Matching Items (11)
Description
A growing number of jobs in the US require a college degree or technical education, and the wage difference between jobs requiring a high school diploma and a college education has increased to over $17,000 per year. Enrollment levels in postsecondary education have been rising for at least the past decade, and this paper attempts to tease out how much of the increasing enrollment is due to changes in the demand by companies for workers. A Bartik Instrument, which is a measure of local area labor demand, for each county in the US was constructed from 2007 to 2014, and using multivariate linear regression the effect of changing labor demand on local postsecondary education enrollment rates was examined. A small positive effect was found, but the effect size in relation to the total change in enrollment levels was diminutive. From the start to the end of the recession (2007 to 2010), Bartik Instrument calculated unemployment increased from 5.3% nationally to 8.2%. This level of labor demand contraction would lead to a 0.42% increase in enrollment between 2008 and 2011. The true enrollment increase over this period was 7.6%, so the model calculated 5.5% of the enrollment increase was based on the changes in labor demand.
ContributorsHerder, Daniel Steven (Author) / Dillon, Eleanor (Thesis director) / Schoellman, Todd (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This paper explores how marginalist economics defines and inevitably constrains Victorian sensation fiction's content and composition. I argue that economic intuition implies that sensationalist heroes and antagonists, writers and readers all pursued a fundamental, "rational" aim: the attainment of pleasure. So although "sensationalism" took on connotations of moral impropriety in the Victorian age, sensation fiction primarily involves experiences of pain on the page that excite the reader's pleasure. As such, sensationalism as a whole can be seen as a conformist product, one which mirrors the effects of all commodities on the market, rather than as a rebellious one. Indeed, contrary to modern and contemporary critics' assumptions, sensation fiction may not be as scandalous as it seems.
ContributorsFischer, Brett Andrew (Author) / Bivona, Daniel (Thesis director) / Looser, Devoney (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Through collection of survey data on the characteristics of college debaters, disparities in participation and success for women and racial and ethnic minorities are measured. This study then uses econometric tools to assess whether there is an in-group judging bias in college debate that systematically disadvantages female and minority participants. Debate is used as a testing ground for competing economic theories of taste-based and statistical discrimination, applied to a higher education context. The study finds persistent disparities in participation and success for female participants. Judges are more likely to vote for debaters who share their gender. There is also a significant disparity in the participation of racial and ethnic minority debaters and judges, as well as female judges.
ContributorsVered, Michelle Nicole (Author) / Silverman, Daniel (Thesis director) / Symonds, Adam (Committee member) / Dillon, Eleanor (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Health and Wealthness is a podcast where your hosts, Emily Weigel and Hanaa Khan discuss pressing and trending topics about health and wealth that everyone should know about. Our first four episodes focus on the opioid crisis. Both the science and healthcare sides. We then go on to talk about burnout and mental health in a conversational episode.
ContributorsKhan, Hanaa S (Co-author) / Weigel, Emily (Co-author) / Olive, Foster (Thesis director) / Bonfiglio, Thomas (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
As temperatures increase across the United States, some populations are more at risk for heat-related death and illness than others. One of these at-risk demographics is mobile home and trailer park inhabitants, who are disproportionately represented among indoor heat-related deaths (Solís, “Heat, Health”). In this paper, we outline a cost-benefit analysis that was used to calculate the net present economic value of projects related to reducing heat burden on mobile home owners and parks in Maricopa County. We use this model to assess solutions developed by student teams under the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience’s Summer Heat Resilience Challenge. We find that one of the seven solutions has a positive net present value (NPV) even in the lowest effectiveness (10%), while three more solutions have a positive NPV in the mid-level (50%) effectiveness scenario, showcasing their economic viability.
ContributorsRobinson, Jacob (Author) / Solís, Patricia (Thesis director) / Markolf, Samuel (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
With the National Labor Relations Board's decision to allow Northwestern University football players to unionize, the landscape of college athletics is changing very quickly. Due to their recognition as employees of the University, football players at Northwestern will receive many benefits that they would not have received before. They will be able to bargain for the things they want including: scholarships that cover the cost of attendance, increased medical coverage, measures to increase graduation rates, a safer game, and due process with the NCAA. However, this will come at a cost to the general welfare. Subsidies to athletic departments will continue to rise on college campuses due to the increasing costs of athletics and that cost will be incurred regressively on students. With an outcry from students, universities may be forced to stop the increase in subsidies, which may force some athletic departments to cut certain sports according to some parameters set by government legislation and the NCAA.
ContributorsGewecke, Alexander Leland (Author) / Marburger, Daniel (Thesis director) / Dillon, Eleanor (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The main purpose of this investigation is to determine the intensity, economic costs, and potential solutions to HIV/AIDS stigma in the United States and Tanzania. In order to accomplish this goal, a literature review was conducted, and an economic model was created to determine how HIV/AIDS treatment deterrence manifests and affects these countries. The results of the economic model suggested that Tanzania suffers greater economic loss due to HIV treatment deterrence than the United States, however, both countries lose a significant portion of GDP due to HIV treatment deterrence. Stigma materializes differently in each country based on a variety of sociocultural factors. These include the demographic groups most affected, the perception of those living with HIV, and how sexually transmitted infections are perceived within communities. The solutions to HIV stigma must be tailored to the country, culture, and context that it arises for interventions to be effective. To further prevent HIV/AIDS stigma and its economic consequences, the etiology of stigma and how it presents in different communities must be understood.
ContributorsSangha, Pooja (Co-author) / Hopewell, Sophia (Co-author) / Baldwin, Marjorie (Thesis director) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Accurately assessing Major League Baseball player value is at the core of consistent success for any MLB organization. Effectively targeting players in trades and strategically spending available funds in the free agent market are of increasing importance as MLB salaries rise. In a sport where it takes 162 games to separate contenders, any advantage in identifying talent can be the difference between winning and losing. This paper draws team batting data from the past seven MLB seasons and runs a multi-variable regression to measure the run value of each individual batting outcome. If teams can more accurately measure the offensive value a player produces, they can more optimally spend their finances. Our regression results suggest that previously used statistics such as wOBA and OPS neglect outcome that have significant effects: baserunning ability and out type. Further contract analysis on four free-agent signing from 2018-2019 free agent class illustrate that teams often over and underestimate player value and could benefit greatly with more accurate player evaluation.
ContributorsGildea, Matthew E (Author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Mokwa, Michael (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Gendered products are prevalent in the modern consumer products market. This paper provides historical context for the change in the consumer products market which started as a genderless product market and shifted to a female consumer-centric market reflecting the economic needs of the United States through World War I and II. This female consumer-centric market results from the rise of consumer research and many household products are created to satisfy female consumer preferences. But as the consumer demographics change with more women entering the labor force, the types of products being sold change to appeal to the increasing number of male consumers who begin shopping for themselves. This increase in male products is what leads to the booming men's personal care products market that we see today. With an increase in gendered products, there has also been an increase in the number of backlash companies face for creating specific gendered products. This paper outlines the history of gendered products and the potential future of products in the United States.
ContributorsLavergne, Lisa (Author) / Foster, William (Thesis director) / Goegan, Brian (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Campaign finance regulation has drastically changed since the founding of the Republic. Originally, few laws regulated how much could be contributed to political campaigns and who could make contributions. One by one, Congress passed laws to limit the possibility of corruption, for example by banning the solicitation of federal workers and banning contributions from corporations. As the United States moved into the 20th Century, regulations became more robust with more accountability. The modern structure of campaign finance regulation was established in the 1970's with legislation like the Federal Election Campaign Act and with Supreme Court rulings like in Buckley v. Valeo. Since then, the Court has moved increasingly to strike down campaign finance laws they see as limiting to First Amendment free speech. However, Arizona is one of a handful of states that established a system of publicly financed campaigns at the state-wide and legislative level. Passed in 1998, Proposition 200 attempted to limit the influence of money politics. For my research I hypothesized that a public financing system like the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC) would lead to Democrats running with public funds more than Republicans, women running clean more than men, and rural candidates running clean more than urban ones, and that Democrats, women, and rural candidates would win in higher proportions than than if they ran a traditional campaign. After compiling data from the CCEC and the National Institute on Money in State Politics, I found that Democrats do run with public funds in statistically higher proportions than Republicans, but when they do they lose in higher proportions than Democrats who run traditionally. Female candidates only ran at a statistically higher proportion from 2002 to 2008, after which the difference was not statistically significant. For all year ranges women who ran with public money lost in higher proportions than women who ran traditionally. Similarly, rural candidates only ran at a statistically higher proportion from 2002 to 2008. However, they only lost at higher proportions from 2002 to 2008 instead of the whole range like with women and Democratic candidates.
ContributorsMarshall, Austin Tyler (Author) / Herrera, Richard (Thesis director) / Jones, Ruth (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12