Economics Commons^™

Subreption And Institutional Inquiry: Theoretical Philosophy And Evolutionary Thinking, John B. Hall, Alexander Dunlap

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

With this inquiry we respond to William Dugger‘s assertion that ―[s]ubreption is one of the least studied social phenomena of the twentieth century.‖ Our research seeks to fill a gap in the literature by clarifying subreption, and its origins in Philosophy to its importance in social science, and, especially, Institutional Inquiry. We conjecture that Thorstein Veblen borrows form Immanuel Kant‘s understanding of Erschleichung. In this respect, Veblen‘s understanding and use of subreption serves as conduit between its use in Roman law, through Kant‘s understanding, and on to what Veblen later introduces as an approach creatively relied upon by three other, …

Veblen’S Predator And The Great Crisis, John B. Hall, Iciar Dominguez-Lacasa, Jutta Günther

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

With this inquiry we attribute cause for the current and “Great Crisis” to Veblen’s predator. After summarizing origins and manifestations of this crisis we juxtapose Veblen’s emphasis upon the predator to other potential causes for crisis and crises. Noted to have emerged when our stock of human knowledge provided for the creation of surplus, Veblen’s predator is presented as capable of metamorphosis and also driving evolution of our capitalistic system: whether this means emerging as the businessman in the “era of the machine,” or the investment banker promoting a financial metaphysics in the current “era of finance.”

Application Of An Adaptive Step-Size Algorithm In Models Of Hyperinflation, Olena Kostyshyna

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

An adaptive step-size algorithm [Kushner and Yin, Stochastic Approximation and Recursive Algorithms and Applications, 2nd ed., New York: Springer-Verlag (2003)] is used to model time-varying learning, and its performance is illustrated in the environment of Marcet and Nicolini [American Economic Review 93 (2003), 1476–1498]. The resulting model gives qualitatively similar results to those of Marcet and Nicolini, and performs quantitatively somewhat better, based on the criterion of mean squared error. The model generates increasing gain during hyperinflations and decreasing gain after hyperinflations end, which matches findings in the data. An agent using this model behaves cautiously when faced …

Testing For Multiple Bubbles, Peter C.B. Phillips, Shu-Ping Shi, Jun Yu

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Identifying and dating explosive bbles when there is periodically collapsing behavior over time has been a major concern in the economics literature and is of great importance for practitioners. The complexity of the nonlinear structure inherent in multiple bubble phenomena within the same sample period makes econometric analysis particularly difficult. The present paper develops new recursive procedures for practical implementation and surveillance strategies that may be employed by central banks and fiscal regulators. We show how the testing procedure and dating algorithm of Phillips, Wu and Yu (2011, PWY) are affected by multiple bubbles and may fail to be consistent. …

Essays In Health Economics, Leigh Ann Leung

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Health is defined as an individual's mental or physical condition and being healthy means to be free from illness or injury. Health is relevant to both the supply and demand sides of the national economy. On the demand side, consumers derive satisfaction from being healthy. Consumers purchase goods and services to improve their health but also engage in activities that impair health such as smoking or drinking too much. On the supply side, firms produce health care goods and services to meet the market demand for health care derived from consumers' demand for better health. In addition, health augments labor …

Coastal Empire Economic Monitor, 3rd Quarter, 2012, Armstrong Atlantic State University Center For Regional Analysis

Coastal Empire Economic Monitor

The Coastal Empire Economic Indicators are designed to provide continuously updating quarterly snapshots of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area economy. The coincident index measures the current economic heartbeat of the region. The leading index provides a short term forecast of the region’s economic activity in six to nine months.

Coastal Empire Economic Monitor, 4th Quarter, 2012, Armstrong Atlantic State University Center For Regional Analysis

Coastal Empire Economic Monitor

The Coastal Empire Economic Indicators are designed to provide continuously updating quarterly snapshots of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area economy. The coincident index measures the current economic heartbeat of the region. The leading index provides a short term forecast of the region’s economic activity in six to nine months.

Dispersed Ownership: The Theories, The Evidence, And The Enduring Tension Between "Lumpers" And "Splitters", John C. Coffee Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

This article argues that dispersed ownership resulted less from inexorable forces and more from private ordering. Neither legal nor political conditions mandated or prevented the appearance of dispersed ownership. Rather, entrepreneurs, investment bankers, and investors — all seeking to maximize value — sometimes saw reasons why selling control into the public market would maximize value for them. But when and why? That is the article's focus. It argues that law played less of a role than specialized intermediaries — investment banks, securities exchanges, and other agents — who found it to be in their self-interest to foster dispersed ownership and …

Avoiding The Mistakes Of The Past, Tom Dunne

Articles

Tom Dunne explores the long term drivers of dysfunction in Ireland's housing markets and what a more sustainable housing system would look like.

Microinsurance: A Case Study Of The Indian Rainfall Index Insurance Market, Xavier Giné, Lev Menand, Robert W. Townsend, James Vickery

Faculty Scholarship

Efforts have been made in India and other countries in recent years to develop formal insurance markets to improve diversification of weather-related income shocks. This article aims to survey the features of one of these markets, the Indian rainfall index insurance market. “Index insurance” refers to a contract whose payouts are linked to a publicly observable index; in this case, the index is cumulative rainfall recorded on a local rain gauge during different phases of the monsoon season. This form of insurance is now available at a retail level in many parts of India, although these markets are still in …

Behavioral Approaches To Corporate Law, Donald C. Langevoort

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This chapter reviews the challenges associated with developing a plausible theory of why psychological "heuristics and biases" might persist in high-stakes business settings. Specific attention is given to issues of loyalty on corporate boards, behavioral finance, and corporate cultures.

Institutionalizing Democracy In Africa: A Comment On The African Charter On Democracy, Elections And Governance, Patrick J. Glen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article provides an exegesis of the recently entered-into-force African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. Democracy has a decidedly mixed history in Africa and, despite a concerted effort by the African Union (AU), it has made only halting inroads in those states that are nondemocratic or struggling to consolidate democracy. That may change as more states ratify and implement the Charter, a comprehensive regional attempt to promote, protect, and consolidate democracy that entered into force in February 2012. This Charter, the culmination of two decades of African thinking on how democracy should develop on the continent, represents the AU’s …

Managing The Economic Crisis In The Nonprofit Sector, Amy Ranae Costliow

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of the economic downturn on the nonprofit sector during 2009, 2010 and 2011. This study will also identify the strategies employed by nonprofit executives to navigate the current economic condition of the United States of America. The researcher compiled data from surveys distributed to nonprofit organizations in six cities across the nation during 2009, 2010 and 2011. After compiling the data collected the researcher utilized frequencies to examine how executive directors dealt with the economic downturn over the past three years. In addition the two way Chi Square was used …

Sovereign Wealth Funds And Global Finance, Katharina Pistor

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter focuses on a number of specific sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) whose portfolios indicate strong interests in finance both in their home countries and abroad. It first reviews empirical evidence that shows SWFs having been major investors in Western financial intermediaries for decades. It then considers the organization and governance of SWFs, with particular emphasis on the three main schools of thought as well as the predictions one can derive from them vis-à-vis the behavior of individual actors in the global financial network: economic theories, economic sociology, and political economy. It also presents case studies that “test” these theories …

Travel And Recreation: Stories Behind The Trends, Norma P. Nickerson

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

Trends for 2011.

Montana Tourism Businesses: 2011 Review And 2012 Outlook, Norma P. Nickerson, Jake Jorgenson

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

Outlook for 2012 and Review of 2011.

Essays On Firm Behavior, Priya Nagaraj

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Indian economy has received considerable interest in economic research in the last decade. Economic liberalization, greater participation in world trade and the availability of long panel of firm level data has encouraged empirical work on the Indian economy. My research adds to this growing empirical literature on the behavior and performance of Indian firms post liberalization.

This thesis comprises three chapters. In the first chapter, I provide a brief summary of reforms in India, review some of the papers analyzing firm behavior and performance and put it in the perspective of the liberalization process in India. The literature on …

Sustainability In The Plastics Industry: Concerns, Issues, And Strategies, Bonnie Bachman, Shristy Bashyal, Margaret Baumann

Economics Faculty Research & Creative Works

An increased corporate emphasis on sustainability can be seen in such areas as: annual reports with published sustainability goals, sustainability management systems with balanced scorecards and dashboards, websites using increased screen area and space for sustainability communications, internal and external stakeholder opinion gathering, development of sustainable supply chain plans, and marketing strategies focusing on green or sustainable consumers. To address this ever increasing attention to sustainability, a research project to understand sustainability in the plastics industry was initiated with the membership of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). This paper focuses on the results of the research (global survey) and …

Trans-Boundary Movement Of Hazardous Waste: Evidence From A New Micro Data In The European Union, Mahelet G. Fikru

Economics Faculty Research & Creative Works

The paper explores a new micro dataset on the export of hazardous waste generated in Europe. A total of 16 745 industrial facilities generated hazardous waste in 2009 out of which 1 272 exported some or all of the waste. A measure of the export intensity of facilities is introduced by using export of hazardous waste as a percentage of total hazardous waste generated. The study finds that 96% of the export stays within Europe and rarely goes to developing countries. The major driving force behind firms' decision to export hazardous waste may be the stringency of general environmental policies …

Local Negotiation With Heterogeneous Groundwater Users, Gordon C. Rausser, Susan Stratton Sayre, Leo K. Simon

Economics: Faculty Publications

This paper assesses the political implications of intra-aquifer heterogeneity in the benefits and costs of optimal groundwater management. We use simulation modeling to predict groundwater extraction regimes under two alternative local decision-making structures and compare these structures to optimal management. Local collective action performs poorly when the intra-aquifer disparity in the potential gains is large. Moreover, large intra-aquifer disparity is generally associated with large potential gains. As a result, local collective action is unlikely to be successful in capturing the largest welfare gains. Individual subregions within a groundwater basin almost always benefit most from political structures whose outcomes diverge from …