In the Shadow of War: Assessing Conflict-Driven Disruptions in the Kyrgyzstan-Russia Labor Pipeline via a Gradient Boosting Approach to Nowcasting
by Michelle K. Schultze Abstract Kyrgyzstan, where remittances made up 30% of GDP before the Russo-Ukraine war, is central to understanding Russia–Central Asia labor migration. Wartime trends, however, are obscured by informality and limited Russian data. This study introduces a novel “nowcasting” method using XGBoost and Yandex Wordstat, a Russian search query database largely overlooked […]
Who Gets Wind? Investigating Economic Attributes of Iowa Counties Prior to Wind Turbine Development
by Karianna Klassen Abstract Iowa is a national leader in wind energy, producing nearly two-thirds of its electricity from wind turbines. However, the development of wind energy infrastructure across the state has been uneven—some counties host hundreds of turbines while others have none. This paper investigates whether county-level economic conditions influence the likelihood of wind […]
Directing Development: Do One-Way Roads Inhibit Downtown Development? A Case Study of Hickory, North Carolina
by Adeleine Geitner Abstract In cities across the United States, residents and policymakers have passed measures to increase accessibility and walkability as a strategy for revitalizing disinvested downtowns. Alongside many of these measures, one-way roads have been reverted to two-way traffic due to their observed hindrance on walkability and pedestrian safety. In Hickory, North Carolina, […]
The Impact of Land Use Restriction on Housing Supply and Urban Form
by Brendan Patrick Elliott Abstract Rising home prices have led to public concern regarding housing affordability and availability. Interest in the role that land use regulations may play in reducing housing availability has been of increasing interest. While many of these regulations were initially implemented to preserve neighborhood character and promote sustainable growth, many contend […]
The Impact of Quiet Zone Implementation on Accident Incidence at Highway-rail Grade Crossings
by Jack Duhon Abstract In the last five years, (2019-2023) there have been 10,704 accidents at highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs) in the United States, resulting in 3,859 injuries and 1,233 fatalities. This paper seeks to address impact of quiet zones, where trains are not allowed to blow their horns before going through a crossing, on […]
Airline Non-Price Competition Between FSC and LCC Carriers: Varying Airline Optimization Strategies
by Lucas Johnson Abstract The goal of this paper is to extend the discourse surrounding certain topics in terms of airline optimization which is defined in this paper as the ability of an airline to efficiently transport goods and passengers as well as accrue revenue from its airplanes relative to its total capacity to transport […]
The Effect of Algae Blooms on Property Values located on Florida’s Indian River Lagoon
by Cameron DeChurch Abstract Florida’s Indian River Lagoon has algae blooms that devastate ecosystems, water quality, and markets for seafood, recreation, and housing. This study estimates part of their economic impact by examining water quality’s relationship with prices of properties sold near the estuary from 2007 to 2016. Using water quality scores from 0 to […]
Impact of Utility-Scale Solar Farms on Property Values in North Carolina
By Megan Wang Abstract The aim of this paper is to investigate impacts of utility-scale solar farms on surrounding property values. Using data from CoreLogic, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the US Census Bureau, this study identifies a 12% statistically significant increase in sale values associated with high-income residential homes within three miles of […]
Subprime’s Long shadow: Understanding subprime lending’s role in the St. Louis vacancy crisis
by Glen David Morgenstern Abstract Using loan-level data, this analysis attempts to connect the events of the subprime home loan boom to the current vacancy crisis in St. Louis, Missouri. Borrowers in Black areas in the north of St. Louis City and St. Louis County received subprime home loans at higher rates during the subprime […]
Is Affordable Housing Moving Mobile? Analyzing the Impact of COVID-19 on Demand for Manufactured Housing
by Jair Coleridge Soman Alleyne Abstract As demand for affordable housing continues to increase in America, manufactured homes provide a private solution to this problem. Research has shown that manufactured home prices are largely dependent on the price of local housing substitutes as well as other geographic hedonic factors. This paper looks at the impact […]
