Public Economics Commons^™

County-Level Unemployment Dynamics Following The Covid Recession: The Effects Of Ppp Loan Take Up, Preston Antes

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a nationwide shutdown, dragging the US into a recession. To combat the effects of the pandemic on the economy, Congress created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) with the focus of preserving jobs and providing liquidity to small businesses. PPP created low-interest, forgivable business loans with forgiveness tied to a few benchmarks, providing a de facto cash transfer to small businesses. Did PPP preserve jobs? When examining Mississippi, this paper shows that counties with high cyclical unemployment participated more intensely in the program. Furthermore, the research shows that as loan totals grew within a county, local labor …

Understanding Romania's Poverty: A Historical Overview Of Economics And Politics And Their Implications On Poverty Today, Benjamin Bucur

Senior Honors Theses

Romania is a country with a high-income economy that is experiencing considerable growth following its economic reforms of earlier decades. With growth, tendencies for an unequal society are prevalent. Therefore, appropriate economic policies that are specifically targeted toward bottlenecks are essential. This thesis seeks to outline the major types of poverty in Romania while also offering actionable entrepreneurial and educational insights that practically combat poverty at its roots.

On Income Inequality And Poverty In Egypt: Is Prosperity Immoral?, Mohamed Karim Lotfy Abdelkhalek

Theses and Dissertations

There are varying perspectives on, and divergent solutions to, the phenomena of income inequality and poverty. There seems to be polarizing views on both of these sensitive topics. One side of the argument believes income inequality should in itself be mitigated through redistribution measures, while the other argues that this should not be the focus of policy makers, as it deters them from facing the more pressing issue facing society – which is absolute poverty. The relationship between income inequality, poverty, and citizen well-being in Egypt is one that warrants further research, and this paper aims to fill this lacuna. …

Three Essays On Macroeconomic Shocks, Chase Coleman

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

This dissertation looks at the role that various macroeconomic shocks have on the economy through the lens of both macro- and micro-economic perspectives. In the macro realm, I examine the importance of how researchers measure shocks; functional shocks reveal information latent in scalar shocks. From the micro point of view, I examine the impact of a change in national tax policy.

In Chapter 2, I analyze the effect of monetary policy shocks on household consumption. Measuring shocks as shifts in the entire term structure of interest rates reveals a heterogeneous response of households to conventional and unconventional policies. I find …

An Analysis Of Demand-Pull Inflation In The United States Post-Pandemic, Isabella A. Moynihan

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a global shutdown of the economy resulting from both demand and supply shocks. Also, the significant decline in output and employment in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic led to a fast reaction from the government in the form of large fiscal rescue packages. At the end of 2021, the acceleration of inflation, which had been dormant for more than four decades, became the main topic of macroeconomic debates. The debate has revolved around the influence of cost-push versus demand-pull causes of inflation. The dominant view in the United States has been that inflation resulted …

A Qualitative Study On The Financial Education Of Young Black Men, Sue M. May

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Financial literacy awareness is low among young adults, and financial literacy among Black college students is significantly lower than in other groups (Singh, 2018). However, there is little to no research on why financial literacy is so low among young Black men between 18 and 25. Few studies specifically show how financial literacy and decision-making may be related to their family economics and socialization for young Black men. Using Critical Race Theory and Family Financial Socialization theoretical frameworks, this dissertation project examined a sample of seven young self-identified Black men ages 24 to 25 years old in Northern California Bay …

Recession Emerges As The Most Likely Scenario, Eric Thompson

Business in Nebraska

The United States economy faces the prospect of a second recession as the Federal Reserve Bank continues to raise interest rates to confront inflationary forces. These forces include elevated asset prices and a wage-price spiral. Further interest rate increases are likely given a challenging environment to reduce inflation. Challenges include limited migration and a slow-growing labor force, trade restrictions, regulatory restrictions that limit energy production and raise the minimum wage as well as excessive federal government spending. Federal spending through the CARES Act, Coronavirus Supplemental Appropriations Act, American Rescue Plan, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act continue to fuel excess …

An Anomaly In Unemployment Rates: A Comparative Analysis Of Federal Governments’ Responses To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Trent Arney

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom experienced extremely low unemployment rates compared to similarly developed nations. As a result of the ensuing national recessions, the United States’ and Canada’s Phillip’s Curves shifted, while the United Kingdom’s remained steady. Each of these three nations pursued relatively similar monetary and fiscal policies; however, the United Kingdom’s government-supported wage policy had different requirements and specifications than that of the United States’ and Canada’s. The United Kingdom’s government-supported wage policy prioritized saving jobs while the United States’ and Canada’s policies prioritized saving firms, leading to the disparity in national unemployment rates observed during …

The Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Local Fiscal Revenue: Empirical Evidence From The Regions With Dominant Tertiary Sectors, Aisyah Nurrul Jannah, Khoirunurrofik Khoirunurrofik

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

The COVID-19 crisis has devastatingly affected social and economic sectors, including service or tertiary sectors such as banking, insuran;ce, hospitality, telecommunications, and industrial services. The pandemic has also aggravated fiscal conditions along with the slowing economy. This paper aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 on local own-source revenue in regions with dominant tertiary sectors and to examine how a fiscal incentive policy can increase the local own-source revenue. We applied the difference-in-difference panel random effect method by estimating total revenue and local own-source revenue as the outcome variables. The treatment variable is the districts/cities with dominant tertiary sectors of …

The Nonlinear Impact Of Payment System Innovation On Financial System Stability In The Asean-4 Countries, Mahjus Ekananda

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

The increasing growth of financial system encourages payment system innovation that can affect financial system stability, particularly in ASEAN countries. This study explored a variety of payment system innovation, i.e. debit cards, credit cards, electronic money, and RTGS. The financial system stability index is measured by calculating the composite indexes of non-performing loans, Z-score from ROA and CAR, share price volatility, and yield bonds. The components of the indexes are structured to reflect risks from the banking, stock, and bond markets. The resulting index value indicates the level of risk in the financial system. A higher index specifies a higher …

Simultaneous Relationship Between Financial Inclusion, Economic Growth, And Income Inequality In Sulawesi Island, 2011-2019, Adella Siti Nursaliyawati, Siskarossa Ika Oktora

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Sulawesi Island has fairly high economic growth but is not followed by a significant decrease in income inequality. Therefore, a new strategy is needed to overcome these problems, one of them by increasing the role of the financial sector through financial inclusion. This study aims to analyze the relationship between financial inclusion, economic growth, and income inequality, as well as the factors influencing them in Sulawesi Island from 2011 to 2019. The analytical method used is the simultaneous equation model with panel data using the EC2SLS model. The results show that there is a simultaneous relationship between financial inclusion and …

Household Size And Household Wealth In Indonesia With The Influence Of Spatial Aspects, Thomas Soseco

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Investigating household wealth should also include spatial analysis to capture the influence of location on the households’ net wealth and to avoid underestimation of the effect of the change of variables due to estimation that ignores spatial aspects. This paper examines factors influencing household net wealth in Indonesia with the influence of spatial lag using data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) for 1993–2014. The article relies on the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to analyze the data. Results show that household net wealth in Indonesia is spatially related to each other, and the spillover effect makes the change of …

Economic Growth And Co2 Emission In Asean: Panel-Ardl Approach, Feriansyah Feriansyah, Hari Nugroho, Aura Asyda Larre, Qori’Atul Septiavin, Cintya Khairun Nisa

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

This paper investigates the relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions from 1994 to 2018 using a panel approach from eight ASEAN countries. We found an established result using the Panel ARDL Pooled Mean Group method. First, the panel Cointegration analysis shows a significant long-term relationship between GDP and CO2 emissions. Second, the error correction mechanism shows a stable and consistent value. Third, we found that GDP has a significant long-term effect on CO2 emissions in ASEAN countries. Fourth, our results also show that GDP significantly impacts CO2 emissions in the short term for four countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and …

Constructing Indonesian Digital Economy Index In Determining Economic Policy Priorities Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic, Diah Rukmana Sari, Nasrudin Nasrudin

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

The constant increase in the number of internet users in Indonesia amid a sluggish economy caused by the Large-Scale Social Restriction (PSBB) policy is a great opportunity for a digital-based economy. However, the unavailability of relevant macroeconomic statistical measurements inhibits the digital economy from being determined as a policy priority amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. This study offers an alternative measurement of the digital economy of Indonesia by establishing Digital Economy Index (DEI). This study discovers that digital economic activities in Indonesia have grown rapidly with an average growth of almost nine percent quarterly. On the other hand, this study also …

Natural Disasters And Government Size: A Cross-Country Analysis, Justin Hainse

Honors Projects in Economics

re have been multiple studies within the field of economics concerning the various effects that natural disasters have on countries. The goal of the present study is to address the seemingly forgotten area of how natural disasters affect the size of a government. Using data from both the Emergency Events Database and the World Bank, a cross-country panel data analysis is performed to test the impact of natural disasters on government size. The results show that more deaths from a natural disaster is associated with countries having a larger government. These results aim to be useful for allowing governments to …

Does It Pay To Be Good? The Performance Of Indonesian Green Companies From 2009 - 2018, Ega Annisa Rizti, Berli Martawardaya

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

In Indonesia, KEHATI Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) Index, hereafter referred to as SKI, aims to raise public awareness and help pro-environmental investors by selecting 25 highly rated public companies that adhere to the internationally accepted green business standard. This paper compared the financial performance of the companies listed in SKI and their counterparts between the period of January 2009 and December 2018 by predicting their future opening price of stock, comparing the performance of SKI to JKSE market index, and examining their financial performance using ROA and ROE as dependent variables. The findings suggest that being included in SKI …

The Impact Of Foreign Investment On Firm Performance: Indonesia After The 2007 Fdi Reform, Nauval Hafiluddin, Arianto Arif Patunru

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays a crucial role in the economy of Indonesia. The new FDI law passed in 2007 serves as a new milestone in the FDI regime in Indonesia. As the country implements the new regulation, the impact of foreign investment on firm performance becomes an interesting subject. This paper aims to estimate the effect of foreign investment on the productivity and contribution of firms in relation to the new FDI law in Indonesia. This study employed a combination of Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Difference-in-Differences (DiD) methods to eliminate endogeneity problems and to examine causality. We discover …

Why The Rate Of Return Of Religious School (Madrasah) Is Too Low: The Case In Indonesia, Elfindri Elfindri, Edi Ariyanto, Sri Maryati, Delfia Tanjung Sari

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Religious schools (madrasah) in Indonesia have contributed to fulfilling the equity goals of education. Up to this point, studies on the rate of return of madrasah and its relation to general or vocational education remain limited. In contrast to the previous studies that omit madrasah from their analysis, this study pay greater attention to this particular type of education. By adopting the Mincerian model of the human capital and applying the semi-log earnings function to the 2012 data of the National Socioeconomic Survey (SUSENAS) of Indonesia, this study discovers that the rate of return of graduates from madrasah is considerably …

The Effect Of Quantitative Easing On U.S. Stock Prices And Wealth Inequality, Griffin W. Phillips

Student Scholar Showcase

My thesis will investigate and try to find a casual relationship between Quantitative Easing, or “QE”, and the U.S. stock market since 2003. The secondary effects will then be investigated to see if stock prices impact wealth inequality. To find the causal relationship between the two a regression model will be used. It predicts the magnitude of effects for QE and other variables that may impact stock prices. Since 2007-2009, the Federal Reserve has used QE as a means to spur economic growth. This expansionary monetary policy has impacted many financial markets including the U.S. stock market. Finding the extent …

The Productivity And Future Growth Potential Of Indonesia, Mohamad Ikhsan, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, I Gede Sthitaprajna Virananda, Zihaul Abdi

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

The output per worker of Indonesia has been on a downtrend since 2010, with total factor productivity (TFP) and capital stock largely stagnant if not declining. This paper discusses stylized facts that may explain recent trends in the productivity and growth potential of Indonesia. The decomposition of output per worker reveals the declining contribution of human capital, which is also most negative among peer countries. The growth in labor productivity has been concentrated within sectors, implying room for gains from labor reallocations. A substantial share of employment and credit in Indonesia has shifted to the relatively unproductive service sectors, particularly …

Waqf Fund Management Through Micro Waqf Bank Program In Indonesia, Fachry Ganiardi Danuwijaya, Nurwahidin M.Ag

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Waqf is a muamalah activity that has a very important economic and social role in Islamic history. Waqf is one of solutions to the problem of poverty and social inequality in society. The establishment of the Micro Waqf Bank initiated by the government together with the Financial Services Authority (OJK) has played an important role as one of the new Islamic microfinance institutions in financial inclusion in Indonesia. This paper will discuss how the management of waqf funds through the Islamic Waqf Bank program based on pesantren in efforts to alleviate poverty and social inequality which has become a chronic …

The Leveling Spirit: Violence And Inequality In Postwar Iraq, Griffin Perrault

Honors Theses

The Iraq War (2003–2011) constitutes by some estimates one of the deadliest and most destructive conflicts of the 21st century (Hagopian et al., 2013). In addition to the disputed figures of excess violent civilian casualties––generally ranging from 180,000 to 210,000 deaths––the war has created one of the major refugee crises of modern times, with 1 in 25 Iraqis estimated to have been displaced from their homes by the 2003 invasion (Costs of War, 2021). While much of this violence has been wrought by American and Iraqi coalition troops, violence against civilians has also been perpetuated by insurgent groups and paramilitary …

Climate Trailblazer Or Corporate Giveaway: An Economic And Political Evaluation Of Cap-And-Trade In California, Benjamin Reicher

Pomona Senior Theses

In this thesis, I conduct an economic and political analysis of California’s cap-and-trade program, the leading national (and international) example of a market-based strategy to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. I evaluate the program on several economic and political measures of success, especially as contrasted with the performance of various regulatory policies that California also relies on to meet its emissions reduction targets. These regulations exemplify a command and control approach to emissions mitigation as opposed to a market-based approach, and indeed tend to be favored by grassroots activists who may be skeptical about market-friendly policies; my thesis seeks to …

Disembedded Liberalism: The Global Pressure On Democracy, Hallie Spear

CMC Senior Theses

The international political order is at a crossroads with divergent paths. Liberal democracy is once again threatened on the international stage. What's more troubling is that the most stable and influential democracies, the United States, those in Europe and India, seem to be vulnerable to the autocratic wave sweeping through the world. This thesis completes a critical analysis to understand the root causes of the recent disruption to democracy the world has observed. Focusing on three established, diverse, and populous democracies, this thesis investigates the economic conditions at play that made each nation vulnerable to populism. Neoliberal economic policies implemented …

The Macroeconomic Impacts Of Government Debt In Pakistan, Ateeb Akhter Shah Syed, Kaneez Fatima, Junaid Kamal

Business Review

This paper examines the Ricardian equivalence hypothesis for Pakistan using a vector error-correction model. The sample period extends from June 2002 to January 2020. The results are reported using variance decompositions and impulse response functions. The base model contains six variables and is estimated with 4 lags. We find support for the idea that wealth does not increase as government debt increases; Hence, it proves the fact that economic agents are rational actors and foresee current expansionary actions of the government that result in accumulation of debt as the present value of future taxation that they have to pay and …

Exporters In The Time Of Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence From Indonesia, Realita Eschachasthi

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

The export of Indonesia has contracted rapidly in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, little is known about the crisis-trade relationship, which is important for the policymakers to design the relevant policies. To that end, this study examines how exporters adjust in the time of pandemic as well as estimates the impact of COVID-19 on export performance by using microdata of monthly export transactions from January 2019 to August 2020. This relationship is analyzed by employing intensive and extensive margins as well as a panel fixed effects specification. The result shows that capital goods, mainly manufactured products, have been hit …

Effects Of Financial Inclusion And Openness On Banking Stability: Evidence From Developing And Developed Countries, Sugiharso Safuan, M. Abdi Shalihin

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

This study seeks to contribute to the emerging debate regarding the effects of financial inclusion and openness on banking stability. Panel data from 217 developing and developed countries from 2004 to 2017 showed that financial inclusion did not affect banking stability. However, financial openness significantly affected banking stability in all countries worldwide. Furthermore, the interaction of financial inclusion and openness had a significant positive effect on banking stability in developing and all countries worldwide. This finding indicates that the more funds obtained by banks from the implementation of financial inclusion policy and financial openness policy, the greater the potential for …

Special Allocation Fund And Poverty Rate In Indonesia, Danesta Febianto Nugroho, Bayu Rhamadani Wicaksono, Muhammad R. Reynaldi

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

The Special Allocation Fund is distributed to specific areas to aid them in funding special regional activities that follow national interests. Giving regional government's broad autonomy is meant to hasten the realization of social welfare, as seen by reducing poverty. This study aims to examine the influence of the Special Allocation Fund for education, health, and infrastructure on the poverty rate in Indonesia, using the Poverty Gap Index (P1) as a proxy for the poverty rate. The study employed annual data from 33 Indonesian provinces from 2015 to 2018 and panel data regression analysis utilizing the Fixed Effects Model (FEM). …

The Impact Of School Operational Assistance Program Implementation At School Level On Senior Secondary Education Enrollment By Households: Evidence From Indonesia In 2007 And 2014, Fairuzah Pertiwi Kartasasmita, Eny Sulistyaningrum

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Education is recognized worldwide as one of the key elements in developing the human capital of a nation for a prosperous future. Given an almost universal enrollment in primary education, many governments have shifted their focus on students motivation to continue to and finish their secondary education. The government of Indonesia has made extensive efforts in widening participation in education. With a growing budget for educational expenditure, various government programs have been implemented to assist students in their learning. One such program is the School Operational Assistance Program (BOS), which has been running for two decades. This paper reports on …

The Role Of Success Rate, Discovery, Appraisal Spending, And Transitioning Region On Exploration Drilling Of Oil And Gas In Indonesia In 2004-2015, Harry Patria

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Petroleum exploration decision remains a subject of petroleum and economic studies for decades. Most of the studies discuss the investment decision by focusing on either a technical or economic perspective. In reality, economic, geological, and environmental factors are expected to determine the way investors make a decision. This study aims to increase the understanding of best practices in decision-making by scrutinizing integrative perspectives applying panel data of 32 basins in Indonesia in 2004-2015. This study provides several contributions to optimize decisions on wells drilled. First, this study derives an empirical model examining several plausible factors of economy, geology, and environment. …