Browsing by Subject "Applied Economics"

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Assessing the effect of changes in relative food prices and income on obesity prevalence in the United States.
(2010-06) Dolar, Veronika
Several empirical papers in the economics of obesity literature find that changes in aggregate food prices over time have little effect on the population's body-mass index or prevalence, while changes in the price of selected food items drastically affects what people eat. The purpose of this research is to further examine the impact of changes over time in food prices and household real income on individuals' food choices and weight using a calibrated static model. Our first objective is to contribute to the debate about the impact of food prices and household real income on weight and food choices using a different modeling strategy. We ask how much of the increase in calories consumed away from home as well as changes in weight for men and women between 1971 and 2006 can be accounted for by changes in food prices and household real income. A second and perhaps even more critical objective is to use economic theory and available evidence from medical research on obesity to look inside the black box of how people make eating decisions. After careful calibration of the model, we find that prices determine the allocation of calories across food types, while income determine the total number of calories consumed and thus individuals' weight. Based on our results, we share the view that taxes on food will impact what people eat but will have limited effect on reducing the population body-mass index or the obesity prevalence.
Childhood malnutrition and educational attainment:an analysis using Oxford’s young lives longitudinal study in Peru
(2012-12) Krause, Brooke Laura
This study estimates the impact of childhood malnutrition on educational achievement among Peruvian children. While there is growing evidence in the literature that a child's nutrition is important for his or her own educational development, this paper will focus on the nuances of what type of nutritional status, and at what stage of childhood, is most critical for educational achievement. The data used in this study comes from a longitudinal survey in Peru conducted by Oxford University's Young Lives project. This study accounts for the potential endogeneity and measurement error in the child anthropometric measures by using instrumental variables approach to estimate the impact of childhood malnutrition on educational achievement.
Cutthroat or cartel? an analysis of price competition in farmers markets.
(2012-05) Horwich, Jeffrey Lloyd
While the civic and nutritional implications of farmers markets have captured researchers' attention, few have focused on how the "markets" in farmers markets actually work. This paper opens a crucial but largely unexplored field of economic inquiry: how are the prices consumers pay at the farmers market determined? An original dataset of farmers market prices, gathered across five cities over a full calendar year, allows a quantitative look at two specific questions: first, how do prices move as more vendors enter and compete to sell a product? Second, what relation do farmers market prices have to prices in conventional grocery outlets? Using a set of simple regressions and a novel meta-analysis technique, I find meaningful and statistically significant relationships between vendor numbers and price for some products, but not for others. More perishable products seem to display the effect much more powerfully, a result which agrees with theory on search costs and product differentiation. Another important finding is that even where median prices do not decline with vendor count, minimum prices often do, suggesting the diligent consumer can benefit. I also find evidence of price collusion in some markets and products. Finally, I find no discernible, consistent relationship between farmers market prices and supermarket prices. In addition to better informing consumers, these results suggest that policy-makers who wish to expand farmers markets as an option for the general public - and especially lower-income shoppers - have some options for fostering a more competitive environment. But even at the farmers market there is no free lunch, as there are likely trade-offs between consumer welfare and economic rents we may value for local agriculture.
An economic model for vehicle ownership quota and usage restriction policy analysis.
(2012-03) Zhu, Shanjiang
Rationing policies, including vehicle ownership quota and vehicle usage restrictions, have been implemented in several megaregions to address congestion and other negative transportation externalities. However, no model is available in the literature that allows direct comparison of these rationing policies. To bridge this gap, this study develops an analytical framework for analyzing and comparing transportation rationing policies, which consists of a mathematical model of joint household vehicle ownership and usage decisions and welfare analysis methods based on compensating variation and consumer surplus. Under the assumptions of homogenous users and single time period, this study finds that vehicle usage rationing performs better when relatively small percentages of users (i.e. low rationing ratio) are rationed off the roads and when induced demand resulting from congestion mitigation is low. When the amount of induced demand exceeds a certain level, it is shown analytically that vehicle usage restrictions will always cause welfare losses. When the policy goal is to reduce vehicle travel by a large portion (i.e. high rationing ratio), the net social benefits of vehicle ownership quota rationing policy become more obvious. The optimal rationing ratios for both rationing policies can be determined by the model, and are influenced by network congestion and congestibility. A comparison with pricing policy is also provided to illustrate their difference under various conditions. Various policy implications, as well as future research directions, are also discussed.
Effects of economy-wide factors on Brazilian economic growth and biofuels production: an inter-temporal general equilibrium analysis.
(2011-02) Pinto, Cristina Vinyes
Disenchantment with the Washington Consensus has led to an emphasis on growth diagnostics. In the case of Brazil, the literature suggests three main factors impeding growth: low domestic savings, a shortage of skilled workers, and a lack of investment in the country's transportation infrastructure. The unique contribution of this study is to show the inter-temporal implications of relaxing these constraints. We fit a multi-sector Ramsey model to Brazilian data, validate its fit to times data, and provide empirical insights into the economy's structural transformation to long-run equilibrium. Then, the sensitivity of these results to relaxing each of these three constraints is investigated in a manner that yields the same long-run level of wellbeing. Analytical concepts adapted from static trade theory are used to provide a detailed explanation of how the economy responds in transition growth to the relaxation of these impediments. Addressing these factors clearly benefits the economy, but they do not launch the economy to a substantially higher growth path. In order to enhance energy security and independence, Brazil has supported the production and use of ethanol. Brazil's leadership in this market reveals complex inter-linkages between ethanol, sugarcane, sugar and fossil fuels. These sectors have been growing an average of 14% per year, while the country's growth rates have been very modest. This paper presents a theoretical framework for understanding the interaction between Brazil's economic growth and the evolution of these sectors as the economy transitions toward long-run equilibrium. Then, the sensitivity of these results is analyzed under two simulations; first, a reduction of the cost of financial intermediation (which the literature identifies as one of the factors affecting Brazil's growth), and second, an increase in ethanol prices by 2.6%, based on the expectation that biofuels' world demand is increasing.
Essays on marital instability, household behavior, and social policy in developing countries.
(2010-05) Heggeness, Misty Lee
The three chapters in this dissertation add new knowledge to the current literature regarding the economic consequences of marital instability and family policies on household behavior and composition. Using newly developed integrated census microdata from IPUMS-International, the first chapter is an empirical analysis of global trends in marital instability from 1970 to the present. Factors associated with the probability of being separated or divorced are identified for multiple countries over time, finding that education and local economic development are associated with marital instability. The second chapter examines the effects of exogenous changes in family policy and administrative processes on one household decision, children's education. Specifically, the legalization of divorce and family court wait times for divorce are analyzed. Results show that implementing pro-homemaker divorce legislation shifts the bargaining power within married couple households towards the wife, as does the speed with which family courts process divorce cases. The final chapter identifies the potential undercount of lone-mother families when using headship status as a proxy for lone-mother families in 24 countries and identifies characteristics of lone-mothers associated with an increase the probability they are household heads. Overall, these chapters expand the boundaries of current knowledge on the relationship between family policy, household resource allocation, and family composition within households.
Essays on the economics of bioenergy and emissions trading.
(2012-06) Moon, Jin-Young
The three essays in this dissertation focus on the economics of bioenergy and emissions trading. Chapter Two analyzes the economic impacts of cellulosic feedstock production in a major watershed of south-central Minnesota. A regional economic model of agricultural production in the watershed is constructed. By integrating environmental parameters from a biophysical simulation analysis of the watershed, the model focuses on economic and environmental issues associated with increasing use of two cellulosic feedstocks, corn stover and switchgrass, at the watershed level. Results indicate that corn stover can be produced at a relatively low marginal cost compared to switchgrass. Sediment and nutrient losses from corn stover production make switchgrass more promising on environmental grounds but the high marginal cost of production causes switchgrass to cover only small part of crop land if farmers have unrestricted choice about how to supply cellulosic feedstocks. Chapter Three extends the model of chapter Two to examine the tradeoffs between cellulosic feedstock production and water quality by analyzing policy options targeted to address those tradeoffs. Policy alternatives considered include restrictions on total nitrate-N load in the watershed and production subsidies for switchgrass – an energy crop with potential environmental benefits. Restricting nitrate-N loads increases the cost of cellulosic feedstock supply and in some circumstances makes switchgrass production an economical alternative. Switchgrass production subsidies, if sufficiently high can increase feedstock supply while reducing or eliminating the negative effects of feedstock production on water quality. Chapter Four examines how uncertainty in emissions affects firms’ decision of permit purchase and abatement. This paper extends previous models of emissions trading by considering uncertainty as well as the order of firms’ decisions about abatement and permit trading. When there is uncertainty about emissions, total expected emissions are the same regardless of the order of moves. The results show that whether firms abate more under uncertainty is dependent on the expected penalty cost and marginal abatement cost. If the expected marginal penalty cost is greater than the marginal abatement cost, the firm will choose to reduce emissions and abate more under uncertainty. When expected penalty is greater than marginal cost of abatement, increase in uncertainty makes expected emissions decrease given unit penalty fee.
Essays on the economics of food production and consumption in Vietnam.
(2008-12) Vu, Linh Hoang
This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the economics of food production and consumption in Vietnam. Specifically, the study is comprised of five essays, covering several aspects of agriculture and food consumption in Vietnam. The first essay studies agricultural productivity growth in Vietnam, using province-level data. It concludes that total factor productivity (TFP) growth in agriculture contributed greatly to Vietnam's agricultural success after it adopted reform policies. However, TFP growth has slowed in recent years, despite significant output growth. The second essay examines the productive efficiency of rice farming households in Vietnam, using two methods, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with bootstrap and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). It points out that there is variation in efficiency estimates across regions in Vietnam. Moreover, technical efficiency is significantly influenced by primary education and regional factors. The third essay estimates household food demand parameters in Vietnam, based on a recent household survey conducted in 2006. The results indicate that that food consumption patterns in urban and rural areas, and across regions and income groups, are quite different. This implies that targeted food policies should be formulated based on the specific food demand patterns of those groups. Socio-economic factors such as household size and composition, as well as the age of the household's head and education, have sizeable and statistically significant effects on food consumption. The fourth essay focuses undernutrition and food security in Vietnam. The income elasticity of calorie consumption is estimated using both parametric and non-parametric regressions. The finding of positive and significant calorie-expenditure elasticity implies that income growth can alleviate undernutrition Finally, the fifth essay examines the impacts of rising food prices on poverty and welfare in Vietnam. Increases in food prices raise the real incomes of those selling food, but make net food purchasers worse off. Overall, the net impacts on an average Vietnamese household's welfare are positive. However, the benefits and costs are not evenly spread across the population, so some households are made better off while the others are worse off.
Essays on the economics of health and education in developing countries.
(2010-10) Maïga, Eugenie Windkouni Haoua
This research investigates both the impact of investments in education on schooling outcomes and the impact of mother's education on child health outcomes in developing countries. Data from a natural experiment, which is a change in policy, and from a randomized experiment in Burkina Faso and Madagascar, respectively, are used to address identification issues. Two essays are closely linked. The first essay demonstrates how a sudden change in education policy in Burkina Faso is useful in estimating the effect of maternal education on child health. The second essay serves as a robustness check of the first essay's results and further investigates the mechanisms through which mother's education impacts child health. The third essay studies the impact of school management reforms on student performance and verifies whether there is heterogeneity in treatment effects by estimating separate effects for different types of teachers.
Evaluating weather derivatives and crop insurance for farm production risk management in Southern Minnesota.
(2011-11) Chung, Wonho
Agriculture is one of the most weather sensitive industries and weatherrelated risks are a major source of crop production risk exposure. One method of hedging the risk exposure has been through the use of crop insurance. However, the crop insurance market suffers from several problems of asymmetric information and systemic weather risk. Without government subsidies or reinsurance crop insurers would have to pass the cost of bearing the risk exposures to farmers. The rising cost of the federal crop insurance program has been an incentive for the government to seek alternative ways to reduce the cost. Weather derivatives have been suggested as a potential risk management tool to solve the problems. Previous studies have shown that weather derivatives are an effective means of hedging agricultural production risk. Yet, it is unclear what role weather derivatives will play as a risk management tool compared with the existing federal crop insurance program. This study compares the hedging cost and effectiveness of weather options with those of crop insurance for soybean and corn production in four counties of southern Minnesota. We calculate weather option premium by using daily simulation method and compare hedging effectiveness by several risk indicators: certainty equivalence, risk premium, Sharpe ratio, and value at risk. Our results show that the hedging effectiveness of using weather options is limited at the farm level compared with crop insurance products. This is because weather options insure against adverse weather events causing damage at the county level, while crop insurance protects farmers against the loss of their crops directly at the farm level as well as at the county level. Thus, individual farmers will continue to use crop insurance with government subsidy for their production risk management. However, we observe that the hedging effectiveness of using weather options increases as the level of spatial aggregation increases from farm level to county level to four-county aggregate level. This implies that the government as a reinsurer can reduce idiosyncratic yield risk by aggregating the individual risk exposures at the county or higher level, and hedge the remaining systemic weather risk by purchasing weather options in the financial market. As a result, weather derivatives could be used by the government as a hedging tool to reduce the social cost of the federal crop insurance program, since the government currently does not hedge their risk exposures in the program. Against our expectation based on the conventional wisdom, geographic basis risk is not significant in hedging our local weather risk with non-local exchange market weather options based on Minneapolis. It is likely due to the fact that the Midwest area including Minnesota has relatively homogeneous (or less variable) weather conditions and crop yields across the counties compared to other U.S. regions. The result indicates that we can hedge local weather risk with non-local exchange market weather derivatives in southern Minnesota. However, it should be applied cautiously to other locations, crops, or other types of weather derivatives, considering spatial correlation of weather variables between a specific farm location and a weather index reference point.
Experiments on identity, theft and mitigation strategies.
(2011-06) Pecenka, Clinton Joseph
This dissertation uses a series of taking games to examine theft, identity and mitigation strategies.
Health and environmental implications of Americans' Time Use responses to external stimuli: essays on air-quality alerts and daylight savings time
(2012-08) Sexton, Alison L.
Many environmental policies have clear public health impacts and are designed to improve health outcomes either by reducing the environmental health risks individuals encounter in their daily lives, or by encouraging more healthy lifestyles. One way of testing the effectiveness of these policies is to examine the behavioral changes they induce. In this dissertation, I use the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to estimate behavioral responses to several environmental policies by examining how individuals shift the amount of time they spend in various activities during the day. The ATUS is a nationally representative, federally administered survey on time use in the United States. The survey collects information on all activities performed by respondents during a designated 24-hour period. It was first administered in 2003 and has continued throughout every year since, allowing me to collect responses for an 8-year period, 2003-2010. Because each respondent provides detailed information on his/her activities during the designated 24-hour period, I am able to determine how much time each person spends in various morning, afternoon and, evening activities that may be affected by the policies of interest. Although the ATUS has been in existence for 9 years, it has been under utilized in the economic literature. Researchers have traditionally focused primarily on the budget constraint faced by individuals and households, ignoring the time constraint. Examining how time use is affected by exogenous policy changes has the potential to shed light on many economic questions. For example, the literature has found that as gas prices increase consumption decreases, however; at a very inelastic rate. Analysis of time-use data could add to these findings by examining what behaviors are most affected. Do the higher prices cause individuals to carpool or take public transit to work, or do they contribute to fewer recreational excursions? Do the higher prices make commutes longer or shorter? Does this affect the amount of time spent working during the day? Time use data sets such as the ATUS can be used to lend insights to many of the behavioral questions we are concerned about in economics. This dissertation consists of three essays that use the ATUS to examine individual responses to different environmental policies with a particular focus on the behavioral responses that may affect health. In the first essay, I investigate whether individuals respond to publicly provided information on air quality by reducing their vigorous outdoor activities, and thus minimizing their exposure to dangerous concentrations of pollutants. In the second essay, I estimate behavioral responses to Daylight Savings Time (DST) by examining how individuals shift the amount of time they spend in activities that may affect residential energy use. Finally, in the third essay I investigate how DST affects the time individuals spend in exercise and other aerobic activities to determine if it can be used as a low cost policy to promote public health. Despite considerable improvements in air quality over the past few decades, there is still concern that the health risks from air pollution are too high. This has lead the EPA and others to push for even stricter emissions and ambient air-quality standards. However, there are concerns that the marginal benefits of additional abatement regulations no longer exceed their increasing marginal costs and that alternative approaches are needed to reduce the health risks from air pollution. Essay 1 investigates the effectiveness of one alternative policy -- demand-side episodic programs that attempt to reduce exposure on high-pollution days by increasing averting behavior. If effective, these policies offer a lower cost alternative to tighter standards and other supply side policies. Specifically, I study whether individuals respond to daily information provided on air-quality levels, and whether they respond particularly to air quality alerts issued during periods of high pollution. While controlling for individual responses to actual air quality index levels, my results show that individuals engage in averting behavior on alert days by reducing the time they spend in vigorous outdoor activities by 18 percent or 21 minutes on average. With few exceptions, previous DST studies have relied on simulation models to estimate and extrapolate energy savings under different policy programs. Although these studies have found a range of energy savings, Kellogg and Wolf (2007) found that the most sophisticated simulation model available in the literature significantly overstated electricity savings when it was applied to Australian data. This suggests that individuals are not operating completely off the clock (as assumed in previous DST studies), but instead that the time of sunrise and sunset affects their daily behaviors. Essay 2 uses the ATUS to estimate behavioral responses to DST by examining how individuals shift the amount of time they spend sleeping, awake at home, and awake away from home during the day for a time period immediately surrounding a change in the DST regime. Aggregating activities into these three broad categories allows for a simple and clear analysis of how changes in time use due to DST may affect residential energy consumption. Sunrise occurs one hour later in the morning due to DST, meaning that mornings are darker and cooler than they would be on ST. During the cooler months in the spring and fall especially, this may cause individuals to use more lighting and heating electricity regardless of behavioral/time-use adjustments. Similarly, DST causes the late afternoons and early evenings to be warmer and brighter. This should reduce lighting electricity, but likely lead to increased air conditioning use, making the overall impact on afternoon and evening energy consumption ambiguous. Most simulation models suggest that afternoon energy savings do result from DST, and those savings more than offset the increased use in the morning, making DST an energy-reducing policy. However, one cannot accurately draw such conclusions without information on how behaviors change on DST. My results suggest that the DST time shift has the largest impact in the spring, and that individuals are getting up earlier in the morning and spending the additional time at home. This would use additional energy beyond what traditional simulation models predict. Additionally, there is also evidence that individuals are spending less time at home in the evenings, which may reduce energy consumption. Several states have recently discussed legislation to either observe standard time year around or DST year around. These new proposals are interesting because they mark a clear shift in the motivation for DST away from residential energy conservation. Proposals now cite other economic and social costs of DST, whereas the literature to date has focused primarily on energy effects. To address the need for additional research into the other possible behavioral impacts of DST, Essay 3 uses ATUS data to investigate how DST affects the time individuals spend in exercise and other aerobic activities. For example, an additional hour of after-work daylight can be used for biking, jogging, playing golf or tennis, walking, or other aerobic activities. If DST leads to increases in physical activity, there may be a public health argument for adopting year long DST or even double DST. In its 2011 Annual Report on Health Statistics, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found that only 20 percent of adult Americans meet the federal Physical Activity Guidelines. Given these disappointing numbers and America's obesity problem, DST may prove to be a low cost policy tool to improve health outcomes. In fact, my results suggest that adding an additional hour of evening daylight in the spring results in an additional 16 minutes of exercise on average. In all three essays of this dissertation, the previous literature was narrow in scope, focusing on small geographic regions, and used incomplete outcome measures. Thus, each essay makes a unique contribution to the literature by using a nationally representative data set over a long period of time with detailed data on time use. The results from all three essays also have important policy implications that are discussed further in their respective conclusions.
Impact of nutrition information on consumers' food purchases.
(2011-08) Shiratori, Sakiko
This study estimates the impact of nutrition information provided by popular media on consumers' food purchases in U.S. grocery stores, taking omega-3 fortified eggs as an example. Household-level scanner data are analyzed with the media index for the information about health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, which is constructed from multiple information sources by utilizing computer-coded content analysis. In addition, the welfare change of consumers is measured by the consumer surplus and the value of information is also estimated. The results show a significant positive impact of nutritional information from popular media on consumers' food choices. Consumers are quite sensitive to the prices of regular eggs, but are not very sensitive to a change in the price of omega-3 eggs. Consumer surplus increased over time. When this welfare change is investigated further using the concept of the value of information, most of the welfare change is accounted for by the information. In this way, publishing in popular media can be an effective information communication approach to promote consumers' health.
Information technology and the Indian economy.
(2011-03) Vig, Jyoti
Using a multi-sector growth model this thesis attempts to capture the impact of the information technology sector on the growth of the Indian economy. I focus attention on three structural features. Specifically a movement towards services and a decrease in agriculture as a share of GDP, a sharp increase in merchandise and services trade and a sharp increase in GDP growth rate from the period 2004 to 2009. I ask the question whether the four sector Ramsey model can capture these structural features? An important input into the growth model is the econometric work on firm level panel data. Using firm level data obtained from NASSCOM and the CMIE database I carry out production function estimation and create an aggregate productivity index using the Bailey, Hulten and Campbell or the BHC index. The parameters or coefficients of capital, labor and intermediate goods are obtained using the Levinsohn-Petrin method in order to obtain consistent estimates and to account for the endogeneity problem arising from OLS estimates. These coefficients are then used to evaluate aggregate levels of capital and labor used in the IT sector. These aggregate measures of inputs are used in the social accounting matrix constructed using the GTAP database for India for the base year 2001. The growth model is characterized by three final goods agriculture, manufacturing and services and one intermediate good stylized as information technology. Using a social accounting matrix (from GTAP) for the base year 2001 as input into the growth model, we compare the output of the baseline to WDI data. We observe a close fit of GDP and sectoral output for the period 1991 to 2003, however the model output severally undershoots thereafter. We apply a parametric experiment on our original baseline model and observe a similar trend. This shows that information technology accounts for growth trends for the period 1991 to 2003 but cannot account for the sharp acceleration in the GDP growth rate for the period thereafter. The model however does account for the increase in services as a share of GDP, an increase in the contribution of services in the growth of GDP and the sharp increase in exports of IT. Using firm level panel data we simulate shocks to the TFP parameter and observe the above trends repeating for every case.
International trade in genetically modified-sensitive industries: a cross-country analysis.
(2011-01) Da'ar, Omar Bundid
This dissertation analyzes the effects of non-traditional endowments (R&D stock and biotech land) on trade of genetically-modified sensitive industries. The study also explores the effects of differences in institutional endowments (intellectual property rights and regulatory regimes) on genetically modified sensitive industries. In particular, I ask, do the non-traditional endowments confer comparative advantage to a country in exporting to the rest of the world (ROW)? I pursue this hypothesis by looking at whether a country's true non-traditional endowments (R&D and biotech land) correspond with net export of embodied non-traditional endowments. I employ the factor-content model of the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek (HOV) as the underlying theoretical framework. The empirical implementation and method include examination of this relationship via non-parametric and parametric methods using 2006 cross-section data of three-digit level of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). Further, I examine the causal relationship between non-traditional endowments and countries' bilateral trade of genetically modified-based industries. In addition, I analyze the effect of institutional measures of policy on bilateral trade in GMO-based industries and account for ways in which these institutional factors interact with non-traditional endowments (R&D and biotech land). I employ the Gravity model of international trade to examine these relationships. Findings show countries with higher non-traditional endowments than the world average have embodied net exports of these endowments. In other words, this finding is an indication that such countries have revealed comparative advantage in goods that make intensive use of these factors. In particular, results show that the causal relationship between trade in genetically modified-sensitive products and biotech land of a country is informative. In aggregate and subaggregates trade, the biotech land factor consistently shows positive and statistically significant parameter estimates indicating that indeed it confers comparative advantage. Accordingly, the relationship between trade in GMO-based industries and GMO land is genuinely causal rather than just correlation. This implies that the variation of trade in GMO-based industries is not attributable to either unmeasured characteristics or the traditional endowments. However, the relationship between trade in genetically modified-sensitive industries and R&D stock is less definitive. R&D stock confers comparative advantage in one (fats or vegetable related) of the four main subaggregates while it neither confers comparative advantage nor comparative disadvantage in others. There is evidence that R&D stock (knowledge capital) does not fit the traditional immobility assumption. Knowledge capital spillovers may take place. Thus, the importance of knowledge capital is not showing up in the statistical results. I found mixed evidence on the effect of institutional endowments (relevant regulatory regimes and intellectual property rights) on bilateral trade in GMO-based industries. Using different levels of data aggregations (for comparability and concordance) and estimation methods (for robustness checks), the results showed that strengthening of patent protection in the destination country relative to the source country reduces exports of genetically modified-sensitive products. This demonstrates a market power effect where strengthening intellectual property protection grants monopoly power to economic agents of importing country relative to exporting country. Finally, results show that even when there are marked regulatory differences and policies, there is little evidence of diversion of trade in GMO-sensitive industries. The dissertation is organized as follows. Chapter 1 provides an introduction and overview of GMO-intensive industries. This chapter also summarizes patterns of international data on trade in GMO-intensive industries, R&D, GMO land use, and policies including regulatory regimes and intellectual property rights. Chapter 2 then analyzes determinants of trade in GMO-intensive industries using the Heckscher-Ohlin model. This analysis focuses on determinants of a country's trade with the rest of the world. Chapter 3 analyzes determinants of trade in GMO-intensive industries using the Gravity model. This analysis focuses on the determinants of a country's bilateral trade with each trading partner. Chapter 2 and 3 both focus on the role of the non-traditional endowments as determinants of trade. These non-traditional endowments include: (1) the knowledge stock of countries, (2) the land endowments of countries including the GMO component of land, (3) regulatory regimes of countries related to GMO policies, and (4) the intellectual property right policies of countries. I refer to the knowledge stock variable as an R&D stock through much of the dissertation. I also refer to the two policy variables as `institutional endowments' throughout the dissertation. Chapter 4 then provides a conclusion, discussion of policy implications of the research, elucidates the limitations, and proposes areas of further research.
Maternal employment and direct causes of childhood obesity.
(2012-03) Yayitra, Nadia
This paper investigated the correlation between maternal employment and childhood obesity, and the probable mechanisms for that correlation. Previous papers have found that a child is more likely to be overweight if his/her mother worked more hours per week over the child‟s life, but few have looked into the mechanisms that caused the higher likelihood. Brown et al. (2010) and Chia et al. (2008) investigated the probable mechanisms, but their data have limited measures of children‟s lifestyle variables. The data used in this study have nine measurements of activities and seven measurements of diet; which is more inclusive than that of Chia (2008) and Brown et al. (2010)‟s. Additionally, my methods included an adjustment explicitly modeling the endogeneity of mother‟s employment. The model in this paper followed the model in Anderson et al. (2003) in which energy expenditure and caloric intake enter linearly into the weight, and energy expenditure and caloric intake were determined by maternal employment, and mother, family and children‟s characteristics. Then, this research paralleled Chia (2008)‟s models that extended the Anderson et al. (2003) model and looked into the relationship between maternal full-time employment and energy expenditure and caloric intake, captured by children‟s diet and activities. Using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten data that has children‟s activities and diet information, and selection-corrected ordered probit to account for endogeneity issues that may influence both maternal full-time employment status and the variables of interest (overweight status, diet and energy expenditure), this paper found that the relationship between mother‟s fulltime status and the child‟s overweight status is positive (19 percentage point marginal effect). Maternal full-time employment status affects child‟s overweight status through affecting the child‟s habit in watching TV and in diet, such as the number of times the child drank juice and ate vegetables. If the endogeneity issue is ignored, the marginal effect of maternal full-time employment is biased toward zero.
Measurment of a Cost Function for US Airlines: Restricted and Unrestricted Translog Models with Energy Cost Perturbations
(2011-01) Meland, William J.
This thesis continues and expands several themes from previous studies of commercial airline cost functions. A well specified industrial cost function reveals characteristics about the market players, such as economies of scale and the cost elasticities with respect to operational styles. These parameters are updated, the experimental design reworked and new analysis is given to describe the spectrum of choices facing airline firms in recent times. I first construct a cost function for recent data using methods similar to Caves, Christensen and Tretheway (1984). As an energy intensive business, the US airline industry has seen its energy cost share rise and fall over time with potentially destabilizing effects. The model in this paper allows the energy cost share to interact with other variables and illuminate what factors may exacerbate cost sensitivity to energy prices. It was found that fuel cost shares tend to be higher with older equipment, smaller fleet sizes, and to be increasing in aircraft size and seating density. The translog results include a positive cost of older aircraft designs, suggesting that airlines with poorer access to capital may suffer a cost disadvantage, particularly during a fuel spike. The model does not reject constant returns to scale (CRS) for fleet expansion, or IRS in aircraft size.
Mitigating floods and pestilence: examining the provision of public goods under uncertainty
(2012-01) Aultman, Stephen Seyler
This dissertation contains two essays on the provision of a specific type of public good, specifically public goods that affect the probability with which different states of the world occur. Two potential examples of this type of public good are levees and monitoring networks for disease. To distinguish this type of public good from those that have no relationship with risk we adopt the term risk-modifying public good. The first essay focuses on the provision of risk-modifying public goods within a mechanism design framework. The main result of the first essay is proof that there exists a family of social choice functions that provide a Pareto efficient level of a risk-modifying public good and that these social choice functions are implementable in dominant strategies. The family of social choice functions we identify provide a unique level of the public good and vary only in how the gains from providing the public good are distributed amongst the agents in the economy. The second essay is empirical in nature and focuses on measuring the returns to information gathered by a monitoring network for an invasive wind borne crop disease (soybean rust). What makes this information a risk-modifying public good is that it is used by agricultural producers to inform themselves about their risk of being affected by this invasive species and to make fungicide application decisions. In this type of situation, applying fungicides when the disease is actually present can be thought of as one state-of-the-world and applying fungicides when one shouldn't another. Thus, a state-of-the-world can be thought of as a combination of agent's beliefs about the environment relative to the reality that they face. A dynamic model of farmer decision making is presented where the information from the monitoring network can help farmers better learn about their risk of soybean rust infection and can potentially be used as an alternative to a farmer scouting soybean fields if the information is sufficiently accurate. Using this model, the marginal returns produced by additional years of monitoring and the question of the optimal spatial arrangement of sentinel plots are considered.
Performance pay and teacher selection: do performance pay programs attract higher-ability teachers?
(2011-07) Hendricks, Matthew D.
Many public school districts are beginning to implement performance pay programs that provide teachers the opportunity to earn pay bonuses based on measures of teaching performance. Despite the growing number of districts offering these programs, we know little about their effects. Theory suggests that performance pay programs may provide an incentive for teachers to work harder (an effort effect). In addition, districts offering performance pay may attract teachers with higher average ability (a selection effect). Empirical work investigating the existence of these effects is mixed in the case of the effort effect and nonexistent in the case of the selection effect. This study is the first to attempt to empirically test for the existence of a teacher selection effect resulting from performance pay programs. I show that the existence of a selection effect may be revealed in differences in total pay and bonus probabilities between teachers who self-select into performance pay programs and teachers who are exogenously assigned. If self-selectors earn a higher expected total pay or are more likely to earn a bonus than an exogenously assigned teacher, I show that this implies that self-selectors are higher ability teachers on average. I test for this difference in cross-sectional data from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and in longitudinal data from a single performance pay district in Minnesota. In each case, I fail to find evidence of a selection effect. In the cross-sectional analysis, I find that while self-selectors earn a higher expected total pay, they are also less likely to earn a performance bonus. In the longitudinal analysis, I find that teachers who joined a district in the few years prior to its adoption of performance pay are not measurably different from teachers who joined in the years after adoption. Post performance pay joiners are not measurably different in terms of their education, experience, or likelihood of earning a performance bonus. While I fail to find evidence of a selection effect, that should not be taken as proof that performance pay programs, in general, do not produce their advertised benefits. The SASS analysis relies on several strong assumptions that potentially undermine the credibility of the results. For the analysis of the performance pay district in Minnesota, this study’s inability to find evidence of a selection effect is likely a result of the district’s high relative base compensation and nearly guaranteed bonus award.
Preterm Birth Rates and the Determinants of Health
(2021) Zielke, Sophia;
Preterm births present significant increased medical risks for children born. The medical community has largely focused on identifying individual factors that increase preterm birth risk for mothers, yet additional research is needed to identify systemic factors that increase preterm birth rates in certain geographic areas. Systemic analysis comparing geographic areas in Minnesota is critical because the preterm birth rates of Minnesotan counties differ. Some counties have a singleton preterm birth rate of over 10% while other counties have a preterm birth rate under 5%. This paper is based on a review of research literature and my own empirical analysis on preterm birth rates across counties in Minnesota. Both the correlates of county level preterm birth rates in Minnesota and potential interventions are identified. Correlates related to higher county level preterm birth rates include racial and ethnic disparities, particularly between American Indian mothers and other maternal demographic groups, maternal smoking, and high abortion rates in counties. High abortion rates potentially indicate high levels of unplanned pregnancies. Interventions may include greater representation of Black and American Indian women in the medical field, and increased trust and transparency between medical practitioners and patients to improve the efficacy and consistency of healthcare. Smoking cessation interventions implemented on the environmental and individual levels, comprehensive sexual education, and the implementation of policies supportive to motherhood to decrease stress and increase the feasibility of parenting also hold critical importance.

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