Economics Commons^™

Supply Chain Disruptions And Supplier Capital In U.S. Firms, Ernest Liu, Vladimir Smirnyagin, Aleh Tsyvinski

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We empirically and quantitatively study the impact of supply chain disruptions on U.S. businesses. Leveraging granular shipment-level data on the universe of U.S. seaborne imports with nearly 200 million observations, we construct a measure of disruptions at the individual firm level for the time period 2013-2023. We document a significant heterogeneity in disruption rates among U.S. public firms, with a notable increase observed in recent years. We introduce a notion of supplier capital and investigate the effect of supply disruptions on firms’ investment decisions. In the data, firms tend to increase investment in supplier capital following the shock, however, financially …

Borderplex Business Barometer, Volume 8, Number 5, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Steven L. Fullerton

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

Essays On Weak Identification, Dennis Guo Wei Lim

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation presents a comprehensive examination of inference techniques for weak instrumental variable (IV) models, crucial in addressing endogeneity and bias in econometric analyses. Comprising two interconnected chapters, the research explores innovative methodologies to enhance the reliability and robustness of IV regression estimations. Chapter 1 is concerned with maximizing the power of tests in the many weak IVs setting. This is done by introducing a novel approach that considers a linear combination of jackknife Anderson-Rubin (AR), jackknife Lagrangian multiplier (LM), and orthogonalized jackknife
LM tests for inference in IV regressions with many weak instruments and heteroskedasticity. Following I. Andrews (2016), …

Essays On Spatial Economics And International Trade, Naiyuan Hu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation consists of three papers on spatial economics and international trade. The first paper focuses on spatial inequalities. Educational resources are distributed unevenly and contribute to spatial inequality. A dynamic spatial model with life-cycle elements studies the impacts of location-specific educational resources. Individuals determine where to attend college, weighing distance, expected value of education, and available resources. Locations with more colleges attract more students. As mobility costs increase with age, many graduates stay in the city where they studied, affecting skill composition. Applied to China, it finds that the 2005- 2015 college expansion had minimal welfare impacts and suggests …

Bay Water Level Influences On Inundation And Morphological Changes Of A Semi-Connected Barrier Island During A Hurricane, Sydney D. Goodman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

This research aims to identify flooding and erosion changes along a semi-connected barrier island system due to varying bay water levels during storm conditions. The numerical model XBeach is used to simulate Hurricane Michael conditions and the resulting inundation and morphological change near Tyndall Air Force Base (Tyndall AFB). The installation is located 12 miles southeast of Panama City Beach along the panhandle of Florida and is vulnerable to flooding due to its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), Saint Andrew Sound and Saint Andrew Bay. A land bridge connects the barrier island to the mainland of Tyndall AFB …

A Red Awakening: An Analysis Of China’S Quest For Global Dominance Through Economic Alternative Warfare Methods, Sarah Beddingfield

Senior Honors Theses

In the 2023 annual meeting of China’s parliament, Chinese President Xi made it clear to his political leaders and the world that he was preparing for war. This should come as no surprise after analysis of China's grand strategy points clearly to the intent to surpass the U.S. as the premier global superpower in all respects. China has been building towards this goal for years through untraditional methods of warfare, forcing the national security community to reevaluate its own strategy and assess the Chinese threat through a different lens. This thesis seeks to address one specific area in which China …

Risk Perception, Dread, And The Value Of Statistical Life: Evidence From Occupational Fatalities, Perry Singleton

Center for Policy Research

In a model of occupational safety, biased perceptions of risk decrease welfare, which may justify government regulation. Bias is examined empirically by the correlation between subjective and objective risk, the former measured by self-reported exposure to death on the job. The correlation is negligible among workers with no high school diploma, consistent with underestimating risk in more dangerous occupations, and strongest among more educated workers when objective risk is specific to harmful and noxious substances, which in psychological studies rank high in dread. Biased perceptions of risk may also lead to biased estimates of value of statistical life. VSL estimates …

Essays On Environmental And Natural Resource Economics, Annaliese R. Winton

All Dissertations

This dissertation explores how markets and producers respond to environmental risks that are becoming more severe due to climate change. It is comprised of two essays that empirically quantify the economic impacts of two water-related risks: storm surge flooding and groundwater depletion. In the first chapter, I estimate the price differentials associated with single-family homes in hurricane evacuation zones in Miami-Dade County, Florida, using two near-miss hurricanes as a source of exogenous information. The second chapter estimates the impacts of groundwater depletion, as captured through declining well capacity, on irrigation decisions in the Colorado portion of the Republican River Basin.

Essays On Trade Policy, Ward Reesman

All Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two essays on international trade and trade policy, focusing on a quantitative evaluation of the causes and consequences of trade barriers and economic integration. In the first essay, I examine the role of a widely-used discriminatory trade barrier in shaping dynamic trade patterns of exporters across a range of affected and unaffected export markets. In the next chapter, I explore the heterogeneous economic determinants impacting the formation of economic integration agreements among countries, paying specific attention to the role of bilateral migration flows.

The first chapter estimates the dynamic trade effects of temporary trade barriers (TTBs), …

Assessing Consumer Willingness To Pay For Zinc-Biofortified Rice – The Case Of Colombia, Sara Ann Oswalt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hidden hunger, a form of undernourishment caused by micronutrient deficiencies, remains a critical global challenge affecting billions worldwide. Biofortification of staple crops, such as rice, offers a promising solution to address this problem. However, changes in the physical and culinary characteristics due to biofortification may hinder consumer acceptance and limit the benefits of this approach. This research explores consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for zinc-biofortified rice in Cartagena, Colombia. A non-hypothetical experimental auction, including 400 consumers in five different locations within Cartagena, was conducted to analyze the impact of information, socioeconomic factors, and consumer nutrition knowledge on WTP …

Co-Creating A Process Of Tacit Knowledge Seeking Using Appreciative Inquiry: An Exploratory Case Study, Kristina Lewis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In today’s dynamic workplaces, knowledge exchange among employees is vital for organizational innovation and competitive advantage. However, existing literature on knowledge management has primarily focused on knowledge sharing, neglecting the proactive process of knowledge seeking, particularly regarding tacit knowledge. This study aims to bridge this gap by exploring the social process of tacit knowledge seeking in the workplace. Using appreciative inquiry as a method for collecting data, this qualitative exploratory single case study examines how employees seek tacit knowledge in an international consumer products organization. Guided by a social constructionist framework and appreciative perspective, the study seeks to understand the …

Regulatory Protection And The Role Of International Cooperation, Yuan Mei

Research Collection School Of Economics

I develop a general equilibrium framework to analyze the welfare consequences of product regulations and their international harmonization. In my model, raising product standards reduces a negative consumption externality, but also increases the marginal and fixed costs of production. When product standards are set noncooperatively, the effects of standards on other countries' wages and number of firms are not internalized, giving rise to an international inefficiency. The World Trade Organization's nondiscrimination principle of national treatment only partly addresses this inefficiency. Welfare losses from abandoning national treatment average 2.8%, whereas the maximum welfare gains from efficient cooperation average 11.8%.

Broadway Theatre And The Covid-19 Pandemic: How Pre-Shutdown Longevity Impacted Production Success, Emmeline A. Lignowski

College Honors Program

On March 12, 2020 New York’s Broadway theaters halted performances due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a year and a half of closure, Broadway finally reopened in August 2021, however, the market was drastically different from its pre-shutdown state. In the midst of a global pandemic, new productions faced increased challenges when trying to establish themselves on the Broadway stage, and even old productions struggled to recoup losses. In this paper, multiple regression analysis and a Cox proportional hazards model were used to test whether a production’s pre-shutdown longevity impacted its success after Broadway reopened. It was found that productions …

The Impact Of The 2002 Economic Crisis On Remittances & Emigration In Uruguay, Abigail Robeson

Honors Theses

Throughout 2002, the Uruguayan peso depreciated by 85 percent, causing an economic crisis and a rise in people searching outward for employment. This increased both the number of remittances received and emigration in an unprecedented way within Uruguay. Reports of remittances, and migration patterns of Uruguayans before 2002 are vastly different from those of the years following. Using quantitative analysis and a variety of data sources, this paper finds that the Uruguayan economic crisis undoubtedly spurred both remittance relevance and emigration in Uruguay. Emigration and remittances concerning Uruguay are seen to be permanently impacted by the crisis – though to …

(Wp 2024-03) The Dynamic Temporal Sequence And Reflexive Adjustment Behavior: Foundations For A Behavioral Alternative To Optimization Theory, John B. Davis

Economics Working Papers

This paper discusses the difference between mainstream and heterodox economics in terms of philosophy’s distinction between two types of temporal sequences governing events: the static, truth-tenseless before-after sequence and the dynamic, truth-tensed past-present-future sequence. Mainstream theory and optimization analysis employs the first. However, Aristotle showed long ago this implies fatalism. Heterodox explanations employ the second, which I argue implies people reflexively adjust their choices over time in a combined backward-looking and forward-looking way that rules out optimization. Central to this explanation of behavior is how uncertainty about the future is connected to uncertainty about the past. I show this can …

Breaking Barriers: Exploring The Intersectionality Of Minority Status, Migration Fear, And Diversity, Alptug Yunus Yorulmaz

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays that examine the intersectionality of minority status, migration fear, and racial diversity: 1) The first essay discusses the importance of ethnic diversity in financial advisory firms. Studies illustrate examples of taste-based discrimination and the challenges faced by minorities in accessing capital. Furthermore, studies conclude a lack of trust in financial advisors, despite their significant role in the financial industry. This essay examines how racial diversity in advisory firms can foster representation and guidance for both minority and non-minority clients. 2) The second essay examines the association between minority entrepreneurial success and migration fear. Studies …

Fear Of China's Economic Power: Media And Party Affiliation On Public Opinion, Cloe Hughes

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The United States and China are the world’s two greatest economic rivals. The US-China trade war–which started in 2018–is a result of this battle for economic hegemony and has raged on for the past six years. While trade decisions are ultimately up to policymakers, public opinion is a large factor in international policy decisions, and American biases against the Chinese may adversely affect both the American and Chinese economies. In this paper, I will examine how factors including media consumption and partisanship impact American attitudes towards China’s economy overtaking the United States’ economy. Previous research has studied the effects of …

Exploring Farmers' Willingness To Accept Payment For Agricultural Conservation In Utah, Asif Ahmed Khan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

In view of Utah’s drought situation and the need for conservation of water use, this thesis tries to calculate the compensation required for farmers to switch from cultivating alfalfa-which requires a lot of water, to less water-consuming crops like wheat, hay and even pasture. It proposes a new technique for this calculation using big data, including satellite images from National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), agricultural statistics from National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), climate data from Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) climate group and land use data from the state of Utah. These data are integrated into a …

The Extreme Rise Of The Fast Fashion Industry From Country To Country: Does Consumer Behavior Differ Cross Culturally Regarding Fast Fashion Between The United States And European Countries?, Madison R. Feuerbacher

Apparel Merchandising and Product Development Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

The apparel industry has various categories of fashion. One of these categories known more readily today as fast fashion. Fast fashion has gained immense global popularity over the past decade. The concept of fast fashion apparel involves producing vast amounts of product as quick as possible to sell to the consumer at an aggressively low price. It is important to understand this current phenomenon of the global rise of fast fashion as well as understand the devastating effects our environment is facing because of it. As the vocalization of the harmful effects of fast fashion have become more prevalent …

Better The Devil You Know: Improved Forecasts From Imperfect Models, Dong Hwan Oh, Andrew John Patton

Research Collection School Of Economics

Many important economic decisions are based on a parametric forecasting model that is known to be good but imperfect. We propose methods to improve out-of-sample forecasts from a misspecified model by estimating its parameters using a form of local M estimation (thereby nesting local OLS and local MLE), drawing on information from a state variable that is correlated with the misspecification of the model. We theoretically consider the forecast environments in which our approach is likely to offer improvements over standard methods, and we find significant forecast improvements from applying the proposed method across four distinct empirical analyses including volatility …

Allocating Vehicle Registration Permits, Massimiliano Landi, Domenico Menicucci

Research Collection School Of Economics

We compare social welfare, consumer surplus and profits in two different institutional settings in which an item whose quantity is fixed and controlled (vehicle registration permit) is allocated to the buyers of a complementary good (car). In the first setting, which resembles the way in which vehicle registration permits are allocated in Singapore, the central planner runs a uniform price auction for permits in which the consumers who bid the highest receive the permits and pay the highest losing bid. Then each winning consumer purchases a car from a seller. In the alternative setting, the central planner first allocates the …

The Balance Of Concessions In Trade Agreements, Mostafa Beshkar, Pao-Li Chang, Shenxi Song

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper introduces a quantitative framework to analyze the WTO’s reciprocity principle. Utilizing two polar bargaining environments, we measure terms-of-trade concessions among WTO members and examine how shifts in applied tariffs and economic fundamentals affect bilateral and multilateral balance of concessions. We find significant disparities in concessions, largely driven by the rise in trade imbalances since the early 1990s. Notably, although US-China bilateral tariffs suggest considerable terms-of-trade benefits for China, under a hypothetical balanced trade scenario, their relationship evolves towards near reciprocity following China’s accession to the WTO. Furthermore, in contrast to the significant gains in its relationship with the …

Heat And Observed Economic Activity In The Rich Urban Tropics, Eric Fesselmeyer, Haoming. Liu, Alberto. Salvo, Rhita P B. Simorangkir

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

We use space-and-time resolved mobility data to assess how heat impacts Singapore, a rich city-state and arguably a harbinger of what is to come in the urbanizing tropics. Singapore’s offices, factories, malls, buses, and trains are widely air conditioned, its public schools less so. We document increased attendance and commuting to workplaces, malls, and the more air-conditioned schools on hotter relative to cooler days, particularly by low-income residents with limited use of adaptive technologies at home. Investment by rich cities may attenuate heat’s pervasive negative consequences on productive outcomes, yet this may worsen the climate emergency in the long run.

The Demotechnic Index Of Nations (1980 - 2018) And Its Correlation With The Human Development Index (1990 – 2021), Camden Rainwater

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Demotechnic Index (DI) and the Human Development Index (HDI) are both useful metrics for assessing the development of nations, with each providing unique insights about a country’s standard of living. The DI, which uses energy consumption as a gauge, excels in capturing the impact of conflicts and economic disruptions. Additionally, its ability to be calculated based on different energy sources allows for evaluation of a nation's progress towards sustainable consumption patterns. Conversely, the HDI combines healthcare, education, and income dimensions, and uses them as a proxy that highlights human health crises, educational improvements, and economic growth, albeit with less …

Charting The History Of Social And Economic Analyses In The North-East Atlantic, Ospar, Region: Lessons Learned And Future Opportunities, Rob Van Der Veeren, Philip A.S. James, Maria G. Alarcon Blazquez, Xander Keijser

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Over the past decade, the North-East Atlantic region has witnessed a substantial increase in social and economic analyses related to ocean and coastal management. This article offers a comprehensive overview of this progress, focusing on the work of the International Cooperation Group - Economics and Social Analysis (ICG-ESA) within the OSPAR Commission. While highlighting ICG-ESA's contributions to the OSPAR Quality Status Report 2023, the paper underscores the necessity of integrating social analyses into OSPAR's decision-making processes. It calls for sustained efforts to prevent regression in the achieved progress, stressing the importance of accountability and collaboration among OSPAR and its contracting …

How Higher Education Responds To Labor Market Demand, Johnathan G. Conzelmann, Steven W. Hemelt, Brad J. Hershbein, Shawn Martin, Andrew Simon, Kevin M. Stange

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Influences Of Hedonic Personality Towards Advertising Avoidance On Social Media, Diera Desmonda, So Yohanes Jimmy, Mohammad Annas

The South East Asian Journal of Management

Research Aims: This study aims to investigate and explore how the hedonic personality that exists in each individual can influence avoidance behaviour towards advertisements on social media platforms.

Design/Methodology/Approach: A quantitative approach with a purposive sampling technique was employed to collect data from 198 respondents who have shopped or at least searched for products on social media. The data were then analysed using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique.

Research Findings: The results showed that hedonic personality affected advertising avoidance behaviour. Through multigroup analysis, this research found differences in how men and women respond to an advertisement. On the other …

Mandatory Credit Allocation And Government Guarantee In The Philippines, Luis F. Dumlao

Economics Department Faculty Publications

Mandatory credit allocation is a policy intervention to pressure banks to lend to certain sectors that otherwise unfettered finance would not give access to. While some would argue that mandatory credit allocation results in sub-optimal allocation of resources, it has been shown that such intervention results is socially desirable outcome. However, mandatory credit allocation should not be the responsibility of banks only, it must be supported with government guarantees. In the Philippines, there are three sectors in which mandatory credit allocation is given namely the agriculture sector, the micro, small and medium enterprises or MSME sector, and enterprises involved in …

How Major Tech Firms Used Illegal “No-Poach” Agreements To Control Workers’ Salaries, Matthew Gibson

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Feminist Political Ecology In The Classroom, Ella J. Yeigh

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

As the effects of climate change are being felt more frequently, discussions on how to combat such a massive issue are increasingly prevalent. Finding solutions to the climate crisis requires an understanding of how mainstream economic systems have led to the climate crisis and using these same principles to get out of the climate crisis is misguided. Economic actions have inherent value biases that have real political effects. Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) as a theoretical model presents a better understanding of how values that are inherent in economic models such as reliance on efficiency, markets, and continual economic growth have …