The Economics Of The U.S. Student Loan Market And The Case For The Education Development Financial Institution,
2026
Claremont McKenna College
The Economics Of The U.S. Student Loan Market And The Case For The Education Development Financial Institution, Ian Akers
CMC Senior Theses
The United States student loan market is shaped by a variety of market failures–credit constraints, positive externalities, behavioral frictions including myopia, debt aversion, and misperception–that together justify government intervention in the market. Yet the design of federal intervention is just as important as its existence. This thesis details the economic theory underpinning the market for student loans, evaluates three historical federal student loan programs (the Perkins Loan Program, the Federal Family Education Loan Program, and the Federal Direct Loan Program) through the lens of that theory. The thesis then proposes a novel institutional model as a targeted response to the …
Volatility Modeling With An Application To Risk Parity Portfolios,
2026
Claremont McKenna College
Volatility Modeling With An Application To Risk Parity Portfolios, Kenneth Hou
CMC Senior Theses
This thesis studies volatility modeling in the context of risk parity portfolio construction. I compare three risk parity portfolios that differ only in their underlying volatility model: a historical covariance baseline, a Bayesian stochastic volatility model, and a GRU–GARCH hybrid neural network. Using daily returns on Kenneth French’s five industry portfolios from January 2016 through December 2025, I construct monthly rebalanced portfolios under each model, with the SV and GRU forecasts embedded in hybrid covariance matrices that combine forecasted volatilities with rolling historical correlations. The results document a divergence between forecast accuracy and portfolio performance: the SV model is the …
Trading Volume And Forecast Accuracy In Kalshi Prediction Markets,
2026
Claremont McKenna College
Trading Volume And Forecast Accuracy In Kalshi Prediction Markets, Nicholas Smole
CMC Senior Theses
This thesis examines the accuracy of Kalshi prediction markets and how different measures of trading volume shape their calibration and predictive power. Expanding upon previous models, use nonparametric calibration curves, pseudo-likelihood regressions, and Brier-score regressions on a large panel of Kalshi contracts to compare the effects of ex-post total volume and cumulative trading volume on market accuracy. Markets are typically well-calibrated near expiration; however, at longer horizons, low-volume markets exhibit substantially more miscalibration. Holding time to expiration fixed, greater cumulative volume is associated with higher accuracy. In comparison, higher ex-post total volume is associated with lower accuracy, highlighting the importance …
Education And The Maternal Childcare Gap: Evidence From The Uk Covid-19 Pandemic,
2026
University of Richmond
Education And The Maternal Childcare Gap: Evidence From The Uk Covid-19 Pandemic, Lara Bakhaya
Honors Theses
This paper examines whether college education shapes working mothers’ access to remote work, flexible working, and childcare hours in the United Kingdom, and whether COVID-19 school closures amplified these inequalities. Using data from the UK Time Use Survey (2016–2021), a repeated cross-sectional diary dataset spanning the pre-pandemic period and five COVID-19 waves, this paper estimates weighted logistic and ordinary least squares regressions on a sample of married or cohabiting, employed mothers. School closures serve as a natural experiment, providing an exogenous shock to caregiving demands that affected all mothers simultaneously regardless of education level. College education significantly predicted working from …
Spillover Effects Of Medicare Advantage On Fee-For-Service Post-Acute Care Spending,
2026
University of Richmond
Spillover Effects Of Medicare Advantage On Fee-For-Service Post-Acute Care Spending, Nyel Bangash
Honors Theses
Does the growth of Medicare Advantage reduce fee-for-service post-acute care spending through practice-pattern spillovers, or do observed spending differences primarily reflect favorable selection? Using a county-level panel of roughly 2,700 counties (2014–2023) and a two-way fixed effects specification, I find that a one percentage-point increase in MA penetration is associated with $9.54 less per-capita standardized FFS spending. Spending per episode falls while participation rates remain stable, consistent with practice-pattern spillovers rather than compositional changes from selection. Welfare indicators from County Health Rankings, CDC PLACES, and CMS Care Compare show no evidence that spending reductions harm health or care quality. The …
An Analysis Of How Adverse Weather Conditions Impact Concessions Revenue At Live College Sporting Events,
2026
University of Central Florida
An Analysis Of How Adverse Weather Conditions Impact Concessions Revenue At Live College Sporting Events, Luke V. Eiermann
Honors Undergraduate Theses
Previous literature finds that weather affects consumer behavior, though these findings are conflicting among sports fans. While there have been some studies into weather’s effects on attendance, there has not yet been research into its effects on concessions revenue. This is a topic of interest as adverse weather is increasingly prevalent in consumers’ lives, and learning more about their behavior in response to adverse weather is becoming more important. I performed a fixed effects panel data regression, using weather data sourced from the NOAA and sports and population data sourced from various locations. I did not find significant results for …
Performance Of Digital Economic Indicators During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Payment System Case Of Indonesia,
2025
Bank Indonesia
Performance Of Digital Economic Indicators During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Payment System Case Of Indonesia, Darjana Darjana, Yanti Rusmawati
Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking
We explore the performance of digital payment system instruments during both the pre-COVID-19 period and during the pandemic. We focus on four main digital economic indicators in Indonesia; namely, electronic money, Automated Teller Machine (ATM), digital banking, and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) transactions. Using monthly data covering the period 2013:01 to 2023:04 obtained from Bank Indonesia, we employ the Difference-in-Differences method to assess the impact of the pandemic on digital economic indicators. The results show that during the pandemic, generally, the transaction value of electronic money, digital banking and RTGS are continuously upward trending, while the number of electronic …
Oxytocin Varies Across The Life Course In A Sex-Specific Way In A Human Subsistence Population,
2025
University of Zürich
Oxytocin Varies Across The Life Course In A Sex-Specific Way In A Human Subsistence Population, Abigail E. Colby, Dominik C. Jud, Valerie Baettig, Jordan S. Martin, Camila Scaff, Michael D. Gurven, Benjamin C. Trumble, Bret A. Beheim, Paul L. Hooper, Daniel K. Cummings, Hillard Kaplan, Jonathan Stieglitz, Arnulfo Cary Ista, Adrian V. Jaeggi
ESI Publications
Oxytocin, a hormone linked to reproduction and health, may mediate life-history trade-offs across the human life course. Yet, how oxytocin naturally varies with age remains poorly understood. Here, working with the Tsimane, forager-horticulturalists of lowland Bolivia, we collected the largest sample of oxytocin measurements to date (n = 1,242 samples, n = 405 individuals, age = 2 to 84 y, 51% female), and i) examined how oxytocin varies throughout the life course in females and males, and ii) investigated potential drivers of age- and sex-specific variation. Our sample provides rare insight into the relationship between oxytocin and age in a …
Explaining Pension Trends And Recent Pension Performance,
2025
Utah Valley University
Explaining Pension Trends And Recent Pension Performance, Nathan Jeppson, John A. Ruddy, David F. Salerno
Pennsylvania Economic Review
Due to significant unfunded liabilities, many employer-sponsored retirement plans both domestically and internationally are shifting away from defined benefit (DB) pension plans to defined contribution (DC) plans. This is especially the case in private industry. Many expected that the COVID-19 pandemic would cause the funding status of DB plans to worsen. However, the opposite occurred. This is primarily due to decreased life expectancies and improved financial market performance. We utilize a 2004-2021 dataset that contains state level GDP, revenue, pension, and life expectancy data to study U.S. state DB pension plans. We are able to explain over 80% of the …
Economics Of The Olympics: Impact Of Bidding For And Hosting The Olympic Games On International Openness,
2025
Washington & Jefferson College
Economics Of The Olympics: Impact Of Bidding For And Hosting The Olympic Games On International Openness, Adalynn Cherry
Pennsylvania Economic Review
This study investigates how hosting and unsuccessfully bidding to host the Olympic Games impacts total international trade and influences a country’s openness. This relationship is analyzed using the gravity model of trade to perform a regression analysis of total trade levels from 2000 to 2018. The results of this study did not support the idea that hosting the Olympic Games impacts total trade; although, they did show a strong and permanent positive relationship between unsuccessfully bidding to host the Olympic Games and total international trade. These findings highlight the benefits of the Olympic bidding and candidature process as a policy …
National Expenditure On R&D And International Comparison Of Productivity,
2025
Georgetown University
National Expenditure On R&D And International Comparison Of Productivity, Aegus Kim
Pennsylvania Economic Review
A higher national expenditure on research and development (R&D) may lead to a higher level of productivity in the national economy because innovations can improve overall efficiency in production by increasing output per worker. Unlike other empirical studies which suggest the positive impact of R&D expenditure on productivity but are often the result from the firm level or the industry level, this paper investigates a positive correlation between R&D spending and productivity using the 2019 national data for the top 25 countries ranked by R&D expenditure. The paper focuses on the relationship between international values of total factor productivity (TFP) …
Exploring The Socioeconomic Determinants Of Abortion: Evidence From Pennsylvania,
2025
west chester university
Exploring The Socioeconomic Determinants Of Abortion: Evidence From Pennsylvania, Guido Giuntini, Allyssa A. Wadsworth, Michael A. Malcolm
Pennsylvania Economic Review
Economic factors play a key role in determining fertility and the number of abortions performed. Using detailed county-level data from Pennsylvania, we used fixed-effects analysis to examine how changes in these economic factors are related to the number of abortions. Our most robust estimate suggests that each percentage point increase in the poverty rate is associated with approximately 5 additional abortions per 1000 live births, but that increases in college education rates are associated with a decline in abortions. We also offer some preliminary evidence on the effects of partisanship, religiosity and proximity to an abortion clinic.
Contests With Ambiguous Prizes,
2025
Chapman University
Contests With Ambiguous Prizes, Cary Deck, Aidan Hathaway, Emma Kate Henry, Tigran Melkonyan, Samuel Redinger
ESI Working Papers
This paper examines behavior in contests where the prize value is ambiguous. We develop a theoretical model of bidding in a Tullock contest with an ambiguous prize where contestants account for the ambiguity attitude of their rival. Ambiguity affects optimal behavior via two countervailing channels - a direct effect arising from contestants’ ambiguity about the value of the prize and an indirect effect corresponding to the effect of ambiguity on the opponent’s behavior. Using a controlled laboratory experiment, we elicit individual risk and ambiguity attitudes and compare predicted and observed behavior in contests with an ambiguous prize, a risky prize …
Performance And Policy Review: Does Connecticut’S Open Choice Program Provide Equitable Opportunities To Underserved Students?,
2025
University of New Haven
Performance And Policy Review: Does Connecticut’S Open Choice Program Provide Equitable Opportunities To Underserved Students?, Jacob S. Carson, Gazi M. Duman
Pennsylvania Economic Review
The intent of Connecticut’s Open Choice Program is to offer underserved urban students the opportunity to achieve equitable educational outcomes by attending higher-quality public schools. As students transfer to schools that theoretically have more resources, increased educational achievement growth is expected. Additionally, with the implementation of the state exam, Smarter Balanced Assessment, student growth metrics have been introduced in state reporting. Examining student growth is a better measure for school quality than achievement levels. To understand the impact of Open Choice Program, a multiple regression analysis is applied to multiple imputed aggregate data to determine the relationship between school choice …
University Athletic Subsidies Connections To Various Campus-Wide Outcomes,
2025
Western Michigan University
University Athletic Subsidies Connections To Various Campus-Wide Outcomes, Daniel Vainner
Dissertations
This study examines the relationship between university athletic subsidies and outcomes for the broader undergraduate student population. The athletic subsidy, referred to as an athletic tax, is defined as institutional and student fees used to support athletics. Although athletics are often viewed as enhancing institutional prestige and recruitment, most universities depend heavily on subsidies to sustain their programs. In 2019, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) institutions spent over $18.8 billion on athletics, with $8.3 billion, or 44 percent, coming from institutional and student sources rather than athletic revenue (NCAA, 2019a). This research explores whether such subsidization predicts measurable differences in …
Strategic Interactions And Gender Cues: Evidence From Social Preference Games,
2025
Chapman University
Strategic Interactions And Gender Cues: Evidence From Social Preference Games, Hernán Bejarano, Matias Busso, Juan Francisco Santos
ESI Working Papers
This paper studies trust, reciprocity, and bargaining using a large-scale online experiment conducted in six Latin American countries. Participants played trust and ultimatum games under randomly assigned conditions in which the gender of their counterpart was either disclosed or withheld. On average, disclosing counterpart gender does not yield statistically detectable effects in either game. However, statistically significant differences emerge by participants' own gender: on average men exhibit higher levels of trust, reciprocity, and generosity in bargaining than women. When disaggregating by participant-counterpart gender pairings, point estimates differ in sign across groups but are generally imprecisely estimated, and differences between interacting …
Exploring Private And Governmental Interest In Bitcoin,
2025
University of Denver
Exploring Private And Governmental Interest In Bitcoin, Mina Khadem
Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals
Regardless of one’s opinion, Bitcoin’s presence in the global economy is growing. However, Bitcoin’s emerging role and its implications are greatly under-researched, particularly in the context of government interest in Bitcoin. Nonetheless, increased private investment in Bitcoin and increased government interest in formally incorporating Bitcoin into existing economic systems, suggest a new development within the global economy that must be investigated. Through qualitative text analysis of pro-Bitcoin narratives presented in digital media platforms and official government policies and public statements, this thesis explores how private and government interest in Bitcoin is explained and framed within these contexts. This study finds …
Educational Indebtedness, Youth Precarity, And Neoliberalism: A Comparative Analysis Between Chile And Colombia.,
2025
Bucknell University
Educational Indebtedness, Youth Precarity, And Neoliberalism: A Comparative Analysis Between Chile And Colombia., Alejandro Rodriguez-Mejia
Working Papers
No abstract provided.
Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania,
2025
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray
Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …
Dictators And Lying Dictators: An Experimental Investigation Of Preference Based-Group Biases In Chinese And American Interactions,
2025
California Institute of Technology
Dictators And Lying Dictators: An Experimental Investigation Of Preference Based-Group Biases In Chinese And American Interactions, Aaron S. Berman, Saika Cer Askin, Shapeng Jiang, David Porter, Jason Shachat
ESI Working Papers
This study examines group-conditional generosity and behavior using students from Chapman University in the United States and Wuhan University in China. Participants make allocation decisions in either a standard Dictator Game (DG) or a Lying Dictator Game (LDG), where a privately reported die roll determines the allocation. We vary whether participants interact with members of their own or the other university community. The LDG game, through the possibility of plausible deniability, allows for the moderation of image concerns that potentially influence DG behavior. We complement these tasks with individual decision benchmarks that exclude the Receiver to control for group differences …
