Regional Economics Commons^™

Turning Local Strength Into Regional Change: An Operational Plan For Capacity Building In Virginia’S Tobacco Region, Ellie Plisko

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Virginia's Tobacco Region possesses meaningful community assets including committed local leadership, established social networks, and demonstrated resilience, yet many localities consistently struggle to translate those strengths into high-impact economic development projects. The gap is not one of vision or funding, but of organizational capacity: the ability to develop, manage, and implement complex projects over time.

This capstone plan was developed for the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission (TRRC) to address that gap directly. Drawing on semi-structured stakeholder interviews, document and case analysis, and comparative institutional assessment, the research identifies the structural, relational, and process-based conditions that distinguish successful projects from …

Borderplex Business Barometer, Volume 10, Number 1, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Steven L. Fullerton

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

Borderplex Business Barometer, Volume 10, Number 2, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Steven L. Fullerton

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

Highlights Of The Borderplex Economic Outlook To 2027, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Steven L. Fullerton

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

El Paso Business Cycle Downturn Analysis: 1991 – 2025, Steven L. Fullerton, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr.

Border Region Modeling Project

Recession indicator research for the United States and other national economies has accelerated since 2019. Because of relative ease of implementation, these indices show much promise and expand the business cycle toolkit for applied economists, policy analysts, and business planners. From a regional perspective, a potentially attractive feature of these indices is fairly minimal data requirements. This study extends this branch of the business cycle literature into the realm of regional economics. An application of the framework is developed for El Paso, Texas, USA. That metropolitan economy is a natural candidate for this type of exploratory analysis because of the …

Envisioning The Role Of Community-Owned Stores & Aligning Federal Food Policies: A Participatory Approach To Food Security And Food Sovereignty In Sambaa K’E, Denendeh (Northwest Territories, Canada), Narayan Subramoniam

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Northern Indigenous communities have relied on traditional food systems for meaningful, nutritious diets since time immemorial. But many Indigenous communities in remote northern regions of Canada still face disproportionately elevated levels of food insecurity due to climate change radically altering the availability for traditional foods, colonial food policies imposing Western diets, and the high costs of transporting store-bought foods. Extreme weather events such as wildfires further isolate fly-in remote communities increasing both the costs of transporting store-bought foods and the difficulties of harvesting traditional foods. There are many examples of community-based initiatives for supporting traditional and locally grown foods, however, …

Tourism And Quality Of Life In Montana: A Longitudinal Study Of Resident Attitudes 2012-2023, Sophie Morris, Melissa Weddell, Carter Bermingham, Megan Schultz

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

Montana’s outdoor recreation and tourism industries have experienced steady growth over the past decade. This report explores how that expansion has shaped residents’ perceptions of tourism. Drawing on data from Montana residents, we track changes in attitudes from 2012 to 2023 on key issues, including overcrowding, the balance between tourism’s benefits and its impacts, quality of life, and the state’s role in promoting tourism.

The State Of Short-Term Rentals – 2024, Elena Bigart, Melissa Weddell, Jesse Wheeler, Sophie Morris, Jenna Asnault

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report examined the role short-term rentals (STRs) play in Montana’s housing challenges, building on earlier ITRR research (Bigart et al., 2021). Using a mixed-methods approach, the study analyzed STR and housing data from 2019 to 2023 and incorporated interviews with local officials to assess evolving regulations, occupancy patterns, and perceptions of STR impacts. Findings highlight that STRs interact with broader market forces contributing to tight housing conditions and underscore the need for balanced policy approaches that support housing supply and affordability while sustaining tourism-related economic activity.

Dampak Peraturan Daerah Terkait Kesehatan Terhadap Prevalensi Stunting Tingkat Kabupaten/Kota Di Indonesia, Cakra Yudi Putra, Teguh Dartanto

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Stunting remains a major public health challenge in Indonesia with long-term impacts on health, cognition, and productivity. This study examines whether health-related regional regulations (Peraturan Daerah or Perda) reduce stunting prevalence across 338 districts/municipalities in 2007 and 2013. Using Difference-in-Differences (DiD) and DiD with Propensity Score Matching (DiD-PSM) on secondary data from Riskesdas, Statistics Indonesia (BPS), and the Legal Documentation and Information Network (JDIH), we find no statistically significant causal effect of cumulative health Perda on stunting reduction, although OLS shows a negative association. Sanitation significantly reduces stunting in eastern Indonesia. Findings highlight the need for evidence-based, multisectoral, measurable, implementable, …

Three Essays In Health Economics, Caroline Andressa Welter

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Health outcomes and access to care are shaped by the interaction between public institutions, administrative rules, and responses to health risk. This dissertation investigates how barriers to access, changes in perceived risk, and policy design influence participation in public programs, preventive health behavior, and  treatment continuation. Across three essays in health economics, I examine how individuals respond to disruptions in service delivery, epidemic exposure, and administrative burden, with a focus on vulnerable populations that depend on public systems of care.
The first essay analyzes the impact of Social Security Administration field office closures on participation in federal disability programs during …

Three Essays On Urban Transportation, Daniel Amorim Souza Centuriao

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Urban environments are shaped by dynamic interactions between infrastructure development, policy interventions, and episodic demand shocks, all of which can generate unintended externalities in the form of motor vehicle collisions, injuries, and fatalities. This dissertation investigates the determinants of traffic safety in dense urban settings, with a particular focus on how different sources of urban activity affect collision risk and severity. Using New York City as a case study and leveraging high-resolution spatial and temporal data, I examine three distinct but interconnected mechanisms: construction activity, traffic safety policies, and large-scale events.

The first chapter analyzes the impact of urban development, …

Essays On Public Policy, Labor Markets, And Regional Economics, Toby Heaney

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three empirical essays examining how economic and political outcomes respond to changes in public policy, information, and local economic conditions. Across the three studies, the dissertation applies empirical methods to questions in political economy, economic forecasting, and regional economics, with particular attention to how the effects of economic shocks and policy changes vary across individuals, markets, and geographic areas.

The first essay examines the role of policy salience in electoral outcomes. Building on rational-choice and median-voter models, it argues that voters may respond disproportionately to policies that impose concentrated and highly visible costs, even when those …

Kutukan Sumber Daya Atau Katalis Kesejahteraan: Bagaimana Dampak Hilirisasi Nikel Terhadap Kemiskinan Di Sulawesi?, Muhammad Syafiq Zufarulhaq, Ashintya Damayati

Jurnal Kebijakan Ekonomi

This study evaluates the impact of nickel downstreaming on poverty levels in Sulawesi by examining the effectiveness of smelter development and the raw ore export ban policy as resource-based industrialization strategies. The primary contribution of this research lies in its identification strategy, which employs a staggered Difference-in-Differences approach with two-way fixed effects using panel data from 54 regencies/municipalities over the period 2010–2023. The baseline regression results show that the average effect of smelters is not statistically significant in reducing poverty. On the other hand, the raw mineral export ban policy is found to significantly reduce poverty. However, there is no …

Economic Development And Its Transformation In Happiness: A Perspective Of Sustainable Development Goals Of Nepal, Dhruba Bhattarai, Bishnu Bhattarai

Journal of Global Awareness

The present paper attempts to explore the relationship between GDP Per Capita Income based economic measurements of people’s well-being in the form of happiness. The overall development of a country’s economy must be translated into people’s well-being and happiness, which the study focuses on using the relevant data. The secondary data of the Human Development Index, Gross Domestic Product, Per Capita Income, and Happiness Index for the last 20 years have been collected and analyzed. To assess the psychological aspects of the happiness concept, the relevant happiness indicators such as life expectancy, educational attainment, and index of economic freedom have …

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 …

The Relationship Between The Development Of Tourism Special Economic Zones (Sezs) And Local Tax Revenue, Ibnati Misbha Hussudurri, Riatu Mariatul Qibthiyyah

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

This study employs dynamic two-way fixed effect (TWFE) event regressions to analyze the direct impact of SEZ policies, specifically focusing on tourism SEZs in 6 districts across Indonesia and neighbouring districts within the same province. By examining data from 2010 to 2022, the research aims to evaluate how tourism SEZ development influences local tax revenue. Our estimation results show no evidence that Tourism SEZs affect aggregate local tax revenues. However, by type of local taxes, we found that Tourism SEZs have increased hotel tax and entertainment tax but not restaurant tax revenues.

Borderplex Business Barometer, Volume 9, Number 12, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Steven L. Fullerton

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

A Capital Idea? The Welfare Effects Of Relocating Indonesia’S Government To A New City, Alexander D. Rothenberg, Radine Rafols, Yao Wang, Yi Jiang

Center for Policy Research

Many developing countries are planning to create new capital cities, a place-making policy designed to alleviate congestion and respond to climate change. To evaluate growth and welfare effects, we specify a dynamic quantitative spatial model with public employment, informality, fiscal transfers, and frictions in trade and migration. We calibrate the model with data from Indonesia and conduct policy experiments studying the creation of Nusantara in East Kalimantan. Despite increasing employment in the new capital region, we find that building Nusantara reduces national growth and welfare. Climate change attenuates its negative welfare effects, but only slightly.

Analyzing The Role And Impact Of Energy Resources On The South China Sea Dispute, Adam Opp

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

The South China Sea is a critical but contested body of water that has been the source of much international debate and focus. The sea is a strategic maritime route and one of the most important waterways for regional and global trade. The South China Sea features rich natural resources such as fisheries and hydrocarbons, especially unknown amounts of oil and natural gas remaining untapped throughout the sea. Geological surveys estimate extremely lucrative quantities of oil and natural gas in the South China Sea, which drives the conflict, as nations with competing territorial claims seek to control not just the …

Educational Indebtedness, Youth Precarity, And Neoliberalism: A Comparative Analysis Between Chile And Colombia., Alejandro Rodriguez-Mejia

Working Papers

No abstract provided.