Economic Theory Commons^™

The Impact On Life-Cycle Consumption, Saving, Labor Supply, And On Bequests When Individuals Possess Time-Inconsistent Preferences, Barna Bose

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This study examines how the presence of time-inconsistent preferences affects a representative individual's decisions about how much to consume, to save, and how intensively to work, in addition to the size of a bequest to leave behind at death. The model is used to analyze the behavior of both time-inconsistent individuals (characterized by a hyperbolic discount function) and the behavior of time-consistent individuals (characterized by an exponential discount function). The model demonstrates how these two representative types of individuals make intertemporal choices over time. While the model distinguishes between time-inconsistent and time-consistent individuals with respect to using alternative discount functions, …

The Influence Rural Leaders Have On Local Population Change: A Two-Part Study, Nichole T. Reiner

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This two-part research study aims to understand factors that influence a rural community population and how local leaders believe they can influence those factors to impact population changes. The first study focuses identifying factors that predict population change using a linear regression model. The second study is a multiple case study focused on three communities, where a mix of secondary data and community leader interviews provided an in-depth understanding of how local leaders perceive their capacity to influence factors influencing population change in their communities.

Advisor: LJ McElravy

Analisis Kepemilikan Sertifikat Tanah Terhadap Akses Pinjaman Rumah Tangga, Abdul Azzis Azzis, Chaikal Nuryakin

Jurnal Kebijakan Ekonomi

This study aims to examine the impact of land certificate ownership on access to loans from formal financial institutions. Utilizing data from Indonesia in 2018, we employ logistic regression analysis to investigate the relationship between land certificate ownership and loan access in the country. The examination of land certification in relation to loan access, by distinguishing types of land ownership evidence and loan types, is deemed essential. The findings indicate that the impact of land certification is less effective for low-income households. Beyond ensuring accessible and affordable land certification processes, the government should formulate policies for innovative loan schemes, such …

Microfinance In Latin America: Sustainability, Growth, And Efficiency, Katelyn M. Hoidal

Global Tides

The subsequent research addresses the question: Within populous Latin American countries (Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Argentina, Chile, and Peru), are microfinance institutions associated with differences in GDP and household consumption equally between 2010 and 2018? Which do they have a stronger correlation with? The essence of this question seeks to answer whether the correlation between MFIs and wealth indicators carries over to a national level or merely persists at an individual level. This research has been informed and influenced by literature and studies conducted across South Asia, Africa, and Latin America focusing on the research of Abdelkader, Naveeda, Annim, Campbell, Armendáriz, …

What About The Buyers? Deriving Factors Of Demand In The U.S. Black Market, Eric S. Schneider

Undergraduate Theses

The vast majority of econometric research regarding black markets focuses on the supply. Relatively little information is definitively shown in academic literature regarding the drivers of demand for black markets. This project seeks to identify factors of demand for black market goods and services. First, this paper gives a brief definition of the broad definition of black markets, before specifically defining the scope of individual markets which will be included in this project. Next, there is a brief review of recent literature on the U.S. black market in order to determine prime candidates for factors of demand. Then, a robust …

2nd Place Contest Entry: Aquí Y Ahora: The Role Of Us Spanish-Language Tv News In Financial Vulnerability, Cintya Felix

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Cintya Felix's submission for the 2025 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won second place. It contains their essay on using library resources, their bibliography, and a summary of their research project on Spanish-language media’s impact on financial attitudes.

Cintya is a third-year student at Chapman University, majoring in Political Science and Spanish. Their faculty mentor is Dr. Ann Gordon.

2nd Place Research Paper: Aquí Y Ahora: The Role Of Us Spanish-Language Tv News In Financial Vulnerability, Cintya Felix

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

In today’s world, the news we watch often does more than inform us; it shapes our perceptions of security and the future. In this paper, I examine the extent to which an individual’s consumption of particular Spanish-speaking TV news channels contribute to their sense of financial vulnerability. Using an original data set of responses to the questions in the 2020 American National Election Studies (ANES), I find a moderately strong relationship between the television news channel Aquí y Ahora, and the degree to which they are worried about their financial situation. While it is true that various factors such …

A Beautiful Mind Meets Harsh Reality: Practical Tips For Negotiators When Bargaining Strays From Ideal Conditions, Christopher C. Douglas, Ellen Grachek, Allyson Strickland, Marie Waung

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Bilateral bargaining theory developed by mathematician and Nobel Laureate John Nash predicts that when both parties have full information, a deal is quickly reached without a strike. Such a situation represents ideal conditions, which the real world does not match. However, Nash Bargaining presents a useful baseline for bargaining teams. We discuss deviations from ideal conditions that bargaining teams are likely to face and tactics for overcoming them with the goal of reaching an agreement while avoiding a strike. This paper’s focus draws from our experience negotiating a contract for non-tenure track faculty across the three University of Michigan campuses, …

Gambaran Manejemen Capaian Target Pendidikan Dan Pelatihan Pegawai Non-Klinis Unit Keuangan Rumah Sakit Abc, Virgiawan Agung, Angestika Wilandari

Jurnal Administrasi Bisnis Terapan

Education and training for non-clinical employees in hospitals is an important element in improving employee competence and performance to support optimal health services. This study aims to provide an overview of the achievement of education and training targets for non-clinical employees in the financial unit of ABC Hospital. The research method used is a qualitative approach with data collection through interviews with non-clinical employees of the finance unit and secondary data analysis of training records in 2023. The results showed that the training achievements of non-clinical employees still did not meet the set target of 150 hours per year. The …

Ruchir Sharma: What Went Wrong With Capitalism, Vernon L. Smith

ESI Publications

A review of Ruchir Sharma's What Went Wrong With Capitalism.

Undominated Monopoly Regulation, Debasis Mishra, Sanket Patil

Working Papers

We study undominated mechanisms with transfers for regulating a monopolist who privately observes the marginal cost of production. A mechanism is undominated if no other mechanism gives the regulator a strictly higher payoff at some marginal cost of the monopolist without lowering the regulator’s payoff at other costs. We show that an undominated mechanism has a quantity floor: whenever the monopolist is allowed to operate, it produces above a threshold quantity. Moreover, the regulator’s operation decision is stochastic only if the monopolist produces at the quantity floor. We provide a near-complete characterization of the set of undominated mechanisms and use …

On Strategy-Proofness And The Salience Of Single-Peakedness In A Private Goods Allotment Problem, Shurojit Chatterji, Jordi Masso, Shigehiro Serizawa

Research Collection School Of Economics

We consider strategy-proof rules operating on a rich domain of preference profiles in a set up where multiple private goods have to be assigned to a set of agents with entitlements and where preferences display satiation. We show that if the rule is in addition tops-only, same-sided and individually rational with respect to the entitlements, then the preferences in the domain have to satisfy a variant of single-peakedness (referred to as multi-dimensional single-peakedness relative to the entitlements). We also provide a converse of this main finding. It turns out that this domain coincides with the one already identified in a …

Religion And Economic Development: Past, Present, And Future, Sascha O. Becker, Amma Panin, Steven J. Pfaff, Jared Rubin

ESI Working Papers

This chapter examines the role of religion in economic development, both historically and today. Religion's influence varies globally, with high religiosity in countries like Pakistan and low rates in China. Despite declines in some Western countries, religion remains influential worldwide, with projected growth in Muslim populations due to higher fertility rates. Religion continues to shape societal norms and institutions, such as education and politics, even after its direct influence fades. The chapter explores how religious institutions and norms have impacted economic outcomes, focusing on both persistence and decline. It also examines cultural transmission, institutional entrenchment, networks, and religious competition as …

Religion, Culture, And Politics, Jared Rubin

ESI Working Papers

This chapter presents a conceptual framework for understanding the interaction of religion, ideology, and politics. The framework’s key insights are: i) culture and ideology provide a shared mental framework for interpreting the world; ii) ideology is malleable, and it can be used to justify a wide set of empirical realities in a manner that is consistent with the prevailing mental framework; iii) religion is particularly adept at shaping this mental framework because it attempts to explain the unknown; iv) because co-religionists share a mental framework that depends on a (religious) interpretation of events, religions are particularly likely to be co-opted …

Does Climate Change Impacts Output? An Empirical Evidence From Asia Pacific Countries., Chinmaya Behera Dr., Ranjan Kumar Mohanty Dr., Biswashree Tanaya Priyadarsini Ms., Debasis Patnaik

Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking

The study examines the nexus between output, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), renewable energy, trade openness, carbon emission, and foreign direct investment in Asia Pacific countries Using the autoregressive distributed lag model and yearly data from 1990 to 2021, we find (a) a long-run relationship among the variables under consideration, (b) that GDP positively impacts output in most countries, (c) that CO2 and renewable energy display varied effects, and (d) in the short run, GDP and trade openness generally exert a positive influence, but GDP demonstrates a mix of positive and negative impacts. Policymakers need to provide stable policies for environmental …

From Home To Abroad: The Intergenerational Impact Of Household Member Migration On Women’S Economic & Social Empowerment In Egypt, Menna Elgohary

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates to what extent the migration of a household member to an Arab country leads to increased social and economic empowerment among Egyptian women of two age categories (15-35 and +35) over two waves. Determined through Principle Component Analysis (PCA) of panel data from Egypt Labor Market Panel Surveys in 2018 and 2023, composite indices of social and economic empowerment serve as dependent variables in an IV 2SLS regression model. The model assesses whether household member migration, proxied by migration prevalence on the district (qism) level as an IV, causes a significant increase in social and economic empowerment …

Essays In Industrial Organization, Nilesh Kumar Jain

Doctoral Theses

This thesis contains three chapters on industrial organization, covering two distinct topics. Chapters 1 and 2 examine the impact of firm owner's corruption on the organization, while Chapter 3 analyzes the market dynamics of a two-sided newspaper market.\medskip The first chapter investigates the agency conflict that arises when the principal (the owner) of a firm is involved in corruption. A corruptible principal has an incentive to conceal his or her illegal activities, while the agent (CEO or manager), due to their information advantage, is in a position to monitor this corruption, thus creating an agency conflict. We show that such …

Ecological Influences On Informal Property Rights: Experimental Evidence, Erik O. Kimbrough

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

This paper explores the possibility that informal property right systems evolve unique features as a function of the characteristics of the resources over which they are established. We develop an experimental environment that allows us to test this hypothesis by comparing the emergence of property in (virtual) land when resource yields are either high- or low-variance and renewable or non-renewable. Previous research suggests that high-variance resources may lead to relatively insecure claims to property. Intuition suggests that this may be amplified when those resources are renewable. The experiments confirm that informal property rights adapt to resource characteristics in a manner …

When The Rich Do (Not) Trust The (Newly) Rich: Experimental Evidence On The Effects Of Positive Random Shocks In The Trust Game, Hernán Bejarano, Joris Gillet, Ismael Rodriguez-Lara

ESI Publications

We study behavior in a trust game where first-movers initially have a higher endowment than second-movers but the occurrence of a positive random shock can eliminate this inequality by increasing the endowment of the second-mover before the decision of the first-mover. We find that second-movers return less (i.e., they are less trustworthy) when they have a lower endowment than first-movers, compared with the case in which first and second-movers have the same endowment. In addition, second-movers who experience the positive shock return more than second-movers who have the same endowment as the first-mover from the outset. First-movers do not seem …

China’S Economic Slowdown: How Does It Affect New Zealand’S Economy?, Haven Qin

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the impact of China’s economic slowdown on New Zealand’s economy, focusing on sector-specific linkages across real estate, the stock market, exports, and import prices. As a small open economy, New Zealand’s deep integration with global markets makes it particularly vulnerable to external shocks from its largest trading partner. Employing OLS regression models and monthly economic data, this study reveals the nuanced pathways through which China’s economic conditions influence New Zealand. Key findings include the sensitivity of New Zealand’s housing market to Chinese property investments and Chinese stock market performance, the influence of Chinese financial market performance on …