Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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- Creators: Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business
Description
This paper explores the potential impact of population aging trends on support for the financing of public education using an applied theoretical approach. As demographic projections anticipate significant increases in the relative share of elderly individuals in the population, the question of how age distribution in a population effects support for public goods such as education becomes increasingly significant. Conventional wisdom suggests that an upward shift in age distribution – increasing the share of elderly individuals relative to workers – will result in decreased support for public education due to elderly individuals’ lack of utility from investments in future productivity. This paper demonstrates that such conventional wisdom does not hold in a simple two-district overlapping generations model and shows that an increasing share of elderly individuals in the population may result in increased levels of funding for education due to changes in a district’s tax base.
The model developed in this paper builds on the work of Mark Gradstein and Michael Kaganovich who demonstrated that while increasing longevity in a two-generation OLG model with two municipal districts creates a downward pressure on tax rates, this effect is dominated by changing political incentives among workers. This paper expands upon the Gradstein-Kaganovich model by introducing endogenous migration rates between districts in the model in order to reflect households’ incentives to minimize tax burden in retirement. It can be shown that as consumers’ responsiveness to differences in tax rates increases, the difference in education funding levels between districts decreases despite the difference in the relative share of elderly individuals in each population increasing. This result stems from the changes in each districts’ tax base brought on by the endogenous migration rate. Based on this finding, this study concludes that retirees function as a positive financial externality when education funding is tied to consumption levels and reaffirms Gradstein and Kaganovich’s conclusion that increasing the relative share of elderly individuals in a population does not necessarily result in decreased funding for public education as conventional wisdom would suggest.
The model developed in this paper builds on the work of Mark Gradstein and Michael Kaganovich who demonstrated that while increasing longevity in a two-generation OLG model with two municipal districts creates a downward pressure on tax rates, this effect is dominated by changing political incentives among workers. This paper expands upon the Gradstein-Kaganovich model by introducing endogenous migration rates between districts in the model in order to reflect households’ incentives to minimize tax burden in retirement. It can be shown that as consumers’ responsiveness to differences in tax rates increases, the difference in education funding levels between districts decreases despite the difference in the relative share of elderly individuals in each population increasing. This result stems from the changes in each districts’ tax base brought on by the endogenous migration rate. Based on this finding, this study concludes that retirees function as a positive financial externality when education funding is tied to consumption levels and reaffirms Gradstein and Kaganovich’s conclusion that increasing the relative share of elderly individuals in a population does not necessarily result in decreased funding for public education as conventional wisdom would suggest.
ContributorsMerkle, Matthew Connor (Author) / Foster, William (Thesis director) / Murphy, Alvin (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The goal of this study was to examine whether there is any effect of phonotactic probability during the early phases of novel word recognition. In order to determine this, I performed two experiments. In Experiment 1, 33 adult monolingual English speakers learned 24 novel word-object pairings, half of which were high English phonotactic probability words and the other half were low English phonotactic probability words. I additionally included three conditions that varied the amount of exposures to each novel word-object pairing (i.e. One Exposure Condition, Two Exposures Conditions, and Five Exposures Condition). Experiment 2 was designed to clarify results found in Experiment 1, with improved randomization and fewer conditions (i.e. One Exposure Condition and Five Exposures Condition). The findings from both experiments were statistically significant in accuracy for Training condition, but not statistically significant for phonotactic probability nor for an interaction between phonotactic probability and Training condition. Although participants demonstrated learning across conditions there is no indication of a relationship between high and low phonotactic probability and novel word recognition. Collectively, these findings suggest that future studies will be necessary to determine if there is indeed an effect of phonotactic probability on early novel word recognition.
ContributorsQuinones, Sara Cristina (Co-author) / Quiñones, Sara (Co-author) / Benitez, Viridiana (Thesis director) / Tecedor Cabrero, Marta (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This paper aims to get a snapshot of charter school and public school performance in the state of California, specifically looking at high schools. Based off of data gathered on specific variables of interest and carefully constructed regression models, we are testing whether charter schools perform differently from public schools. This paper attempts to analyze results from standard OLS regression models and random effects GLS models, both with and without
interaction effects between charter schools and ethnicity and geographic area. While discussing results, this paper will also acknowledge limitations while drawing the line between correlation and causality. Our variable of interest throughout the paper is charter school, controlling for other factors that might impact API scores such as geographic area, demographics, and school
characteristics.
interaction effects between charter schools and ethnicity and geographic area. While discussing results, this paper will also acknowledge limitations while drawing the line between correlation and causality. Our variable of interest throughout the paper is charter school, controlling for other factors that might impact API scores such as geographic area, demographics, and school
characteristics.
ContributorsValdez, Logan Taylor (Author) / Goegan, Brian (Thesis director) / Murphy, Alvin (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05