Race and Pollution Correlation as Predictor of Environmental Injustice
By Marissa Meir Environmental injustice is a theory that claims distributions of toxic, hazardous and dangerous waste facilities are disproportionately located in low-income communities of color. This paper empirically demonstrates an alternative cause of environmental injustice- that low-income minorities are less likely to receive sizeable enough loans to buy a house in a cleaner area. […]
Unitization of Oil Reserves in Alaska and the Supply Elasticity of a Common Pool Resource
By Emily Bailey Unitization, a common but not omnipresent policy that is lauded in both the economics and environmental world for its efficiency, attempts to solve the “tragedy of the commons” common pool failure of oil production by creating a system in which all those with interests in one reserve produce jointly and split profits […]
After the Storm Impacts of natural disasters in the United States at the state and county level
By Danjie Fang Empirical research on the impact of natural disasters on economic growth has provided contradictory results and few studies have focused on the United States. In this thesis, I bridge the gap by examining the merits of existing claims on the relationship between natural disasters and growth at the states and county level […]
Does the Quality of Public Transit Affect Commuters’ Response to Gasoline Price Changes?
By Allison Smith The effect of public transportation on commuters’ sensitivity to gas prices is examined using a proxy for the quality of public transportation. This proxy is measured as the difference in the individual’s predicted commute times by private transit and public transit, estimated using the individual’s observable characteristics. The interaction of gasoline price […]
Reconciling the Environmental Kuznets Curve with the Free Rider Problem
By Scott Bradford Covert The current paper studies the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, which claims a parabolic relation exists between per capita GDP and environmental degradation. This would suggest a developing nation could expect to increase pollution significantly during the beginnings of industrialization and then, as the country began switching to a service-oriented economy, […]
Gas Prices and Automobile Advertising Expenditures in U.S. Markets
By Chenyu Janet Chang I examine how automobile manufacturers change their advertising strategies when gasoline prices rise. In particular, I use a robust OLS regression to estimate how gasoline prices affect advertising expenditures on vehicles with different levels of MPG. I use detailed data from the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, Adspender, and Polk’s NVPP. […]
Assessing Consumer Valuation of Fuel Economy in Auto Markets
By Daniel Fifer The need for and efficacy of CAFE standards for auto-makers depends largely on whether consumers properly value fuel efficiency in their vehicle purchases. In this paper we use data describing heterogeneous driving behavior and a hedonic model of new car prices to evaluate how well consumers value incremental changes in fuel economy […]
The Impact of Rising Gasoline Prices on US Public Transit Ridership
by Christopher Blanchard Abstract This paper analyzes the impact of increasing fuel prices on public transit ridership in the United States. Using regional gasoline prices and transit ridership and supply figures from 218 US cities from 2002 to 2008, I estimate the cross-price elasticity of demand for four modes of transit with respect to gasoline […]
Valuing Localized Externalities: Hog Operations in North Carolina
by Sara Murray Abstract In the early 1990s, eastern North Carolina experienced a boom in industrial hog production. Among the negative externalities generated by this activity, residential property value losses due to operation proximity are some of the most significant. This paper discusses the impact of hog operation presence on median housing values for census […]
The Financial Impact of the Oil Pollution Act: Do the Penalties Resulting from Oil Spills Fulfill the Purpose of the OPA?
by Melissa Keever Abstract This paper explores the financial impact of the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) on oil companies for oil spills. Total penalty per barrel, including civil and criminal penalties, and total cost per barrel for oil spills are analyzed prior OPA and post OPA. Difference-in-differences estimation is used to determine if penalties and […]
