International Economics Commons^™

Dispute Initiation In The World Trade Organization: An Evaluation Of Trade Complaints Filed With The U.S. Trade Representative’S Office Between 1995 And 2004, Jennifer Dikler

Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores the determinants of dispute settlement prior to formal WTO proceedings, utilizing 2,334 complaints filed with the USTR between 1995 and 2004. My results affirm that the gravity model continues to hold explanatory power in explaining WTO dispute initiation, as do the characteristics of the barrier itself.

Mentoring Effects On Microbusiness Growth In Medellín, Colombia, Diana Herrera

Master's Theses

Microbusinesses are stagnant in growth across least developed countries due to their lack of managerial skills and limited access to the credit market. Current business methods aimed at increasing profitability for microentrepreneurs with limited capital in developing countries are only moderately successful in increasing growth. Having a mentor that has a localized business understanding can provide their mentee with the proper guidance on how to effectively manage their business to increase growth. This paper presents the results for a randomized controlled trial which identifies the average treatment effects of meeting with a mentor and observes the impact on business growth …

The Role Of High-Fructose Corn Syrup Imports In Child And Women Obesity, Anna Subirana Bofill

Master's Theses

High Fructose Corn Syrup is believed to be responsible for the increase of the obesity epidemic that is affecting both developed and developing countries, yet to date there are no rigorous analyses that quantify this effect. To estimate the impact of consumption of HFCS on obesity, I have paired country-specific data on imports of HFCS from the United Nations International Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) with women and child health data from around 70 countries from 1985 to 2018. The results show that conditional on space and time fixed effects, imports of HFCS with a high concentration of fructose have …

Income Inequality In America: Conclusions From 100 Years Of Income Tax Data And Cross-Country Comparisons, Noriel Campos

Master's Theses

In 1913, taxation of income was permanently introduced in the United States. Other similarly developed countries soon followed suit. From there, income inequality in the United States dropped significantly, and the decline in Europe was even more dramatic. First, this paper considers the changes over time of the share of national income gained by the top 1% of income earners in seven countries going back to World War Two. A second analysis considers the impact that tax policy may have had on the share of income accruing to the top 1% of U.S. income earners between 1980 and 2014, a …

Liberté, Égalité, Manifester: Explaining The Yellow Vest Movement In France, Brady L. Cole

Honors Theses

Les Gilets Jaunes, or the yellow vests, is a movement of protestors that have had a large presence in France since 2018. Beginning as an online petition against French President Emmanuel Macron’s fuel tax hike, the movement has quickly amassed several hundred thousand protestors in Paris and other cities across the country. It is the objective of this thesis to examine potential reasons why 300,000 people have felt the need to protest throughout France, apart from the now rescinded fuel tax.

To this end, a sample of data from the Varieties of Democracy database was selected. These variables covered various …

Imitators To Creators: The Emergence Of A Confident National Identity In Contemporary Korea As Observed Through K-Pop And Masculinity, Kaitlyn Diane Read

Honors Theses

South Korea’s national narrative has evolved from one familiar with destruction and outside control to one that can now afford to be more challenging and confrontational. Korea’s ascent to both economic and political prominence on the international landscape in record time is well established. The rapid transformation currently impacts Korean society with the country choosing to concentrate on strengthening its soft power and nation brand exporting. This thesis aims to reveal how Korea’s recently acquired position of significance on the global stage permits the Korean national identity to be assured and stimulating, in contrast with a derivative narrative once perceived …

Currency Internationalization: The Case Of The Rmb, Daniel Powell

Business and Economics Honors Papers

Currency internationalization could be considered as one of the primary facets of globalization in the modern world. Today, the US dollar accounts for nearly eighty-five percent of all global transactions, both in trade and finance. However, as China’s power has risen in the past few decades, many have pondered whether the Chinese currency, the RenMinBi (RMB), can internationalize. This study examines the literature on what components create an international currency. Then, we examine the characteristics of China’s financial markets and international relations to become familiar with the scholarly discourse surrounding China’s financial markets, international influence, and monetary stability. We then …

An Econometric Analysis Of Bilateral Import Demand In South Africa, Christopher Smith

Dissertations

One of the most significant challenges facing any society is the allocation of scarce economic resources that have alternative uses. Though imports can streamline the allocation of scarce resources in an economy, the potency of a country’s import policies are subject to the magnitude of import elasticities with respect to income, domestic prices, foreign prices, and exchange rates. This research estimates the bilateral income, domestic price, import price, and exchange rate elasticities between South Africa and its five largest trading partners: China, Germany, the United States, India, and Saudi Arabia using quarterly data from 1998 – 2017. The bounds testing …

Three Essays On Quality Of Tradable Products, Angdi Lu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation includes three essays on the quality of tradable products. The first chapter studies the supply-side determinants of quality specialization across Chinese cities. Specifically, we complement the quality specialization literature in international trade and study how larger cities within a country produce goods with higher quality. In our general equilibrium model, firms in larger cities specialize in higher-quality products because agglomeration benefits (arising from the treatment effect of agglomeration and firm sorting) accrue more to skilled workers, who are also more efficient in upgrading quality, although these effects are partially mitigated by higher skill premium in larger cities. Using …

Is China Stealing Our Tech? A Look Into The Role Of Intellectual Property Rights In Us-China Trade Relations, Ryan Chester

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis aims to further the current scholarship on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and their effects on international trade and the US-China trade relationship more specifically. The main analysis of this thesis is a quantitative cross-country analysis of over 100 countries to see how IPR plays a role in international trade, while analyzing how the Sino-US trade relationship fits into larger trends. This thesis aims to answer the questions as follows: What are the current policies surrounding Intellectual Property Rights between China and the US? Does increasing the strength of IPR laws influence imports? Does the strength of a country’s …

Cultivating Alternative Subsistence Farming Practices In Dangriga, Belize, Alexander Johnson

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Subsistence farming, also referred to as backyard farming, is an important opportunity for families in areas of low economic status. Small scale poultry farming is another practice often used by families in similar situations because of the financial and nutritional benefits provided. By combining the two practices in a process where they each benefit from the other, a sustainable system can be created. The poultry-garden system can provide a source of food for the household and, if run effectively, supplemental income can be generated through the sale of excess poultry, eggs, or vegetation. This project attempted to take the concept …

Mind Your Youth: Youth Unemployment And Islamic Radicalization, Caleb Ray

Honors Theses

This study examines the potential existence of a correlation between youth unemployment and Islamic Radicalization in the MENA using data from the World Bank, the Global Terrorism Database, and the Arab Barometer. It aims to add to the current body of research regarding socioeconomic drivers for radicalization and terrorism.

Cruise Ship Ports And Human Capital Development The Case Of Mexico, Jorge Herrera

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

The cruise ship industry, the fastest-growing segment in the leisure travel market, has contributed significantly to the economic transformation of developing countries, particularly in the Caribbean Basin. This paper applies a difference-in-differences methodology to examine the causal impact of the introduction of cruise ship ports on human capital development in Mexico, as reflected by educational attainment. Using variations in school enrollment, segregated by gender and age across states and municipalities, I find that the economic consequences derived from this form of tourism do not translate into incremental, permanent improvements in all quality of life indicators considered, most saliently in schooling. …

Exchange Rate Regimes And Economic Growth, Amandarae Matthew

Undergraduate Theses

This paper explores the relationship between economic growth and exchange rate regimes among countries of lower income, lower middle income, upper middle income, and high-income countries. Countries must make careful consideration when choosing an exchange rate regime because each regime can have different long-term effects. A cross section pooled time series data will be used for a sample of 42 countries over the period of 2000-2018. Multiple models will examine the various relationships between types of exchange rate regimes, changes in exchange rate regimes, and economic growth. The components of the models being tested include political stability, change in terms …

The Nuances Of Capital Controls In Economic Development: Argentina And Chile, Reagan A. Shane

Global Tides

In this paper, I analyze the ways that capital controls affect growth and economic development in developing countries and emerging market economies and use the historical evidence of Chile and Argentina to demonstrate how countries may experience the effects of capital controls in different proportions. I then review additional academic literature and historical evidence in Chile and Argentina to determine what factors seem to determine the success or failure of capital control strategies. I find two influential factors in the determination of whether implementation of capital controls helps or hurts economic growth and development. The first is whether capital controls …

Econ 319: A Closer Look Into Trade With Madagascar, Casey Williams

Virtual 2020 Spring Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Trade may seem like simple transaction between two parties, but in reality, trading comes with many boundaries and challenges that may not be easy to see from the outside. This research was conducted by collecting data about Madagascar’s trade with the United States, the types and amount of products being imported and exported, and a closer look at each economy. In our course, we discussed how the Gravity Model, the idea that most countries will find it easiest and most efficient to trade with big economies that are close rather than ones that are farther away, plays a vital role …

Morocco’S Informal Economy: The Role Of Rotating Savings In Rabat, Grace Lamendola, Hicham Ait Mansour

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

This research project is a case study concerned with how the practice of Rotational Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) function within Rabat, Morocco. Research was guided by the following questions: Why is this form of money management utilized? Who is the typical participant in ROSCAs? What sort of purchases are financed through this practice? And what does the changing popularity of ROSCAs mean for future generations? In order to begin answering these questions I collected considerable qualitative data throughout my four-month long stay in the Medina of Rabat during Fall of 2019. I also supplemented this data with secondary research …

Restructuring And Forgiveness In Financial Crises D: The Japanese Financial Crisis Of The 1990s, Christian M. Mcnamara, Andrew Metrick

Journal of Financial Crises

In November 1997 the Japanese government confronted a problem of enormous proportions when the turmoil that had been roiling the financial markets since the collapse of a real estate and stock market asset bubble in 1990 reached a crescendo with the failure of four major financial institutions in quick succession in the space of a month. Prior to these failures, the damage done by the collapsing bubble had seemed to be limited to certain segments of the financial landscape, and the government’s response consisted largely of targeted intervention when necessary for clearly insolvent financial institutions, with a more comprehensive approach …

Restructuring And Forgiveness In Financial Crises C: The Swedish Banking Crisis Of 1990-94, Christian M. Mcnamara, Dr. Lars Thunell, Andrew Metrick

Journal of Financial Crises

In the Spring of 1992, the Swedish government faced a dilemma. The country was in the midst of an economic downturn stemming from the collapse of asset prices (especially in real estate) that had spiked as a result of a credit boom that followed the deregulation of the Swedish banking system in the mid-1980s. Initially the impact of the downturn on the country’s banks had seemed to be limited to a small number of specific firms that the government moved to assist on an ad hoc basis in 1991. However, evidence was mounting that the banking crisis was reaching a …

Restructuring And Forgiveness In Financial Crises B: The Asian Crisis Of 1997, June Rhee, Andrew Metrick

Journal of Financial Crises

Asia’s economy, Thailand in particular, was booming when the financial crises hit in the 1990s. However, troubles were brewing underneath the seemingly buoyant economy. With a fragile financial system and ineffective domestic government responses to these troubles, an exchange rate crisis took over Thailand, and this crisis started a financial contagion in the neighboring countries. This case reviews the background and domestic government responses to contain the crisis, and the international intervention provided by the International Monetary Fund including the assistance and the required reforms accompanying the support.