Economics Commons^™

Could Tariffs Be Pro-Cyclical?, James Lake, Maia K. Linask

Economics Faculty Publications

Conventional wisdom says that tariffs are counter-cyclical. We analyze the relationship between business cycles and applied MFN tariffs using a disaggregated product-level panel dataset covering 72 countries between 2000 and 2011. Strikingly, and counter to conventional wisdom, we find that tariffs are pro-cyclical. Further investigation reveals that this pro-cyclicality is driven by the tariff setting behavior of developing countries; tariffs are acyclical in developed countries. We present evidence that pro-cyclical market power drives the pro-cyclicality of tariffs in developing countries, providing further evidence of the importance of terms of trade motivations in explaining trade policy.

Crisis Leadership During The Great Recession Of 2008, Steven M. Walker, Matthew P. Earnhardt, Jason M. Newcomer, James W. Marion Jr, Jon C. Tomlinson

Publications

Understanding leadership characteristics, frameworks, components, and contexts that are beneficial to the guidance of organizational policy is useful for understanding the way in which leaders should act during a crisis. Recessions are common throughout economies; yet, many see recessions as crises. Due to the chaotic nature of economic recessions, leaders must work in conditions of uncertainty, complexity, and volatility. Therefore, using a qualitative phenomenological approach, an examination was conducted on leaders’ lived experiences of the Great Recession of 2008 to further understand the concept of crisis leadership. A discussion is included on the way in which leaders internalize and analyze …

Impact Of Asean : China Free Trade Area On Trade Flows, Son Tung Nguyen

Honors Theses

This paper estimates the impact of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement on the trade flows between China and the ASEAN countries. A gravity model with FTA specification is used to estimate the treatment effect of ACFTA. Since there are other unobserved variables that correlate with both the trade flows between China–ASEAN and the decision to form ACFTA, a cross-sectional OLS regression runs the risk of having endogeneity bias due to omitted variables. Therefore, this paper applies a panel regression approach with time and country fixed effects as the main method of estimation. The hypothesis is that ACFTA will increase trade …

The Effects Of Financial Leverage On The Output Decision Of An Exploration And Production Company, Michael Levine

Honors Theses

I examine companies focused on the exploration, production and exploitation of oil and gas assets to test whether there is a significant relationship between a firm’s debt burden and its production decision. I am most interested in debt’s effect on a firm’s price elasticity of supply as this would allow me to conclude how a highly levered firm would react to changes in price relative to other firms. I use data from 81 publicly traded exploration and production companies with varying degrees of leverage over the last ten years. This time frame captures two price cycles for the oil and …

The Marquee Effect : A Study Of The Effect Of Designated Players On Revenue And Performance In Major League Soccer, Hannah Holub

Honors Theses

Since its formation in 1994 Major League Soccer (MLS) has slowly been gaining the momentum to reach a level of recognition similar to that of the top four sports leagues in the United States – the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball. Major League Soccer (MLS) is the top tier professional soccer league in the United States, one of only two leagues to reach that status and the only soccer league to sustain long term success.1 Made up of nineteen teams across the United States and Canada, the MLS is structured …

How Does One Child Policy Influence Chinese Household Saving Behavior, Yueyang Cao

Honors Theses

This paper investigates the influence the decline in the family size on household size through a Chinese family planning policy, the One-Child Policy (OCP). I find the evidence of the negative effect at the micro level using Chinese household survey data. I also study the aggregated effect using Chinese provincial level data. With the concern of endogeneity, I use a two-stage least square regression with financial punishments for having more than one child and share of population that were exempted from the restriction as instruments for the fertility variable. This regression shows a positive impact of the implementation of the …

Food Insecurity In Nepal : A Cross-Sectional Analysis From 75 Districts, Aarti Reddy

Honors Theses

There are a number of studies regarding food insecurity, but not many that investigate the simultaneous relationships between food insecurity and the measures of well-being (health, education and gender equality). This paper conducts a district-level cross-sectional analysis of the relationship between food insecurity and the measures of well-being in Nepal using an ordered probit model. Instrument variables are used in a two-stage analysis to address the problem of endogeneity. The study finds that health deprivation levels significantly affect levels of food insecurity in a district but education and gender literacy disparity are less significant. Addressing issues of endogeneity and multicolinearity …

Localized Economic Impact Of Sports Stadium Construction, Scott Sommers

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Tlos And Global Financial Markets: The Case Of Derivatives, Hannah L. Buxbaum

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Supply Of Volunteer Labor: Focusing On Board Members, John Larkin

Honors Theses

Understanding the types of people who volunteer is an important part of understanding why people volunteer and the indications of what could make others volunteer. First, understanding the types of volunteers, specifically board members, provides the needed background and overall understanding of volunteering. This information could lead to a stronger idea of how to recruit volunteers. I will also update R. B. Freeman's results which used 1989 CPS data compared to 2014 CPS data. I find that the 2014 CPS provides similar results compared to Freeman's. We both found individuals are more likely to volunteer if their characteristics are associated …

The Liquidity Crisis, Investor Sentiment, And Reit Returns And Volatility, Daniel Huerta, Peter V. Egly, Diego Escobari

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

The real estate investment trust (REIT) industry experienced a liquidity crisis resulting from reduced access to credit commitments as banks were restoring their balance sheets during the 2007–2009 financial crisis. Employing generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models, we examine the impact of the liquidity crisis and investor sentiment on REIT returns and volatility over the December 2001 to February 2013 period. We find that the liquidity crisis negatively impacts REIT returns and helps explain increases in volatility; this finding is robust to multiple specifications. We show that investor sentiment is a significant factor in the REIT return-generating process with institutional …

Do U.S. Firms Fly Higher When Bypassing The U.S. Capital Markets? An Investigation Of The Short-Term Performance Of Foreign Ipos, Robert N. Killins, Peter V. Egly

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

This paper investigates the performance of U.S. firms that partake in a foreign IPO – bypassing their domestic exchanges and raising their equity in a foreign market. The globalization of equity markets along with the increased regulations to financial markets in the U.S. has potentially led to the U.S. losing its title as the premier listing market. Using a sample of 77 U.S. based firms that totally bypassed the U.S. equity markets in their capital(equity) raising activities we are able to investigate the performance of this unique sample of firms. This investigation contributes to the literature by finding that U.S. …

The Impact Of Government Intervention On The Stabilization Of Domestic Financial Markets And On U.S. Banks’ Asset Composition, Peter V. Egly, Diego Escobari, David W. Johnk

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

The 2007–2009 financial crisis that evolved from various factors including the housing boom, aggressive lending activity, financial innovation, and increased access to money and capital markets prompted unprecedented U.S. government intervention in the financial sector. We examine changes in banks’ balance sheet composition associated with U.S. government intervention during the crisis. We find that the initial round of quantitative easing positively impacts bank liquidity across all bank samples. Our results show a positive impact of repurchase agreement market rates on bank liquidity for small and medium banks. We conclude that banks have become more liquid in the post-crisis period, especially …

Economic Policy Implications Of Port Concession In Nigeria, Chiedu Bertram Ndubisi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous research on privatization has focused on its effect on output, profitability, investment, and efficiency at the level of the firm, neglecting the economic growth and other impacts. Nigeria's port privatization through concession in 2006 covered virtually all the ports in the economy. However, the few studies on the subject neither factored in the complexity that characterize the multiple port system nor controlled for alternative explanations of the changes in the economy. This correlational study tested the property rights theory by investigating whether the changes in production efficiency at the ports following privatization are good predictors of economic growth in …

Business Leaders Marketing To Bottom-Of-The-Pyramid Consumers In Nigeria, Chantell Ramaun Beaty

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business leaders often leave more than half of the world's population the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), a $5-trillion market of potential consumers untapped for products and services on account of failing to see BOP markets as profitable for business, yet business leaders who have managed inclusive BOP marketing in Nigeria have experienced profit margins as high as 120%. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies of business leaders who market to BOP consumers in Nigeria and maintain a profit. The study population consisted of 3 business leaders in the Dallas and Fort Worth metropolitan area …

Balancing Business Owners' Corporate Social Responsibility And Stakeholder Profitability, Andrew O. Arumemi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some business owners lack experience balancing corporate social responsibility (CSR) and shareholder profitability. Grounded in stakeholder theory, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore business owners' experiences regarding balancing corporate social responsibility of hiring ex-inmates and shareholder profitability. The target population included 20 business owners in Newark, New Jersey who integrated CSR as part of their firms' formal business plans, were committed to hiring ex-inmates, and feared the consequential loss of profit such engagement might incur. Data were collected using in-depth semistructured interviews and analyzed using the modified van Kaam method. Three prominent themes included social perceptions of …

A Sustainability-Based Project Selection Algorithm: Socio-Technical-Economic Project Selection (Steps) Algorithm, Bharathi Bhattu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Multi-dimensional aspects play a vital role in the task of project-decision making. Environmental effects are to be considered in addition to other technical and non-technical aspects in order to avoid undue environmental damage. This current work introduces a new decision-making algorithm (Socio-Technical-Economic Project Selection or STEPS) that is demonstrated with the use of RCA (recycled concrete aggregate) as riprap for slope stabilization and erosion control which leaches chemical arsenic when in contact with water. Arsenic has long been recognized for its lethal properties. The main intention of introducing this new algorithm is to use sustainability concepts of social, technical, and …

Prices, Trading Activity, And Market Quality In The Modern Otc Marketplace, Ryan Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Part 1, I study over 10,000 OTC securities that are organized into one of three tiered marketplaces (OTCQX, OTCQB, and OTC Pink) based on the quality and quantity of information a firm makes available. My analysis adds to the literature by providing a more complete picture of trading in this market. I examine determinants of trading within the tiers and compare trading metrics of the biggest return winners and losers during the sample period. I also examine if day-of-the week effects previously documented for listed securities exist in the OTC market. A large portion of these securities are penny …

Mexico Consensus Economic Forecast, Volume 19, Number 1, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Adam G. Walke

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

Why Are We Still Listening To This Dead British Guy: An Analysis Of Emergency Liquidity Assistance In Germany During The Sovereign Debt Crisis, Nia R. Gillenwater

Scripps Senior Theses

Germany’s position of power within the European Union disguises how impacted the German economy was by the 2008 Financial Crisis and Europe’s subsequent Sovereign Debt Crisis. Two of Germany’s major banks-Commerzbank and Bayerische Landesbank- suffered major losses and required emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) to survive. Walter Bagehot wrote the theory underpinning lenders of last resort (LLRs) in 1873 but how has the development of systemically important banks affected the usefulness of Bagehot’s theory? This paper aims to explain why Germany is in need of updated LLR recommendations through an analysis of the ELA Germany at large, Commerzbank and Bayerische Landesbank …

Modelling The Impact Of Fiscal Policy On Non‑Oil Gdp In A Resource Rich Country: Evidence From Azerbaijan, Khatai Aliyev, Bruce Dehning, Orkhan Nadirov

Accounting Faculty Articles and Research

This paper analyses the impact of public expenditures and tax revenues on non‑oil economic growth in Azerbaijan for the period of 2000Q1‑2015Q2 by employing OLS, ARDL, FMOLS, DOLS, CCR and Granger Causality techniques. Different cointegration methods result in consistent results. In this study, there is strong evidence of significant long‑run positive contributions from public expenditures to non‑oil sector output. Results also show that tax revenues significantly slow down non‑oil economic growth in the long run. Granger Causality analysis finds the existence of a bidirectional short‑run association between non‑oil GDP and public expenditures, while tax revenues Granger Cause both variables. The …

Outsourcing And The Pupil Transportation Industry In Minnesota: An Economic Evaluation, Conrad Yelsong Puozaa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Private participation in the provision of public services is often promoted as a means to reducing production costs in the public sector. In this study, I test this result using a twelve-year panel dataset of 343 public school districts in Minnesota. The voting behavior of residents in the state’s House elections and school districts’ prior experience with contractors are used as instruments to control for the endogenous decision to outsource. The first stage results from fixed-effects two stage least squares (2SLS) regression show that the two instruments, population density and the number of school days increase the likelihood of outsourcing …

Uses Of Sampling Techniques & Inventory Control With Capacity Constraints, Florentin Smarandache, Sachin Malik, Neeraj Kumar

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

The main aim of the present book is to suggest some improved estimators using auxiliary and attribute information in case of simple random sampling and stratified random sampling and some inventory models related to capacity constraints. This volume is a collection of five papers, written by six co-authors (listed in the order of the papers): Dr. Rajesh Singh, Dr. Sachin Malik, Dr. Florentin Smarandache, Dr. Neeraj Kumar, Mr. Sanjey Kumar & Pallavi Agarwal. In the first chapter authors suggest an estimator using two auxiliary variables in stratified random sampling for estimating population mean. In second chapter they proposed a family …

The Big Economic Development Project Question: Is It New Revenue Or A Spending Transfer?, Paul Harris, Ronald Berkebile, Julia Martin, Larry Filer

Economics Faculty Publications

Most local governments pursue some degree of economic development activity to strengthen their economy by adding jobs and generating tax revenue. Witness the growth in tax increment financing, property tax abatements, tax credits, and exemptions for economic development. These state and local incentives totaled more than $80 billion in 2012. Economic development projects can represent a significant boon for a local economy. Estimating how much money they might generate, however, is not as easy as it initially seems, and jurisdictions can receive far less net new revenue than developers predict. Most consumers have finite incomes, which limits their discretionary spending. …

A Dynamic Model Of The Choice Of Technology In Economic Development, Haiwen Zhou, Ruhai Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

In this overlapping-generations model, there is unemployment in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing firms engage in oligopolistic competition and choose technologies to maximize profits. With capital as a fixed cost of production, increasing returns in the manufacturing sector exist. In the unique steady state, first, when individuals become more patient, the savings rate increases while the level of an individual’s income decreases. Second, an increase in population or percentage of income spent on manufactured goods does not change steady-state technology while the level of an individual’s income decreases. Third, an increase in the wage rate leads manufacturing firms to choose more …

The Effect Of Per Capita Income On Broadband Access, Austin Coleman

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The purpose of this inquiry is to determine the effect of income and ruralness on broadband access. This is relevant because of the economic effects of broadband access, which are not evenly distributed. The primary method of analysis employed was a multivariate regression model incorporating variables measuring broadband access, per-capita income, ruralness, race, and state-level effects. I found that income and ruralness were both significant, and that every $10,000 of per-capita income is associated with a change in broadband access rates of approximately 9%. The results also showed large, significant state-level effects that can be attributed to a combination of …

Bitcoin's Global Potential: Examining The Obstacles To Becoming A Legitimate Financial Tool, Nicholas J. Moorman 16

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Battle Of The Beds: The Economic Impact Of Airbnb On The Hotel Industry In Chicago And San Francisco, Katherine Goree

Scripps Senior Theses

The sharing economy is the private redistribution of goods via peer-to-peer sharing. Since internet use has saturated the U.S., the sharing economy has become widely internet-based. Airbnb, a website and app that facilitates the short-term rental of space to stay in another person’s home, has become a major component of the sharing economy.

This study includes an empirical analysis of the hotel occupancy rates in two major markets, San Francisco and Chicago, and how they have or have not changed, from the 2008 launch of Airbnb through the end of 2014. The study hypothesizes that Airbnb has had a statistically …

Market Sensitivity Of A High Frequency Trading Firm Stock, Rosalie Frazier

Scripps Senior Theses

The major purpose of this study is to explore the stock movements of a publicly traded high-frequency trading firm, Virtu Financial. Virtu Financial, as of November 2015, is the only publicly traded high frequency trading firm, offering a opportunity to study the market behavior of a new kind of stock. Since Virtu serves as a unique financial intermediary, my hypothesis is that Virtu should be a market-neutral company since it is able to profit equally in economic upswings and downturns. This study uses a regression based on the Fama and French three factor model, focusing on the influence of the …

Economic Assimilation For Immigrants In Chile: An Employment Convergence Analysis, Emily C. Long

Scripps Senior Theses

Blending migration studies and labor economics, this thesis explores the economic implications of immigrant assimilation in Chile by using probit models to test for employment convergence and labor market convergence between immigrant groups and native Chileans. Using census data from 1992 and 2002, we find significant differences in the employment and labor force participation rates for these demographic groups, affected by the immigrants’ gender, decade of arrival, and country of origin. We see evidence of the nascent care industry in Chile, as well as the implications of the Chilean visa system and employment contracts. Additionally, we see employment probabilities fall …