Economics Commons^™

The Nature Of Lessons Learned From Argentina’S 2001 Financial Crisis, Emma Van Wagenberg

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This paper makes the argument that though Argentina’s 2001 financial crisis was influenced by several factors, it is the 1991 Convertibility Plan that most strongly pushed the nation to the point of needing outside financial assistance. Its implementation led to and worked in combination with a multitude of unexpected factors. Together, these created economic conditions that chipped away at the stability of Argentina’s economy.

Given the nature of this project, information was gathered solely through research in texts published by both supporters and critics of organizations like the International Monetary Fund. In my readings, I found that there is generally …

The Empirical Study Of Size Effect, Book-To-Market Effect In Us Security Market, Zhe Zhao

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Banz (1981) found size effect using data over the period 1926–1975. This paper uses data from last 33 years from NYSE, Amex, and Nasdaq to test the existence of size effect and book-to-market effect. In this paper data is sorted by size and book-to-market ratio across quintiles. I runs the time-series regression taking advantage of CAPM model, Fama-French 3-factor model and Carhart 4-factor model to get three different alpha. With all next-month returns, this paper compares those low size/book-to-market next-month returns with those high size/book-to-market next-month returns and uses t-test to verify the existence of these two effects. This paper …

Philosophy, Not Theology, Is The Key For Economics: A Catholic Perspective, Daniel K. Finn

School of Theology and Seminary Faculty Publications

This essay addresses two important problems with mainstream economics that reduce its usefulness for people of religious faith: its eclipse of the causal forces operating within the ‘black box’ of the market, and its empiricist methodological underpinnings. Yet neither of these problems requires religious resources for a solution. The critical realist philosophy of science of Roy Bhaskar provides a fruitful alternative to empiricism. The insights of critical realist sociologists to understand markets as social structures provide a helpful way to direct economists’ attention to important but neglected market relations.

Cost, Quality, And The Community College Enrollment Decision, Caroline Swiger

All Dissertations

Numerous studies model whether students enroll in higher education, but few have investigated how students decide where to attend. Even fewer studies have considered how community college students make this nearly first noncompulsory human capital investment decision. This research focuses on the enrollment decisions of students whose first postsecondary destination after high school graduation is one of the nation's public two-year colleges, a group that comprises nearly 40 percent of the undergraduates in American higher education (Knapp et al. 2011). The first chapter introduces the reader to community colleges with a brief history of the schools, their role in higher …

Supporting Global Environmental Change Research: A Review Of Trends And Knowledge Gaps In Urban Remote Sensing, Michail Fragkias

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper reviews how remotely sensed data have been used to understand the impact of urbanization on global environmental change. We describe how these studies can support the policy and science communities’ increasing need for detailed and up-to-date information on the multiple dimensions of cities, including their social, biological, physical, and infrastructural characteristics. Because the interactions between urban and surrounding areas are complex, a synoptic and spatial view offered from remote sensing is integral to measuring, modeling, and understanding these relationships. Here we focus on three themes in urban remote sensing science: mapping, indices, and modeling. For mapping we describe …

Analyzing The Impact Of Key Factors On An Individual's Life Expectancy From 1991 To 2006 In U.S, Jing Xue

All Theses

Since the 20th century, U.S. health spending has continuously increased, but the residents' life expectancy has not reached the average level of OECD countries. In this paper, hazard duration models are built; primary demographic, geographic, socioeconomic and healthcare factors are taken into consideration. The main purpose of this paper is to study the effect of these factors on an individual's risk of mortality and life expectancy. We build a general model and two gender-specific models. Females are affected by relative deprivation, a measure of their position in the income distribution, much more than males. The effect of family income is …

The Relationship Between Oil Price And The Algerian Exchange Rate, Abderrezak Benhabib, Si Mohammed Kamel, Samir Maliki

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The goal of this study is to investigate the relationship between oil price and the nominal US Dollar/Algerian Dinar exchange rate through an empirical analysis using a VAR Model (Vector Autoregressive Model) upon monthly data for the period 2003-2013. Results show that a cointegration relationship is not detected between the oil and exchange rate in Algeria. However, the estimation of a VAR model indicates that a 1% increase in oil price would tend to depreciate Algerian Dinar against US Dollar by nearly 0.35%. This negative impact emphasizes how the Algerian dinar is a non-oil currency and explains how the foreign …

Intrahousehold Inequality, Costas Meghir

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Studies of inequality often ignore resource allocation within the household. In doing so they miss an important element of the distribution of welfare that can vary dramatically depending on overall environmental and economic factors. Thus, measures of inequality that ignore intra household allocations are both incomplete and misleading. We discuss determinants of intra household allocation of resources and welfare. We show how the sharing rule, which characterizes the within household allocations, can be identified from data on household consumption and labor supply. We also argue that a measure based on estimates of the sharing rule is inadequate as an approach …

Improving And Monitoring The Microlending Program In Belize, Mark Mccallum

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper assesses the Microlending and Cayes to Business Programs within the Community Development in Belize Study Abroad Program at the University of Arkansas. The Microlending Program makes low-interest loans to small businesses primarily in Dangriga, Belize. Recently, the lending activity has expanded and concerns about repayment have increased. This paper proposes various improvements to maintain consistent loan repayment and healthy expansion of the Microlending Program. The most important ideas are to enhance social pressure on the borrowers and improve monitoring in-country after the loans have been disbursed. Cayes to Business, an educational program required for microloan applicants, is also …

Intra-Household Welfare, Costas Meghir

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

In this paper we develop an approach to measuring inequality and poverty that recognizes the fact that individuals within households may have both different preferences and differential access to resources. We argue that a measure based on estimates of the sharing rule is inadequate as an approach that seeks to understand how welfare is distributed in the population because it ignores public good and the allocation of time to market work, leisure and household production. We develop a money metric measure of welfare that accounts for public goods (by using personalized prices) household production and for the allocation of time.

Predicting Tourist Inflows To Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Using Google Trends, Michelle E. De La Oz Pineda

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper seeks to demonstrate that the incorporation of search statistics in autoregressive models used to predict the arrivals of tourists to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, improve the predictive power of the models. This paper explores whether the Internet search information in “Punta Cana” in the United States and Canada between January 2004 and August 2013, reflects the behavior of this variable in real time by using nowcasting methodology that combines variables with different frequencies of time. We find that including the searches of “Punta Cana” that Canadians make on Google in the first week of a month helps predict …

The Good News In Short Interest: Ekkehart Boehmer, Zsuzsa R. Huszar, Bradford D. Jordan 2009 Revisited, Jarom Von Julander

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

There are a few ways to examine excess market returns in financial literature. One common model used was the Capital Asset Pricing Model or the CAPM. In more recent years some researchers use the Fama French 3 Factor model (FF3F). Using this FF3F model researchers and investors alike have been searching for those excess returns, or the returns above what the market achieves, because everyone would like to “beat the market” as they say. In Boehmer, Huszar, and Jordan’s 2009 paper “The Good News in Short Interest”, the authors believe that they have found a way to get significant excess …

The Zions Direct Bond Auction Platform And Demand From University Investment Programs, Shaun Murdock

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the niche Zions Direct Auctions fixed income market for the information of the market managers at Zions Direct. The analysis first measures historical data to evaluate market metrics, and the second recommends Vector AutoRegression (VAR) econometric methods to determine if the auction yields within the market are affected by large increases in bidding and buying by the Zion's Bank University Investment Programs(UIPs). In the case that it does, restructuring or at least UIPs.

Assessing The Sources Of Risk And Risk Management Strategies Surrounding Poverty Traps And Mangrove Ecosystem Services In Rural Coastal Tanzania, Sarah Martin

Senior Honors Projects

Mangrove ecosystems consist of trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats throughout tropical and subtropical regions. These habitats provide essential ecosystem services to surrounding communities – including protection from erosion, flooding, and storm surge, access to raw materials, carbon sequestration, and nursery habitat for many species of marine life. Poor and vulnerable populations in rural coastal communities tend to rely disproportionately on natural resources to fuel their livelihoods, as they lack access to other market goods and services. Unfortunately, mangrove ecosystems have been substantially degraded over the last two decades. Therefore, the poor and vulnerable populations that rely …

The Impact Of Arrest On Expectations Of Educational Attainment And Criminal Punishment, Kenneth Arbuckle

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

My paper focuses on changes in the expectations of arrested youths. I use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort to examine the effects of an arrest on three separate expectations: the expectation of earning a four-year college degree by the age of 30, the expectation of being arrested after stealing a car, and the expectation of being fined and released after stealing a car. In all cases, I isolate those respondents who have been arrested between and not prior to their interview dates in 1997 and 2001. These are the survey rounds in which the expectation questions of …

The Effect Of Macroeconomic Conditions On Applications To Supplemental Security Income, Ke Xu

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This study examines whether macroeconomic conditions affect applications to the Supplemental Security Income program. Specifically, we focus on the impact of unemployment rate on under age 18 applications. Using data from 2002 through 2012, we found that a higher unemployment rate is associated with an increased intention to apply for Supplemental Security Income benefits for both disabled adults and children. However, the effect is much higher for adults. These findings suggest that under age 18 applications of Supplemental Security Income is sensitive to the macroeconomic conditions.

Too Hot To Handle: Managing America’S Ecosystems In A Changing Climate, Riley Morin

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

For over 140 years, Americans and have enjoyed their national parks. In the national parks, nature and history come together to form uniquely public as well as enormously valuable landscapes. Today, America’s national parks are in danger of undergoing serious changes. Climate change is going to alter the physical characteristics of the national parks. Many of the parks have changed before, but this change will be the most dramatic. In this report I examine the historical and current mission of the National Park Service. I also examine the past and current valuation of the national parks by the American people. …

A Form In The Road: U.S. Foreign Policy And The Path Toward Globalization In The Middle East, 1945-2014, Joshua P. Brotka

History Theses

This thesis examines the history of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East since 1945. From the start of the Cold War immediately following the conclusion of WWII and up to the present day (2014), U.S. policy has been subject to many revisions and simultaneously, upheld national security measures. As the world heads toward an era where globalization is most prevalent, the United States will have to make drastic decisions regarding its foreign policy in the Middle East. Its alliance with Israel, oil interests, Islamic fundamentalism, an evolving Muslim society, and supporting a national security agenda has forced the United …

Contests With A Prize Externality And Stochastic Entry, Xiaogang Che, Brad R. Humphreys

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

We analyze a contest with stochastic participation and a prize externality. A unique symmetric equilibrium exists in the contest. We demonstrate that the presence of a prize externality affects individual equilibrium spending but active participants always face the same expected payout as in a contest without a prize externality. A positive prize externality gives a higher impact on individual equilibrium spending than a negative prize externality. Regardless of the existence and the sign of a prize externality, ex-post over-dissipation occurs if the actual number of participants is sufficiently large. Independent of the prize externality's sign, active participants spend less but …

A Closer Look At The Necessity Of Managing Monetary Policy Expectations, Vanessa Annoni-Fuertes

HIM 1990-2015

Monetary policy changes that are unexpected by the investing public can generate great volatility and illiquidity in the equities market, and therefore may severely compromise the Federal Reserve’s ability to control the economy. Given the investing public’s power, their fear of uncertainty, and their impulsive nature to create and act upon uninformed expectations, it is imperative that the Federal Reserve uses any and all communication about monetary policy with the purpose of further advancing the their stability objectives. Initially, the Federal Reserve felt that changes in monetary policy were most effective if decided and implemented in private however over 50 …

An Overview And Examination Of The Prevention And Punishment Of White Collar Crimes, Tyler Bartels

HIM 1990-2015

White-collar crime is explained from an economist’s perspective. Economic models typically begin by assuming individuals behave rationally. By extension, economic models of crime suggest that white-collar criminals may be acting more rationally than a casual observer may assume. This thesis will identify the benefits and drawbacks of different regulations and laws by exploring several case studies of white-collar events.

Growth And Immigration: An Econometric Analysis Of Current European Union Member States From 1990 To 2009, Davis Jacob

HIM 1990-2015

Economic growth and immigration are important issues to individuals and governments alike. This paper looks at previous research on the topic of how migration affects growth and finds that most research finds that immigrants increase growth in at least the long run. First global or widely applicable research is discussed, then the paper focuses on the European Union as its data availability and uniform open migration policy lend it to a panel regression analysis. Three models are estimated using World Bank World Development Indicators data from 1990 to 2009 for all 28 current EU member states. The models are largely …

The Case For A New College Governance Structure In Nevada: Integrating Higher Education With Economic Development, Magdalena Martinez, David F. Damore, Robert Lang

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

As Katz and Bradley (2013) document, the confluence of partisan politics and budget cuts have left the federal government and to a lesser extent, state governments impotent to address the countless economic and education challenges facing the United States. Out of necessity, metros and regions are taking the lead in collaborating, innovating, and governing in Post-Recession America. Instead of waiting for federal or state governments to impose prescriptive, one-size fits all “solutions,” localities are seizing opportunities to strengthen their economies by working with stakeholders to develop policies tailored to their unique and complicated needs.

Understanding Nevada's Higher Education Governance For Two-Year Colleges: Challenges And Solutions, Magdalena Martinez

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

State governance of colleges and universities is an indicator of the state’s relationship with key stakeholders, such as business leaders, elected officials, policy makers, and local residents. Accordingly, a state’s college governance structure shapes two-year public colleges’ institutional priorities and how these vital institutions respond to local workforce needs. Around the country, an important function of two-year colleges is to provide training and skills for regional workforces that align to local business and industry needs. This brief examines the origins of two-year colleges and compares Nevada’s college outcomes with those of similar states through.

Simulating Confidence For The Ellison-Glaeser Index, Andrew J. Cassey, Ben O. Smith

Economics Faculty Publications

The Ellison and Glaeser (1997) index is an unbiased statistic of industrial localization. Though the expected value of the index is known, ad hoc thresholds are used to interpret the extent of localization. We improve the interpretation of the index by simulating confidence intervals that a practitioner may use for a statistical test. In the data, we find cases whose index value is above the ad hoc threshold that are not statistically significant. We find many cases below the ad hoc threshold that are statistically significant. Our simulation program is freely available and is customizable for specific applications.

Centralized Institutions And Cascades, Jared Rubin

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Why do sudden and massive social, economic, and political changes occur when and where they do? Are there institutional preconditions that encourage such changes when present and discourage such changes when absent? I employ a general model which suggests that cascades which induce massive equilibrium changes are more likely to occur in regimes with centralized coercive power, defined as the ability to impose more than one type of sanction (economic, legal, political, social, or religious). Centralized authorities are better able to suppress subversive actions when external shocks are small, as citizens have little incentive to incur numerous types of sanctions. …

The Political History Of Sugarcane-Based Ethanol In Brazil, Joshua Gagner

Political Science Theses and Capstones

With the Middle East putting an embargo on oil in 1973, oil prices ascended to levels that made importation of oil expensive. Brazil also faced another issue with sugar prices going down in 1973, putting much of their sugar supply on reserve. Brazil’s military government then made a decision to adopt the sugarcane-based ethanol program, Pro-Alcool. Pro-Alcool’s goal was to produce an alternative energy source to gasoline and take pressure off of oil importation. While initially intended to be a short-term fix, a second oil strike in 1979 pushed Pro-Alcool to higher levels. Oil industries were initially opposed to ethanol …

The Viability Of Mercosur In The Face Of The Euro Crisis, Philip A. Murry

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research examines the successes and challenges of the European Union, especially in the face of the crisis of 2008 and 2009. Based on the current structures of the European Union and Mercosur, this paper looks to assess the viability of further integration of Mercosur using the evolution of the European Union as a model of reference. Analysis of key economic measures provides the framework for assessment, with a special focus on the asymmetries between member countries within Mercosur. Differences in debt-to-GDP ratios, regional trade levels, and exchange rate fluctuations are the primary indicators used to provide policy recommendations for …

Commodity Super Cycles: A Reality Check, Maureen Derooij

Asian Management Insights

Do commodity super cycles exist, or are we simply seeing patterns in randomness? More importantly, are we in the middle of one that is showing signs of going bust?

An Economic Impact Analysis Of A Youth Softball World Series, Robert Tanner Jones

Honors Theses

Sporting events can have a large impact on an economy. From the Olympics to the Super Bowl to the World Cup, these events bring in millions of dollars of new revenue to a region. Extensive research has been conducted on the economic impact of these mega-events. However, smaller sporting events, such as a fishing tournament, youth sports tournament, or 5K race, can also boost local economies and influence future tourism choices. However, limited research has been conducted to understand the economic impact of these events, despite the significant resources needed by communities to host these smaller events. This economic impact …