Growth and Development Commons^™

Formalizing Dispute Resolution: Effects Of Village Courts In Bangladesh, Martin Mattsson, Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak

Discussion Papers

Disagreements over business deals, land boundaries, or loan non-repayment are very common sources of disputes, and courts are congested in developing countries. We evaluate the effects of the government introducing formal “village courts” (VCs) in rural Bangladesh using a randomized controlled trial with a pre-analysis plan. VCs were designed to improve dispute resolution and relieve the pressure on congested district courts. We find that VCs are more of a substitute for the ubiquitous informal dispute resolution mechanism (DRM) called shalish. VCs become functional and active in treated areas, but shalish remains the primary preferred DRM in both treatment and …

Designing The Future: The Influence Of Lloyd J. Reynolds On American Product Innovation, Bander Qadan

University Honors Theses

This research inquiry will explore how critical advances in American design products and consumerism can be traced back to the late Lloyd J. Reynolds and the silent yet powerful influence he has had on a generation of students, such as the innovative pioneer, Steve Jobs. Lloyd J. Reynolds was a renowned calligrapher and teacher at Reed College. The inquiry is structured chronologically, leading to Apple's 2022 valuation of about two trillion dollars. Four significant areas will be examined to trace this trajectory. Firstly, the paper examines the effects of calligraphy/typography on Lloyd J. Reynolds. Secondly, it delves into Steve Jobs’ …

Demographic And Population Change In Mountain West Cities And Suburbs, 2020 Census, Zachary Billot, Saha Salahi, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet examines the five metro areas with populations exceeding one million in the Mountain West, drawing from the Brookings Institution report, “Today’s Suburbs are Symbolic of America’s Rising Diversity: A 2020 Census Portrait” by William Frey. Demographic data are included for both primary city and suburban portions for the major metros in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah.

Gender Inequality And Economic Decline: A Comparative Analysis Of Gender Roles And Its Impact On Economic Development In Egypt And Iran, Kayla E. Joyner

Senior Theses

This thesis will demonstrate that increasing female labor force participation in Iran and Egypt will facilitate overall economic growth, reduce poverty rates, and increase family investment in education and health. There are three critical factors that I will examine that are significantly deterring female participation in the labor force in these two countries specifically: sociocultural values, legal barriers, and economic policies. By refusing to mobilize the increasing potential female labor force, Iran and Egypt are hindering the nation’s social and economic development.

Sweet And Timely Insurance: The Role Of Honey In Reducing Coffee Producer Food Insecurity Exposure In Mexico, Grant Xavier Storer

Master's Theses

Smallholder coffee producers face a combination of pre- and post-harvest risk factors that leaves them particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. A popular form of on-farm diversification is honey production through beekeeping, that has both nutritional and commercial value. This study investigates the role of honey production as means of food security management due to the heightened pollinating activity during the coffee flowering stage that follows the annual coffee harvest provides an additional non-contemporaneous source of income. Using primary data collected in coffee-producing regions of Chiapas, Mexico, I find that during the honey harvest months, which occurs during the early stage …

Feeling The Heat: Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Of Heat On Human Cooperation, Scott K. Klaus

Master's Theses

The goal of this paper is to examine how increased temperatures affect human behavior in terms of cooperation. Currently, there is an abundance of literature regarding increased aggression in humans as temperatures rise. However, there is ambiguity concerning whether a similar effect exists in altering levels of cooperation in human interactions. Additionally, people of different characteristics may be influenced by heat at varying levels. First, we run a baseline model of prosociality on different heat measurements, such as standard and wet-bulb temperatures. Included in this model are experimental specification variables, a “trigger”, and characteristics. The trigger is defined as losing …

Cuban Embargo: An Insufficient Measure To Encourage Us Foreign Policy Interests, Esme Jm Prowse

Major Papers

This major paper examines the Cuban embargo as an ineffective hard power policy and explores the potential of soft, hard, and smart power as alternative approaches to resolve the failures of the 60-year-old blockade. The paper analyzes the historical context and rationale behind the embargo and assesses its impact on Cuban-American relations, regional stability, and U.S. national interests. The study argues that the embargo has failed to achieve its intended goals and has instead perpetuated a cycle of hostility, isolation, and human rights abuses. By drawing on the theoretical frameworks of soft, hard, and smart power, the paper presents policy …

Affective Commitment, Mentoring, And Anticipated Turnover Among Millennials, Keiasha Hypolite

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Millennials comprise the largest group of individuals in the workforce, yet organizations struggle to keep millennials engaged in the workplace. Millennials move from job to job, with an average stay at one employer between 12 and 18 months (Hechl, 2017). Researchers have reported that millennials cause the majority of turnover in the workplace. Globally, human resources practitioners experience difficulties retaining millennials (Sahraee et al., 2021). Previous studies have researched millennials, affective commitment, mentoring, and turnover. However, no known research has used all four factors to solve a global problem. In their discussion of the highly competitive labor market, Ramírez …

Pandemic, Retail Sales And Local Economies: Evidence From Northeast Oklahoma, Sanchari Ghosh, Brian Jackson, Ray Murphy

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Early post-COVID pandemic studies focused on the macroeconomic impacts of that event on employment, income, healthcare costs, food security, etc. Yet there has been little emphasis on how changes in consumption spending patterns resulting from the pandemic affected retail sales and revenues, each of which are major contributors of growth for local economies. This study investigates these relationships by implementing retail pull and sales gap analyses to determine how non-metropolitan rural regions responded to consumption expenditures and retail sales before and after the pandemic. Using three cities of northeastern Oklahoma as a case study, retail pull factors at the city …

Exploring The Adoption And Impact Of Bitcoin: A Comparative Analysis, Zachary S. Biedscheid

2023 Symposium

Bitcoin, a decentralized digital currency, has gained significant attention recently as a potential alternative to traditional financial systems. This research project aims to explore the adoption and impact of Bitcoin by conducting a comparative analysis of its use in different countries and regions. The study will begin by examining the history and evolution of Bitcoin, its underlying technology, and its potential advantages and disadvantages compared to traditional financial systems. The project will then investigate Bitcoin adoption in different regions, including North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, by analyzing data from relevant sources such as surveys, news articles, and academic research. …

Renovating America's Electrical Grid: Renewable Sources And Resilient Delivery, Justin O'Hare Giffee

Student Theses 2015-Present

Since the late 1800s, America’s electrical grid systems have relied primarily upon fossil fuels for sources of electricity. Due to the outdated structural foundations and glaring holes in distribution networks, the existing electrical grids struggle with electricity escaping, and modern issues such as cybersecurity, resilience, and weather-related events associated with climate change. This essay discusses ongoing problems with current electric grid systems and aims at explaining the importance of incorporating renewables as a solution for these problems into a new grid system. In the first chapter, a detailed explanation is provided regarding the current issues present in America's grid systems. …

Best And Worst States To Work In The Mountain West, Vanessa Booth, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet explores workplace index rankings for the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah from the 2022 Oxfam survey “The Best and Worst States to Work in America.”

The Influences Of The Public Health Care System And Education System On The Economic Growth Of Swaziland, Grace Greer

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Kingdom of Eswatini, also known as Swaziland, has one of the youngest populations in the world with over 70% of citizens being under the age of 18 years old. This creates a substantial opportunity for economic, social, and educational growth in a country previously plagued with diseases such as HIV/AIDS, poor health care infrastructure cutting off thousands from basic care, and an educational system with a very low attendance rate and an even lower graduation rate. By evaluating the root causes of such issues dating back to the colonial era there is an opportunity to reprioritize health care and …

No More Empty Stadiums: A Meta Analysis Of Mega Sporting Events And Their Economic Impact, Tayte O. Gleason

Honors Thesis

Mega sporting events have faced increased scrutiny in recent decades for their negative economic impacts, externalities, and environmental effects. As multimillion dollar stadiums lay abandoned and future host city bids are withdrawn as public opinion on mega sporting events worsens with time, economists, governing bodies, and sports fans worry about the future locations of these massive sports festivals. In my thesis, I will conduct a meta analysis of articles measuring the various impacts and effects of hosting a mega sporting event. I will begin by performing an extensive literature review of the various factors contributing to a mega sporting event’s …

Income Inequality And Economic Growth: An Analysis, Nicholas Martin

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Income inequality and its relationship with economic growth has been a subject of debate in academia for decades. This paper examines the relationship the Gini index of five selected countries and four macroeconomic variables (GDP growth, unemployment rate, lending interest rate, and savings rate) for each country with two developed nations being represented (United States and Italy) and three developing nations being represented (Peru, Belarus, and Indonesia). After reviewing the literature on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth, a multivariate regression analysis of each country is presented; first with GDP growth as the dependent variable, followed by a …

Survey Of Professional Forecasters 2023, Singapore Management University

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

Forecasters Maintain Their Expectations for Growth in 2023 The forecasters see the U.S. economy in 2023 expanding at the same pace as they predicted three months ago, according to 38 panelists surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The forecasters predict annual-average over annualaverage growth in real GDP of 1.3 percent in 2023, unrevised from their estimate of three months ago. The panelists are also maintaining their forecast for growth in the second quarter at an annual rate of 1.0 percent, unchanged compared with their previous projection. However, while their predictions for the second quarter and for 2023 remain …

The Role Of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs In Improving Access To Professional Attendance At Birth In Indonesia, Kaitlin Murray

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper examines the impact of an Indonesian conditional cash transfer program, named Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH), on households’ use of institutional delivery facilities at childbirth. Difference-in-differences and fixed effects regressions were conducted to examine the relationship between receipt of PKH cash transfers, use of institutional delivery facilities, and accessibility to institutional and traditional delivery facilities. The accessibility to institutional and traditional delivery facilities was demonstrated through a longer one-way trip time to these facilities. This paper had three significant findings: (1) that receipt of PKH cash transfers reduced the use of institutional delivery facilities, (2) that receipt of PKH …

Designing For Mass Customization Housing Through Generative Design, Tania Salgueiro

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research proposal aims to investigate computational design strategies for sustainable, affordable, and more equitable housing. The study will focus on the use of generative design tools, such as parametric modeling, rule-based modeling, and optimization, to aid architects and designers in creating custom housing complexes for single families in small and medium urban lots. The goal is to develop a computational method that considers sustainability, affordability, and long-term usage parameters to create housing designs that meet the desired spatial qualities. The research question asks how generative design tools can support designers in approaching affordable housing given the increasing demand for …

Analyzing The Impact Of Automation On Employment In Different Us Regions: A Data-Driven Approach, Thejaas Balasubramanian

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Automation is transforming the US workforce with the increasing prevalence of technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. As a result, it is essential to understand how this shift will impact the labor market and prepare for its effects. This culminating experience project aimed to examine the influence of computerization on jobs in the United States and answer the following research questions: Q1. What factors affect how likely different jobs will be automated? Q2. What are the possible effects of automation on the US workforce across states and industries? Q3. What are the meaningful predictors of the likelihood of …

Fdi And Environmental Externalities In Southeast Asia, Kevin Bloodworth

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this paper I explore the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and deforestation in Cambodia. Through an event study framework, I show that economic land concessions have a negative relationship with tree cover, over time, having stronger and stronger negative effects. This relationship is more pronounced in foreign economic land concessions when compared to domestic economic land concessions. Through the use of a difference in differences research design I examine the relationship between foreign and domestic concessions through the implementation of a ELC concession ban. The ban only led to worsening levels of deforestation within the borders of foreign …