BLOG: Unemployment, Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and the 2008 Financial Crisis – An Analysis using Structural VAR and Dynamic Panel Models

Sarah von Bargen, Columbia University

This paper analyzes the relationships between refugee and asylum seeker flows, unemployment rates, and suicide rates using both structural vector autoregression and dynamic panel models. Specifically, structural VAR is initially used for analyzing data from 1980-2018 in the United States, and a random effects dynamic panel model is utilized for analyzing post-2008 financial crisis data of these four variables in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. Continue reading BLOG: Unemployment, Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and the 2008 Financial Crisis – An Analysis using Structural VAR and Dynamic Panel Models

BLOG: The Decoy Effect and Risk Aversion

By Ryan Pak, New York University Stern School of Business

The decoy effect arises when a firm offers a product that is clearly inferior to another product in order to drive sales of the latter. This phenomenon has been displayed experimentally in many different situations, but remains understudied theoretically. We develop a model of almost rational consumer choice, with a single behavioral tendency — regret aversion. Continue reading BLOG: The Decoy Effect and Risk Aversion

Analyzing the Effects of Unemployment on Political Polarization in New York State

By Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service

In this empirical research I attempt to investigate possible causation between the level of unemployment and the level of political polarization in New York State by county. I hypothesize that the increase in unemployment will lead to higher levels of political polarization following the intuition of political fanaticism grounded on economic distress. Continue reading Analyzing the Effects of Unemployment on Political Polarization in New York State

BLOG: Cap-and-Trade and Environmental Justice: A Study of California’s RECLAIM Program

By Aidan Acosta, Middlebury College

Cap-and-trade has been shown by previous studies to be at least as effective as prescriptive regulation at reducing air pollution. However, regulators must ensure that the dispersion of emissions that is dictated by the market is environmentally just in order for cap-and-trade to be a viable solution. Continue reading BLOG: Cap-and-Trade and Environmental Justice: A Study of California’s RECLAIM Program

BLOG: To Stay or Migrate? Preferences and Occupational Choice in China’s Rural Ethnic Tourism Industry

By Virginia Zhang, New York University

Though rural workers in China now have more opportunities for rural-urban migration, they still face uncertainties in urban labor markets. For many rural Chinese ethnic minority workers, … Continue reading BLOG: To Stay or Migrate? Preferences and Occupational Choice in China’s Rural Ethnic Tourism Industry