International Economics Commons^™

Six Sigma, Firm Performance And Returns Predictability In Emerging Real Estate Market, Bora Ozkan

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two essays. First essay investigates Fortune 500 companies that implemented Six Sigma. Since the 1980s, industrial organizations have adopted practices such as Six Sigma to maintain and enhance competitiveness. The purpose of this study is to look at the long run stock price and the operating performance of Fortune 500 companies that were identified to have implemented Six Sigma compared to the overall market performance as well as the performance of industry and size matched firms. Even though our sample firms improved several variables after implementing Six Sigma, their operating performances were not quite close to …

The Plight Of Kenyan Domestic Workers In Gulf Countries, Caroline Muthoni Gikuru

Master's Theses

Kenya’s economy remains the regional leader within the East African Community (EAC) and among East African countries at large. However, political instability such as the 2007 post-election violence and the region’s social and political instability trickling into Kenya, have negatively affected the country’s economic growth. To bridge the economic gap, Kenyan women are seeking employment in the domestic service sector in the Gulf Countries, with Saudi Arabia being the most popular destination. At their destination countries, some domestic workers are subjected to various forms of abuse by their employers, leaving the worker without recourse due to the lack of legal …

Foreign Aid Effectiveness: Three Essays On Aid-For-Trade And Export Performance Of Developing Countries, Shanka Prasad Ghimire

Dissertations

This dissertation examines the effectiveness of foreign aid in enhancing international trade in developing countries. In that light, it presents three essays that focus on foreign aid targeted towards improving trade capacity of developing countries (Aid-for-Trade or AfT) and analyzes its impact on export performance of 121 AfT-recipient countries over a period of 16 years [1995-2010].

The first essay examines whether aggregate AfT helps aid recipients improve their aggregate export performance. The analysis using System-GMM shows a positive and significant impact of AfT on the level and growth of exports as well as export volume relative to GDP. These findings …

Sugar And Rice Trade Between The United States And Cuba Trade Potential And Welfare Analysis, Fabian Bloechl

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

After the resignation of President Fidel Castro and forty-five years of the U.S.-trade embargo, the political environment between Cuba and the United States is expected to change. With the Trade Sanction Reform and Export Enhancement Act in 2000, trade sanctions were eased for a while. Future trade between both countries would increase the welfare in both countries. This Thesis has the approach to look at the impacts on the commodities of rice and sugar, and the trade sanctions between the United States and Cuba.

Cuba is a net importer of its food supply; therefore, agriculture and food trade is an …

The International Monetary Fund, Power Politics, And The Changing Political Economy Of The Twenty First Century, Eduardo Flores

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The governance of the global economy is in a constant state of change. Since the creation of the Bretton Woods system, the International Monetary Fund has had to pursue a series of reforms to meet the changing demands of the international monetary system. At times, the Fund's institutional design has been adjusted to reflect the rise and decline in economic fortunes of member states. Other times the Fund has been resistant to change. However, the original design has proved to be durable and has overcome a number of historical challenges. Currently, two realities are challenging the institutional design of the …

The Primacy Of Context: An Exploration Into The Causes Of Food Insecurity In Kitere, Kenya., William O. Aludo

Capstone Collection

The purpose of this study was to explore the specific reasons why households in Kitere village, Kenya experience persistent food insecurity every year while the region enjoys the advantage of two planting/harvest seasons in a year. Kitere village lies within the lakeside region of Nyanza Province in Kenya, generally considered to be one of the more agriculturally productive parts of the country. The Participatory Rural Appraisal method was employed to gather qualitative data on the causes of food insecurity in Kitere village. The data sources were focus groups and a self-administered, one-time survey of random and non-random samples of key …

Essays On Trade Costs, Supply Chain Uncertainty And Ceo Compensation, Valentina Kozlova

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two chapters that examine high managerial pay and supply chain uncertainty.

Chapter 1 constructs a game-theoretic model in which high CEO pay emerges as the outcome of an arms race, with each firm paying its CEO highly to protect its competitive position against rivals who also pay highly. For an arms race to emerge, highly-paid CEOs must generate idiosyncratic, privately-known internal effects on profit, and CEO pay disparities must also generate asymmetric profit differences from external effects beyond the simple differences in pay. If the distribution of internal effects satisfies a key uniformity condition, an arms …

China And The Northeast Region: Agricultural Machinery, Kelsey White

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Using Chinese government statistical data, relevant laws and policy regulations, and current market projections, this report aims to help new-to-market U.S. exporters understand the development of the agricultural machinery market in China and the Northeast region, identifying both challenges and opportunities.

With a vast land area and diverse topography, China is one of the world's top agricultural producers. Agriculture accounts for about 11% of China's GDP and more than 40% of China's employment. Over the past several years, China has been increasing its agricultural mechanization in an effort to move from traditional to modern farming. The central government has been …

The Impact Of Authoritarian Rule On The Success Of Global City Branding Efforts: Dubai, Singapore, And Mumbai, Abigail Struxness

International Political Economy Theses

With forces of globalization and a neoliberal commitment to open markets, cities in the developing world face increased competition with each other and implement branding to differentiate themselves from their competitors. City brands must appeal to tourists, investors, and residents alike, simultaneously demonstrating that the city is modern enough to be integrated into the global economy, but culturally unique enough to stand apart from rival cities. This thesis investigates how city governments use branding to communicate their commitment to neoliberal principles and their desire to become a respected global city. Using the case studies of Dubai, Singapore, and Mumbai, I …

Imperfect Yet Indispensible Financial Integration, Jacob R. Snider B.A.

International Political Economy Theses

Financial integration defines European political economy. Though financial integration was crucial in establishing a common currency for the EU and a relatively shared EU political economy, it was partly responsible for the current EU financial crisis. The major question addressed in this paper is: What lessons can we learn about financial integration from the EU financial crisis? Although the EU crisis has exposed some of the glaring weaknesses of financial integration, it is essential for the EU not to financially and politically disintegrate because of the heavy political-economic interconnectedness and interdependency that constrains member states’ political institutions and economies. Though …

Cause-Related Marketing: A Fantastic Fundraising Tool Or A Corrupter Of Philanthropy?, Taylor Beard

International Political Economy Theses

Nonprofit forays into the for-profit sector are increasing in frequency but remain a contentious issue. As charities struggle to bring in adequate funding to work toward their goals, many are choosing to risk criticism and form partnerships with businesses in order to sell products that raise money for their causes. This is called cause-related marketing (CRM). Critics of CRM condemn it for encouraging the consumerism and capitalism that they believe causes social problems in the first place. They worry that it promotes the idea that purchases alone can change the world. These fears are not entirely unfounded, but when nonprofits …

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 …

Does Child Sponsorship Have A Positive Impact On The Quality Of Life And Social Behavior Of Sponsored Children? Evidence From Indonesia, Mario Carrillo

Master's Theses

Relaxing an internal constraint of an individual at early stages of life is an approach that complements traditional policy interventions aimed to alleviate poverty. The Compassion International child sponsorship program focuses their work on the emotional, social, and spiritual development of sponsored children. This study investigates the impacts of child sponsorship on the quality of life and social behavior of sponsored children using age-eligibility as an instrument for sponsorship, a time preference experiment and a trust game. The study looks specifically at self-esteem, optimism, social trust, educational outcomes, patience and reciprocity of 286 sponsored children and 234 non-sponsored children between …

Can Neoclassical Trade Theory Explain Congressional Voting?, John Dellipriscoli

Master's Theses

The neoclassical trade model has notoriously been unable to empirically predict trade flows throughout the world, however there has been a notion that the same theories and predictions could also be applied to democratic voting on free trade legislation. Using roll-call votes on three 2011 United States bilateral trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, respectively, a simple empirical model based on the neoclassical concepts, specifically the Heckscher-Ohlin and Stolper-Samuelson corollary theorems, is outlined. After an analysis using a logit estimation method, it is revealed that there is conflicting evidence whether the voting on the 2011 free trade agreements …

Terrorism And Illicit Drug Prices: Does A Drug-Terror Nexus Exist? A Regression Analysis Of The Relationship Between Illicit Drug Prices And Terrorist Events, Abigail Burnette

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Since the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, global counterterrorism policies have increasingly targeted terrorist financing sources. These increased financial counterterrorism regulations have diverted the traditional sources and methods of terrorist funding, including illicit drug revenue streams. The purpose of this paper is to measure the relationship between terrorist events (both domestic and transnational) and the prices of cocaine and heroin. Using regression analysis, I find that the annual U.S. illicit drug prices of heroin are statistically significant with domestic and transnational terrorist events. These results suggest that future counterterrorism policies should continue to be used in …

Fair Trade An Analysis Of The Effects On Poverty Alleviation And Empowerment For Women In Developing Countries, Maribel Concepcion Lora

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis approaches the economic development model of Fair Trade with a critical analysis on determining its success in alleviating poverty and empowering women of the developing world. Because international labor regulations are not consistently enforced in all producer countries, the Fair Trade model has established labor standards that ensure above all, a fair wage and safe working conditions for producers participating in the international market. As a recent strategy of economic development, Fair Trade has made great strides to empower poor producers in impoverished countries; however there has been limited analysis focused on its impact for improving the quality …

Modeling The Effects Of Distance And Spatial Dependence In International Trade, Jesse Oakes Piburn

Masters Theses

The gravity model has been widely used estimate the effect that distance has in international trade; however, two important areas have seen little attention in the literature, namely, the influence of using a more accurate measure of distance and how distance effect estimates change when controlling for spatial dependence in observed trade flows. Using transportation networks to measure distance and estimating both a spatial lag and spatial error gravity model, Canadian provincial exports to the lower 48 states in the United States were analyzed to address these previously ignored issues. It was found that the traditional distance measure of great …

Social Entrepreneurship: The Ideal Business For Humanity And The Economy, Maya D. Horgan

Pomona Senior Theses

This essay argues that social entrepreneurship is the most efficient means to generate lasting social change and permanently reduce poverty. Using the support of scholarly research, interviews with experts in the field, and my own qualitative observations, I conclude that traditional aid models that are economically dependent on outside funding, as well as those that simply provide monetary and product contributions in order to sustain the poor or marginalized communities they serve are inherently structured in a way that prevents them from resolving social ills. Despite the influx of aid organizations over past decades, chronic poverty and other serious social …

The Effect Of Myanmar’S Foreign Investment Policies On Fdi Inflows: An Analysis Of Panel Data Across Asean Member Countries, Blake Tretter

Senior Theses and Projects

Once one of the richest countries in Southeast Asia, Myanmar has suffered the effects of a closed economy for over 50 years to become one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world. Though excited international investors wait to exploit Myanmar’s large labor force and natural resources as it reopens its markets, the country is currently far behind its potential. In such a small economy, large FDI inflows would have a significant impact on the country’s path going forward. Whether or not it receives these inflows depends on how multinational enterprises view Myanmar’s investment environment. In particular, it’s …

Why Isn't China Exporting Automobiles? : A Model Of Technology Adoption, Nianchen Han

Honors Theses

In modern times, the automobile industry has become a relatively labor intensive industry as compared to other industries such as the food processing industry orIT industry. Normally, several people are involved in each process of an automobile production line. However, for a food processing firm such as a bottled water firm, it only takes a few people to control the huge machine in the factory. Under the Heckscher-Ohlin theorem’s assumption, a country will operate an industry that is intensive in its abundant resource. That means a labor abundant country will produce labor intensive goods and a capital abundant country will …

Que Se Vayan Todos!: An Analysis Of Antineoliberal Social Movements In South America, Jeffrey Sybertz

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Migration And Children's School And Labor: Evidence From El Salvador, Zachary Intemann

Master's Theses

This paper examines the impact of parental migration on schooling outcomes for children left behind in El Salvador. Using cross sectional data collected in 2012, outcomes for children are observed for children with migrant parents. The outcomes are also analyzed by gender of the migrant parent who left his or her child behind. Results are observed using instrumental variable estimations, as well as a seemingly unrelated regression to estimate the impact of migration on a child’s time allocation. Outcomes are also analyzed measuring the impact of remittances. Results show that children with at least one migrant parent will complete more …

A Study Of Corruption, Foreign Aid, And Economic Growth, Amanda Deerfield

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Foreign aid donors increasingly demand that aid is used efficiently and effectively. This study examines the effect of corruption levels, measured by the Corruption Perceptions Index, within a recipient country on the levels of economic growth. A growing literature outlines the mechanisms through which corruption impedes economic growth and is summarized within. Additionally, as longevity gains may result from foreign aid but are not captured in economic growth, this study computes a variable called the Life Quality Indicator (LQI) that combines such gains with economic growth and examines corruption’s effect on LQI growth. As any windfall, foreign aid has been …

Financial Inclusion And Natural Disasters, Benjamin L. Collier

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This dissertation explores the implications of natural disaster risk for access to financial services, especially credit. Its results show that disasters can dramatically undermine the ability of financial intermediaries (FIs) to lend after an event, increasing the cost of the disaster and delaying recovery. Moreover, the risk of natural disasters discourages investment in vulnerable regions and economic sectors and so slows economic development. Financial risk transfer mechanisms such as insurance can help maintain lending following an event. While many international development projects have targeted disaster insurance markets to households, managing disaster-related credit risk may be done more effectively through insurance …

An Unexpected Verdict: Exploring The Economic Implications Of An Expanding Chinese Presence In Dakar's Informal Market, Georgina Hurst

Honors Theses

Through examination of literature, statistical analysis, and field research in Dakar, Senegal, this study explores the economic implications of an expanding Chinese presence on Senegalese retailers in the informal market of Dakar, and on Senegalese consumers of cheap goods that shop primarily in this market. Since the early 1990s, a neighborhood of Chinese storefronts selling cheap goods has developed in the Centenaire region of downtown Dakar. The Chinese entrepreneurs, primarily in Dakar for wholesale, have adapted to the demands of low-end Senegalese retailers and consumers, focusing their products on basic necessities, such as clothing, and imitation commodities, such as Islamic …

Engaging Young Professionals In Credit Unions: Reviving A Movement Through Online Social Networking, Meet-Ups, And Events, Rebecca Spachek

Capstone Collection

Credit Union young professionals feel distanced from their jobs and comparatively less satisfied than their older coworkers. The industry is failing to retain young talent causing a growing gap between the young professionals and aging leaders. The Cooperative Trust is a network of young professionals working to close this gap by connecting and engaging members with the larger Credit Union Movement. This paper will examine the question, “Have active members of the Cooperative Trust experienced an increase in engagement in the credit union movement since joining the Cooperative Trust?”.

Essays On Capital Controls And Exchange Rate Regimes, Yu You

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

This dissertation consists of three essays on capital controls and exchange rate regimes. The first essay, under the background of international monetary policy trilemma, empirically investigates the validity of the proposition that holding the degree of exchange rate stability constant, a decrease in capital mobility through imposition of capital controls will enhance monetary independence. Using a panel dataset covering 88 countries for the 1995-2010 period and system GMM estimation, this paper finds that 1) capital controls help improve a country’s monetary independence; 2) the effectiveness of capital controls depends on the types of assets and the direction of flows they …

An Investigation Into The Volatility And Cointegration Of Emerging European Stock Markets, Anna Golab

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This dissertation examines the interaction between European Emerging markets including cointegration, volatility, correlation and spillover effects. This study is also concerned with the process of the enlargement of the European Union and how this affects the emerging markets of newcomers. The twelve emerging markets studied are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungry, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, which are all progressing very rapidly in their reforms and domestic economic stability.

The majority of prior studies on stock market comovements and integration have concentrated on mature developed markets or the advanced emerging markets of the Czech Republic, …