Library: Economics

Realism contends that conflict is intrinsically linked to natural resource endowment. This is the basis upon which the 'resource curse' theory is premised. Idealists on their part however view natural resource endowment as an avenue for economic growth and improved social and economic welfare of resource-rich communities. Their strong belief in the progressive potential of natural resources underpins the 'rentier state' theory. Soon after the discovery of a 'world class' oil deposit in Amuru district in northern Uganda, the 'black gold' discovery has quickly proved its unpleasant consequenc...

Semi-strong form efficiency is generally supported by event studies, especially these on daily returns testing the market's reaction to accounting earnings. Nevertheless, the Post-Earnings-Announcement Drift (PEAD) anomaly, being inconsistent with semi-strong form efficiency, seems to have survived robustness tests through the years. This paper examines the reaction of ATHEX in response to fiscal year 2006 annual earnings announcements of 20 high capitalisation companies. The common event study methodology is being used in order to define expected returns and trace the abnormal performance of ...

Immigrants are characterized on the average with higher human capital and are rewarded potentially less as compared to their native counterparts. This question has motivated me to analyze the immigrants-natives wage gap in detail and find the extent of this potential discrimination against the immigrants. I analyze the data from the first two quarters of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, 2009 using the Oaxaca Decomposition technique. Applying both the threefold and twofold decomposition approaches, I computed the wage gap first using simple decomposition based on threefold and then the twofol...

'Attitudinal change' in the context of economic reforms has been referred to in Rodrik and Subramanian (2005), DeLong (2003), Kohli (1989), and Panagariya (2004, 2008). This dissertation provides empirical support for this literature, establishing an earlier start for India's economic policy liberalisation than presented in stylized accounts. It demonstrates the endogenous nature of the origins of these policy shifts. 'Attitudinal change' literature had directed attention to the need for further research into India's policy changes of the early 1980s and for studying broader comparability issu...

Amidst the dramatic real estate fluctuations in the first decade of the twenty-first century, this study recognized that there is a necessity to create a real estate prediction model for future real estate ventures and prevention of losses such as the mortgage meltdown and housing bust. This real estate prediction model study sought to reinstall the integrity into the American building and development industry, which was tarnished by the sudden emergence of various publications offering get-rich-quick schemes. In the fast-paced and competitive world of lending and real estate development, i...

Relations with Latin America have never been and will probably never be a priority for the People's Republic of China (PRC), as they will be a dependent variable of domestic economic needs and other more important foreign policy goals – among all, the ties with the United States. During the first forty years of existence, geopolitical and economic considerations (Latin America was considered to be Washington's backyard and the economies of the region were not complementary with that of China) were keeping the PRC away from the area; nevertheless, things have changed ever since the end of the C...

This research is an empirical study of the legitimacy of economic inequality with a focus on the case of Chile. Chile is an appealing case study in this regard because it has been one of the countries with the highest indexes of economic inequality over the past several decades. Theoretical perspectives based on the rational interest of the median voter have pointed out a negative association between high levels of inequality and legitimacy. Nevertheless, empirical evidence indicates that an unequal distribution of income is not necessarily challenged by the majority of a society, a phenomenon...

The problem addressed in this dissertation research was the inability of the single-factor capital asset pricing model (CAPM) to identify relevant risk factors that investors consider in forming their return expectations for investing in individual stocks. Identifying the appropriate risk factors is important for investment decision making and is pertinent to the formation of stocks' prices in the stock market. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine theoretical and empirical validity of the CAPM and to develop and test a multifactor model to address and resolve the empirical short...

The United States government spends billions of dollars on home ownership programs in low and moderate income communities. However, there is paucity of academic research to assess the socioeconomic impacts of these programs. The purpose of this empirical research was to assess their possible impacts. The key research question explored the relationship between low and moderate income home ownership, the independent variable, and the dependent variables of the rates of crime, unemployment, high school graduation, and standardized test scores in the communities concerned. The research...

This study examines U.S.-Mexico sugar trade with special attention given to the impact of changes in trade and market environments caused by implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the introduction of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). These two factors contributed to shaping sugar markets in the United States and Mexico as well as sugar trade between the two countries. The study includes two sections: (1) a description of the sugar markets from an historic point of view and (2) an empirical study forecasting the market and trade outlook. In section one, characteri...