Macroeconomics Commons^™

Nebraska Business And Consumer Confidence Index: December 1, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Consumer and business confidence surged in Nebraska during November. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) rose to 106.2 in November from 95.1 in October. The November value is well above the neutral level of 100.0. Likewise, the Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) rose from 102.7 in October to 114.1 in November, which is also well above the neutral value of 100.0. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, customer demand was mentioned by 32 percent of respondents. Nearly as many businesses mentioned workforce issues. In particular, the availability and quality of labor was mentioned as …

Nebraska Snaps Back, Eric Thompson

Business in Nebraska

Nebraska will fully participate in stronger U.S. economic growth. While the farming sector will continue to face challenges, farm income will rise slightly during the forecast period, and consequently, will no longer detract from Nebraska economic growth. Nebraska will match U.S. job growth, with job growth particularly strong in services, construction, and retail trade. The agricultural processing sector also will expand employment. Projected growth rates for 2018 through 2020 are presented in Table 1.

Employment will grow by 1.1% to 1.2% per year, matching the national job growth rate in 2019 and 2020. Non-farm income will grow between 3.9% and …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: November 22, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) 1 fell by 0.24% during October of 2017. The decrease in the LEI-N, which is designed to predict economic activity six months into the future, suggests that economic growth will slow in Nebraska during the second quarter of 2018. The fall in the indicator was due to an decline in building permits for single-family homes and manufacturing hours-worked. There also was an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar in October. The increase in the value of the dollar is challenging for Nebraska exporters. In terms of positive components, there was a …

Nebraska Business And Consumer Confidence Indexes: November 3, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Nebraska’s consumer confidence remained weak during October while business confidence remained strong. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) stood at 95.1 in October, below the neutral value of 100.0. By contrast, the Nebraska business confidence remained strong. The Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) stood at 102.7 in October, below the September level of 105.2 but above the neutral value of 100.0. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, customer demand was mentioned by 31 percent of business respondents. Businesses also faced growing competition in both the labor and product markets. The availability and quality of …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: October 25, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) 1 rose by 1.86% during September of 2017. The increase in the LEI-N, which is designed to predict economic activity six months into the future, suggests solid economic growth in Nebraska during the first quarter of 2018. The rise in the indicator was due to an increase in building permits for single-family homes and growth in manufacturing hours-worked. There also was a decline in the value of the dollar in September, which is positive for Nebraska exporters. Finally, there were positive business expectations. Businesses responding to the September Survey of Nebraska Business reported …

Nebraska Business And Consumer Confidence Indexes: October 6, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Nebraska’s consumer confidence tumbled during September while business confidence held steady. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) fell to 93.5 in September, well below the reading of 100.9 in August and the neutral value of 100.0. Consumer confidence is now weak in Nebraska. By contrast, the Nebraska business confidence remained strong. The Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) stood at 105.2 in September, slightly above the August value of 104.2, and well above the neutral value of 100.0. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, customer demand was mentioned by 37 percent of business respondents. Businesses …

Essays On The Impact Of Exchange Rate Movements On Stock Return And Country Output, Junnan Zhao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Exchange rate movements are widely believed to be a major source of uncertainty at both micro- and macro-economic levels. At the microeconomic level, corporate managers controlling risk and investors seeking to hedge their portfolios are both obviously interested in estimates of a firm’s exchange rate exposure ̶ i.e., how much of the value of a firm will be affected by exchange rate movements. At the macroeconomic level, a currency appreciation may have a contractionary effect on a country's output.

Chapter 1 tests whether the launch of the euro around 1999 significantly reduced stock market volatility and exchange rate risk exposure …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: September 20, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) 1 fell by 0.38% during August of 2017. The decline in the LEI-N, which is designed to predict economic activity six months into the future, suggests that the Nebraska economy will grow slowly during the first few months of 2018. The drop in the indicator was primarily due to a decline in manufacturing hours-worked during August. Building permits for single-family homes and airline passenger enplanements also dropped slightly. There were two positive components of the LEI-N. Businesses responding to the August Survey of Nebraska Business reported plans to increase sales and employment over …

Nebraska Business And Consumer Confidence Indexes: September 1, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Nebraska’s consumer and business confidence fell during August. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) stood at 100.9 in August, below the reading of 102.5 from July. Notably, the CCI-N remained above the neutral value of 100.0 during August. The outlook of Nebraska businesses remained strong. The Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) stood at 104.2 in August, close to the value of 105.1 during July, and well above the neutral value of 100.0. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, customer demand was mentioned by 35 percent of business respondents. Businesses also faced growing competition in …

Essays On Growth And Input Misallocation In China, Wenya Wang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

My thesis consists of three chapters that contribute to the study of input misallocation and TFP growth in China.

In Chapter 2, I compare the misallocation of intermediate goods to those of capital and labor, which have been extensively studied in the literature. To measure misallocation, I compute the dispersion of marginal products of intermediate goods across firms, and the potential output gains by eliminating this dispersion in China Industrial Enterprise Survey (CIES) data. Although the within-industry dispersion of marginal products of intermediates is smaller than that of capital and labor, gross output and value added gains from reallocating intermediate …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: August 23, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) 1 rose by 0.56% during July of 2017. The increase in the LEI-N, which is designed to predict economic activity six months into the future, suggests that the Nebraska economy will grow through the first month of 2018. Four components of the indicator improved during July. Business expectations were solid and manufacturing hours grew. The value of the U.S. dollar continued its recent decline, a positive sign for Nebraska’s export-oriented businesses. Further, in a positive sign for the labor market, there also was a drop in initial claims for unemployment insurance. In terms …

Nebraska Business And Consumer Confidence Indexes: August 4, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Consumer and business confidence remained strong in Nebraska during July but fell from June levels. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) stood at 102.5 in July after a reading of 104.7 during June. Despite the decline of 2.2, the CCI-N remained above the neutral value of 100.0, indicating strong consumer confidence. The outlook of Nebraska businesses also was strong. The Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) fell to 105.1 in July from 109.2 in June. The BCI-N remained well above the neutral value in July, despite the 4.1 point decline, which indicates that business confidence is also strong in …

Three Essays On International Economics And Finance, Juan Antonio Montecino

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation studies the macroeconomic and social impacts of two increasingly common macroeconomic policies: restrictions on international capital mobility -- capital controls -- and so-called unconventional monetary policy -- often referred to as “quantitative easing.” The consensus view is that capital controls can effectively lengthen the maturity composition of capital inflows and increase the independence of monetary policy but are not generally effective at reducing net inflows and influencing the real exchange rate. The first essay presents empirical evidence that although capital controls may not directly affect the long-run equilibrium level of the real exchange rate, they may enable disequilibria …

Growing Through The Merger And Acquisition, Jianhuan Xu

Research Collection School Of Economics

The paper studies with an endogenous growth model how the merger and acquisition (M&A) affects the aggregate growth rate. We model the M&A as a capital reallocation process, which can increase both productivity and growth rates of firms. The model is tractable and greatly consistent with patterns observed in the M&A at the micro level. Matching our model to the data, we find that prohibiting the M&A would lead to the reduction of the aggregate growth rate of US economy by 0.1% and the reduction of the aggregate TFP by 5%.

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: June 21, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) 1 fell by 0.51% during May of 2017. This is the second consecutive monthly decline in the LEI-N. The declines followed three months of rapid increase from January through March of 2017. Taken together, the LEI-N values imply a moderation in economic growth in Nebraska in late 2017 after strong growth midyear. Among the components of the indicator, business expectations were strong during May while the value of the U.S. dollar fell, which is a positive sign for Nebraska’s export-oriented businesses. However, manufacturing hours, building permits and airline passen

More Balanced Economic Growth, Eric Thompson

Business in Nebraska

There has been a re-balancing of both global and domestic economic growth during 2017. Globally, growth is improving in Europe and China, yielding more balanced international growth. Within the United States, growth also has become more balanced across industries. As in past years, the service sector, supported by growth in employment and real wages, has grown steadily with increases in retail trade, business services, personal services and construction activity. However, in recent months, there also has been improved growth in the industrial sector, with a rebound in the energy sector, and more business investment in capital equipment. The result is …

Nebraska Business And Consumer Confidence Indexes: June 2, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Consumer confidence fell in Nebraska during May 2017 while business confidence remained very strong. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) fell to roughly neutral during May. The CCI-N stood at 102.5 in April but fell to 100.4 during May, which is only slightly above the neutral value of 100.0. The outlook of Nebraska businesses remained very strong. The Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) rose to 110.2 in May, above its April value of 109.1 and well above the neutral value. Business confidence has been very strong in Nebraska during the first five months of 2017. When asked about …

Macroeconomic Instability Index And Threshold For The Nigerian Economy, B. A. G. Amoo, J. K. Achua, N. P. Audu, B. Hamma

Economic and Financial Review

The paper employed statistical algorithms, factor analysis and threshold autoregressive models to address the gaps in management of macroeconomic instability in Nigeria. Using data spanning 2010q1 to 2017q2, the findings showed that the values of macroeconomic instability index (MII) fluctuated between 0.316 and 0.609, with a threshold of 0.461. This showed an inverse relationship between macroeconomic instability and economic growth. This framework could serve as a mechanism to gauge early warning signal of instability in Nigeria.

Determinants Of Nigeria's External Sector Competitiveness, O. Duke, M. Yakub, M. Nakorji, B. Gaiya, F. Isma'il, Z. Sani, S. Zimboh, T. Obiezue, O. Asuzu, V. Aliyu

Economic and Financial Review

The study investigated the determinants of Nigeria's external competitiveness, with a view to providing sound policy prescriptions on ways to improve competitiveness. The study employed an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, using monthly data spanning 2008 to 2016 to determine the short- and long-run relationships among some selected macroeconomic variables. These included real effective exchange rate, exports, productivity, crude oil price, capital flow and consumer price index. The results from the short-run analysis revealed that productivity, proxied by government expenditure, and crude oil price were found to be the major determinants of external sector competitiveness in Nigeria, while CPI was …

Nebraska Monthly Economic Indicators: May 24, 2017, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

The Leading Economic Indicator – Nebraska (LEI-N) 1 fell by 0.88% during April of 2017. The decline followed three months of rapid increase in January through March, implying a moderation in the outlook for the Nebraska economy in late 2017. Among the components of the indicator, business expectations were strong during April while the value of the U.S. dollar fell, which is a positive sign for Nebraska’s export-oriented businesses. However, manufacturing hours, building permits and airline passenger counts all declined during April, while initial claims for unemployment insurance rose.

Financing And Productivity: Evidence From Indian Manufacturing Industry, Tingyi Wu

Master's Theses

India grows rapidly in recent years, not to mention its high-technology industry. What are secrets behind this fast-growing situation? This paper intends to find the answer using a firm-level panel data in India and examine the loan-productivity relationship via both contemporaneous and lagged models. I find positive and statistically significant results that loans play an important role in firms’ performances.

Closing The Gender Gap: The Effect Of Political Gender Quotas And Female Employment Indicators In South America, Courtney Reid

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

The Economics Of Refugees: How Refugees Influence The Economies Of Spain And England, Mary K. Bovard

Student Publications

The economic impact of refugee movements is a topic disputed throughout the world, but even more highly disputed in the European Union. In this last Syrian refugee movement, we have heard many different interpretations of how the movement would affect the European economy. Whether based on factual data or speculation, this paper aims to unpack several of the main economic arguments for and against the movement of refugees into European countries, particularly Spain and England. This paper argues that the perceived economic impacts of the refugee movement in Europe does not match the measured economic impacts.

Master's Tools And The Master's House: A Historical Analysis Exploring The Myth Of Educating For Democracy In The United States, Timothy Scott

Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past forty-years, neoliberal education reform policies in the U.S. have spurred significant resistance, often galvanized by claims that such policies undermine public education as a vital institution of U.S. democracy. Within this narrative, many activists call to “save our schools” and return them to a time when public schools served the common good. With these narratives in mind, I explore the foundational and persistent power structures that characterize the U.S. as a means to reveal the fundamental purpose of its public education system. The questions that guide my research include: (1) With an understanding that capitalism, white supremacy, …

From The Fair Labor Standards Act To Individual State Minimum Wages: Measuring State Minimum Wages And Economic Performance, Adam Charles Carafotes

Senior Projects Spring 2017

This project will analyze the historical foundation of the minimum wage in the United States prior to the first federal wage enactment in 1938 to the current federal wage as well as individual state wages. This paper will offer a historical overview along with economic ideology in determining appropriate minimum wage floors on state and federal levels of the economy. The question of raising either state or federal minimum wages has drawn great importance in the eyes of our country and in the eyes of economic thinkers, policymakers, and individuals. The minimum wage has been the backbone for working individuals …

Degree Matters: The Impact Of A Leader’S Foreign Education On His Country’S Economic Development, Zhongyi Yu

CMC Senior Theses

I analyze the correlation between a nation leader’s foreign education experience and their nation’s GDP growth and economic freedom in African, Asian, and South American countries. There is a statistically significant correlation between a leader’s foreign education and the country’s GDP growth rate, especially in Africa. Data also shows that a leader’s foreign education is positively correlated with his country’s economic freedom. Despite the fact that the regressions can only demonstrate correlation as opposed to causation relationships among variables, further analysis of the results concludes that a leader’s education and the country’s development are reciprocal. The findings of this paper …

Growth Performance Of Transition Countries After 25 Years, Alena Kalodzitsa

Masters Theses

The present study provides with the most recent summary of growth performance in transition countries after 25 years since the change of the regime. The empirical analysis estimates growth, applying Generalized Least Squares (GLS) estimation technique using a panel of 26 transition countries for the period of 25 transition years (1990-2014). Empirical findings of this study confirm that growth performance can be explained by the degree of structural reforms, stabilization, and initial conditions along with other factors (external growth, regional tensions, government expenditure, and oil balance). Even if initial conditions are important for growth, its influence consistently declines.

The transition …