Regional Economics Commons^™

Three Essays In Regional Taxation, Kenneth Tester

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

This dissertation looks at the role that geographically limited taxation and the behavioral response of economic agents to different forms of regional taxation. While geographic taxation is typically thought to be confined to state and local taxes, federal tax policy can also create designated areas that receive preferential tax treatment. In this dissertation, both types of regional taxation are examined and are unified under common themes such as tax mobility and the definition of the tax base.

In chapter 2, I examine the important effect of how the location of high income earners employment is influenced by taxes in the …

The Road Less Traveled: Economic Analysis Of Roads And Highways, Margaret C. Bock

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Roads are an integral component of civilization, connecting people, markets, and ideas. In different settings and geographies, roads can take on many different purposes. In rural, more isolated areas, roads can serve as a cost-saving benefit and can be used as tools to increase accessibility. In urban, more congested areas, roads can be seen as an externality-producing hindrance. Naturally, given this view, the overall analysis of roads should reflect these different settings. To date, however, the study of roads in the economics literature has surprisingly large pitfalls, notably in terms of topics of study and methodologies used.

Spending on roads …

The Effects Of Racial Capitalism On Poor White Laborers, Amy Whittaker

Liberal Studies (MA) Final Essays

While always remembering that racial capitalism’s very nature ensures that non-white Americans suffer incomparable racial oppression, this paper will endeavor to expose the devastation caused to American society as a whole by explaining the ways in which racial capitalism destroyed poor white labors ability to participate fully in the economic system and strangled its chances of living the American dream. It is my hope that by discussing the missing piece of the poor white laborers’ experience under racial capitalism will unite poor white laborers and poor black laborers to work together to end racial capitalism, policing, and the carceral system. …

The Impact Of Disparity In Infrastructure Development On Aceh's Economic Performance: An Inter-Provincial Analysis, Mutiara Fahmi

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

This study provides empirical findings on regional disparity in infrastructural facilities in 23 districts/municipalities of Aceh Province and the impact of the disparity on the economic performance of Aceh Province, specifically on those of economic growth, poverty, and unemployment. The unit of analysis is the district level and the Infrastructure Development Index (IDI) is used as the variable computed by using the multivariate method. Regional disparity is measured by the Coefficient of Variation and the impact of IDI on the provinces economy is analyzed using the econometric model. The analysis shows that infrastructure development disparity exists and that IDI generally …

Public Health Spending, Governance Quality And Poverty Alleviation, Mohamad Komarudin

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Poverty alleviation has become the main priority program in most developing countries. This research empirically studies the correlation between public health spending, governance quality, and poverty alleviation in developing countries. The panel data were estimated via a random-effects (RE) model and robustness check using instrumental variables (IV) (two-stage least-squares [2SLS]) and first-difference generalized method of moments (GMM) because of the endogeneity problem. The results suggest that public health spending has a significant effect on reducing the poverty rate, and that countries with better governance tend to reduce poverty than countries with poor governance. Increasing public health spending by one percentage …

The Role Of Banking Services In Determining The Destination Countries For Indonesia's Non-Oil And Gas Export, Rini Satriani

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

This study aims to examine whether the risk factor and banking services play a significant role in determining not only the export performance of a country but also the pattern of export destination markets, with the reference to the case of Indonesia. These two indicators are interrelated because the risk factor in export transactions can be mitigated by banking sector. Using the data of export Letter of Credits (LCs) for non-oil and gas exports of Indonesia as a banking instrument to mitigate special risk transactions to 102 export destination countries as well as a panel data methodology for the 2011-2018 …

A Decomposition Analysis Of Fertility: Evidence From Dki Jakarta And East Nusa Tenggara, Farma Mangunsong

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Fertility control has been one of the priorities of development in Indonesia. However, the 2000 and 2010 population censuses showed an increase in fertility indicators. To identify the sources of increased fertility in developed and less developed areas, DKI Jakarta and East Nusa Tenggara Provinces were selected for comparison. Using 2000 and 2010 census data, the decomposition analysis shows that the increase in Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of DKI Jakarta was dominated by the increase in nuptiality rate, while the increase in TFR of East Nusa Tenggara was mainly caused by the increase in Marital Fertility Rate (MFR). The highest …

Business Vulnerability And Credit Access For Agriculture-Based Micro And Small Women Entrepreneurs, Dewi Ratna Sjari M

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Micro and Small Industries (MSIs) constitute the largest share of Indonesia's manufacturing sector and play an important role in providing employment opportunities and value-added creation. However, their business sustainability and scaling up are often hindered by various factors, one of which is access to credit. The subsidized loan scheme provided by the government, namely People's Business Credit (KUR), appears to be insufficiently attractive to entrepreneurs, especially to Micro and Small Women Entrepreneurs (MSWEs). Employing a logit regression method and utilizing the BPS-Statistics Indonesia's 2015 MSI survey data, this study aims to investigate factors affecting MSWEs decision to apply for bank …

The International Tourism Performance Amidst Several Intervention Events: More Than 20 Years Of Multi Input Intervention Analysis In Bali, Jakarta, And Kepulauan Riau Provinces, Taly Purwa

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

As one of the priority sectors in economic development of Indonesia, tourism is expected to be the main key in accelerating economic and social growth, hence reducing poverty. The tourism performance, especially international tourism market, is highly prone to intervention events that can reduce the number of inbound tourists and produce a negative impact on economic development of the destination country. Therefore, anticipating and mitigating various intervention events is necessary to maintain the performance of the tourism sector in Indonesia. This study investigates the magnitude and patterns of impact of several intervention events on the number of international visitor arrivals …

Should I Bribe? Re-Examining The Greasing-The-Wheels Hypothesis In Democratic Post-Soeharto Indonesia, Irfan Kurniawan

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

During the Soeharto Era corruption was considered to grease the wheels of growth in Indonesia, a country once considered to be the most corrupt country in the world. Indonesia began to experience instantaneous decentralization and democratization after the Soeharto Era abruptly ended. While vastly celebrated, these episodes have their unintended consequence: coercive regulation. We employed the extensive firm-level Large and Medium Manufacturing (Industri Besar Sedang/IBS) census data combined with the Indonesian Democracy Index (Indeks Demokrasi Indonesia/IDI) at provincial level spanning from 2009 to 2015 and found that bribery hampered Indonesian firm output and productivity growth by 9.8% and 12.6%, respectively. …

Islamic Financial Literacy Index Of Students: Bridging Sdgs Of Islamic Finance, Arief Dwi Saputra, Alfina Rahmatia

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

This research aims to measure the level of Islamic financial literacy among students by reviewing 2 dimensions, 8 variables, and 33 indicators obtained from literature studies and experts. This study applied mix method to qualitative and quantitative data with a total sample of 273 respondents. The data were obtained from interview and online FGD and then processed by word similarity analysis as well as validity and reliability tests, the results of which are used as reference and conclusion. The analysis shows that the level of understanding of financial literacy among students remains significantly low, proven by the value of the …

Does Bitcoin Use Affect Crime Rates?, Kevin Keane

The Corinthian

Bitcoin is the most widely used cryptocurrency in the world because of its decentralized network that completes user-to-user transactions, eliminating the need for intermediaries. During 2017, the volume of Bitcoin transactions totaled $94.3 trillion. Bitcoin transactions are recorded in a public database called the blockchain. Although the blockchain can keep track of how many transactions there are, it can’t identify the people involved in transactions. The lack of identity increases the anonymity of Bitcoin transactions, making it less detectable when used for crime. Using the Uniform Crime Reporting’s state-level crime rate data and blockchain’s Bitcoin transaction information, I estimate the …

Writing Tips For Economics Research Papers, Plamen Nikolov

Economics Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Producer Services: An Engine For High-Wage Job Growth, Spencer Cook, Eric Thompson

Business in Nebraska

Producer services providers are firms that sell services primarily to the business community rather than to individuals and households. Many producer services businesses are classified in the professional, scientific, and technical service (PSTS) industry. Accounting firms, consultants, and computer design services are prominent examples of PSTS businesses that are worth studying for three reasons:

1. SUPPORT OF OTHER INDUSTRIES: PSTS industries supply the broader business community, making them a critical segment of the economy.

2. RAPID HIGH WAGE JOB GROWTH: Many PSTS industries are rapidly growing and pay high wages. The producer services sector, in fact, is the principal source …

The Impact Of Human Capital On Shadow Economy In Indonesia, Neli Agustina

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Shadow economy is a market for legal and illegal goods and services that escape recording and estimation of GDP. It can cause inaccurate estimation of GDP, declining tax revenue, and less precise economic policies. Improving the quality of human capital, both in education and health dimensions, can reduce shadow economy. The research aims to estimate shadow economy and analyze the influence of the quality of human capital on shadow economy in Indonesia. Applying time series multiple linear regression analysis, the findings show that the average shadow economy in Indonesia is 28.97 percent, changes in life expectancy negatively affect changes in …

Enhancing Resilience To Turbulent Global Financial Markets: An Indonesian Experience, Febrio Kacaribu

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

In the empirical literature, large and abrupt declines in capital inflows, or sudden stops, typically hit asset markets and generate output losses in the receiving countries. The significant decrease in capital flows to emerging markets in 2018 is a unique opportunity to test this premise. Using Indonesian data, we found that the sharp decline in capital inflows for over two consecutive quarters in 2018 had an adverse impact on the currency, equities, and bond markets, but no discernible output loss was recorded. Real GDP growth remained resilient throughout 2018 and held broadly steady at around 5 percent in the first …

Book Review: Central Bank Policy: Theory And Practice, Denny Irawan

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

No abstract provided.

Corporate Income Tax Rate And Foreign Direct Investment: A Cross-Country Empirical Study, Amalia Indah Sujarwati

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

This study aims to explore the impact of Corporate Income Tax Rate (CITR) on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), specified based on income levels of countries. Using an unbalanced fixed-effect method of 112 countries over the period of 2003-2017, our finding shows that CITR has no significant impact on FDI. Corporate Income Tax (CIT) is levied on all firms, and as CIT is generally more complex than other types of taxes, its influences on FDI are in question. Excluding tax havens from the sample, our findings show that CITR has a weak significance only in the lower-middle-income and low-income countries.

Gender Differences In Children's Non-Leisure Activities: A Decomposition Analysis, Dayang Haszelinna Abang Ali

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

The prevalence of son preference indicates that girls will have less leisure time compared to boys. This study aims to examine gender differences in weekly hours in schooling, housework, and working among children in Indonesia using Tobit Model and decomposition model of Bauer & Sinning (2005), to test whether son preference explains the differences. The dataset was drawn from the fourth wave of Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) in 2007. The results show significant gender differences in housework and working for children aged 5-14 years and insignificant gender gap in schooling for both age groups. These results confirm the existence …

The Impact Of Entrepreneurship On Economic Performance In Indonesia, Yohanes Kadarusman

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Entrepreneurship is claimed to have a positive and significant effect on economic growth in developed countries, but less so in developing countries. Using the growth model, this study examines the impact of entrepreneurship on economic performance in Indonesia as indicated by economic growth and income per-capita from 1985 to 2017. The estimation result confirms the non-significant effect of the growth of entrepreneurial ventures on the growth of GDP per-capita. However, the accumulation of the ventures has a positive and significant effect on the level of GDP per capita. The different typology of entrepreneurial ventures in Indonesia provides some insight to …

Disamenity Or A Signal Of Competence? The Empirical Political Economy Of Local Road Maintenance, Benjamin Blemings, Margaret Bock

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

Empirical results find different conclusions than theoretical evidence of how electorates perceive road work. This paper uses a geographically smaller unit of analysis than prior work, political alignment, local election cycles, and difference-in-differences. It finds political distortions in invasive road maintenance timing and rules out maintenance seasonality. Spatial discontinuity plots leveraging ward boundary cutoffs confirm the shift. Results identify new public distortions to road maintenance, local election cycles, which are widespread and frequent. The estimates are used to calculate financial costs of local elections on road maintenance. Local elections have cost medium-large U.S. cities over $185.5 million from 1960- 2020.

The Nebraska Economy Responds To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Eric Thompson

Business in Nebraska

The Nebraska economy will contract in 2020 but the rate of decline will not be as rapid as nationwide. The economic structure of Nebraska is more focused on production and transportation than the national economy and less focused on hard-hit industries such as hospitality, entertainment, automobile parts and assembly, and oil production. Nebraska also may benefit from a higher quality workforce, which is better able to adapt to changing economic conditions.

Employment will drop by 2.4% in Nebraska in 2020, much less than the national rate of decline. Employment will rebound by 2.0% in 2021 and 1.4% in 2022. With …

Addressing Urban Income Inequality Through Education: A Case Study In Atlanta, Garrett Bronn

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

For decades, the income inequality gap between the rich and poor has continued to expand dramatically, with criticism of existing education systems often at the heart of the issue. Large urban cities are commonly at the forefront of the issue, given the plethora of teacher strikes in recent years. Events such as the 11-day Chicago teacher’s strike in October of 2019 that idled academics and college prep for 350,000 students, have highlighted many current education issues (Hauck, 2019). With underfunded and poorly equipped middle and high schools, students in poor and minority neighborhoods in cities are less prepared academically, ill …

The End Of Zero Returns And The Last Dollar: Can New York State Create A Collective Store Of Value, Crowdsource Wealth, And Fund Its Colleges And Universities Using Cryptocurrency?, Edward Lehner

Publications and Research

This brief personal statement, citing the previous work of the Bronx Community College Cryptocurrency Research Laboratory (BCC Lab), advocates for a private New York State Money to fund New York State’s public higher education. Attempting to shed most of the academic language and the formalities of research-driven writing, this short statement frames two distinct arguments. The first contention is that New York State residents need a means by which to store value outside of the traditional banking and financial systems due to massive Federal Reserve printing that is centered primarily on rescuing fledgling Wall Street profits and mitigating reckless businesses …

Integration Of And Deliveries Among The World Zionist Organization, Israel, And Diaspora Countries: System Articulation With The Social Fabric Matrix, F. Gregory Hayden

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

The religious economics (not economics of religion) concern here is the relationship between the World Zionist Organization (WZO) and Israel, which is known as a geopolitical power in its region and which is also known as an economic success story. Joseph Schumpeter and Karl Polanyi explained how the political economy of medieval Europe was influenced and guided by Christian morality. This paper extends the analysis of religious economics by using the social fabric matrix of original institutional economics to define and structure the integration of the WZO, Israel, and the Diaspora countries. This allows us to observe how to conduct …

State Of The Northwest Arkansas Region 2020 Report, Mervin Jebaraj, David Sorto

State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report

The State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report is an annual publication, commissioned by the Northwest Arkansas Council, that serves as a tool for evaluating economic performance. In July 2018, the Northwest Arkansas Council created a new blueprint for development that outlines the peer regions and a strategic action agenda for 2018-2021. In this plan, the performance of Northwest Arkansas is benchmarked with other contemporary, high-performing regions, namely Austin, Des Moines, Madison, Durham-Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Provo-Orem. The 2020 State of the Region Report compares Northwest Arkansas (Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA) with these geographies in the areas of gross domestic product, employment, …

Homeownership Rate And Other House Price Determinants Impacts On New House Prices In Colombia, Hector A. Botello-Peñaloza

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Homeownership remains a preferred form of tenancy in different parts of the world. The attractions of security, stability, investment potential and a sense of pride outweigh the fear of price instability. For this reason, the Colombian government has encouraged in recent years, various demand policies that have sought to promote the increase in the number of homeowners. However, these ideas could have a severe impact on prices in the real estate market. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the effect of homeownership rate on new house prices in an emerging country with low real estate ownership, credit restrictions and average …

Corruption, Government Effectiveness And Human Development In Sub-Saharan Africa, Sakiru O. Akinbode, Jayeola Olabisi, Remilekun R. Adegbite, Timothy A. Aderemi, Abimbola M. Alawode

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Aside economic factors causing low human development which have been extensively studied in literature, the implications of high level of corruption and weak governance prevalent in sub- Saharan African (SSA) countries have not been explored. The study assessed the effects of corruption, government effectiveness and their joint effect on human development in SSA. Data collected on thirty-seven (37) countries within the period of 2005 to 2018 were analyzed using system Generalized Method of Moment which was most suitable for the dataset. Results indicated that lagged human development index (P<0.01), government effectiveness (P<0.05), economic growth rate (P<0.1) and government health spending (P<0.1) had significant positive effect on human development while corruption and its interaction with government effectiveness did not. The results of Arrelano-Bond test of first order autocorrelation and second order autocorrelation of error term as well as the Sargan test and Hansen J test for validity of instrumental variables confirmed the validity of the model. The robustness of the estimation was established as the coefficient of the lagged dependent variable fell between the values in the fixed effect and pooled ordinary least square regression. The study recommended retraining and reorientation of government employees towards the mindset of effective service delivery and strong political will to achieve it, diversification of SSA economies alongside other growth stimulating policies such as reduced lending interest rate on loans meant for the real sector, improvement in the ease of doing business, improved funding of the health sector and proper monitoring of activities in the public service by concerned agencies to curb corruption where it is present.

The Desire For Luxury In Emerging Markets: An Interactional Perspective On Consumer Motivations In Tunisia, Pranjal Gupta,, Mouna Zaghdoudi

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The motivations underlying the desire for luxury products and services have long been the subject of academic inquiry. An understanding of these motivations is useful for the luxury market industry to help managers formulate better marketing strategies. Further, such knowledge would also be useful to public policy makers to help them mitigate societal problems that may occur as a result of such consumption. Of particular interest is the growth of the luxury market in emerging economies. This study spotlights the luxury market in Tunisia. Previous work has demonstrated that age has a significant impact both on willingness to buy luxury …

Municipal Fiscal Distress In Pennsylvania: Assessing The Municipalities Financial Recovery Act 47 Of 1987, Terry Tracy

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Department of Community and Economic Development administers a Municipal Financial Recovery program to improve outcomes in fiscally and socio-economically distressed cities. The program operates under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Municipal Recovery Act 47 of 1987.

It is designed to provide state and municipal governments the resources necessary to combat fiscal distress and economic decline, where municipalities lack the political or financial wherewithal to do so autonomously. Those resources include access to grant funding, special latitude over tax policy and fee structures not otherwise permitted by Pennsylvania’s Constitution, and developing a five-year fiscal recovery …