Other Economics Commons^™

Three Essays On The Impacts Of Pollution, Isaiah Chapman Bryant Sheth

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

My dissertation is broadly focused on using data to quantify the consequences of pol- lution and is organized into three chapters. Chapter one estimates the effect on infant health of drinking water contamination attributable to tropical cyclones. Chapter two examines the heterogeneous effects of a policy aimed at reducing air pollution based on pre-existing air quality conditions. Lastly, chapter three investigates how regula- tions aimed at shaping housing development to minimize climate risk impacted the housing market in Houston Texas. Each of these chapters considers different con- sequences of pollution, from direct health costs of pollution exposure to secondary effects …

The Effects Of Chronic Absenteeism On Average Daily Attendance Funding In Humboldt County Elementary Schools, Corabelle A. Esmailian

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Chronic absenteeism is linked to poor academic performance and lower social-emotional skills, both of which can have long-term effects on students and their communities. The California Department of Education uses average daily attendance (ADA) to determine most of the funding that public schools receive. When a student is absent, their school loses a portion of potential funding for that day. This study explores chronic absenteeism’s impact on the funding of Humboldt County’s elementary schools with a sequential exploratory research strategy and critical systems lens. Interviews with elementary administrators were conducted using a phenomenological approach to understand how this affects their …

The Ascendance Of Influencers: Saints Of Capitalism In The Digital Age, Riley R. Hourihan

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

This thesis examines the rise of social media influencers as modern-day saints within the cultural and economic framework of late capitalism. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship from religious studies, media theory, and cultural criticism, it argues that influencer culture does not replace religion but retools its structures—ritual, authority, devotion, and community—for the digital age. Through detailed case studies ranging from Hailey Bieber and Taylor Swift to Ballerina Farm and MrBeast, the paper explores how influencers shape identity, mediate ethics, and mobilize affect through algorithmic rituals and parasocial relationships. Influencers perform a form of digital sanctity that parallels traditional hagiography, guiding followers …

Modeling Inflation Expectations In Forward-Looking Interest Rate And Money Growth Rules, Zhengyang Chen, Victor J. Valcarcel

Faculty Publications

We propose a novel approach that directly embeds rational expectations (RE) into a low-dimensional structural vector autoregression (SVAR) without the need for any mapping to a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model. Beginning from a fully specified “consensus” structural model, we establish an instrumental variable procedure internal to the SVAR to obtain RE-consistent structural responses to identified monetary policy shocks. Our RE-SVAR framework facilitates a comparison across two alternative monetary policy indicators that accommodate long horizons in the formation of inflation expectations in the policy rule. We construct clouds of responses of inflation and economic activity to monetary …

The Legacy Of Housing Discrimination: Asthma Disparities In California Cities, Taylor Daetz

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the effect of discriminatory housing policy on current asthma rates in California cities. This study uses boundary design and propensity score methodologies to analyze asthma-related emergency department visits in census tracts with corresponding appraisal grades from the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation maps. The results indicate significantly higher asthma burdens in grade D (redlined) census tracts compared to grade C tracts, even when controlling for present-day pollution concentrations, with historically redlined tracts experiencing an average of 26.88 additional emergency department visits per 10,000 residents. The analysis further reveals disparities between grade C and B neighborhoods, suggesting that even …

High ‘Steaks’: Does Lone Star Tick-Induced Red Meat Allergy Reduce Cardiovascular Disease-Related Hospitalizations?, Raj Parekh

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis, I investigate the relationships between Lone Star Tick-induced Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS), red meat consumption, and cardiovascular health outcomes within New York State's 62 counties from 2012 to 2021. The analysis examines whether AGS, which forces individuals to reduce red meat consumption, serves as a natural experiment in understanding dietary impacts on cardiovascular disease (CVD). Leveraging panel data, I utilize Fixed Effects (FE) and Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) regression frameworks to disentangle the relationships between red meat expenditure, meat prices, Lone Star Tick prevalence, and health outcomes such as CVD, stroke, coronary heart disease, and heart attack hospitalization …

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 …

Sports Facilities, Trails, And Travel Cost: A Non-Market Valuation Case Study Of Parks In Montana, Clemens Walter Wilson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study applies the travel cost valuation method to urban parks in the State of Montana in an effort to determine whether parks with attributes related to exercise have greater value for recreationalists. By observing real recreation behaviour of urban park visitors through the use of cellphone mobility data, recreational demand for varying parks can be ascertained. To model recreational demand, the random utility model (RUM) and multinomial logit model (MNL) are leveraged to understand choice probabilities of parks, based on the attributes of parks, including sports facilities and trails. This study finds that there are positive and significant relationships …

Can Financial Inclusion-Based Interventions For Poverty Alleviation Build Sustainable Livelihoods? Voices From Mutual Solidarity Groups (Muso) In Haiti., Meera R. Bhat

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Scholars, policymakers, changemakers, and social workers have attempted to define, understand, and eradicate poverty. Its endurance raises the prospect that these efforts may be incomplete or faulty. This thesis will probe this concern by examining poverty and poverty alleviation programs through the lens of a holistic intervention-based framework known as the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF). The first paper introduces the SLF and uses it to undertake a conceptual analysis comparing demand and supply driven poverty alleviation interventions that are based on financial inclusion. Next it uses the SLF as a methodological tool to compare financial inclusion programs, as operationalized by …

Three Essays On Education And Health Economics, Kalvin Mudrow

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The first chapter explores the impact of online education on student outcomes by comparing students pre-2020 school closures to students post-2020 school closures. Using student-level panel data from a large U.S. school district spanning 2017-2023 and two outcome variables, reading tests and end-of-level exams, I estimate the effects on different demographic groups, the dynamics of these effects over time, and how these effects differ across students ages. I find a significant decline in student performance after the move to online learning, with additional adverse effects on students who are classified as low-income, female, special education, or ELL. Mechanisms contributing to …

Three Essays On The Socioeconomics Of Drinking Water Pfas Contamination, Nabin Babu Khanal

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of over 15,000 synthetic compounds widely used for their resistance to heat, stains, grease, and water. While central to many modern conveniences, ingestion of PFAS is increasingly linked to adverse human health outcomes and are now detected globally in drinking water systems. This dissertation investigates three interrelated aspects of PFAS contamination in U.S. drinking water: (1) socioeconomic determinants and spatial patterns of contamination; (2) the economic impacts of contamination on residential property values; and (3) the effect of inconsistent PFAS regulations on public trust in environmental governance.

Using data from the U.S. …