Economics | Open Access Articles | Digital Commons Network™

Europe: Ready To Rebound, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Increasing trade, investment, and immigrant integration are keys to Europe’s economic vitality

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Rhode Island Current Conditions Index -- October 2015, Leonard Lardaro

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

No abstract provided.

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Homegrown Or Imported? Frugal Innovation And Local Economic Development In Zambia, Iva Peša

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

Innovation and entrepreneurship have the potential to stimulate economic growth. Yet it remains unclear whether top-down or bottom-up innovations are more likely to lead to local economic development. By looking at three cases of frugal innovation on the Zambian Copperbelt, in the spheres of housing, water and energy, it will be argued that polycentric innovation (which connects local and international actors) is most likely to generate inclusive development. Yet even a polycentric approach does not guarantee desired outcomes, as innovation remains context specific.

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The Impact Of Labour Productivity On Economic Growth: The Case Of Mauritius And South Africa, Jack Jones Zulu, Benjamin Mattondo Banda

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

This study explores the impact of labour productivity on economic growth in Mauritius and South Africa. We establish that investments in physical capital have a positive effect on labour productivity and by implication on economic performance. Labour employment in industry is counterproductive, while the cumulative effect of new technologies on labour productivity is negligible in the three-year intervals. It is the initial stock and subsequent accumulation of human capital that stimulates faster output growth in both countries.

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Ce Fall 2015, Coyote Economist

Coyote Economist

Inside this Issue:
Commencement................................2
Pizza Party.........................................2
Econ Student Scholarship...............2
Tentative Winter Schedule...............6
Tentative Spring Schedule...............6

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The Relationship Between Health And Schooling: What's New?, Michael Grossman

Economics Working Papers

Many studies suggest that years of formal schooling completed is the most important correlate of good health. There is much less consensus as to whether this correlation reflects causality from more schooling to better health. The relationship may be traced in part to reverse causality and may also reflect "omitted third variables" that cause health and schooling to vary in the same direction. The past five years (2010-2014) have witnessed the development of a large literature focusing on the issue just raised. I deal with that literature and what can be learned from it in this paper. I conclude that …

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Joan Robinson And Mit, Harvey Gram, Geoffrey Harcourt

Economics Working Papers

The great question which has always haunted the type of analysis offered by the MIT economists in answer to Robinson's provocative critique (1953) has always been her own question: how to get into equilibrium? If the notion of "vision at a distance," inherent in dynamic equilibrium analysis (Dorfman, Samuelson, and Solow, 1958) means co-ordination of long-term expectations, recent work shows theory, that "getting into equilibrium" is an impossibility. This vindicates Robinson's position in the capital controversy, at least with respect to the MIT economists.

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Sembrando El Cambio: Agroecología Cuencana Y Paradigmas Del Desarrollo, Erin Walters

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Durante mi tiempo en Cuenca, tuve la oportunidad de observar varios modelos de producción agroecológica: primero con el Proyecto de Agricultura Urbana (PAU) donde tienen dos granjas que producen comida para poblaciones vulnerables de Cuenca, y segundo con una familia perteneciente a la Asociación de Productores Agroecológicos del Austro (APAAUSTRO), que cultiva para la subsistencia y vende los alimentos extras. Analizo la historia y la estructura de estos tipos de producción, contextualizándolas en el proyecto y la política del desarrollo “convencional” y la Revolución Verde. Exploro cómo difieren de lo que tradicionalmente se considera el desarrollo, por virtud de varios …

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Patagonia Con Poder: El Éxito De La Oposición Frente El Proyecto Hidroaysén, Nathaniel Korn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This investigation analyzes the movement in opposition to the HidroAysén project in Southern Chile that is often referred to as and uses the slogan “Patagonia Sin Represas” (Patagonia Without Dams). The investigation is framed through collective action theory, the study of what incentives and other factors create the conditions for mobilization and group action. In the context of social movements it is usually argued that there needs to be a better cost-benefit scenario for each actor to be involved than there is to not be involved in the movement. Immediately following return of democracy to Chile in the 1990’s social …

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The Politics Of Social Entrepreneurship In Cameroon, Aaron Danowski

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Social entrepreneurship, a practice that combines nonprofit missions and business principles in pursuit of social impact, is a growing phenomenon that has the potential to empower millions of people around the world through a decentralized approach to social problem solving. In this paper, I examine the state of social entrepreneurship in Cameroon, exploring how social entrepreneurship is defined in the Cameroonian context by local actors, and the ways in which Cameroonian social entrepreneurs interact with macro, meso, and micro level politics and partners to create sustainable social impact. From November 7 through December 7, 2015, I conducted in-person interviews with …

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Ganga: River Health And Livelihood: An Exploration In The Relationship Of Women’S Health And Water In The Garhwal Region, Caroline Lutkewitte

India: Public Health, Policy Advocacy, and Community

Overall, the intention of this study is to provide a bases for understanding how the livelihood of Himalayan women affects the health of the Ganga and vice versa. An apparent paradox between the destruction caused by development and one’s own spiritual and religious fulfillment may explain the diminishing quality of the Ganga. Through interviews with Garhwali women and observations of lifestyles along the Ganga, a concept of women’s interaction with water was determined. These perceptions and uses of water were compared to perspectives on degradation of the river. Pollution and water diversion projects serve as two of the largest struggles …

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Community Owned Renewable Energy In North Coast Nsw Social Housing, Kelly Leatherman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study assesses the feasibility of implementing community owned renewable energy (CORE) technology in social housing units in North Coast NSW. I completed this study by conducting interviews with three renewable energy policy experts to ascertain the current state of renewable energy and CORE in NSW. Second, I conducted four interviews with separate social housing unit employees/residents to understand their interpretation of current barriers to implementing renewable energy in the social housing and if any of the units currently have any renewable energy technology or energy efficiency programs in place. After finishing this assessment, I did a comparative analysis with …

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Social Studies Middle Childhood Education Oae Economics Workshop, Jacqueline Gilbride

Honors Projects

This project focuses on the Social Studies Middle Childhood Education OAE Economics Workshop that was carried out on November 14^th, 2015 at Bowling Green State University. The workshop was created to help Bowling Green State University pre-service teachers prepare for the Economics portion of the Middle Grades Social Studies Ohio Assessment for Educators (OAE). Throughout the workshop participants were taught lessons on microeconomics and macroeconomics. At the beginning participants were pretested and at the end participants were post tested on Middle Grades Social Studies OAE practice test questions to assess how much they learned. The project includes the …

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From Private To Public Women’S Cooperatives And The Construction Of A Public Sphere, Cecilia Garza

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This independent study project will explore how participation in the economy benefits women in more ways than just economically. Using the example of five cooperatives functioning in the Moroccan Rif, this paper will investigate how access to the economy not only provides women with supplemental income but also allows them to leave the home and build networks within their communities. These examples will illustrate how illiterate, rural women, who would usually be seen as powerless in the public eye, are taking advantage of the trainings, income and communities they gain from their participation in cooperatives to claim independence and prove …

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Macroeconomic Stabilization When The Natural Real Interest Rate Is Falling, Sebastien Buttet, Udayan Roy

Publications and Research

The authors modify the Dynamic Aggregate Demand–Dynamic Aggregate Supply model in Mankiw’s widely-used intermediate macroeconomics textbook to discuss monetary policy when the natural real interest rate is falling over time. Their results highlight a new role for the central bank’s inflation target as a tool of macroeconomic stabilization. They show that even when the zero lower bound is not binding, a prudent central bank will need to match every decrease in the natural real interest rate with an equal increase in the target rate of inflation in order to stabilize the risk of the economy falling into a deflationary spiral, …

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Hospitalitas, Andrew T. Young

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

Good government requires a constitution that demarcates what political agents can and cannot do, and such a constitution must be self-enforcing. The medieval West was characterized by the estates system, where the political power of monarchs was roughly balanced by that of a landed and militarized nobility. This rough balance of power contributed to a Western tradition of limited government and constitutional bargaining. I argue that this balance has important roots in the fifth and sixth century barbarian settlements that occurred within the frontiers of the declining Western Roman Empire. These settlements provided barbarians with allotments consisting of lands or …

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The Effect Of Urban Empowerment Zones On Fertility And Health: A Case Study Of Chicago, New York City, And Philadelphia, Daniel Grossman

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

I estimate the health impacts of the Empowerment Zone (EZ) program a federal program that gave sizeable grants and tax breaks to certain high-poverty census tracts in selected cities. Using difference-in-differences methods, I find that the EZ program decreased fertility rates by 11 percent and improved birth outcomes. This increase in infant health was not driven by changes in the composition of births. Synthetic control methods and estimates using an alternate control group support these findings. Recent research on the later-life impacts of low birth weight suggest that the health impacts of this program may have substantial long-term benefits.

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Intergenerational Effects Of Disability Benefits: Evidence From Canadian Social Assistance Programs, Kelly Chen, Lars Osberg, Shelley Phipps

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Individuals with disabilities face greater challenges in the labor market than able-bodied individuals and a growing body of research is finding that their children also tend to have more developmental problems than the children of able-bodied parents. Can transfer payments help reduce this gap? In this paper, we present the first evidence on how parental disability benefits affect the well-being of children. Using changes in real benefits under ten disability benefit programs in Canada as an identification strategy and Statistics Canada's National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) as the data source on child outcomes, we find strong evidence …

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Want A Job? Get A College Degree, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

While it is well known that a positive relationship exists between educational attainment and earnings for those who are in the labor market, an important part of how education impacts the well-being of families in Kentucky is the access to employment that it provides. In this brief, we examine the relationship between education and two measures of employment status: unemployment and labor force participation. What we find is quite striking: not only do those with higher education experience less unemployment, they are far more likely to be participating in the labor market. Education leads to better access to employment.

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Impact Of Education On Medicaid Eligibility, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

The individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) coupled with the Medicaid expansion in Kentucky makes reducing Medicaid eligibility rates of crucial importance. This brief examines the link between education and eligibility for Medicaid for the citizens of Kentucky. In general, the relationship is nearly mechanical in that higher education leads to higher incomes. Since income is the key determining factor of Medicaid eligibility, and because of the individual mandate eligibility is mostly equivalent to participation, our estimates show that higher education reduces the likelihood that an adult will be on Medicaid or have children and family members on …

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The Effects Of Education Across The Kentucky Economy, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

The Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) (Gatton College, University of Kentucky) was commissioned by Kentucky’s Council for Postsecondary Education to examine the implications of education across the Kentucky economy. This study used data on Kentuckians from the American Community Survey (ACS), the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The focus on Kentucky is unique, as most studies of this kind have used only national data. The results have allowed us to examine how education is related to important outcomes related …

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How To Raise State Revenue Without Raising Taxes, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

A positive relationship exists between educational attainment and earnings, which has been well established in the literature through multiple studies. This, in turn, influences the revenues generated for the state of Kentucky through the personal income tax. We predict even the modest change of increasing Associate’s and Bachelor’s degree holders by 1% would increase revenue by $37 million. Kentucky loses between $300 million and $500 million in state tax revenues every year because our educational attainment is lower than the national average.

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Education For Your Health!, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

The health of the people of Kentucky is of high concern for policymakers and citizens alike. Individuals want to live healthy, productive lives, while policymakers recognize that chronic illnesses cost the state in myriad ways. In this brief, we examine the link between educational attainment and health outcomes. We focus on two groups of health outcomes. The first are behavioral and include choices: tobacco use, alcohol use, obesity, and exercise. The second group are outcomes highly associated with these behaviors: heart attack, angina, stroke, and diabetes. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that these four diseases may cost Kentuckians …

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Crime And Punishment And Education, Christopher R. Bollinger, Bethany L. Paris

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Crime impacts the lives of Kentuckians in myriad ways. It has direct costs to victims and indirect costs through property values and business activity. Citizens and policymakers alike desire to reduce and limit crime. In this brief, we investigate the link between crime rates in Kentucky’s counties and the aggregate level of education. Perhaps surprisingly, higher education, and specifically the percent of the population with a Bachelor’s degree, is associated with lower crime. We find that increasing educational attainment in Kentucky to the U.S. levels could reduce the costs of crime by over $3 million annually.

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Education Pays Everywhere!, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Economists and other researchers have long demonstrated the relationship between education and earnings. In this brief, we focus on the relationship between educational attainment and earnings in the state of Kentucky. Our results, in many ways, are unsurprising, as the old ad campaign said, “Education Pays.” What may be surprising is that we demonstrate that education pays not only in the big cities of Lexington and Louisville, but also in the more rural parts of the state, such as eastern Kentucky and western Kentucky.

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Moving People Off Public Assistance Programs Through Education, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Two of the largest federal transfer programs are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Federal expenditures on SNAP exceeded $74 billion in 2014, and SSI exceeded $3 billion. While these programs provide families in distress with important support, ideally we desire that Kentucky families would not require this kind of assistance. In 2014, over 800,000 Kentuckians received SNAP assistance each month while over 190,000 received SSI. This brief examines the relationship between participation in these programs and educational attainment for Kentuckians. We find that education is highly related to participation and that those with higher …

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Long Term Effects Of Experience During Youth: Evidence From Consumptions In China, K. Sudhir, Ishani Tewari

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We test for the long-term eﬀects of experience during youth on consumption in nontraditional taste-forming categories. A unique dataset that tracks individuals over twenty years from 1992-2011, residing in nine Chinese provinces that vary widely in both income levels and rate of economic growth, helps us identify cohort and intra-cohort “prosperity-inyouth” (PIY) eﬀects on consumption. We ﬁrst demonstrate that non-traditional category consumption increases strongly among cohorts that entered adulthood during China’s boom years. We then show evidence of the intra-cohort PIY eﬀect, controlling for individual level experience by leveraging the heterogeneity in the timing and rate of growth in prosperity …

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Optimal Product Variety In Radio Markets, Steven T. Berry, Alon Eizenberg, Joel Waldfogel

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

A vast theoretical literature shows that ineﬀicient market structures may arise in free entry equilibria. Previous empirical work demonstrated that excessive entry may obtain in local radio markets. Our paper extends that literature by relaxing the assumption that stations are symmetric, allowing instead for endogenous station diﬀerentiation along both (observed) horizontal and (unobserved) vertical dimensions. We ﬁnd that, in most broadcasting formats, a social planner who takes into account the welfare of market participants (stations and advertisers) would eliminate 50%–60% of the stations observed in equilibrium. In 80%–94.9% of markets that have high quality stations in the observed equilibrium, welfare …

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Long Term Effects Of “Prosperity In Youth” On Consumption: Evidence From China, K. Sudhir, Ishani Tewari

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We test for the long-term impact of experiencing “prosperity in youth” (PIY) on non-traditional category consumption. Using unique twenty-year panel data of individuals from nine Chinese provinces with varying levels of per-capita GDP and rates of per-capita GDP growth, we ﬁnd robust evidence for the PIY eﬀect. We ﬁnd both a direct eﬀect of one’s own prosperity and an indirect eﬀect of the prosperity of one’s province during youth on long-term consumption. In particular, the indirect PIY eﬀect is driven more strongly by individuals with low incomes during youth — suggesting that norms and aspirations created by the consumption of …

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Mandatory Process, Matthew J.B. Lawrence

Indiana Law Journal

This Article suggests that people tend to undervalue their procedural rights—their proverbial “day in court”—until they are actually involved in a dispute. The Article argues that the inherent, outcome-independent value of participating in a dispute resolution process comes largely from its power to soothe a person’s grievance— their perception of unfairness and accompanying negative emotional reaction—win or lose. But a tendency to assume unchanging emotional states, known in behavioral economics as projection bias, can prevent people from anticipating that they might become aggrieved and from appreciating the grievance-soothing power of process. When this happens, people will waive their procedural rights …

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Full-Text Articles in Economics

Europe: Ready To Rebound, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Rhode Island Current Conditions Index -- October 2015, Leonard Lardaro

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

Homegrown Or Imported? Frugal Innovation And Local Economic Development In Zambia, Iva Peša

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

The Impact Of Labour Productivity On Economic Growth: The Case Of Mauritius And South Africa, Jack Jones Zulu, Benjamin Mattondo Banda

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

Ce Fall 2015, Coyote Economist

Coyote Economist

The Relationship Between Health And Schooling: What's New?, Michael Grossman

Economics Working Papers

Joan Robinson And Mit, Harvey Gram, Geoffrey Harcourt

Economics Working Papers

Sembrando El Cambio: Agroecología Cuencana Y Paradigmas Del Desarrollo, Erin Walters

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Patagonia Con Poder: El Éxito De La Oposición Frente El Proyecto Hidroaysén, Nathaniel Korn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Politics Of Social Entrepreneurship In Cameroon, Aaron Danowski

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ganga: River Health And Livelihood: An Exploration In The Relationship Of Women’S Health And Water In The Garhwal Region, Caroline Lutkewitte

India: Public Health, Policy Advocacy, and Community

Community Owned Renewable Energy In North Coast Nsw Social Housing, Kelly Leatherman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Social Studies Middle Childhood Education Oae Economics Workshop, Jacqueline Gilbride

Honors Projects

From Private To Public Women’S Cooperatives And The Construction Of A Public Sphere, Cecilia Garza

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Macroeconomic Stabilization When The Natural Real Interest Rate Is Falling, Sebastien Buttet, Udayan Roy

Publications and Research

Hospitalitas, Andrew T. Young

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

The Effect Of Urban Empowerment Zones On Fertility And Health: A Case Study Of Chicago, New York City, And Philadelphia, Daniel Grossman

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

Intergenerational Effects Of Disability Benefits: Evidence From Canadian Social Assistance Programs, Kelly Chen, Lars Osberg, Shelley Phipps

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Want A Job? Get A College Degree, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Impact Of Education On Medicaid Eligibility, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

The Effects Of Education Across The Kentucky Economy, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

How To Raise State Revenue Without Raising Taxes, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Education For Your Health!, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Crime And Punishment And Education, Christopher R. Bollinger, Bethany L. Paris

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Education Pays Everywhere!, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Moving People Off Public Assistance Programs Through Education, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Long Term Effects Of Experience During Youth: Evidence From Consumptions In China, K. Sudhir, Ishani Tewari

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Optimal Product Variety In Radio Markets, Steven T. Berry, Alon Eizenberg, Joel Waldfogel

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Long Term Effects Of “Prosperity In Youth” On Consumption: Evidence From China, K. Sudhir, Ishani Tewari

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Mandatory Process, Matthew J.B. Lawrence

Indiana Law Journal