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The NFL is one of largest and most influential industries in the world. In America there are few companies that have a stronger hold on the American culture and create such a phenomena from year to year. In this project aimed to develop a strategy that helps an NFL team

The NFL is one of largest and most influential industries in the world. In America there are few companies that have a stronger hold on the American culture and create such a phenomena from year to year. In this project aimed to develop a strategy that helps an NFL team be as successful as possible by defining which positions are most important to a team's success. Data from fifteen years of NFL games was collected and information on every player in the league was analyzed. First there needed to be a benchmark which describes a team as being average and then every player in the NFL must be compared to that average. Based on properties of linear regression using ordinary least squares this project aims to define such a model that shows each position's importance. Finally, once such a model had been established then the focus turned to the NFL draft in which the goal was to find a strategy of where each position needs to be drafted so that it is most likely to give the best payoff based on the results of the regression in part one.
ContributorsBalzer, Kevin Ryan (Author) / Goegan, Brian (Thesis director) / Dassanayake, Maduranga (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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Description
The current Enterprise Requirements and Acquisition Model (ERAM), a discrete event simulation of the major tasks and decisions within the DoD acquisition system, identifies several what-if intervention strategies to improve program completion time. However, processes that contribute to the program acquisition completion time were not explicitly identified in the simulation

The current Enterprise Requirements and Acquisition Model (ERAM), a discrete event simulation of the major tasks and decisions within the DoD acquisition system, identifies several what-if intervention strategies to improve program completion time. However, processes that contribute to the program acquisition completion time were not explicitly identified in the simulation study. This research seeks to determine the acquisition processes that contribute significantly to total simulated program time in the acquisition system for all programs reaching Milestone C. Specifically, this research examines the effect of increased scope management, technology maturity, and decreased variation and mean process times in post-Design Readiness Review contractor activities by performing additional simulation analyses. Potential policies are formulated from the results to further improve program acquisition completion time.
ContributorsWorger, Danielle Marie (Author) / Wu, Teresa (Thesis director) / Shunk, Dan (Committee member) / Wirthlin, J. Robert (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2013-05
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Description
Over the past few decades, pharmaceutical spending has been increasing, due in large part to high prices of prescription drugs. In the United States, pharmaceutical manufacturers defend high prices by citing the high costs of research and development, which they argue spurns innovation and makes up for the high prices

Over the past few decades, pharmaceutical spending has been increasing, due in large part to high prices of prescription drugs. In the United States, pharmaceutical manufacturers defend high prices by citing the high costs of research and development, which they argue spurns innovation and makes up for the high prices paid by consumers. This study seeks to determine the validity of that claim and to fully understand the impact that R&D expenditures have on pharmaceutical drug prices. Employing a fixed effects regression, this study assesses the relationship between per capita R&D expenditure and per capita pharmaceutical spending (a stand-in variable for average drug price) for twelve OECD-member countries over a span of seven years. Holding country and year effects fixed, this regression shows a nearly one to one positive relationship between R&D expenditure and pharmaceutical spending, meaning a one-dollar increase in R&D expenditure increases pharmaceutical spending by around one-dollar as well. This impact, while statistically significant, is not that large, implying that R&D expenditures are not a strong driver of drug prices, contrary to what many pharmaceutical manufacturers argue.
ContributorsMartin, John Behun (Author) / Hill, Alexander (Thesis director) / Foster, William (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
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Description
The widespread use of statistical analysis in sports-particularly Baseball- has made it increasingly necessary for small and mid-market teams to find ways to maintain their analytical advantages over large market clubs. In baseball, an opportunity for exists for teams with limited financial resources to sign players under team control to

The widespread use of statistical analysis in sports-particularly Baseball- has made it increasingly necessary for small and mid-market teams to find ways to maintain their analytical advantages over large market clubs. In baseball, an opportunity for exists for teams with limited financial resources to sign players under team control to long-term contracts before other teams can bid for their services in free agency. If small and mid-market clubs can successfully identify talented players early, clubs can save money, achieve cost certainty and remain competitive for longer periods of time. These deals are also advantageous to players since they receive job security and greater financial dividends earlier in their career. The objective of this paper is to develop a regression-based predictive model that teams can use to forecast the performance of young baseball players with limited Major League experience. There were several tasks conducted to achieve this goal: (1) Data was obtained from Major League Baseball and Lahman's Baseball Database and sorted using Excel macros for easier analysis. (2) Players were separated into three positional groups depending on similar fielding requirements and offensive profiles: Group I was comprised of first and third basemen, Group II contains second basemen, shortstops, and center fielders and Group III contains left and right fielders. (3) Based on the context of baseball and the nature of offensive performance metrics, only players who achieve greater than 200 plate appearances within the first two years of their major league debut are included in this analysis. (4) The statistical software package JMP was used to create regression models of each group and analyze the residuals for any irregularities or normality violations. Once the models were developed, slight adjustments were made to improve the accuracy of the forecasts and identify opportunities for future work. It was discovered that Group I and Group III were the easiest player groupings to forecast while Group II required several attempts to improve the model.
ContributorsJack, Nathan Scott (Author) / Shunk, Dan (Thesis director) / Montgomery, Douglas (Committee member) / Borror, Connie (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
In 2010, for the first time in human history, more than half of the world's total population lived in cities; this number is expected to increase to 60% or more by 2050. The goal of this research effort is to create a comprehensive model and modelling framework for megacities, middleweight

In 2010, for the first time in human history, more than half of the world's total population lived in cities; this number is expected to increase to 60% or more by 2050. The goal of this research effort is to create a comprehensive model and modelling framework for megacities, middleweight cities, and urban agglomerations, collectively referred to as dense urban areas. The motivation for this project comes from the United States Army's desire for readiness in all operating environments including dense urban areas. Though there is valuable insight in research to support Army operational behaviors, megacities are of unique interest to nearly every societal sector imaginable. A novel application for determining both main effects and interactive effects between factors within a dense urban area is a Design of Experiments- providing insight on factor causations. Regression Modelling can also be employed for analysis of dense urban areas, providing wide ranging insights into correlations between factors and their interactions. Past studies involving megacities concern themselves with general trend of cities and their operation. This study is unique in its efforts to model a singular megacity to enable decision support for military operational planning, as well as potential decision support to city planners to increase the sustainability of these dense urban areas and megacities.
ContributorsMathesen, Logan Michael (Author) / Zenzen, Frances (Thesis director) / Jennings, Cheryl (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This paper seeks to highlight the strong correlation and potential causation between the presence of physical community bank branches in rural communities and local economic outcomes like payroll, employment, and establishments in a given region. To do this, I conduct a two-part analysis involving a fixed effects model with data

This paper seeks to highlight the strong correlation and potential causation between the presence of physical community bank branches in rural communities and local economic outcomes like payroll, employment, and establishments in a given region. To do this, I conduct a two-part analysis involving a fixed effects model with data from across the US and a regression discontinuity model of a subset of the data in parts of Delaware and Maryland. Overall, my results show a significant strong correlation between the number of bank branches in a region and the expected percent changes in economic outcomes, but I lack the results to claim causality between the opening or closure of a bank branch and changes in the local economy. This has relevance in understanding the need for physical bank branches as changes in the financial industry since the 2008 Financial Crisis, like online banking, have continued to accelerate.
ContributorsRodriguez, Luke (Author) / McDaniel, Cara (Thesis director) / Kuminoff, Nicolai (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor)
Created2022-12