Economics Commons^™

National Contexts Matter: The Co-Evolution Of Sustainability Standards In Global Value Chains, Stephan Manning, Frank Boons, Oliver Von Hagen, Juliane Reinecke

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

In this paper, we investigate the role of key industry and other stakeholders and their embeddedness in particular national contexts in driving the proliferation and co-evolution of sustainability standards, based on the case of the global coffee industry. We find that institutional conditions and market opportunity structures in consuming countries have been important sources of standards variation, for example in the cases of Fairtrade, UTZ Certified and the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C). In turn, supplier structures in producing countries as well as their linkages with traders and buyers targeting particular consuming countries have been key mechanisms of …

Substituting The End For The Whole: Why Voters Respond Primarily To The Election-Year Economy, Andrew Healy, Gabriel S. Lenz

Economics Faculty Works

According to numerous studies, the election-year economy influences presidential election results far more than cumulative growth throughout the term. Here we describe a series of surveys and experiments that point to an intriguing explanation for voter behavior that runs contrary to the standard explanations political science has offered, but one that accords with a large psychological literature. Voters, we find, actually intend to judge presidents on cumulative growth. However, since that characteristic is not readily available to them, voters inadvertently substitute election-year performance because it is more easily accessible. This “end-heuristic” explanation for voters’ election-year emphasis reflects a general tendency …

Industry Contagion In Loan Spreads, Michael G. Hertzel, Micah S. Officer

Finance Faculty Works

Spreads on new and renegotiated corporate loans are significantly higher when the loan originates (or is renegotiated) in the two years surrounding bankruptcy filings by industry rivals. This industry-specific contagion is particularly severe in the middle of industry bankruptcy waves. Furthermore, this contagion in loan spreads is mitigated in concentrated industries, consistent with the hypothesis and evidence in Lang and Stulz (1992) that bankruptcy filings in concentrated industries can have positive consequences for rivals (increased market share and/or power). There is also some evidence that contagion affects non-spread terms in loan contracts.

The Health And Wealth Of A Nation: Employer-Based Health Insurance And The Affordable Care Act, Nan L. Maxwell

Upjohn Press

This research examines the behaviors of firms with respect to their provision of health care prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) deliberations and uses those behaviors to assess changes in employer-sponsored health insurance that might occur once the ACA is fully implemented.

Voter Ideology, Tax Exporting, And State And Local Tax Structure, John M. Foster

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

State and local governments play an important role in financing and delivering public services in the United States. In 2008, state and local governments collected 57 percent of total federal, state, and local revenue (Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, Tax Policy Center, 2009). The decentralization of fiscal responsibility has enabled a high degree of variation in state and local tax structures to emerge. This dissertation presents two empirical studies that extend the positive literature on state and local tax policy.

The extant literature contains evidence of a direct relationship between voter ideology and state and local tax progressivity. However, the …

Indicators, Dashboards, Benchmarks, And Scorecards In Regional Economic Development: Lessons Learned, George A. Erickcek

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Pengaruh Ketidakmayoritasan Partai Politik Kepala Daerah Di Dprd (Divided Government) Terhadap Keterlambatan Penetapan Apbd, Sigit Wahyu Kartiko

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Why is APBD (Regional Budget) often enacted after the budgeted financial year has started? Is it because of political factor? The research would like to highlight the economic and political perspectives of divided government as one of the factors of the bad performance of the Regional Budget (APBD) enactment. By using logit regression equation model, a result obtained shows that government formations from Legislative General Elections 2004 and Direct Local Elections of the years 2005, 2006, and 2007, such as single minority party, minority coalition, majority coalition, and single majority party, influence the regional late budget of the year 2008-2009.

Pengangguran, Lama Mencari Kerja, Dan Reservation Wage Tenaga Kerja Terdidik, N. Haidy. A. Pasay, Ratna Indrayanti

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Number of educated unemployment is increasing every year. Of the 8.59 million unemployed labor force in 2010, 4.8 million of whom are middle and high educated unemployed. Meanwhile, unemployment duration was 11 months. Two step Heckman method is employed to estimate reservation wage. The OLS estimates duration of search for educated unemployment as well as by social, demographic, and regional characteristics. Search duration for middle and high educated workforce is longer than low educated workforce. The reservation wage of highly educated labor force by social, demographic, and regional characteristics is higher than other labor force.

Determinan Intensitas Energi Di Indonesia, Fitri Kartiasih, Yusman Syaukat, Lukytawati Anggraeni

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

This study contributes to the existing literature by examining energy consumption, energy intensity and its determinants in Indonesia's aggregate and sectoral economy. Index Ideal Fisher uses to decompose two key determinants of changes in energy intensity - efficiency improvements and changes in economic activity - to analyze which determinant is more important in driving improvements in energy intensity. VAR/VECM analysis is used to determine which economic variables affect the aggregate intensity. The study found that energy intensity increased gradually. The main contributing factor in the national level is the changes in economic activity, while in the sectoral level is efficiency …

Choice Of Technology, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Park, C.-S. (2005). Testing Okishio's criterion of technical choice. Research in Political Economy, Volume 22. Elsevier Ltd.
• Duménil, G., & Lévy, D. (2005). Testing for the Marxian-Classical criterion of technical choice. Research in Political Economy, Volume 22. Elsevier Ltd.
• Shaikh, A. Handwritten notes on the geometric limits of technical choice (Unpublished manuscript).
• Marx, K. Typescript text on capital evaluation and machine production (Unpublished manuscript).
• Shaikh, A. Book draft excerpt on individual price-value deviations (Unpublished manuscript).
• Shaikh, A. Handwritten notes on perfect competition viability and technical change criteria (Unpublished manuscript).
• Duménil, G., & Lévy, D. Testing …

The Elasticity Of Taxable Income With Respect To Marginal Tax Rates: A Critical Review, Emmanuel Saez, Joel B. Slemrod, Seth H. Giertz

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

This paper critically surveys the large and growing literature estimating the elasticity of taxable income with respect to marginal tax rates using tax return data. First, we provide a theoretical framework showing under what assumptions this elasticity can be used as a sufficient statistic for efficiency and optimal tax analysis. We discuss what other parameters should be estimated when the elasticity is not a sufficient statistic. Second, we discuss conceptually the key issues that arise in the empirical estimation of the elasticity of taxable income using the example of the 1993 top individual income tax rate increase in the United …

Technical Analysis: An Asian Perspective, Siqin Liaw

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Technical analysis, namely the moving average rule and the channel rule, is applied to the currency of an Asian managed floating exchange rate regime (USD/SGD) to see if opportunities for profitable trading exist. Instead of using only daily or monthly data, higher frequency time frames of 10, 15, 30 and 60 minutes are analyzed. Profitable strategies (if any) will be broken down and analyzed within smaller time frames to see if the profits are specifically in sample.

Forecasting Inflation In Asian Economies, Freddy Chian Fatt Liew

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This paper surveys the recent literature on inflation forecasting and conducts an extensive empirical analysis on forecasting inflation in Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong paying particular attention to whether the inflation-markup theory can help to forecast inflation. We first review the relative performance of different predictors in forecasting h-quarter ahead inflation using single equations. These models include the autoregressive model and bivariate Philips curve models. The predictors are selected from business activity, financial activity, trade activity, labour market, interest rate market, money market, exchange rate market and global commodity market variables. We then evaluate a vector autoregressive inflation-markup …

Three Econometric Essays On Continuous Time Models, Xiaohu Wang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Multivariate continuous time models are now widely used in economics and finance. Empirical applications typically rely on some process of discretization so that the system may be estimated with discrete data. The Chapter 2 introduces a framework for discretizing linear multivariate continuous time systems that includes the commonly used Euler and trapezoidal approximations as special cases and leads to a general class of estimators for the mean reversion matrix. Asymptotic distributions and bias formulae are obtained for estimates of the mean reversion parameter. Explicit expressions are given for the discretization bias and its relationship to estimation bias in both multivariate …

Whose Budget? Our Budget? Broadening Political Stakeholdership Via Participatory Budgeting, Celina Su

Publications and Research

In this thought piece, I attempt to contextualize New York City’s inaugural participatory budgeting (PB) process in the larger landscape of American political participation. I discuss how the bottom-up way in which stakeholders wrote the process’s rules in the first place, alongside the core role played by the two lead organizations, helped to broaden notions of stakeholdership among constituents. Ultimately, the first year’s primary achievement regarding political participation was not a specific set of outcomes, but a debut as an unfinished form of governance—one that began to engage traditionally marginalized constituents, to trigger their political imagination, and to prompt them …

Advancing The Human Right To Housing In Post-Katrina New Orleans: Discursive Opportunity Structures In Housing And Community Development, Leigh Graham

Publications and Research

In post-Katrina New Orleans, housing and community development (HCD) advocates clashed over the future of public housing. This case study examines the evolution of and limits to a human right to housing frame introduced by one nongovernmental organization (NGO). Ferree’s concept of the discursive opportunity structure and Bourdieu’s social field ground this NGO’s failure to advance a radical economic human rights frame, given its choice of a political inside strategy that opened up for HCD NGOs after Hurricane Katrina. Strategic and ideological differences within the field limited the efficacy of this rights-based frame, which was seen as politically radical and …

Razing Lafitte: Defending Public Housing From A Hostile State, Leigh Graham

Publications and Research

The contentious politics of the demolition of Lafitte public housing in post- Katrina New Orleans and its replacement with mixed-income properties is a telling case of the strategic conflicts housing advocates face in public housing revitalization. It reveals how the qualified outcomes of HOPE VI interact with local institutional and historical circumstances to confound the equity and social justice goals of housing and community development advocates. It shows the limits to public housing revitalization as an urban recovery strategy when hostile government leadership characterizes a region, and the state is recast as an adversary rather than revitalization partner. This case …

Global Production Networks, Relational Proximity, And The Sociospatial Dynamics Of Market Internationalization In Bolivia's Wood Products Sector, James T. Murphy

Geography

This article advances conceptualizations of global production networks (GPNs) through an analysis of the relational processes that firms in Bolivia's growing wood products industry use to build ties to international markets. Both large- and small-scale manufacturers are increasingly internationalizing their operations in response to the global demand for tropical hardwoods and decentralization of control over the country's forest resources. These firms use four different types of production networks and networking practices to develop international market ties. Each of these networks is distinguishable by its entry barriers, value-creation possibilities, upgrading strategies, and the cognitive, social, and cultural factors that influence who …

Why Oil Production Has A Negative Impact On Socioeconomic Development In Chad?, Annicette Kessely

Dissertations and Theses

"Oil production in Chad is considered one of the most important Sub-Saharan investments in Africa. In 2000, the World Bank agreed to finance oil production under the condition that oil revenues would be invested in socioeconomic development projects. Furthermore, the World Bank emphasized that oil revenues should be used in a transparent and accountable matter.1 Oil production started in Chad in 2003 and brought billions of dollars to the government. Nevertheless, the Chadian population continues to live in extreme poverty. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of oil production on socioeconomic development. It will demonstrate that …

Economic Growth And Energy Consumption In Oecd Countries; A Causality Analysis, Daria Kostyannikova

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of High Skilled Non-Immigrants (H-1b Visa Holders) On The Wages Of Natives, Onur Arslan

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Can Online Sentiment Help Predict Dow Jones Industrial Average Returns?, Aria K. Krumwiede

CMC Senior Theses

In this paper, we explore the relationship between a Global Mood Time Series, provided by Wall Street Birds, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) from April 2011 to December 2011. My econometric results show that there is no long run equilibrium relationship between the level of global mood and the level of the DJIA. These results apply to the whole period, as well as in the six-month subperiods. Furthermore, daily changes in global mood do not Granger cause DJIA returns. However, changes in global mood do appear to be useful in forecasting the volatility of the DJIA, and my …

Changes In The Effects Of Determinants Of Earnings Inequality And Their Labor Implications In Urban China, 1988 - 2002, Maira T. Mercado

CMC Senior Theses

This study seeks to analyze the changes in the effects of determinants of earnings inequality and their labor market implications in urban China from 1988 to 2002. It analyzes urban individual data from the 1988, 1995, and 2002 surveys of the China Household Income Project by studying its inequality measures and summary statistics, and by conducting an ordinary least squares regression, quantile regression, and regression-based decomposition analysis. It finds that the labor market has indeed been rewarding human capital variables, in which age and work experience, which are related to seniority, have been decreasing in their contribution to earnings inequality, …

Examining The Role Of Immigration In Crime Decline Across United States Cities, Brianna J. Losoya

CMC Senior Theses

Despite previous research in this area, the relationship between immigration and crime in the United States remains ambiguous and surrounded by misconceptions. However, recently, scholars have suggested that, despite the claims of policy-makers and popularized sociological theories, large immigrant concentrations may be linked with lower as opposed to higher crime rates. In the past, research in this area has been imprecise due to it its implementation of cross-sectional analyses for a limited selection of geographic regions. However, through the implementation of time-series procedures and the use of annual data for metropolitan statistical areas during the 2005–2010 periods, the present study …

The Potential Application Of Weather Derivatives To Hedge Harvest Value Risk In The Champagne Region Of France, Andrew W. Yandell

CMC Senior Theses

In Champagne, France grape growers and and winemakers work together to make the world's most iconic sparkling wine. Part of what makes Champagne so celebrated is its reputation for constant quality: only the best grapes are used to make wine. In poor vintage years, grape growers sell less grapes to winemakers; poor vintages are the result of bad weather. This presents the opportunity for grape growers to hedge the risk of poor weather and resulting lower harvest values with weather derivatives. This study explores the potential for grape growers to trade them to effectively hedge against low harvest values by …

Finding Profitability Of Technical Trading Rules In Emerging Market Exchange Traded Funds, Austin P. Hallett

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis further investigates the effectiveness of 15 variable moving average strategies that mimic the trading rules used in the study by Brock, Lakonishok, and LeBaron (1992). Instead of applying these strategies to developed markets, unique characteristics of emerging markets offer opportunity to investors that warrant further research. Before transaction costs, all 15 variable moving average strategies outperform the naïve benchmark strategy of buying and holding different emerging market ETF's over the volatile period of 858 trading days. However, the variable moving averages perform poorly in the "bubble" market cycle. In fact, sell signals become more unprofitable than buy signals …

Incentivizing Biodiversity Conservation: The Ecological Icms In Brazil, Erin Franks

CMC Senior Theses

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the ecological ICMS (ICMS-e) in the Brazilian Amazon, an intragovernmental transfer for incentivizing biodiversity conservation. Tax funds are passed from state governments to municipalities in proportion to the amount of protected area within their borders; biological reserves, sustainable use areas, and indigenous lands are all considered. Econometric analysis using a fixed effects model found that the policy had little positive effect on increasing protected areas compared to the significant negative influence of poor land tenure, agricultural influences, and lack of monitoring for illegal deforestation. However, the policy may increase municipal governments' acceptance of and …

The Origins Of The Italian Sovereign Debt Crisis, David M. Henningsen

CMC Senior Theses

Over the past decade, the European Union has been characterized by an explosion of expenditure, insufficient revenue, high deficits and a lack of budget discipline. Financial markets in Europe are currently dealing with enormous government debts, poor government balance sheets and a weakening banking system. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the origins of the current Euro-crisis and specifically identify the extent to which it will affect the nation of Italy going forward. To understand Italy's stance amid the Euro-crisis, we proceed as follows: First, a historical background section will develop the fundamental issues that have developed in …

Does A Change In A Logo Affect The Value Of The Brand? The Case Of Starbucks, Brittany Isobe

CMC Senior Theses

When the first Starbucks opened in 1971, not even the founders expected that just two decades later, it would become one of the strongest international corporations. Starbucks has experienced unprecedented growth and unfathomable success. The company grew from 17 stores in the company’s founding years to approximately 17,000 stores across 55 countries just 40 years later.1 According to the corporate website, the Starbucks mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time”.2

In order to fulfill their mission statement, Starbucks has to mold their company to align with the …

Aggregated Versus Disaggregated Forward Looking Information: Effects On Risk Taking, Rishabh Parekh

CMC Senior Theses

In previous research, aggregation of returns has been found as a way to counteract the risk averse behavior that is the result of investors' myopia. This paper expands the study of aggregation by analyzing its effect on forward looking probabilities. Namely, through the disaggregation of future information, subjects become myopic and trade with varying risk preferences. In an experimental market, subjects trading securities with disaggregated forward looking information are found to 'buy high and sell low', while subjects trading the same securities, but with aggregated information, trade with more consistent risk preferences.