Economics Commons^™

Cointegration Analysis Of Public Expenditure On Tertiary Education And Economic Growth In Nigeria, Japheth T. Torruam, Moses A. Chiawa, Cyprian C. Abur

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

The paper investigates the Impact of public expenditure on tertiary education and economic growth in Nigeria using time series data for the period 1990- 2011.The econometric methodology employed was cointegration and error correction technique. The study concludes that public expenditure on tertiary education has positive impact on economic growth in Nigeria. The study recommended that government and private sectors should partner by mobilizing resources to furnish tertiary institutions and equip them with adequate facilities in order to enhance tertiary education development for sustainable economic growth.

The Yangon Report: National Landscape, Current Challenges And Opportunities For Growth, Institute For Societal Leadership, John W. Ellington

Institute of Societal Leadership Research Collection

Since its independence from British rule in 1948, Myanmar has struggled with multiple obstacles, including a series of violent internal ethnic and sectarian conflicts, isolationist fiscal policies instituted by an increasingly distrustful military government and international sanctions and condemnation following government crackdowns in 1988 and 2007. In spite of all these setbacks, President Thein Sein’s decision in 2011 to liberalise the country’s political and economic systems has created a new wave of optimism for what was once commonly regarded as a failed state.

Expanding Human Capabilities Through The Adoption And Utilization Of Free, Libre, And Open Source Software, James D. Simpson

Theses & Dissertations

Free, libre, and open source software (FLOSS) is software that is collaboratively developed. FLOSS provides end-users with the source code and the freedom to adapt or modify a piece of software to fit their needs (Deek & McHugh, 2008; Stallman, 2010). FLOSS has a 30 year history that dates to the open hacker community at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where information and knowledge was freely shared among a community of programmers and end-users (Lessig, 2006; Stallman, 2010; Sullivan, 2011). The advent of a proprietary or closed software development model in the late 1970s and early 1980s prompted FLOSS …

An Alternative View To The Cause Of Market Failures: A Dynamic Approach, Salvador Contreras

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

This paper presents an alternative view to the cause and size of market failures. The work here suggest that the size of the market failure is not man made per se but rather given a full set of initial conditions it is endogenous to the dynamical forces at play. It is shown that the level and variance of market failures is tied to the location of the steady state (i.e. level of development). The paper finds that only changes to the location of the steady state produces changes to the potential level of the market failure. This paper …

From Antipolitics To Post-Neoliberalism: A Conversation With James Ferguson, Nils Gilman, Miriam Ticktin, James Ferguson

Publications and Research

Humanity co-editors Nils Gilman and Miriam Ticktin spoke with James Ferguson on May 31, 2013, at Stanford University.

Relevance Of The Regulatory State In North/South Intersections, Mark Findlay, Si Wei Lim

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Purpose – What seems like a new social anthropology of global regulation is an endeavour much too grand for this paper, even though it has much merit. To contain the analysis which follows, the discussion of social embeddedness will be restricted to a comparison of markets which retain some local or regional integrity from those which have become largely removed from cultural or communal social bonds. An example is between markets trading in goods and services with a consumer base which is local and subsistence, and markets in derivative products that are inextricably dependent on supranational location. The paper aims …

The Path To Excellence, Sara Agha

Faculty Research - Newspaper and Magazine Articles

I am extremely happy because the quality of the students who are attending IBA is superb. It can be compared with any other institution in the world. We keep on hearing that the standards of education have gone down in Pakistan but as far as I am concerned in my five years at IBA, I have come across very smart boys and girls who are capable of getting an admission anywhere in the world. They choose IBA and get jobs right away, in fact even before they graduate they get job offers. They are sought after by employers both locally …

Discrepancies In Labor Market Outcomes From Migration Evidence From Colombia, Liza Beatriz Pena

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As of 2012, approximately 10% of the population in Colombia has been displaced by violence. The main motivation of this paper is to estimate the effect of interregional migration on employment outcomes in the country between 1993 and 2005. Using violence as an instrument for migration, I analyzed the differential effects of migration on specific employment outcomes across gender and skill levels. I find that a one percentage point increase in net migration only increases the unemployment rates of female migrants by 0.656 percentage point. I also find that net migration rates do not affect the employment conditions of low-skilled …

Meeting The Challenge Of Reconstruction And Development In Fragile States: Lessons From Aceh, Haiti, And South Sudan, Josef Leitmann

International Institute for Infrastructure Resilience and Reconstruction (I3R2) Conference

Reconstruction and development in poor, fragile countries present a double challenge: tackling the issues of poverty and underdevelopment as well as the constraints posed by instability, poor governance, and weak capacity. This context generates a range of problems that include: insecurity, insufficient planning, inadequate implementation capacity, poor financial management, misprocurement, corruption, a volatile fiscal environment, ineffective donor coordination, and negative environmental and social impacts. The paper draws lessons from positive and negative experiences in meeting these challenges in three conflict- and/or disaster-affected cases: Aceh Province, Indonesia (postdisaster reconstruction and postconflict development following the tsunami and earthquakes of 2004), Haiti (postdisaster …

Factors Of Success In Beekeeping Development Projects And Their Application To South Africa’S Beekeeping Industry, Deirdre Lee

Pomona Senior Theses

Nearly every country in the world has its own history of beekeeping. From the Swiss leaf hive to the Kenyan top bar hive, the number of ways to keep bees is practically limitless. Such diversity allows for a unique opportunity in the field of development. Many development projects are denigrated for relying on the knowledge and generosity of “white saviors.” Many beekeeping projects are the brainchildren of well-meaning people in developed countries looking for a charitable outlet and attempting to use their “superior” knowledge to enlighten and improve the lives of those less fortunate. While these intentions may well be …

Nets Or Vaccines: Malaria Vaccine Research, David Ernenwein

Pepperdine Policy Review

The global battle against malaria has seen many victories in the developed world but the undeveloped world and particularly Africa continue to suffer from this disease. The development of the RTS,S vaccine and ongoing research into additional vaccines have been touted as the solution to the crisis. However, the news of the successful RTS,S trial should be viewed with caution. Concerns over the effectiveness of the existing vaccine and the cost of further development may not be justified, especially given the known effectiveness of current treatment methods. This research must be watched carefully lest the allure of the vaccine blind …

Skill Ontogeny Among Tsimane Forager-Horticulturalists, Eric Schniter, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Nathaniel Wilcox, Paul Hooper

ESI Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Microfinance: A Tool For Financial Access, Poverty Alleviation Or Gender Empowerment ? - Empirical Findings From Pakistan, Ghazal Mir Zulfiqar

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

In just 30 years microfinance has transformed from a credit-based rural development scheme that has claimed to reduce poverty and empower poor women, to a $70 billion financial industry. In the process, the traditional NGO-led model has given way to commercialized institutions, resulting in an increased emphasis on profitmaking. This has also led to confusion in the sector around its mission: is it to alleviate poverty and empower poor women or simply to provide the "unbanked" with access to formal sources of finance? This research considers the main debates in microfinance with regard to its mission and presents empirical evidence …

Issue Brief: Auditing Your Town's Development Code For Barriers To Sustainable Water Management, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

This issue brief is intended for town officials who want to understand how development regulations in their community affect local water resources. Municipal development codes – the set of regulations that control the built environment – can have a great influence on the availability of clean and healthy water for drinking, recreation, and commercial uses. This in turn affects the community’s social, environmental, and economic vitality.

Comprehensive plans, zoning codes, and building standards are just a few examples of regulations that intentionally or unintentionally regulate the way water is transported, collected and absorbed. Regulations that produce dispersed development or large …

Infrastructure Investments And Mega-Sports Events: Comparing The Experience Of Developing And Industrialized Countries, Robert Baumann, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

Countries vigorously compete for sports mega-events in hopes of generating an economic impact during the event but also long-term growth induced by the hallmark event. It is well understood that the economic legacy depends on the infrastructure that not only facilitates the games but also has far broader implications for sustainable economic activity in the host city’s economy. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which developing and developed countries adopt different strategies as it related to the composition of infrastructure enhancements that have implications for the generation of an economy legacy from the mega-sports event.

The Effects Of Foreign Direct Investment And Official Development Assistance On The Human Development Index In Africa, Christina R. Tamer

Graduate Masters Theses

Africa is a changing continent. Although it is home to some of the world's most impoverished nations, over the last ten years Africa has seen tremendous economic growth and many organizations contributing to this change. International development organizations and governments alike are seeking the best ways in which to accelerate these accomplishments to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. As such, this study seeks to update the literature on the effects that two of the largest foreign funding mechanisms have on the development of the continent. Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to the continent reached $42 billion dollars in 2011, while …

The Fii Model As An Investment In Patience: Exploring Time Preferences In Medellin, Colombia, Jennifer Graham

Master's Theses

The motivation for this research is to explore the success behind the Oakland based Family Independence Initiative (FII) as a model for poverty alleviation. During the period of June-December 2012, nearly 200 small business owners in Medellin, Colombia participated in a field experiment intended to replicate the FII model by randomizing the treatments of setting goals, receiving conditional payments, and participating in self-help groups, as well as the combinations thereof. The data shows that the subjects in the full FII treatment group achieve more goals and have significantly higher monthly sales than those subjects in any other treatment or control …

Reinventing The Development Wheel Of The World Trading System (Reviewing Sonia E. Rolland, Development At The World Trade Organization (2012)), Sungjoon Cho

All Faculty Scholarship

In probing how WTO norms may affect developing countries, Sonia Rolland introduces two paradigms in this book: development as an idiosyncrasy and development as a normative co-constituent to trade. The first paradigm concerns development-related exceptions and carve-outs found within WTO rules and agreements that exemplify a contingent provision of special favors to developing countries. Overall, it represents a limited mandate on development in the WTO. In contrast, the second paradigm embodies a normative operationalization of development agenda within the WTO system. It normatively reconstructs WTO rules and institutions in a way where development is a core mandate of the WTO, …

Incentives To Improve Economic Conditions: A Field Experiment In Medellin, Colombia, Lauren Skora

Master's Theses

The motivation for this research is to replicate the Oakland based Family Independence Initiative (FII) and to test the components of this model. The FII program claims its success stems from a bottom-up approach structured around setting life-improving goals, mutual support groups, and small monetary incentives to achieve results. As the popularity of this program continues to gain momentum in the United States, we designed a field experiment to measure the impact of incentives on goal achievement and economic conditions as well as the overall impact of the FII model. We enrolled close to 200 small business owners in four …

Economic Autonomy Of The Miskitu Women Of The North Atlantic Autonomous Region, Nicaragua: Do Current Development Polices Apply To Matrifocal Societies?, Ariana M. Toth

Masters Theses

This thesis provides an ethnographic investigation into the economic autonomy of Miskitu women in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. The purpose of this study is to determine whether dominant development models created by patriarchal Western powers are suited to alleviating gendered poverty disparity among the matrifocal Miskitu Indians. Surveys of Miskitu women obtained during field research, with support from relevant literature, comprise the main source of information considered. It is concluded that while dominant development models are not best suited to alleviating gendered poverty in this region, it is the overarching indigenous nature of Miskitu culture and not …

'Clean Energy' At What Cost?, Rachel E. Conrad

Pitzer Senior Theses

Ecuador was ‘refounded’ at the turn of the 21^st century, with the articulation of progressive and inclusive ideals in a new Constitution. Social movements and leftist intellectuals in Ecuador have expressed that president Rafael Correa has failed to uphold the 2008 Constitution’s goals and values. President Correa and his Alianza PAIS government have utilized the rhetoric of the revolutionary ideals articulated in the Constitution, but in practice, they have continued to implement the status quo Western development model, and a large part of their development strategy involves ‘neo-extractive’ activities. Hydroelectric energy production is contributing to the ‘neo-extractive’ development model …

Reviving An Ailing Economy, Ishrat Husain Dr.

Faculty Research - Newspaper and Magazine Articles

Many hearts were broken the night Dr Ishrat Husain’s nomination for the caretaker prime minister failed. With long tenures in the civil service of Pakistan as well as the World Bank, his professional credentials were impeccable to begin with. That he managed to spearhead a series of critical reforms at the State Bank of Pakistan while he was governor was impressive but more so was the fact that his integrity remained free of the taint that came to be associated with military ruler Pervez Musharraf. Finally, Husain has been working on a plan for the economic revival of Pakistan for …

The Role Of Private International Financial Capital Flows In Support Of Development For Emerging Market Countries, Jason Victor Reuter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Economic growth and development are critical issues for emerging market economies as they seek increase their standards of living. Financial globalization, innovation and international financial capital flows are prominent factors influencing macroeconomic stability and the pace of growth and development around the globe. This dynamic has become even more pronounced since the Asian Financial Crisis at the end of the 1990s and the Global Financial Crisis starting in 2008. In the wake of these two global economic events, the need for reflection on the drivers of growth and development as well as impediments to these activities is warranted. This thesis …

Security, Development, And (Im)Mobility: The Uneven Geography Of Migration And Border Management In Ukraine, Jonathan Austin Crane

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

As a country of origin, transit, and destination for migrants that now borders four European Union (EU) member countries, Ukraine has seen future integration possibilities with the EU become, in part, conditional upon its willingness to cooperate in controlling cross-border migration. The EU is now “externalizing” aspects of migration and border control to Ukraine through making investments in Ukraine’s capacity to selectively “manage” cross-border flows in line with EU security and economy priorities. In the context of this emerging spatial arrangement of EU externalization, this thesis analyzes how, by whom, and to what effect migration is being managed in and …

Water Governance In Bolivia: Policy Options For Pro-Poor Infrastructure Reform, Daniel M. Maxwell

CMC Senior Theses

As the case with most countries across Latin America, unprecedented migration to urban areas has strained city infrastructure systems. More particularly, the region faces a pressing crisis of water security, where rapid urbanization has outpaced water sector development. This thesis addresses the water infrastructure reform in El Alto and La Paz, Bolivia, focusing on strategies to better promote water access for the peri-urban poor. The research investigates the level of progressivity of water service expansion and pricing regimes: in other words, does the present model of water distribution positively improve the lives of the poorest groups? By investigating these social …

Conditional Cash Transfers And Child Health: The Case Of Malawi, Ryan F. Boone

CMC Senior Theses

This paper analyzes the impacts of the Malawi Social Cash Transfer Scheme. The goal of this paper is to help improve the design of cash transfers. First of all, I analyze whether the cash transfer positively affects child health variables despite occurring in a region with poor supply side health institutions. I find significant results for many child level variables, such as frequency of illnesses, but insignificant improvements in anthropometric measurements. Secondly, I examine whether female-headed households invest more in child health than male-headed households. The results show that the impacts of the cash transfer did not depend on the …

India: Subsidy State Or Developmental State?, Annie Jalota

CMC Senior Theses

India does not fit easily into existing models of thought on the nature of a state and defies ease of understanding. Though India is most often considered to be a subsidy state, I show in this thesis the notion of the subsidy state does not capture the true nature of the Indian state. Chapter two of the paper looks at various models of understanding the nature of the Indian state and draw out three essential features: competing interest groups, how economic liberalization facilitates corruption and works against India’s aim of equalizing the capabilities and freedoms of all its citizens, and …

The Role Of Islamic Banking In Economic Growth, Katherine Johnson

CMC Senior Theses

Islamic banking is currently one of the fastest growing segments of the financial market industry, operating in over 75 countries through 300 institutions. While past literature has established the development of financial institutions as a determinant of economic growth, research on the correlation of the diffusion of Islamic banking with economic growth is limited. This study seeks to add to the literature by empirically analyzing the economic growth determinative power of Islamic banks. Confirming past research, Muslim prevalence in a population is found to be the most significant determinant of the diffusion of Islamic banks. Using this exogenous instrument in …

Essays In Development Economics And Economics Of The Family, Aaron Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chapter 1 explores a potential solution to the continuing disequlibrium in microfinance markets. I design a mechanism to aid in securitization of microloans, using a dynamic investment pool governed by a Central Microcredit Clearinghouse (CMC), that would sell investment units back to MFIs and outside investors simultaneously. The CMC would serve as a catalyst to this other avenue of microcredit financing, securitization of microloans, which could help spawn the type of growth in investor-based funding of MFIs that is so urgently needed. Chapter 2 analyzes Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment and disbursement activity in terms of motivation, considering that the …

Assessing The Infrastructure Impact Of Mega-Events In Emerging Economies, Victor Matheson

Economics Department Working Papers

Developing countries that host mega-events such as the Olympic Games and World Cup invest enormous sums in stadiums and collateral infrastructure projects. The rapid investment in long-lasting physical stocks raises questions of equity and efficiency for national taxpayers and event attendees. This paper reviews several cases of historical and recent mega-events to assess the infrastructure costs, returns on infrastructure investments, and impacts of the events on urban development patterns. It will highlight cases where mega-event investments contributed to long-term economic growth.