Public Economics Commons^™

Treatment Effects With Unobserved Heterogeneity: A Set Identification Approach, Sung Jae Jun, Yoonseok Lee, Youngki Shin

Center for Policy Research

We propose the sharp identifiable bounds of the distribution functions of potential outcomes using a panel with fixed T. We allow for the possibility that the statistical randomization of treatment assignments is not achieved until unobserved heterogeneity is properly controlled for. We use certain stationarity assumptions to obtain the bounds. Dynamics in the treatment decisions is allowed as long as the stationarity assumptions are satisfied. In particular, we present an example where our assumptions are satisfied and the treatment decision of the present time may depend on the treatments and the observed outcomes of the past. As an empirical illustration …

Why Cpf-Style Systems Generally Work Better, Hian Teck Hoon

Research Collection School Of Economics

The Central Provident Fund (CPF) has been in existence since 1955, and plays an important role in the lives of millions of Singaporeans. But this does not mean there is nothing to be learnt from asking some fundamental questions about its usefulness.

Can Community Water Projects Combat Child Diarrhea? Results From The Solomon Islands, Thomas G. Sackman

Master's Theses

There is a vast amount of existing literature that has empirically scrutinized whether or not community water projects have the ability to mitigate diarrheal disease. A strong and persistent belief thinks that community water projects do have the means, however, over the decades empirical work commonly finds this to simply not be true. This study expands the research question to the Solomon Islands. The research tests the hypothesis using a differences-in-differences identification strategy by utilizing the government’s staggered timing rollout of community water subprojects with whether or not a village received a community water subproject to test for a program …

The Determinants Of Urban Land And Property Values: The Case Of Rwanda, Pierre Kolowe

Master's Theses

Abstract: The paper seeks to determine the factor of urban housing values and their effects on the well-being of urban residents in terms of access to potable water, quality sanitation and other housing amenities. The study uses a total of 36 variables on structural, environmental and neighborhood attributes from the 2010-2011 survey data on income, expenditures and living conditions for the Rwandan urban households. With the use of the semi-log form of the hedonic price model and the survey data, factors of urban properties are determined and quantitative estimates of the Willingness-to-pay for environmental amenities are determined. The analysis of …

Typhoons And Temperature Impact Crime Rates: Evidence From The Philippines, Emily Wetherley

Master's Theses

This study assesses the impact of typhoons and temperature on interpersonal, property, and non-index crime rates using a novel data set from the Philippines. Distributed lag OLS regression analysis shows that in the concurrent year of increased precipitation, theft rates decrease, but in the year following high average wind-speeds, theft rates increase again. The only significant result of impacts crimes against persons is the rate of physical injury which decreases in years of higher precipitation. These results are defended by interview and focus group information. This study also shows that higher average temperatures cause significantly higher rates of murder, index …

An Experimental Study Of Complex-Offer Auctions From Wholesale Energy Markets, Rimvydas Baltaduonis

Economics Faculty Publications

A Payment Cost Minimization auction has been proposed as an alternative to the Offer Cost Minimization auction for use in wholesale electric power markets with an intention to lower procurement cost of electricity. Efficiency concerns have been raised for this proposal while assuming that the true production costs would be revealed to the auctioneer in a competitive market. Using an experimental approach, the study compares the performance of these two complex-offer auctions, controlling for the level of unilateral market power. The analysis finds that neither auction results in allocations that correspond to the true cost revelation. Two auctions perform similarly …

The Impact Of Arrest On Expectations Of Educational Attainment And Criminal Punishment, Kenneth Arbuckle

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

My paper focuses on changes in the expectations of arrested youths. I use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort to examine the effects of an arrest on three separate expectations: the expectation of earning a four-year college degree by the age of 30, the expectation of being arrested after stealing a car, and the expectation of being fined and released after stealing a car. In all cases, I isolate those respondents who have been arrested between and not prior to their interview dates in 1997 and 2001. These are the survey rounds in which the expectation questions of …

The Fundamental Law Of Highway Congestion Revisited: Evidence From National Expressways In Japan, Wen-Tai Hsu, Hongliang Zhang

Research Collection School Of Economics

The fundamental law of highway congestion states that when congested, the travel speed on an expanded expressway reverts to its previous level before the capacity expansion. In this paper, we propose a theory that generalizes this statement and finds that if there exists a coverage effect, that is, the effect of longer road length on traffic conditional on capacity, then the new equilibrium travel speed could be lower than its previous level. Given the fundamental law, the theory predicts that the elasticity of traffic to road capacity is at least 1. We estimate this elasticity for national expressways in Japan …

Exploring The Neighborhood Preferences Of A Segment Of Millennials In Omaha, Nebraska, Aaron Kloke

Community and Regional Planning Program: Professional Projects

In 2010, Millennials, or those between 18 and 34, surpassed the Baby Boomers in population size. Today, Millennials, also known as Generation Y, make up over 25 percent of the United States’ population. In Omaha, they make up 26.9 percent of the population. The next largest generation in Omaha, the Baby Boomers, make for 19.2 percent of the population. Clearly, this emerging demographic has the ability to change the way we create and design our built environment if it so chooses.

To review how this generation may choose to change the way we design our future neighborhoods, national trends were …

The Incoherent Role Of Bargaining Power In Contract Law, Max Helveston, Michael Jacobs

College of Law Faculty

Contracts that result from the abuse of unequal bargaining power have long been a concern of contract law. Courts have proscribed efforts by the "powerful" to take unfair advantage of the "weak" through contracts of adhesion and standard form contracts. Certain kinds of clauses — liability waivers, and covenants not to compete, among others — regularly attract judicial suspicion because their appearance is deemed indicative of such advantage-taking. In books, symposia, and journal articles, generations of legal scholars have debated the role of bargaining power considerations in the analysis of contracts and contractual terms. The "bargaining power" construct has become …

Identification And Estimation Of Outcome Response With Heterogeneous Treatment Externalities, Tiziano Arduini, Eleonora Patacchini, Edoardo Rainone

Center for Policy Research

This paper studies the identification and estimation of treatment response with heterogeneous spillovers in a network model. We generalize the standard linear-in-means model to allow for multiple groups with between and within-group interactions. We provide a set of identification conditions of peer effects and consider a 2SLS estimation approach. Large sample properties of the proposed estimators are derived. Simulation experiments show that the estimators perform well in finite samples. The model is used to study the effectiveness of policies where peer effects are seen as a mechanism through which the treatments could propagate through the network. When interactions among groups …

Further Evidence On The Spatio-Temporal Model Of House Prices In The United States, Badi H. Baltagi, Jing Li

Research Collection School Of Economics

Holly, Pesaran, and Yamagata (Journal of Econometrics 2010; 158: 160–173) use a panel of 49 states over the period 1975–2003 to show that state-level real housing prices are driven by economic fundamentals, such as real per capita disposable income, as well as by common shocks, such as changes in interest rates, oil prices and technological change. They apply the common correlated effects estimator of Pesaran (Econometrica 2006; 74(4): 967–101), which takes into account spatial interactions that reflect both geographical proximity and unobserved common factors. This paper replicates their results using a panel of 381 metropolitan statistical areas observed over the …

Crossroads Rhode Island: Proposed Social Enterprise Business Plan, Joel Cooper, Joe Brookes, Darci Lake, Victoria Fernandez, Matt Rosenfield, Arnold Robinson

Business

Crossroads Rhode Island provides their clients with a continuum of care that includes basic emergency needs, shelter, housing, case management and vocational services for individuals and families. In order to provide these services they rely on the generosity of their donors and supporters who have helped Crossroads to become the largest homeless services organization in Rhode Island. It is important to Crossroads that they stick to their core values of safety, respect, and effectiveness when helping the homeless or at-risk individuals and families secure stable homes.

Central Bank Of Nigeria Annual Report And Statement Of Accounts For The Year Ended 31st December 2014, Central Bank Of Nigeria

CBN Annual Report

Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the year ended 31st December, 2014. In general, 2014 has been a very eventful and challenging year for the Bank, the country, and the world at large. In the course of the year, the Bank underwent significant changes in its governance composition. In 2014, the global economy witnessed considerable vulnerabilities characterized by fragile growth and weak economic outlook. Global growth recovery was modest and continued to be threatened by strong downside risks, as a result of sharp drop in commodity prices, escalating geo-political tensions, and heightening threats …

State Of The Northwest Arkansas Region 2014 Report, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report

The State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report is an annual publication that serves as a tool for evaluating the economic performance of the region in comparison with those peers that are most likely to compete with Northwest Arkansas by virtue of a similar industry mix or geographic proximity. As a player in the global economy, Northwest Arkansas has more to offer than superior performance in traditional economic development categories such as employment, establishment growth, and income. This region showcases strengths in diverse categories like knowledge-based sectors and quality of life indicators. This report highlights and presents the indicators mentioned …

Analysis Of Visitor Spending At The Bikes, Blues & Bbq Rally, Katherine A. Deck, Mervin Jebaraj

Publications and Presentations

• 59.9 percent of the 2013 Bikes, Blues & BBQ rally attendees came from outside the Northwest Arkansas region. 57.6 percent of all attendees were from outside Northwest Arkansas and primarily visiting to attend the motorcycle rally.
• The average spending of each motorcycle rally visitor from outside Northwest Arkansas was $401.86.
• Visitor spending generated at least $36.17 in state and local sales taxes per person.
• The average out-of-town visitor stayed in the Northwest Arkansas region for 3.8 days and occupied 0.7 room nights.
• Each visitor ate an average of 9.6 meals in Northwest Arkansas. On average, 8.9 meals were consumed in …

History, External Influence And Political Volatility In The Central African Republic (Car), Henry Kam Kah

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

This paper examines the complex involvement of neighbours and other states in the leadership or political crisis in the CAR through a content analysis. It further discusses the repercussions of this on the unity and leadership of the country. The CAR has, for a long time, been embroiled in a crisis that has impeded the unity of the country. It is a failed state in Africa to say the least, and the involvement of neighbouring and other states in the crisis in one way or the other has compounded the multifarious problems of this country. Some of these states have …

Masthead And Table Of Contents

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies (JADE) is sponsored by the Institute for the Advancement of Developing Economies (IADE). JADE is an academic journal that publishes research articles and case studies on innovation, entrepreneurship, and other social areas that will aid in the advancement of developing economies.

Assessment Of Land Use Dynamics And The Status Of Biodiversity Exploitation And Preservation In Nigeria, Abiodun Elijah Obayelu

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Land is the most important natural resource that affects every aspect of human life, while biodiversity constitutes the most important working component of a natural ecosystem. Land use and biodiversity are agricultural and ecological challenges presently facing Nigeria in her efforts at addressing the issue of agro-ecosystem transformation and sustainable land productivity. This study employed secondary sources of information to assess land reform act in Nigeria, the methodological framework to analyze the linkages between land use change and biodiversity, effects of land use on biodiversity, status of biodiversity and suggests ways to solving land use problems and biodiversity loss. Findings …

Ubiquitous Consumer-Centric System To Combating Product Counterfeiting And Boosting Entrepreneurship In Developing Economies, Kingsley C. Nwosu

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Counterfeiting has been a menacing problem to global economies; however, it has been more devastating to developing and under-developed countries as a result of its impacts on various aspects of the economic development and health conditions of those countries. The consequences are abundantly documented, evidential and troubling. In addition to the fact that counterfeiting results in distribution of fake, cheap, and substandard products, it has very dissuasive effects on the entrepreneurial fabrics of a society. As various governments and agencies attempt to combat the menace and mitigate the consequences, the perpetuators are becoming even more sophisticated and resolute – encouraged …