Economics Commons^™

Rhode Island Current Conditions Index — October 2011, Leonard Lardaro

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

No abstract provided.

Infectious Disease As A Security Threat, With Particular Application To The Migration Context, Marielena Faria

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper analyzes the threat infectious diseases impose on global security, specifically in the migration context. Infectious diseases can threaten security through a variety of areas, and this paper aims to identify the global spread of infectious diseases through migration, international crises, humanitarian emergencies, HIV/AIDS, and emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. This paper explores global health, security, and migration in an attempt to determine if combining these three areas can be meaningful. Generally, studies approach only two of the three areas to examine a topic, but this paper will assess and point out when combining all three fields is relevant. …

The Rise Of The Last Woman: An Analysis Of Women’S Independence In 21st Century Rajasthan, Anita C. Foster

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research assembled around women’s accessibility and accountability is most essential when considering possibilities for future development. Understanding that women of any society make grand impacts on their family and surrounding community, women’s stories must be tracked as primary considerations of the development needs and changes of any society. This research focused on 21^st century educated Rajasthani women’s aspirations, challenges and development goals. The study revealed that “the new woman” in the 21^st century is taking a new stance on self-identity and women’s independence. Conditioned with multi-facet complexities, these independent mothers and daughters are claiming their right to literacy …

Portraits Of The Land: Environmentalism And Contemporary Art In Mongolia, Sarah Morgan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Environmental concerns are globally relevant, but in Mongolia they hold special importance. Not only does Mongolia contain an unusual amount of pristine wilderness, but Mongolian history and culture are also deeply rooted in a close bond with the land. Now, increased development and globalization are placing new pressures on environmental systems. In response to these pressures, Mongolians artists are joining a national (and global) conversation about the interactions between art, environment, cultural heritage, and activism.

This study explores the sources of inspiration and motivation for these artists. Through this research, I hope to bring to light the role of the …

Pulling The Cash From Cashmere: Reviving Nepal's Pashmina, Corinne Prevot

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study is an in depth examination of the dynamics behind the Nepali Pashmina industry. Since its boom in 2000, Nepal’s once-number-one industry has faced a stagnant lull. Driven by the Nepali Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA), the industry continues to strive to overcome obstacles posed by the vagaries of globalization and changing economies worldwide. Considering the insurmountable level of capital required for the industry’s necessary industrial development to become a key competitor, perhaps, as a leading export industry, pashmina is no longer viable. This research concludes that as long as high-quality genuine Pashmina continues to be in demand, Nepali Pashmina …

No. 26: Social Media, The Internet And Diasporas For Development, Jonathan Crush, Cassandra Eberhardt, Mary Caesar, Abel Chikanda, Wade Pendleton, Ashley Hill

Southern African Migration Programme

The recent focus on diasporas by policy-makers researchers has highlighted the rich potential of migrants as a force for shaping development activities in their countries of origin. The study of diasporas in development presents researchers a number of significant challenges. As Vertovec and Cohen suggest, ‘one of the major changes in migration patterns is the growth of populations anchored … neither at their places of origin nor at their places of destination’. The fluid, multi-sited and multi-generational nature of diaspora groupings poses considerable methodological challenges of definition, identification, location, sampling and interviewing.

As the nature of African diasporas are constantly …

This Land Is Our Land: The Ngöbe Stuggle For Land, Fran Del Rosario

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Los Ngobes han estado luchando por su tierra por muchos años. En los 1500s, debido al conquista española, Los Ngobes fueron forzados a huir a otras aéreas. Hoy, ellos están luchando por su tierra contra inversión y comercialización. Su tierra es muy importante para ellos porque su manera de vivir viene directamente de su tierra. La construcción de calles adentro y alrededor de su tierra se ha afectado mucho. Entre mas abierta su tierra, mas vlnerable son ellos a contacto con el exterior. Es más difícil preservar su cultura y tradición con proyectos de desarrollo amenazando su manera de vivir …

Seaweed Farmer Education: Is It Enough To Sustain The Industry? Analyzing The Status Of Stakeholder Investment In Muungoni And Jambiani, Unguja, Erika Davis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since Filipino researchers arrived in Zanzibar to determine the potential for cultivation of seaweed more than 20 years ago, the islands' coastal communities have relied on the resource as a main or alternative source of income. When the companies started investing at the industry’s onset, trained personnel offered farmers' education on proper farming techniques for Spinosum (Eucheuma denticulatum) and Cottonii (Kappaphycus spp.) by establishing demonstrative (demo) farms and holding seminars. Today, informal training involves experienced farmers teaching the newcomers their techniques. While demo farms remain in some villages, companies offer no extension services based on the belief that the farmers …

Mexico Consensus Economic Forecast, Volume 14, Number 4, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Adam G. Walke

Departmental Papers (E & F)

No abstract provided.

Wright State University Regional Economic Report, Fall 2011, Thomas L. Traynor

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Poor Women With Sexually Transmitted Infections: Providers’ Perspectives On Diagnoses, Genevieve R. Cox

Sociology

This article presents results from a study of health care providers, mainly nurses and nurse practitioners, who routinely diagnose sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in rural low-income populations in West Virginia (WV). A qualitative analysis of eighteen semi-structured interviews reveals that providers who consistently work with low-income populations believe patients undergo a negative change in self-image in response to a chronic STD diagnosis. Providers express concerns about a number of issues related to low-income, rural women’s access to sexual health care and see the need for more sexuality education, more funding for free and reduced cost clinics, and more available health …

Review Of Food Justice. By Robert Gottlieb And Anupama Joshi., Toby Ten Eyck

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

It is a story about food we have heard before-big is bad; small, local, and organic is better; and if you can link small, local, and organic to students, that is best of all. Part of the problem is that the usual suspects-WalMart, McDonalds, PepsiCo, etc.-have so many more resources than the usual cast of small-is-good heroes eking out a living from the earth and hard work: organic farmers , migrant workers, CSA founders and operators, and similar supporters. Gottlieb and Joshi provide some hope by pointing to a few small victories among the heroes, but it is a fight …

Persistent Place-Based Income Inequality In Rural Nebraska, 1979-2009, David J. Peters

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This article addresses a current gap in the inequality literature by identifying demographic and economic factors that best explain persistent income inequality across N = 817 non metropolitan block groups in Nebraska between 1979 and 2009. Over one-half of rural places in Nebraska have average levels of income inequality, one-quarter have persistently low inequality, and one-fifth of places have persistently high levels of income inequality. Results of multinomial logistic regression suggest that persistently high-inequality places in rural Nebraska tend to be smaller, more urbanized, more ethnically diverse, more wealthy, more specialized in high-skill and low-skill industries, and have experienced fast …

Review Of Remaking The Heartland: Middle America Since The 1950s. By Robert Wuthnow, Randolph Cantrell

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Shrinking farm numbers, population losses, and empty storefronts on Main Street have come to be seen as symptoms of an inevitable slide to oblivion for many Heartland communities. Empirical evidence of such decline is easily found, making the trend a favorite topic for journalists. In Remaking the Heartland, Robert Wuthnow offers a very different interpretation of the same trends. His central argument is that Middle America (defined as eight states including most of the Great Plains) has been characterized by adaptation to changing social and economic realities in a way that has made the region a "more vibrant contributor …

Health & Wellness In The Business Context, Michael T. Childress

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

No abstract provided.

Maximum Likelihood Estimation And Uniform Inference With Sporadic Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper analyzes the properties of a class of estimators, tests, and confidence sets (CS’s) when the parameters are not identified in parts of the parameter space. Specifically, we consider estimator criterion functions that are sample averages and are smooth functions of a parameter theta. This includes log likelihood, quasi-log likelihood, and least squares criterion functions. We determine the asymptotic distributions of estimators under lack of identification and under weak, semi-strong, and strong identification. We determine the asymptotic size (in a uniform sense) of standard t and quasi-likelihood ratio (QLR) tests and CS’s. We provide methods of constructing QLR tests …

Bayes Correlated Equilibrium And The Comparison Of Information Structures, Dirk Bergemann, Stephen Morris

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

The set of outcomes that can arise in Bayes Nash equilibria of an incomplete information game where players may or may not have access to more private information is characterized and shown to be equivalent to the set of an incomplete information version of correlated equilibrium, which we call Bayes correlated equilibrium. We describe a partial order on many player information structures — which we call individual sufficiency — under which more information shrinks the set of Bayes correlated equilibria. We discuss the relation of the solution concept to alternative definitions of correlated equilibrium in incomplete information games and of …

Optimism And Pessimism With Expected Utility, David Dillenberger, Andrew Postlewaite, Kareen Rozen

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Savage (1954) provided a set of axioms on preferences over acts that were equivalent to the existence of an expected utility representation. We show that in addition to this representation, there is a continuum of other “expected utility” representations in which for any act, the probability distribution over states depends on the corresponding outcomes. We suggest that optimism and pessimism can be captured by the stake-dependent probabilities in these alternative representations; e.g., for a pessimist, the probability of every outcome except the worst is distorted down from the Savage probability. Extending the DM’s preferences to be defined on both subjective …

Optimally Empty Promises And Endogenous Supervision, David A. Miller, Kareen Rozen

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We study optimal contracting in team settings, featuring stylized aspects of production environments with complex tasks. Agents have many opportunities to shirk, task-level monitoring is needed to provide useful incentives, and because it is difficult to write individual performance into formal contracts, incentives are provided informally, using wasteful sanctions like guilt and shame, or slowed promotion. These features give rise to optimal contracts with “empty promises” and endogenous supervision structures. Agents optimally make more promises than they intend to keep, leading to the concentration of supervisory responsibility in the hands of one or two agents.

Gmm Estimation And Uniform Subvector Inference With Possible Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper determines the properties of standard generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators, tests, and confidence sets (CS’s) in moment condition models in which some parameters are unidentified or weakly identified in part of the parameter space. The asymptotic distributions of GMM estimators are established under a full range of drifting sequences of true parameters and distributions. The asymptotic sizes (in a uniform sense) of standard GMM tests and CS’s are established. The paper also establishes the correct asymptotic sizes of “robust” GMM-based Wald, t; and quasi-likelihood ratio tests and CS’s whose critical values are designed to yield robustness to …

Public Goods Through Taxation In A General Equilibrium Economy: Experimental Evidence, Juergen Huber, Martin Shubik, Shyam Sunder

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We use a laboratory experiment to compare general equilibrium economies in which agents individually allocate their private goods among consumption, investment in production and maintenance of a depreciating public facility. The public facility is financed either by voluntary anonymous contributions (VAC) or taxes. We find that rates of taxation chosen by majority vote remain at an intermediate level, converging neither to zero nor to 100%, and the experimental economies sustain public goods at levels between the finite- and infinite-horizon optima. This contrasts with a rapid decline of public goods under voluntary anonymous contributions (VAC). Both the payoff efficiency and production …

Correlated Equilibrium In Games With Incomplete Information, Dirk Bergemann, Stephen Morris

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We define a notion of correlated equilibrium for games with incomplete information in a general setting with finite players, finite actions, and finite states, which we call Bayes correlated equilibrium. The set of Bayes correlated equilibria of a fixed incomplete information game equals the set of probability distributions over actions, states and types that might arise in any Bayes Nash equilibrium where players observed additional information. We show that more information always shrinks the set of Bayes correlated equilibria.

Maximum Likelihood Estimation And Uniform Inference With Sporadic Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper analyzes the properties of a class of estimators, tests, and confidence sets (CS’s) when the parameters are not identified in parts of the parameter space. Specifically, we consider estimator criterion functions that are sample averages and are smooth functions of a parameter theta. This includes log likelihood, quasi-log likelihood, and least squares criterion functions. We determine the asymptotic distributions of estimators under lack of identification and under weak, semi-strong, and strong identification. We determine the asymptotic size (in a uniform sense) of standard t and quasi-likelihood ratio (QLR) tests and CS’s. We provide methods of constructing QLR tests …

Estimates Of The Social Cost Of Carbon: Background And Results From The Rice-2011 Model, William D. Nordhaus

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

A new and important concept in global warming economics and policy is the social cost of carbon or SCC. This concept represents the economic cost caused by an additional ton of carbon-dioxide emissions or its equivalent. The present study describes the development of the concept as well as its analytical background. We estimate the SCC using an updated version of the RICE-2011 model. Additional concerns are uncertainty about different aspects of global warming as well as the treatment of different countries or generations. The most important results are: First, the estimated social cost of carbon for the current time (2015) …

On Bartlett Correctability Of Empirical Likelihood In Generalized Power Divergence Family, Lorenzo Camponovo, Taisuke Otsu

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Baggerly (1998) showed that empirical likelihood is the only member in the Cressie-Read power divergence family to be Bartlett correctable. This paper strengthens Baggerly’s result by showing that in a generalized class of the power divergence family, which includes the Cressie-Read family and other nonparametric likelihood such as Schennach’s (2005, 2007) exponentially tilted empirical likelihood, empirical likelihood is still the only member to be Bartlett correctable.

A Theory Of Asset Prices Based On Heterogeneous Information, Elias Albagli, Christian Hellwig, Aleh Tsyvinski

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We propose a theory of asset prices that emphasizes heterogeneous information as the main element determining prices of different securities. Our main analytical innovation is in formulating a model of noisy information aggregation through asset prices, which is parsimonious and tractable, yet flexible in the specification of cash flow risks. We show that the noisy aggregation of heterogeneous investor beliefs drives a systematic wedge between the impact of fundamentals on an asset price, and the corresponding impact on cash flow expectations. The key intuition behind the wedge is that the identity of the marginal trader has to shift for different …

Gmm Estimation And Uniform Subvector Inference With Possible Identification Failure, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xu Cheng

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper determines the properties of standard generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators, tests, and confidence sets (CS’s) in moment condition models in which some parameters are unidentified or weakly identified in part of the parameter space. The asymptotic distributions of GMM estimators are established under a full range of drifting sequences of true parameters and distributions. The asymptotic sizes (in a uniform sense) of standard GMM tests and CS’s are established. The paper also establishes the correct asymptotic sizes of “robust” GMM-based Wald, t , and quasi-likelihood ratio tests and CS’s whose critical values are designed to yield robustness …

Financing Of Public Goods Through Taxation In A General Equilibrium Economy: Theory And Experimental Evidence, Juergen Huber, Martin Shubik, Shyam Sunder

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We compare general equilibrium economies in which building and maintenance of a depreciating public facility is financed either by anonymous voluntary contributions or by taxing agents on their income from private production. Agents start with an endowment of private goods and money, while the government starts with an endowment of public good and money. All private goods produced are tendered for sale in exchange for money in a sell-all market mechanism. Agents’ proceeds from sale are taxed, and they individually allocate their private goods between current consumption and investment in production for the following period. The optimal levels of supply …

Career Concerns With Coarse Information, Alessandro Bonatti, Johannes Hörner

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper develops a model of career concerns. The worker’s skill is revealed through output, wage is based on expected output, and so on assessed ability. Specifically, effort increases the probability that a skilled worker achieves a one-time breakthrough. Effort levels at different times are strategic substitutes. Equilibrium effort (and, if marginal cost is convex, wage) is single-peaked with seniority. The agent works too little, too late. Both delay and underprovision of effort worsen if effort is observable. If the firm commits to wages but faces competition, the optimal contract features piecewise constant wages as well as severance pay.

Career Concerns And Market Structure, Alessandro Bonatti, Johannes Hörner

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper analyzes the impact of market structure on career concerns. Effort increases the probability that a skilled agent achieves a one-time breakthrough. Wages are based on assessed ability and on expected output. For any wage, the agent works too little, too late. Under short-term contracts, effort and wages are single-peaked with seniority, due to the strategic substitutability of effort levels at different times. Both delay and underprovision of effort worsen if effort is observable. Commitment to wages by competing firms mitigates these inefficiencies. In that case, the optimal contract features piecewise constant wages and severance pay.