Economics Commons^™

Interim Equilibrium Implementation, Takashi Kunimoto

Research Collection School Of Economics

A social choice rule is said to be implementable if one can design a mechanism(or institution) in which the set of outcomes prescribed by a given solutionconcept coincides with that specified by the social choice rule. I adoptinterim equilibrium (i.e., Bayesian Nash equilibrium where each agent’s interimbeliefs do not necessarily admit a prior) as the solution concept andinvestigate the corresponding implementation problem in general incompleteinformation environments. I identify arguably the weakest set of conditionsunder which implementation in interim equilibrium is possible. By doingso, I also unify the literature of the so-called Bayesian implementation andNash implementation.

Innovation And Optimal Punishment, With Antitrust Applications, Keith N. Hylton, Haizhen Lin

Faculty Scholarship

This article modifies the optimal punishment analysis by incorporating investment incentives with external benefits. In the models examined, the recommendation that the optimal penalty should internalize the marginal social harm is no longer valid. We focus on antitrust applications. In light of the benefits from innovation, the optimal policy will punish monopolizing firms more leniently than suggested in the standard static model. It may be optimal not to punish the monopolizing firm at all, or to reward the firm rather than punish it. We examine the precise balance between penalty and reward in the optimal punishment scheme.

The Efficacy Of Mathematics Education, Eric Geimer

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

Evidence supports the notion that mathematics education in the United States is inadequate. There is also evidence that mathematics education deficiencies extend internationally. The worldwide mathematics education deficit appears large enough that improving student performance in this educational problem area could yield great economic benefit. To improve the efficacy of mathematics education, education’s root problems must first be understood. Often supposed educational root problems are considered and contrasted against potential deficiencies of mathematics methodologies and curricula that are based on mainstream educational philosophies. The educational philosophies utilized to form early-grade mathematics methodologies and related curricula are judged to be the …

Slides: “Human Sustainability” In Natural Resources Industries: The New Frontier In Compliance, Social Responsibility, Disclosure, And Transparency, T. Markus Funk

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: T. Markus Funk, Partner, Perkins Coie

21 slides

Value Chain For Quality Education, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Talks, Speeches, & Discourse

Congratulations for organizing this international conference. So my thanks to the organizers for taking very important initiative. I also would like to place on record my appreciation for Nisar Siddiqui and the faculty and students of Sukkur IBA who have really done a marvelous job in turning around this institution through their dedication and hard work. . IBA Sukkur being located in a backward area of the province of Sindh has its own disadvantages. That you have maintained high standards of education and produce quality graduates from this institution is a remarkable feat which very few organizations institutions can achieve. …

Value Chain For Quality Education, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Talks, Speeches, & Discourse

Congratulations for organizing this international conference. So my thanks to the organizers for taking very important initiative. I also would like to place on record my appreciation for Nisar Siddiqui and the faculty and students of Sukkur IBA who have really done a marvelous job in turning around this institution through their dedication and hard work. IBA Sukkur being located in a backward area of the province of Sindh has its own disadvantages. That you have maintained high standards of education and produce quality graduates from this institution is a remarkable feat which very few organizations institutions can achieve. I …

Schelling, Von Neumann, And The Event That Didn’T Occur, Alexander J. Field

Economics

Thomas Schelling was recognized by the Nobel Prize committee as a pioneer in the application of game theory and rational choice analysis to problems of politics and international relations. However, although he makes frequent references in his writings to this approach, his main explorations and insights depend upon and require acknowledgment of its limitations. One of his principal concerns was how a country could engage in successful deterrence. If the behavioral assumptions that commonly underpin game theory are taken seriously and applied consistently, however, nuclear adversaries are almost certain to engage in devastating conflict, as John von Neumann forcefully asserted. …

Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Food-Waste Composting Program At Umm, Alicia Beattie

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

As costs of landfilling and incinerating waste rise, many campuses are beginning to consider alternatives for dealing with food waste generation. In August of 2012, the University of Minnesota, Morris began composting its food waste and food-soiled paper using the turned windrow method. While hailed as a sustainable alternative, with benefits including reduced need for chemical fertilizers, water, and pesticides, higher crop yields, revitalization of poor soils, avoidance of methane and leachate generation in landfills, pollution prevention, and extension of landfill life, many costs are also incurred with the composting alternative ranging from the need to purchase organics collection bins …

Private Equity Firms' Reputational Concerns And The Costs Of Debt Financing, Rongbing Huang, Jay R. Ritter, Donghang Zhang

Faculty Articles

A popular view is that private equity (PE) firms tend to expropriate other stakeholders of their portfolio companies. Bonds offered during 1992-2011 by companies after their initial public offerings (IPOs) do not reflect this view. We find that yield spreads on bonds offered by PE-backed companies are on average 70 basis points lower, holding other things constant. We also find that PE-backed companies have more conservative investment and dividend policies after bond offerings compared to non-PE-backed companies. These results suggest that PE firms’ reputational concerns dominate their wealth expropriation incentives and help their portfolio companies reduce the costs of debt.

An Analysis Of Nafta’S Effects On The Us And Mexican Apparel Trade, John F. Yoder, Dr. Scott Bradford

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Prior to the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement, critics predicted NAFTA would harm the US economy. Even proponents of NAFTA admitted that free trade between the US, Canada, and Mexico would shift low-skilled jobs to Mexico where such work could be done more cheaply. Most economists predicted that such a job shift would occur in the apparel industry, which employs low-skilled workers. For example, Alain de Janvrey noted that “intra-industry trade in this case [between NAFTA countries] is importantly motivated by the chase for cheap labor and hence can induce systematic plant relocation toward Mexico” (de Janvrey, …

Thomas Pinckney, Agent At Virginia, Tennessee And Georgia Air Line (Railroad), Inquires With W.G. Macdowell, Treasurer Of N.& W. Railroad (Norfolk & Western?), As To The Status Of A Claim Made By Shippers Compress Co., Thomas Pinckney

Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr. Manuscript and Ephemera Collection

Thomas Pinckney, agent at Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia Air Line (railroad), inquires with W.G. Macdowell, treasurer of N.& W. Railroad (Norfolk & Western?), as to whether or not a claim of $1690.33 made by Shippers Compress Company has been paid to N. & W. October 25, 1887.

Employment Protection And Income Inequality: Is There A Role For The Informal Sector?, Eleni Gkinni, Eleni Vasilaki

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper seeks to examine the effect of employment protection on income inequality. By employing the employment protection data developed by Botero et al. (2004) as well as well established measures of economic inequality for a sample of 83 countries, our analysis suggests that increased employment protection is negatively associated with income inequality. This relationship remains highly robust across several different specifications and estimation methods. In addition, our analysis places the spotlight on the role of the informal economy and investigates how the presence of informal sector may affect the above mentioned relationship. Our results suggest that in the presence …

Gender, Compensation And Choices, Michael Hemesath

Administration Publications

No abstract provided.

Research Project Results: An Economic Comparison Of Two Rural Chilean Towns, Wade O. Bean, Dr. Darren Timothy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Rural areas in developing countries are often the breeding ground as well as the testing ground for economic theory. Two rural towns near Santiago, Chile became of particular interest to me, as they were very similar in many aspects of their economic structure yet very different in others. In studying and comparing these two towns, it became evident that a certain combination of economic factors in these towns did yield the outcome that economic theory would predict.

Does Becker Know Best?, Matthew Butler, Dr. Eric Eide

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Most economists contend that racial discrimination cannot exist in a “free” labor market because competition will drive any firm that discriminates to bankruptcy. This contention is presented, perhaps most famously, in Gary Becker’s book the “Economics of Discrimination.” The question of whether Becker, and all economists, knows best is relevant because if “free” labor markets do work towards eliminating discrimination, the policy implications are for the government to take a laissez-faire stance towards regulating discrimination-to step back, and to simply allow the market to correct itself. The NBA provides a natural experiment to test whether or not “free” labor markets, …

Medicalizing America: An Etiology Of U.S. Health-Care Expenditures, 1948-91, Bradley L. Stoker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the 1990s, runaway health care expenditures have worried U.S.!awmakers and citizens alike. According to data in the 1995 Economic Report of the President, real per-capita health care consumption (in 1994 dollars) grew an average of 4.7 percent annually between 1948 and 1991, versus a real average NNP growth of only 1.85 percent. The price of health care during the same period increased 6.05 percent annually, whereas the general price index shows an average annual increase of only 4.16 percent. During 1993 and 1994, Congress and the White House sought remedies for health care expenditures that account for about 14 …

A Statistical Look At The Class Of 2008, Michael Hemesath

Administration Publications

No abstract provided.

The Presumption Of Payment, Christopher J. Dellana

SURGE

At Gettysburg College, students invest a considerable amount of money to make their experiences rewarding for future aspirations. Enrollment at this school, like others, I am sure, seems to breed a special type of student: the students who view themselves as paying and therefore deserving consumers. [excerpt]

Tax Structure And Revenue Instability: The Great Recession And The States, Howard Chernick, Cordelia Reimers, Jennifer Tennant

Publications and Research

The Great Recession had the most severe impact on state tax revenues of any downturn since the Great Depression. We hypothesize that states with more progressive tax structures are more vulnerable to economic downturns, and that progressivity and income volatility may interact to amplify the recession’s fiscal impact. We find that, while potential revenue exposure is greater in more progressive states, the most important source of variation was differences in income concentration and capital gains shares in the top 5 percent of taxpayers. Though the interaction between income volatility and high tax burdens at the top did produce large decreases …

Evaluating Conformity And Reciprocity In University Alumni Donation, Guanyi Yang

Undergraduate Economic Review

Alumni donation has a significant impact on the function of liberal arts institutions across the U.S. Specific factors relating to alumni donation behavior have been identified in previous research; however few studies systematically utilize existing theories of motivation for voluntary contributions to evaluate the effectiveness of alumni donation factors. This research classifies specific factors into reciprocity and conformity and surveys Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) alumni about donation attitudes. The logistic regression model and the linear regression model complement each other and provide support for the hypothesis that the more one subjects to conformity, the more likely one tends to donate …

The Civil War: A “Poor Man’S Fight?”, David Blood

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Civil War has often been described as a “rich man’s war-poor man’s fight,” suggesting that the war was waged with disproportionate human losses to the lower class. The losses suffered by the nation were huge, but the charge that such losses were disproportionately born by the poor or the immigrants as a result of some Intentional discrimination makes such losses even more tragic and unjustified. Since the beginning of the Union draft, this question has been an issue of debate. In 1863, the debate was highly partisan, with the Democratic party accusing the current Republican majority and administration of …

Planning Sustainable Food Hubs: Thinking Beyond Economic Viability To Democratize Local Food Access, Ashley Bahlkow

Capstone Collection

In light of an increasing awareness of the detrimental public health impacts of conventional food systems, the New Hampshire Endowment for Health (NHEH) funded a food hub feasibility study to develop a local food hub in the southeastern region of New Hampshire. The study centered on conceptualizing a food hub that would be both viable from a small business standpoint as well one that would increase access to local food, especially for marginalized communities in the city of Manchester--the major population center in the region.

The project work plan contained several activities for determining feasibility, which were completed over the …

Marriage, College And Income Inequality, Michael Hemesath

Administration Publications

No abstract provided.

The Value Of Life: A Contingent Valuation Study Of Risk Avoidance And Utah County Air Pollution, Christopher Michael Lee

Journal of Undergraduate Research

While prices established in competitive markets provide the most traditional and widely accepted valuation of goods and services, many commodities cannot be valued with price studies because no competitive market exists for those commodities. Economist have developed some methods by which valuations for non-marketed commodities can be estimated. These non-market methods are significant because they can estimate values for public goods, non-traded goods and services, and other items or amenities which the market does not or cannot allocate.

Goodbye, Ben Bernanke: We Can’T Wait To Hear Your Story, Louis D. Johnston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Thirty Thousand Regressions On Trade: A Sensitivity Analysis, Frank Mcintyre, Dr. Kerk Phillips

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As the world economy becomes more integrated, questions of trade and living standards become more relevant. Developing countries see the standard of living in the industrialized nations and wonder how they can achieve the same level of prosperity. One viewpoint is that a crucial part of development for the nations of the world is access to the large consumer markets of the United States and Europe. Developing countries want open borders that will allow them to sell competitively in the industrialized nations. Many people in these industrialized countries worry about what kind of effect such open access will have on …

Quick Facts On Inequality, Office Of Latino/Latin American Studies (Ollas), Lourdes Gouveia

Latino/Latin American Studies Other Publications

Data about inequality and Latinos in Nebraska. This information was presented by Dr. Lourdes Gouveia, OLLAS Director and Professor of Sociology, at a special screening of the film Inequality for All on February 6, 2014.

International Migration And Economic Development Of Global Metropolitan Areas, Neil Ruiz

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

International migration is a global and local development issue. Migrants across international borders are transformative agents with economic, social, and political ties to origins and destinations. Migrants are the agents that link local economies through global flows of knowledge, trade, capital, and production. Through their networks, international migrants serve as valuable bridges between U.S. metropolitan areas and regional economies in other countries, and can facilitate trade networks through exports, imports, or the circulation of knowledge and the production process.

Equity Commitment Under Uncertainty: A Hierarchical Model Of Real Option Entry Mode Choices, Luisa Blanco, Rossitza Wooster, W. Charles Sawyer

School of Public Policy Working Papers

We develop a real option hierarchical model of entry mode choice and test predictions using a sample of US companies in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1980 and 2005. Probit results indicate that the choice between a real option non-equity mode and equity commitment is influenced by previous acquisition experience, R&D and advertising intensities, and country risk. The choice of the more flexible real option JV mode over WOEs is positively related to greater firm size and market-to-book ratio in countries with better infrastructure. In contrast, greater marketing intensity and lower country risk encourage WOEs.

The Minimum Wage And Crime, Andrew Beauchamp, Stacy Chan

Economics Faculty Publications

Does crime respond to changes in the minimum wage? A growing body of empirical evidence indicates that increases in the minimum wage have a displacement effect on low-skilled workers. Economic reasoning provides the possibility that disemployment may cause youth to substitute from legal work to crime. However, there is also the countervailing effect of a higher wage raising the opportunity cost of crime for those who remain employed. We use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort to measure the effect of increases in the minimum wage on self-reported criminal activity and examine employment–crime substitution. Exploiting changes in state …