Economics Commons^™

Impact Of International Trade Competitiveness On Unemployment And Poverty Reduction In Ecowas Region, Ikubor Ofili Jude, Yahaya U. Isah, Ojih U. Abraham, Mazeli O. Mark, Abdul Y. Mary

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This study investigates the impact of trade competitiveness on unemployment and poverty in the ECOWAS region. The study relied on POLS, FE, and RE techniques to analyze the impact of export value and trade openness on unemployment and poverty in the ECOWAS region from 2001 to 2020. Annual time series data were sourced from World Bank and World Integrated Trade Solution databases. Major findings from this study show that unemployment responds strongly and favorably to export value and trade openness, whereas poverty responds favorably to trade openness. Further investigation revealed that trade regulatory environment is a determinant of unemployment and …

Assessing The Impact Of Shifting To Non- Combusted Alternatives To Reduce The Economic Cost Of Tobacco-Related Illnesses: A Cost Of Illness Approach In The Philippine Case, Christopher James Cabuay

DLSU Business & Economics Review

Smoking continues to be one of the leading causes of death and disability around the world. Recent health studies, however, have reported that these diseases are more likely to be due to the smoke from burning rather than the actual nicotine content. This study uses a cost-of-illness approach in estimating the cost of smoking-related illness in the Philippines and calculating the potential reduction in costs if a significant portion of the adult smoking population switches to the exclusive use of non-combusted alternatives (NCAs), which drastically reduces the risk of contracting smoking-related diseases. This study finds that cost reductions in the …

Vocational Education And Training (Tvet) And Its Impact On The Employment Prospects Of The Als Graduates, Martha Joy J. Abing, Mitzie Irene P. Conchada

DLSU Business & Economics Review

The pressure for technical-vocational education and training to deliver skilled and competent laborers has become a major concern in the labor market. As such, the strong desire to explore the effectiveness of TVET’s skills training programs remains. There is limited literature on the employability of the alternative learning system graduates in comparison to those graduates of the ALS program who did not pursue TVET. Using the dataset of the World Bank STEP Skills Measurement Household Survey for the Philippines, 2015-2016, this study seeks to determine whether completing TVET has significantly increased the employability of ALS graduates. Utilizing the method of …

A Review Of Climate Change And Its Financial Impact On The Transportation Sector, Ray Anthony L. Almonares

DLSU Business & Economics Review

In this paper, I review the existing literature on climate risks—both transition and physical—and their relationship with firm performance, with a specific focus on transportation finance. I find that the broad literature on carbon emissions and firm performance overlooks two critical characteristics of the global transportation sector: its heavy reliance on fossil fuels and the international scope of its operations. As a result, the conclusions drawn from this body of work may not be directly applicable to global transportation companies. Furthermore, I examine existing studies on extreme sea levels and the global maritime transportation sector, noting that these studies have …

A Portrait Of Pawn Shops Loans As A Survival Strategy During Covid-19 Pandemic, Putri Kemala Dewi, Abdillah Ahsan, Krisna Puji Rahmayanti

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

This study investigates the impact of the number of financing loans before and after the pandemic and analyzes internal and external factors of PT Pegadaian on Outstanding Loans as the dependent variable by using data from PT Pegadaian during 2018–2020. The statistical method used for this analysis is the Generalized Least Squares (GLS). The result shows that the financing loan by PT Pegadaian has significantly higher during the COVID-19 pandemic, then macroeconomic characteristics, ceteris paribus. In addition, this study found an increase in the need for pawning in society, indicated by the increase in Outstanding Loan (OSL) in PT Pegadaian.

Ketahanan Industri Mikro Dan Kecil: Bukti Dari Indonesia, Mukhlis Mukhlis, Bernadette Robiani, Abdul Bashir

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Micro and small industries (MSIs) play a crucial role in the economy, yet their growth confronts various constraints. This study examines the determinants of Indonesian MSIs output, focusing on the roles of capital, labor, added value, efficiency, and productivity. Panel data from 34 provinces (2013–2023) applied fixed effect model. The findings indicate that capital, labor, added value, efficiency, and productivity have a positive and significant impact on output. Capital’s dominant role highlights the need for improved access to finance. Policies supporting value creation, managerial skills, and technology adoption are crucial to unlocking the MSI potential and ensuring sustainable growth.

Disparities In Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes And Economic Burdens Among Minorities In Southeastern Virginia, Ismail El Moudden, Asra Amidi, Reem Sharaf Alddin, Michael Bittner, Qi Zhang

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Publications

Background

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality in the United States, presenting significant public health challenges and financial burdens, particularly in Southeastern Virginia, where African American and Hispanic (AA&H) populations are disproportionately affected.

Methods

This retrospective observational study analyzed data from 30,855 hospital discharges of AA&H patients across Southeastern Virginia from 2016 to 2020, focusing on individuals aged 18 to 85 with cardiovascular diseases. Utilizing the Virginia Health Information database, we examined demographic information, clinical data, and healthcare utilization patterns through hypothesis tests and regression models to explore associations between these variables and the economic impacts of cardiovascular …

Maximum Trimmed Likelihood Estimation For Discrete Multivariate Vasicek Processes, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Michael Pokojovy, Andrews T. Anum, Ebenezer Nkum

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

The multivariate Vasicek model is commonly used to capture mean-reverting dynamics typical for short rates, asset price stochastic log-volatilities, etc. Reparametrizing the discretized problem as a VAR(1) model, the parameters are oftentimes estimated using the multivariate least squares (MLS) method, which can be susceptible to outliers. To account for potential model violations, a maximum trimmed likelihood estimation (MTLE) approach is utilized to derive a system of nonlinear estimating equations, and an iterative procedure is developed to solve the latter. In addition to robustness, our new technique allows for reliable recovery of the long-term mean, unlike existing methodologies. A set of …

Three Essays On Asset Pricing And Risk Factors, Yuzhou Liu

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores whether alternative economic and financial factors serve as risk factors in asset pricing. It consists of three essays that examine policy uncertainty, macroeconomic expectations, and accounting-based factors in asset pricing models. The first essay studies the shocks in U.S. Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) index and its categorical indices. Shocks in monetary policy uncertainty and sovereign debt/currency crisis policy uncertainty significantly price assets and earn significant premiums. The second essay distinguishes expected (ex-ante) and realized (ex-post) macroeconomic factors using a state space model via Kalman filter. Ex-ante economic activity are significantly priced along with ex-post size, ex-post and …

Climate Migration And Urban Survival: Evidence From Chittagong’S Slums, Mohammad Nur Nobi

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the impact of climate change on rural-to-urban migration in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Based on a primary survey of 400 respondents across 35 slums in the country's second-largest city, the analysis employs two estimation methods: a multinomial logit model to assess the influence of climate-related factors on migration decisions, and a logit model to evaluate the impact of migration on the living conditions of migrants. The results show that individuals involved in ‘agriculture and daily labor’ are most likely to migrate. Compared to the base category (‘Other Reasons’) for migration, the odds ratios for ‘floods’, ‘droughts’, and ‘better job …

Evaluating Role Of Household And Individual Characteristics On Femlae Labor Force Participation: Case Of Mgnrega, Anisha Jain

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This paper evaluates the role of household and individual characteristics on labor force participation to get insights into female labor force participation in India. In addition, the paper evaluates the role of household and individual characteristics in estimating the likelihood of employment in government jobs, permanent jobs, and MGNREGA jobs. The household characteristics that this paper focuses on include the number of elders in the family, children and teens in the household, literacy in the household, household income, and income from other sources. The individual characteristics that this paper focuses on include relation to the head, gender, age and marital …

The Roots Of Empire And Industry: The Transnational History Of The Soviet Rubber Industry, Alexander Hinnov Craver

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Global rubber shortages and market instability in the early 20th century drove the United States, Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany to collaborate in an overwhelming drive to secure domestically producible sources of rubber, either from plants that could grow outside the tropics, or from synthetic rubber processes. The Soviet Union was an indispensable part of this converging, transnational “quest for rubber.” Russian scientists created the first factories to produce synthetic rubber, and Russian agronomists had discovered a dandelion in Central Asia that yielded latex suitable for manufacture. Consequently, both discoveries were disseminated across the world. Sometimes they were shared: the …

Ai Fetishism And Perverse Climate Disavowal: Why Denying Destructiveness Facilitates Our Ecological Collapse, Alexander M. Stoner, Alexander M. Stoner, Anthony J. Knowles

Journal Articles

As ecological crises intensify, scholars and activists increasingly question the sustainability of economic growth. Yet, the dominant growth-oriented paradigm remains foundational to advanced capitalist societies and cannot be altered without significant social disruption. The resulting tension between ecological limits and the imperative for continuous growth generates “climate anxiety.” This article advances the concept of perverse climate disavowal: a mode of climate denial that acknowledges climate threats while maintaining faith in the illusion of infinite economic expansion. This disavowal functions as a psychological defense mechanism, enabling individuals and institutions to avoid confronting structural contradictions. The article examines the increasing use of …

The Impact Of Ambient Air Quality On Asthma Outcomes In California, Abigail Obour

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study investigates the relationship between ambient air quality and asthma-related health outcomes in California, focusing on emergency department visits and hospitalizations from 2005 to 2022. Despite California’s strict air quality standards, individuals still face significant pollution challenges contributing to poor respiratory health, particularly among vulnerable populations. Therefore, this study looks at how fine particulate matter (PM2.5) affects asthma outcomes using panel data from 37 counties. A fixed effects regression model is employed to control for unobserved heterogeneities that are constant over time but vary across individual counties, ensuring robust estimates of the impact of pollution on health outcomes. This …

The Resource Curse And U.S. Timber Harvest In Western Rural Economies, Lucas Paul Koch

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There is limited understanding of the relationship between timber harvest and economic outcomes in the western United States. I use resource curse theory to examine the connection. The theory assumes a negative relationship between timber harvest and economic performance at the county level, and similar methods have been used to look at other natural resources and geographic areas. I use timber harvest intensity—the ratio of timber harvest volume to timberland acres—alongside several common economic controls including education, poverty, and competing industry activity to estimate wage and employment performance in a fixed-effects econometric model. Also estimated are least squares dummy variable …

Certificate Of Need Laws' Effect On Provisions Of Uncompensated Care, Connor Anthony Mostek

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Certificate of need (CON) laws are regulations that require healthcare facilities to seek permission from a state government board to enter a market or expand/modify their established business. Proponents of CON laws claim that, among other things, CON laws protect hospitals and other healthcare providers from competition, allowing them to charge private or fully insured patients more in order to use the profits to “cross-subsidize” free care for low-income and uninsured patients. By employing an unbalanced panel dataset on hospital cost reports for the years 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2019, this study finds that there is no strong evidence that …

Effect Of Trade Openness On Food Security In Economic Community Of West African States Region, Yahaya Umar Isah, Ikubor, Ofili Jude, Bernard, O. A., Zakari Saheed S., Ayodeji, S.

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This study investigates the impact of trade openness on food security in the ECOWAS trade zone. The study relied on the system GMM approach to analyze the impact of trade openness on overall and disaggregated components of food security in the ECOWAS trade zone during the period 2014 and 2021. Annual time series data were sourced from the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Bank Metadata base, and World Integrated Trade Solution. Major findings from the study reveal that trade openness has a significant positive impact on overall food security indicators. However, trade openness has not significantly impacted food availability and …

The Global Value Chain Effects Of Rcep: Estimating The Impact On The Philippines, Caesar B. Cororaton

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This paper extends the global CGE model results of Cororaton (2022) by disaggregating further the RCEP trade creation effects on the Philippines into global value chain (GVC) impacts. The GVC analysis indicates that the trade agreement in RCEP results in higher Philippine exports of US$ 2.8 billion in 2031, of which the increase in Philippine domestic value added is US$ 2.4 billion, significantly higher than the foreign value added of US$ 403 million. Electronic products contribute 67% of the value added generated within the Philippines. The increase in the import contents of Philippine exports is only US$ 413 million. Furthermore, …

Trust During Troubled Times: Evidence From Sierra Leone’S Ebola Epidemic, Colin Cannonier

Funded Scholarship

Existing literature provides evidence that crises can considerably impact public trust. However, research on these dynamics in lower-income and postconflict countries like Sierra Leone is limited. Using nationally representative survey data and district-level Ebola infection data, herein, we examine the relationship between the Ebola epidemic and various measures of government trust. Our analysis, which employs propensity score matching and other techniques, reveals a notable decline in trust among individuals exposed to the outbreak. Our estimates indicate that individual perceptions of trust in government and other government entities decreased by 11.6%– 33.6% following the Ebola epidemic. This relationship is driven by …

Are Csr Incidents Truly Bad News?, Chen Chen, John A. Doukas, Rongyao Gloria Zhang

Finance Faculty Publications

We revisit whether disclosures of negative Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) incidents adversely affect firms' stock prices. While univariate tests reveal significant negative abnormal returns around incident announcements, the effect disappears once firm characteristics, industry, and time‐fixed effects are controlled for. We find no robust evidence that CSR incidents or firms' Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments influence stock price reactions on the event day or across broader windows. These results suggest that previously documented negative market responses may be attributable to endogeneity. Our baseline results are consistent with informed trading behavior: short‐sellers do not increase activity in incident‐related stocks relative …

The Impact Of Short-Term Rental Activity On House Prices: Evidence From Coastal Virginia, Navid Safari, Lei Zhang, Timothy M. Komarek

Finance Faculty Publications

Short-term rentals such as Airbnb have grown substantially in recent years. In this study, we investigated the effect of Airbnb rentals on neighboring house prices in Hampton Roads, Virginia. We focus on three different measures of Airbnb activity to obtain more robust results. Our measures include active Airbnb listings, active listings with at least one reservation, and the sum of reservations over three different periods. Consistent with previous literature, our main results show that prior Airbnb rental activity has a positive impact on the surrounding housing sales prices. Furthermore, the localized impact diminishes over geographic space (i.e., distances greater than …

Labor Heterogeneity, Labor Adjustment Costs, And Externally Financed Firm Growth, Enxi An, Kenneth Yung

Finance Faculty Publications

Highlights

• Because skilled workers entail higher hiring and firing expenses, firms tend to retain skilled workers in the face of the high labor adjustment costs (LACs).

• The retention of skilled workers imposes inflexibility on business operations and exposes firms to cash flow shocks.

• Firms with high LACs hoard precautionary cash in the face of higher cash flow risk.

• We find a positive relationship between LACs and externally financed firm growth.

• Equity is the major source of external funds for firm growth in the face of high LACs.

• The retention of skilled workers elevates conflicts …

Does The Acquirer's Complexity Affect The Market Reaction To M&A Decisions?, Rajib Chowdhury, John A. Doukas

Finance Faculty Publications

We examine whether and how acquiring firms' complexity affects investor perception at the announcement of M&A decisions. Using well-established data of firm complexity developed through combining machine learning and a lexicon of words, we find a significant positive relationship between acquiring firm complexity and cumulative abnormal returns (CAR), indicating that more intricate firms are viewed as more valuable or competent in mergers and acquisitions. This association is stronger for acquirers with high operating risk, organizational capital, R&D intensity, large and independent boards, and larger targets. We also present evidence that high-complexity bidders offer higher takeover premiums. Our study contributes to …

Social And Commercial Crowdfunding Through The Lens Of The Theory Of Planned Behaviour And Financial Well-Being, Joanna Adamska, Urszula Mrzygłód

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

A unique feature of crowdfunding is that it relies on numerous individuals contributing financially to the project, which sets it apart from traditional financing channels. Unlike banks, where funding decisions are subject to strict prudential criteria and the creditworthiness of the borrowing entity, crowdfunding projects appeal to various worldviews and values held by potential backers. Therefore, the financial decision to support the crowdfunding project becomes a unique problem in personal finance. This study aims to analyse the psychological and financial factors influencing crowdfunding participation, comparing social and commercial projects using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (hereinafter: TPB) and subjective financial …

Is Knowledge Really Power And Ignorance Bliss? A Study Of Financial And Pension Ignorance, Agata Olechnowicz-Szewczyk, Elżbieta Babula

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

In this study, we examine the impact of financial and pension ignorance (information avoidance) on the decisionmaking process for long-term savings. We define the concept of pension ignorance, as active avoidance of retirement information, failure to make decisions regarding retirement savings, and a lack of strategic retirement planning. To assess financial ignorance, we utilized the scale developed by Barrafrem et al. (2024), while pension ignorance was evaluated using the scale designed by the authors. The study was conducted with a sample of 1,200 Polish residents aged 18 to 65, using the Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) method. The findings reveal that …

Forging Monetary Hawks: Early-Life Inflation Experiences And Government Debt In Africa, Christine Strong

Economics Faculty Publications

This study uses a novel dataset to examine the impact of early‐life inflation experiences on government debt across 30 African nations from 1980 to 2022. We propose that central bankers who encountered inflation crises during their formative years are more likely to develop preferences for hawkish monetary policies. However, for these preferences to influence fiscal outcomes, central bankers must operate within an environment of institutional independence. Indeed, our analysis reveals that past exposures to inflation crises, on their own, have no statistically significant impact on government debt. However, when central bank independence is accounted for, a significant negative relationship emerges, …

What Role Do Finance Ministers Play In Political Business Cycles? Evidence-Based On A New African Dataset, Christine Olivia Strong

Economics Faculty Publications

This study investigates how the personal characteristics of finance ministers influence political budget cycles in Africa. Using a new dataset covering 300 finance ministers across 23 countries from 1980 to 2020, we find that political budget cycles primarily take the form of increased government consumption during election years. Ministers with prior central banking experience are less likely to amplify spending in election years, effectively curbing political budget cycles. These results remain consistent after accounting for institutional quality, ministerial tenure, and other confounding factors. The findings contribute to the literature by showing that the appointment of finance ministers in African countries …

Shaping Pakistan's Future, Sdsb 360 Magazine

Faculty Research - Newspaper and Magazine Articles

SDSB 360 is in conversation with Dr. Ishrat Husain, an influential Pakistani banker, economist, and reformer whose leadership has shaped Pakistan’s financial landscape. From steering the State Bank of Pakistan (1999–2006) to driving educational excellence as Dean of IBA Karachi (2008–2016) and championing institutional reforms as Advisor to the Prime Minister (2018–2022), Dr. Husain’s career is a testament to visionary leadership and a relentless pursuit of progress.

Analisis Pengaruh Kualitas Institusi Politik Terhadap Konsentrasi Pm2.5 Di Negara G20, Afif Dhia Pratama, Dwi Rahmayani

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

This study aims to analyze the influence of political institutional quality, proxied by democracy, political globalization, and good governance, on PM2.5 concentration in G20 countries as well as prove the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Hypothesis and Pollution Halo Hypothesis (PHH) from 1998 to 2022. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method is employed in this analysis. The results show that democracy reduces PM2.5 concentration only in the long run. However, good governance decreases PM2.5 concentration in the short term but increases it in the long run. Political globalization shows no significant influence on PM2.5 concentration. Furthermore, the study also revealed that …

Total Factor Productivity Industri Mikro Dan Kecil Di Kawasan Timur Indonesia, Marella Dea Manganti, Budyanra Budyanra

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

The Micro and Small Industries (MSIs) sector, part of non-oil and gas processing industry, is a key driver of the Indonesia’s economy. However, in Eastern Indonesia (EI), the number of industries and workers in the MSIs sector does not match the level of output, unlike in Western Indonesia, where the industry is more stable and aligned. This difference is mainly due to variations in technological progress, known as Total Factor Productivity (TFP). This study analyzes TFP in the MSIs sector across provinces in EI from 2013 to 2022 using panel data regression. Results show that South Sulawesi has the highest …