Economics Commons^™

The Impact Of Opinion On Foreign Trade, Nikolaus Williams

Masters Culminating Experiences (1993-2011)

This paper examines the impact that opinion has on foreign trade. Specifically, the paper examines how opinion towards the U.S. impacts U.S. exports and how changes in opinion toward the U.S. impact U.S. exports. Using survey data from the Pew Global Attitudes Projects and export data, the paper examines these relationships for 21 countries between 2002 and 2010. Regression analysis of the panel data reveals that positive opinion levels and positive changes in opinion have statistically significant positive impacts on U.S. exports. However, this conclusion is somewhat tempered by the unbalanced nature of the available data which prevents a greater …

The Dogs Of The Dow In China, Carol Wang, James E. Larsen, M. Fall Ainina, Marlena L. Akhbari, Nicholas Gressis

Finance and Financial Services Faculty Publication

The unique institutional environment of China's stock markets provides a rich setting to study the relationship between investors‟ behavior and market returns in the case of information inefficiency. This study extends the well documented Dogs of the Dow (Dow Dogs) strategy to China's A share stock market. We find that Dow Dogs portfolios significantly outperform the market benchmark for the period of 1994 to 2009 in China's markets. Further analysis indicates that (1) The fewer Dogs included in the portfolio, the greater the portfolio abnormal returns; (2) In general, the shorter holding period (in months), the greater the portfolio abnormal …

Why The Dogs Of The Dow Bark Loudly In China, Carol Wang, James E. Larsen, M. Fall Ainina, Marlena L. Akhbari, Nicholas Gressis

Finance and Financial Services Faculty Publication

Problem statement: The Dogs of the Dow (Dow Dogs) strategy, which has gained widespread popularity in the U.S., is found to be considerably successful in China’s stock markets. This trading strategy contradicts the well-established efficient market hypothesis. Approach: This study examines the cross-sectional variations in the magnitude of the predictive power of the Dow Dogs strategy using Chinese stocks for 1994-2009. Results: Our results suggest that (1) Significant Dow Dogs effect apply to Class A shares, but not Class B shares; (2) Stocks priced between 1and1and5 demonstrate the strongest Dogs effect among all stock price ranges; (3) Changes in share …

Africa's Economic Resurgence: Is It Possible?, Alka Jauhari

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

Economic theory suggests that inequality between nations is caused by a failure to strike an optimal balance between capital, goods, and labor within a framework of appropriate rules and regulations. This leads to misallocation of a nation's resources - both capital and physical - resulting in distorted use and flow of capital and goods. Politics, regulation and policy-making lie at the heart of such "distortions" which come at a huge cost to societies. Due to these distorted flows, Africa was left behind in the race for economic development, as compared to the other regions of the world. Such distortions have …

Lecture Notes, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Shaikh, A. (2011). History of man's work [Unpublished manuscript]. Anwar Shaikh, PhD.
• Shaikh, A. (2011). Long waves [Unpublished manuscript]. Anwar Shaikh, PhD.
• Shaikh, A. (1978). An introduction to the history of crisis theories. In U.S. capitalism in crisis. Union for Radical Political Economics, Monthly Review Press.
• Bottomore, T. (Ed.). (1990). Dictionary of Marxist thought. Oxford University Press.
• Friedman, M., & Friedman, R. D. (1979). The anatomy of crisis. The Journal of Portfolio Management, 6(1).
• Kelly, F. H. M. (1979). Illusions and the poison of defeat. The Journal of Portfolio Management, 6(1). …

Two-Sided Altruism, Social Insurance And Elderly Consumption, Yangyi Shan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this project is to examine the interaction of social insurance programs and family support for financing the elderly's consumption in an environment when agents exhibit two-sided altruism.

Self Assessed Health, Anchoring Vignettes, And Unobserved Heterogeneity In The Health And Retirement Study, Paul J. Noroski

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines the subtleties inherent to socioeconomic models of health. The relative contributions of unobserved heterogeneity and state dependence in explaining the dynamics of health in the U.S. are controlled for as the average partial effects of socioeconomic status are estimated. In addition to these investigations, I use anchoring vignette data from the Health and Retirement Study to investigate health perceptions in the U.S. and how they affect the comparability of self assessments of health across the population.

Monetary Policy And New-Keynesian Macroeconomics, Siddhartha Chattopadhyay

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

New-Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) models are important tools for analyzing modern monetary economics and policy. The genre of the New-Keynesian DSGE model is divided into two broad categories. These are, (i) the sticky price New-Keynesian DSGE model and (ii) the sticky information New-Keynesian DSGE model. My dissertation is a contribution to this rapidly growing literature, where I have analyzed some important issues of modern monetary economics and policy through the New-Keynesian DSGE models.

Household Structure, Asset Accumulation And Labor Supply, Ranajoy Chaudhury

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The aggregate savings rate in the U.S has fallen dramatically in the last few decades. One possible reason for this is the change in demographics. The fraction of unmarried people has increased as a result of rise in divorce rates and single parent households. In my dissertation, I explore the change in the household structure as the reason for the drop in aggregate savings rate. In order to understand the impact of demographics on savings rates, it is important to understand the wealth gaps across gender and marital status. This has led to the first chapter in my dissertation. In …

Confucianism And The Legalism: A Model Of The National Strategy Of Governance In Ancient China, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

The Confucian school emphasizes family value, moral persuasions, and personal relations. Under Confucianism, there is a free-rider issue in the provision of efforts. Since national officials are chosen through personal relations, they may not be the most capable. The Legalist school emphasizes the usage of incentives and formal institutions. Under the Legalism, the ruler provides strong incentives to local officials which may lead to side effects because some activities are noncontractible. The cold-blood image of the Legalism may alien citizens. By exploiting the paternalistic relationship between the ruler and the ruled under Confucianism and the strength of institution-building under the …

On Trade Policies And Wage Disparity In Egypt: Evidence From Microeconomic Data, Chahir Zaki

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This working paper assesses the extent to which trade barriers, including traditional tariff barriers, non-tariff measures, and red tape, affect wage disparity and employment in Egypt. Using a microeconomic dataset, the author assesses to what extent different trade barriers affected wage disparity and employment in Egypt. This disparity is studied in three dimensions: on gender (males vs. females), qualification (blue vs. white collar workers), and regional (urban vs. rural workers). Findings show that both non-tariff measures and red tape barriers have a higher impact than traditional tariffs on wage disparity and that women, urban workers, and blue collar workers are …

Loose Magazines, Notes, Dissertation, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Shaikh, A. (n.d.). Turbulent dynamics in advanced societies (Unpublished manuscript table of contents) (22-16_Loos... p. 2).
• Shaikh, A. (n.d.). Turbulent dynamics and pattern recurrence: Economic analysis in a global context (Unpublished manuscript table of contents) (22-16_Loos... p. 3).
• Shaikh, A. (2011). Turbulent dynamics and hidden patterns: Economic analysis in a global context (Unpublished manuscript table of contents) (22-16_Loos... p. 4).
• Shaikh, A. (n.d.). Mathematical equation on cumulative output fractions (Unpublished manuscript note) (22-16_Loos... p. 6).
• Shaikh, A. (2011). Current summary table of contents (Unpublished manuscript table of contents) (22-16_Loos... p. 7).
• Shaikh, A. (2010). The economic analysis …

Pointless?, Jonah Yuen

CMC Senior Theses

A fundamental question in politics that has no conclusive answer to this day is whether or not campaign expenditures are pointless. Determining the role of campaign contributions and spending in elections is important for formulating campaign finance reform policy and also for understanding the public choice economics behind elections. Politicians seem convinced that money is an important component in any successful election as illustrated by numerous fundraisers and lofty goals of raising $1 billion for presidential campaigns, yet the empirical research on money’s role in elections has not reached a consensus. This project seeks to further explore the relationship between …

Inflation Targeting And Relative Price Variability: What Difference Does Inflation Targeting Make?, Chi Young Choi, Young Se Kim, Róisín O'Sullivan

Economics: Faculty Publications

This article studies the effects of inflation targeting (IT) on relative price variability (RPV) using a data set of twenty countries comprising both targeters and nontargeters. We find that a decline in mean inflation after IT adoption is not necessarily associated with a similar fall in RPV and that what matters most for the structural changes in RPV is the initial inflation regime prior to the adoption of IT rather than IT adoption itself. IT adoption impacts the shape of the underlying relationship between inflation and RPV in countries with initially high inflation rates, moving it from monotonie to the …

La Dynamique De La Discrimination Salariale Et De L'Équité Gendorielle Sur Le Marché Du Travail Au Maroc, Sami Zouari

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper investigates the dynamics of the wage gap between men and women in Morocco. Estimates have shown that women earn up to 35 percent less than men in the periods observed. Differences in characteristics between the two sexes, mainly due to the difference in human capital endowments, are explained by only a small proportion of the gap. A negative proportion reported, though, is a kind of breakthrough for women, since it means that in terms of human capital skills, women are better qualified than their male counterparts. These negative differences confirm that women, especially those working …

Rethinking The Time Allocation Of Egyptian Females: A Matching Analysis, Rana Hardy

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study explores the extremely biased division of labor within Egyptian households. The effects of marriage on women’s market and domestic labor supplies are important aspects of this study conducted by the Population Council for its working paper series on gender and work in the Mideast-North Africa region. New explanations for married women’s low participation rates are proposed. A matching model is estimated to determine how selection into marriage alters the time allocation of women. The empirical results show that marriage significantly affects both types of work with married women spending about eight hours less on market work weekly relative …

Women's Economic Resources And Bargaining In Marriage: Does Egyptian Women's Status Depend On Earnings Or Marriage Payments?, Rania Salem

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This working paper reports on a study using Egyptian survey data to determine whether the effect of women's work on their status is mediated by the material transactions that accompany marriage. This perspective posits that marriage payments made to the bride, as well as assets she herself brings to the marriage, enhance her bargaining position. Analysis of the 2006 Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey panel data is used to explore the associations between women’s labor market activity, earnings, absolute and proportional marriage payments, and a measure of women’s status within marriage, namely their decisionmaking power. Consistent with the existing literature, …

Decrease Of Youth Participation In The Labor Market In The Palestinian Territories: Reasons And Determinants From Gender Prospects [Arabic], Ayman Abdul Majeed

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

It is widely acknowledged that Palestinian youths between the ages of 15–29 have a low participation rate in the labor force. Population Council research has shown that this age group faces many barriers and challenges that make it difficult to pursue work. The prevailing political, economic, social, cultural, and educational conditions are major contributors to the low work participation, in addition to a decreased sense of self-confidence and low self-esteem. The conclusions from the research were to propose practical solutions to help this generation to regain self-confidence and self-esteem and become more active participants in the labor force. There is …

Who Is Covered And Who Underreports: Access To Social Insurance On The Egyptian Labor Market, Irene Selwaness, Rania Roushdy

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In Egypt, as in many developing countries, the convergence of poverty and lack of social security places the working poor in a vulnerable situation that mandates immediate action in research and programmatic interventions. Before the January 25th revolution, a focus on social security was relevant in view of the insecurities instigated by increasing market liberalization and the shrinking role of the state in services and employment. The revolution and its aftermath heightened a sense of insecurity and labor protests mandated a serious re-evaluation of recent labor market policies and the social protection system in Egypt. Issues of social security, employment, …

Divergence Of Opinion And Share Repurchase, Hao Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Heavy Hand Of Government: An Economic Study Of Obesity, Kanybek Imanakovich Sagynbekov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although there is extensive theoretical and empirical coverage of the incentive effect of an income tax on labor supply in the economics literature, there is no study of the secondary behavioral effects of an income tax. In this thesis, I explore the relationship among income, marginal income tax, and body weight. Namely, I show that under general conditions the Engel curve for the optimal weight is an inverted U-shaped function and the effect of the marginal income tax upon weight is non-linear. The empirical investigation uses two datasets: a panel dataset with 459 state-level observations for US states from 1992 …

Three Essays On Trading And Banking, William Paul Spurlin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays. The first essay, Short Sales in the NYSE Batch Open and NASDAQ Opening Cross, examines opening-trade short volume's relation to short volume for the rest of the trading day and to overnight, previous-day, and same-day price changes. We find that short volume in the batch open and opening cross increases with short volume for the rest of the day, with previous-day, open-to-close price changes, and with overnight price changes for S&P 500 stocks. Batch-open short volume increases with overnight price changes, and it increases (does not decrease) for firms making positive (negative) overnight earnings …

Signal Extraction From The Components Of The Philippine National Accounts Statistics Using Arima Model-Based Methodology, Cesar C. Rufino

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The state-of-the-art in signal extraction gradually evolved from the use of mechanical form of moving average filters to the present sophisticated model-based techniques capable of performing automatic modeling and signal extraction involving hundreds or even thousands of time series in one production run. The leading edge of technology is being shared by two ARIMA model-based systems – ARIMA X12 of the US Bureau of Census and the twin programs TRAMO-SEATS developed at the Bank of Spain. These specialized expert systems have been adopted by most statistical agencies of advanced OECD countries and the European community. The Philippines on the other …

Limiting Family Size Through The Sufficient Provision Of Basic Necessities And Social Services: The Case Of Pasay, Eastern Samar, And Agusan Del Sur, John Paolo R. Rivera, Kurt Gerrard T. See

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The socio-economic quandaries of rapid population growth and poverty have always been coupled. It is evident that the poorest households are those who have larger family size. Consequently, these households have to support more people with fewer resources, making the family live a life of inherited poverty. With this, the state has been on the pursuit of looking for solutions such as the Reproductive Heath (RH) Bill to address rapid population growth and eventually poverty. However, the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) condemns the RH Bill because it is contradictory to Catholic principles. For this reason, we will explore other possibilities …

International Migration And Remittances: A Review Of Economic Impacts, Issues And Challenges From The Sending Country’S Perspective, Tereso S. Tullao Jr, Christopher James R. Cabuay

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The paper reviews the motivations of people to migrate and remit as well as the impacts of migration and the effects of remittances. Reasons for migration are quite varied ranging from economic asymmetries (also known as push-pull factors), demographic asymmetries, investment in human capital, maximization of household income, the culture of migration, and the movement in natural persons. On the other hand, remittances are sent to the home country for altruistic, exchange, strategic and insurance motives as well as an arbitrage in interspatial differences in purchasing power. The impacts of migration and remittances are felt on both the household and …

Trade And Investment In The Philippines, Hazel C. Parcon-Santos

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Developing countries such as the Philippines relies heavily on trade and foreign direct investment (FDI), consequently leading to economic integration, which in its entireity, determines the country’s economic condition. As such, we believe that there is a need to further study the impact of these external variables on the competitiveness and efficiency of the Philippine economy.

Issues On International Trade And Investment And Its Implications For Further Research, Angelo B. Taningco

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Recent developments in the field of international trade and investments worldwide have led to contemporary literature that encompass international trade in goods and services, trade policies, bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) as well as multilateral trading arrangements, trade facilitation measures, and foreign direct investment (FDI) policies. Given the increasing significance of multilateral trade and FDI flows between regions in recent years, there is a need of further research especially for developing countries like the Philippines. As such, it will be possible to develop efficient trade and investment policies, which relate to inclusive growth and development. Results suggest that …

The Unbearable Lightness Of The Economics-Made-Fun Genre, Peter Spiegler

Economics Faculty Publication Series

Several commentators have argued that the Economics-Made-Fun (“EMF”) genre contains very little actual economics. As such, it would seem that criticisms of EMF do not apply economics more broadly. In this paper I take a contrary view, arguing that, in fact, at a deep conceptual level, the engine of EMF analyses is precisely the engine of mainstream economics. Specifically, I argue that both EMF and mainstream economics rest on a conceptual foundation known as the Principal of the Substitution of Similars (“PSS”). Understanding how PSS leads EMF practitioners to make claims well beyond what is warranted by their analysis also …

The Stability Of Offshore Outsourcing Relationships: The Role Of Relation Specificity And Client Control, Stephan Manning, Arie Y. Lewin, Marc Schuerch

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

Offshore outsourcing of administrative and technical services has become a mainstream business practice. Increasing commoditization of business services and growing client experience with outsourcing have created a range of competitive service delivery options for client firms. Yet, data from the Offshoring Research Network (ORN) suggests that, despite increasing market options and growing client quality and cost efficiency expectations, clients typically renew provider contracts and develop longer-term relationships with providers. Based on ORN data, this paper explores drivers of this phenomenon. The findings suggest that providers promote contract renewal by making client specific investments in software, IT infrastructure and training, and …

Film And Television Production In Massachusetts: The Beginning Of Hollywood East?, Pacey C. Foster, David Terkla

Economics Faculty Publication Series

After declining in the 1990s (laubacher, 2006), the Massachusetts film and television industry reached a nadir with the closing of the Massachusetts film office in 2002. To revitalize this once-thriving local creative industry, in 2005 the state legislature passed a tax incentive plan that provided a bankable tax credit for qualifying motion picture and television productions in Massachusetts. As updated in 2007, the Massachusetts film tax credit (FTC) provides a refundable/transferrable tax credit for 25% of qualifying wage and non-wage production expenses and a sales tax exemption for qualifying in-state spending. Massachusetts joined, at the maximum, 43 other states in …