Economic Policy Commons^™

Money And Morality: Pathways Toward A Civic Stewardship Ethic (2012), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Based on a plenary presentation made at the Ninth Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance, held at Harvard Law School in 2010, less than two years after the 2008 financial crisis, this article argues for the restoration of ethical values and civic commitments in capitalism and economic enterprise, drawing on traditional religious, theological, and philosophical principles regarding the civic moral obligations associated with building and managing wealth. The article is divided into three main parts. It begins with an overview of reform measures emanating from the financial debacle, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and an …

Trusting Harvard: The Cost Of Unprincipled Investing (2014), Marcy Murninghan, Robert A.G. Monks

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article provides a framework for answering two questions: How can Harvard fulfill its fiduciary obligation as an investor in ways that advance its beliefs, values, and commitments? How can Harvard take the lead in creating a curriculum for students, professionals, and the general public about the civic moral obligations of wealth? While aimed at Harvard, the issues covered are relevant to other universities and tax-exempt institutional investors, because they have a special duty to advance the public interest. Commissioned and co-authored by the noted corporate governance and responsible ownership guru Robert A. G. Monks, it calls on Harvard to …

Corporate Civic Responsibility And The Ownership Agenda: Investing In The Public Good (1994), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article seeks to provoke broader public discussion about ways in which human and ecologic dignity, prosperity, and the civic ideal can be advanced through a revitalized and principled ownership agenda that features greater levels of corporate accountability and civic virtue. It draws from portions of what then was called an “Occasional Paper,” part of a series emanating from the early days of the University of Massachusetts Boston’s McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies. Written in 1994, it introduces a new paradigm for corporate governance called the “corporate covenant,” which casts ownership within the framework of citizenship. These …

Equity Culture And Decent Work: The Case Of Amazon (2017), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Every year, publicly traded companies hold annual meetings at which management presents a summary of the year’s accomplishments and shareholders vote on a slate of ballot issues, referred to as “proxy resolutions,” that are placed there by either management or shareholders. As in public life, in theory this form of corporate governance relies on a division of authority and checks and balances among shareholders, the board of directors, and company management. In theory, shareholders function much like registered voters, boards serve as their elected representatives, and management operates much like the executive branch to carry out the mandates accorded to …

U. S. Fiscal Policy And Asset Prices: The Role Of Partisan Conflict, Rangan Gupta, Chi Keung Marco Lau, Stephen M. Miller, Mark E. Wohar

Molasky Family Department of Economics and Real Estate Faculty Research

Fiscal policy shocks exert wide-reaching effects, including movements in asset markets. US politics have been characterized historically by a high degree of partisan conflict. The combination of increasing polarization and divided government leads not only to significant Congressional gridlock, but also to spells of high fiscal policy uncertainty. This paper adds to the literature on the relationships between fiscal policy and asset prices in the US economy conditional on the degree of partisan conflict. We analyze whether a higher degree of partisan conflict (legislative gridlock) reduces the efficacy of the effect and response of fiscal policy on and to asset …

Entrepreneurship Education Empowers Youth To Change Their Lives, Marianna Brashear, Jason Riddle

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) aims at equipping Title 1 schools with free, hands-on, engaging materials that any teacher can facilitate either individually or in a classroom setting with no background in entrepreneurship necessary. These versatile lessons, courses, and workshops teach the entrepreneurial mindset optimizing opportunities for grades 8-12 students no matter which life/career path they choose.

Regional Economic Vulnerability To Sea Level Rise In San Diego County, Charles Colgan, Fernando Depaolis, Shaun Richards

Publications

One of the consequences of climate change and sea level rise that has not been extensively examined is the possible damages that can be done to regional economies. Even under scenarios of relatively small sea level rise, areas historically at risk from flooding will find flooding increasing as storms increase in frequency and severity. The result will likely be temporary disruptions of business activity lasting days to weeks. Climate change and accompanying higher sea levels will mean increasing severity of flood risk that will well to areas that have been historically immune to flooding. The cumulative effect of these flood …

The Indian Diaspora, Culture, And Foreign Policy, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Indians living overseas can be a bridge to a rapidly changing world

In the United Nations “International Migration Report 2015”, India had the largest diaspora population in the world with 16 million individuals born in the country but living outside of it. It’s a 100 percent increase from the 8 million in 2000, with an increasing number making their way to the United States where Indians make up the second largest immigrant group after Mexicans.

Premium Motor Spirit (Pms) Subsidy Removal : Its Potential Impacts For The Nigerian Economy, Bandele A. G. Amoo, Williams J. Kanya, Margaret J. Hilili, Al-Hassan I. Uba

Bullion

Subsidy payments on premium motor spirit (PMS) in Nigeria have impacted significantly on revenue of the government over the years. The tempo has been on the upward trend over time, resulting in fiscal concerns necessitating immediate government attention. The economy suffered operational challenges, leading to loss of huge revenue. several suggestion on how to address the issue have been provided by various governments over the years, but a permanent solution to the problem are yet to be achieved. thus, this paper reviews the issues and found that, beyond the revenue concern to the government, importing PMS into Nigeria takes about …

Employee Financial Wellness Programs: Differences In Reach By Financial Circumstances, Sophia R. Fox-Dichter, Yingying Zeng, Mathieu R. Despard, Ellen Frank-Miller, Geraldine Germain

Social Policy Institute Research

Workplace-based Employee Financial Wellness Programs (EFWPs) aim to strengthen employees’ financial well-being through services such as financial coaching, payroll advances and short-term installment loans, credit counseling, debt management, and online financial management tools. Although EFWPs are a fast-growing part of employee benefit packages, offerings vary widely in service type and delivery method across em-ployers, and little research has assessed their efficacy and reach.1 Our prior research2 indicates significant differences among employees, includ-ing by race/ethnicity3, regarding their awareness, utilization, and self-reported benefits from EFWP services. This brief adds to this research by exam-ining these differences in EFWP reach by employ-ees’ financial …

Shifted Baselines Reduce Willingness To Pay For Conservation, Loren Mcclenachan, Ryunosuke Matsuura, Payal Shah, Sahan T.M. Dissanayake

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

A loss of memory of past environmental degradation has resulted in shifted baselines, which may result in conservation and restoration goals that are less ambitious than if stakeholders had a full knowledge of ecosystem potential. However, the link between perception of baseline states and support for conservation planning has not been tested empirically. Here, we investigate how perceptions of change in coral reef ecosystems affect stakeholders' willingness to pay (WTP) for the establishment of protected areas. Coral reefs are experiencing rapid, global change that is observable by the public, and therefore provide an ideal ecosystem to test links between beliefs …

How Fair Is The New York State Education Aid System?, John Yinger, Emily Gutierrez

Center for Policy Research

It’s Elementary is a series of essays on topics in education and education policy. The main focus is on education finance in New York State, but general research findings in education and education policy issues in several other states are also discussed. John Yinger, Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University is the author of most of these essays, although a few are written by or co-authored with other scholars.

Understanding The Decline In Manufacturing Employment, Susan N. Houseman

Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Purloined Letters: A Collection Of Mail Robbery Reports From Ohio Papers, 1841-1850, Marc Cibella

Nineteenth-Century Ohio Literature

Marc Cibella’s essay introduces and explains why nineteenth-century Americans got excited about newspaper reports of mail robbery.

Vocational Training Programs And Youth Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence From Nepal, S Chakravarty, M Lundberg, Plamen Nikolov, J Zenker

Economics Faculty Scholarship

Lack of skills is arguably one of the most important determinants of high levels of unemployment and poverty. In response, policymakers often initiate vocational training programs in efforts to enhance skill formation among the youth. Using a regression-discontinuity design, we examine a large youth training intervention in Nepal. We find, twelve months after the start of the training program, that the intervention generated an increase in non-farm employment of 10 percentage points (ITT estimates) and up to 31 percentage points for program compliers (LATE estimates). We also detect sizable gains in monthly earnings largely driven by women who start self-employment …

Cacao Together: A Model For True Sustainability In The Chocolate Industry, Kerstin Roos

Capstone Collection

This Course Linked Capstone provides a critical analysis of the concept of sustainable development and then uses this analysis to create a social venture plan for a non-profit called Cacao Together. This capstone project will identify challenges in the sustainable use of cacao by first critiquing the mainstream sustainable development initiatives of certification schemes and corporate sustainability programs. It then offers an alternate framework through the 5 Capital Livelihood assessment tool which when applied, shows the gaps in cacao sustainability initiatives generally. I then propose a social venture that will addresses the needs of many parts of the chocolate supply …

The Symbolic U.S. Dollar: An Exploration Of Transforming Meanings, Dylann Ward

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The currency used in the United States (U.S.) is called the dollar. Repeatedly individuals holding lawful positions, within the U.S. government, have used their legal power to change the meanings attached to the U.S. dollar. This study was able to show how a U.S. dollar transforming event can be understood as action taken on the part of individuals holding lawful positions, within the U.S. government, to fundamentally change the meaning attached to the U.S. dollar in efforts to either maintain or elevate the position of the U.S. relative to other countries within the international field. Such was the case in …

Taxation For Whom?:A Diachronic Analysis Of Taxation In Ireland And The United Kingdom From 1970-2015., Ewan Macdonald, John Hogan, Brendan O'Rourke

Other

This paper explores the discursive development of taxation within budget speeches in two countries, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, from 1970 to 2015 by means of a corpus-assisted discourse analysis. We ask the following questions; how have discourses of taxation developed diachronically in both countries, what are the similarities and differences in the observable discourses across both countries, and for whom and how are these discourses legitimised? In answering these questions, this paper makes use of Corpus linguistics, a methodological approach which utilises computational analysis of large bodies of text to draw statistically significant conclusions about the …

A Lesson In Learning: Improving Learning Outcomes In India Via Pedagogical Innovation, Rhea Handa

Scripps Senior Theses

When delivered well, education is key to addressing a host of individual and societal ills, from poverty and disease to crime and poor voter engagement. India has demonstrated considerable progress in improving various aspects of its primary education system, including infrastructure and buildings, teacher-student ratios, and school enrollment. However, student learning outcomes remain consistently low across the country. A review of the literature surrounding learning outcomes has highlighted gaps in school instruction and has shown the dire need for innovations in pedagogy and curriculum to improve student learning. This paper assesses the long-term impact of one such pedagogy, called Teaching …

Building Multilateral Anticorruption Enforcement: Analogies Between International Trade & Anti-Bribery Law, Rachel Brewster, Christine Dryden

Faculty Scholarship

In the last twenty years, the United States government has put substantial resources behind the fight against .foreign bribery by using the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to prosecute unilaterally foreign and domestic companies who engage in corruption abroad. The United States is not entirely alone in this effort, but other countries have been far less vigorous in investing resources in investigations and prosecuting cases. Because of the unilateral and extraterritorial nature of FCPA prosecutions, these cases are sometimes controversial as foreign governments resist American influence in their commercial relations.

In response to this international tension, as well as a …