Regional Economics Commons^™

Part 3: Richard Florida And The Creative Classes Of Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Professor Florida argues that highly mobile, creative individuals are the kingpins of modern economic growth. They are especially attracted to regions that offer diverse demographics, cultural opportunities, living styles and residential areas, as well as a tolerance of the uncommon. Hampton Roads does not fare well when measured against several of Florida’s variables. However, we test his hypotheses empirically and find they have only limited validity.

Part 4: The Wheels Of Justice: Our Regional Circuit Courts, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

We trace what happens to parties that enter our Circuit Court system as a plaintiff or defendant. In 2003, the nine Circuits that are wholly or partially located within Hampton Roads dealt with 81,008 cases (35 percent civil and 65 percent criminal). Large proportions of these cases are dismissed or settled before they come to trial and very few cases are heard by a jury. We examine a variety of efficiency measures relating to the region’s Circuit Courts and conclude they are operating rather well.

Part 6: The Race To The Bottom Of The Bay: Boat Taxes In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Over the past decade, the region’s cities and counties have diminished the taxes they assess on boats so much that in several cities (for example, Virginia Beach), boat taxes in essence no longer exist. We show that all jurisdictions in Hampton Roads have suffered due to the reduced tax revenue and that the low-tax strategy has not attracted more boats from other regions, as intended. While boat taxes are unpopular and difficult to collect, Hampton Roads appears to have shot itself in the foot.

Part 7: Unrealized Potential: High Technology In Hampton Roads, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

On the face of it, Hampton Roads ought to be a technological powerhouse because of the high-level federal research facilities and defense installations located in the area, plus a higher education community of considerable size. Yet, while we can claim the second-greatest technological development of any region in the Commonwealth, we are a very distant second to Northern Virginia and have never realized our potential. Future prosperity in technology is tied to developing the modeling and simulation industry that has sprouted primarily in Suffolk, stimulating Eastern Virginia Medical School’s potential in conjunction with Old Dominion University and vastly increasing support …

Part 5: Our Art Galleries And Museums: Will They Survive?, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Led by the Chrysler Museum of Art, Hampton Roads is blessed with several excellent art galleries and museums. These valuable institutions, however, are struggling to maintain their collections, programs and hours because of financial strains. It’s apparent that the region’s decision makers have not placed a high priority on the aesthetic sensibilities of the region’s citizens.

Commodity Price Fluctuations: A Century Of Analysis, Walter C. Labys

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Commodity prices again! The twentieth century has only been the latest spectator to the impacts and importance of commodity price fluctuations. It is reasonably well known that commodity price records have come down to us from the ancient civilizations of India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Earlier in the century, formal research began on the relationships between agricultural demand, supply and prices in a market context. This research not only evolved in sophistication but extended to mineral and energy commodities. Also at the beginning of the century, some of the earliest work took place on applying statistical methods to price …

Assessing Demographic Changes And Income Inequalities: A Case Study Of West Virginia, Yohannes G. Hailu, Tesfa Gebremedhin, Randall Jackson

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

The study examines the trends in demographic changes and income inequalities in West Virginia from 1990 to 2000. The relationship between economic growth and income inequality is tested using a system of equations model and county level data. The empirical results indicate that except for 65 years and above age group, income inequality increased in all other age groups. The highest increase was in the age group under 25 years and those 35 to 44 years. Using 3-Stage-Least-Squares estimations, the endogenous dependent variable per capita income growth was positively related with population and employment growth, but it is significantly and …

Factors Influencing Venture Capital Availability In Rural States: Possible Lessons Learned From West Virginia, David W. Hughes, Kris Mallory, Mihaela A. Szabo

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Venture capital has been identified by many as a vital element in the rapid economic growth of certain regions. The lack of access to capital, especially equity capital, has been identified as a major constraint to the economic growth of rural areas (i.e., venture capital access, as a centripetal force, concentrates rather than disperses economic activity). Researchers have advanced a focus on primarily urban sectors, such as information technologies, higher administration costs due to a lack of deal flow, and a limited support network for entrepreneurs as explanations for the lack of venture capital in rural areas. Yet, some venture …

Loglinear Residual Tests Of Moran’S I Autocorrelation: An Application To Kentucky Breast Cancer Data, Ge Lin, Tonglin Zhang

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Spatial regressions have been widely used, but their use with the permutation tests of residuals either in linear or loglinear models is rarely seen. In the present study, we have linked the Cliff-Ord permutation test of Moran’s I on linear regression errors to loglinear regression residuals under asymptotic normality. We devised both Pearson residual Moran’s IP R and deviance residual Moran’s IDR tests and applied them to a set of log-rate models for early stage and late-stage breast cancer together with socioeconomic and access-to-care data in Kentucky. The results showed that socioeconomic and access-to-care variables were sufficient to account for …

Cross-Border Shopping And The Sales Tax: A Reexamination Of Food Purchases In West Virginia, Mehmet Serkan Tosun, Mark Skidmore

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

In this paper we present new evidence of cross-border shopping in response to sales taxation. While several instructive studies provide estimates of the cross-border shopping effect, we utilize a unique opportunity to evaluate the effect of a large discrete change in sales tax policy. Using county level data on food income and sales tax data for West Virginia over the 1982-2000 period we estimate that for every one-percentage point increase in the county relative price ratio due to sales tax change, the per capita food income decreases by about 0.7 percent. Our estimates indicate that food sales fell in West …

The Role Of Welfare And Space In The Migration Of The Poor, Brian Cushing

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

This study investigates whether interstate differences in welfare benefits affected destination choices of low-income households in the United States during the 1985-90 period. It considers place-to-place migration decisions of poor single-parent females within a conditional logit framework. The research develops an array of variables that add a substantial spatial component to the analysis. The empirical results reconcile conclusions of recent academic literature with the views of state policy officials, but in a somewhat unexpected way. This study finds only modest evidence of a welfare magnet effect, and only for contiguous states. On the other hand, the study strongly confirms the …

Formula Apportionment, Tax Competition, And The Provision Of Local Goods, Santiago M. Pinto

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

The paper develops an analytical framework where regional governments strategically determine the structure of the corporate profit tax system and profits are regionally allocated using an apportionment formula. Two important results emerge in a symmetric Nash equilibrium: (i) investment decisions are distorted, i.e., regional governments will not allow complete deduction of capital costs from taxable corporate profits; and (ii) there is underprovision of the good provided by the regional government, consistent with the literature on property tax competition. The paper also shows that the degree of underprovision may be less severe when the formula employs sales shares to apportion corporate …

Do Professional Sports Franchises And New Sports Facilities Have A Postive Impact On The Local Economy?, Kevin Mcdonough

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

Management Practices In A Profitable South Dakota Beef Cow-Calf Operation: A Case Study, Carol J. Cumber, Jill Pravatiner

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Local And Regional Policy Implications Of Agriculture's "Multifunctionality", Thomas L. Dobbs

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

The Economic Impact Of Methamphetamine Use In Benton County, Arkansas, Jeffery T. Collins

Publications and Presentations

Methamphetamine use among the employed population is on the rise as general methamphetamine use increases. Many employers are unaware of the extent of the methamphetamine crisis and the harmful effects that employee methamphetamine use has on the firm. While methamphetamine use is associated with tremendous expenses for society in the form of direct health care, law enforcement, and environmental costs, this study focuses exclusively on the increased costs that firms bear as a result of the methamphetamine use of their employees. The Benton County Methamphetamine Task Force commissioned this project from the Center for Business and Economic Research in the …

The Development Of Mexican Nonproliferation Export Controls Cits Special Report, Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado

Latino/Latin American Studies Reports

This report by OLLAS assistant director Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado is part of a developing research and outreach project with the Center for International Trade and Security at the University of Georgia. It involved working with Mexican government officials to design and implement national responses to international agreements and obligations to ensure command and control of critical nuclear, biological, and chemical materials in Mexico. Dr. Benjamin-Alvarado conducted a comprehensive survey, which he administered in Argentina and Cuba previously, later in 2005 to assess Mexican export controls.

South Dakota 2004 Custom Rates Survey, Burton Plueger

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Benefit-Cost Analysis Of The Southwest Organizations Unifying Resources For Our Community And Employers (Source), George A. Erickcek, Bridget Timmeney, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

Recognizing Agriculture's "Multifunctionality": Implications For Policy Making In The United States, Thomas L. Dobbs

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Land Values As A Source Of Local Government Finance, Tom Dunne

Books/Book Chapters

Funding local government has been a permanent feature of debates about public policy in Ireland and Many feel that the balance of power between local and central government is weighted too much in

This paper suggests that the concept of economic rent, on which the justification for property taxes rests and its relevance to the property market in a modern, economically successful and urbanised Ireland, needs to be vented, discussed and debated.

The proposition is that if a greater understanding was created about the economic characteristics of landed property both value capture and local property taxes would achieve greater public …

Adding Value To South Dakota Corn: Opportunities In Food Markets, T. J. Hansen, Evert Van Der Sluis

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Adding Value To South Dakota Corn: Opportunities In Pet Food Markets, T. J. Hansen, Evert Van Der Sluis

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Nursing Workforce Shortage And Diversity Disparity In Northwest Arkansas, Jeffery T. Collins, Yi Liu

Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this analysis is the ascertain: 1) if market conditions in Northwest Arkansas (the study area) are sufficient to support the proposed planning effort by Northwest Arkansas Nursing Education Consortium (NANEC) to create a bilingual nursing student recruitment model and 2) to determine of that model is portable to other geographies.

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2004, James V. Koch, Shweta Agarwal, Vinod Agarwal, Monisha Basnet, Joshua Behr, John R. Broderick, Ben Card, Michael Clemons, Chris Colburn, Vicky Curtis, Steve Daniel, Jeffrey Harlow, Susan Hughes, Enrique Inclan, Kristine Karlsen, Jayme Lackore, Sharon Lomax, Janet Molinaro, Kenneth Plum, Lee Teply, Shara Weber, Gilbert Yochum

Economics Faculty Books

This is Old Dominion University's fifth annual State of the Region report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion, or it's president, Dr. Roseann Runte.

The report maintains the goal of stimulating thought and discussion that ultimately will make Hampton Roads an even better place to live. We are proud of our region's many successes, but realize that it is possible to improve our performance. In order to do so, we must have accurate information about "where we are" and a …

Increasing The Economic Development Benefits Of Higher Education In Michigan, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper considers how a state such as Michigan can increase the economic development benefits of higher education. Research evidence suggests that higher education increases local economic development principally by increasing the quality of the local workforce, and secondarily by increasing local innovative ideas. These economic development benefits of higher education can be increased by: 1) competent management of conventional economic development programs that focus on business attraction and retention; 2) policies that focus on increasing local job skills by educating the state's residents, as opposed to attracting in-migrants; 3) policies that address specific "market failures" in how higher education …

Gap Analysis Of The Current Financial Services Network In Calhoun County, George A. Erickcek, Bridget Timmeney, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

Farmland Values Relationships Across South Dakota: 2002-2004, Larry Janssen

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

South Dakota Agricultural Land Values And Cash Rental Rates, 2004, Matt Pearson, Burton Pfleger, Larry Jannssen

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Observations From Extension Marketing/Farm Management Educators, Heather Gessner, Stacy Hadrick, Mark B. Major, Donald Guthmiller

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.