Econometrics Commons^™

Return And Volatility Spillovers Between The Renminbi And Asian Currencies, Hwee Kwan Chow-Tan

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper examines the extent of interdependence between the Chinese Renminbi and Asian currenciesafter the global financial crisis. We combine the distinct influence of offshore Renminbi with the impact ofthe onshore rate on eight Asian currencies (including the Australian dollar). Diebold-Yilmaz spilloverindexes reveal Asian foreign exchange markets are subject to considerable cross-border transmissions. Interms of the US dollar bilateral exchange rates, cross-border transfers of daily return are strongercompared to daily volatility reflecting currency management by regional authorities to curb excessiveexchange rate volatility. Return spillovers from the Renminbi markets to individual Asian foreignexchange markets are generally on par with that from …

The Tug-Of-War In The Laboratory, Cary Deck, Roman Sheremeta

ESI Working Papers

The tug-of-war is a multi-battle contest often used to describe extended interactions in economics, operations management, political science, and other disciplines. While there has been some theoretical work, to the best of our knowledge, this paper provides the first experimental study of the tug-of-war. The results show notable deviations of behavior from theory derived under standard assumptions. In the first battle of the tug-of-war, subjects often bid less, while in the follow-up battles, they bid more than predicted. Also, contrary to the prediction, bids tend to increase in the duration of the tug-of-war. Finally, extending the margin necessary to win …

Impact Of Behavioral Finance/Economics On Investment Decisions, Vidur Relan

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the impact of certain behavioral and psychological factors on financial investment decisions. The study of behavioral finance underlines the impact of psychological elements on financial markets progression. This paper will further explain how certain cognitive and emotional factors influence irrational decision making by people. Generally financial investors have very limited number of deviations from rational behavior. They lay emphasis on taking rational decisions which are focused on achieving the maximum amount of returns from their investments with a certain degree of bearable risk involvement. The behavioral finance paradigm suggests that financial decisions are largely influenced by emotional …

Does Night Skiing Save Ski Areas? A Survival Analysis, Andrew Krom

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper conducts a survival analysis on New England ski areas to examine the factors that cause a ski area to exit the industry. The main variable of interest in this case was whether or not the mountain conducted night time operations. Very specific criteria was used for the areas included in the study. This paper also suggests improvements that could be made to future studies on the subject.

Rhode Island Current Conditions Index -- January 2018, Leonard Lardaro

The Rhode Island Current Conditions Index

No abstract provided.

Benchmarking The Educational Progress Of African American And Latino Students In Arkansas, Mervin Jebaraj

Urban League of the State of Arkansas

The Urban League of Arkansas partnered with the Center for Business and Economic Research in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas to produce a report providing data to identify twelve key areas of need in the African American and Latino communities in Arkansas and to assist in the development of programs and policies to address them. The twelve indicators are enrollment, expenditure per student, fourth grade literacy and math achievement levels, eighth grade literacy and math achievement levels, disciplinary actions, dropout rates, graduation rates, college going rates, educational attainment for the population over the …

A Data Analysis Of Fdi Inflows And Poverty Rates In Central America, Scott Jarrett

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the impact of Foreign Direct Investment on poverty rates in Central America. The study incorporates a data analysis to discover whether FDI improves (lowers) poverty rates in Central American countries. this paper found that FDI Inflows did have significant and positive impacts on life expectancy and household consumption while having no impact on infant mortality rate.

Effect Of Climate Change On Economic Growth In At Risk African Nations, Bryan Gilbert

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper looks at the possible negative effects climate change could create on the growth of at risk African Nations. This study takes known climate change metrics and puts them into an economic growth model to shine light on environmental issues becoming more prevalent in our world today. Climate change indicators will be modelled alongside economic growth indicators to paint a picture of the positive or negative effect that could slow African Nations’ Economies now and into the future. The results of this regression are predicted to be that the climate change indicators will have a negative effect on economic …

Official Development Assistance And Social Capitals Impact On Economic Growth, Thomas D. Hanley

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This study intends to increase the understanding of the impact social capital has on economic growth in countries that receive official development assistance. By analyzing these relationships further, it may be possible to develop strategies to increase economic growth and prosperity in these regions. The results show that economic growth is not contingent upon high levels of trust but trust rich environments conditions the effectiveness of oda in stimulating growth.

What Contributes To Winning Gold? A Cross-Section Analysis Of Olympic Success, Shannon Gay

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the relationship between Olympic success and economic factors, does it take more than just athleticism to win a medal at the Summer Olympic Games? This study is a cross-section analysis of eighty-three countries at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics who won at least one medal, using share of medals won at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games as the dependent variable and factors including gross domestic product, country population, life expectancy, HDI, host country status, political environment, and past Olympic performance as the independent variables. The results show that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between …

The Effects Of Varied Income And Education Levels On Divorce In The United States, Elizabeth Willmonton

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

In the past decade in the United States we have witnessed a surge in the divorce through the 21st century. Within the past decade these numbers have been slowing, leaving many asking for what the original increase was caused by. This paper looks into the possible driving variables for divorce in couples in the United States from the early 1970s to present. Using data from the Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics, our model will focus on dependent variable divorce and how factors such as income of wife and husband, age married, and education level; possibly impact divorce in couples. …

The Effects Of An Increasing Federal Minimum Wage On Federal Unemployment And Job Automation Levels, Kiana Krayeski

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The industrial revolution was the start of increasing technological advancements that are continuing to grow today. Technology improves accuracy, efficiency and is more productive in comparison to human labor as it does not require breaks and cannot violate any labor laws. With many innovations available today, firms have more options to choose from and can select the relatively cheaper solution. The push for a fifteen-dollar minimum wage affects the firm's options, and the use of technology might increasingly become the more viable choice. This study took data from the years 1993 to 2016 and created two regressions using the unemployment …

Mortgage Finance Market And Housing Affordability In Urban Areas In Rwanda: A Case Of Kigali City, Samuel Iyandemye, Jonas Barayandema, Faustin Gasheja

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Rapid urbanization in Rwanda has considerably increased housing demand and the need for a dependable mortgage market. Unfortunately, the capacity of most people to afford to own homes from their own incomes is still a challenge as mortgages products are available at outrageous conditions making mortgage finance unaffordable. For better market readjustment, the effects or mortgage market factors on housing affordability in any locality should be properly evaluated. The objective of this study is to determine how mortgage finance market affects the affordability of housing in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. To attain this objective, data was obtained from …

Food Insecurity In Urban Slums: Evidence From Ibadan Metropolis, Southwest Nigeria, Oluwakemi A. Obayelu

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Food insecurity is a major challenge among the urban poor who reside mainly in slums. The prevalence and determinants of food insecurity among households living in urban slums of Ibadan, Nigeria were therefore assessed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ordered probit model. Food insecurity was found to be prevalent among the slum residents, with about 81% being food insecure. Nine out of every 10 (89.1%) households were male-headed. The largest proportion of the mildly food insecure (37%) household heads were less than 30 years old, while the largest proportion of moderately food insecure (45%) and severely food insecure …

Educational Expenditure And Economic Growth Nexus In Nigeria (1987-2016), Abiodun O. Ayeni, Osagie F. Omobude

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

This study empirically investigated educational expenditure and economic growth nexus in Nigeria using secondary and times series data from 1987 to 2016, sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and other agencies and sources. Relevant statistical tools were employed in exploring the relationships between these variables. The random characteristics of the variables were tested using the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) technique. The links among educational expenditure, education sectoral output and economic growth were tested via the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and bound test approach developed by Pesaran and Shin. Four research hypotheses were tested. …

Remittances, Institutions, And Inequality In Developing Countries, Karla Borja, Joshua D. Hall

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The private transfers sent by immigrant workers back to their home countries, or remittances, can improve the development of recipient countries through poverty reduction, higher education, and new business formation. However, the effect of remittances on income inequality is still debatable. While some studies suggest that these transfers are sent to the poor, other investigations find that remittances are directed toward higher-income cohorts, widening the gap between rich and poor. This study provides new evidence about potential income inequality reduction driven by remittances and quality of institutions. For instance, weak institutions discourage the usage of remittances toward productive ventures, more …

Drivers Of Agricultural Productivity In Agriculture-Based Economy, Olatokunbo H. Osinowo, Rahman A. Sanusi

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Stagnation in agricultural productivity, especially in an economy with fast and persistently growing population, would compromise food security. This study examined the factors influencing agricultural productivity in an agriculture-based economy. The study used a 35-year period (1980 – 2014) panel data focusing on Agricultural Productivity (AP), Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Government Agricultural Expenditure (EXP), Agricultural Trade Barrier (ATB), Consumer Price Index (CPI), Farm Machinery (MACH), Fertilizer Consumption (FERT), Human Capital (HCAP) and Irrigation (IRRG). Data were analyzed using Impulse Response Function (IRF) and Panel Least Squares (PLS) regression technique. The IRF revealed that there was a positive and stable …

High Or Low? The Value Of Transitional Paintings By Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning, And Mark Rothko, Monica Peacock

MA Theses

Transitional works of art are an anomaly in the field of fine art appraisals. While they represent mature works stylistically and/or contextually, they lack certain technical or compositional elements unique to that artist, complicating the process for identifying comparables. Since minimal research currently exists on the value of these works, this study sought to standardize the process for identifying transitional works across multiple artists’ markets and assess their financial value on a broad scale through an analysis of three artists: Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko. The results reveal that transitional paintings by these artists are high in …

Wildfire Risk Perception And Homeowner Mitigation: Evidence From Montana, Madison G. Nagle

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Fire prevention managers find that homeowners often do not perform mitigation actions that could reduce the damage and spread of wildfire. There is widespread belief among these fire professionals that one of the primary reasons that homeowners do not perform mitigation actions is that homeowners misperceive the risk that wildfire poses. Thus, a significant component of fire prevention programs’ focus on increasing homeowner awareness of the risk. However, it is possible that homeowners are aware of the fire risk but choose not to mitigate because of a variety of reasons, to include the costs of mitigation, limited monetary liability that …

Resources, Financial Sector Development, Governance And Growth In South Africa: A Time Series Analysis, Kehinde Abiodun

Masters Theses

We examine the impact of financial sector development - proxied by domestic credit and market capitalization - mineral rent, and quality of governance on economic growth in South Africa. The novelty of this thesis lies in the introduction of an interaction term between mineral rent and quality of governance, which is iterated along with the other afore-mentioned variables in a five-model estimation. Two other variables: trade and government expenditure are also added to the mix.

We developed five models to test the impacts of the different variables using the error correction model. In all five models, we find, consistently, a …

Natural Amenities And Rural Development: A Multilevel Analysis Of Regional Trends And Local Patterns, Dawson Reisig

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As rural communities began seeing increased rates of growth following the rural rebound of the 1970’s, many studies have examined the causes and consequences of this shift through the lens of regional amenities and migration trends. Additionally, as development patterns have moved outwards from concentrated growth in urban areas to sprawling development at the rural-urban fringe, many studies have examined the locations of rural development in relation to open space and the amenities it provides. However, examinations of the relationship between these two processes have been severely lacking in the field of land use studies, despite widespread acknowledgement that the …

Essays On Environmental Economics And Policy, Mehdi Nemati

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Environmental goals such as urban water conservation and pollution control regulations are typically achieved through price and non-price methods. This dissertation offers an analysis of the non-price approaches, including the rationing of water for particular users, installation of particular technologies, and adoption of particular certifications to achieve environmental goals. To begin, an analysis of California’s 2015 urban water conservation mandate was performed. Results indicate that the average welfare loss of the mandate is $6,107 per acre-foot of restriction in Northern California and $2,757 per acre-foot of restriction in Southern California. In terms of monthly household-level willingness-to-pay (WTP) to avoid the …

Why Do Underrepresented Minorities Leave Science And Engineering?, Cindy Onyekwelu

Pitzer Senior Theses

This paper extends upon Jennifer Hunt’s research on “Why do women leave science and engineering?”, that contributes to existing literature that overlooks underrepresented minorities level of commitment to STEM fields based on their STEM educational backgrounds and additional contributing factors that relates to women engineer’s leaving their felid to another felid that does not have any relation to their STEM degree. The following independent factors are the respondents’ gender, reasons for leaving the felid of major, how much does their highest degree relate to their current principle/ primary job, parents’ level of education, current citizenship status, level of highest degrees …

Globalization And Immigration: How A Changing Demographic Landscape Influenced The 2016 Presidential Election, Jacob Rusnock

Honors Theses

The 2016 presidential election results varied significantly from many forecasts. The media proposes that the radically atypical candidacy of Donald Trump motivated pockets of the electorate to support the Republican Party more so than they had in past elections. This paper examines the following questions: Which traditional predictors of the election failed to foresee a Republican victory? If the traditional predictors were unsuccessful, can the results be explained using county level economic and demographic data? Is there evidence to support the media’s proposed explanations of the results? By utilizing the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey data, this paper examines some …

Sequentially Testing Polynomial Model Hypotheses Using Power Transforms Of Regressors, Jin Seo Cho, Peter C. B. Phillips

Research Collection School Of Economics

We provide a methodology for testing a polynomial model hypothesis by generalizing the approach and results of Baek, Cho, and Phillips (Journal of Econometrics, 2015, 187, 376–384; BCP), which test for neglected nonlinearity using power transforms of regressors against arbitrary nonlinearity. We use the BCP quasi-likelihood ratio test and deal with the new multifold identification problem that arises under the null of the polynomial model. The approach leads to convenient asymptotic theory for inference, has omnibus power against general nonlinear alternatives, and allows estimation of an unknown polynomial degree in a model by way of sequential testing, a technique that …

Intergenerational Transmission Of Educational Attainment: A Look At Racial Differences, James Imhoff

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

As a people, an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that hard work alone can push even the most disadvantaged of us beyond our upbringing. The link between parental and child labor outcomes in the form of educational attainment, income, or social class is known as intergenerational correlation. Due to vast differences in black and white American educational attainment, this paper conducted a study to measure just exactly how parental education will impact a child’s future. As literature and theory suggest, parental education, family income, race, gender, and several other factors all have a tangible benefit on determining how much schooling …

Welfare-To-Work: The Effect Of Childcare Subsidies On Labor Force Participation Rates For Low-Income Single Mothers, Ariana Cubela

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The allocation of funding toward childcare has historically been debated due to conflicting views on the effect childcare subsidies have on low-income, single mothers. Some suggest that federal, state and local funding could put the money allocated for childcare subsidies to better use – or perhaps that there is no need for additional federal, state and/or local funding. However, there is sufficient evidence that children raised in a family structure with low-income single mothers may face long-term negative consequences not only socially, but also economically. An increase in labor force participation rates as a result of childcare subsidies not only …

Fighting World Hunger Can Be A Win-Win: Innovating Firms Can Do Well By Doing Good, Konstantinos Giannakas, Amalia Yiannaka

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

A 2018 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that more than 820 million people around the world have been facing malnutrition and hunger.

Based on K. Giannakas and A. Yiannaka. 2018. Doing Well by Doing Good: Agricultural Biotechnology in the Fight against Hunger. Agricultural Economics. doi: 10.1111/agec.12455

Exploring The Relation Between Sectoral Foreign Direct Investment And Domestic Investment: Case For Turkey, Selin Erkan

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis investigates the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and domestic investment in Turkey during 2005Q1-2016Q2 to see if there is a crowding-in or crowding-out relationship. Sectoral FDI data for manufacturing, agriculture and service are employed and gross fixed capital formation is used as a proxy for domestic investment. GDP and export are used as control variables. A VAR model estimates negative coefficients of sectoral FDI on domestic investment indicating that there is some crowding-out in Turkey during 2005Q1-2016Q2 although not one-for-one. These negative effects are concentrated in the manufacturing sector.

The Effect Of Fast Food Restaurants On Type 2 Diabetes Rates, Grace Bailey

CMC Senior Theses

This paper conducts an analysis of county level data to determine the effect of fast food restaurants on type 2 diabetes rates. Due to endogeneity concerns with respect to the location of fast food restaurants, this paper follows the work of Dunn (2010) and uses the number of interstate exits in a given county to serve as an instrument for fast food restaurants. The strength of the instrument, which is theoretically and empirically tested in this paper, imposes some restraints on the interpretation of the findings. Using the Two-Stage Least Squares estimation method, I find that the presence of fast …