Regional Economics Commons^™

Economic Impact Of Legalizing Retail Alcohol Sales In Johnson County, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

Publications and Presentations

Converting from a dry county to wet county status would have a number of tangible and intangible economic benefits for Johnson County. Legal retail alcohol sales are a signal of a contemporary economic development environment. Quantifying the value of that perception is quite difficult, but it is entirely possible to estimate sales effects, tax collections, and other economic impacts of becoming a wet county. This study was conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research to assess the magnitude of those economic effects.

Economic Impact Of Legalizing Retail Alcohol Sales In Little River County, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

Publications and Presentations

Converting from a dry county to wet county status would have a number of tangible and intangible economic benefits for Little River County. Legal retail alcohol sales are a signal of a contemporary economic development environment. Quantifying the value of that perception is quite difficult, but it is entirely possible to estimate sales effects, tax collections, and other economic impacts of becoming a wet county. This study was conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research to assess the magnitude of those economic effects.

Economic Impact Of Legalizing Retail Alcohol Sales In Independence County, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

Publications and Presentations

Converting from a dry county to wet county status would have a number of tangible and intangible economic benefits for Independence County. Legal retail alcohol sales are a signal of a contemporary economic development environment. Quantifying the value of that perception is quite difficult, but it is entirely possible to estimate sales effects, tax collections, and other economic impacts of becoming a wet county. This study was conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research to assess the magnitude of those economic effects.

State Of The Northwest Arkansas Region 2016 Report, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

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 the economic performance of the region. In January 2015, the Northwest Arkansas Council created a new blueprint for development that outlines the peer regions and a strategic action agenda for 2015-2017. In the three-year plan, the performance of Northwest Arkansas is benchmarked with other contemporary, high-performing regions namely Austin, Des Moines, Madison, Durham-Chapel Hill and Raleigh. The 2016 State of the Region Report compares Northwest Arkansas with these geographies in the areas of gross domestic …

Examining The Status Of African Americans And Hispanics In Arkansas, Kathy Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

Urban League of the State of Arkansas

The Urban League of the State of Arkansas seeks to lead efforts in advancing and obtaining equal opportunities for all citizens with a particular focus in the areas of health, education, jobs, and housing. In keeping with this mission, the Urban League of Arkansas partnered with the Center for Business and Economic Research in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas to produce a report that provides data to identify key areas of need in the African American and Latino communities in Arkansas and develop programs and policies to address them.

Estimating The Economic Impact Of The Construction And Operation Of The Plains And Eastern Clean Line Project, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

Publications and Presentations

Clean Line Energy Partners LLC (Clean Line) is proposing to build the Plains & Eastern Clean Line project, an approximately 700-mile, high voltage direct current transmission line and associated facilities with the capacity to deliver 4,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power from the Oklahoma Panhandle region to utilities and customers in Arkansas, Tennessee, and other markets in the Mid-South and Southeast, areas that lack access to low-cost renewable power. The project will deliver enough energy to power more than one million homes annually in the MidSouth and Southeastern United States.

High And Dry: An Economic Analysis Of Drug Use In Dry Counties, Shannon Harris

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper focuses on how alcohol prohibition affects the drug seeking behaviors of citizens in dry counties. Dry counties are counties that do not permit the production or sale of alcohol and are typically found in Southern states only. This paper analyzes the relationship between dry county laws and three different drug incident measures in order to get a better picture of the unintended consequences of modern alcohol prohibition in the states of Alabama, Arkansas and Kentucky. To estimate drug related events I used the seizure of production sites used to make methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs, as reported by …

Community Development In Mozambique: Evaluating Impact Assessment Methodologies, Carol Ann Farmer

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper is an analysis of an impact assessment conducted by University of Arkansas students and finalized by Abby Davidson during the 2014 Community Development in Mozambique study abroad program. The assessment was based on a developmental poultry organization in the Nampula region. In order to evaluation the assessment several theories of impact assessment were utilized. Construction of a proper counterfactual, the mitigation of selection bias, appropriateness of impact indicators, and validity were all used to consider the methodologies employed in the aforementioned assessment. Based on these criteria it was found that The Impact of poultry in Northern Mozambique failed …

The Conundrum Of The Disparity Of Growth Between Indian States, Alexa Cicely Shannon

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

How is it that Indian states that seemingly have similar advantages can perform so differently? The objective is to study the relationship between government involvement, and the impact of these factors on economic growth. The goal of this research paper is to determine if there is a correlation between state resources or party affiliation and the outlay from the central government and also to determine if there is a correlation between government outlay and the eventual number of state enterprises and in turn if those state enterprises had an effect on the current GDP Per Capita.

The Economic Impact Of The University Of Arkansas, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

Publications and Presentations

As the state’s flagship institution of higher education, the University of Arkansas delivers a significant economic impact to Arkansas. In 2014, an impact in excess of $1.2 billion came from the University via operations, construction, technology transfer, student expenditures, and visitor spending. The University of Arkansas has a substantial influence on the direction of the state’s economy by fulfilling its mission of developing human capital, growing ideas, and transmitting knowledge to the public.

State Of The Northwest Arkansas Region 2015 Report, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

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 the economic performance of the region. The Northwest Arkansas Council announced in January 2015 that the organization’s five-year strategic plan for 2010-2015 was completed one year ahead of schedule. As a result, the Northwest Arkansas Council created a blueprint for development that outlines new peer regions and strategies for 2015-2017. In the new three-year plan, the performance of Northest Arkansas is benchmarked with other contemporary, high-performing regions such as Austin, Des Moines, Madison, and Raleigh-Durham. …

Economic Impact Of The Arkansas Research And Technology Park, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

Publications and Presentations

Construction of the Arkansas Research and Technology Park (ARTP) began in 2003 and operations commenced in 2004. For ten years, the ARTP has been impacting the economy of the state of Arkansas in two primary ways. First, the operation of the ARTP enabled the business expenditures of its tenants. Second, there were direct expenditures on one-time construction activities in building the infrastructure of the ARTP. This report considers the overall impact of the ARTP from the beginning of construction to 2014. Over that period, the ARTP impact has been more than a half billion dollars in the Arkansas economy.

Economic Impact Of Legalizing Retail Alcohol Sales In Craighead, Faulkner, And Saline Counties, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

Publications and Presentations

Converting from dry county to wet county status would have a number of tangible and intangible economic benefits for Craighead, Faulkner, and Saline counties. Legal retail alcohol sales are a signal of a contemporary economic development environment. Quantifying the value of that perception is quite difficult, but it is entirely possible to estimate sales effects, tax collections, and other economic impacts of becoming a wet county. This study was conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research to assess the magnitude of those economic effects.

Improving And Monitoring The Microlending Program In Belize, Mark Mccallum

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper assesses the Microlending and Cayes to Business Programs within the Community Development in Belize Study Abroad Program at the University of Arkansas. The Microlending Program makes low-interest loans to small businesses primarily in Dangriga, Belize. Recently, the lending activity has expanded and concerns about repayment have increased. This paper proposes various improvements to maintain consistent loan repayment and healthy expansion of the Microlending Program. The most important ideas are to enhance social pressure on the borrowers and improve monitoring in-country after the loans have been disbursed. Cayes to Business, an educational program required for microloan applicants, is also …

The Effect Of School And Neighborhood Environmental Factors On Childhood Obesity, Yiwei Qian

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation consists of three chapters exploring the effect of school program and neighborhood environment on childhood obesity outcome using individual panel data set of Arkansas public schoolchildren.

The first chapter (Section 2) investigates how the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), a program that provides funding for the distribution of free fresh fruits and vegetables to students in participating schools, affects childhood obesity. We combine matching methodology and difference-in-differences analysis to estimate the effect of the FFVP on childhood BMI outcomes. Estimates of the FFVP effect are sensitive to different matching methods. Methods that provide a good balance between …

State Of The Northwest Arkansas Region 2014 Report, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report

The State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report is an annual publication that serves as a tool for evaluating the economic performance of the region in comparison with those peers that are most likely to compete with Northwest Arkansas by virtue of a similar industry mix or geographic proximity. As a player in the global economy, Northwest Arkansas has more to offer than superior performance in traditional economic development categories such as employment, establishment growth, and income. This region showcases strengths in diverse categories like knowledge-based sectors and quality of life indicators. This report highlights and presents the indicators mentioned …

Analysis Of Visitor Spending At The Bikes, Blues & Bbq Rally, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

Publications and Presentations

• 59.9 percent of the 2013 Bikes, Blues & BBQ rally attendees came from outside the Northwest Arkansas region. 57.6 percent of all attendees were from outside Northwest Arkansas and primarily visiting to attend the motorcycle rally.
• The average spending of each motorcycle rally visitor from outside Northwest Arkansas was $401.86.
• Visitor spending generated at least $36.17 in state and local sales taxes per person.
• The average out-of-town visitor stayed in the Northwest Arkansas region for 3.8 days and occupied 0.7 room nights.
• Each visitor ate an average of 9.6 meals in Northwest Arkansas. On average, 8.9 meals were consumed in …

State Of The Northwest Arkansas Region 2013 Report, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report

The State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report is an annual publication that serves as a tool for evaluating the economic performance of the region in comparison with those peers that are most likely to compete with Northwest Arkansas by virtue of a similar industry mix or geographic proximity. As a player in the global economy, Northwest Arkansas has more to off er than superior performance in traditional economic development categories such as employment, unemployment, establishment growth, and income. This region showcases strengths in newer categories of economic development like the knowledge-based sectors, and quality of life indicators such as …

University Of Arkansas Athletics Economic Impact, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

Publications and Presentations

The Center for Business and Economic Research in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas was approached by the Athletic Department to conduct an economic impact study of its operations and the visitor impacts associated with the athletic events held on the University of Arkansas campus. This study examines the economic impact of the athletic department from three broad categories of activities that produce economic impacts. The first category presented in this study is the direct economic impacts of the operations of the University of Arkansas Athletic Department, using annual expenditures of the department and …

Estimating The Economic Impact Of Garvan Woodland Gardens, Katherin A. Deck, Viktoria Riiman

Publications and Presentations

The study is organized as follows. First, the facilities and programs at Garvan Woodland Gardens are described in detail. Next, information on visitor and member counts, employment and volunteers, and financial information from the Gardens are provided. Finally, the results of the economic impact analysis from the IMPLAN input‐output model are presented for employment, value‐added, and output impacts on the Hot Springs area and the state of Arkansas. The detailed employment and output impacts by industry are available in the Appendix. Estimated employment impacts are compared to the county and state employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to …

Revisiting The Economic Impact Of The Natural Gas Activity In The Fayetteville Shale: 2008-2012, Katherine A. Deck, Viktoria Riiman

Publications and Presentations

In 2008, the Center for Business and Economic Research released a study that estimated the economic impact of projected Fayetteville Shale activities from 2008 to 2012. This updated report revisits the assumptions of the initial study, reviews the impact of actual activities in the Fayetteville Shale from 2008 to 2011, and delivers some insights into projected impacts for 2012.

Exploration and production of natural gas in the Fayetteville Shale area generates direct effects from drilling wells and causes the need for supporting activities such as construction, transportation, storage, and distribution. Moreover, investments made by oil and gas companies produce indirect …

Sports Economics - The Economic Impact Of The Nba's Thunder On Oklahoma City, David Noudaranouvong

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

What kind of significance do sports serve? This research project will investigate further into one of the many different answers to this broad question, specifically in the economic sense. Exactly what kind of impact can a single sports team have on a single city’s economy? I will investigate just what a sports team can mean for a city’s financial status as a result of its sports-stimulated economy. What is the best way to analyze this impact? For the purpose of this research project, I will take into account the economic state before and after the National Basketball Association’s incorporation into …

The Human Opportunity Index And Income Inequality In Brazil, Joseph Van Matre

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study calculates the Human Opportunity Index (HOI) proposed by de Barros et al. (2009) and a Gini Index of household income using nationally representative data from Brazil for the years 2001 to 2008. Macroregional HOIs and Gini Indexes were also calculated for the years 2001, 2005, and 2008. No statistically significant, linear trends were found over the eight year period for national HOIs. A statistically significant, linear, downward trend was found for the Gini Index of household incomes. Also, there was a statistically significant decrease in the macroregional variance of HOI scores, indicating a convergence of opportunity equity among …

Economic Impact Of Legalizing Retail Alcohol Sales In Benton County, Katherine A. Deck, Viktoria Riiman

Publications and Presentations

Converting from a dry county to a wet county would have a number of tangible and intangible economic benefits for Benton County. Legal retail alcohol sales are a signal of a contemporary economic development environment. Quantifying the value of that perception is quite difficult, but it is entirely possible to estimate sales effects and tax implications of becoming a wet county for the residents of Benton County. A study was conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research to assess the magnitude of those economic effects. Data from 2010 were used because of completeness, but the sizes of the …

State Of The Northwest Arkansas Region 2012 Report, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report

The State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report is an annual publication that serves as a tool for evaluating the economic performance of the region in comparison with those peers that are most likely to compete with Northwest Arkansas by virtue of a similar industry mix or geographic proximity. As a player in the global economy, Northwest Arkansas has more to off er than superior performance in traditional economic development categories such as employment, unemployment, establishment growth, and income. This region showcases strengths in newer categories of economic development like the knowledge-based sectors and quality of life indicators such as …

Increasing Profitability Of Small Scale Cocoa Farmers Through Optimizing Replacement Rate, Mahrizal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study is to empirically estimate the optimum annual replacement rate and age of replacement of cocoa trees in order to maximize the net present value of four production practices over time. The study examines the costs and returns of four common cocoa production systems in Ghana associated with changes in cocoa prices, fertilizer prices, inflation rates, and labor prices. While this study focuses on cocoa, the method is applicable to any tree crop industry. This study uses empirical yield curves and cost of production data from Ghana to determine when and what percentage of a cocoa …

2011 Workforce Needs Survey, Katherine A. Deck

Publications and Presentations

The Greater Northwest Arkansas Regional Economic Development Strategy identified four priority areas where the region needs to collaborate around specific goals to enhance the overall community. Regional success in Northwest Arkansas will therefore depend on the success of specific goals being achieved in the areas of Infrastructure, Regional Economic Development, Community Vitality and Educational Excellence.

The online survey was distributed to employers through the Northwest Arkansas Community College Workforce Advisory Group, local Chambers of Commerce, Human Resources Professional Groups and other avenues. The survey received 119 respondents. The following report will describe the major findings of the survey.

State Of The Northwest Arkansas Region 2011 Report, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report

The Center for Business and Economic Research presents the State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report, an objective analysis of the area’s performance. The report reflects a broad approach to economic development and includes metrics related to innovation, quality of life, and health in addition to measures more often associated with the economy such as employment rates, business growth and income changes. The Northwest Arkansas region’s performance over time is measured and compared with the performance of the United States, Arkansas, and four peer regions: Lexington, Kentucky; Gainesville, Florida; Huntsville, Alabama; and Austin, Texas.

Factors That Influence The Adoption Of Agricultural Conservation Programs In Northwest Arkansas, Edison Anthony Froelich

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A survey was developed and administered to agricultural producers in Northwest Arkansas in order to better understand producer awareness of, application for and participation in six federal and state conservation programs available in Arkansas: the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, the Arkansas Revolving Loan Program, the Arkansas Nonpoint Pollution Management Program , the Arkansas Soil Nutrient and Poultry Litter Application and Management Program, and the Surplus Poultry Litter Removal Incentives Cost Share Program. Survey results found that less than half of the sample was aware of any one of the programs. A logit model was developed …

The Economic Impact Of Medicaid Spending In Arkansas, Katherine A. Deck, Viktoria Riiman

Publications and Presentations

Arkansas Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that provides necessary medical services to needy and low-income persons that is administered through the Arkansas Division of Medical Services at the Arkansas Department of Human Services. The Medicaid program is designed to provide the baseline health outcomes that are necessary for the state’s economy to function. The expenditures that are made through the Arkansas Medicaid program significantly affect the Arkansas economy. This report details the economic impacts of the direct expenditures of the Medicaid program on the Arkansas economy.