Effects of Wages of Government Officials on Corruption in Developing Countries
By Vansh Muttreja
In a world where a majority of countries are suffering from corruption, it is important to study the causes of corruption and how it can be removed. There are many factors that affect corruption, and the one that this thesis focuses on is wages. The goal of this thesis is to understand the effects of wages of government officials on corruption levels in developing countries over time. The reason for looking particularly at developing countries is that corruption is higher and a bigger concern in such countries. The results of the analysis show that in order for developing countries to decrease corruption levels to those of the least 50 corrupt nations, there needs to be an increase of 422.51% in their government wages. The results are not suggestive for all developing countries because only a limited amount of developing countries were analyzed in this thesis. However, they do give us a glimpse into the negative relationship between corruption and wages.
Advisor: Edward Tower, Kent Kimbrough | JEL Codes: N4, O38
Determinants of Migration: A Case Study of Nang Rong, Thailand
By Monitra Mohinchai
The increasing flows of internal migrants resulted from urbanization in developing countries is of great interest to policy makers. This study examines the individual-level and household-level social surveys the Nang Rong Project in 1994-1995 and 2000-2001. Individual characteristics such as gender, age, and years of schooling, and household characteristic such as family size are, significantly and consistently with the human capital model and previous empirical studies, shown to be determinants of a migration decisions. Moreover, migration selectivity differs significantly by migrant destinations. These findings indicate that policy makers should also consider different destination choice of migration, as well as the migrants’ characteristics, when they try to influence migration patterns and flows.
Advisor: Frank Sloan | JEL Codes: O53
The Closed-End Fund Puzzle: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of U.S. Closed-End Fund Discounts
by David Lefty
Abstract
This paper examines the effect of systematic beta risk, expense ratios, and fund
size on the cross-sectional variation of closed-end fund discounts. Using a methodology
similar to that of Gemmill and Thomas (2002) and Flynn (2004) on a sample of 50 U.S.
closed-end funds, the data indicate that expense ratios have a significant positive effect
on discounts for my entire sample and systematic beta risk has a significant positive
effect on debt fund discounts. These results reject hypotheses implied by both noise
trader and agency cost theories with respect to closed-end fund discounts.
Professor Edward Tower, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: O51,
PUBLIC EDUCATION IN PUERTO RICO: DOES CLASS SIZE MATTER?
by Eddy V. Leal
Abstract
Even though there is a large literature concerning the effects of class size on
educational achievement, no previous research has formally examined the class size
reduction policy in Puerto Rico. The evidence in this paper suggests that class size does
not have a causal effect on student achievement in Puerto Rico. As a result, this paper
points to a failure of the policy that Puerto Rico’s government has invested heavily in for
the last few decades in order to improve the quality of public education. Policy makers in
Puerto Rico should seek alternatives in order to improve the quality of public education
and consider innovations such as incentive based reforms now prevalent in the United
States.
Professor Thomas Nechyba, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: O54,
An Empirical Study of the Anticommons Effect on Public vs. Private Researchers
by Serena S. Lam
Abstract
The “anticommons effect” is a recently coined term to describe the phenomenon of stifled research and innovation in the biomedical research arena due to the growing number of overlapping patents in particular domains. Murray and Stern (2005) was the first to devise a novel strategy to quantify this effect by looking at the citation trend of papers with patented findings compared to that of non-patented ones published in Nature Biotechnology. This study continues this vein of research by looking at the differential anticommons effect on public vs. private sector researchers by dividing the citations of the articles used in Murray and Stern (2005) into public and private sector citations, and running a negative binomial fixed effects regression through both groups. Similarly, the citations were also divided into high vs. low tier journals, US vs. foreign authors, and scholarly vs. non-scholarly citations for further analysis. It was found that public sector citations dropped by 19.53% for patented articles compared to non-patented papers, while no such effect was found for private sector citations, suggesting that the anticommons effect is salient primarily for public sector researchers. A significant anticommons effect was also found for low tier journal citations (22.25%), US (15.96%) and foreign authored citations (21.72%), and for scholarly citations (17.26%) as measured by the average decrease in yearly citation rates for patented papers.
Professor Paul Ellickson, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: I23, O34,
Cultural Capital in Ghana How the cooperative maximizes its potential to create locally driven economic development in rural communities
by Dan Baum
Abstract
This paper demonstrates how cultural traditions and norms, or “cultural capital” can be used to spark local economic development in rural Ghana. I show that the cooperative fits especially well with rural Ghanaian cultural institutions and, as a result, is the economic structure best suited to maximizing the developmental potential found in Ghana’s cultural norms. The cooperative also mediates effectively between Ghana’s desires for economic growth and cultural preservation, by allowing for the retention of traditional practices while creating a more economically significant organization. Owing to its successful navigation of Ghana’s cultural landscape, the cooperative offers a great opportunity for Ghana to realize locally driven economic development and growth.
Professor Genna Miller, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: O55,
Occupation Segregation and Gender Earnings Differentials in Slovenia
by Arup Banerjee
Abstract
In communist Europe, households needed at least two breadwinners to maintain a
stable household income. Due to the relatively equal wage rate between men and women,
there was a small, if any, wage gap between the two genders. Women and men chose
different industries to work in due to their physical and mental capabilities, which most
times would segregate the workforce based on genderTthus, occupational segregation.
After the fall of communism, these economies transitioned to a market based one. In this
transition, wages become less standard and the wage gap between men and women
became apparent. In some transition economies, occupational segregation has been
shown to account for some of this gap. This study conducts an analysis of Slovenia’s
gender wage gap. To date, there have been few studies on the late transition economies
and none with a focus on Slovenia. Using the Oaxaca-Blinder regression analysis of wage
differentials, it studies Slovenia’s economy using a sample from the Statistical Register,
which contains 53,494 persons from 2001. The study shows that in Slovenia while there
is occupational segregation amongst most industries, this phenomenon does not
significantly account for any proportion of the overall gender wage gap.
Professor Peter Arcidiacono, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: J16, O52,
Measuring Capital Mobility in China: 1999 – 2005
by Huanjie Wang
Abstract
This paper examines the level of capital mobility in China during
Jan. 1999 to Apr. 2006 by estimating the covered interest rate differentials
during this time period. This study was made possible by data
from the fairly newly established offshore RMB Nondeliverable Forward
market. It concludes that China had not been enjoying perfect
capital mobility during the sample period of this study. Furthermore,
capital controls were mainly placed on capital outflow before 2003
and inflow afterward. Comparison with previous research confirms
the assertion.
Professor Stephanie Schmitt-Grohe, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: F32, N25, O53,
