Economics Commons^™

Investigating The Impact Of The Diseases Of Despair In Appalachia, Michael Meit, Megan Heffernan, Erin Tanenbaum

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Appalachia is one of the regions most significantly impacted by the opioid crisis. This study investigated mortality due to diseases of despair within the Appalachian Region, with an additional focus on deaths attributable to opioid overdose.

Methods: Diseases of despair include: alcohol, prescription drug and illegal drug overdose, suicide, and alcoholic liver disease/cirrhosis of the liver. Mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) Multiple Cause of Death database were analyzed for this study, focusing on individuals aged 15–64.

Results: Over the past two decades, the mortality rate due to diseases of …

Root Causes Of Appalachia’S Deaths Of Despair, F. Douglas Scutchfield Md

Journal of Appalachian Health

The U.S. is experiencing a decline in life expectancy, particularly among rural white males in their most productive years. Appalachia is disproportionally represented in mortality rates, accounting for 30% of the U.S. population, but 50% of the excess mortality attributed to the “deaths of despair”: drug overdose, suicide, and alcoholic cirrhosis. A substantial proportion of that excess mortality is related to the current opioid crisis we are experiencing. We have data on evidence-based solutions to the treatment of addiction, but little information on prevention of addiction as well as the other deaths of despair, likely with the same etiologic agent. …

Renewable Energy Access And Resilience In Urban Developing Areas: Distributed Solar Networks And Peer-To-Peer Energy Trading In Puerto Rico, Pascale Bronder

Harvey M. Applebaum ’59 Award

This senior essay under the Environmental Studies major at Yale University explores the environmental and social benefits of applying innovative technology to the energy sector. Three types of energy networks are analyzed, focusing on the use of distributed energy and peer to peer energy trading on a blockchain platform. The benefits of distributed renewable energy networks can most strongly be applied to locations in need of more reliable, resilient, and cost-effective electricity. Puerto Rico is a case study. Methods include analysis of U.S. Energy Information Administration and Census Bureau data as well as personal interviews with Puerto Rican energy developers. …

Nebraska Business And Consumer Confidence Indexes: July 3, 2019, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Business confidence fell sharply in Nebraska during June 2019 and consumer confidence dropped modestly. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) fell to 104.4 in June, above the neutral value of 100 but below the May value of 105.3. The Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) fell to 100.3 in June, at the neutral level and down 13 percent from 113.2 in May. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, 35 percent of respondents chose customer demand while 21 mentioned the quality and availability of labor, 16 percent mentioned competition from other businesses and 9 percent flooding …

Investors’ Uncertainty And Stock Market Risk, Diego Escobari, Mohammad Jafarinejad

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

We propose a novel approach to model investors' uncertainty using the conditional volatility of investors' sentiment. Working with weekly data on investor sentiment, six major U.S. stock indices, and alternative measures of uncertainty, we run various tests to validate our proposed measure. The estimates show that investors' uncertainty is greater during economic downturns, and it is linked with lower investors' sentiment. In addition, the results support the existence of a positive conditional correlation between sentiment and returns. This positive spillover between sentiment and returns is interpreted as a positive link between investors' uncertainty and market risk. We also find that …

Cover Crop Utilization Across Nebraska And Implications For Cropland Lease Arrangements In 2019, Jim Jansen, Jeffrey Stokes, Jay Parsons

Cornhusker Economics

The Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey and Report 2018-2019 provides insight on recent trends in the market value of land and cash rental across the state. Each year the special feature section from this report covers topics on new or emerging issues related to the agricultural land industry in Nebraska. These topics reflect interest expressed by panel members and readership of the Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Highlights Reports. The special feature section in 2019 focuses on trends and considerations for cover crops across Nebraska and implications on cropland lease arrangements.

Findings from the 2017 Census of Agriculture in …

Three Essays On Economic Development And Human Capital Formation In India, Vivian Ikwuoma Nnetu-Okolieuwa

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

This thesis comprises of three essays on economic development and human capital formation in India using the Young Lives Survey Data. The first essay analyses the effect of family health shocks on nutrition and cognitive development. The results from the essay shows that mother’s illness, father’s death and illness of both parents have a significant negative effect on the child’s nutrition. While mother’s illness and father’s illness have a significant negative effect on the cognitive development of the child. Furthermore, we examine the mechanism through which family health shocks affect the human capital development of children. Our results show mother’s …

Effect Of Oil Price Shock On Monetary Policy In Nigeria: A Vector Autoregressive Analysis, Ama Agyeiwaa Abokwah

International Journal of African Development

This paper examines the effects of oil price shocks on interest rate, real GDP and real effective exchange rate in Nigeria using a vector autoregressive (VAR) model. The results from the impulse response function suggests that positive oil price shocks have no effect on the interest rate (monetary policy), real exchange rate and real GDP. This result suggests that monetary policy in Nigeria does not respond to oil price shocks. Both the impulse response functions and variance decomposition analysis to a large extent confirmed that oil price shocks are only able to explain a small proportion of the forecast error …

Intergovernmental Authority On Development And East African Community: Viability Of Merger, Andualem Zewdie

International Journal of African Development

Constituting a regional economic community has immense benefits to the societies within a given region. Regional Economic Communities (RECs) would play an inevitable role in increasing people to people interactions and gradually forging interdependence in different sectors, which used to limit government to government. Often, such bondage within given RECs among states in general and societies in particular paves the way to address the ills of the respective societies in a collaborative manner. In fact, it is plausible to argue that there is a conducive environment to constitute and build up RECs in the present globalizing world. Parallel to the …

Opportunities And Challenges For Community-Based Ecotourism Development: The Case Of Alatish National Park, Northwest Ethiopia, Kassegn Berhanu

International Journal of African Development

Contrary to traditional forms of tourism such as mass tourism, ecotourism has widely been recognized as an economic diversification and developmental tool, and an appropriate approach for conservation of natural resources for destinations with tourism heritage possessions as it provides protection and economic incentives. The aim of this study is to assess opportunities and challenges for community-based ecotourism development. A mixed research approach was devised and a cross-sectional research design was used. Tools of primary data collection were questionnaires, focus group discussions, interviews and observation checklists. Secondary data were collected from related articles, research and documents obtained from offices. Quantitative …

Listen To The Voices Of Maasai Women In Kenya: Ensuring The Well-Being Of Their Families Through Collective Actions, Taeko Takayanagi

International Journal of African Development

This is an ethnographic study that provides insight into grassroots activities managed by Maasai women leaders in the Narok area of Kenya. Four women’s narratives were used as a basis of analysis to demonstrate their roles in facilitating grassroots activities to improve village women’s well-being despite gender discrimination and multidimensional constraints. The women’s group leaders commented that low literacy had a negative influence on Maasai women’s development; however, the issue of illiteracy could be overcome through cooperative learning during women group activities in their village. The results showed that the women’s group leaders played a facilitative role in improving women’s …

Nutrition And Trade Liberalization In Africa, Ismaelline Eba Nguema

International Journal of African Development

Trade openness and nutrition are concepts that are closely related. Openness could contribute to an improvement in nutrition under only certain conditions. These include improved export earnings, ultimately the import capacity of the countries participating in the exchange, and maintaining a sufficient level of agricultural production. The objective of this article is to analyze the link between trade liberalization and nutrition in Africa.

Trade openness and nutrition are concepts that are closely related. Openness could contribute to an improvement in nutrition under only certain conditions. These include improved export earnings, ultimately the import capacity of the countries participating in the …

Understanding Remittances In Eritrea: An Exploratory Study, Fikresus Amahazion

International Journal of African Development

Migration has been characterized as a fundamental component of the human experience, and today there are several hundred million international migrants around the world. Although migrants leave their home country, they maintain links, particularly through remittances. Economic remittances supplement the domestic incomes of millions of poor families and are vital for many developing countries. This paper explores economic remittances into Eritrea, examining the particular trends, amounts received, and how remittances are generally consumed. Additionally, the paper explores general perceptions about remittances and their impact upon society in Eritrea. Based on interviews and focus group discussions with individuals and households across …

Editorial Note, Sisay Asefa

International Journal of African Development

Chief Editor Sisay Asefa discusses the articles in Vol 5 n. 2 of the International Journal of African Development.

International Journal Of African Development, Vol. 5, Issue 2

International Journal of African Development

Complete issue of International Journal of African Development, Volume 5, Issue 2 - Spring 2019.

Architecture And Geo Politics, Eka Swadiansa

South South Forum 南南論壇

On 1 July 2019, in the Workshop on Architecture and Urbanism, LAU Kin Chi (Lingnan University, Hong Kong) first gave an opening speech. Eka Swadiansa (Office of Strategic Architecture) delivered a presentation on "Architecture and Geo Politics".

Aligning Ocean Plastic Pollution And Human Health A Co-Benefits Approach, Karyn Morrissey Dr

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

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The environmental literature has begun to consider the impact of environmental problems on human health. This realization serves both as a means to provide scientific evidence to consider the environment and public health jointly. This approach also increases recognition of the environment where stakeholders have not understood the links between environmental and human health. The oceans and seas play an important role in human health, through the provision and quality of the air that we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, while offering economic and recreational opportunities which enhance public health. However, the links between human …

Economic Impact Of The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve On West Virginia, Christiadi, John Deskins

Bureau of Business & Economic Research

No abstract provided.

Better Understanding Human Capital In West Virginia, Christiadi, John Deskins

Bureau of Business & Economic Research

No abstract provided.

Natural Gas Investment In West Virginia, 2010-2016, Eric Bowen

Bureau of Business & Economic Research

West Virginia’s natural gas boom began in 2010 as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques began to be applied to the state’s shale formations. Since then, West Virginia has become the nation’s ninth-largest natural gas producer in 2017, with gross withdrawals of more than 1.6 trillion cubic feet. Since the gas boom started, the natural gas industry has made considerable investments in the state to pay for well drilling, mineral royalties, and pipeline infrastructure, among other investment costs. In this report, we estimate these investments in two key areas: upstream costs and midstream infrastructure.

How China’S Ageing Population Will Impact On The Rest Of Us, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The world’s second largest economy is getting old before it gets rich

Location, Location, Location? Not Any More, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

The retail industry faces a future where convenience and value-added services will be the deciding factors

Forecasting In Blockchain-Based Local Energy Markets, Michael Kostmann, Wolfgang Karl Hardle

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

Increasingly volatile and distributed energy production challenges traditional mechanisms to manage grid loads and price energy. Local energy markets (LEMs) may be a response to those challenges as they can balance energy production and consumption locally and may lower energy costs for consumers. Blockchain-based LEMs provide a decentralized market to local energy consumer and prosumers. They implement a market mechanism in the form of a smart contract without the need for a central authority coordinating the market. Recently proposed blockchain-based LEMs use auction designs to match future demand and supply. Thus, such blockchain-based LEMs rely on accurate short-term forecasts of …

Rhode Island Current Conditions Index -- July 2019, Leonard Lardaro

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

No abstract provided.

Health Status In The U.S. With A Focus On East Texas - July 2019, Manuel Reyes-Loya, Marilyn Young, Ayush Kumar

Hibbs Newsletter

In this issue of the Hibbs Newsletter, we discuss health status in the U.S. with a focus on East Texas. Since this topic is broad, we will be discussing the topic in two issues of the newsletter, July and September

The National Security Argument For Protection Of Domestic Industries, Kwok Hon, Leonard Cheng, Gregory W. Whitten, Jingbo Hua

PSEI/CERP Working Paper Series

Tracing the origin of the national security argument for protection of domestic industries to Adam Smith, Alexander Hamilton, and Friedrich List, we study its post-GATT applications with reference to Article XXI of the WTO. We compare the use of tariff, production/input subsidy, and government procurement as alternative instruments of protection from the perspective of economic efficiency and study the disapproval of inward FDI to gain insights into the underlying national security concerns. The case studies of a) the US tariffs on aluminum and steel, b) German disapproval of the acquisition of a technology firm Leifeld Metal Spinning by a Chinese …

Can People Survive On Carrots And Sticks? Enhancing Quality Of Life Through Financial Tools Of Foreign Policy Following Sen’S Capabilities Approach, Silvia Pellegrino

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

The passing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly marked the beginning of global collaboration on the issue of human dignity and freedom. Over the years, countries have been scrutinized over their ability to ensure all the rights listed in the UDHR; some have been very successful, some have been able to protect a few, and some have utterly failed.

A free global society makes for a more productive and equal one; human rights allow people to have safer housing, food, and education, which in turn allows them to pursue better …

English Proficiency And Earnings Of U.S. Immigrants, Toni F. Moeller

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

An earlier version of this research fulfilled a partial requirement of the Honors Thesis at the University of Northern Iowa.

Every year thousands of immigrants come to the United States and look to join the labor force. Most of these immigrants have a first language that is not English. This study analyzes how wage income, business and farm income, and investment income are affected by English proficiency in 2004, 2009, and 2014. I use data from the American Community Survey and a log-linear econometric model to explore this relationship. I conclude that wage income and business and farm income had …

Who Is For Immigration?, Alyssa Dixson

Proceedings of the Jepson Undergraduate Conference on International Economics

A version of this undergraduate research paper was presented at the Political Economy Conference in New York, New York, February 24-26, 2017

Immigration has been fervently debated in recent history. This research investigates what effect certain economic and non-economic variables have on individuals’ likelihood to be pro-immigration. This is extended to individuals in the United States, Great Britain, and Turkey, analyzed with separate regressions. My research uses data from the 2013 International Social Survey Programme and logit regression methods to explore the relationship, mimicking research done by Anne Maria Mayda, as reported in the 2006 paper “Who Is Against Immigration? …

International Welfare Spillovers Of National Pension Schemes, James Staveley-O'Carroll, Olena Staveley-O'Carroll

Economics Department Working Papers

We employ a two-country overlapping-generations model to explore the international dimension of household portfolio choices induced by the asymmetric provision of government-run pensions. We study the resulting patterns of risk-sharing and the corresponding welfare effects on both home and foreign agents. Introducing the defined benefits pay-as-you-go system at home increases the welfare of all other agents at the expense of the home workers and improves the degree of intergenerational risk sharing abroad. Conversely, a defined contributions system leads to welfare losses of both home cohorts accompanied by gains abroad, but does increase the extent of intergenerational risk sharing at home.