Author Archives: Economics Dept

By Feng Pan This research analyzes the fiscal sustainability of Argentina from 1993 to 2013. Specifically, it explains the peso devaluation in early 2014 and suggests that it is primarily due to the fundamental problems in Argentina’s economy. This paper highlights Argentina’s inability to enhance its fiscal conditions and suggests possible future economic developments in […]

Shale Gas Development and Housing Value in the United Kingdom: Impact of the 13th Onshore Licensing, 2008

By Esther Lho While shale gas is a prospective energy source, it is known to bring environmental deficits to the drilling neighborhood. Because of such concerns, property values fluctuate upon the possibility of shale gas fracturing. This paper examines the change in housing prices before and after the release of the 13th onshore oil and […]

Dealing with Data: An Empirical Analysis of Bayesian Black-Litterman Model Extensions

By Daniel Roeder Portfolio Optimization is a common financial econometric application that draws on various types of statistical methods. The goal of portfolio optimization is to determine the ideal allocation of assets to a given set of possible investments. Many optimization models use classical statistical methods, which do not fully account for estimation risk in […]

Adoption Subsidy, Foster Care Payment, and Foster Care Adoption: A Two-stage Least Squares Approach

By Chun Sun Bak This paper examines the effect of the change in the magnitude of monthly governmental adoption subsidy on the adoption rate for foster children in foster family structures. In order to account for omitted variable bias attached to the amount of subsidy that a child receives, I construct an instrumental variable that […]

Word-of-Mouth Effects in the Holdings and Trading Activities among Canadian Mutual Fund Managers

By Chang Liu The study tests the word-of-mouth effects among mutual fund managers in Canada with methodology based on a previous study (Hong et al., 2005), with multiple modifications to it such as the method to locate the mutual fund managers. The results confirm the original findings yet with unexpected outcomes. This study demonstrates smaller […]

The effect of Mexico’s Conditional Cash Transfer Program on Migration Decisions

July 12, 2014

by Aki Ishikawa Abstract The Mexican conditional cash transfer program, Oportunidades, is commonly overlooked for long-term evaluations. One understudied effect of this poverty-reduction program is the change in migration behavior caused by the cash transfers. Using data from the Mexican Family Life Survey, this study outlines the effects of the social net program on international […]

Early Identification of Students at Risk for High School Dropout

By Derek Lindsey For years, many have hoped to identify why high school students drop out. Typically, studies focus on factors identified in high school or middle school. By tracking a cohort of North Carolina students from third grade onward, we attempt to identify areas for intervention even earlier in order to prevent dropouts. Indeed, […]

Understanding SME Finance: Determinants of Relationship Lending

By Sean Suk Hyun Choi Much of the existing literature in small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) finance surveys the impact of borrower and lender characteristics on firms’ credit availability, and it has already been established that there is a link between strong firm-bank relationship and higher level of credit availability. In this paper, I focus […]

The Impact of Micro-Banking on Health: Evidence from Self-Help Group Involvement and Child Nutrition

By Madeline Mckelway Low income is only one nancial problem that poor families in developing countries face; impoverished households must also face irregularity of their low incomes. Self-help groups (SHGs) can enhance consumption stability by relaxing savings and credit constraints. In this study, I investigate the extent to which SHGs improve a particular dimension of […]

Optimal Lineups in Penalty Kick Shootouts: An Empirical and Theoretical Investigation

By Lucas Hubbard and Christian Britto The purpose of this paper is to determine how teams should order their lineups in a five-man penalty kick shootout. We begin with a theoretical investigation of how comparative advantages for certain players in stressful situations will create clear, optimal lineup strategies for managers to emulate. Then, we analyze […]