Economics Commons^™

Monopoly By Contract: The Practice Of Franchised Fee And Royalty Rate, Maria H. Ramjerdi

Department of Economics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper uses a theoretical framework and a by use of a franchising model will examine the practice of charging a franchise fee for the use of the trademark and will show how this practice by controlling the number of franchised operations enables franchisor to extract monopoly profit. Paper will further examine the conditions which the joint practice of franchise fee and royalty rate allows extraction of monopoly rent.

The Problems With "Having Skin In The Game", Michael Hemesath

Administration Publications

No abstract provided.

Rhode Island Current Conditions Index -- February 2014, Leonard Lardaro

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

No abstract provided.

Comparing Student Performance And Satisfaction In Face-To-Face And Hybrid Formats For A Finance Course, Patricia R. Robertson

Faculty Articles

In a study conducted at a large, public university, the author assessed the impact of course delivery method (face-to-face versus hybrid formats) on student performance and satisfaction. The study was based on the concurrent instruction of a senior-level finance course over two semesters. Student performance was based on the percent of students achieving a grade of A, B or C in the course (as opposed to D, F or W/WF) and the scores on the individual gradable assignments. The study shows no significant difference between hybrid and face-to-face delivery in the mean score of student performance. In addition, there was …

Feisty Kids On The Conservative Block: How Business Mobilized Against Organized Labor In The Seventies, Ryan Eustace

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Finance And Empire: 'Gentlemanly Capitalism' In Britain's Occupation Of Egypt, Jared Paul Iacolucci

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Toward the beginning of the nineteenth century, Egypt was being led by Mehmed Ali, a reformer eager to build his own dynastic state separate from the Ottoman Empire. Despite his achievements, by the end of the nineteenth century Egypt had been occupied by Great Britain for nearly two decades. This paper will examine the developments in Egypt and Great Britain that drew the two together, with particular emphasis on the growth and expansion of international finance into foreign government lending. As finance became an increasingly profitable career in Britain, financiers entered the gentlemanly class and socialized with the political elite. …

A Long View Of Polluting Industry And Environmental Justice In Baltimore, Christopher G. Boone, Michail Fragkias, Geoffrey L. Buckley, J. Morgan Grove

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose

This study examines the density of polluting industry by neighborhoods in Baltimore over the long term, from 1950 to 2010, to determine if high pollution burdens correspond spatially with expected demographic and housing variables predicted in the environmental justice literature. For 1960–1980 we use data on heavy industry from Dun and Bradstreet directories and for 1990–2010 the US EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory to calculate a Hazards Density Index. Drawing on the decennial censuses for 1960–2010, we populate census tracts from corresponding years with data on race, ethnicity, educational attainment, income, and housing tenure.

Findings

Density of polluting industry is …

Speculative Asset Prices, Robert J. Shiller

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Nobel Prize Lecture

Financial Freedom: Women, Money, And Domestic Abuse, Dana Harrington Conner

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Which Extramural Scientists Were Funded By Nih From Its Arra Funds?, Martin D. Sorin, Randall Hannum

Publications and Research

NIH distributed $10 billion of ARRA research funds among Principal Investigators (PIs) in 2009-2010. We studied how well the program achieved the goal of creating and retaining jobs. To analyze the distribution of ARRA funding among PIs, they were categorized in two ways: One was based on their history of research funding; the other on the type of funding, ARRA and non-ARRA, each received in 2009 and 2010. These classifications provide insights into who received ARRA funding and how many research PI jobs were created or retained. We found that the majority of ARRA award recipients already had grants and …

Consumer Credit: Too Much Or Too Little (Or Just Right)?, Jonathan Zinman

Dartmouth Scholarship

The intersection of research and policy on consumer credit often has a Goldilocks feel. Some researchers and policy makers posit that consumer credit markets produce too much credit. Other researchers and policy makers posit that markets produce too little credit. I review theories and evidence on inefficient consumer credit supply. For each of eight classes of theories I sketch some of the leading models and summarize any convincing empirical tests of those models. I also discuss more circumstantial evidence that does not map tightly onto a particular model but has the potential to shed light on, or obscure, answers to …

The Makings Of A Social Investment State, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law and NMP Eugene Tan opined that the Budget was an economic, political and social instrument, and not just a fiscal policy instrument. He said that key economic themes persisted in Budget 2014: productivity, restructuring, reducing reliance on foreign labour and long-term planning. He highlighted that the Budget was dominated by social themes, as it exuded inclusiveness, equity and gratitude. The Government’s expansion of schemes to reduce the income gap and improve social mobility was actually a move to make up for its lack of investments in the social sector in past years, …

U.S. Employment Outlook For 2014: Can The U.S. Economy Stand On Its Own?, Randall W. Eberts

Periodical Articles

No abstract provided.

Sovereign Debt And Tax Collection Dynamics In Argentina, Kyle Royal Bauser

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This manuscript examines how the dynamic macroeconomic effects from shocks to taxes and inflation differ between the United States and Argentina. On the fiscal side, wages, private capital, and consumption tax cuts have long-run revenue growth effects (in both countries) that mitigate initial tax receipt losses. These growth effects, however, are larger in Argentina - a country where both the consumption tax rate and sensitivity to wage changes are higher. Specifically, Chapter 2 finds that growth from a U.S. capital tax cut pays for roughly 60% of the initial static loss, whereas the corresponding effect in Argentina is 80%. On …

The Effects Of Fiscal Policy On Savings And Investment, Andrew A. Bossie

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation contains three essays exploring the effect of fiscal policy shocks on savings and lending behavior of the private economy. Two essays focus on World War II and one essay focuses on the entire postwar period. Essay I looks at the response of monetary policy to fiscal policy shocks and the effect of fiscal policy on the private sector's balance sheet over a period that covers 1954 and 2007. I find a minimal response of the Federal Reserve to fiscal policy shocks. I also find the the main response of the private sector to fiscal policy shocks manifests itself …

For Right And Might: The Militarization Of The Cold War And The Remaking Of American Democracy, Michael Brenes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines how Cold War defense spending shaped the evolution of American political culture and public policy from the 1940s until the 1990s. It argues that the Cold War economy contributed to the realignment of American politics in the postwar era. The fight against global communism abroad altered the structure, purpose, and public perception of the federal government following World War II, but also subsidized corporations, suburban communities, and individuals affected by defense spending. The militarization of the Cold War therefore created various dependents of America's military and defense apparatus that continuously pressed for more defense spending during the …

Essays On Financial Market Volatility: Applications Of Time-Varying Dynamics, Emily Johnston

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines time-variation in asset volatility surrounding periods of financial market distress. In the first chapter we give a brief introduction of the overall theme of the project, and we outline the models used. The next chapters individually focus on the application of time-varying volatility to important themes in the literature. These include: the behavior of investor risk preferences across periods of stability and distress; inconsistencies in options pricing with regard to the behavior of the underlying asset; and the characterization of time-varying volatility dynamics in equity returns.

The second chapter of this dissertation examines the impact of changing …

Dollar Democracy: The Politics Of Dollarization In Latin America, Cori Madrid

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The state's right to print money and control monetary policy is among its most powerful abilities: it allows the state to manage the economy, raise revenue, and reward political allies. Since the establishment of the Westphalian state system, the state's monopoly of money within its borders has been a source of wealth and within the last century, influence over the macroeconomy and local actors. Nevertheless, in the year 2000, Ecuador and El Salvador surprised the world by announcing that they would officially dollarize their economies, replacing their national currencies with the dollar. What can explain why countries, such as Ecuador …

Fiscal Decentralization: Does The Source Of Revenue Matter?, Pallavi Jain Govil

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fiscal Decentralization: does the Source of Revenue Matter?

Evidence from Rural India

Pallavi Jain Govil

Adviser: Professor Timothy J. Goodspeed

Is the pattern of expenditures of village governments related to their sources of revenue? Do village governments use own-source revenues more efficiently than transfer grants to provide public services to their constituents?

This paper begins with the premise that local governments are more participative, more acceptable, and more accountable and hence, deliver better. I use a policy change introduced in 1997 in province of Madhya Pradesh in India, whereby the power to collect royalty and lease rents on minor mineral …

Budget 2014 Is About Doing The Right Thing, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law and NMP Eugene Tan opined that the Budget’s move for the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP) was important and the right thing to do, as it mattered politically, and provided benefits and assurance to the pioneers. He said it was wise to set aside the $8b cost of the package, so future generations would not bear the cost of financing it. The Budget had acknowledged its role in caring for the elderly as well as preparing for the future and promoting social mobility through education assistance schemes for the children of lower earners, …

Financing Unemployment Insurance, Wayne Vroman, Stephen A. Woodbury

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Following the Great Recession, most states’ unemployment insurance (UI) trust funds became insolvent, requiring the states to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to finance benefit payments. This article describes the basics of UI financing and reviews the origins of the financial crisis facing the federal-state UI system. It then examines the main components of the UI payroll tax—the taxable wage base and the experience-rated payroll tax—and considers how these might be modified to avoid future widespread insolvency. We conclude with some speculative remarks on the future of UI financing.

Monetary Regime Choice In Singapore: Would A Taylor Rule Outperform Exchange-Rate Management?, Hwee Kwan Chow, G. C. Lim, Paul D. Mcnelis

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper adopts a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium-vector autorgressive (DSGE-VAR) approach to examine the managed exchange-rate system at work in Singapore. We examine if the country has any reason to fear floating the exchange rate and adopting a Taylor rule. Our results show that, in terms of overall inflation volatility, the exchange rate rule has a comparative advantage over the Taylor rule when export price shocks are the major sources of real volatility, while a Taylor rule dominates when domestic productivity shocks drive real volatility. The exchange-rate rule also dominates the Taylor rule for reducing inflation persistence.

Number Of Firms And Price Competition, Kyle Bagwell, Gea Myoung Lee

Research Collection School Of Economics

The relationship between the number of firms and price competition is a central issue in economics. To explore this relationship, we modify Varianís (1980) model and assume that firms are privately informed about their costs of production. Allowing that the support of possible cost types may be large, we show that an increase in the number of firms induces lower (higher) prices for lower-cost (highercost) firms. We also characterize the pricing distribution as the number of firms approaches infinity, finding that the equilibrium pricing function converges to the monopoly pricing function for all but the lowest possible cost type. If …

The Lasting Impact Of Parental Early Life Malnutrition On Their Offspring: Evidence From The China Great Leap Forward Famine, Seonghoon Kim, Quheng Deng, Belton M. Fleisher, Shi Li

Research Collection School Of Economics

We investigate whether the effects of parents’ in utero malnutrition extend to the second generation (their children). Specifically, we explore whether the second generation’s level of schooling is negatively impacted by their parents’ malnutrition in utero, using the China Famine as a natural experiment. We find that, the impact of mother’s in utero malnutrition due to the Famine reduced second generation male and female entrance into junior secondary school by about 5–7 percentage points. We measure famine severity with provincial excess death rates instrumented by measures of adverse climate conditions, which corrects for possible biases induced by measurement errors and …

Dynamic Poverty Decomposition Analysis: An Application To The Philippines, Tomoki Fujii

Research Collection School Of Economics

In this paper, we propose a new method of poverty decomposition. Our method remedies the shortcomings of existing methods and has some desirable properties such as time reversion consistency and subperiod additivity. It integrates the existing methods of growth redistribution decomposition and sector-based decomposition, because it allows us to decompose the change in poverty into growth and redistribution components for each group (e.g., regions or sectors) in the economy. We extend our method to include six components and provide an empirical application to the Philippines for the period 1985–2009.

X-Differencing And Dynamic Panel Model Estimation, Chirok Han, Peter C. B. Phillips, Donggyu Sul

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper introduces a new estimation method for dynamic panel models with fixed effects and AR(p) idiosyncratic errors. The proposed estimator uses a novel form of systematic differencing, called X-differencing, that eliminates fixed effects and retains information and signal strength in cases where there is a root at or near unity. The resulting "panel fully aggregated" estimator (PFAE) is obtained by pooled least squares on the system of X-differenced equations. The method is simple to implement, consistent for all parameter values, including unit root cases, and has strong asymptotic and finite sample performance characteristics that dominate other procedures, such as …

Reinterpreting King Solomon's Problem: Malice And Mechanism Design, Brishti Guha

Research Collection School Of Economics

I argue for an alternative interpretation of King Solomon's problem in terms of one of the two claimants being “malicious”. A “malicious” claimant places no intrinsic value on the object but derives utility from depriving the rival claimant. This new interpretation permits a simpler solution than those considered in the literature; I derive a mechanism that induces truthful revelation where the equilibrium involves a single round of elimination of weakly dominated strategies, and no monetary transfers. I consider extensions which allow for the malicious claimant to also place some low but positive intrinsic valuation on the object; I also discuss …

Game Theory Meets The Humanities And Both Win Or Book Review: Game Theory And The Humanities: Bridging Two Worlds, By Steven J. Brams, Karl-Dieter Crisman

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This review discusses Brams' wide-ranging book Game Theory and the Humanities and gives some basic examples of the methodology and style, including how the Theory of Moves contributes to understanding such games.

The Unemployment Effects Of Minimum Wage Legislation, Dave Hansen, Dr. Bret Mackay, Dr. Norm Thurston

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The unambiguous prediction of the competitive labor market model is that a minimum wage serves as a price floor, decreasing the quantity of unskilled labor demanded by firms. In a landmark survey paper, Brown, Gilroy, and Kohen survey 30 years of minimum wage studies and recommend the widely cited generalization that a 10% increase in the minimum wage is estimated to result in a 1% to 3% reduction in total teenage employment.1

Was Welfare Ended As We Know It? A Study Of The Effectiveness Of The Personal Responsibility And Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, Kristen Edwards, Dr. Mark Showalter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In 1996 the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) entitlement program, where all who met certain requirements received benefits, was changed to the Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) block grant. This grant is given to states to use at their own discretion as long as they observe certain mandates including job participation by recipients and time limits on welfare. While many have noted the recent decline in both welfare caseloads and poverty, no one is sure what is responsible for the improvements because TANF was implemented concurrently with a booming economy.