Economics Commons^™

2021-1 Personal Gini Coefficients, James B. Davies

Department of Economics Research Reports

No abstract provided.

2021-2 A Category For Extensive-Form Games, Peter A. Streufert

Department of Economics Research Reports

No abstract provided.

2021-3 Specifying A Game-Theoretic Extensive Form As An Abstract 5-Ary Relation, Peter A. Streufert

Department of Economics Research Reports

This paper specifies an extensive form as a 5-ary relation (i.e. set of quintuples) which satisfies certain abstract axioms. Each quintuple is understood to list a player, a situation (e.g. information set), a decision node, an action, and a successor node. Accordingly, the axioms are understood to specify abstract relationships between players, situations, nodes, and actions. Such an extensive form is called a "5-form", and a "5-form game" is defined to be a 5-form together with utility functions. The paper's main result is to construct a bijection between (a) those 5-form games with information-set situations and (b) Gm games (Streufert …

2021-5 Lucas (1972), A Personal View From The Wrong Side Of The Subsequent Fifty Years, David Laidler

Department of Economics Research Reports

Lucas (1972) was a paper that permanently changed the course of macroeconomics, even though its “money supply surprise” model lost its central place in the area within a decade because of empirical difficulties. However, Lucas’s novel methodology, based on clearing markets and rational expectations, still dominates orthodox macroeconomic theorising. An unfortunate side effect of this has been that, because mainstream models have no analytic room for money to play a key role in economic activity, the theoretical case for taking that role seriously was undermined just at the time when traditional monetarist macro-models were facing empirical problems. The consequences of …

2021-4 Old Age Savings And House Price Shocks, Rory Mcgee

Department of Economics Research Reports

Elderly households hold most of their wealth in housing, maintain high levels of wealth throughout retirement, and often leave bequests. The value of their houses are subject to large shocks. To what extent do these shocks aect their savings, consumption, and bequests? Answering this question requires separating precautionary savings, bequest motives, and the desire to remain in one's home. I develop and estimate a structural model of retirement savings decisions with realistic risks, housing, and heterogeneity in bequest preferences. I exploit policy changes to the taxation of housing and bequests to separately identify the different motives for holding wealth. Estimates …

2021-6 The Inner Workings Of A Hub-And-Spoke Cartel In The Automotive Fuel Industry, Daniel Chaves, Marco Duarte

Department of Economics Research Reports

We analyze a hub-and-spoke cartel in the Brazilian automotivefuel industry. Using the court documents and detailed data on the supply chain we uncover three mechanisms beyond information sharing used by wholesalers (hub) to help retailers (spokes) solve the obstacles of price coordination: vertical transfers across asymmetric spokes; subsidies during punishment; and cost stabilization. We argue that wholesalers benefited from the cartel by being the exclusive supplier during the scheme. We use the synthetic control approach to quantify how successful the cartel was in increasing markups. We find that not only retailers, but wholesalers benefited from the cartel.

Life In Metropolitan And Nonmetropolitan Nebraskan Communities [Research Brief], Rebecca J. Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz

Nebraska Rural Poll

Provides a synopsis of the report on life in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan Nebraskan communities by Nebraska Rural Poll researchers.

Includes details about community change, community social attributes, community powerlessness, satisfaction with community services and amenities, attachment to the community, discrimination in the community, plans to leave the community, and individual and community political views.

The Nebraska Rural Poll sampled residents from non-metropolitan counties and regional trade centers in the state. The Nebraska Metro Poll sampled the seven counties that comprise the Lincoln and Omaha metropolitan areas. Both polls sent four mailings regarding or containing the surveys in the spring of …

Impacts Of The Pandemic For Metropolitan And Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans [Research Brief], Rebecca J. Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz

Nebraska Rural Poll

Provides a synopsis of the report on impacts of the pandemic for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan Nebraskans by Nebraska Rural Poll researchers.

Includes details about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, health and economic impacts experienced during the pandemic from the 2021 metro and rural polls, the extent elements of life were affected or disrupted by the pandemic, frequency of working from home, changes in consumer habits during the pandemic, the likelihood of making consumer choices going forward, and the limitations of home internet service.

The Nebraska Rural Poll sampled residents from non-metropolitan counties and regional trade centers in the state. …

Impacts Of The Pandemic In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2021 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans felt various impacts from the pandemic. While many rural Nebraskans had someone in their household that quarantined because of possible coronavirus exposure or who contracted COVID-19, most have friends or family in their community that quarantined or contracted the virus. Many rural Nebraskans also have friends or family both inside and outside their community who were hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 or who died as a result of it.

Most rural Nebraskans say the following were affected a fair amount or a great deal by the pandemic: their socialization with others, their life overall, and their …

Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraskan Communities: 2021 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz

Nebraska Rural Poll

Rural Nebraskans are less positive about the current change and expected future change in their communities this year. The proportion believing their community has changed for the better has typically been greater than the proportion believing it has changed for the worse. However, this year the proportion believing their community changed for the worse was slightly more than the proportion believing it had changed for the better (similar to what occurred in 2003 and 2009). The proportion viewing positive change in their community sharply declined from last year. The proportion believing their community has stayed the same increased sharply. Despite …

Part 5: Viewed Through A Different Lens: Evaluating Virginia Higher Education, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

The University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and William & Mary historically have played important roles in the Commonwealth. They have assembled impressive records in admitting and graduating talented students who (predictably) do well after they leave these campuses. Except for our historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, no public four-year institution in Virginia enrolls a significant percentage of low-income students. We discuss what the Commonwealth and its public colleges and universities can do to make higher education more affordable.

Part 1: Inflection Point? Covid-19, Vaccines And The Recovery, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

To say that most Virginians would prefer to forget 2020 might be an understatement. The COVID-19 pandemic threw tens of thousands of Virginians out of work, shuttered businesses and abruptly transitioned much of education into the world of remote learning. As 2021 draws to a close, the story has changed from one of shock to one of recovery. In this chapter, we examine the impact of the pandemic, the ongoing recovery and prospects for continued growth in 2022.

Part 4: Let It Ride: Casinos, Online Betting And The Future Of Gambling In Virginia, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

In 1987, Virginia voters approved the state lottery, bringing legalized gambling to the Commonwealth. By 2021, Virginians could buy lottery tickets online, place sports bets on their phones, wager in historical horse racing parlors and play “gray machines” in convenience stores, restaurants and bars. Now, with casinos opening soon in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth, we discuss the benefits and costs of casinos in the Commonwealth.

Part 6: The Winchester Metropolitan Area Outperforms The Commonwealth, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

Conversations about growth in Virginia primarily focus on the metropolitan areas of Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Richmond. Often forgotten in these discussions is how the smaller metropolitan area of Winchester has outperformed many of the larger metros in the Commonwealth. We explore why Winchester is growing and how this growth could change the quality of life of its residents in the future.

Front Matter: 2021 State Of The Commonwealth Report, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

Cover, front matter, table of contents, sponsors, and other materials for the 2021 State of the Commonwealth Report authored by the Center for Economic Analysis and Policy at Old Dominion University.

Part 3: Bounce Back? The Pandemic And Tourism In Virginia, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

For the Virginia hotel industry, the last 24 months have been challenging in a number of ways. The pandemic and associated social distancing measures resulted in a collapse of visitors and revenue in the spring and summer of 2020. In 2021, the Hampton Roads market set records for hotel revenue, but other markets continued to struggle. In this chapter, we look at how the markets in Virginia have performed over the past two years and how 2022 may bring good news for the hotel industry.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #5: Perceptions Of The Economy & Employment, Social Sciences Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

Life in Hampton Roads 2021 - Perceptions of the Economy & Employment

Hampton Roads residents had mixed perceptions of the economy but showed some optimism about their own financial situation. Less than half (47.5%) of those surveyed rated the economic conditions in Hampton Roads as excellent (6.5%) or good (41%). More than four in 10 (41.4%) rated economic conditions as fair and 8% rated them as poor. Interestingly, despite the impacts of COVID-19, these ratings are not much different than in past years of the survey. In 2019, 49.9% of respondents rated economic conditions as good or excellent. This year’s …

Effects Of The Concept-Mapping Method On International Students' Academic Performance And Perceptions, Yinghung Natalie Chiang

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) Dissertations

There is concern over international students’ low academic achievement at the college level. Due to language challenges and cultural differences, international students’ academic achievement is not satisfactory that resulting in a decrease in the retention rate. Note-taking strategies such as the concept-mapping method may enhance international students’ knowledge acquisition by providing students with learning tools that promote meaningful learning. The purpose of this mixed-method approach with a comparative research design was to investigate the effects of the concept-mapping strategy on international college students’ economic learning and perceptions. One intact class comprised of international students was designated as a concept-mapping strategy …

Trust In Media, Institutions And Health Information For Metropolitan And Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans [Research Brief], Rebecca J. Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz

Nebraska Rural Poll

Provides a synopsis of trust in media, institutions, and health information for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan Nebraskans from Nebraska Rural Poll researchers.

Includes details about confidence in institutions, trust in media, and health information.

The Nebraska Rural Poll sampled residents from non-metropolitan counties and regional trade centers in the state. The Nebraska Metro Poll sampled the seven counties that comprise the Lincoln and Omaha metropolitan areas. Both polls sent four mailings regarding or containing the surveys in the spring of 2021 and had an online response option.

The Impact Of Covid-19 And The Lockdown On The Uk Economy, Elliot Wylie

Honors Program Theses

This thesis analyses the macroeconomic impacts of Covid-19 and the lockdown on the UK’s economy. GDP in the second quarter of 2020 fell by 19%, the largest quarterly decrease in GDP for the UK on record. Consumption and investment in this quarter decreased significantly resulting in the large decrease in GDP. The unemployment rate remained relatively low, for the large decrease in GDP, throughout the pandemic and only increased to 5.0% in December 2020. The effective Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) have kept unemployment low. The schemes have paid for 12.2 million workers’ …

Voter Rationality In The United States, Asael Marvel

Honors Program Theses

The decade preceding 2020 has brought into question the political rationality of the average American voter, as it seems many individuals may vote against what is best for themselves. This begs a simple question, are American voters voting in their won rational self-interest, this project looks into a myriad of theories on voter rationality and the processes behind how voters may calculate or come to their voter decisions in an election in order to answer these questions. Then using the 2012 Cooperative Congressional Election Survey creates a method to analyze whether a specific group within the US is voting rationally, …

Identifying Consumer Preferences From User-Generated Content On Amazon.Com By Leveraging Machine Learning, Jikhan Jeong

Economics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Inexperienced consumers may have high uncertainty about experience goods that require technical knowledge and skills to operate effectively; therefore, experienced consumers' prior reviews can be useful for inexperienced consumers. However, one-sided review systems (e.g., Amazon) only provide the opportunity for consumers to write a review as a buyer and contain no feedback from the seller's side, so the information displayed about individual buyers is limited. Therefore, this study analyzes consumers' digital footprints (DFs) for programmable thermostats to identify and predict unobserved consumer preferences, using a dataset of 141 million Amazon reviews. This paper proposes novel approaches (1) to identify unobserved …

Part 1: Shock And Awe? Covid-19, Vaccines, And The Recovery, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The COVID-19 pandemic shook the Hampton Roads economy. One in 10 workers were unemployed at the height of the pandemic, 4 in 10 small businesses were forced to reduce hours and thousands of residents left the labor force entirely. Yet, in the midst of the pandemic, housing prices and trade volumes through the Port of Virginia continued to rise. We explore the economic recovery and discuss whether Hampton Roads can rely on defense spending in the coming decade.

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2021, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University, Vinod Agarwal, Barbara Blake, Steve Daniel, Ashley Desilva, Addie Gregory, Elizabeth Janik, Nikki Johnson, James V. Koch, Tim Komarek, Feng Lian, Sharon Lomax, Christian Manty, Janet Molinaro, Brendan O'Hallarn, Hannah White, Jake Zalewski

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

[From the introductory material]

This is Old Dominion University’s 22nd annual State of the Region Report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion, its president, Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., the Board of Visitors, the Strome College of Business or the generous donors who support the activities of the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy.

Over the past year, we have endured the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of vaccines and a return to a semblance of normality in …

Part 2: Bounce Back? The Pandemic And Tourism In Hampton Roads, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Nearly 1 in 5 workers in the Hampton Roads hospitality and leisure sector lost their jobs in 2020. Even as the sector started to recover, employers found themselves in need of employees to fill available positions. Now, with tourists returning to the region, we look at how traditional hotels and short-term rentals fared over the last 18 months

Part 3: Earn While You Learn: The Apprentice School At Newport News Shipbuilding, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding is not only one of the nation’s premier schools for educating and training workers, but it also stands as an example of how 21st-century learning can occur in the region. In this chapter, we look at the apprenticeship model and delve into the unique aspects of The Apprentice School that have made it successful.

Part 4: All In: Casinos, Online Betting And The Future Of Gambling In Hampton Roads, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

In 1987, Virginia voters approved the state lottery, bringing legalized gambling to the Commonwealth. Fast forward to 2021: Virginians can now buy lottery tickets online, place sports bets on their phones and wager in historical horse racing parlors. Now, with casinos opening soon in Norfolk and Portsmouth, as well as Bristol, Danville and, likely, Richmond, we discuss the benefits and costs of casinos in Hampton Roads

Part 6: The Decline Of Local Journalism, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Local journalism is in peril. Newspapers all over the country are reducing coverage, cutting staff, abandoning physical newsrooms or shuttering operations altogether. The United States has lost fully one-fourth of its newspapers since 2004, including 70 dailies and more than 2,000 weeklies and other nondaily papers. Hampton Roads has not escaped these cutbacks. We discuss the future of local journalism in Hampton Roads.

Part 7: Securing Release: Cash Bail In Hampton Roads, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis & Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

On any given day in 2019, on average, there were more pretrial inmates per 100,000 residents in Hampton Roads than in Virginia or the United States. To secure their release from jail, many inmates must provide collateral in the form of a secured bond. Now, with momentum building for reducing or eliminating cash bail in the Commonwealth, we estimate the costs and benefits of cash bail reform for cities and counties in Hampton Roads.

Part 5: Whither Old Dominion University?, Dragas Center For Economic Analysis And Policy

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and College of William & Mary historically have played important roles in the Commonwealth. They have set impressive records in admitting and graduating talented students who (predictably) do well after they leave these campuses. Nevertheless, the future viability and cohesion of the Commonwealth in this century will more likely be determined on campuses like Old Dominion University, for it is there that the critical social mobility challenge is being addressed in a meaningful way. We explore what the future may hold for ODU.