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- Creators: Department of Finance
Description
For as long as humans have been working, they have been looking for ways to get that work done better, faster, and more efficient. Over the course of human history, mankind has created innumerable spectacular inventions, all with the goal of making the economy and daily life more efficient. Today, innovations and technological advancements are happening at a pace like never seen before, and technology like automation and artificial intelligence are poised to once again fundamentally alter the way people live and work in society. Whether society is prepared or not, robots are coming to replace human labor, and they are coming fast. In many areas artificial intelligence has disrupted entire industries of the economy. As people continue to make advancements in artificial intelligence, more industries will be disturbed, more jobs will be lost, and entirely new industries and professions will be created in their wake. The future of the economy and society will be determined by how humans adapt to the rapid innovations that are taking place every single day. In this paper I will examine the extent to which automation will take the place of human labor in the future, project the potential effect of automation to future unemployment, and what individuals and society will need to do to adapt to keep pace with rapidly advancing technology. I will also look at the history of automation in the economy. For centuries humans have been advancing technology to make their everyday work more productive and efficient, and for centuries this has forced humans to adapt to the modern technology through things like training and education. The thesis will additionally examine the ways in which the U.S. education system will have to adapt to meet the demands of the advancing economy, and how job retraining programs must be modernized to prepare workers for the changing economy.
ContributorsCunningham, Reed P. (Author) / DeSerpa, Allan (Thesis director) / Haglin, Brett (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This paper is intended to identify a correlation between the winning percentage of sports teams in the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and the GDP per capita of their respective cities. We initially compiled fifteen years of franchise performance along with economic data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to analyze this relationship. After converting the data into a language recognized by Stata, the regression tool we used, we ran multiple regressions to find relevant correlations based off of our inputs. This paper will show the value of the economic impact of strong or weak performance throughout various economic cycles through data analysis and conclusions drawn from the results of the regression analysis.
ContributorsAndl, Tyler (Co-author) / Shirk, Brandon (Co-author) / Goegan, Brian (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
Alternative currencies have a long and varied history, in which Bitcoin is the latest chapter. The pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin as an implementation of the concept of a cryptocurrency, or a decentralized currency based on the principles of cryptography. Since its creation in 2008, Bitcoin has had a fairly tumultuous existence that limited its adoption. Wide price fluctuations occurred as the appeal of free money by running a piece of computer software drove people to purchase expensive hardware, and high-profile scandals cast Bitcoin as an unstable currency well-suited primarily for purchasing illicit materials. Consumer confidence in the currency was extremely low, and businesses were extremely hesitant to accept a currency that could easily lose half (or more) of its value overnight. However, recent years have seen the currency begin to stabilize as businesses and mainstream investors have begun to accept and support it. Alternative cryptocurrencies, titled "altcoins," have also been created to fill market niches that Bitcoin was not addressing. Governmental intervention, a concern of many following the currency, has been surprisingly restrained and has actually contributed to its stability. The future of Bitcoin looks very bright as it carries the dream of the alternative currency forward into the 21st century.
ContributorsReardon, Brett (Co-author) / Burke, Ryan (Co-author) / Happel, Stephen (Thesis director) / Boyes, William (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This research looks at a group of students from Tumaini Children's Home in Nyeri, Kenya. The purpose of this paper is to explore why this particular group of students is so academically successful. Quantitative research was taken from the average 2013 test scores of Tumaini students who took the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam in comparison to the scores of students who are not residing in the orphanage. Qualitative research involves interviews from those students who live in Tumaini and interviews from adults who are closely connected to the orphanage. The purpose is to understand why the students are performing so well academically and what support they have created for themselves that allows them to do so.
ContributorsTooker, Amy Elizabeth (Author) / Puckett, Kathleen (Thesis director) / Cocchiarella, Martha (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
"Improving Life Outcomes for Children in Arizona: Educational Social Impact Bond" is a creative project that is structured as a pitch to the Arizona Department of Education to consider social impact bonds as a way to fund pilot education programs. The pitch begins with a brief overview of the umbrella of impact investing, and then a focus on social impact bonds, an area of impact investing. A profile of Arizona's current educational rankings along with statistics are then presented, highlighting the need for an educational social impact bond to help increase achievement. The pitch then starts to focus particularly on high school drop outs and how by funding early childhood education the chances of a child graduating high school increase. An overview of existing early education social impact bonds that are enacted are then presented, followed by a possible structure for an early education social impact bond in Arizona. An analysis of the possible lifetime cost savings of investing in early childhood education are then presented, that are as a result of decreasing the amount of high school drop outs. Lastly, is a brief side-by-side comparison of the Arizona structure to the precedent social impact bonds.
ContributorsRodriguez, Karina (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Trujillo, Gary (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This thesis project provides a thorough cost-benefit analysis of the golf industry in Arizona. We begin by examining the economic, environmental, and social costs that the industry requires. One of the largest costs of the industry is water consumption. Golf courses in Arizona are currently finding ways to reduce water consumption through various methods, such as turf reduction and increasing the usage of drip irrigation. However, even at current levels of consumption, golf only consumes 1.9% of water in Arizona, compared to the 69% consumed by agriculture. Of the water consumed by the golf industry, 26.3% is wastewater, otherwise known as effluent water. Since the population in Arizona is projected to grow significantly over the next decade, the amount of effluent water produced will also increase. Due to this, we recommend that the golf industry move towards using as much effluent water as possible to conserve clean water sources. Additionally, we examine land allocation and agricultural tradeoffs to the state. Most golf courses are built in urban areas that would not be suitable for agriculture. The same land could be used to build a public park, but this would not provide as many economic benefits to the state. Many courses also act as floodplains which protect the communities surrounding them from flooding. These floodplains have proven to be crucial to protect from occasional flash floods by diverting the excess water away from homes. We also discuss golf's primary social cost in terms of its perception as being a sport played exclusively by privileged and wealthy people. This is proven to be false due to many non-profit organizations centered around the game, as well as municipal courses that provide affordable options for all citizens who want to play. We provide an in-depth analysis of the benefits that the industry provides to the state and its citizens primarily through business and tax revenue, employment, and property values. Including multiplier effects, the golf industry contributed 42,000 full- and part-time jobs, $3.9 billion in sales, $1.5 billion in labor income, and $2.1 billion value added in 2014. An estimated $72 million in state and local taxes were generated from golf facilities alone, without including taxes from indirectly impacted businesses. This tax revenue provides a great benefit to the public sector and increases Arizona's GDP. Also, much of this economic contribution is from the golf tourism industry, which brings new revenue into the state that would otherwise not exist. Golf courses also increase the surrounding real estate prices anywhere from 4.8% to 28%, providing a positive externality to community members in addition to scenic views. Finally, we provide a case study of the Waste Management Phoenix Open (WMO) to illustrate the impact of Arizona's single largest golf event each year. In 2017, the event brought an estimated $389 million into Arizona's economy in one week alone. Also, it regularly hosts massive crowds with a record-breaking 719,179 people attending the event in 2018. The WMO has also taken a "Zero Waste Challenge" to promote eco-friendly and sustainable practices by diverting all of the waste and materials produced by the tournament from landfills. The WMO has been dubbed both the "Greatest Show On Grass" and the "Greenest Show On Grass" due to the entertainment value provided as well as its effort to improve the environment.
ContributorsShershenovich, Andrew (Co-author) / Wilhelm, Spencer (Co-author) / Goegan, Brian (Thesis director) / Van Poucke, Rory (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to understand peer-to-peer study habits at Arizona State University, and provide recommendations for improving these habits through online integration. This was done by researching current peer-to-peer collaboration literature, and analyzing online integration efforts. Interviews of Arizona State University students were carried out in order to discover specific insights on study patterns at this university. The scope of this research study was further limited to freshman and sophomore engineering, mathematics, and science majors in order to mitigate the impacts of external factors. The background research and study illuminated various flaws in existing peer-to-peer collaboration tools and methods. These weaknesses were then used to design two online tools that would be incorporated into a student resource dashboard. The first tool, called "Ask a Peer", provides a question and answer forum for students. This tool differs from existing products because it provides a mobile platform for students to receive reputable and immediate responses from their classmates. The second tool, "Study Buddy Finder", can be used by students to form study partnerships. This tool is beneficial because it displays information that is essential to students deciding to work together. The thesis provides detailed designs for both modules, and provides the foundation for implementation.
ContributorsPatel, Niraj (Author) / Balasooriya, Janaka (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Walker, Erin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2013-12
Description
Economists, political philosophers, and others have often characterized social preferences regarding inequality by imagining a hypothetical choice of distributions behind "a veil of ignorance". Recent behavioral economics work has shown that subjects care about equality of outcomes, and are willing to sacrifice, in experimental contexts, some amount of personal gain in order to achieve greater equality. We review some of this literature and then conduct an experiment of our own, comparing subjects' choices in two risky situations, one being a choice for a purely individualized lottery for themselves, and the other a choice among possible distributions to members of a randomly selected group. We find that choosing in the group situation makes subjects significantly more risk averse than when choosing an individual lottery. This supports the hypothesis that an additional preference for equality exists alongside ordinary risk aversion, and that in a hypothetical "veil of ignorance" scenario, such preferences may make subjects significantly more averse to unequal distributions of rewards than can be explained by risk aversion alone.
ContributorsTheisen, Alexander Scott (Co-author) / McMullin, Caitlin (Co-author) / Li, Marilyn (Co-author) / DeSerpa, Allan (Thesis director) / Schlee, Edward (Committee member) / Baldwin, Marjorie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
One decision procedure dominates a given one if it performs well on the entire class of problems the given decision procedure performs well on, and then goes on to perform well on other problems that the given decision procedure does badly on. Performing well will be defined as generating higher expected utility before entering a problem. In this paper it will be argued that the timeless decision procedure dominates the causal
and evidential decision procedures. It will also be argued in turn that the updateless decision procedure dominates the timeless decision procedure. The difficulties of formalizing a modern variant of the ”smoking gene” problem will then be briefly examined.
and evidential decision procedures. It will also be argued in turn that the updateless decision procedure dominates the timeless decision procedure. The difficulties of formalizing a modern variant of the ”smoking gene” problem will then be briefly examined.
ContributorsHintze, Daniel Edward (Author) / Armendt, Brad (Thesis director) / Schlee, Edward (Committee member) / DeSerpa, Allan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the current atmosphere of genetic patent law and use economic theory to construct models which describe the consequences of the legal code. I intend to analyze the four specific cases of Diamond v. Chakrabarty, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, the Alzheimer's Institute of America v. Jackson Laboratory, and the harm caused by PGx Health's monopoly over the LQTS gene.
ContributorsVolz, Caleb Richard (Author) / DeSerpa, Allan (Thesis director) / Silverman, Daniel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor)
Created2014-05