Political Economy Commons^™

Reform Vs Revolution: Revisiting Original Institutionalist’S Axiology, Jacob Powell

Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Institutional Change In Healthcare As Brought About By The Critical Juncture Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Olga Shvetsova

Working Papers Series

This introduction to the 2025 capstone symposium lays the conceptual groundwork for a new approach to analyzing institutional change in healthcare systems triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Departing from conventional legal-institutional perspectives, it extends the decision space framework developed by Bossert (1998) to capture both formal authority and the de-facto responsibilities exercised by public and non-public actors. By disaggregating health responsibilities across levels of government and sectors—public, private, and hybrid—and operationalizing these as quantifiable indicators over time, the framework allows for real-time and comparative assessment of institutional transformation. The pandemic is treated as a critical juncture that exposed and reconfigured …

John R. Commons, Reasonable Value, And Power: A Critique, Jacob Powell

Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Political Sociology, Talha C. Issevenler

Open Educational Resources

This open-access textbook on political sociology introduces and problematizes the classical categories and parameters of the field. It explores the main approaches to the state and governance, while conceptualizing a turn toward network power. Specific chapters address political spacetime, violence, secrecy, social movements, politicization, interdisciplinarity, media, biopolitics, and event-analysis. Multimedia pedagogical exercises accompany the conceptual exposition.

The Benefits To New York State Of The Local Roads Program, Theresa Lagasse

Applied Economics Theses

ABSTRACT:

This paper explores the history of the Cornell Local Roads Program and how it helps to satisfy Cornell’s land grant mission as an extension program. Then the paper will look at the programs impact both directly and indirectly on the economy of New York State, via its role in improving local road infrastructure and providing highway departments with trainings and technical support.

The focus of the paper examines the four primary components of the Local Roads Program at Cornell, including workshops, research initiatives, technical assistance, and the Local Roads library, each of which contributes to better road management and …

The Giants Of Coercion: Major Powers And The Mobilization Of Global Sanctions Coalitions, Louis Charbonneau

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the conditions under which sanctions-sending states can successfully mobilize broad international support for coercive measures on a target state for violating international security norms. Using the case of international sanctions on Iran from 2006 to 2016, I develop a theory of how sanctions senders mobilize support for, and cooperation with, coercive measures on target states. The theory has two parts. First, states seeking international sanctions against a target with broad participation and support need unity and cooperation on the part of major powers in the international system. Second, securing the unity and cooperation of major powers makes …

Guardians Of The Iranian Revolution: Clerical Authority, Bonyads, And The Irgc In Iran's Economic Landscape, Chase M. Toscano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis investigates the ideological and institutional foundations of Iran's post-revolutionary political economy, focusing on the triumvirate of clerical authority, bonyads (charitable foundations), and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Drawing on Kevan Harris’s “subcontractor state” framework, this study argues that Iran’s political economy is simultaneously a decentralized yet state-dominated system, where semi-public institutions like the bonyads and the IRGC act as key subcontractors, enabling the Islamic Republic to further economic development and circumventing Western sanctions. This analysis examines the development of Iran’s political economy from the 1979 revolution to identify the influence of left-wing Islamic ideologues like Ali Shariati …

"Artificial Intelligence And Economic Development In Ghana: Assessing The Role Of Government Policy And Regulation", Sebastian Sharma

Senior Theses

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming economies worldwide, with profound implications for economic development in the Global South. Various questions arise regarding whether these changes will positively or negatively impact the economy and individuals worldwide. In this thesis, I examine how Ghana has implemented AI and utilized it to generate economic growth for all members of its society. I argue that through government regulation and framework Ghana was able to maximize the benefits AI has to offer while also minimizing the various risks it may bring. Ghana is a perfect example of how a country in the Global South despite …

Analyzing Immigrant Pay Gaps & The Policies That Influence Them, Rebeca Perez, Prachi Jain

Honors Thesis

Despite making up 14% of the US population, little research has been done on pay gaps for immigrants, the majority of whom are Latin American immigrants. I analyze the effect of immigration on immigrants’ wages, specifically looking at the effects of region of birth, citizenship, and state immigration policies. I find that even when compared to natives with similar education, Latin American immigrants earn significantly less. Furthermore, while noncitizens earn less than natives and naturalized citizens earn more overall, Latin Americans face a larger penalty for noncitizenship and lower returns to citizenship. Finally, while living in Sanctuary and Anti-Sanctuary States …

Recent U.S. Government Policy Literature On Critical And Strategic Minerals, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Critical and strategic minerals have become increasingly important in U.S. government civilian and military policymaking in recent years. This is demonstrated by the heavy use of such minerals in many critical civilian and military infrastructures. This work will discuss how this subject has been addressed in laws, presidential documents, and works by government agencies along with congressional oversight committees and support agencies. It will stress how the United States is heavily dependent on strategic minerals from adversarial foreign countries such as China and will examine U.S. efforts to increase its ability to produce such materials in the United States by …

Public And Private Police And Their Impact On Crime: Evidence From American Universities, Cruz K. Marquis

Honors Capstones

This study quantitatively assesses the effect of fully deputized private police (FDPP) on nine measures of crime on 770 American university campuses over thirteen years. Building on the analysis of FDPP found in Stringham (2015), this study offers a public choice analysis of the incentives resulting from private ownership, positing that officers serving in such systems face systemically different incentives than their public counterparts, leading to a more vigilant and consumer-focused security posture. This increases the likelihood that criminals will be apprehended, which thereby reduces the expected utility of criminality, leading to fewer such instances. By building a unique dataset …

Elected To Die: The Effect Of Municipal Assassinations On Remittances In Mexico, Victor M. Mendez Robles

Latin American Studies Honors Projects

This paper looks at localized violence in Mexico through both a qualitative and quantitative approach. Looking at some motivating factors behind violence against political institutions at the municipal level in Mexico. In addition, this paper looks at the relationship between assassinations of municipal mayors in Mexico to see if their assassination leads to changes in remittances in those municipalities in the following periods. This paper uses various difference in difference models to come to its conclusion. There is suggestive evidence of a relationship between remittance growth in municipalities in the periods following an assassination of a mayor currently in office.

The Influence Of Political Uncertainty On Financial Markets During U.S. Elections: A Comprehensive Analysis, Ryan Hale

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the impact of U.S. presidential elections on financial market performance, focusing on volatility, investor behavior, and market returns. Political uncertainty during election years often triggers market fluctuations, influencing investor confidence, policy expectations, and sector-specific reactions. By analyzing historical election-year data, this study identifies consistent patterns of increased volatility, shifts in investor sentiment, and post-election market stabilization. Findings suggest that while short-term uncertainty affects market behavior, long-term investment strategies should prioritize broader economic trends over election-driven fluctuations. These insights provide practical guidance for investors navigating politically uncertain environments.

The People's Ledger: Reform Or Revolution?, Kostantinos R. Grigoras

Applied Economics Theses

The ramifications of the 2007-08 financial crisis, the later Covid-19 pandemic, and the technological developments surrounding cryptocurrencies and digital ledgers have led to increasingly explicit political views on banking apart from dominant mainstream economic narratives. As such, a widening range of authors from varying perspectives have sought to contribute a “programmatic vision” to the set of changes they assert as necessary in the current financial system. Saule T. Omarova’s (2021) controversial article, “The People’s Ledger: How to Democratize Money and Finance the Economy,” and the resulting political reaction to its goal of advancing such a programmatic vision in order to …

Cares Act And Income Inequality In The Long Run, Kathleen Washington

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

In this paper, I will be looking at how the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a revolutionary public policy, led to income inequality decreasing during the Covid-19 pandemic in the US. Additionally, from the data available, the CARES Act seems to not have had any long run effects on income inequality in the US. Although, I would recommend more research on the CARES Act’s long-run effects when more data become available as time passes.

Unintended Consequences: How Direct Cash Payments To Families Experiencing Poverty Lowered Child Poverty Rates In The United States, Wayne Dunn

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Child poverty has adverse effects for the children who experience it and it has long term social and economic consequences into adulthood. This policy analysis looks at the policy choices America has made in addressing child poverty and what effects, if any, those policies have had. After reviewing traditional in-kind policy options for addressing child poverty, this article focuses on the decreases in the child poverty rate that occurred with the passage of pandemic era legislation that provided direct cash assistance to all Americans. Because the assistance programs only happened in two consecutive years and were terminated at the end …

Almost Last Again? Mississippi's Labor Force Participation Rate: Causes And Solutions, John Martin Fox

Honors Theses

Mississippi is currently ranked second to last in labor force participation rate in the country. This is the latest damning statistic inhibiting the state from growing and becoming a more nationally recognized state with higher economic output. This thesis examines how Mississippi arrived at this bleak labor force participation rate and what is currently ongoing to alleviate it. It also examines some possible proposed solutions to accelerate those efforts. Through extensive research and numerous interviews with officials from public and private sector employees directly dealing with this predicament, this thesis has assembled a thorough and comprehensive picture of how the …

Climate Change Adaptation Through Economic Democracy, Shriraksha Mohan

Best Integrated Writing

Mohan investigates and combines three different areas of literature and social movements to discuss the problem of climate change and economic adaptation. The value of this work is that it can be used to communicate among three independent types of social movements and inquiries. This can strengthen and connect dispersed yet overlapping efforts in addressing work issues, resource utilization, economic governance and participation, and ecological problems economies face today.

Profit Shifting And Tax Avoidance: Evidence From Us Multinational Enterprises, Dimitris Giakoulas, Kostas Gemenis, Nikolaos Daskalakis

The Journal of Economics and Politics

In this paper, we investigate tax avoidance of MNEs through profit shifting to tax havens. Using macro data from US MNEs, we analyze at the host country level where US affiliates book their profits and where their actual production activities take place. We find that the effect of the corporate tax on excess profits is conditional on whether the host country is considered to be a tax haven. Among tax haven host countries, a difference of 1% in the corporate tax is associated with a change of 8-15% in excess profits, while the relationship between corporate tax and excess profits …

Cash Or Credit: A Collection Of Short Essays About Economic Philosophy And The Trajectory Of Political Economy, Jackson C. Dusart

Student Publications

From John Locke to Herbert Marcuse, discussions about economics and societies have dominated the philosophical battleground. While Adam Smith waged a war against mercantilism, men like Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill, two ideological enemies, were both writing to address the same problems they saw in society. Each one of these men has contributed to a different part of the discussion. In understanding their differences, and their common ground, these essays examine a hypothetical four-hundred-dollar jacket, stolen from the author at Gettysburg College. Each one of these philosophers, each writing at different times and in different circumstances, will attempt to …