1,721,099 research outputs found
Concentration in Knowledge Output:A Case of Economics Journals
Full text linkJournals moderate knowledge activity in economics. The activity of publishing article in professional journal forms significant part of knowledge output. Output of economics articles has been growing over the time. We examine an important question: Is there any case of institutional or location concentration in knowledge production? This paper analyses concentration indicators specific to economics journals and explores link between publication process and concentration. The analysis of various concentration measures present evidence for institutional-geographic-area-author concentration in Knowledge production in Economics. High concentration levels indicate possibility of institutional lock-in. The literature provides evidence for myopic refereeing, editorial favouritism and the presence of ‘lock-in’ effect. The achievement in journal publication is influenced by factors like institutional affiliation, propitious circumstances etc. Discussion carried out in this paper hints the possibility of causal link between unfair process and unfair outcome.Knowledge,Lotka's Law,Fourier Series
Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series
No full textRecently, the Journal of Risk and Financial Management completed a Special Issue comprising papers invited by Editorial Board Members, which included papers on a variety of topics related to applied financial economics and risk management. It contains a very diverse collection of papers that span many of the areas that the academic community is actively completing research on, making this Special Issue a leader in the disciplines in question. The aim was to provide an avenue for networking and communication between JRFM and scholars in the field of financial and economic risk and management, and the final collection represents a successful outcome. The printed collection of papers acts as an additional vehicle for the dissemination of this research that was published in the Special Issue, and hopefully will prove useful for research and teaching purposes alike
Three essays on empirical applications of nonlinear econometric models in economic growth
No full textThis thesis utilizes the recently developed nonlinear econometric models to answer some of the challenging questions in empirical growth. In the first chapter we investigate the role of economic policies in moderating the impact of natural disasters on economic growth with the application of threshold regression approach. Our analysis in this chapter reveals several interesting patterns such as: the countries with higher degree of openness to trade, higher per capita income, less fiscal and external imbalances, and greater financial stability are better able to withstand in case of natural disasters and further prevent this negative impact to transfer to their long-term economic growth. In the second chapter we investigate one of the most challenging questions in empirical growth literature that is the impact of foreign aid in promoting economic growth by utilizing the threshold and partial linear regression approaches. Our results in this chapter provide strong evidence that the quantity of aid is important in transferring its positive impact on growth. Aid has a positive and significant impact on growth only in countries where aid flows are sufficient. In the last chapter we examine the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and economic growth from a different angle that has not been explored before. By considering the dualistic growth framework and smooth coefficient semi-parametric technique we are able to capture both direct and as well as indirect effects of FDI on economic growth across countries. Our results in this chapter support the view that inward FDI plays important role during the development process: Initially, as an important determinant of growth, secondly, by creating higher factor productivities in exports sector and finally, through spillover affects due to fostering the linkages between the Multinational Corporations and their host country partners
Semiparametric Applications in Economic Growth
Full text linkThis dissertation consists of three essays that deals with estimation of semiparametric regression methods in macroeconomic context. Chapter 1 introduces the building-blocks of the non-/semiparametric regression methods. A literature review is provided to support the estimation methodologies employed in the subsequent chapters. I survey some nonparametric estimation techniques, including (i) the local least squares kernel estimator; (ii) nonparametric series estimator; (iii) estimation of nonparametric models with endogeneity; and (iv) nonparametric estimation of panel data models. I also survey different bootstrapping methods for nonparametric regression methods. In Chapter 2 we consider a spatial Durbin model with unknown functional-coefficients and nonparametric spatial weights. We apply series approximation method to estimate the unknown functional coefficients and spatial weighting functions via a nonparametric two-stage least squares (or 2SLS) estimation method. We illustrate proposed estimation method to re-examine national economic growth by augmenting the conventional Solow economic growth convergence model with unknown spatial interactive structures of the national economy, as well as country-specific Solow parameters, where the spatial weighting functions and Solow parameters are allowed to be a function of geographical distance and the countries' openness to trade, respectively. In Chapter 3 I re-investigate the relationship between public debt and economic growth and try to expose nonlinearity in this link through using an endogenous smooth coefficient approach. I find some evidence of parameter heterogeneity in the debt-growth link that may be governed by the institutional quality of countries. My results show a significant negative effect of public debt on economic growth for the countries with the lowest democracy score and high democracy score
Economics of Recycling
Full text linkIn chapter 1 we focus on the relationship between environmental abatement and real GDP, while it is the first paper to study empirically this relationship. The analysis is based on a nonparametric model that allows for two-way fixed effects to eliminate the bias arising from two sources. We use data for fifty States of the United States and for the years between 1988 and 2017, as well as data for the OECD countries and for the years 1985 to 2017. A comparison between the nonparametric and two parametric models (linear and quadratic) is also captured by this study, showing that in every case the nonparametric model is the suitable one. We find evidence that this relationship is characterized by an increasing curve which confirms the existence of a J curve, a finding that also agrees with recent theoretical models.Chapter 2 examines the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) in the context of a circular economy recycling model. Our model assumes that there are only two factors of production in the production of the final good, a recyclable and a polluting input. We also present two extensions of this model by adding technological progress in the production of the polluting input and a dynamic reduction of the influence of the same input respectively. Our results suggest the presence of an inverse U shape EKC confirming the findings of the main EKC literature, as well as an increasing curve for the recycling output Finally, chapter 3 focuses on a novel theoretical circular economy model which explains the relationship between pollution and output as well as recycling and output in the context of the EKC framework, incorporating in the analysis the habit formation theory. The model is also extended to account for a dynamic relationship between habit stock and the intensity of recycling, as well as to capture the effects of technological progress on both curves. All models find an increasing pattern for the recycling output curve and a downward sloping curve for the EKC, results which are in agreement with the general patterns of these curves supported by the literature
Essays on the implementation of subjective measurements of well-being
Full text linkThis dissertation investigates the implementation of surveyed subjective measurements in three separate cases. The first chapter studies the evolution of aspirations for university attendance by gender. Aspirations for post-secondary education (PSE) at ages of 15 and 17 are a self-reported subjective measurement. It is discovered that the gender imbalance of university participation rate could be explained through the differences on aspirations' formation and updating for males and females. Females are more likely to have higher aspiration levels conditional on their school performance. The second case deals with the comparison income effect on subjective well-being, where today's life satisfaction is the subjective measurement. I only find weak evidence of a relative income effect. Conditional on an individual's previous period's satisfaction level, there is no robust result of feeling "better" by having a higher income level compared with other individuals who have similar characteristics. The third chapter explores the determinants of marriage survival based on some satisfaction levels of different life aspects. It is shown that individuals with better health and working conditions are more likely to divorce as either they feel more fulfilled at work, or that they have more "outside opportunities" from the existing marriage. It also investigates whether separate gender and regional subgroup divisions display different behavioural patterns
Three Essays on Environmental Economics
No full textThree chapters are presented in this thesis, each in the field of environmental economics. The first chapter studies voting outcomes when people differ in their private expectations about marginal damages and the policy maker proposes an externality pricing instrument that is either based on a static political compromise or on a state-contingent updating rule (McKitrick, 2010). We examine cases in which voters are honest (they prefer the socially-optimal price based on their expectation of marginal damages) or dishonest (they prefer either a zero tax or a maximum tax on a priori grounds, irrespective of marginal damages) or combinations of these two. We show that when all voters are honest a standard pricing mechanism that aims at minimizing political losses may never obtain majority support, but implementation of the state-contingent pricing rule always obtains majority support. We then examine whether dishonest voters would prefer implementation based on the static rule or the state-contingent rule. The second chapter examines the relationship between the social discount rate (a rate chosen by a social planner) and the pure rate of time preference (a rate chosen by a representative agent). We accomplish this by examining the slope of famous 'Ramey equation' with respect to the pure rate of time preference. In the literature, it is typically assumed the value of the slope to be equal to one, which is equivalent to treating the consumption growth rate to be independent of the pure rate of time preference. Our general equilibrium framework shows that this relationship is rather complex, and depends on the relative signs and sizes of elasticities of consumption and the growth rate of consumption with respect to the pure rate of time preference. We then examine a closed form solution case where we observe their relationship depends on exogenous parameters of the model, such as initial capital stock, technology parameter as well as time index. Finally, we empirical estimate the relationship by using the Time-Varying Semiparametric Smooth Coefficient model using U.S data from 1930-2014. We find that the estimate of the slope of the social discount rate with respect to the pure rate of time preference to be 0.84 for the United States. The social discount rate based on Ramsey equation is critically dependent upon future consumption growth rates and the pure rate of time preference. In practice, however, the pure rate of time preference is not observable, unlike with the consumption growth where past rates are known with certainty and future projections can be formed with some uncertainty. Ironically, numerous papers have incorporated and examined the effects of the consumption uncertainty but treat the pure rate of time preference to be constant and certain in social discount rates. The third chapter investigates the latter issue for various underlying cases in restricted and unrestricted frameworks. Overall, we find that the effects of uncertainty on the certainty-equivalent discount rate are critically dependent on the source of uncertainty and its assumed properties
Cryptocurrency Returns before and after the Introduction of Bitcoin Futures
No full textThis paper examines the behaviour of Bitcoin returns and those of several other cryptocurrencies in the pre and post period of the introduction of the Bitcoin futures market. We use the principal component-guided sparse regression (PC-LASSO) model to analyze several sample sizes for the pre and post periods. Besides the neighbourhood of the break time, the current period is also investigated as returns start to recover after some time. Search intensity is observed to be the most important variable for Bitcoin for all periods, whereas for the other cryptocurrencies there are other variables that seem more important in the pre period, while search intensity still stands out in the post period. Furthermore, GARCH analyses suggest that search intensity increases the volatility of Bitcoin returns more in the post period than it does in the pre period. Our empirical findings suggest that the top five cryptocurrencies are substitutes before the launch of Bitcoin futures. However, this effect is lost, and moreover, there are spillover effects on altcoins during both the post and the recovery period. We find a spillover effect of the introduction of bitcoin futures on altcoins and this effect seems to persist during the recovery period
Spatial Nexus: Empirical Studies in Environmental and Resource Economics
No full textThis thesis is composed of three essays that apply spatial econometric models to examine the interconnected dynamics between energy consumption, economic development, environmental sustainability, and resource management. Each chapter focuses on distinct but related topics, utilizing spatial models to capture interdependencies and spillover effects across countries. By exploring these critical relationships, the thesis offers insights into how energy policies and resource management strategies impact economic growth and environmental outcomes at both the national and regional levels. Chapter 1 investigates the relationship between renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and GDP per capita, using a dataset of 103 countries between 1990 and 2015. The findings confirm a positive relationship between energy consumption and economic growth within countries, while also uncovering spillover effects, where increased energy consumption in neighboring countries negatively impacts the home country’s GDP, potentially due to cross-border pollution. Chapter 2 examines the spatial relationship between energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita using data from 97 countries between 1995 and 2015. Applying a spatial Durbin model, the chapter finds that renewable energy consumption reduces emissions both locally and in neighboring countries, while non-renewable energy consumption increases emissions across borders. These findings highlight the importance of international environmental policies to mitigate climate change and support the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Chapter 3 revisits the “Resource Curse” phenomenon by analyzing the impact of natural resource rents on economic growth in non-OECD countries between 1995 and 2021, which often struggle with both resource abundance and slow economic progress. The results confirm that resource rents negatively affect growth, reinforcing the presence of the “Resource Curse.” Furthermore, the adverse effects spill over into neighboring countries, emphasizing the need for sound resource management and policy interventions to reduce resource dependency and foster long-term economic development. Together, these chapters provide an analysis of how energy, environmental sustainability, and resource management interact across borders, underscoring the need for international cooperation to balance economic growth with sustainable development
The Dynamics of Entry and Exit in Post-Secondary Education
Full text linkThis thesis brings to the forefront of the existing literature the importance of analyzing transitional dynamics among different levels of schooling and to the labor market. I perform empirical analyses using confidential longitudinal survey data from Statistics Canada; employing program evaluation techniques, and regression modelling. The first chapter is joint work with Louis Christofides, Michael Hoy and Thanasis Stengos. We explore the forces that shape the development of aspirations and the achievement of grades during high school and the role that these aspirations, grades, and other variables play in educational outcomes such as going to university and graduating. We find that parental expectations and peer effects have a significant impact on educational outcomes through grades, aspirations, and their interconnectedness. Apart from this indirect path, parents and peers also influence educational outcomes directly. Policy measures that operate on parental influences may modify educational outcomes in desired directions. The second chapter estimates the wage returns to university quality. I distinguish between two distinct measures of university quality. The first is a survey-based university reputation ranking, and the second is a new ranking, which I construct from several university characteristics in order to objectively reflect the university quality. The findings indicate that the wage returns of having a Bachelor’s degree from a highly ranked university are 10.3% for women, and 13.4% for men. The returns are higher when comparing the wages in the top and bottom tails of the ranking distribution and gender differences are identified. The third chapter is a large-scale study on how students form and revise expectations. This affects their decision to drop out and/or change field of study once they have accessed post-secondary education. I find evidence that students change expectations and educational pathways as they are exposed to unexpected new information. This informs them about the quality of match between their own ability and the program that they are enrolled. Using non-parametric methods I show that this relationship is not linear
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