Economics Commons^™

Using Data To Analyze Rising Healthcare Costs Based On Firm Size And Government Policy, Michael Worley, Dr. Mark Showalter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This project had two main, interdependent goals. The first was to study changes in health care costs over the past few decades and consider changes in policy over the course of the recent past in the context of recent health care legislation. The second was to establish a NSF (National Science Foundation) data center at Brigham Young University, and thereby have access to much better data to analyze to help us understand the affects changes in policy had.

Long-Term Income Stagnation Among The Bankrupt, Daniel Sullivan, Dr. Frank Mcintyre

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Past research has documented a wide array of personal risk factors for declaring bankruptcy, such as a loss of income, medical debt, excessive credit card debt, and large mortgages. These factors fall into two broad categories: adverse events, such as an acute income shock (e.g., job loss), and internal decisions, like budgeting failures where a household’s consumption exceeds income for some time.

Deriving Movie Revenues How Mpaa Ratings Effect Film Profits, Jared Shores, Dr. Joseph Price

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I have always been drawn to the arts. Growing up I was continually playing and writing music. As I grew older my interested broadened into visual arts, specifically film. Although I am an economics major, I have continually looked for opportunities to apply what I was learning to the film industry. The idea for this project started after my Price Theory II class in the spring of 2009. My professor, Dr. Price, encouraged my desire to investigate why so few family friendly films were being created when it was arguably the largest film market. This simple conversation led to some …

The Effects Of Sleep On Academic Achievement In Adolescents: A Quantile Regression Analysis, Brent Jensen, Dr. Eric Eide

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Education is a growing area of study in the area of economics and it is often difficult to find objective answers to the questions and problems that educators and policy makers face each day. For my research, I used economic theory to try and determine if there is a causal relationship between sleep and academic achievement for students between the ages 5 and 18 and to see if that relationship is significant.

Market Defending Medicine: When Physicians And Midwives Compete For Patients, Angelyn Fairchild, Dr. Joseph Price

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Patients trust that their medical provider will help them receive the best care possible even when this may involve referring them to another provider. However, transferring patients to other providers represents a transfer of income between the health care providers, thus creating a strong profit incentive for physicians to retain patients in their care. In order to examine how physicians respond to competitive threats to their income, we exploit changes in insurance laws that increased competition in the market for labor and delivery by expanding policies to cover midwives as well as physicians.

Academic Salary Compression: Are You In Danger?, Jeff Sorensen, Dr. James Mcdonald

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Salary compression is common in many fields with high demand for or low supply of a specific type of labor. In order to attract new recruits in such fields, employers sometimes must offer them wages higher than those of more senior employees. Unlike in most labor markets, there is evidence that returns to seniority for college professors are negative. Ransom (1993), along with many others, found a negative correlation between the number of years at the university and salary after controlling for total workforce experience, research activity, and other variables. He developed a model in which universities act as a …

Evaluating The Impact Of Health Information Technology Resources On Quality Of Patient Care, Evans Thomas, Dr. Mark Showalter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

With issues ranging from controlling insurance availability and coverage to management of healthcare infrastructure and costs, healthcare is an inflationary topic of national debate today. Much of the publicized argument, such as the healthcare reform bill recently passed in Congress, has centered on how to restructure the reimbursement system in order to contain costs. However, within provider organizations the question also focuses on maintaining and improving patient welfare. Many in the healthcare industry believe that technological resources can also help healthcare providers to cut costs by automating complex, repetitive processes while improving quality of care. With this goal in mind, …

The Effect Of Household Financial, Time And Environmental Constraints On Very Low Food Security Among Children, Helen H. Jensen, Oleksandr Zhylyevskyy

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Food insecurity is detrimental to children’s well-being. A better understanding of factors contributing to low and very low food security among children in the United States can guide the design of food assistance programs. We analyze the effects of household characteristics and local food environment attributes, including food prices and availability of food stores and eating places, on children’s food insecurity. We also investigate the effects of these characteristics and attributes on food preparation time. Using Becker’s household production approach, we propose an economic model that formalizes the use of constrained financial and time resources in the household. The model …

Puppy Mill Closure: The Economic Impact On A Local Community, The Humane Society Of The United States

PUPPY MILL REPORTS

When a substandard dog-breeding facility (a puppy mill) closes, removing the dogs can drain the financial resources of a community, local animal welfare entities, and large humane organizations. Towns rarely derive any benefit from puppy mills, as they employ few staff, often don’t pay required taxes or license fees, generate much animal waste and pollution, and cause unpleasant odors and noise. Once a major puppy mill enterprise is discovered, many communities don’t have the necessary resources to handle the situation. Prevention is the key, and communities should discourage large scale breeding facilities from locating in their area.

Composite Input-Output Production Functions, Randall Jackson

Regional Research Institute Technical Documents

This document describes the algorithm used for creating an aggregated linear production function for an industry by weighting subsector production functions. The result can be used as a column in an interindustry (I ×I) coefficients table or in a standard Use table (C × I) depending on the units (C or I) of the input data.

Integrated Modeling Frameworks, Randall Jackson

Regional Research Institute Resource Documents

This document is intended to clarify the foundations of the IO and CGE analytical frameworks and procedures that underlie the NSF and USDA/NIFA funded research projects. It covers environmental data, life cycle assessment (LCA), input-output models (IO), structural decomposition analysis (SDA), social accounting matrix models (SAMs), and computable general equilibrium modeling (CGE).

Picking The Next Fed Chair: Debate Degenerates Into A Personality Contest, Louis D. Johnston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Agricultural Biotechnology, International Trade, General Equilibrium And Efficiency, Comlanvi Martin Konou

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Ongoing debates about the adoption of the agricultural biotechnology in the developing countries and EU have dominated the literature in development economics and biosciences. This dissertation considers some environmental, economic and social consequences of the technology from three perspectives: 1) the impact of the ongoing pest density on the performance of the agricultural biotechnology in India; 2) trade consequences of EU restrictive trade policies towards biotech products; and 3) the adoption decision of the technology in the EU and the developing economies.

Agricultural biotechnology appears to be successful in increasing yield and reducing the use of pesticides. However, most studies …

Financial Inclusion In Nigeria: Issues And Challenges, Ukpai Kama, Mustapha A. Adigun

CBN Occasional Papers

Financial Inclusion is a state where financial services are delivered by a range of providers, mostly the private sector, to reach everyone who could use them. Specifically, it means a financial system that serves as many people as possible in a country. In recent time, financial Inclusion has assumed a critical development policy priority in many countries, particularly in developing economies. This paper reviewed experiences of other jurisdictions in the achievement of financial inclusion. More importantly, the various country experiences showed that, though financial inclusion may have become a general phenomenon, its nature, form and challenges differ among jurisdictions and …

Is Cultural Distance A Determinant Of International Migration Flows? Evidence From Denmark, Germany, And The Netherlands, Roger White

Economics

We examine the relationship between source-destination country cultural differences and international migration flows using data for three immigrant destination countries (i.e., Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands) and a cohort of 66 heterogeneous immigrant source countries during the years 1997-2002. Results obtained from the estimation of our empirical specifications using the Negative Binomial regression technique indicate that, all else equal, cultural distance is negatively related to migration flows and that larger existing immigrant stocks correspond with larger subsequent migration flows. These findings are consistent with the results reported in Belot and Ederveen (2012). Extending the literature, we report that existing immigrant …

Do Mlb Hitters Boost Performance In Their Contract Year?, Heather M. O'Neill

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

This study focuses on 256 MLB free agent hitters playing under the 2006-2011 CBA to determine whether they boost their offensive performance in their contract year. Prior studies’ results are mixed, depending on the econometric technique used and the choice of the offensive performance measure.

Having multiple year observations per player, one can incorporate the unobserved traits of the players (ability, risk aversion, work ethic, etc.) by using Fixed Effects (FE) estimation. Since these unmeasured player traits are likely to be correlated with observed predictors of performance (games played, playoff contention, age, etc.), traditionally used Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and …

Vocational Rehabilitation Transition Services In Rural Areas, Rebecca Goe, Catherine Ipsen, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Employment

The receipt of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services as students transition out of high school may be an important predictor of post-graduation success (Harvey, 2002; National Council on Disability, 2008). In rural, limited job opportunities and limited access to counselors intersect to create a challenging VR service environment for transition youth. While 2008 and 2009 case services data indicate that a greater proportion of clients are transition aged in rural versus urban counties (RSA 911, 2009), rural transition students fall behind their urban counterparts in rates of employment and enrollment in postsecondary education following graduation (Harvey, 2002). This fact sheet reports …

Rhode Island Current Conditions Index -- August 2013, Leonard Lardaro

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

No abstract provided.

Do Major League Baseball Hitters Engage In Opportunistic Behavior?, Heather M. O'Neill

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

This study focuses on 256 Major League Baseball free agent hitters playing under the 2006–2011 collective bargaining agreement to determine whether players engage in opportunistic behavior in their contract year, i.e., the last year of their current guaranteed contracts. Past studies of professional baseball yield conflicting results depending on the econometric technique applied and choice of performance measure. When testing whether players’ offensive performances increase during their contract year, the omitted variable bias associated with OLS and pooled OLS estimation leads to contrary results compared to fixed effects modeling. Fixed effects regression results suggest players increase their offensive performance subject …

Premature Exit From The Vocational Rehabilitation System, Catherine Ipsen, Rebecca Goe, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Employment

Data from the 2009 Rebahilitation Services Administration Case Services Report (RSA 911) indicate that approximately 50% of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) consumers leave the system prematurely. Premature exits include case closures related to lost contact with the consumer due to inaccurate address, disconnected phone or consumer relocation (17.4% of cases); consumer refusal to continue services (17.2% of cases); or consumer failure to cooperate (15% of cases). Both the consumer and the VR system as a whole lose out when a consumer enrolls in services but drops out early. For the consumer, premature exit from VR services is correlated with worse economic …

Project-Based Section 8 Housing Participants' Perception Of Cultural And Structural Factors To Explain Barriers To Economic Self-Sufficiency, Yolanda Javette Clark

Dissertations

The Project-Based Section 8 program began as temporary housing of the last resort for people who experience temporary setbacks. However, due to participants' inability to become economically self-sufficient, the anti-poverty program has become permanent housing from which few families have been able to escape. Recent studies related to escaping poverty and becoming economically self-sufficient suggest cultural and structural factors are equally important and collectively impact upward economic mobility.

Similarly, the purpose of this study was to determine if Project-Based Section 8 housing participants' characteristics, described as cultural and structural barriers to economic self-sufficiency, interrelate and collectively predict ability to escape …

Social Media Use Within State Vocational Rehabilitation Programs, Catherine Ipsen, Rebecca Goe, Kathy West-Evans, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Employment

Increasingly, employers use company websites, job boards, and social networking sites to recruit and evaluate potential employees. In 1997, newspaper ads and employee referrals accounted for almost half of new business hires. Yet by 2009, online career sites replaced newspaper ads as a major source for new recruits (CareerXroads, 2010). Likewise, 75% of U.S. recruiters reported that their companies required online research of candidates, and 70% reported they had rejected candidates based on information found online (Bontke & Lawler, 2012).

Corporate Lobbying, Political Connections, And The Bailout Of Banks, Diana W. Thomas, Benjamin M. Blau, Tyler Brough

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

Political involvement has long been shown to be a profitable investment for firms that seek favorable regulatory conditions or support in times of economic distress. But how important are different types of political involvement for the timing and magnitude of political support? To answer this question, we take a comprehensive look at the lobbying expenditures and political connections of banks that were recipients of government support under the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). We find that politically engaged firms were not only more likely to receive TARP support, but they also received a greater amount of TARP support and …

Using Field-Level Characteristics As Proxy Measures To Test For The Presence Of Economies Of Scale In Nonpoint Pollution Control, Arthur J. Caplan, John Gilbert, Devalina Chatterjee

Applied Economics Faculty Publications

We use parametric and nonparametric methods to estimate correlations between average control cost and three field-level characteristics—field size and delivered phosphorous per field and per acre—as proxies for economies of scale in controlling nonpoint pollution. We combine load and delivery-ratio estimates for more than 12,000 fields in the Bear River Basin, Utah, with estimates of control costs and effectiveness of management practices from the literature. Results suggest a negative relationship between control cost and delivered phosphorous per field and per acre. Ranking fields by phosphorous load therefore prioritizes management-practice subsidies by economies of scale.

Endogenous Voting Weights For Elected Representatives And Redistricting, Justin Svec, James Hamilton

Economics Department Working Papers

This paper analyzes the merits of a novel method of eliminating the power of a gerrymanderer that involves an endogenous weighting system for elected representatives. This endogenous weighting system ties the voting weight of elected representatives in the legislature to the share of the voters who voted for that representative's party and to the share of representatives elected from that party. If the weights are set correctly, it can be shown in simple voting models like Gilligan and Matsusaka (1999) that redistricting has no influence on the policy passed by the legislature. This benefit, though, is out-weighed by the fact …

Infrastructure Investments And Mega-Sports Events: Comparing The Experience Of Developing And Industrialized Countries, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

Countries vigorously compete for sports mega-events in hopes of generating an economic impact during the event but also long-term growth induced by the hallmark event. It is well understood that the economic legacy depends on the infrastructure that not only facilitates the games but also has far broader implications for sustainable economic activity in the host city’s economy. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which developing and developed countries adopt different strategies as it related to the composition of infrastructure enhancements that have implications for the generation of an economy legacy from the mega-sports event.

Plain & Simple: The Will To Live Sustainably In An Unsustainable World, Brandi Nichole Button

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sustainability is a buzzword covering a variety of fields and subjects. For the purposes of my research sustainability is “the ability to keep going over the long haul. As a value, it refers to giving equal weight in your decisions to the future as well as the present” (Gilman 1). The sustainability movement refers to activists, educators and researchers who are dedicated to finding high quality ways of living in the world that are environmentally benign for all who are now living as well future generations to come (Gilman 1). This research focuses on three women who engage in voluntary …

Economic Analysis Of Lean Wastes: Case Studies Of Textile And Garment Industries In Ethiopia, Tsegay Tesfay Mezgebe, Hadush Berhe Asgedom, Asayehgn Desta

Collected Faculty Scholarship

In today's competitive world, customers are demanding better quality products with fast and reliable deliveries. To meet this demand, new manufacturing technologies are developing rapidly, resulting in new products and improvements in manufacturing processes. As part of this effort, lean production principles have been established and are in use in developed countries to minimize and/or remove wastes.

The purpose of this study is to identify and analyse lean wastes surfacing in production lines of four textile and garment industries. The information will make it possible for them to minimize or eliminate lean wastes using recommended tools and techniques. As a …

Failure To Launch? The Role Of Land Inequality In Transition Delays, Andros Kourtellos, Ioanna Stylianou, Chih Ming Tan

Economics & Finance Faculty Publications

This paper provides empirical support for one theory of transition delays: initial land inequality. Using a new historical data set for land inequality (Frankema (2009)) we employ duration analysis to investigate whether higher levels of land inequality lead to longer delays in the extension of primary schooling. Our findings suggest that land inequality is a key determinant of delays in schooling.

Fiscal Convergence And Discipline In The Gmu, Abdulateef Al Ismail

All Theses

Although the GCC member states fulfill the GMU fiscal convergence criteria quoted from the EU, this paper indicates that these criteria did not suit the GCC economies. By clarifying the economic differences between the GCC region and the EU, studying the GCC economies fiscal data, and learning from the EU and the GCC member states experiences, the paper finds that: (i) The deficit and debt strategies did not fit the GCC' economics index by requiring economic depended on surplus and lower debt level strategies to design their fiscal criteria. (ii)The GCC government budgets depend highly on oil and gas. The …