Economics Commons^™

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

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

No abstract provided.

Low-Cost, Transportable Hydrogen Fueling Station For Early Fcev Adoption, Ian A. Richardson, Jacob T. Fisher, Jacob W. Leachman, Patrick E. Frome, Ben O. Smith, Shaotong Guo, Sayonsom Chanda, Mikko S. Mcfeely, Austin M. Miller

Economics Faculty Publications

Thousands of public hydrogen fueling stations are needed to support the early Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) market in the U.S.; there are currently 12. The California state government has been the largest investor of the hydrogen fueling infrastructure funding 9 permanent stations currently open to the public with 48 more in development costing anywhere from $1.8M-$5.5M each. To attract private investors and decrease dependence on government funding, a low-cost, mobile hydrogen dispensing system must be developed. This paper describes a transportable hydrogen fueling station that has been designed for $423,000 using off-the-shelf components, less than 23% of the capital …

Political Inclusion And Educational Investment, Stephen D. O'Connell

Economics Working Papers

Using exogenous geographic variation in exposure to 1993 reforms that introduced seat quotas for women in local government in India, I find a sizable increase in the enrollment rate of male and female school-age children resulting from additional exposure to women leaders. Effects are particularly concentrated among poorer households and those with less- educated proximate role models, and were commensurate with reductions in idle time and household-enterprise employment. There is no evidence for the effects being facilitated by changes in school infrastructure, the labor market, or among broader social factors related to intrahousehold bargaining. Using textual data from the news …

Son Preference, Fertility Decline And Non-Missing Girls Of Turkey, Onur Altindag

Economics Working Papers

Couples in Turkey exhibit son preference through son-biased differential stopping behavior that does not cause a sex ratio imbalance in the population. Demand for sons leads to lower (higher) ratios of boys to girls in large (small) families. Girls are born earlier than their male siblings. Son-biased fertility behavior is persistent in response to decline in fertility over time and across households with parents from different backgrounds. Parents use contraceptive methods to halt fertility following a male birth. The sibling sex composition is associated with gender disparities in health. Among children who were born in the third parity or later, …

Determinants Of Systemic Risk And Information Dissemination, Marcelo Bianconi, Xiaxin Hua, Chih Ming Tan

Economics & Finance Faculty Publications

We introduce a measure of information dissemination for the determination of systemic risk, print-media consumer pessimism, controlling for VIX volatility. VIX volatility has a significant direct impact upon systemic risk of financial firms under distress, and consumer pessimism does impact upon firm's financial stress via the externality of other firm's financial stress. In the internet bubble of the 1990s, pessimism predicts larger systemic risk in the whole period of exuberance while the VIX predicts a sharp larger systemic risk in the height of the bubble. Our evidence suggests that consumer pessimism might be dominated by the VIX when predicting systemic …

Arbitrage Risk, Investor Sentiment And Maximum Daily Returns, Kenneth A. Tah

Doctoral Dissertations

We test the cross-sectional relation between daily maximum return (MAX) and return in the following month for stocks with high and low idiosyncratic volatility. We use portfolio level analysis and firm-level cross-sectional regression to find that the negative and significant relation between MAX and expected stock return (known as the "MAX effect") is a non-January phenomenon observed predominantly on a sample of stocks with high idiosyncratic volatility. We find that the effect of investor sentiment on the MAX effect depends on arbitrage risk. Our findings suggest that arbitrageurs find it difficult to correct the mispricing of stocks with extreme positive …

Exploring The Racial Divide In Education And The Labor Market Through Evidence From Interracial Families, Peter Arcidiacono, Andrew Beauchamp, Marie Hull, Seth Sanders

Economics Faculty Publications

We examine gaps between minorities and whites in education and labor market outcomes, controlling for many covariates including maternal race. Identification comes from different reported races within the family. Estimates show two distinct patterns. First, there are no significant differences in outcomes between black and white males with white mothers. Second, large differences persist between these groups and black males with black mothers. The patterns are insensitive to alternative measures of own race and school fixed effects. Our results suggest that discrimination is not occurring on the basis of child skin color but through mother-child channels such as dialect or …

Identification Of Nonparametric Simultaneous Equations Models With A Residual Index Structure, Steven T. Berry, Philip A. Haile

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We present new results on the identifiability of a class of nonseparable nonparametric simultaneous equations models introduced by Matzkin (2008). These models combine exclusion restrictions with a requirement that each structural error enter through a “residual index.” Our identification results encompass a variety of special cases allowing tradeoffs between the exogenous variation required of instruments and restrictions on the joint density of structural errors. Among these special cases are results avoiding any density restriction and results allowing instruments with arbitrarily small support.

Inference In Near Singular Regression, Peter C.B. Phillips

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper considers stationary regression models with near-collinear regressors. Limit theory is developed for regression estimates and test statistics in cases where the signal matrix is nearly singular in finite samples and is asymptotically degenerate. Examples include models that involve evaporating trends in the regressors that arise in conditions such as growth convergence. Structural equation models are also considered and limit theory is derived for the corresponding instrumental variable estimator, Wald test statistic, and overidentification test when the regressors are endogenous.

Inference Based On Many Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

In this paper, we construct confidence sets for models defined by many conditional moment inequalities/equalities. The conditional moment restrictions in the models can be finite, countably infinite, or uncountably infinite. To deal with the complication brought about by the vast number of moment restrictions, we exploit the manageability (Pollard (1990)) of the class of moment functions. We verify the manageability condition in five examples from the recent partial identification literature. The proposed confidence sets are shown to have correct asymptotic size in a uniform sense and to exclude parameter values outside the identified set with probability approaching one. Monte Carlo …

Efficiency And Stability In Large Matching Markets, Yeon-Koo Che, Olivier Tercieux

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We study efficient and stable mechanisms in matching markets when the number of agents is large and individuals’ preferences and priorities are drawn randomly. When agents’ preferences are uncorrelated, then both efficiency and stability can be achieved in an asymptotic sense via standard mechanisms such as deferred acceptance and top trading cycles. When agents’ preferences are correlated over objects, however, these mechanisms are either inefficient or unstable even in an asymptotic sense. We propose a variant of deferred acceptance that is asymptotically efficient, asymptotically stable and asymptotically incentive compatible. This new mechanism performs well in a counterfactual calibration based on …

Identification Of Nonparametric Simultaneous Equations Models With A Residual Index Structure, Steven T. Berry, Philip A. Haile

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We present new identification results for a class of nonseparable nonparametric simultaneous equations models introduced by Matzkin (2008). These models combine traditional exclusion restrictions with a requirement that each structural error enter through a “residual index.” Our identification results are constructive and encompass a range of special cases with varying demands on the exogenous variation provided by instruments and the shape of the joint density of the structural errors. The most important of these results demonstrate identification even when instruments have limited variation. A genericity result demonstrates a formal sense in which the associated density conditions may be viewed as …

Inference Based On Many Conditional Moment Inequalities, Donald W.K. Andrews, Xiaoxia Shi

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

In this paper, we construct confidence sets for models defined by many conditional moment inequalities/equalities. The conditional moment restrictions in the models can be finite, countably in finite, or uncountably in finite. To deal with the complication brought about by the vast number of moment restrictions, we exploit the manageability (Pollard (1990)) of the class of moment functions. We verify the manageability condition in five examples from the recent partial identification literature. The proposed confidence sets are shown to have correct asymptotic size in a uniform sense and to exclude parameter values outside the identified set with probability approaching one. …

Sieve Semiparametric Two-Step Gmm Under Weak Dependence, Xiaohong Chen, Zhipeng Liao

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper considers semiparametric two-step GMM estimation and inference with weakly dependent data, where unknown nuisance functions are estimated via sieve extremum estimation in the first step. We show that although the asymptotic variance of the second-step GMM estimator may not have a closed form expression, it can be well approximated by sieve variances that have simple closed form expressions. We present consistent or robust variance estimation, Wald tests and Hansen’s (1982) over-identification tests for the second step GMM that properly reflect the first-step estimated functions and the weak dependence of the data. Our sieve semiparametric two-step GMM inference procedures …

Information Limits Of Aggregate Data, Ray C. Fair

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper uses a small model in the Cowles Commission (CC) tradition to examine the limits of aggregate data. It argues that more can be learned about the macroeconomy following the CC approach than the reduced form and VAR approaches allow, but less than the DSGE approach tries to do.

Payoff Equivalence Of Efficient Mechanisms In Large Matching Markets, Yeon-Koo Che, Olivier Tercieux

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We study Pareto efficient mechanisms in matching markets when the number of agents is large and individual preferences are randomly drawn from a class of distributions, allowing for both common and idiosyncratic shocks. We show that, as the market grows large, all Pareto efficient mechanisms — including top trading cycles, serial dictatorship, and their randomized variants — are uniformly asymptotically payoff equivalent “up to the renaming of agents,” yielding the utilitarian upper bound in the limit. This result implies that, when the conditions of our model are met, policy makers need not discriminate among Pareto efficient mechanisms based on the …

The Renter Effect Part 1: Explanation, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

It’s Elementary is a series of essays on topics in education and education policy. The main focus is on education finance in New York State, but general research findings in education and education policy issues in several other states are also discussed. John Yinger, Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University is the author of most of these essays, although a few are written by or co-authored with other scholars.

An Analysis Of Top Trading Cycles In Two-Sided Matching Markets, Yeon-Koo Che, Olivier Tercieux

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We study top trading cycles in a two-sided matching environment (Abdulkadiroglu and Sonmez (2003)) under the assumption that individuals’ preferences and objects’ priorities are drawn iid uniformly. The distributions of agents’ preferences and objects’ priorities remaining after a given round of TTC depend nontrivially on the exact history of the algorithm up to that round (and so need not be uniform iid ). Despite the nontrivial history-dependence of evolving economies, we show that the number of individuals/objects assigned at each round follows a simple Markov chain and we explicitly derive the transition probabilities

Information Propagation In Financial Markets, Garrett A. Mcbrayer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays which examine information flows through financial markets and across firms, and investigates the factors affecting the process of information dissemination. The first essay examines whether the announcement of a credit rating change for a given firm contains information pertinent to the valuations of intra-industry peer firms. I identify an information spillover effect on peer firms surrounding credit rating downgrades. Further, I find that the post-announcement spillover effects are indicative of an overreaction in the market’s response to the downgrade announcement. Peer firms exhibit predictability in their post-announcement returns as a function of their relative …

Dampak Jaminan Terhadap Peluang Memperoleh Kredit Bagi Umkm Di Sumatera Barat, Joan Marta, Doni Satria

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

This paper reveals that West Sumatera banking sector are more likely using the availability of collateral for the credit to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). Using 384 sample size from MSME in West Sumatera, if a MSME have enough collateral, the probability of their credit application to be rejected by banks will fall from 59.9% to 11.7% comparing to they don’t have enough collateral. This finding proved a credit guarantee scheme is needed, and for the further study it is recommended to conduct research on the characteristic of the potentials of MSME as a credit scoring model for banks.

Aplikasi Model Optimasi Untuk Meningkatkan Efisiensi Pengangkutan Sampah Di Kota Cilegon, Danang Triwibowo, Alin Halimatussadiah

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Most cities in developing countries face inefficiency problem of waste collection service run by government. The purpose of this study is to estimate the efficiency of waste collection service and the capital cost requirement in 2019 to cover 100% waste collection service in Cilegon City. The efficiency is calculated by comparing the current costs with the optimization costs by the model of vehicle routing problem. The result shows that the obtained inefficiency reaches 37,48% which largely comes from the labor component. To cover all of resident in Cilegon City, the city needs to increase their budget allocation as much as …

Three Essays On The Economics Of Foreign Aid, Hongwei Song

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent years have seen a burgeoning interest in the issue of foreign aid especially in the context of developmental economics. As foreign aid is designed to help those less-privileged nations with developmental objectives such as poverty reduction and/or economic growth, fundamental questions include whether aid has been effective and what motivates donors to provide aid. This dissertation is composed of three essays that examine different issues concerning foreign aid. First, I focus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its impact on aid allocation among sectors. If specification of the MDGs affected aid flows, it should be observed that more …

What Is The Relation Between Public Pensions And Private Savings?, Marta Lachowska, Michał Myck

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Why Excel?, Humberto Barreto

Economics and Management Faculty publications

This article is not the usual Excel pedagogy fare in that it does not provide an application or example taught via a spreadsheet. Instead, it briefly reviews the history of spreadsheets in the economics classroom and explores the current environment, with an emphasis on modern learning theory. The conclusion is not surprising: spreadsheets improve learning outcomes across the economics curriculum and are increasingly being used. They offer the “just right” option that gives a middle way between too little and too much focus on software in an economics course.

Poverty Within Nation-States: The Impact Of Corruption, Trade, Income Inequality, Population Growth, Foreign Aid, And Military Expenditure, Mustafa Karapinar

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Theoretical approaches to development have marginalized poverty and the individual from the developmental debates. Instead, these approaches place the state as the conventional unit of development and tended to address poverty at the societal level. In these respects, these approaches have neglected how development affects poverty at the individual level.

This study criticizes one of these approaches, the modernization theory of Development, and analyzes the relationship between poverty and some economic, political, and social factors. These factors include openness to trade, foreign aid, military expenditure, income inequality, corruption, and population. There have been several studies examining the relationship between poverty …

Mexico Consensus Economic Forecast, Volume 18, Number 3, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Adam G. Walke

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

Efek Limpahan Pertumbuhan Antar-Kabupaten/Kota Di Provinsi Jawa Timur Tahun 2001–2013, Pristiawan Wibisono, Mudrajad Kuncoro

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

This study aims to identify the typology of districts/municipalities in East Java Province, and analyze the growth spillover effects among districts/municipalities. This study was conducted using analysis tools such as Klaassen Typology, identification of growth pole based on the definition proposed by Richardson, the calculation of growth spillover effects and detection of spatial autocorrelation with local indexes Moran and Local Indicators of spatial Association (LISA). The results from this study is that advanced and fast-growing districts/municipalities from 2001 until 2013 concentrated in the central region of East Java Province. Consistency as advanced and fast-growing region is an indicator of growth …

Mountain Monitor - 1st Quarter 2015, Kenan Fikri, Siddharth Kulkarni

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

This analysis of employment, output, unemployment, and house prices finds that the 10 major metropolitan areas of the Mountain West, despite significant economic headwinds, weathered the first quarter of 2015 with robust economic growth. Eight of the region’s 10 major metro areas advanced on all four metrics of economic performance, and the remaining two metro areas slipped only on a single front.

The national economic slowdown that arrived in early 2015 did not entirely bypass the Mountain West, but the region resisted the drag better than any other. As U.S. economic output contracted by 0.3 percent in the first quarter, …

Geographic Mobility And The Costs Of Job Loss, Nicholas A. Jolly

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

This paper uses data from the 1968 through 1997 survey waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to analyze how the long-term costs of job loss vary by a worker’s post-displacement migration status. Results from the analysis show that those individuals who move within the first 2 years after a job loss experience lower earnings losses, lower reductions in hours worked, and smaller increases in time unemployed when compared to a group of displaced workers who are not geographically mobile during the early years following this life event. Workers who move within the first 2 years after displacement face …

Apakah Jenjang Pendidikan Dasar Tenaga Kerja Berperan Dalam Mengurangi Kemiskinan Di Indonesia?, Rofiq Nur Rizal

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Improving the quality of human resources through education is believed as one of the solutions to reduce poverty. World attention to education in global ’Education For All program’ and the ’Millennium Development Goals’, suggests that basic education become central program in reducing poverty. If there was a linear relationship between education and income, improved education at basic level would not increase revenues substantially. This study aim is analyzing the role of labor education level toward poverty. Using panel data, this study found that basic education level of labor has a significant role to increase poverty, whereas higher education levels of …