Economics Commons^™

One Potential Problem With The Fed’S Vote To Raise Interest Rates: The Fed Might Not Know How The Economy Works, Louis D. Johnston

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Uk Governance: From Overloading To Freeloading, Richard Woodward

Articles

The UK's ongoing political turbulence has prompted a reprise of debates from the 1970s when many concluded the country was ungovernable. Then, the most influential diagnosis conceptualised the UK's governance problem as one of ‘overloading’ caused by the electorate's excessive expectations. This article argues that these accounts overlooked another phenomenon besieging UK governance during this period. This phenomenon was freeloading: the withering of government capacity deriving from the ability of actors to enjoy the benefits of citizenship without altogether contributing to the cost. In the interim, these problems have become endemic, not least because of the unspoken but discernible policy …

Strengthening The M&E System Of Peace Corps Colombia, Samuel Burke

Capstone Collection

In 1961, when the Peace Corps was established, Colombia was the first country chosen to receive volunteers. The program ran for 20 years, with volunteers working all over the country in various sectors. Then in 1981, due to the increasing violence from the guerilla civil war, the US government decided to withdraw the volunteers and suspend the Colombia program. After a 29-year hiatus, at the request of the Colombian government, the Peace Corps was invited back to Colombia in 2010.

The Peace Corps Colombia post currently has two programs, Practical English for Success (PES), established first; and, Community Economic Development …

Water Poverty And Its Impact On Income Poverty And Health Status In Sudan: The Case Of Gezira State (1993-2013), Mutasim Abdelmawla

International Journal of African Development

Water resource development can address poverty, improve well-being, and enhance people's opportunities in different fields of life. Even though water resources are available in Sudan, some parts of the country still continue to face significant water provision challenges. This research is aimed at measuring water poverty in Gezira State, Sudan over the period of 1993-2013 using the methodology of Sullivan et al. (2003). The research employed data collected from the Central Bureau of Statistics, Khartoum, Sudan. Both descriptive and empirical approaches are used to analyze the data. The average incidence of the water poverty index (WPI) over the period under …

In Search Of Lasting Calmness: How Sustainable Is The Federal Government’S Amnesty Program As A Peace Strategy In The Niger Delta Region Of Nigeria?, Lasisi Raimi, Nwoke N. Bieh, Kidi Zorbari

International Journal of African Development

The exploitation of natural resources and the associated marginalization of indigenous occupants of areas with such endowments continue to act as major driving forces for conflicts around the world, especially in Africa. In Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region, the major triggers of resource-based violent conflicts have been the subject matter of many academics and policy analysts. With the introduction of several peace strategies especially the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Amnesty Program notwithstanding, pockets of violent activities have generated questions as to the sustainability of the program. This study examines the sustainability of the Federal Government’s Amnesty Program in the Niger Delta …

A Framework Towards Technology Creation In Africa: Focusing On Ghana, Martin Yao Donani, Hannatu Abue Kugblenu, Azindow Bawa Fuseini

International Journal of African Development

Underdevelopment in Africa has been historical and a global concern coupled with the quest for good governance. Several efforts have been made in academia, national governments, the international community, and other institutional arrangements to reverse the trend. These efforts however are yet to produce a lasting result as Africa is still characterized by low productivity output, poverty and a widening technology gap when compared to other developing regions of the world. Conventional approaches used to address the African problem have consistently been devoid of indigenous technology development. Technology is here seen as paramount to every form of production on which …

The Aid Effectiveness Architecture In Africa: An Analysis Of Aid Structures In Kenya’S Agriculture Sector, Daniel Kipleel Borter

International Journal of African Development

This study examines in detail the development aid architecture in Kenya’s agriculture sector. The focus is on the mechanisms in place within the Kenyan government (and ministry of agriculture in particular), mechanisms among and within donor agencies, and overall coordination mechanisms that bring together the donors and the government. Findings show that coordination and harmonization activities among donors are yet to yield the desired outcomes such as the division of labor protocol and joint programming. Weaknesses are also observed on the government side where it appears authorities are yet to internalize PD concepts and interpret them to suit the country's …

Does Privatization Improve Productivity? Empirical Evidence From Ethiopia, Tadesse Wodajo, Dawit Senbet

International Journal of African Development

Theoretically, it is posited that privatization enables the private sector to play a dominant role in the economy by enhancing competition, productivity and efficiency. When evaluated using these criteria, privatization of the manufacturing industries has failed in Ethiopia. Our empirical results show that, at best, privatization did not result in improving productivity, and at worst, it led to a decline in productivity. We argue that the main reason for this outcome is the unique economic and business environment prevailing in Ethiopia, which does not allow the standard economic assumptions of market competition to hold. Ethiopia’s ‘private sector’ can be described …

Editorial Note, Sisay Asefa

International Journal of African Development

No abstract provided.

International Journal Of African Development, Vol. 4, Issue 2

International Journal of African Development

Complete issue of International Journal of African Development, Volume 4, Issue 2 - Fall 2017.

Information Transmission And The Oral Tradition: Evidence Of A Late-Life Service Niche For Tsimane Amerindians, Eric Schniter, Nathaniel T. Wilcox, Bret A. Beheim, Hillard S. Kaplan, Michael Gurven

ESI Publications

Storytelling can affect wellbeing and fitness by transmitting information and reinforcing cultural codes of conduct. Despite their potential importance, the development and timing of storytelling skills, and the transmission of story knowledge have received minimal attention in studies of subsistence societies that more often focus on food production skills. Here we examine how storytelling and patterns of information transmission among Tsimane forager-horticulturalists are predicted by the changing age profiles of storytellers’ abilities and accumulated experience. We find that storytelling skills are most developed among older adults who demonstrate superior knowledge of traditional stories and who report telling stories most. We …

New Hampshire Effect: Behavior In Sequential And Simultaneous Multi-Battle Contests, Shakun D. Mago, Roman M. Sheremeta

ESI Working Papers

Sequential multi-battle contests are predicted to induce lower expenditure than simultaneous contests. This prediction is a result of a “New Hampshire Effect” – a strategic advantage created by the winner of the first battle. Although our laboratory study provides evidence for the New Hampshire Effect, we find that sequential contests generate significantly higher (not lower) expenditure than simultaneous contests. This is mainly because in sequential contests, there is significant over-expenditure in all battles. We suggest sunk cost fallacy and utility of winning as two complementary explanations for this behavior and provide supporting evidence.

The True Cost: The Bitter Truth Behind Fast Fashion, Zeynep Ozdamar-Ertekin

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

The True Cost is a documentary about the clothes we wear, the people who make them and the impact the industry has on the environment, the society, and the workers. It shows us the dark and grim side of global fast fashion supply chain. The review provides the main highlights of the film and summarizes the human, social and environmental costs of the industry. A number of counter-examples are included to show how people can make a difference and there can be a better way of making clothes. The current fast fashion model is all about profit. It does not …

Ruchir Sharma, Breakout Nations (2013), Victoria L. Rodner

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Globalization Tumult And Civilizational Greatness, Pradip N. Khandwalla

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

In the kind of tumultuous, strife-torn, and stressful world we are living in, we need to ask the questions: “Is our civilization moving in the right direction? What makes a civilization great?” Greed for power and greed for money, unless offset by a shared conception of civilizational excellence, often degenerate into widespread corruption, fraud, and violence. In developing countries like India, the challenge is to design a civilization that uses the creativity and enterprise of the market economy, the freedom of choice of democracy, and the altruism of the developmental state – to reverse degeneration and foster social, economic, and …

Antinomies Of Globalization, Yahya Mete Madra

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

The defining antinomy of the post-2008 crash phase is argued to be the one between neoliberalism and populism. This essay aims to complicate the terms of this antinomy and offers a reading that problematizes the association of neoliberalism with internationalism and globalization on the one hand and populism with nationalism and anti-imperialism on the other. Not only internationalism in its historical origins is an anti-imperialist concept but also today we can easily discern how reactionary forms of populist nationalisms are made possible by globalization of finance—a hallmark of neoliberalism. The essay concludes with a discussion of the possibility of …

Orbits Of Contemporary Globalization, A. Fuat Fırat

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Contrary to the commonly accepted view, human beings were global (i.e., migratory and without borders) to begin with and then localized as they started to reduce hunting and gathering and got into agriculture and animal husbandry. When they were migratory, humans exchanged genes, tools, cultures – in effect, they were already globalizing. In the second part of this commentary, I analyze the contemporary conditions of globalization. I suggest that today we are experiencing a market centered iconographic culture; and the possibilities for richer and more inclusive symbolic cultures exist, and need to be cultivated.

Collective Narcissism, Anti-Globalism, Brexit, Trump, And The Chinese Juggernaut, Russell Belk

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Brexit and the election of Trump both relied on a particular type of nationalistic appeal to collective narcissism — an exaggerated emotional belief that the nation’s greatness is being undermined by other nations and other people. This tendency is catered to by appeals to make the nation great again by shutting borders and embracing isolationism while scapegoating refugees and immigrants. The rise of jingoistic leaders like Trump, Putin, and Erdogan can be explained by such appeals. But China, which has long suffered feelings of national humiliation is reacting in quite different ways that embrace globalism, even while rejecting multiculturalism. This …

Globalization: Mere Hiccup, Major Convulsion Or Mega Transformation?, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Deniz Atik

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Using Survey Data To Determine A Numeric Criterion For Nutrient Pollution, Paul Mark Jakus, Nanette Nelson, Jeffrey Ostermiller

Applied Economics Faculty Publications

We present a scientific replication of a benthic algae nuisance threshold study originally conducted in Montana, but we do so using a different sampling methodology in a different state. Respondents are asked to rate eight photographs that depict varying algae conditions. Our initial results show that Utah resident preferences for benthic algae levels are quite similar to those of Montana residents, thus replicating the Montana study. For the full Utah sample, though, Cronbach's α indicated poor internal consistency in rating the photographs, so a “monotonicity rule” was used to identify respondents providing monotonic preferences with respect to chlorophyll a densities. …

Sequestration And The Engagement Of Developing Economies In A Global Carbon Market, Reza Oladi, Arthur J. Caplan, John Gilbert

Applied Economics Faculty Publications

We develop a differential game within a general equilibrium framework of carbon sequestration with and without international trade. We characterize the game's equilibrium and demonstrate how a global carbon permit market can be structured to induce the participation of developing countries through the harnessing of their potential to sequester carbon. We show that a permit market with carbon sequestration is mutually welfare improving for developed and developing nations, and that international trade in finished goods and carbon permits lowers the stock of global pollution.

Development Beyond Seventy; The Way Forward, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Talks, Speeches, & Discourse

This paper attempts to examine several alternative hypotheses that can explain this slow down, volatile and inequitable growth of the last twenty five years and through a process of elimination advances theoretical and empirical evidence to show that the most powerful explanatory hypothesis lies in the decay of institutions of governance.. The same institutions , on the other hand, were strong and performed quite well during the first four decades despite a myriad of difficulties and external and internal shocks. The main argument of this paper is that the intermediation process through which good economic policies are translated into a …

Development Beyond Seventy: The Way Forward 1, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Talks, Speeches, & Discourse

To propose the way forward for Pakistan it is essential to understand the past historical pattern and outcomes and the factors that contributed to those outcomes. The goal that Pakistan has set itself for the future is to become 20th largest economy in the world by 2025. What are the influences that can facilitate or constrain the achievement of the proposed goal? Pakistan’s economic history has gone through periods of booms and busts . But broadly speaking, the seventy years of Pakistan’s economy can be divided into two distinct periods. The first forty years 1950-90 during which Pakistan was one …

Talking Points: Microfinance Innovation & Growth Conference 2017, Ishrat Hussain Dr.

Faculty Research - Talks, Speeches, & Discourse

Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to be here today as this conference reflects the impressive progress that Pakistan's microfinance sector has made in the last decade and a half. So first, let me congratulate the conference organizers - Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN) and the Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company (PMIC) for putting together this event and providing us all the opportunity to collectively reflect on the state of the sector and identify pathways for the future.

The Impact Of Culture On Hispanic Entrepreneurs As Mediated By Motivation, Challenge, And Success, Valerie V. Ballesteros

Theses & Dissertations

In the modern economic environment, demographic shifts in U.S. population resulting from changing immigration, changing economic policies and environments, and growing socioeconomic disparity, scholarly research examining the business behavior of specific groups and the impact of behavior on the broader marketplace is valuable and necessary. Hispanic entrepreneurs, when compared to both minority and non-minority business-owners, started and flourished in successful business ownership at a greater growth rate than any other group (Davila, Mora, & Zeitlin, 2014). Since the beginning of the 21st century, Hispanic entrepreneurs have become a measurable economic force. The cultural experience of the Hispanic entrepreneur is important …

Nebraska Business And Consumer Confidence Index: December 1, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Consumer and business confidence surged in Nebraska during November. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) rose to 106.2 in November from 95.1 in October. The November value is well above the neutral level of 100.0. Likewise, the Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) rose from 102.7 in October to 114.1 in November, which is also well above the neutral value of 100.0. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, customer demand was mentioned by 32 percent of respondents. Nearly as many businesses mentioned workforce issues. In particular, the availability and quality of labor was mentioned as …

Poverty Mapping Using Convolutional Neural Networks Trained On High And Medium Resolution Satellite Images, With An Application In Mexico, Boris Babenko, Jonathan Hersh, David Newhouse, Anusha Ramakrishnan, Tom Swartz

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Mapping the spatial distribution of poverty in developing countries remains an important and costly challenge. These “poverty maps” are key inputs for poverty targeting, public goods provision, political accountability, and impact evaluation, that are all the more important given the geographic dispersion of the remaining bottom billion severely poor individuals. In this paper we train Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to estimate poverty directly from high and medium resolution satellite images. We use both Planet and Digital Globe imagery with spatial resolutions of 3-5 m2 and 50 cm2 respectively, covering all 2 million km2 of Mexico. Benchmark poverty estimates come from …

Rhode Island Current Conditions Index -- December 2017, Leonard Lardaro

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

No abstract provided.

Nebraska Snaps Back, Eric Thompson

Business in Nebraska

Nebraska will fully participate in stronger U.S. economic growth. While the farming sector will continue to face challenges, farm income will rise slightly during the forecast period, and consequently, will no longer detract from Nebraska economic growth. Nebraska will match U.S. job growth, with job growth particularly strong in services, construction, and retail trade. The agricultural processing sector also will expand employment. Projected growth rates for 2018 through 2020 are presented in Table 1.

Employment will grow by 1.1% to 1.2% per year, matching the national job growth rate in 2019 and 2020. Non-farm income will grow between 3.9% and …

Medicaid Managed Care And The Health Care Utilization Of Foster Children, Makayla Palmer, James Marton, Aaron Yelowitz, Jeffery Talbert

Economics Faculty Publications

A recent trend in state Medicaid programs is the transition of vulnerable populations into Medicaid managed care (MMC) who were initially carved out of such coverage, such as foster children or those with disabilities. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of the transition of foster children from fee-for-service Medicaid coverage to MMC coverage on outpatient health care utilization. There is very little empirical evidence on the impact of managed care on the health care utilization of foster children because of the recent timing of these transitions as well as challenges associated with finding data sets large …