Economic Theory Commons^™

Industrial Output Fluctuations In Developing Countries: General Equilibrium Consequences Of Agricultural Productivity Shocks, Iona Hyojung Lee

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper shows that a negative shock to agricultural productivity may increase food prices, and labor and capital can move away from manufacturing into agriculture to meet the subsistence requirement for food. This effect depends on income levels and openness to trade. Using annual manufacturing data and rainfall shocks as the instrument for crop yields (proxy for agricultural productivity), I find that an exogenous decline in yield decreases manufacturing output as well as employment and capital investment in manufacturing. Overall, crop yield variation can explain up to 44% of industrial output fluctuations in developing countries (rainfall shocks cause 31% of …

On Random Social Choice Functions With The Tops-Only Property, Shurojit Chatterji, Huaxia Zeng

Research Collection School Of Economics

We study the standard voting model with randomization. A Random Social Choice Function (or RSCF) satisfies the tops-only property if the social lottery under each preference profile depends only on the peaks of voters' preferences. We identify a general condition on domains of preferences (the Interior Property and the Exterior Property) which ensures that every strategy-proof RSCF satisfying unanimity has the tops-only property. We show that our condition applies to important classes of voting domains which include restricted connected domains (Sato, 2013) and the multi-dimensional single-peaked domain (Barberà et al., 1993). As an application of our result, we show that …

On Random Social Choice Functions With The Tops-Only Property, Shurojit Chatterji, Huaxia Zeng

Research Collection School Of Economics

We study the standard voting model with randomization. A Random Social Choice Function (or RSCF) satisfies the tops-only property if the social lottery under each preference profile depends only on the peaks of voters' preferences. We identify a general condition on domains of preferences (the Interior Property and the Exterior Property) which ensures that every strategy-proof RSCF satisfying unanimity has the tops-only property. We show that our condition applies to important classes of voting domains which include restricted connected domains (Sato, 2013) and the multi-dimensional single-peaked domain (Barberà et al., 1993). As an application of our result, we show that …

Limit Theory For Mildly Integrated Process With Intercept, Yijie Fei

Research Collection School Of Economics

Some asymptotic results are given for first-order autoregressive (AR(1)) time series with two features: (i). a nonzero constant intercept (ii). a root moderately deviating from unity. Both stationary and explosive sides are studied. It is shown that the inclusion of intercept will change drastically the large sample properties of the least-squares (LS) estimator obtained in Phillips and Magdalinos (2007, PM hereafter). For near-stationary case, only an unusual convergence of a linear combination of intercept and AR coefficient can be derived. For near-explosive case, on the other hand, the limiting distributions of two estimators will be independent and Gaussian, with conventional …

Low Perceived Control Over Health Is Associated With Lower Treatment Uptake In A High Mortality Population Of Bolivian Forager-Farmers, Sarah Alami, Jonathan Stieglitz, Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven

ESI Publications

Indigenous people worldwide suffer from higher rates of morbidity and mortality than neighboring populations. In addition to having limited access to public health infrastructure, indigenous people may also have priorities and health perceptions that deter them from seeking adequate modern healthcare. Here we propose that living in a harsh and unpredictable environment reduces motivation to pursue deliberate, costly action to improve health outcomes. We assess whether variation in Health Locus of Control (HLC), a psychological construct designed to capture self-efficacy with respect to health, explains variation in treatment uptake behavior among Tsimane Amerindians (N=690; age range: 40–89 years; 55.8% female; …

Testing The Boundaries Of The Double Auction: The Effects Of Complete Information And Market Power, Erik O. Kimbrough

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

We report boundary experiments testing the robustness of price convergence in double auction markets for non-durable goods in which there is extreme earnings inequality at the competitive equilibrium (CE). Following up on a conjecture by Smith (1976a), we test whether the well-known equilibrating power of the double auction institution is robust to the presence of complete information about traders’ values and costs and the presence of symmetric market power. We find that complete information is insufficient to impede convergence to CE prices; however, introducing market power consistently causes prices to deviate from the CE, whether or not subjects possess complete …

Nebraska Business And Consumer Confidence Indexes: January 5, 2018, Eric Thompson

Leading Economic Indicator Reports

Consumer and business confidence declined in Nebraska during December 2017. The Consumer Confidence Index – Nebraska (CCI-N) fell to 93.3 in December, well below the neutral level of 100.0. The index had reached a record level of 106.2 in November, but that high level of confidence was not sustained. The Business Confidence Index – Nebraska (BCI-N) fell from 114.1 in November to 107.5 in December. While lower, the December reading remains well above the neutral value of 100.0. When asked about the most important issue facing their business, customer demand was mentioned by 38 percent of respondents. The availability and …

The Tug-Of-War In The Laboratory, Cary Deck, Roman Sheremeta

ESI Working Papers

The tug-of-war is a multi-battle contest often used to describe extended interactions in economics, operations management, political science, and other disciplines. While there has been some theoretical work, to the best of our knowledge, this paper provides the first experimental study of the tug-of-war. The results show notable deviations of behavior from theory derived under standard assumptions. In the first battle of the tug-of-war, subjects often bid less, while in the follow-up battles, they bid more than predicted. Also, contrary to the prediction, bids tend to increase in the duration of the tug-of-war. Finally, extending the margin necessary to win …

Time Delay And Investment Decisions: Evidence From An Experiment In Tanzania, Plamen Nikolov

Economics Faculty Scholarship

Attitudes toward risk underlie virtually every important economic decision an individual makes. In this experimental study, I examine how introducing a time delay into the execution of an investment plan influences individuals’ risk preferences. The field experiment proceeded in three stages: a decision stage, an execution stage and a payout stage. At the outset, in the Decision Stage (Stage 1), each subject was asked to make an investment plan by splitting a monetary investment amount between a risky asset and a safe asset. Subjects were informed that the investment plans they made in the Decision Stage are binding and will …

Cacao Together: A Model For True Sustainability In The Chocolate Industry, Kerstin Roos

Capstone Collection

This Course Linked Capstone provides a critical analysis of the concept of sustainable development and then uses this analysis to create a social venture plan for a non-profit called Cacao Together. This capstone project will identify challenges in the sustainable use of cacao by first critiquing the mainstream sustainable development initiatives of certification schemes and corporate sustainability programs. It then offers an alternate framework through the 5 Capital Livelihood assessment tool which when applied, shows the gaps in cacao sustainability initiatives generally. I then propose a social venture that will addresses the needs of many parts of the chocolate supply …

The Effects Of An Increasing Federal Minimum Wage On Federal Unemployment And Job Automation Levels, Kiana Krayeski

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The industrial revolution was the start of increasing technological advancements that are continuing to grow today. Technology improves accuracy, efficiency and is more productive in comparison to human labor as it does not require breaks and cannot violate any labor laws. With many innovations available today, firms have more options to choose from and can select the relatively cheaper solution. The push for a fifteen-dollar minimum wage affects the firm's options, and the use of technology might increasingly become the more viable choice. This study took data from the years 1993 to 2016 and created two regressions using the unemployment …

We’Re Less Likely To Collaborate In Bad Economic Times, Nina Sirola

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In the fall of 1930, the U.S. economy was on a path to recovery following a contraction that occurred the year before. However, worries about the state of the economy, and the banking system in particular, prompted an increasing number of bank customers to attempt to withdraw their funds, an event known as a bank run. Because banks normally keep only a small proportion of deposits in cash, bank runs create a self-fulfilling prophecy such that initial concerns about banks’ possible insolvency ultimately cause insolvency. The bank run of 1930 resulted in the worst economic downturn in the modern history, …

Dorothy Moser Medlin Papers - Accession 1049, Dorothy Moser Medlin

Manuscript Collection

(The Dorothy Moser Medlin Papers are currently in processing.)

This collection contains most of the records of Dorothy Medlin’s work and correspondence and also includes reference materials, notes, microfilm, photographic negatives related both to her professional and personal life. Additions include a FLES Handbook, co-authored by Dorothy Medlin and a decorative mirror belonging to Dorothy Medlin.

Major series in this collection include: some original 18th century writings and ephemera and primary source material of André Morellet, extensive collection of secondary material on André Morellet's writings and translations, Winthrop related files, literary manuscripts and notes by Dorothy Medlin (1966-2011), copies …

Io Eigenvalue, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

24-32_LTV RE Adj Notes.pdf You said: as an archivist detailing a new entry, analyze the uploaded file and give an outline of the material with all dates standardized, all bullet-point item formatting, and sentence case for titles, and italics for all titles, 1.5 spacing between paragraphs, and expand the published items into full apa references with publisher details and journal information but without internet links, or any further description of the different items, standardize the handwritten notes, emails, and comments into full apa-style manuscript citations so they match the level of formality of the published papers, with all handwritten notes …

Mechanism Design, Matching Theory And The Stable Roommates Problem, Yashaswi Mohanty

Honors Theses

This thesis consists of two independent albeit related chapters. The first chapter introduces concepts from mechanism design and matching theory, and discusses potential applications of this theory, particularly in relation to dorm allocations in colleges. The second chapter investigates a subset of the dorm allocation problem, namely that of matching roommates. In particular, the paper looks at the probability of solvability of random instances of the stable roommates game under the condition that preferences are not completely random and exogenous but endogenously determined through a dependence on room choice. These probabilities are estimated using Monte-Carlo simulations and then compared with …

Eigenvalue Paper Luiza, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Eigenvalue distribution, matrix size and the linearity of wage-profit curves by Luiza Nassif Pires and Anwar Shaikh, PhD. (Unpublished work).
• Fwd: Economic Systems Research - Decision on Manuscript ID CESR-2018-0112 by Luiza Nassif Pires. (Unpublished work).
• Shaikh, A. (2018). Core concern is with Sraffa prices (Unpublished manuscript).

Classical Price Group, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Classical price group by Anwar Shaikh, PhD (24-36_Clas... pp. 2, 17). (Unpublished work) (24-36_Clas... pp. 2, 17).
• Shaikh, A. (2014). Classical theory of price matrix algebra (Unpublished manuscript) (24-36_Clas... p. 6).
• Shaikh, A. (2016). Scaling & Sraffa equations (Unpublished manuscript) (24-36_Clas... p. 15).
• Shaikh, A. (2016). General eq (Unpublished manuscript) (24-36_Clas... p. 3).
• Shaikh, A. (2016). Luis Daniel on strong normalization (Unpublished manuscript) (24-36_Clas... p. 4).
• Shaikh, A. (2016). Alt Wicksell effect within Bienenfeld type (Unpublished manuscript) (24-36_Clas... p. 5).
• Shaikh, A. (2016). D1126 (Unpublished manuscript) (24-36_Clas... p. 19).
• Shaikh, A. (2016). Stur Sraffa (Unpublished manuscript) (24-36_Clas... …

The Effect Of Fast Food Restaurants On Type 2 Diabetes Rates, Grace Bailey

CMC Senior Theses

This paper conducts an analysis of county level data to determine the effect of fast food restaurants on type 2 diabetes rates. Due to endogeneity concerns with respect to the location of fast food restaurants, this paper follows the work of Dunn (2010) and uses the number of interstate exits in a given county to serve as an instrument for fast food restaurants. The strength of the instrument, which is theoretically and empirically tested in this paper, imposes some restraints on the interpretation of the findings. Using the Two-Stage Least Squares estimation method, I find that the presence of fast …

Assorted Loose Notes, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Notes on dependency theory, trade, and sub-saharan Africa macroeconomics by Shaikh, A. (Unpublished work) (23-14_Asso... p. 2)
• Comments on history of economic thought, Marx, and Sraffa by Shaikh, A. (Unpublished work) (23-14_Asso... p. 3)
• Student questions on endogenous money and credit systems by Shaikh, A. (Unpublished work) (23-14_Asso... p. 4)
• Notes on macro foundations and mathematical formulations of production by Shaikh, A. (Unpublished work) (23-14_Asso... p. 5)
• Notes on economic sociology, history of capitalism, and game theory by Shaikh, A. (Unpublished work) (23-14_Asso... p. 6)
• Lecture outlines on early growth models and real business cycle theory by …

Convergence Towards An Optimal Currency Area In The European Union, Santiago Botto Tornielli

Harvey M. Applebaum ’59 Award

This essay uses the European Union as a case study to analyze the conditions for an optimal currency area, the regional differences that give rise to divergences from optimal conditions, and how to measure divergence. The essay reviews the extensive body of theoretical literature on optimal currency areas (OCA), analyzes the historical evidence and documents that outline the economic institutions of the EU, and performs an empirical factor analysis on different possible indicators of convergence to identify to the most important variables. In the absence of adjustment mechanisms, economic geography plays an essential role in forming an OCA because members …