Economics Commons^™

Displacement In D.C.: A Case Study Of Gentrification And Granger-Causality In Our Nation's Capitol, Will Lawrence

Honors Projects

This study looks at the causal forces behind the social relocation phenomenon known as gentrification. Location theory posits that ever increasing commute times coupled with falling crime rates in the city-center incentivize the high-income population to move from the suburbs to the city, driving up housing prices and displacing the low-income, original residents who live in the city. This paper applies location theory to Washington, D.C. in an attempt to explain the ongoing gentrification process through the displacement of original residents. City-wide data at the neighborhood level for housing prices and crime rates are analyzed to explore the causal relationships …

Natural Resources A Curse Or A Blessing: Evidence From Williston, Nd, Alissa Melberg

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2013

The aim of this study was to test the implications of natural resource abundance for regional economic development for Williston, ND. Williston emerged as a natural choice for this study due to the recent crude oil production boom experienced by it post 2007. The implications of natural resource abundance on regional development are rather mixed in literature. While one strand of literature believes that natural resource industries often create forward linkages which supplement regional development, the other strand believes that it impedes regional development by diverting local resources. The prime objective of this study is to test these two strands …

Exploring Relationships Between Global, National And Local Actors: A Case Study Approach To Ingos In Post-Reform Vietnam, Alyssa L. Bosold

Student Publications

In 1986, the Vietnamese government undertook a series of reforms known as doi moi. These reforms were mainly economic adjustments that encouraged globalization through capitalism, international trade, and foreign investment. They restructured Vietnam’s economy from a centrally-planned system to a market economy with a socialist orientation. This study focuses on the political and cultural aspects of globalization after doi moi, and analyzes the development of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) in Vietnam. Specifically, it seeks to address the following research question: How has the INGO sector changed with increasing globalization in Vietnam after the 1986 doi moi reforms, and what are …

The New School Enrollment By Subject, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Agenda for an economics department meeting. (2013, January 28). [Unpublished agenda].

• Economics department class schedule. (2013, Fall). [Unpublished schedule].

• The New School enrollment by subject spring 2013 (201230). (2013, January 28). (pp. 8–10) [Excerpt from unpublished report].

• Economics department seminar series schedule. (2013, Spring). [Unpublished schedule].

• Economics department meetings schedule. (2013, Spring). [Unpublished schedule].

• Agenda for an economics department NSSR meeting. (2013, September 4). [Unpublished agenda with handwritten notes by Anwar Shaikh, PhD].

Designing Affordable Housing For Adaptability: Principles, Practices, & Application, Micaela R. Danko

Pitzer Senior Theses

While environmental and economic sustainability have been driving factors in the movement towards a more resilient built environment, social sustainability is a factor that has received significantly less attention over the years. Federal support for low-income housing has fallen drastically, and the deficit of available, adequate, affordable homes continues to grow. In this thesis, I explore one way that architects can design affordable housing that is intrinsically sustainable. In the past, subsidized low-income housing has been built as if to provide a short-term solution—as if poverty and lack of affordable housing is a short-term problem. However, I argue that adaptable …

'Clean Energy' At What Cost?, Rachel E. Conrad

Pitzer Senior Theses

Ecuador was ‘refounded’ at the turn of the 21^st century, with the articulation of progressive and inclusive ideals in a new Constitution. Social movements and leftist intellectuals in Ecuador have expressed that president Rafael Correa has failed to uphold the 2008 Constitution’s goals and values. President Correa and his Alianza PAIS government have utilized the rhetoric of the revolutionary ideals articulated in the Constitution, but in practice, they have continued to implement the status quo Western development model, and a large part of their development strategy involves ‘neo-extractive’ activities. Hydroelectric energy production is contributing to the ‘neo-extractive’ development model …

Pay In Nonprofits, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

In the US, April 21-April 27 is National Volunteer Week, a time to recognize all those who work without pay to support important missions or causes championed by nonprofits. Many of the issues that come up when designing pay systems in for-profits (strategy, internal equity, performance, motivation, fairness, transparency, etc.) are as important to consider in nonprofits as they are in for-profits. But some of the facts and issues differ. Using a sample of data from the 2000 US Census of Population about approximately 3 million people between the ages of 16 and 65 who worked full year and full …

Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditure Profiles: Quarter 4, 2012, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report examines spending profiles of nonresident travelers to Montana. It displays the average daily expenditures by purpose of trip for different spending categories during the fourth quarter of 2012.

How Do We Know Occupational Labor Shortages Exist?, Burt S. Barnow, John Trutko, Jaclyn Schede Piatak

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Reviving An Ailing Economy, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Newspaper and Magazine Articles

Many hearts were broken the night Dr Ishrat Husain’s nomination for the caretaker prime minister failed. With long tenures in the civil service of Pakistan as well as the World Bank, his professional credentials were impeccable to begin with. That he managed to spearhead a series of critical reforms at the State Bank of Pakistan while he was governor was impressive but more so was the fact that his integrity remained free of the taint that came to be associated with military ruler Pervez Musharraf. Finally, Husain has been working on a plan for the economic revival of Pakistan for …

Tolls, Exchange Rates, And Northbound International Bridge Traffic: 1990-2006, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Angel L. Molina Jr., Adam G. Walke

Border Region Modeling Project

Although there have been a small number of empirical studies that analyze northbound border crossings between Mexico and the United States, very few examine the potential impacts of both tolls and exchange rates on the various traffic categories. This effort attempts to partially fill that gap in the applied economics literature by modeling northbound traffic flows at one of the largest regional economies along the border. Results indicate that business cycle fluctuations, variations in the real exchange rate, and changes in real toll tariffs all influence cross border traffic volumes. Tolls on northbound traffic into the United States are assessed …

Global Futures And Government Towns: Phosphates And The Production Of Western Sahara As A Space Of Contention, Mark Drury

Publications and Research

The study of natural resources lends itself to theorizing the politics of nature and the politics of time. The space of Western Sahara, where both remain highly contested, provides an opportunity to consider the ramifications of resources in political conflict at different historical moments. Drawing from environmental histories of North Africa and the Sahara, as well as the anthropology of time, the author focuses on two historical moments. The first, from 1945 to 1972, concerns the discovery of phosphate deposits during the Spanish colonial period and the implications of this discovery for political authority in the Sahara more broadly. The …

The Impact Of Early Commitment On Games Played: Evidence From College Football Recruiting, Jesse Brickers, Andrew R. Hanson

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

We use data on athletic scholarship acceptance decisions to show that high school football players signal their ability level by delaying commitment. Although colleges can obtain information about student athletes, National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations limit information flow, making private information an important component of the scholarship market. Using ordinary least squares, censored regression, and negative binomial estimation, we show that for a given observed ability level, committing to a scholarship offer early is associated with less playing time after acceptance. In one season and at a typical average early signing date, early-committing athletes played in 0.21 fewer games per …

What Can We Learn From The Existing Evidence Of The Business Case For Investments In Nursing Care: Importance Of Content, Context, And Policy Environment, Olga Yakusheva, Douglas Wholey, Kevin D. Frick

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

Decisions of health care institutions to invest in nursing care are often guided by mixed and conflicting evidence of effects of the investments on organizational function and sustainability. This paper uses new evidence generated through Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI)-funded research and published in peer-reviewed journals, to illustrate where the business case for nursing investments stands and to discuss factors that may limit the existing evidence and its transferability into clinical practice. We conclude that there are 3 limiting factors: (1) the existing business case for nursing investments is likely understated due to the inability of most studies to …

Estimating Discount Factors For Public And Private Goods And Testing Competing Discounting Hypotheses, Andrew G. Meyer

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

The observation of declining discount rates in experimental settings has led many to promote hyperbolic discounting over standard exponential discounting as the preferred descriptive model of intertemporal choice. I develop a new framework, consistent with the random utility model, which directly models the intertemporal utility function and produces explicit maximum likelihood estimates of discounting parameters. I apply this estimation method to a stated-preference survey of river basin cleanup options and revealed-preference lottery payment choices. Formal statistical tests fail to find evidence in support of hyperbolic or quasi-hyperbolic discounting. Annual discount rates range from ten to fourteen percent across the data …

Do Nhl Teams Regard Violence As A Positive Player Attribute And Thus Compensate For Violent Acts?, Mitch Zimmerman

Major Themes in Economics

Hockey has always been a violent sport. Major injuries in sports have made headlines in recent years, so it is important to understand how National Hockey League (NHL) organizations view, use, and sometimes abuse violence. It’s not a secret that some players in the NHL don’t fit the general profile of a skilled hockey player. This paper investigates whether the unofficial title of “enforcer” really exists in the NHL by showing whether teams compensate certain players with non-typical or “enforcer” skill sets. Using a clustering analysis and a regression analysis there is a clear indication that NHL organizations do in …

Does Success On The Grid-Iron And Court Increase Applications To Football Bowl Subdivision (Fbs) Schools?, Andrew Dykstra

Major Themes in Economics

Division I athletics require a substantial financial commitment from a university. Previous research suggests that athletic success may provide benefits to a university. These benefits might include advertising, which may lead to increased applications. I used 2000-2010 application data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to investigate if athletic success for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football and basketball programs affects the number of applications these universities receive. Key independent variables used are past values of Sagarin ratings, Associated Press Top 20 College Football Poll ratings, and NCAA Basketball Tournament performance. I find that some measures of athletic success …

Would The 1995 Balanced Budget Amendment Be An Effective Mechanism For Stabilizing Public Debt?, James Harbaugh

Major Themes in Economics

The 1995 Balanced Budget Amendment for is often brought up as a way to stabilize the public debt. But how would it operate, what implications would it have for U.S. public finance or macroeconomic conditions, and would it be effective at controlling whatever threat the federal debt poses? After the bill failed in 1995, two economists published opposing views on the effectiveness of the failed amendment. Examining their arguments and history, it remains unclear whether the 1995 amendment could effectively control the federal debt.

Education And Fertility: The Effect Of Field Of Study On Women’S Fertility Decisions, Emily Scholtes

Major Themes in Economics

This study aims to identify the relationship between field of study and women’s fertility among U.S. college graduates. Using data from the 2010 American Community Survey, this study provides the first Poisson regression analysis to compare the number of children women have with women’s undergraduate fields of study. Of the 37 fields of study that are examined, I find 22 fields are statistically significant, suggesting that field of study is a significant factor in how many children a woman decides to have.

Differences In Child Care Costs Between States And Their Influence On Female Labor Force Participation, Kirstin Knobloch

Major Themes in Economics

The cost of child care varies from state to state and ranges from $3,911 to $11,669 per year. Does the cost deter women from entering the labor force? I use an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model to investigate whether states with higher costs of child care have lower female labor force participation rates (LFPR). I find that the cost of child care is a significant factor in the labor force participation model, but doesn’t have the expected negative impact.

The Infinite And The Finite: An Analysis Of The United States’ Energy Future, Elise Voorhis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Last year the New York Times published a newsworthy article stating that the United States could become “Energy Independent” from the tumultuous OPEC countries. This groundbreaking revelation, supported by statistics from the International Energy Agency, claimed that newfound energy resources were spread throughout North America in the form of shale oil and gas. Politicians and the public clung to this possibility in the face of strenuous relations with the Middle East as the Arab Spring and the War on Terror waged on. However, the consequences of becoming “energy independent” have not been considered. What are the geopolitical implications of pursuing …

Jordan’S Energy Security: Impact Of Dependency On Unstable Foreign Sources On Social Stability And Policy Alternatives, Allan Martinez Venegas

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Jordan is one the world's most dependent countries in foreign sources for energy production in the world. 96% percent of its energy comes from imports from neighboring countries, while exploitation of domestic resources is practically insignificant. Of the primary imports, crude oil and products are by far the most important resource, with natural gas in second place. This dependency is very problematic for both the Jordanian regime and the society it governs in two main ways. Firstly, the source-countries of these resources are highly unstable, especially in the current context of the “Arab spring.” Their outflow of energy sources is …

Lara Ngom Ii Acoli: Identifying Root Causes And The Impact Of Cultural Cataclysm On Land Conflict Resolution In Nwoya District, Northern Uganda, Madison Stevens

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Endemic land insecurity is a critical aspect of the negative peace presently felt by the Acoli sub-region in the wake of two decades of conflict,2 as well over two thousand instances of land disputes have been recorded in the region since the cessation of hostilities in 2006.3 This study examines the dynamics of land conflicts in Nwoya district, Northern Uganda. The research was conducted over four weeks of independent research in Nwoya district, and incorporates the perspectives of various actors involved in land conflicts and the dispute resolution process. Findings incorporate field-based information gathered primarily from interviews with key stakeholders, …

Motivations To Migrate: Migration From Morocco And The “Failure” Of Rural Development During The Eurozone Financial Crisis, Alexander Djaha

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

EU’s closing borders are impeding a fifty-year pattern of Moroccan migration to southern Europe to find work, prosper and provide for their families back home. Moroccan NGOs, as well as the Spanish and Italian governments, have recently invested in rural development initiatives aimed at increasing employment opportunities in Morocco and deterring workers from migrating. Yet Moroccans keep risking their lives and continue to migrate illegally every day as these initiatives are proving to be ineffective. This study examines the current conditions for Moroccan migrant workers amidst tightening European Union borders and a narrowing European frontier for employment. The Eurozone financial …

(Wp 2013-03) War And The Fiscal Capacity Of The State, Abdur Chowdhury, Syed M. Murshed

Economics Working Papers

We examine the role of war in retarding state fiscal capacity in developing countries, measured by tax revenue ratios to GDP. This in contrast to the European experience from the Renaissance to the 20th century, where it is believed that war and state-building were inseparable, enhancing the fiscal capacity of the state; in turn enlarging the scope and magnitude of government expenditure. We build a simple theoretical model of a factionalized state, where patronage substitutes for common interest public goods, along with the possibility of violent contestation over a rent or prize, typically in the form of natural resource revenues. …

Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditure Trends: 2002-2012, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report shows the nonresident traveler expenditure trends for visitors of Montana from 2002-2012. It also displays the total actual expenditures and the total inflation-adjusted expenditures.

Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditure Profiles: 2012, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report examines spending profiles of nonresident travelers to Montana. It displays the average daily expenditures by purpose of trip for different spending categories during 2012.

Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditure Profiles: Quarter 3, 2012, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report examines spending profiles of nonresident travelers to Montana. It displays the average daily expenditures by purpose of trip for different spending categories during the third quarter of 2012.

Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditure Profiles: Quarter 2, 2012, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report examines spending profiles of nonresident travelers to Montana. It displays the average daily expenditures by purpose of trip for different spending categories during the second quarter of 2012.

Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditure Profiles: Quarter 1, 2012, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report examines spending profiles of nonresident travelers to Montana. It displays the average daily expenditures by purpose of trip for different spending categories during the first quarter of 2012.