Other Economics Commons^™

Electric Vehicles: Exploring The Granularity In California Zip Codes, Hans Melvern Kasim

CMC Senior Theses

This paper studies a number of factors that affect electric vehicle (EV) sales in California. In comparison to previous papers, this paper examines EV sales at a higher granularity by using zip code level data. My model utilizes a panel fixed effect to examine factors like income, energy prices, commute time, number of chargers and tax rebates. The results show that the number of chargers (specifically DC fast), commute time, and tax rebates have the greatest statistically significant effects on EV sales in California. Furthermore, I utilize an empirical specification - a conditional logit model accounting for zip code fixed …

Driven By Change: The Impact Of Macroeconomic Shifts And Covid-19 On New Vehicle Sales, Jackson Aldrich

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the impact of macroeconomic factors and the COVID-19 pandemic on new vehicle sales. In order to address these two topics, a two-pronged approach was used with separate regression models. The macroeconomic variables include monthly supply of new homes, CPI for urban public transportation, unemployment rate, disposable personal income, inflation expectation, consumer sentiment, average gas prices, and total vehicle miles traveled which were regressed on total vehicle sales from 1978-2022. The regression results confirmed and supported current literature and highlighted the importance of the housing market and unemployment rate on new vehicle sales. The COVID-19 pandemic model variables …

The Effects Of School Autonomy On Student Achievement, Frank P. Kastl

Honors College Theses

This paper presents new evidence on the effects of school autonomy over personnel, budgeting, and curriculum on student achievement. I use the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data, a survey and assessment of students and schools in over 80 countries along with panel data methods. The empirical findings suggest that a greater degree of autonomy over schooling decisions improves achievement in math, science, and reading. However, these improvements are most pronounced in more developed countries.

Financial Contagion And Financial Lockdowns, Gabriele Camera, Alessandro Gioffré

ESI Working Papers

Extreme financial shocks often elicit extraordinary policy interventions that preclude financial activity on a large scale, for example as the 1933 U.S. “bank holiday.” We study these interventions using a random matching framework where the financial contagion process is explicit and the diffusion of the initial shock can be analytically characterized. The study suggests that there is scope for forced closures of individual firms or even economy-wide financial lockdowns only when firms are financially vulnerable and policy institutions are not well-functioning. Here, ordinary policy alone cannot prevent or sufficiently mitigate contagion, while complementing it with a lockdown or individual closures …

Evolution Of Primate Vocal Repertoires: Vocal Systems As Embodied Capital For Mediating Within-Group Conflict, Eric Schniter, Mateo Peñaherrera-Aguirre

ESI Working Papers

Life history traits constrain investments in costly neural and somatic embodied capital, potentially shaping the evolution of primate vocal communication systems. This study integrates life history theory with the social complexity hypothesis to test a sequential pathway from longevity to social dynamics to vocal repertoire size, using updated vocal repertoire data for McComb & Semple’s (2005) set of 42 non-human primate species, alongside measures of group size and within-group conflict. We compiled data on vocal repertoire size, within-group conflict, group size, endocranial volume, and maximum longevity, analysing these via Phylogenetic Sequential Canonical Cascade Model and ancestral character reconstructions. …

Heat & Social Cooperation: The Effects Of Thermal Stress On Altruism, Alexander J. Courtman

Master's Theses

Recent literature has highlighted the effects of temperature on economic outcomes and violence in humans, on both the interpersonal and intergroup levels: as temperatures rise, humans are more likely to exhibit increased aggression and agitation. However, little research has been done on how pro-social behaviors like cooperation and altruism among humans might respond to increased temperatures. As extreme heat events increase in frequency, will humans and communities work together in the face of adverse shocks and crises? Leveraging experimental data collected randomized controlled trails held in 4 locations across the world, this paper seeks to establish a relationship between thermal …

The Cost Of The Crunch: Ethical Chocolate In New York City, Rachel J. Goldman

Capstones

Within the past few years since the Supreme Court ruled in favor Big Chocolate companies, awareness about the ethical problems with industrial chocolate continue to penetrate public consciousness. There is a rise in boutique chocolate manufacturing around New York City, but how viable is it for every New Yorker?

The Cost of the Crunch: Ethical Chocolate in New York City | by Rachel Goldman | Dec, 2023 | Medium

Human-Robot Interactions: Insights From Experimental And Evolutionary Social Sciences, Eric Schniter

ESI Working Papers

"Experimental research in the realm of human-robot interactions has focused on the behavioral and psychological influences affecting human interaction and cooperation with robots. A robot is loosely defined as a device designed to perform agentic tasks autonomously or under remote control, often replicating or assisting human actions. Robots can vary widely in form, ranging from simple assembly line machines performing repetitive actions to advanced systems with no moving parts but with artificial intelligence (AI) capable of learning, problem-solving, communicating, and adapting to diverse environments and human interactions. Applications of experimental human-robot interaction research include the design, development, and implementation of …

The Impact Of High Temperatures On Child Anthropometric Outcomes Worldwide, Natalia A. Cancino Garcia

Master's Theses

High temperatures caused by climate change significantly impact society, including child nutrition. Our research focuses on the impact of high temperatures on the anthropometric outcomes of children aged 1 to 5 in 54 countries worldwide. We analyze the historical climate and anthropometric data to evaluate the effect of high temperature on weight-for-age (WAZ) and weight-for-height (WHZ) in children. Results indicate that high temperatures negatively affect child nutrition, particularly in areas above 20°C, and children in rural areas are more vulnerable. The impact of monthly temperature on child anthropometric outcomes varies across countries, regions, and cultural practices. Economic status alone is …

Enlightenment Ideals And Belief In Progress In The Run-Up To The Industrial Revolution: A Textual Analysis, Ali Almelhem, Murat Iyigun, Austin Kennedy, Jared Rubin

ESI Working Papers

We trace the evolution of the language of science, religion, and political economy in the centuries leading to the British Industrial Revolution. Using textual analysis of 264,443 works printed in England between 1500 and 1900, we test whether British culture manifested a belief in progress associated with science and industry. Our analysis yields three main findings. First, there was a separation in the languages of science and religion beginning in the mid-18th century. Second, volumes using language at the nexus of science and political economy became more progress-oriented during the Enlightenment. Third, volumes using industrial language—especially those at the science-political …

Joining A Currency Union To Improve Financial Development And Competitiveness: The Case Of Slovakia, Etsub Tekola Jemberu, Bruce Dehning

Accounting Faculty Articles and Research

Enhancing competitiveness is a priority for nations seeking to promote economic growth. One of the critical drivers of a nation’s sustainable competitiveness is financial system development. However, whether joining a currency union has a positive impact on a country’s financial system development requires further investigation. This study evaluates the impact of euro adoption on Slovakia’s financial system development using a synthetic control method with lasso regularization methodology. A comprehensive index that captures the depth, access, and efficiency of financial institutions and markets is used to measure financial system development. Based on a donor pool composed of non-euro OECD countries, the …

Testosterone Is Positively Associated With Coronary Artery Calcium In A Low Cardiovascular Disease Risk Population, Benjamin Trumble, Jacob Negrey, Stephanie V. Koebele, Randall C. Thompson, L. Samuel Wann, Adel H. Allam, Bret Beheim, M. Linda Sutherland, James D. Sutherland, Daniel Eid Rodriguez, David E. Michalik, Chris J. Rowan, Guido P. Lombardi, Angela R. Garcia, Daniel K. Cummings, Edmond Seabright, Sarah Alami, Thomas S. Kraft, Paul L. Hooper, Kenneth Buetow, Andrei Irimia, Margaret Gatz, Jonathan Stieglitz, Michael D. Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Gregory S. Thomas, Tsimane Health And Life History Project Teams

ESI Publications

Background

In industrialized populations, low male testosterone is associated with higher rates of cardiovascular mortality. However, coronary risk factors like obesity impact both testosterone and cardiovascular outcomes. Here, we assess the role of endogenous testosterone on coronary artery calcium in an active subsistence population with relatively low testosterone levels, low cardiovascular risk and low coronary artery calcium scores.

Methodology

In this cross-sectional community-based study, 719 Tsimane forager-horticulturalists in the Bolivian Amazon aged 40+ years underwent computed tomography (49.8% male, mean age 57.6 years).

Results

Coronary artery calcium levels were low; 84.5% had no coronary artery calcium. Zero-inflated negative binomial models …

The Effect Of Wage Proposals On Efficiency And Income Distribution☆, Lara Ezquerra, Joaquín Gómez-Miñambres, Natalia Jiminez, Praveen Kujal

ESI Publications

Pre-play non-binding communication in organizations is prevalent. We study the implications of pre-play, private and public, wage proposals in labor markets. To that end, we develop a theoretical model from which we derive certain hypothesis that we test through a laboratory experiment. In the baseline, that depicts a typical labor market interaction, the employer makes a wage offer to the worker who may then accept or reject it. In subsequent treatments, workers, moving first, make private, non-binding, wage proposals to the employer. In a following treatment, the proposals are made public. Our findings suggest that both private and public wage …

Suggested Versus Extended Gifts: How Alternative Market Institutions Mitigate Moral Hazard, Weiwei Zheng, Jason Shachat, Daniel Houser

ESI Working Papers

Gift exchange can partially mitigate supply-side moral hazard, even in anonymous market interactions. In a market where quality is not fully contractable, the amount that a price exceeds the market-clearing level for the lowest quality is a gift from the buyer. We show that the gift formation process, inextricably linked with a market institution’s price formation process, greatly influences the size and effectiveness of the gift. When the market institution dictates that prices are formed by bids posted by buyers, any gift is one extended to the seller. When the market institution dictates that prices are formed by offers posted …

Moving Beyond Transactional Coursework To Enhance Student Success In University Classes, Mark R. Reavis, Kuldeep Singh

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The goal of teaching is student success, but defining success can be daunting. A rudimentary description of student success involves academic achievement and students’ attainment of a high level of satisfaction with their educational process. The pinnacle of student success is transformational learning. Transformational learning is ultimately evidenced by knowledge-based, responsible, and autonomous thinking. Student engagement enhances student success. As a result, course design and assignment design are critical. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how an online discussion assignment can be used to enhance student engagement and increase student success in a university class. The assignment presented …

Asymmetric Shocks In Contests: Theory And Experiment, Jian Song, Daniel Houser

ESI Publications

Under optimal tournament design, equilibrium effort is invariant to the shape of the mean-zero additive stochastic component, often referred to as a “shock” or “noise”. We report data from laboratory experiments providing the first test of this prediction. Consistent with theory, we find that average effort does not significantly differ between a negatively skewed and uniform shock distribution. In addition, we test a second theoretical prediction that, in winner tournaments, when the shock distribution is asymmetric as in our design, one should exert minimum effort whenever one's competitors are exerting above equilibrium effort. With a symmetric shock distribution as in …

Casar Public Lecture: Mapping The Journeys Of Enslaved People From Zanzibar To The Gulf, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Part of the CASAR October lecture series and in partnership with AUC’s history department, this event featured guest scholar John Thabiti Willis, an associate professor of history at Clarendon College in Northfield Minnesota. For the last ten years Thabiti has dedicated himself to the study of African contributions to the history and heritage of pearling in the Gulf. In this event, AUC had the honor of listening to how Thabiti uses geographical information systems (GIS) to organize primary evidence gathered from manumission statements to analyze enslaved peoples journeys from Zanzibar to British political agents in Bahrain, Muscat, and Sharjah between …

Match Stability With A Costly And Flexible Number Of Positions, James Gilmore, David Porter

ESI Working Papers

One of the objectives of two-sided matching mechanisms is to pair two groups of agents such that there is no incentive for pair deviation. The outcome of a match can significantly impact participants. While much of the existing research in this field addresses the matching with fixed quotas, this is not always applicable. We introduce the concept of slot stability, recognizing the potential motivation for organizations to modify their quotas after the match. We propose an algorithm designed to create stable and slot stable matches by employing flexible, endogenous quotas to address this issue.

Religion And Growth, Sascha O. Becker, Jared Rubin, Ludger Woessmann

ESI Working Papers

We use the elements of a macroeconomic production function—physical capital, human capital, labor, and technology—together with standard growth models to frame the role of religion in economic growth. Unifying a growing literature, we argue that religion can enhance or impinge upon economic growth through all four elements because it shapes individual preferences, societal norms, and institutions. Religion affects physical capital accumulation by influencing thrift and financial development. It affects human capital through both religious and secular education. It affects population and labor by influencing work effort, fertility, and the demographic transition. And it affects total factor productivity by constraining or …

What Did Adam Smith Mean? The Semantics Of The Opening Key Principles In The Wealth Of Nations, Bart J. Wilson, Gian Marco Farese

ESI Publications

We present a semantic and textual analysis of the first two chapters of the Wealth of Nations to elucidate the meaning of several of Adam Smith’s key ideas. Using the methodology of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, we produce semantic explications of some of Adam Smith’s fundamental principles of economics phrased in simple and cross-translatable words. The extracts from the original text function as textual evidence and conceptual reference for the explications we present. We demonstrate that: (i) by reducing the principles as conceived by Smith to their core meanings, it is possible to resolve some interpretive ambiguities for general readers …