Economic Policy Commons^™

Governance Matters: Evaluating The Drivers Of County-Level Economic Resilience In Texas Using Panel Data From The Post-Covid Recovery (2013-2023), Omar Wesley Bailey

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

This quantitative study examines the impact of adaptive governance measures taken by county governments in Texas on their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The measures were selected based on their fit to adaptive governance theory. The years from 2013 to 2023 are covered, as they encompass the economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures included the number of special-purpose districts, publicly available budgets, the urban-rural continuum association, the presence of performance dashboards, audits, FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plans, and the number of county revenue sources. The year and county were utilized as a fixed effect to capture time trends such …

Beyond Legislation: Challenges And Opportunities Of The Inclusion Of Vulnerable Migrants To The Formal Egyptian Labour Market, Mahmoud Magdy Abdallah, Fatma Younis, Merihan Elsalakawy, Angham Saeed Sadek

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

Egypt hosts a significant number of refugees, asylum-seekers, and vulnerable migrants. There are over 9 million migrants of diverse nationalities, including 1.5 million migrants living in a vulnerable situation (JPMR, 2022). As of June 2025, approximately one million registered refugees and asylum-seekers reside in Egypt (UNHCR, 2025). This substantial population faces considerable legal, economic, and social hurdles. Their presence in the Egyptian labor market presents a complex dynamic, given that they are mostly present in the informal labor market, making it more challenging for the state to benefit from their inclusion in the formal labor market. Furthermore, the formal inclusion …

Presidential Regulation, Timothy Meyer, Ganesh Sitaraman

Faculty Scholarship

This Article documents and analyzes the rise of a new mode of economic governance: presidential regulation. Today, the President regularly bypasses not only Congress but also the executive branch’s own administrative agencies and directly imposes sweeping new economic regulations. President Biden, for instance, created new regulatory regimes governing producers of artificial-intelligence technologies, companies that trade in or hold the personal information of U.S. citizens, and companies that can increase the production of energy-efficient equipment and technology. During his first term, President Trump regulated the kinds of technologies that U.S. telecommunications companies can buy and sell, placed restrictions on the electrical …

Introduction To The Issue, Craig S. Maher, Bruce D. Mcdonald Iii

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This edition of Public Finance Journal brings together research exploring critical issues in public finance, from voter perceptions of fiscal health to the evolving landscape of municipal finance and intergovernmental grants. As governments at all levels navigate financial sustainability, transparency, and accountability, these studies provide fresh insights into how financial policies and practices influence governance and public trust. The articles examine the political consequences of municipal credit ratings, the practical challenges of public records laws, the complexities of managing federal grants at the local level, and the rise of green bonds as a financial instrument for sustainable development. This research …

Identifying Intangible And Biocultural Heritage Elements Toward Environmental Understanding: Engaging Stakeholders Through Art, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Grounded in a case study in Barbuda in the Caribbean, this research examines sustainability from the perspective of what arts and heritage can contribute to community engagement and local and broader understandings about the environment. This article documents a growing body of literature recognizing the role of arts and culture, including local knowledge and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), in climate change endeavors. Art and TEK present expansive world views. Contextual information situates research done on the island of Barbuda pre- and post-Hurricane Irma. Visual arts workshops engaged community members in mixed methods research. Results documented cultural elements, particularly intangible and …

Where Does The Money Go? Three Essays On Intergovernmental Transfers, Spending, And Poverty In Indonesia, Jacobus Cd Rijoly

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Indonesia allocates substantial intergovernmental transfers to local governments; nonetheless, the decrease in poverty remains limited. This dissertation posits that the binding constraint is institutional, specifically the regulations and incentives that dictate the extent to which funds are allocated from the government to designated programs. Institutional pass-through refers to the fraction of a transfer that is allocated to a program expenditure. The three essays integrate estimation, budget composition evidence, and a formal model to explain both modest average effects and heterogeneity across regions and programs.

The first essay evaluates the impact of transfers on provincial poverty from 2001 to 2022 by …

Synthetic Statocracy - Pakistan’S Self-Created Inferno: Examining The Causes And Consequences Of Military Dominance In Pakistan, Umer Lakhani

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the history of military rule in Pakistan. Applying the framework of Johannes Gerschewski in The Three Pillars of Stability: Legitimation, Repression and Co-Optation in Autocratic Regimes, this paper looks to explain how military rulers who presided over the three periods of military rule in Pakistan consolidated and maintained their power, as well as the effects that these periods of rule had on Pakistani society. This paper will also supplement Gerschewski’s general framework by applying the findings of various established authors who have been published extensively on Pakistan’s political history, economy and relationship with the military. Such authors …

Civilian Manufacturing And National Defense: Strategic Planning For Globalization's Challenges, Izeck Kohler

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis examines the interconnection between civilian manufacturing and national defense within the context of globalization. The study aims to identify the challenges faced by the United States in maintaining its manufacturing capabilities and to propose strategic solutions to address these challenges. Through a comprehensive analysis of historical data, case studies, and policy recommendations, the research highlights the critical role of specialized and process manufacturing sectors towards national defense. The findings suggest that the creation of a federal executive department, strategic investment, diversification, policy re-evaluation, and collaborating with allies are essential for sustaining national defense capabilities. The study concludes with …

Women On Boards Annual Monitoring Report 2024, Center For Entrepreneurship And Innovation

Faculty Books

The AUC Egypt women on boards monitoring report is issued annually to track and monitor the presence and representation of women on boards towards meeting the goal of having 30% women on boards by 2030. The importance of improving representation of women on boards stems from the fact that it is one of the good governance pillars, in addition to the positive impact on firm performance and profitability. The National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 has accordingly promoted for increasing the leadership roles of women and holding key positions in public institutions and companies, setting the target …

Addressing Economic Instability And Workforce Turnover In Early Childhood Education: The Role Of Stipends, Wage Supplements, And Professional Development, Lucinda J. Leffler

Endeavors: Mississippi State Undergraduate Research Journal

Child care workers are vital to early childhood education, yet they face persistent economic instability, low wages, and high turnover rates. To address these challenges, states and policymakers have implemented stipends, wage supplements, and professional development programs aimed at improving financial security, job satisfaction, and workforce retention. This literature review examines the effectiveness of these initiatives across the United States, drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Vroom’s Expectancy Theory and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory to contextualize their impact. Research indicates that financial incentives significantly reduce turnover, while professional development fosters job satisfaction and career advancement. However, sustainability concerns remain, particularly with …

Assessing High-Speed Rail (Hsr) Policy And Politics In Washington State: Avoiding The Mistakes Of The Past, Landen K. Hashimura

All Master's Theses

While international standard high-speed rail (HSR) has yet to be successfully completed in the US, there is a national interest in the topic, as evidenced by recent federal initiatives to research HSR across various corridors. The Cascadia Corridor has been identified as a region with high potential for HSR, leading to an ongoing study in the State of Washington. Given the tumultuous history of American HSR development, the Cascadia HSR initiative needs to avoid the mistakes of the past. Two major contributing factors to this failure to build HSR are uneven political support for HSR and poor policy frameworks. Despite …

High-Resolution Modeling Of Extreme Heat Events With Socioeconomic Consideration: A Real-Case Wrf-Les Approach, Maryam Golbazi, Frank Liu, Yin-Hsuen Chen, Timothy W. Juliano, Heather Richter

ODU Articles

The overarching goals of this work is to explore best practices for micro-scale modeling of a real case, identify relevant phenomena by using high-resolution modeling, and to explore their implications for public health, and climate resilience strategies in Hampton Roads, VA, USA. This project employs the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to conduct a comprehensive study of Hampton Roads, utilizing a coupled mesoscale to microscale modeling capable of resolving boundary layer turbulence. This study has three primary objectives: (1) to establish the optimal mesoscale to Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) configurations for complex geographical regions such as the Hampton Roads (HR) …

Corruption And Foreign Direct Investment In Ghana: Empirical Assessment Of The Mediating Role Of Institutional Quality And Political Stability, Isaac K. Yeboah

Graduate Research Posters

Background: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) provides more than just capital; it introduces technology and managerial expertise, contributing significantly to economic growth. However, corruption, measured by the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), deters inflows. This study examines how Ghana’s CPI relates to FDI, with institutional quality and political stability as mediators accounting for GDP, inflation, and exchange rates as covariates.

Methods: A non-experimental quantitative design that adopts a multivariate deductive approach is used to test the theoretical propositions, and uses data from 1995 to 2022. CPI data are sourced from Transparency International, FDI from the IMF, and institutional quality and …

Transformative Impact Of Ai And Digital Technologies On The Fintech Industry: A Comprehensive Review, Soudeh Pazouki, Behdad Jamshidi, Armia Jalali, Arya Tafreshi

Finance Faculty Publications

This paper examines the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies on the financial technology (FinTech) industry and demonstrates how AI- enabled strategies are increasing the ability of businesses not only to grow, but also to better serve their customers through operational efficiencies. But as immersive as the technological advancements may be, they present challenges in connection with increasingly complicated licensing regulations and a constantly evolving technological landscape. We examine the way AI and algorithms are streamlining workflows, enhancing productivity and expanding access to financial resources for traditionally under – served populations. The paper also discusses the macroeconomic implications …

Forging Monetary Hawks: Early-Life Inflation Experiences And Government Debt In Africa, Christine Strong

Economics Faculty Publications

This study uses a novel dataset to examine the impact of early‐life inflation experiences on government debt across 30 African nations from 1980 to 2022. We propose that central bankers who encountered inflation crises during their formative years are more likely to develop preferences for hawkish monetary policies. However, for these preferences to influence fiscal outcomes, central bankers must operate within an environment of institutional independence. Indeed, our analysis reveals that past exposures to inflation crises, on their own, have no statistically significant impact on government debt. However, when central bank independence is accounted for, a significant negative relationship emerges, …

What Role Do Finance Ministers Play In Political Business Cycles? Evidence-Based On A New African Dataset, Christine Olivia Strong

Economics Faculty Publications

This study investigates how the personal characteristics of finance ministers influence political budget cycles in Africa. Using a new dataset covering 300 finance ministers across 23 countries from 1980 to 2020, we find that political budget cycles primarily take the form of increased government consumption during election years. Ministers with prior central banking experience are less likely to amplify spending in election years, effectively curbing political budget cycles. These results remain consistent after accounting for institutional quality, ministerial tenure, and other confounding factors. The findings contribute to the literature by showing that the appointment of finance ministers in African countries …

Implementing Gross National Happiness In Bhutan As A Development Model And Governance Tool – Perspectives Of Policy Influencers, Tashi Dorji, Angus Morrison-Saunders, David Blake

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Bhutan’s development philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) prioritises the collective wellbeing of its people over economic growth through a multidimensional index that informs policy. While GNH has received global recognition, persistent challenges in conceptual clarity and practical implementation are argued and debated. This qualitative study examines the role and utility of GNH as a development model and its implementation as a multifaceted governance tool in Bhutan. The findings reveal that GNH is conceptualised in diverse ways, ranging from personal happiness to a more generic communal philosophy. While its strengths lie in its culturally grounded framework, key limitations include a …

Maximum Trimmed Likelihood Estimation For Discrete Multivariate Vasicek Processes, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Michael Pokojovy, Andrews T. Anum, Ebenezer Nkum

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

The multivariate Vasicek model is commonly used to capture mean-reverting dynamics typical for short rates, asset price stochastic log-volatilities, etc. Reparametrizing the discretized problem as a VAR(1) model, the parameters are oftentimes estimated using the multivariate least squares (MLS) method, which can be susceptible to outliers. To account for potential model violations, a maximum trimmed likelihood estimation (MTLE) approach is utilized to derive a system of nonlinear estimating equations, and an iterative procedure is developed to solve the latter. In addition to robustness, our new technique allows for reliable recovery of the long-term mean, unlike existing methodologies. A set of …

The Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Economic Convergence Between Developed And Developing Nations, Lucile Sabas, Williams Kwasi Peprah [email protected], Carmelita Troy, Quentin Sahly

Faculty Publications

This study investigates convergence between developed and developing countries’ GDP during the pre-COVID-19 era (1960-2019) and post-COVID-19 era (2020-2023) using World Bank data and the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test. For the pre-COVID period, results show no significant convergence, with an ADF statistic of −1.78 and a P = 0.39, likely due to disparities in industrialization and governance. Similarly, post-COVID results (ADF statistic −1.2, P = 0.67) also suggest no convergence, possibly exacerbated by pandemic-related challenges. The study highlights that structural barriers and the pandemic have hindered economic convergence.

Equal For Whom?: An Analysis Of Multicultural Policies In Norway And The Us Through The Lens Of Immigrant Unemployment, Jodie Boisvert

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Norway and the United States boast diverse and equal societies. Both have attempted to implement multicultural policies to facilitate immigrants' integration into the host society. Engaging with the theories of racism, xenophobia, and multiculturalism, this paper analyzes the immigrant unemployment outcomes from Norway and the United States from 2015-2020 to identify patterns and anticipate causal relationships from these patterns. Standardized data from both countries show that immigrants from Global South countries have far worse employment outcomes than immigrants from Global North countries. The xenophobic and racist histories of both countries could explain this. This paper analyzes the multicultural policies of …