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 preference-based behavioral biases in social interactions between two distinct communities: students from Chapman University in the United States and Wuhan University in China. Using controlled experiments, participants interacted within or across communities in Dictator games. Two versions of the Dictator game were used: one where decisions were observable by both the experimenter and the recipient, and another where allocators could misreport outcomes with plausible deniability. Results revealed unexpected patterns, including similar allocation distributions across communities in the transparent task, and differing behaviors in the misreporting task, with Chapman allocators being more generous to out-group members and Wuhan …
The Security Trilemma: A Critical Research Agenda,
2025
Fitchberg State University and Izmir University of Economics, Turkiye
The Security Trilemma: A Critical Research Agenda, Adem Yavuz Elveren, David M. Fields
Working Papers
No abstract provided.
Poking Holes And Adding Points In Dictator Games,
2025
Georgia State University
Poking Holes And Adding Points In Dictator Games, James C. Cox, Cary Deck, Laura Razzolini, Vjollca Sadiraj
ESI Working Papers
Deviations from choices predicted by self-regarding preferences have regularly been observed in standard dictator games. Such behavior is not inconsistent with conventional preference theory or revealed preference theory, which accommodate other-regarding preferences. By contrast, experiments in which giving nothing is not the least generous feasible act produce data that is inconsistent with conventional preference theory including social preference models and suggest the possible relevance of reference point models. Two such models are the reference-dependent theory of riskless choice with loss aversion and choice monotonicity in moral reference points. Our experiment includes novel treatments designed to challenge both theoretical models of …
Religious Security As A Component Of National Security In The Sphere Of Social And Economic Communication,
2025
Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv
Religious Security As A Component Of National Security In The Sphere Of Social And Economic Communication, Yevhen Kharkovshchenko, Vitalii Nitsenko, Yevhen Piletskyi, Mariia Nesterova
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
National security is proposed to be viewed as a coordinated open system that, in addition to the religious, also includes military, economic, social, and other components. Considering religion as part of such an open system makes it possible to distinguish two mutually directed vectors of communication within religious communities: from church leaders to the faithful and vice versa. This presupposes feedback communication links that allow a denomination to balance interactions among the actors of church–society relations. The concept of “communication” in the context of religious and national security is thus expanded from a narrow understanding of information exchange to an …
Final Offer Arbitration With Asymmetric Evidence,
2025
University of Alabama
Final Offer Arbitration With Asymmetric Evidence, Yongjoon Kim, Afia Promi, Jiatong Xue, Cary Deck
ESI Working Papers
As disputants increasingly rely upon arbitration it is critical to understand outcomes that are likely to arise from mechanisms like final offer arbitration. While a sizable experimental literature investigating strategic behavior in final offer arbitration exists, that work has overwhelmingly focused on situations where the arbitrator’s beliefs about the appropriate resolution are symmetric and uninfluenced by the disputants’ cases. This paper considers a setting where the arbitrator’s beliefs depend on the strength of each disputant’s case. We find disputant responses to changes in the relative strength of their case generally follow comparative statics predictions. Further, we find that final offers …
Understanding Rice Production Stagnation In The Philippines: Regional Evidence And Development Implications,
2025
Ateneo de Manila University
Understanding Rice Production Stagnation In The Philippines: Regional Evidence And Development Implications, Henry Bartelet, Alenn Jhulia D. Prodigalidad, Janelle S. Dy, Jan Gabriel N. Manzano
Quantitative Methods and Information Technology Faculty Publications
Despite decades of investment in agricultural research and rice development, the Philippines continues to face stagnation in domestic rice production. This persistent trend, occurring despite a sizable arable land base and large rural workforce, has contributed to the country’s growing reliance on rice imports to meet national food needs. In response, the government has implemented a tariff-based import system designed to fund domestic productivity improvements. While previous studies have explored the technical and environmental constraints affecting rice production, such as irrigation shortfalls, land degradation, and climate variability, few have examined recent national trends using regionally disaggregated data alongside qualitative insights. …
Object Play In Tsimane Children: Implications For Sex-Specific Division Of Labour,
2025
University of Zurich
Object Play In Tsimane Children: Implications For Sex-Specific Division Of Labour, Ava Moser, Michael D. Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Benjamin C. Trumble, Jonathan Stieglitz, Paul Hooper, Daniel Cummings, Adrian Jaeggi, Kathelijne Koops
ESI Publications
Sex-specific division of labour and the associated use of different subsistence techniques by males (e.g. hunting) and females (e.g. gathering) has played an important role in shaping human societies. Skills needed in adulthood are practiced in play during childhood and object play has been proposed to foster tool-use skills necessary for adult subsistence techniques. Here, we investigated sex differences in the ontogeny of object play in Tsimane children in Bolivia to understand its potential role in shaping gender-specific adult roles. We used observational data (>80,000 scan samples) from nine Tsimane communities collected between 2002 and 2007. We analysed age …
Coordination In Time,
2025
Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Coordination In Time, Lars Boerner, Erik O. Kimbrough, Mouli Modak
ESI Working Papers
We study how well people are able to solve pure coordination problems in continuous time. Subjects decide whether and when to pay a cost to go to market with their goods and earn money only if another person shows up at the same time. We show that coordination failure is common in a baseline, and we introduce treatments that feature public coordination devices (meant to mimic clocks) and assess the extent to which coordination improves when such devices are provided via different institutions. A publicly provided device outperforms a variety of privately provided alternatives. Our evidence suggests this is because …
Independence Of Central Banks In Nondemocratic Regimes: Implications For Price Stability,
2025
Centre for Econometrics & Applied Research, Ibadan, Nigeria; and Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Independence Of Central Banks In Nondemocratic Regimes: Implications For Price Stability, Abeeb O. Olaniran, Umar B. Ndako
Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking
This study examines the impact of central bank independence on inflation in nondemocratic regimes, with a specific focus on the differences between Islamic and nonIslamic groups. It utilizes nonstationary heterogeneous panels to estimate both the longrun and short-run responses of inflation to central bank independence. Additionally, it employs a panel smooth transition regression model to identify any potential threshold effects in this relationship. Our findings reveal an inverse relationship between central bank independence and inflation rates for both groups in the long run. Our result suggests that non-Islamic authoritarian countries may struggle more than Islamic ones to maintain price stability …
