Economics Commons^™

Yet More Evidence That Trying To Prop Up Industries Won't Work, Louis D. Johnston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

International Organizations: An Early History, Michael Davies, Richard Woodward

Books/Book Chapters

This text provides a pioneering and comprehensive analysis of over one hundred international organizations. After introducing the broad historical and contextual settings, the book covers the full range of international organisations including those that are often overlooked or get minimal inclusion elsewhere. Each organization is analysed in a stand-alone section that consider its origins, basic mandates and evolution, the governance structure and the associated key players, current activities and future challenges. The descriptions also reflect each organization’s broader relationships with other international bodies.

Economics And Genocide: Choices And Consequences, Jurgen Brauer, Charles Anderton

Economics Department Working Papers

Professional economists rarely write on questions of genocide. This surprises because a workhorse tool of the economics discipline concerns the analysis of behavior that takes place under constraints. All parties in genocide—perpetrators, victims, and third parties—face cost and resource constraints subject to which they seek to achieve their objectives, be it killing, surviving, or intervening. This essay characterizes and illustrates economic thinking about objectives, costs, and resources for each of the three groups. There is potentially much that economics can contribute to genocide studies and, vice versa, much that genocide scholars may learn from welcoming an economic perspective.

The Social Evolution Of Terror And Genocide Across Time And Geographic Space: Perspectives From Evolutionary Game Theory, Charles Anderton

Economics Department Working Papers

This article uses evolutionary game theory to reveal the interpersonal and geographic characteristics of a society that make it vulnerable to a conquest from within by terrorist organizations and genocide architects. Under conditions identified in the space-less version of the model, entrepreneurs of violence can create the social metamorphosis of a peaceful people group into one that supports or does not resist violence against an out-group. The model is extended into geographic space by analyzing interactions among peaceful and aggressive phenotypes in Moore and von Neumann neighborhoods. The model also reveals policy interventions in which the social evolution of aggression …

The Value Premium, Aggregate Risk Innovations, And Average Stock Returns, Knut F. Lindaas, Prodosh Simlai

Economics & Finance Faculty Publications

We test whether innovations in aggregate risk, interpolated from a vector autoregressive system that contains the Chen, Roll and Ross (1986) five factors as in Petkova (2006), are common factors in cross-sectional stock returns. We provide direct evidence that innovation in industrial production growth, a classical business-cycle variable that summarizes the state of the economy, is associated with the cross-sectional return predictability of individual stocks. We conclude that the role of innovation in aggregate risk is not random, and furthermore that it provides guidance concerning an important source of nonfinancial market-based risk in asset returns.

Cost Share Adjustment Processes For Cooperative Group Decisions About Shared Goods: A Design Approach, Edna T. Loehman, Richard Kiser, Stephen Rassenti

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

For group decision about shared goods, the nature of the shared good and how its cost is to be shared among group members must be determined. Complexity arises from heterogeneity in preferences and endowments and nonlinear cost. To facilitate group decision, this paper proposes special type of group decision support system, a cost share adjustment process (CSAP), in which cost shares are adjusted iteratively via algorithmic rules until unanimity is reached, ideally producing a socially optimal, cost feasible, and fair outcome. In contrast to public good literature, our designs apply for situations of nonlinear cost, with economies of scale and …

Fdi Effects On Economic Growth: The Role Of Natural Resource And Environmental Policy, Maryam Asghari, Nathalie Hilmi, Alain Safa

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a crucial ingredient of the global economy. In the Persian Gulf, FDI is a major source of economic growth, employment, technology, and productivity. Because of these benefits, attracting FDI in the Persian Gulf region has become a key element of strategies promoting economic development. Natural resources and environmental policy in host countries may affect the FDIeconomic growth relationship. There has been much dispute as to whether economies that are open and those with more natural capital and lax environmental policy grow faster. This paper examines whether natural resources and environmental policy in Persian Gulf countries …

Governance And Economic Growth: Interpretations For Mena Countries, Noha Emara, Eric Jhonsa

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

Using Two-stage Least Square (TSLS) regression for cross-sectional observations of 197 countries for the year 2009, the study estimates the impact of the improvement in the quality of governance on per capita income and the increase in per capita income on the quality of governance. Following Kaufman and Kraay (2002) methodology, the results suggest a positive, strong statistically significant causation from quality of governance to per capita income. In addition, the results suggest a positive causation from per capita income to quality of governance. The estimation results are used to interpret the relationship between governance and growth for 22 MENA …

Competition And Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis With Special Reference To Mena Countries, Marwa W. Gomaa

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The underlying study analyzes the impact of competition on economic growth, and tests whether this impact might change according to the technological gap between the observed country and the technological leader country. Using panel data estimation for a sample of 115 countries over the period 1995-2010, and controlling for the MENA countries in the sample, the results suggest that intensive domestic competition, proxied by business freedom, tends to hinder the growth rate of an economy independent of the country's distance from the technological frontier, providing evidence in support to the Schumpeterian argument. However this effect is almost negligible for MENA …

Does The Budget Deficit Crowd-Out Private Credit From The Banking Sector? The Case Of Egypt, Samah Shetta, Ahmed Kamaly

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

Driven by the observed growing budget deficit and the heavy reliance on debtfinancing from the banking sector, this study sets to test the lazy banking hypothesis for Egypt. According to this hypothesis, government borrowing crowds out private investment through its dampening effect on private credit. The study estimates a VAR model using quarterly data spanning for almost four decades. The estimated model has unearthed a number of interesting results. As the government issues more debt instruments to finance its deficit, banks shift their portfolio away from risky private loans and opt for lazy behavior characterized by a shrinking overall credit …

Do Wives’ Earnings Have An Impact On Income Inequality?: Evidence From Turkey, Ayse Aylin Bayar, Bengi Yanik İlhan

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The Turkish economy has been experiencing a structural transformation as a result of economic liberalization, especially after the 1990s. Liberalization and integration to the world economy have had inevitable distributional consequences. In that sense, trends in the distribution of income have received substantial attention in recent years. As income inequality becomes an important issue for developing countries, gender (in)equality in Turkey also has gained attention. There exists a vast survey in the literature about the relationship between gender discrimination and inequality. Mainly, more recent research has concentrated on the reasons for gender discrimination in the labor market and its effects …

Quantitative Evaluation Of The Struggle Of Economic Performance: The Case Of Mena Countries, Noha Emara

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The recent political uprising in the Middle East and North African (MENA) economies shines the light on evaluating the so-called structural reforms that are aimed at achieving economic freedom. This paper examines the impact of liberal policies on the economic performance of labor and capital productivity in MENA economies. Using nonlinear Panel Least Squares regression with regional dummies and period fixed effects (LSDV) for a sample of 18 MENA countries over the period 1995-2009, the study estimates the impact of different aspects of economic freedom on labor and capital productivity. The economic freedom measure encompass different areas, including freedom of …

Cbe And Fx Devaluation: Bitter Enemies Or Is It Just A Matter Of Time? Analyzing The Impact Of An Egp Devaluation On Egypt’S Trade Balance, Ziad Waleed Amer

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

After the 2011 revolution, Egypt’s central Bank (CBE) changed its stance from a managed floating exchange rate regime to stabilizing the EGP, even though the market kept pushing for a devaluation to adjust Egypt’s trade competitiveness given the deteriorating state of the economy in general and the external balance specifically. This paper tries to judge the behavior of the Central Bank by looking at the possible effects of a real devaluation on Egypt’s trade competitiveness. Using an ARDL model, we study both the 2003 devaluation and the 2013 partial devaluation, and conclude that the impact of a real devaluation on …

No Really, (Crowd) Work Is The Silver Bullet, Andrew Schriner, Daniel B. Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Humanitarian assistance has been on the global conscience for approximately 70 years (since WWII), and yet in 2010 2.4 billion people still lived on less than $2 per day. As Easterly has pointed out: to see where we went wrong, just look at the incentives. To create true sustainable economic change requires realignment of incentives, particularly the incentive to work and invest. Employment is fundamentally required, and crowd work is the current best hope for providing that employment quickly, with global reach, and at scale. This approach is grassroots, bottom-up, and puts the income directly in the hands of people …

Economics: Between Prediction And Criticism, Itzhak Gilboa, Andrew Postlewaite, Larry Samuelson, David Schmeidler

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We suggest that one way in which economic analysis is useful is by offering a critique of reasoning. According to this view, economic theory may be useful not only by providing predictions, but also by pointing out weaknesses of arguments. It is argued that, when a theory requires a non-trivial act of interpretation, its roles in producing predictions and offering critiques vary in a substantial way. We offer a formal model in which these different roles can be captured.

Analysis Of Monetary Policy Decision Making Among Heterogeneous Monetary Policy Committee (Mpc) Members At The Central Bank Of Nigeria, C. C. Ezema, O. J. Odonye, T. S. Shitile, O. O. Afiemo

Economic and Financial Review

This paper provided an empirical analysis of policy-makers' voting patterns on interest rates in Nigeria. Employing a (pooled) Taylor rule and using real-time data obtained from published personal statements of monetary policy committee members at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the paper tests for preference heterogeneity among MPC members. The aggregate reaction function as well as individual reaction functions for MPC members were used to tests whether there is a difference between the voting patterns of internal members and that of external members of the committee. Our results suggest evidence of heterogeneity among MPC members and that the voting …

Responsiveness Of Nigeria's Short-Term Interest Rates To Changes In The Policy Rate, M. K. Tule

Economic and Financial Review

This paper appraises the efficacy of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) as an anchor for other short-term interest rates in the economy. Adopting the vector autoregression approach, the responses of Nigeria's short-term interest rates to changes in the interbank rate (proxy for MPR) was modelled. The paper found that the pass-through from MPR to money market interest rates in the long-run is higher for the prime and lending rates than for changes in the Treasury bill rate and 3-month deposit rate. Overall, there seemed to be an asymmetric impact with an increase or fall in the interbank rate.

Quality Of Governance And Stock Market Performance: The Nigerian Experience, K. B. Ajide

Economic and Financial Review

The paper examines the impact of governance on stock market performance using quarterly data series spanning 1996Q1 to 2010Q4. An ARDL bound testing methodology was employed to explore such causal relationship. Long-run stable relationships were established through the error correction terms of each of the measures used to the tune of -0.4821,-0.4034 and -0.4080 for all share price index, market capitalisation and the value of total stock traded, respectively. Findings indicate that macroeconomic and financial stability should be constantly maintained and promoted as it constitutes a drag on the stock performance; any acts of corruption should be eschewed as it …

Nigeria's Monetary Conditions Index, M. K. Tule, A. M. Isah, P. N. Okafor, I. Pedro, S. A. Ukeje, K. Oji, S. Oladunni

Economic and Financial Review

The paper aims to construct a monetary conditions index (MCI) for Nigeria to aid the evaluation of the stance of monetary policy. Quarterly data for 91-day treasury bill rate (TBR), real exchange rate (RER), inflation rate (INF), real private sector credit (RCP), and real gross domestic product (RGDP), covering the period 2000Q1 to 2014Q1, were utilised. The period coincided with key reforms in the money and foreign exchange markets, culminating in the adoption of a new monetary policy framework in 2006. Following some econometric diagnostic tests, an aggregate demand function was estimated using the Johansen co-integration technique. The resultant long-run …

Life-Care Awards In The Age Of The Affordable Care Act, Joshua Congdon-Hohman, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

Prior to January 1, 2014, it would have been reasonable to assume that persons injured in an act of negligence would be forced to pay for their future medical care costs out-of-pocket rather than being able to rely on health insurance. The passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has the potential to radically change how victims pay for future medical expenses, and now nearly every tort award that provides money to the plaintiff for the full payment of medical costs without consideration of the availability of health insurance will serve to overcompensate victims for their expected medical costs. New …

Pay, Corporate Location And Donations To Charity, Kevin F. Hallock

Economics Faculty Publications

State and local governments direct a great deal of effort (and resources) toward incenting companies to locate in their particular jurisdictions. The cited reasons for this effort are often the increase in jobs and boost to the local tax base. In "The Geography of Giving: The Effect of Corporate Headquarters on Local Charities", David Card, Enrico Moretti and the author investigated a number of issues related to the geographical location of corporate headquarters and charitable giving. It turns out that location does matter and the movement of highly paid employees does, too. There are at least two main channels through …

A Demographic Portrait Of The Mexican-Origin Population In Nebraska, Lissette Aliaga-Linares

Latino/Latin American Studies Reports

A study released from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Office of Latino and Latin American Studies (OLLAS) chronicles the current state of Mexican-origin residents of Nebraska, finding that while the numbers of immigrants moving into Nebraska has slowed in recent years, the population continues to grow and become more a part of the state’s demographic makeup.

The study, which was also funded in part by the Sherwood Foundation, examined more than a century of census data from the United States, finding that the more than 140,000 Mexican-origin residents in Nebraska as of 2012 has rapidly increased since …

Integration Of Central And Eastern European And The Euro-Area Financial Markets: Repercussions From The Global Financial Crisis, Lucjan T. Orlowski, Anna Tsibulina

WCBT Faculty Publications

We examine integration of financial markets and banking sectors in Central and Eastern Europe and the euro area. We study co-movements between government bond and equity markets of Germany and those of Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, as well as Slovenia and Slovakia (the two recent euro members). We assume that financial integration is essential for subsequent monetary convergence, as it will enable the euro candidates to mitigate systemic risk and avert potentially destabilizing shocks. Government bond yields of the Czech Republic and Poland show high correlation with German yields, in contrast to those of the remaining countries. Equity returns of …

Rapid Literature Review Of Self-Employment Research, Nancy Arnold, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Employment

Business ownership is an important employment option for people with disabilities, particularly for those who live in rural areas of the U.S. with fewer employment opportunities (Arnold, Ravesloot, & Seekins, 1995; Arnold & Seekins, 1994). Researchers at RTC:Rural began conducting research on the use of self-employment by VR agencies in 1990. Since then RTC:Rural researchers developed model self-employment policies and procedures for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies, which several state agencies have adopted in whole or in part (Arnold & Ipsen, 2005); developed self-employment training for VR counselors (Arnold, Seekins, et. al., 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004) in both in-person and web-based …

The More Divergent, The Better? Lessons On Trilemma Policies And Crises For Asia, Joshua Aizenman, Hiro Ito

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper investigates the potential impacts of the degree of divergence in open macroeconomic policies in the context of the trilemma hypothesis. Using an index that measures the extent of policy divergence among the three trilemma policy choices—monetary independence, exchange rate stability, and financial openness—we find that emerging market economies have adopted trilemma policy combinations with the smallest degree of policy divergence in the last 15 years. We then investigate whether and to what extent the degree of open macro policy convergence affects the probability of a crisis and find that a developing or emerging market economy with a higher …

Metropolitan Report - September 2014, Division Of Business And Economic Research, College Of Business Administration, University Of New Orleans

UNO Metropolitan Report (1986-2017)

No abstract provided.

Mountain Monitor - 2nd Quarter 2014, Kenan Fikri, Mark Muro

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

Economic growth returned to the 10 major metro areas of the Mountain West in the second quarter of 2014 after slippage in the first quarter of the year. The resumption of vitality progressed unevenly, however. Denver and Salt Lake City pulled ahead as the fastest-growing metro areas in the region. Ogden and Provo’s days of above-average growth appeared to be fading. Las Vegas’ economic recovery advanced strongly, but Sun Belt peers Phoenix and Tucson had more difficulty moving beyond the first quarter’s slowdown. Albuquerque, for its part, welcomed a return to employment and output growth.

Across the region’s 10 major …

Wall Street And The Housing Bubble, Ing-Haw Cheng, Sahil Raina, Wei Xiong

Dartmouth Scholarship

We analyze whether mid-level managers in securitized finance were aware of a large-scale housing bubble and a looming crisis in 2004-2006 using their personal home transaction data. We find that the average person in our sample neither timed the market nor were cautious in their home transactions, and did not exhibit awareness of problems in overall housing markets. Certain groups of securitization agents were particularly aggressive in increasing their exposure to housing during this period, suggesting the need to expand the incentives-based view of the crisis to incorporate a role for beliefs.

Housing Market Distortions And The Mortgage Interest Deduction, Andrew R. Hanson, Hal Martin

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

Housing market distortions from the mortgage interest deduction (MID) typically focus on a single choice measure such as home size or self-reported amount of debt on a new mortgage. We estimate the amount of mortgage interest deducted on federal tax returns to capture the full range of housing market distortions from the MID. Our primary results show that for every one percentage point increase in the tax rate that applies to deductibility, the amount of mortgage interest deducted increases by US$303 to US$590. Empirical estimates imply elasticities of mortgage interest deducted with respect to the after-tax cost of housing between …

Is Poverty A Cause Or A Result Of Poor Labor Market Performance In Turkey?, Ayse Aylin Bayar, Serkhan Degirmenci

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The Turkish economy has shown great economic growth performance from 2000 onwards. Many main macroeconomic indicators show remarkable improvement, including poverty and income inequality. Although poverty has declined; it still has one of the highest ratios compared to other developing countries. In this respect, fighting against poverty and sustaining poverty alleviation are still very substantial issues for Turkey. Similarly, the labor force participation rate of females in the urban labor market has an increasing trend over this period. And, again the female labor force participation rate is one of the lowest ratios among OECD countries. With these examples in mind, …