Other Economics Commons^™

Energy Efficiency In An Educational Setting, Soma Ghosh

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Aristotle's Difficult Relationship With Modern Economic Theory, Spencer J. Pack

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper reviews Aristotle's problematic relationship with modern economic theory. It argues that in terms of value and income distribution theory, Aristotle should probably be seen as a precursor to neither classical nor neoclassical economic thought. Indeed, there are strong arguments to be made that Aristotle's views are completely at odds with all modern economic theory, since, among other things, he was not necessarily concerned with flexible market prices, opposed the use of money to acquire more money, and did not think that the unintended consequences of human activity were generally beneficial. The paper argues however, that this interpretation goes …

Understanding Nominal Anchor: A Case Study Of Central Bank Of Nigeria, A. Bamidele

Bullion

As a country's monetary authority, a central bank is responsible for the conduct of monetary policy. This onerous process begins with developing a plan of action of employing interest rates or controlling the money stock to influence the economy. The focus of monetary policy is to safeguard the value of the domestic currency in terms of what it can purchase as a basis of providing a framework for the achievement of wider government economic objectives of non-inflationary economic growth, employment, stable exchange rate, favourable balance of payments and more generally a stable financial environment for the economy. In view of …

An Empirical Investigation Of The Fairtax As An Alternative To The Federal Personal Income, Corporate Income, Estate And Gift, And Payroll Taxes, Yingxu Kuang

Doctoral Dissertations

Dissatisfaction with the current federal tax system is fostering serious interest in a national retail sales tax. Specifically, the FairTax Plan intends to replace most of the federal taxes with a national retail sales tax and is gaining momentum in Congress because of its purported progressive features. The FairTax is promoted as being progressive but there is considerable opposition to this claim.

Using the most recent 2005 Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) data and estimating lifetime income from a Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) panel tracked over 1968-2005, the distribution impacts of the FairTax Plan are examined, as well as …

The Multiple Dimensions Of Male Social Status In An Amazonian Society, Christopher Von Rueden, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan

ESI Publications

"In all human societies, individuals differ in social status depending upon their age and personal ability (Sahlins, 1958; Service, 1971). In laboratory-based small group studies, status hierarchies emerge spontaneously (Bass, 1954; Campbell et al., 2002; Kalma, 1991). Even among “egalitarian” foragers, who are characterized by widespread resource sharing (Kaplan & Gurven, 2005; Winterhalder, 1986) and some degree of status-leveling (Cashdan, 1980), certain individuals consume more resources, get the best pick of mates, and take a more central role in group decision-making (Boehm, 1999; Trigger, 1985; Wiessner, 1996). Whether implicit or overt, classification by social status is a human universal. While …

Rehab Or Relocation? Estimating The Demand For Cocaine Through An American Port City Analysis, Gustave A. Bartuska

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Over the past five decades American drug policy can succinctly be classified by two words: expensive and punitive. American drug policy makers have conducted the “war on drugs” largely through supply side intervention. As the theory goes, by attacking drug producers, drug prices will rise due to the increased risk faced by suppliers, this risk will in turn be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices. In order to critically asses the merits of such an expensive antidrug policy it is essential to estimate the price elasticity of demand for drugs.

The main finding of this paper …

Money Is Time: The Monetary Expression Of Value In Marx's Theory Of Value, David Kristjanson-Gural

Faculty Journal Articles

In this article, I derive the monetary expression of value based upon commodity money and use it to translate values and exchange values from units of labor into units of money. While this analysis has been done at the initial stage of Marx’s analysis where he assumes that commodities exchange in proportion to their values, I derive the monetary expression of value at the more developed stage of Marx’s 10 analysis where commodities exchange according to prices of production. I then develop a macroeconomic measure of the monetary expression of value and link the micro- and macroeconomic determination of the …

The Consequences Of Information Revealed In Auctions, Brett E. Katzman, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

Faculty Articles

This paper considers the ramifications of post-auction competition on bidding behavior under different bid announcement policies. In equilibrium, the auctioneer’s announcement policy has two distinct effects. First, announcement entices players to signal information to their post-auction competitors through their bids. Second, announcement can lead to greater bidder participation in certain instances while limiting participation in others. Specifically, the participation effect works against the signalling effect, thus reducing the impact of signalling found in other papers. Revenue, efficiency, and surplus implications of various announcement policies are examined.

Aging And Inflammation In Two Epidemiological Worlds, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Jeffrey Winking, Caleb Finch, Eileen M. Crimmins

ESI Publications

Humans evolved in a world with high levels of infection resulting in high mortality across the life span and few survivors to advanced ages. Under such conditions, a strong acute-phase inflammatory response was required for survival; however, inflammatory responses can also promote chronic diseases of aging. We hypothesize that global historical increases in life span at older ages are partly explained by reduced lifetime exposure to infection and subsequent inflammation. To begin a test of this hypothesis, we compare C-reactive protein (CRP); levels in two populations with different epidemiological environments: the Tsimane of Bolivia and persons in the United States. …

Determinants Of Gasoline Price: Can Consumer Spending Make A Difference?, Jonathan Stachelek

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the determinants to gasoline prices in the United States. The regression contains five different independent variables: the price of imported oil per barrel, the number of barrels of oil imported to the United States, the number of barrels of oil produced domestically in United States, the commodity price of oil, the number of automobiles purchased monthly in the United States, and the dependent variable, Gasoline Price. By using these variables in a linear regression model, the results show that the price of gasoline is primarily driven by the price of imported crude oil, followed shortly thereafter by …

Differing Immigrant Wages: Causes For Differences In Immigrants Standards Of Living, Sahana Zutshi

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper looks at the relationship between immigration workers and their differing standards of living based on various variables. The variables chosen were gender, place of origin/ethnicity, number of years living in the United States, education level and finally, the age of the immigrants. The model incorporates all these variables and then finds the connection between them and the earning status of the immigrants. The results show that gender and ethnicity often impact the earnings negatively whereas age, number of years living in the US and education level impact immigrant earnings positively.

Factors Affecting Health Care Spending, Jennifer Resende

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

With an aging population and an increase in health care spending across many nations, there is a need to determine what is affecting this increase and whether this trend can be expected to continue into the future. This paper aims to investigate the possible differences in health care expenditures in different countries. The study incorporates the use and analysis of several independent variables that are believed to affect health care spending in an array of countries including life expectancies, the increase in aging populations, health care spending on private sectors, and the quality of health care as represented by the …

The Social And Behavioral Factors That Affect Obesity In Oecd Countries, Sanjana Desai

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the factors that affect obesity in the population of the member countries of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This study incorporates existing information of the most likely variables that would influence obesity in these member countries for a decade (1990-2000). The study looks at contributing factors that are both innate and acquired, such as Alcohol Consumption, Low-birth weight, sugar consumption, smoking (consumption of tobacco), and protein intake and public and private expenditure on education. Using macro-level data from various sources, the results generally suggest that factors like alcohol consumption, low-birth weight and sugar consumption …

U.S. Current Account: Why Is It Increasingly Negative?, Joshua Champagne

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the reasons for the increasingly negative United States current account. The study incorporates information into a multivariate linear regression model to examine the influence of various economic indicators on the U.S. current account. The paper focuses more so on which variables create an increase in the current account and which variables cause deterioration and why the overall value of the current account is continually becoming more negative. The results show that the U.S. Current Account is negative because there is not enough government investment, savings, and private savings, along with a negative fiscal policy, combined with an …

The Importance Of Governance To A Stable And Developed Economy, Peter Litvinenko

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the assumption that proficient governance is essential in securing a stable economy. It studies and analyzes many relevant variables that one would find controlled by the government in its economy. My results show that these established nations all have differences in terms of debt and balance of trades but all seem to agree on the importance of maintaining a morally stable and efficient government structure that allows them to compete in the world economy.

Economic And Social Factors That Influence Life Expectancy And Infant Mortality, Kenneth Smith

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates life expectancy and infant mortality rates in randomly selected countries from around the world. This study takes into consideration many economic and social factors that could potentially have an effect on life expectancy and infant mortality in different countries. Factors are modeled using a least-squared regression model and are determined as significant based on their probability factor. Results show both positive and negative effects depending on the economic and social factor.

The Interaction Between The Stock Market, Monetary Policy And Inflation In Singapore And Malaysia, Lindsey Kahler

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates and compares the interactions among the stock market, monetary policy, and inflation in both Singapore and Malaysia from 2005 through 2007 using bivariate and multivariate vector autoregressive cointegrating specifications. The Granger-causality test shows that for Malaysia there significant unidirectional relationships of inter-bank loan rates to inflation, and inflation to Kuala Lumpur stock returns. For Singapore there is only one significant marginal unidirectional Granger-causality relationship of inflation to Straits Times stock returns. There are no reciprocal relationships in either country. Based on changes in the stock market, the multivariate results show negative changes on the interbank interest rates …

The Impact Of Sectoral Performance On The Stock Market: Does Volatility Equal Explanatory Power?, Jeffrey Haydock

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the real impact of sector performance on the overall stock market and the possibility that the primary culprit of negative or positive performance isn’t necessarily the one that significantly drives overall market performance. The study compares average gain or loss by sector with regression analysis to determine if the largest gainer or loser is also reflected in regression analysis after beta calculation. The results show that there is very limited correlation between the two measures suggesting that major volatility in one sector doesn’t necessarily have the greatest impact on total market movement.

United States Homeownership Rates: The Effect Of Macroeconomic Factors On The Domestic Real Estate Market, Alexander Grande

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines the correlation between U.S. economic indicators and the domestic real estate market. The analysis of the study’s findings and results show that some indicators adversely affect homeownership rates in conjunction to the overall state of the market during the time frame depicted. The regression is from a model used on an international level and it is taken and applied here to the domestic market of one country; the United States. The results from the research and tests performed highlight the economic indicators that are closely correlated to the rate of homeownership.

Causality Relationship Between Foreign Exchange Rates And Stock Market Close: Evidence From Singapore, Jeffrey Shew, Jr.

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper attempts to examine whether or not a causal relationship exists between exchange rates and stock market returns. By using the Granger Causality model, causality relationships were determined for four data sets created through the use of significant structural breaks between 1990 and 2006 in Singapore. The results suggest that over the course of 16 years there exists no relationship between exchange rates and stock market returns. However, from 1990 up until the Asian Financial Crisis exchange rates led stock prices as suggested by Granger et al. (2000). The other two time series, between the Asian Financial Crisis and …

An Analysis Of The Female Labor Force Participation Rate In The U.S. 1980-2004, Larry Martins

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This research uses census data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to examine the female labor force participation from 1980 to 2004. These statistics are used to find the determinants of women’s decisions to enter the job market. The purpose of studying the female involvement in the labor force is to illustrate if females are still having trouble in the market. This article also reviews historical labor force statistics to determine how the labor force has changed and which factors have affected its changes between 1980 and 2004. The model, estimated with U.S. data, has provided empirical support for the …

Causality Between Defense Spending Gdp And Economic Growth, Ryan P. Daley

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper addresses whether or not the government members of the “Coalition of the Willing” military expenditure as a participant in the war in Iraq will help to generate domestic economic growth on the eve of an impending recession. This paper analyzes the findings during the time period 1989-2006 regarding military expenditure as a percentage of GDP, and its effect on GDP growth, through comparing that relationship between studies and in different political, socioeconomic circumstances. It also performs the same tests on the most recent and complete set of data available for the 31 member nations of the Coalition, to …

Demand Dynamics With Socially Evolving Preferences And Other Files, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes.

• Aversi, R., Dosi, G., Fagiolo, G., Meacci, M., & Olivetti, C. (1997, December). Demand dynamics with socially evolving preferences (Interim Report IR-97-081). International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

• Minoiu, C., & Reddy, S. G. (2008, February 24). Estimating poverty and inequality from grouped data: How well do parametric methods perform? [Draft paper].

• Bernstein, J., McNichol, E., & Nicholas, A. (2008, April). Pulling apart: A state-by-state analysis of income trends [Report].

• [Author unknown]. (2008, May 22). “It’s the economic recovery plan, stupid.” [Panel discussion invitation featuring Laura D’Andrea Tyson].

• Shaikh, A., PhD. (2008, …

Another Example Of A Credit System That Coexists With Money, Gabriele Camera, Yiting Li

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

We study an economy in which exchange occurs pairwise, there is no commitment, and anonymous agents choose between random monetary trade or deterministic credit trade. To accomplish the latter, agents can exploit a costly technology that allows limited recordkeeping and enforcement. An equilibrium with money and credit is shown to exist if the cost of using the technology is sufficiently small. Anonymity, record-keeping and enforcement limitations also permit some incidence of default, in equilibrium.

A Revelation Principle For Dominant Strategy Implementation, Jesse Schwartz, Quan Wen

Faculty Articles

We introduce a perfect price discriminating (PPD) mechanism for allocation problems with private information. A PPD mechanism treats a seller, for example, as a perfect price discriminating monopolist who faces a price schedule that does not depend on her report. In any PPD mechanism, every player has a dominant strategy to truthfully report her private information. We establish a revelation principle for dominant strategy implementation: any outcome that can be dominant strategy implemented can also be dominant strategy implemented using a PPD mechanism. We apply this principle to derive the optimal, budget-balanced, dominant strategy mechanisms for public good provision and …

Birthrate And Population Density As Predictors Of Quality Of Life, Jessica M. Young

Honors Program Theses

It is thought that economies can benefit from developing their members by providing more opportunities. Thus, when populations grow quickly or are large, quality of life may decrease due to fewer opportunities. To test this hypothesis, two studies were used to investigate correlations between population and quality of life variables. The first study considered U.S. states, while the second study examined countries. Population measures included birthrate and population density, as well as population growth rate for countries. State quality of life measures were: graduation rates, GDP, unemployment, poverty, violent crime rate, and income. Country measures were: life expectancy, literacy, GDP …

Notes On Xr Theory, Trade Balance, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Shaikh, A. (1996, October 12; revised 1998, November 30). XR theory & policy [Handwritten notes on exchange-rate theory and trade policy].
• Shaikh, A. (1998, November 17). RxR theory (Cambridge) [Partial handwritten lecture outline on international trade theory and empirical results].
• Shaikh, A. (1997, September 19). Alternate approach [Handwritten notes on an alternative approach to trade theory].
• Shaikh, A. (1998, October 13). SOAS: XR [Handwritten lecture notes on the failure of conventional exchange-rate theory].
• Shaikh, A. (2006, March 11). Left Forum: Future of imperialism [Handwritten talk outline on trade, neoliberalism, and imperialism].
• Nominal trade balance as percentage of …

Miscellaneous, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes.

• Bowley, G. (2008, February 21). That ’70s look: Stagflation. The New York Times.

• Shaikh, A., PhD. (2007, August 27). Cost of funds raised through equity [Unpublished handwritten notes].

• Cohen, M. A. (2008, January 18). Email to Anwar Shaikh regarding an invitation to the University of Buenos Aires [Email correspondence].

• Jesus College, Cambridge. (2007, October 17). Letter to Anwar Shaikh [Handwritten letter].

• Ali, M. (n.d.). Econ 380: The U.S. trade deficit [Syllabus and reading list].

• [Author unknown]. (2008, February 20). Paradoxes in Lucas’s 1988 model with increasing returns [Annotated paper].

• …

High Stakes Behavior With Low Payoffs: Inducing Preferences With Holt-Laury Gambles, John Dickhaut, Daniel Houser, Jason A. Aimone, Dorina Tila, Cathleen Johnson

ESI Working Papers

A continuing goal of experiments is to understand risky decisions when the decisions are important. Often a decision’s importance is related to the magnitude of the associated monetary stake. Khaneman and Tversky (1979) argue that risky decisions in high stakes environments can be informed using questionnaires with hypothetical choices (since subjects have no incentive to answer questions falsely.) However, results reported by Holt and Laury (2002, henceforth HL), as well as replications by Harrison (2005) suggest that decisions in “high” monetary payoff environments are not well-predicted by questionnaire responses. Thus, a potential implication of the HL results is that studying …

Generating Ambiguity In The Laboratory, Jack Douglas Stecher, Timothy W. Shields, John Dickhaut

ESI Working Papers

This article develops a method for drawing samples from which it is impossible to infer any quantile or moment of the underlying distribution. The method provides researchers with a way to give subjects the experience of ambiguity. In any experiment, learning the distribution from experience is impossible for the subjects, essentially because it is impossible for the experimenter. We describe our method mathematically, illustrate it in simulations, and then test it in a laboratory experiment. Our technique does not withhold sampling information, does not assume that the subject is incapable of making statistical inferences, is replicable across experiments, and requires …