Reducing California’s Income Inequality Gap
Steven J. Balassi
Abstract
This is the final paper, of three, addressing concerns about
California’s income inequality levels.
The first paper showed that United States fiscal policies accounted for
69% of California’s income inequality. The second paper examined
variables, which were different in California. These variables helped
explain the 31% difference for which the United States fiscal policy did
not account. It also reported the results of multiple regression tests
with additional variables to
strengthen the prior correlation of 69%. This concluding paper searches
for proven global
solutions and provides policy recommendations. The areas of focus are
education, health care,
crime and tax policies.
Full Article
Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Education, and the Role of the
Regional University
Charles F. Harrington and Cammie Hunt Oxendine
Abstract
Regional colleges and universities are integral to
providing economic and workforce
development resources that support local and regional economies.
Similarly, nascent
entrepreneurs create economic opportunities and build enterprises
through deliberate
planning and risk taking. This paper contributes to a growing body of
academic literature on
the role that universities play in the development of the economy.
However, it adds a new
dimension by articulating the role that entrepreneurially engaged
regional universities may
have in regards to improving their regional communities.
Full Article
Abstract
Are early leavers from the education system
irrational or ill informed? They might be, but this approach shows that
with underperforming education sectors – typical in developing countries
– early dropout may be perfectly rational and well informed, even in the
absence of liquidity constraints. This paper provides an integer
approach to guide intervention in developing countries, though there are
no clear-cut policies. Long-term measures should be aimed at improving
the productivity of the activity, for instance by improving teaching
processes, qualification of human resources and organization of schools.
Also, less costly measures targeting subjective factors like motivation
might be as effective.
Full Article
Overreaction of US stock markets to interest rate news
Samih Antoine Azar
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to measure
overreaction to interest rate news for three US stock market indices.
This is a different kind of overreaction than the one studied in
previous literature. It relies on observations from the field of
psychology that some individuals suffer from winter depression. Those
individuals may even affect trading in financial markets, or at least
introduce significant noise trading. The paper provides empirical
evidence that there indeed exists overreaction to interest rate changes
during January and during the northern winter
(December, January, and February). There is weak evidence that
overreaction typically occurs in January rather than in winter, because
significance levels are lower for January effects.
Full Article
Direct Investment, Economic and Democratic Development
Jenny Rebecca Kehl
Abstract
Foreign direct investment is arguably one of the most important
strategies used to promote economic development in poor countries.
Developing countries have the opportunity to increase their integration
into global financial flows, expand employment, receive transferred
technology, and establish investment arrangements that increase their
potential for economic growth. This cross-national study asks: What
accounts for the wide variation in the success and failure of developing
countries to use foreign investment to promote economic growth? The
central argument posits that the interaction of international
investments with democratic institutions
accounts for the variation in the capacity to parlay investment into
growth. The interaction of foreign investment with democratic
institutions and government effectiveness, measured as the ability to
formulate and implement policy, have a positive effect on the capacity
of governments to negotiate benefits from foreign investment. The study
develops an interactive model, which outperforms the models of Political
Institutions and Political Economy alone. Cross-Sectional Times Series
analysis is used to test the model for 141 countries from 1971-2007. The
results indicate that the ability to use foreign investment to promote
economic growth is contingent on the interaction of international
investments with domestic democratic development.
Full Article |
