VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Parmeter, Christopher F."

Browsing by Author "Parmeter, Christopher F."

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Agricultural Technolongy in Bangladesh: a Study on Non-Farm Labor and Adoption by Gender
Victoria, Melanie Villanueva (Virginia Tech, 2007-07-16)
There is growing interest in learning the impacts of agricultural technologies especially in developing economies. Economic analysis may entail assessment of employment and time allocation effects of new technologies. An issue of importance in South Asia is the impacts of technological change on a specific type of occupation: rural non-farm activities. In order to fully understand these effects, the research must integrate gender differences and determine if the results would be similar irrespective of gender. This paper particularly looks at the effects of HYV adoption on time allocation and labor force participation of men and women in non-farm activities. In estimating the effects of HYV adoption on non-farm labor supply, information on the dependent variable, supply of non-farm labor (or the number of days worked while engaged in non-farm labor), is not available for individuals who do not participate in non-farm labor. Hence sample selection or self-selection of individuals occurs. A feasible approach to the problem of sample selection is the use of Heckman's Two Stage Selection Correction Model. Income functions were estimated for males and females while correcting for the sample selection of non-farm wage earners. An enhanced understanding of the conceptual links among HYV adoption, non-farm labor supply, and gender issues is achieved by discussing the Farm Household Model. The constrained maximization which is drawn from the Farm Household Model would bring about demand functions and reduced form functions for adoption and labor supply. The reduced-form equations are estimated at the individual level for the following: adoption of HYV technology in rice cultivation, and non-farm labor supply of both adult males and females. Regression results are presented for both Ordinary least squares (OLS) and Tobit estimates. HYV adoption and non-farm labor supply of men and women are influenced by several factors in Bangladesh. The household characteristics assumed to potentially determine technology adoption and non-farm labor decisions are the following: non-farm wages per month of the males and females, farm size, asset value, ratio of yield per decimal land of high-yielding to traditional variety of rice, HYV yield, local variety yield, and the ratio of variance of yield per decimal land of HYV to traditional or local varieties. The empirical findings suggest that the decision to adopt HYV technology is determined primarily by farm size, value of total assets of the household, ratio of yield per decimal of land of high-yielding to traditional variety of rice, and the ratio of variance of yield per decimal of land of high-yielding to traditional variety of rice. A larger farm size or land owned in decimal unit increases the non-farm labor supply of females, but not of men. HYV yield is significant and positive, while the local variety yield is significant and negative. This means that higher HYV yields increase the supply of non-farm labor of women, while higher local or traditional yields lower women's supply of non-farm labor.
Conditional, Structural and Unobserved Heterogeneity: three essays on preference heterogeneity in the design of financial incentives to increase weight loss program reach
Yuan, Yuan Clara (Virginia Tech, 2015-08-27)
This dissertation consists of three essays on forms of preference heterogeneity in discrete choice models. The first essay uses a model of heterogeneity conditional on observed individual-specific characteristics to tailor financial incentives to enhance weight loss program participation among target demographics. Financial incentives in weight loss programs have received attention mostly with respect to effectiveness rather than participation and representativeness. This essay examines the impact of financial incentives on participation with respect to populations vulnerable to obesity and understudied in the weight loss literature. We found significant heterogeneity across target sub-populations and suggest a strategy of offering multiple incentive designs to counter the dispersive effects of preference heterogeneity. The second essay investigates the ability of a novel elicitation format to reveal decision strategy heterogeneity. Attribute non-attendance, the behaviour of ignoring some attributes when performing a choice task, violates fundamental assumptions of the random utility model. However, self-reported attendance behaviour on dichotomous attendance scales has been shown to be unreliable. In this essay, we assess the ability of a polytomous attendance scale to ameliorate self-report unreliability. We find that the lowest point on the attendance scale corresponds best to non-attendance, attendance scales need be no longer than two or three points, and that the polytomous attendance scale had limited success in producing theoretically consistent results. The third essay explores available approaches to model different features of unobserved heterogeneity. Unobserved heterogeneity is popularly modelled using the mixed logit model, so called because it is a mixture of standard conditional logit models. Although the mixed logit model can, in theory, approximate any random utility model with an appropriate mixing distribution, there is little guidance on how to select such a distribution. This essay contributes to suggestions on distribution selection by describing the heterogeneity features which can be captured by established parametric mixing distributions and more recently introduced nonparametric mixing distributions, both of a discrete and continuous nature. We provide empirical illustrations of each feature in turn using simple mixing distributions which focus on the feature at hand.
Economic Impact Analysis of Mixed-Species Green Manure on Organic Tomato: Evidence from the Northeastern United States
Parajuli, Krishna Joshi (Virginia Tech, 2011-12-13)
With shifting preferences of consumers towards healthier food, organic food demand has been on the rise for the past two decades. This increased demand has created an opportunity for farmers to shift from conventional to organic production. However, there are risks and uncertainties associated with organic farming. The management of an organic farm in the absence of organic-based disease and pest suppressing strategies constrains farmers from adopting organic vegetable production. The use of cover crops to control soil-borne diseases and suppress weeds and other pests has increased because of its sustainable and environmental friendly nature. This study of the economic impact of the cover crops on organic tomato production in the three states Ohio, New York, and Maryland showed mixed results. In Maryland, mixed forage radish and hairy vetch was projected to have a net present value over 15 years that was $1.53 million higher than single species hairy vetch, assuming maximum adoption level of 50 percent. In New York, mixed rye and turnip gave the higher return with a net present value of $2.61 million. In Ohio, the highest projected return was from mixed hay compared to hairy vetch with a net present value of $3.12 million when used without adding compost amendments. In Maryland and New York when bare ground was also used as a control, only mixed forage radish and hairy vetch in Maryland produced better returns compared to bare ground. A probit regression assessing the factors affecting the decision to adopt mixed species green manure technology indicated that farmer experiences in organic production, farmer age, access to the internet access, and farmers’ perceptions about the benefits of using mixed species green manures were significant factors. Each variables and factors except age had a positive influence. Similarly, probit results for microbial inoculants indicated that education, gender, and access to the internet were significant determinants, and had a negative effect on the probability of adoption. Access to the internet was significant for both mixed species green manures and microbial inoculants but with opposite sign, positive for mixed species green manures and negative for microbial inoculants.
Essays on the Economics of Drinking Water Quality and Infrastructure
Tanellari, Eftila (Virginia Tech, 2011-04-29)
This dissertation consists of three essays that examine consumer behavior with respect to drinking water quality issues. The first essay uses contingent valuation method to explore consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical material in home drinking water infrastructure that will remain leak free. Willingness to pay is investigated using both dichotomous choice and dichotomous choice with follow-up formats using a national telephone survey of consumers. Our results indicate that consumers' concerns about future system failures and income positively affect their WTP for an improved material while satisfaction with the water quality, education and the bid amount asked negatively affect their WTP for an improved material. There are no significant differences in the determinants of WTP between respondents who have experienced problems with home water infrastructure and respondents who have not. Furthermore, the estimated mean WTP does not change significantly between the dichotomous choice questioning format and the dichotomous choice with follow-up format The second essay investigates the determinants of consumers' willingness to accept improvement programs for three drinking water issues: water quality, pinhole leaks in home plumbing infrastructure and aging public infrastructure. The research is based on a mail survey of consumers in Northern Virginia and the Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C. The analysis focuses on the relationship between information, risk perceptions and willingness to pay. Results indicate that the choice to support any of the programs is negatively affected by the cost of the proposed improvement. Consumers' risk perceptions, the external information provided in the survey and whether they read the annual report from their water utility affect their choices for investment in improvement programs. The third essay examines the effect of risk perceptions about tap water, general risk aversion and consumers' characteristics on their decision to avert drinking water risks and related expenditures. Results are based on the same survey data from the second study. The risk aversion measure is elicited using the sequence of questions employed in the National Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Results indicate that consumers' risk perceptions affect both the decision to avert and the amount spent on averting activities. However, we do not find a significant impact of risk aversion on averting behavior. In addition we find that respondents were more likely to use water treatments if they were unsatisfied with their tap water or had problems or concerns with water odor and particles.
Exploring Alternative Methodologies for Robust Inferences: Applications in Environmental and Health Economics
Kaul, Sapna (Virginia Tech, 2013-10-24)
Researchers often invoke strong assumptions in empirical analyses to identify significant statistical outcomes. Invoking assumptions that do not sufficiently reflect the occurrence of true phenomenon reduces the credibility of inferences. Literature suggests that the potential effects of assumptions on credibility of inferences can be mitigated by comparing and combining insights from alternative econometric models. I use this recommendation to conduct robustness checks of commonly used methods in environmental and health economics. The first chapter proposes a novel nonparametric regression model to draw credible insights from meta-analyses. Existing literature on benefit-transfer validity is examined as an application. Nonparametric regression is found to be a viable approach for drawing robust policy insights. The second chapter proposes an alternative structural and simulations based framework to understand elicitation effects in survey response data. This analysis explains the structural mechanisms in which response anomalies occur and is important for building credible insights from survey data. The last chapter uses methods in program evaluation to investigate the impacts of institutional child deliveries on long-term maternal health in the context of developing countries. The outcomes of this analysis indicate that institutional deliveries positively affect maternal health in lower socio-economic states. Based on the findings of my three chapters, I recommend that researchers should combine insights from alternative models to mitigate the scope of specification bias in empirical outcomes and inform policy about the potential uncertainty that arises in uncovering the truth using statistical methods.
Exploring Changes in Poverty in Zimbabwe between 1995 and 2001 using Parametric and Nonparametric Quantile Regression Decomposition Techniques
Eriksson, Katherine (Virginia Tech, 2007-08-21)
This paper applies and extends Machado and Mata's parametric quantile decomposition method and a similar nonparametric technique to explore changes in welfare in Zimbabwe between 1995 and 2001. These methods allow us to construct a counterfactual distribution in order to decompose the shift into the part due to changes in endowments and that due to changes in returns. We examine two subsets of a nationally representative dataset and find that endowments had a positive effect but that returns account for more of the difference. In communal farming areas, the effect of returns was positive while, in urban Harare, it was negative.
Incidence and Costs of Pinhole Leak Corrosion and Corporate Cost of Capital Borrowing
Kleczyk, Ewa Jadwiga (Virginia Tech, 2008-12-01)
The first part of this doctorate dissertation examines the factors influencing the occurrence and costs of pinhole leak corrosion as well as the household decisions for corrosion prevention and plumbing material selection. Three mail surveys of households were used to elicit the experiences with leaks as well as the optimal corrosion prevention and material choices. Probability modeling (i.e. MNL) and linear regression analysis were used to analyze survey responses. Pinhole leak occurrences were found associated with pipe type installed, property age, pipe failure history, and dwelling distance from a water treatment plant. The number and location of pinhole leaks in the dwelling and the pipe type are associated with the financial costs of pinhole leaks. The corrosion prevention choices as well as the plumbing materials depended on the risk of corrosion and cost associated with each option. Previous experiences with pinhole leak impacted the decision for household choices. Faster responses to pinhole leak outbreaks by utility managers and policymakers in terms of advising homeowners on the best ways of responding to leaks would assist homeowners in reducing costs of pinhole leak repairs and associated damages. The second part of this document deals with the debt financing issues. Debt financing decisions are made simultaneously by lenders and borrowers. Since lenders are unable to observe directly the firms’ investment decisions, the banks offer contracts based up on firms’ observable characteristics (i.e. wealth and size) and the prevailing market conditions. When deciding on the financing decisions, firms also take into account the changes in macroeconomic variables in order to lower the cost of borrowing. As a result, the goal for this article is to examine empirically the hypothesis of the effect of the debt determinant as well as the macroeconomic variables on the debt maturity structure. A reduced form of the simultaneous financing decisions model is estimated by employing several OLS estimation methods. The empirical findings offer strong support for firms with few growth options, large, and of low quality having more long-term debt in their capital structure. There was, however, no clear support for the impact of macroeconomic variables on debt maturity as some variables were not statistically significant.
Is the Share of Agricultural Maintenance Research Rising? Implications for Future Productivity Growth in U.S. Agriculture
Sparger, John Adam (Virginia Tech, 2009-03-02)
Agricultural research is susceptible to research deterioration due to biological, climatic, and economic forces. Research deteriorates as the base conditions it addresses change which leaves the resulting information or technology less effective, efficient, productive, and/or relevant. Maintenance research targets deterioration in an attempt to prevent any loss of previous gains. Maintenance research is in contrast to productivity enhancing research which attempts to increase efficiency or productivity beyond previously attained thresholds. In 1986, Adusei and Norton conducted a survey of agricultural scientists across the United States to measure the amount of commodity based agricultural research devoted to maintenance research (1990). They discovered roughly 35% of all agricultural research related to commodities was spent on maintenance research. A follow-up survey was conducted in 2008 to see if the proportion of maintenance research engaged in agricultural research had risen. In this survey, the amount of maintenance research in non-commodity based agricultural research was also measured. The percentage of agricultural commodity research engaged in maintenance research was found to have risen to roughly 41%. In contrast, the percentage of maintenance research in agricultural non-commodity research was found to be roughly 29%. An empirical model was developed to explain maintenance research expenditures. Agricultural research funding, climatic conditions, land degradation, pest and pathogen control, and agricultural production were thought to influence maintenance research expenditures. From these five categories, seven representative variables were included in the model. The model found each category except land degradation to have a statistically significant impact on maintenance research expenditures.
Model Uncertainty & Model Averaging Techniques
Amini Moghadam, Shahram (Virginia Tech, 2012-07-16)
The primary aim of this research is to shed more light on the issue of model uncertainty in applied econometrics in general and cross-country growth as well as happiness and well-being regressions in particular. Model uncertainty consists of three main types: theory uncertainty, focusing on which principal determinants of economic growth or happiness should be included in a model; heterogeneity uncertainty, relating to whether or not the parameters that describe growth or happiness are identical across countries; and functional form uncertainty, relating to which growth and well-being regressors enter the model linearly and which ones enter nonlinearly. Model averaging methods including Bayesian model averaging and Frequentist model averaging are the main statistical tools that incorporate theory uncertainty into the estimation process. To address functional form uncertainty, a variety of techniques have been proposed in the literature. One suggestion, for example, involves adding regressors that are nonlinear functions of the initial set of theory-based regressors or adding regressors whose values are zero below some threshold and non-zero above that threshold. In recent years, however, there has been a rising interest in using nonparametric framework to address nonlinearities in growth and happiness regressions. The goal of this research is twofold. First, while Bayesian approaches are dominant methods used in economic empirics to average over the model space, I take a fresh look into Frequentist model averaging techniques and propose statistical routines that computationally ease the implementation of these methods. I provide empirical examples showing that Frequentist estimators can compete with their Bayesian peers. The second objective is to use recently-developed nonparametric techniques to overcome the issue of functional form uncertainty while analyzing the variance of distribution of per capita income. Nonparametric paradigm allows for addressing nonlinearities in growth and well-being regressions by relaxing both the functional form assumptions and traditional assumptions on the structure of error terms.
Product Differentiation, Collusion, and Empirical Analyses of Market Power
Crawford, Andre J. D. (Virginia Tech, 2008-05-19)
This dissertation comprises three essays on theoretical and empirical issues in industrial organization. Chapter 1 outlines the issues explored in the subsequent chapters and briefly describes their conclusions. Chapter 2 explores how product differentiation impacts the incentive compatibility condition for firms to sustain implicit collusion in games of repeated interaction where, in contrast to previous studies, I focus on a market which is simultaneously vertically and horizontally differentiated. To achieve this objective, vertical differentiation is incorporated into an otherwise standard Hotelling framework. The ensuing mixed model of differentiation shows how the interrelationships between both forms of differentiation impact the incentives to collude, and is more general since it replicates previous findings throughout the literature. In Chapter 3, a multiproduct oligopoly model admitting product differentiation and a discrete choice demand model are proposed and estimated to determine if patterns of anti-competitiveness exist across distinct segments of the European car market. This chapter focuses on the evolution of price competition at a finer level than has been studied with a view to empirically challenge the notion that the European car market is wholly anti-competitive. Empirical results show that firm conduct varies due to the intensity of within-segment competition among rival firms. There is evidence of softer competition in the larger, mid- to full-sized segments and more aggressive competition in the smaller, entry-level subcompact segment. Chapter 4 represents a formal extension of the analysis in Chapter 3. In this chapter I examine the competitive structure of the U.S. automobile market using proprietary data comprising actual dealer-level transaction prices of several models of cars and light trucks sold in the domestic U.S. market between 2004 and 2007. The chapter is the first such study to employ consumer end-prices for automobiles in a structural New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) framework. Empirical results reveal that there is more aggressive pricing in the light truck segments comprising minivans/SUVs and pickups, Bertrand pricing in the smaller, entry-level car segments, and softer competition in the full-size car segment. There is also a strong preference for domestically produced light trucks although consumers generally prefer to drive fuel efficient vehicles.
Quality Incentives and the Development of High-value Agrifood Markets: Ecuador's Cacao Marketing Chain
Jano, Pilar Alejandra (Virginia Tech, 2007-05-02)
This thesis explores constraints to the development of markets for high quality cacao in Ecuador. It focuses on the role of market level constraints, particularly the transmission of quality incentives along the marketing chain and their effects on farmers' incentives to invest in quality production. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the problem, demonstrating that Ecuadorian farmers are not responding to international incentives to produce high quality cacao, and outlines the objectives, hypotheses, and structure of the thesis. Chapter 2 provides background to the market, detailing Ecuador's role in world commodity and high-value cacao markets and gives a detailed description of the cacao market in Ecuador. Chapter 3 uses a subsector analysis to develop and test hypotheses that specific market level constraints, such as transaction costs, market power, and institutional constraints, impede the transmission of incentives to produce quality to farmers. The subsector analysis failed to support the hypotheses that intermediaries are able to exert market power but found that transaction costs and weak institutions presented significant constraints to the transmission of quality incentives. Chapter 4 examines the determinants of farmers' market channel choice and the prices that they receive. In addition to determinants that are commonly found in the literature, such as the characteristics of the transaction and farmer's characteristics, hypotheses testing of quality incentives makes a unique contribution. Analysis of survey data of Ecuadorian farmers found minimal transmission of quality incentives to farmers—only the cultivar Nacional as a quality indicator was found to affect the farmers' market channel choice out of six indicators selected to represent quality. The quality indicators selected were pre- and post-harvest practices, variety, having received technical assistance, credit, belonging to a cacao association, and discounts at sale by the buyer. Also, pre- and post-harvest practices, having received credit, and belonging to a cacao association out of similar quality indicators were found to affect the price paid to the farmer. Finally, Chapter 5 summarizes the main points discovered through the research, discusses policy implications, and proposes further research needs.
Sensitivity Analysis of an OLS Multiple Regression Inference with Respect to Possible Linear Endogeneity in the Explanatory Variables, for Both Modest and for Extremely Large Samples
Ashley, Richard A.; Parmeter, Christopher F. (MDPI, 2020-03-16)
This work describes a versatile and readily-deployable sensitivity analysis of an ordinary least squares (OLS) inference with respect to possible endogeneity in the explanatory variables of the usual k-variate linear multiple regression model. This sensitivity analysis is based on a derivation of the sampling distribution of the OLS parameter estimator, extended to the setting where some, or all, of the explanatory variables are endogenous. In exchange for restricting attention to possible endogeneity which is solely linear in nature—the most typical case—no additional model assumptions must be made, beyond the usual ones for a model with stochastic regressors. The sensitivity analysis quantifies the sensitivity of hypothesis test rejection p-values and/or estimated confidence intervals to such endogeneity, enabling an informed judgment as to whether any selected inference is “robust” versus “fragile.” The usefulness of this sensitivity analysis—as a “screen” for potential endogeneity issues—is illustrated with an example from the empirical growth literature. This example is extended to an extremely large sample, so as to illustrate how this sensitivity analysis can be applied to parameter confidence intervals in the context of massive datasets, as in “big data”.
Sensitivity Analysis of OLS Multiple Regression Inference with Respect to Possible Linear Endogeneity in the Explanatory Variables
Ashley, Richard A.; Parmeter, Christopher F. (Virginia Tech, 2019-06-17)
This work describes a versatile sensitivity analysis of OLS hypothesis test rejection p-values with respect to possible endogeneity in the explanatory variables of the usual k-variate linear multiple regression model which practitioners can readily deploy in their research. This sensitivity analysis is based on a derivation of the asymptotic distribution of the OLS parameter estimator, but extended in a particularly straightforward way to the case where some or all of the explanatory variables are endogenous to a specified degree — that is, where the population covariances of the explanatory variables with the model errors are given. In exchange for restricting attention to possible endogeneity which is solely linear in nature, no additional model assumptions must be made, beyond the usual ones for a model with stochastic regressors. In addition, we also use simulation methods to quantify the uncertainty in the sensitivity analysis results introduced by replacing the population variance-covariance matrix by its sample estimate. The usefulness of the analysis — as a `screen' for potential endogeneity issues — is illustrated with an example from the empirical growth literature.
Statistical Adequacy and Reliability of Inference in Regression-like Models
Romero, Alfredo A. (Virginia Tech, 2010-05-04)
Using theoretical relations as a source of econometric specifications might lead a researcher to models that do not adequately capture the statistical regularities in the data and do not faithfully represent the phenomenon of interest. In addition, the researcher is unable to disentangle the statistical and substantive sources of error and thus incapable of using the statistical evidence to assess whether the theory, and not the statistical model, is wrong. The Probabilistic Reduction Approach puts forward a modeling strategy in which theory can confront data without compromising the credibility of either one of them. This approach explicitly derives testable assumptions that, along with the standardized residuals, help the researcher assess the precision and reliability of statistical models via misspecification testing. It is argued that only when the statistical source of error is ruled out can the researcher reconcile the theory and the data and establish the theoretical and/or external validity of econometric models. Through the approach, we are able to derive the properties of Beta regression-like models, appropriate when the researcher deals with rates and proportions or any other random variable with finite support; and of Lognormal models, appropriate when the researcher deals with nonnegative data, and specially important of the estimation of demand elasticities.
Testing Criterion Validity of Benefit Transfer Using Simulated Data
Prasai, Nilam (Virginia Tech, 2008-08-05)
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the differences between the study and policy sites impact the performance of benefit function transfer. For this purpose, simulated data are created where all information necessary to conduct the benefit function transfer is available. We consider the six cases of difference between the study and policy sites- scale parameter, substitution possibilities, observable characteristics, population preferences, measurement error in variables, and a case of preference heterogeneity at the study site and fixed preferences at the policy site. These cases of difference were considered one at time and their impact on quality of transfer is investigated. RUM model based on reveled preference was used for this analysis. Function estimated at the study site is transferred to the policy site and willingness to pay for five different cases of policy changes are calculated at the study site. The willingness to pay so calculated is compared with true willingness to pay to evaluate the performance of benefit function transfer. When the study and policy site are different only in terms of scale parameter, equality of estimated and true expected WTP is not rejected for 89.7% or more when the sample size is 1000. Similarly, equality of estimated preference coefficients and true preference coefficients is not rejected for 88.8% or more. In this study, we find that benefit transfer performs better only in one direction. When the function is estimated at lower scale and transferred to the policy site with higher scale, the transfer error is less in magnitude than those which are estimated at higher scale and transferred to the policy site with lower scale. This study also finds that transfer error is less when the function from the study site having more site substitutes is transferred to the policy site having less site substitutes whenever there is difference in site substitution possibilities. Transfer error is magnified when measurement error is involved in any of the variables. This study do not suggest function transfer whenever the study site's model is missing one of the important variable at the policy site or whenever the data on variables included in study site's model is not available at the policy site for benefit transfer application. This study also suggests the use of large representative sample with sufficient variation to minimize transfer error in benefit transfer.
Three Essays on Econometric Analysis
Zheng, Zhiyuan (Virginia Tech, 2011-05-02)
This dissertation consists of three essays on econometric analysis including both parametric and nonparametric econometrics. The first chapter outlines three topics involved and briefly discusses the motivations and methods, as well as some conclusions in each of the following chapters. Both chapter 2 and chapter 3 are in the field of kernel smoothed nonparametric econometrics. Chapter 2 conducts large volumes of simulations to explore the properties of various methods proposed in the literature to detect irrelevant variables in a fully nonparametric regression framework. We focus our attention to two broadly sets of methods, the least square cross-validated bandwidth selection procedure and the conventional nonparametric significance testing frameworks. In chapter 3, a bootstrap test statistic is proposed to test the validity of imposing some arbitrary restrictions on higher order derivatives of a regression function. We use data sharpening method to enforce the desired constraints on the shape of the conditional means and then measure the distance between the unrestricted and restricted models. The empirical distribution of the test statistic is generated by bootstrapping and the asymptotic distribution for the bootstrap test statistic is also provided. The last chapter examines the relationship between population health and income inequality in China. We use a multilevel dynamic panel model to test the absolute income hypothesis, various versions of relative income hypothesis, and health selection hypothesis empirically
Three Essays on Economic Growth and Technology Development: Considering the Spillover Effects
Liao, Shaojuan (Virginia Tech, 2012-04-30)
This dissertation consists of three essays on the empirical analysis of economic growth and technology development. In particular, I consider spillover effects in different frameworks. The first chapter outlines the three topics involved and briefly discusses the motivations, methods as well as some conclusions in each of the following chapters. The second chapter considers the spillovers in economic growth and convergence. Spillovers are prevalent in nowadays' economy. I formally model the spillover effects as the interdependence of total factor productivity (TFP), and develop a model in which spillover effects of R&D through the channel of international trade make the TFPs correlated among countries. In this sense, I apply the thoughts of international trade to the economic growth framework. Empirically, I develop a three-stage generalized method of moment(GMM) to estimate the dynamic panel spatial error autoregressive model. Simulation results show that my estimator is consistent and efficient. Through counterfactual analysis, I find that there are positive spillovers through both geographic connection and trade connection. Such a positive spillover effect, however, slows down the convergence speed. Moreover, there were little spillovers in the early 1960s. Spillover effects become stronger overtime. The third chapter is about the determinants of technology development in China. What makes my paper different from others is that I take a full consideration of the spillover effects: provincial spillovers in Science and Technology (S&T) capital as well as S&T personnel, and international spillovers through trade and FDI. The most interesting point in my paper is that I consider the indirect effects of institutions on technology development. Marketization, measured by the share of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the economy, affects the production of technology through different channels at different stages. I use a semiparametric varying-coefficient model to account for the effects. In this paper, I find that provincial spillovers are mainly through the externalities of S&T capital stock while international spillovers occur through trade. Marketization affects the technology development through S&T capital, S&T capital spillovers and trade. Although a certain share of SOEs is necessary for technology production, the marketization process will promote the development of technology in China in the long run. The fourth chapter looks into the provincial technology spillovers from another aspect. Instead of the S&T endowment spillovers from the nearby provinces, I consider the technology transfer from the frontier province to the targeted province as well as the absorptive capacity of the targeted province itself. Two forms of technology transfer are analyzed: the technology distance due to the structural discrepancy in the patent portfolio and the technology gap because of the difference in the patent level. Through the empirical analysis, several factors contributing to patent growth, such as S&T investment, road density, international spillovers from imports and FDI, are identified. Moreover, I find that technology transfer due to the technology distance can stimulate patent growth. However, I fail to find robust evidence of technology transfer due to the technology gap, which implies that the provincial technology convergence may not exist in China.
Three Essays on Food Stamp Program Participation and Poverty Dynamics
Atasoy, Sibel (Virginia Tech, 2009-09-25)
This dissertation is composed of three essays that analyze the significance of the Food Stamp Program (FSP) for low-income households. The first essay entitled “Intensity of Food Stamp Use and Transient and Chronic Poverty: Evidence from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics” examines the impact of intensity of use of FSP benefits on household exposure to transient and chronic poverty with respect to food and housing expenditures. The study finds that FSP is used for both long-term expenditure support and as a smoothing mechanism before the welfare reform, and only for smoothing expenditures after the welfare reform. Factors that influence both components of poverty are number of children, human capital, minority status and local economic conditions. Another finding is that shorter recertification periods reduce the length of FSP use, and indirectly result in higher poverty. The second essay entitled “The End of the Paper Era in the Food Stamp Program: The Impact of Electronic Benefits on Program Participation” documents the impact of the implementation of the statewide Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system on household participation behavior in the entire period of nationwide implementation. The major finding is that the switch from paper coupons to EBT cards induces participation among eligible households, most likely by reducing the stigma associated with FSP participation. The effect of the EBT system on participation probabilities is the largest among households residing in the rural South, those not headed by a single mother or those with a White household head. The third essay entitled “The Dynamics of Food Stamp Program Participation: A Lagged Dependent Variable Approach” investigates the existence of state dependence and its sources by analyzing the dynamics of participation in the FSP using a lagged dependent variable approach. Results show that FSP receipt in the previous period is an important determinant of current FSP receipt. Estimated persistence rates declined significantly after 1996, suggesting that long-term welfare dependency was reduced after the welfare reform, at least with respect to the FSP. The source of state dependence in FSP participation among low-income households is mostly structural implying that a welfare trap does exist for these households.
Three Essays on the Well-Being of Vulnerable Populations
Mykerezi, Elton (Virginia Tech, 2007-07-16)
This dissertation is composed of three essays that measure the impact of social programs and policies on the well being of their target populations. The first essay entitled "The Wage Impact of Historically Black College and University Attendance" examines the impact of attending a Historically Black College or University on the wages of Blacks attending HBCUs versus other four year colleges or universities using a sample of Blacks from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979). The study finds no initial advantage to HBCU attendance for black men, but a 1.4 to 1.6 percentage point higher growth rate in subsequent wages is associated with the attendance of an HBCU as opposed to other four year colleges. This faster growth rate translates in a net discounted HBCU earnings gain of 8.9 to 9.6 percent over a 16 year period following college attendance. The study finds no advantage or disadvantage to HBCU attendance for Black females. The second essay entitled "Transient and Chronic Poverty in the US: The Role of the Food Stamp Program" examines the unique and common determinants of short-term intra-annual transient poverty and chronic poverty, as well as the differential response of each state of poverty to Food Stamp Program (FSP) use. The study employs dynamic expenditure-based poverty measures using quarterly data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (2001-2004). The major finding is that FSP use reduces transient poverty, but the study finds no significant impact of FSP use on chronic poverty. The common causes of both states of poverty are low human capital, minority status and involuntary unemployment of the household head. Changes in family composition during the year is only associated with higher transient poverty. The third essay entitled "Food Insecurity and the Food Stamp Program" examines the determinants of food insecurity in the US, as well as its response to Food Stamp Program use with data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1995-1999). The study finds that FSP use reduces household food insecurity, and that the program impact is greater for households that experience more severe insecurity. In addition the study finds that higher risk tolerance as well as a preference for smoking cigarettes increase household food insecurity.

Browsing by Author "Parmeter, Christopher F."

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