax has advantages in tensile strength, light weight, and low cost over other natural fibers. As with other natural and synthetic fibers, flax is used to reinforce both thermoset and thermoplastic matrices. When flax is used in thermoplastic matrices, polypropylene and polyethylene are the main resins used. Although at first glance flax may seem to be a cheaper alternative to fiberglass, …

Ua37/29 Gary Ransdell - Federal Reserve Board - Ben Bernanke On The State Of The Economy, St. Louis Federal Reserve Board

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Email sent to members of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board of Ben Bernanke's testimony before the House Budget Committee regarding the state of the economy.

A Comparison Of Costs And Returns For Organic And Conventional Cabernet Sauvignon Grape Production In San Luis Obispo County, Amanda N. Johansen

Agribusiness

This study examined the differences in costs and profitability for established conventional and organic Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in the Edna Valley region of San Luis Obispo County, California. The study used a partial budgeting approach to compare cost and profitability for established vineyards for 2009, and thus ignored transition costs. Data were obtained from UC Davis cost studies for organic and conventional grape production in other regions of California in previous years. Adjustments made to these costs to account for changes in input use, input costs and grape prices in San Luis Obispo County during the 2009 growing season.

The …

The Effects Of Refugee And Non-Refugee Immigrants On Us Trade With Their Home Countries, Roger White, Bedassa Tadesse

Economics

Employing data on US immigrants and trade with 59 home countries for the years 1996–2001, we compare the extent to which refugee and nonrefugee immigrants affect US trade with their home countries and provide the first evidence of variation in the US immigrant–trade relationship across immigrant types. We also consider the abilities of refugee and non-refugee immigrants to offset the trade-inhibiting influence of cultural distance. Our results show that while immigrants, in general, exert positive influences on US imports from – and exports to – their home countries, the influence of refugee immigrants is quite minimal when compared with that …

The Long-Run Labor-Market Consequences Of Civil War: Evidence From The Shining Path In Peru, Jose Galdo

Economics - All Scholarship

This study exploits district-level variation in the timing and intensity of civil war violence to investigate whether early-life exposure to civil wars affects labor-market outcomes later in life. In particular, we examine the impacts of armed conflict in Peru, a country that experienced the actions of a tenacious, brutally effective war machine, the Shining Path, between 1980 and 1995. This study finds that the most sensitive period to early-life exposure to civil war violence is the first 36 months of life. A one standard deviation increase in civil war exposure leads to a four percent fall in adult monthly earnings. …

Rhode Island Current Conditions Index — June 2010, Leonard Lardaro

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

No abstract provided.

The Global Credit Crisis Of 2007–2009: An Examination Of Some Of The Causes, Chronology, And Unconventional Monetary Tools Employed, Mark P. Culver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper will first examine some of the causes over many years and conditions that evolved that preceded the 2007-2009 credit crisis as well as some of the events that took place in the midst of the crisis. More importantly, this paper will examine how central banks applied the generally prescribed first line defense in the form of conventional monetary policy to its full extent without complete or adequate satisfaction or result. The bulk of the paper is directed at a description and analysis of the unconventional monetary tools, that which has come to be called quantitative easing, that central …

Innovation, Markets, And Evolution, Mitch Green

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper approaches innovation from an evolutionary perspective. Literature spanning a broad range of traditions in economics is considered, to include Institutionalist, Schumpeterian, post-Keynesian, and growth theorists. Key systemic changes are examined in the context of prevailing technological and social institutions. It is argued that expectation-fixing effects such as path-dependence in investment and innovation provide structure to a social network of market institutions that seek to validate money contracts. The institution of money is considered as a center of power in the system and affects the course of innovation. Money as the unit of account becomes the object of …

Thirlwall's Law And Krugman's 45-Degree Rule: Mathematically Identical, Mutually Exclusive, Karl Garbacik

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Thirlwall's Law and the 45-degree rule, originally formulated by Krugman, are radically different interpretations of the same statistical regularity. This statistical regularity is that a country's long-run growth rate will approximate to the ratio of that country's export growth to its import elasticity of demand. Thirlwall's Law falls under a Post-Keynesian framework which is primarily a demand-side model. The 45-degree rule relies on a supply-side interpretation, a result of its neoclassical origins. This thesis seeks to answer two questions. The first is, are the members of the Post-Keynesian and neoclassical communities working on each of these theories aware of the …

Trade Equilibrium, Trade Deficits, And Jobs, Narendra C. Bhandari

Faculty Working Papers and Articles

The U.S. sacrifices about ten full time jobs for each million dollars of net imports of goods and services. Its billions of dollars in trade deficit is the primary reason behind its millions of job losses. Loss of jobs, in turn, decreases income, demand, investment, and tax revenues. Budget deficits enlarge and programs of public and social care are curtailed.

“Trade Equilibrium,” naturally, is the principal solution. In the short term it will put a stop on additional jobs exports. Over the years, it will also create net new jobs. There is no other long lasting practical way out of …

What Explains The Gender Gap In Financial Literacy? The Role Of Household Decision-Making, Raquel Fonseca, Kathleen J. Mullen, Gema Zamarro, Julie Zissimopoulos

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

Research has shown that financial illiteracy is widespread among women, and that many women are unfamiliar with even the most basic economic concepts needed to make saving and investment decisions. This gender gap in financial literacy may contribute to the differential levels of retirement preparedness between women and men. However, little is known about the determinants of the gender gap in financial literacy. Using data from the RAND American Life Panel, we examined potential explanations for the gender gap including the role of marriage and division of financial decision-making among couples. We found that differences in the demographic characteristics of …

Financial Illiteracy: Prevalence, Consequences, And Solutions, Gerald Matasy

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

As Americans have become increasingly responsible for their own financial security their ability to make financial decisions in their best interests has certainly grown in importance. The focus of this paper is to determine what role financial literacy plays in making optimal financial decisions and maintaining economic stability. Using mostly research from other studies and some original research, this paper seeks to examine the level of financial literacy among the general population and what the implications are for the general lack of literacy. What I find is that individuals who have lower levels of financial literacy generally make poorer financial …

Human Capital, Education, And Entrepreneurs: Evidence From The Yangtze River Delta, Zhining Hu, Jianghuai Zheng, Jialing Wang

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper seeks to examine the relationship between education demand and entrepreneurs in the process of enhancing the growth of human capital in China. We develop a theoretical model that incorporates the important roles played by human capital, education and entrepreneurs. Then, we derive an immigration condition under which the demand for education depends on the existence of entrepreneurs. Finally, we test whether this condition holds true in China, using a panel data set from the Yangtze River Delta which is considered a key barometer of Chinese economy. The empirical results reveal a significant positive relationship between entrepreneurs and education …

Improving The Teaching Of Econometrics At Pace University Using Stata, Gregory Colman

Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics

The goal of this grant was to improve the teaching of econometrics at Pace using the computer program, Stata, the most widely-used econometrics software among applied economists.

Economic Growth And Social Development, Janelle Jones

Master's Theses - Economics

The goal of this paper is to examine the relationship between economic growth and social development. The paper looks at the effect of changes in national income in a country on social development of the citizens. Other factors like democratic characteristics and government stability are also considered at a secondary level. Although the main focus is on annual cross-country data for the period 1996-2006, estimates for shorter subperiods are also considered. The role of income relative to 16 proxies for social development is studied, and simple regression models are estimated through the fixed-effects format and also by using instrumental variables. …

Predicting Community College Tuition And Enrollments And Simulating The Initial Effects Of President Obama's American Graduation Initiative, Allison Frederick

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper will identify the effects of supply and demand side factors on community college enrollment quantities and tuition prices and predict the initial effects of President Obama’s American Graduation Initiative. This bill proposes $12 billion of government spending, through grants and financial aid, in order to increase the number of community college graduates by 5 million over the next ten years. Limitations regarding the endogeneity of government appropriations prevents the forecasting of government funding increases; however, the model predicts that financial aid increases from the American Graduation Initiative will increase community college enrollments by over half a million.

Estimation And Inference With Weak, Semi-Strong, And Strong Identification, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper analyzes the properties of standard estimators, tests, and confidence sets (CS’s) for parameters that are unidentified or weakly identified in some parts of the parameter space. The paper also introduces methods to make the tests and CS’s robust to such identification problems. The results apply to a class of extremum estimators and corresponding tests and CS’s that are based on criterion functions that satisfy certain asymptotic stochastic quadratic expansions and that depend on the parameter that determines the strength of identification. This covers a class of models estimated using maximum likelihood (ML), least squares (LS), quantile, generalized method …

Global Economic Crisis: The Need For African Government Interventions For Rapid Economic Recovery And Stability, Hassan T. Sanni

Bullion

The paper reappraises the various measures taken by African governments to curtail the effects of the global economic meltdown. This is with a view to re-emphasizing the need for strong interventions by African governments. The paper is organized into five sections. Aside from the introduction, section two reviews the genesis of the global economic crisis, while section three briefly discusses the impact of the global economic meltdown with greater emphasis on African economies. The global responses as well as African forms of interventions since the global shock are presented in section four of the paper. The summary, recommendations and conclusion …