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School of Economics

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https://hdl.handle.net/1853/70712

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Organizational Unit

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

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https://finding-aids.library.gatech.edu/agents/corporate_entities/1157

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Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 262

Essays in Environmental and Energy Economics

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-07-27) Liu, Ling

Given the significance of electricity sector transitions in climate change mitigation efforts, this study examines adaptation to climate change, residential responses to mitigation policies, and environmental justice issues. The first chapter investigates the effects of fossil fuel power plant closures on local migration patterns, revealing a 'stagnation effect' where both in-migration and out-migration decrease following plant retirements. This effect is more pronounced in lower-income and predominantly Black communities, highlighting potential environmental justice concerns. The second chapter examines the role of social norms and eco-labels in shaping consumer preferences for sustainable products. Through a choice experiment, the study quantifies consumers' willingness to pay based on variations in prices, eco-label certifications, and norm behaviors. The findings support the integration of social norms with eco-labels on grocery products to motivate sustainable consumption. The third chapter explores the impact of coal-fired power plant retirements on human mental health. The results indicate that coal plant retirements lead to increased mental stress, primarily through the channel of income, shedding light on the local impacts of energy transitions on communities. In summary, this dissertation investigates the social dynamics influenced by climate change and energy transition, focusing on migration patterns, consumer behaviors, and local impacts. The insights gained from this dissertation can inform policymakers and communities in developing strategies for addressing the challenges posed by climate change and the transition towards a sustainable energy future.
Redefining Trade Dynamics: Inorporating Network Centrality, Spatial Heterogeneity, and Optimal Transport Theory into Models of International Trade

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-07-27) Helfrich, Ian T.

This dissertation explores new approaches to modeling international trade, focusing on network effects, spatial distributions, and optimal resource allocation. The research is structured in three interconnected chapters, each addressing a distinct aspect of trade dynamics. The first chapter investigates how network centrality measures can enhance our understanding of trade patterns. By constructing a trade network using BACI-CEPII data from 1995 to 2015, the study augments traditional gravity models with various centrality measures. The results suggest that a country's position within the global trade network significantly influences its trade relationships, beyond what economic size and distance alone can explain. Chapter two introduces a novel method for measuring effective distance between trading partners. This approach uses nightlights and population data to create weighted centroids, capturing shifts in economic activity and population distribution over time. Applied to U.S. interstate trade in 2017 and global trade flows from 2015 to 2020, this measure shows promise in improving gravity model estimations compared to conventional distance measures. The final chapter develops a theoretical framework that unifies equilibrium theory and optimal transport in infinite-dimensional spaces. This work proves the existence and uniqueness of equilibrium under general conditions and characterizes these equilibria as solutions to optimal transport problems. While theoretical in nature, this approach offers new insights into market efficiency and resource allocation in complex economic systems. Collectively, this research aims to advance our understanding of international trade by incorporating network effects, spatial heterogeneity, and optimal transport theory into existing models. These approaches may offer improved explanatory power and policy relevance compared to traditional methods, though further research is needed to fully assess their impact and applicability.
Spatial Dimensions of Economic Modeling: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Labor, Trade, and Networks

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-07-27) Gonchar, Elizaveta

This dissertation explores the spatial dimensions of economic modeling through three distinct yet interconnected papers, each employing interdisciplinary approaches to shed light on various aspects of labor, trade, and networks. The first paper investigates the heterogeneous impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on domestic trade flows in Colombia. A novel trade exposure measure is constructed using an iterated factor analysis approach that integrates the spatial characteristics of municipalities. By employing a spatial autoregressive estimation technique, I demonstrate the presence of spatial spillovers. The analysis reveals substantial heterogeneity in the impact of the pandemic across municipalities, highlighting the importance of considering spatial factors and utilizing appropriate econometric methods in understanding trade dynamics during global shocks. The second paper develops a methodology to assess regional discrepancies and labor mobility in response to the CHIPS and Science Act. It quantifies occupational requirement sufficiency by comparing the skill profiles of different occupations. Using this measure in conjunction with the generalized two-part fractional regression model, which allows for examining factors associated with the occurrence and extent of occupational transitions while accounting for the bounded nature of transition probabilities, regional labor supply is estimated. The analysis demonstrates the presence of regional variations in skill composition, highlighting the importance of considering spatial factors in the design and implementation of industrial policies. The third paper introduces a new economic distance measure based on population and nightlights data that can be operationalized at any level of aggregation and can compute internal distance measures. This measure is constructed using granular spatial data and geographic information systems techniques and provides a scale-agnostic approach for incorporating distances in trade models. The paper applies this novel distance measure to two distinct cases: a cross-sectional analysis of trade flows within the United States and a panel data analysis of global trade flows. The time-varying nature of the proposed distance measure allows it to account for shifts in population and economic activity distributions, introducing responsiveness in the measure of distance used in trade analyses. The performance of this measure across the analyses considered, along with its compatibility with various trade flow considerations, underscores its potential to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of trade patterns.
Essays on the Economics of Reproductive Healthcare

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-07-25) Motolenich, Mary

This dissertation delves into multiple elements of reproductive healthcare in the United States. In my first essay, I utilize a novel, proprietary medical claims dataset to structure pregnancy episodes of care and use these care episodes to estimate two previously entangled effects on maternal care: healthcare provider type and healthcare provider access. I find that CNM involvement in pregnancy episodes generally decreases the likelihood of experiencing C-Section delivery and significantly affects testing utilization. In my second essay, I exploit the variability of and changes to sex education mandates and curriculum requirements to estimate a causal effect on adolescent birth rates at the county level. Accounting for the changes in legislation and characteristics of state-level educational requirements, I find that academic standards and requirements significantly impact birth rates. In my third and final essay, I exploit the seemingly arbitrary cutoff for the definition of advanced maternal age (defined at 35) to be considered a high risk pregnancy using regression discontinuity design. Since this medical guideline may affect the care, a pregnant person may seek out and the amount of care a provider may recommend, I restrict a subset of Medicaid MAX data to include only pregnancy episodes to women ages 33 to 37 years old to determine whether this guideline affects care, testing procedures, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. I find evidence that there are discontinuities in prenatal care and outcomes around this threshold, and the magnitude of these differences varies by underlying pregnancy risk. Both high and low-risk women are more likely to experience fetal monitoring and detailed ultrasounds because of the AMA designation.
Essays on the Economics of Climate Shocks, Food Security, and Sustainable Agriculture

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2024-07-23) Spyrou, Ioanna Maria

This dissertation studies climate change and its impact on sustainable development in Africa. My first essay is on the impact on droughts on children’s educational outcomes and health outcomes. I compile a panel dataset on Ethiopian children and monthly precipitation data to find that droughts decrease children’s likelihood of being enrolled in school and negatively affect grade completion. Results also show that droughts increase stunting and thinness among children and increase household food insecurity. My second essay analyzes factors that help determine when farmers in Ethiopia adopt Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAPs) such as crop rotation and mixed cropping. I find that receiving agricultural assistance encourages farmers to adopt crop rotation and that both SAPs have a powerful impact on reducing food insecurity among households. In my third essay, I use machine learning machine learning (ML) techniques to predict food insecurity in four countries in Africa. Since food insecurity results from complex interactions between economic shocks, climate change and regional conflict, I compile high frequency data on these indicators. I estimate two commonly used ML models, namely, Random Forest (RF) and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) to predict food insecurity at district level. I find that the most important factors in predicting food insecurity are food price and vegetation indices. Overall, I find that climate shocks, which are occurring at a high frequency and intensity, have detrimental effects on children’s education, health and overall well-being. Sustainable agriculture will help farmers cope better with climate shocks and alleviate food security in the continent.
Analyses of Short-Run Airport Costs in the U.S.: Pre- and Post-COVID-19

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-07-27) Yang, Yushuo

Airports are crucial for passenger and cargo transportation, as well as for employment generation and GDP growth. A better understanding of airport cost structure enables airport managers and policymakers to more efficiently allocate their limited resources and design policies, respectively. This dissertation conducts short-term multi-output cost analyses for 50 medium and large U.S. airports. Using a multi-product translog cost function methodology, the dissertation addresses three research questions: what are the effects of negative attributes on short-run airport cost structures; what impact did COVID-19 have on airport short-run operating costs; and for aircraft departures, how does the short-run marginal social cost differ from marginal private costs. Based on 2012 – 2019 data, the first essay estimates a translog cost function with three positive outputs (departures, workload, and non-aeronautical revenue) and three negative attributes (delay, congestion, and air pollution). The results show that delay and congestion have statistically significant and positive effects on airport total operating costs. Compared to the cost analysis with negative attributes, the cost analysis without negative attributes produces unreliable estimates of production properties. Extending the data to cover two COVID-19 years, 2020 and 2021, the second essay examines the effects of COVID-19 and related policies on airport short-term costs. In addition, the essay decomposes the percentage change in average variable costs between pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods. The results indicate that COVID-19 (cases and deaths) and associated policies (state face mask and COVID-19 vaccine mandates) significantly and positively affect the total operating costs. COVID-19 cases and the time/technical efficiency effect are the two most influential factors for the percentage change in average variable costs. The third essay focuses on aircraft departures and estimates a measure of marginal social cost that includes negative externalities (delay, congestion, and air pollution). The essay examines whether the current landing fees cover marginal departure social costs. The results find that, on average, current landing fees only cover the marginal private costs but are significantly less than the marginal social costs per departure. This strongly suggests that current airport landing fees do not internalize the negative externalities, resulting in pricing inefficiency from the social perspective. Each of the three essays conducts sub-sample analyses between large and medium hubs, as well as between cargo and non-cargo airports. The results find differences across different airport types in each analysis. In summary, the dissertation uniquely contributes to existing knowledge on the impacts of negative attributes, COVID-19, and the extent to which existing landing fees fall short of the marginal social costs of airport departures. The first essay contributes by incorporating negative attributes into the airport cost analysis and examining production properties after controlling for the negative attributes. The second essay contributes by analyzing the impact of COVID-19 and related policies on airports’ short-term costs and decomposing the percentage change in average variable costs between pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods, which offers new insights into the pandemic’s impact on airports’ costs and technical characteristics. The third essay contributes by estimating the marginal social cost using a broader sample and assessing the pricing efficiency of current landing fees from the social perspective.
Essays in Environmental and Development Economics

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-07-24) Kamble, Vikrant Kashiram

Over the last few decades industrial growth, agricultural activities, and increasing population have contributed to accelerated environmental degradation in India. Policymakers have been implementing various strategies to curb environmental degradation and ultimately slow down climate change effects. My dissertation evaluates the mitigation responses to climate change and environmental degradation in India. The first chapter analyzes the institutional response to the loss of forest cover by implementing one of the most ambitious privately sponsored afforestation projects implemented in the Rajasthan state of India. This research finds evidence of the long-term effect of planting trees over 100,000 hectares of land on rainfall and agricultural activities in the region. We find that post-implementation of the project, Rajasthan state observed an increase in rainfall after 5-6 years. Consequently, the availability of excess water in the region leads to an increase in cultivated area, production, and yield. Contrary to existing literature, our results find that the forest and agriculture sectors can grow together sustainably. The second chapter analyses a natural experiment of closing down mining activities in the iron ore hub of India. As a result of environmental degradation due to illegal mining, the Supreme Court of India banned iron ore mining in the Karnataka State of India in 2010-11. This ban had an effect on the direct and indirect labor market affecting more than 50,000 unskilled laborers. We hypothesize that these laborers will find work in other primary sectors such as agriculture. In our analysis, we find that post-ban on mining, there was a decrease in field labor wages for male and female laborers due to a shift in labor supply. The wages bounced back after the ban was lifted in 2013. In the third chapter, the thesis discusses how individuals mitigate the effects of air pollution. This paper evaluates the labor supply decisions of married individuals affected by pollution. Using a household utility model, I find empirical evidence that due to caregiving responsibility towards their spouse, individuals are forced to adjust their participation in the labor market when their partners fell sick due to pollution exposure.
Peer Effects and Human Capital Accumulation

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-04-30) Gu, Xin

Human capital accumulation is not only an individual decision but also an interactive process. This dissertation studies how peers affect individual human capital accumulation in the context of in-person education and online training. Firstly, the dissertation examines classmate and close friend peer effects on the cognitive ability formation of middle school students. The results suggest that peers generate a significant positive impact on student cognitive ability development. The size of peer effects is heterogenous across student ability distribution and jointly determined by two channels, peer conformity and peer complementarity. Secondly, the dissertation investigates peer effects on the online training participation of young teachers. The virtual instruction platform data contain the accurate duration of attendance for every individual-lecture pair and allow for the control of individual, lecture, and peer group unobserved heterogeneity. The estimation shows significant positive peer effects on the likelihood of joining an online lecture and the duration of staying. The magnitude of peer effects differs by group and increases with the relationship closeness. The potential driving mechanisms are online social interactions, peer pressure, and reputation concerns. Thirdly, the dissertation develops a two-step estimator that identifies peer effects on the duration of lecture attendance by accounting for the self-selection into lecture participation. The application of the online training data demonstrates significant positive peer influences on the duration of lecture attendance. Overall, the dissertation finds strong evidence of causal peer effects on human capital formation in the traditional in-person environment as well as in the emerging online setting. It sheds light on how peer effects can be utilized to improve the effectiveness of human capital accumulation.
Multidimensional poverty, telehealth, and perinatal healthcare

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-04-26) Dong, Xiaoyu

This dissertation commences with an evaluation of multidimensional poverty in America among various racial and ethnic groups throughout the past decade. The analysis reveals that a higher and notable percentage of individuals face deprivation evidenced through health indicators, regardless of their race or ethnicity, compared to the other four indicators. To delve deeper into this issue, the next two theses concentrate on the impact of public health policies on reducing health costs and enhancing health outcomes. The first thesis presents alternative indices to estimate multidimensional poverty in the USA over the last decade with a focus on analyzing trends by race and ethnicity. Individual level data on five different dimensions of well-being were compiled over the last decade using annual Census surveys. The results indicate a decline in multidimensional poverty over time, with different indices highlighting different aspects of poverty. The second thesis investigates the impact of telehealth parity laws (TPLs) on healthcare expenses. TPLs remove barriers for patients from using telehealth services, and the study finds that passing TPLs decreased total healthcare expenses, hospital care expenses, and physician service expenses significantly. The effects were observed to increase over time, suggesting that telehealth could be an effective substitute for in-person visits in reducing healthcare costs. The final thesis examines the impact of e-cigarette policies on birth outcomes, specifically the effects of vaping during pregnancy on birth weight and compares the results with smoking only and dual-use. The study finds negative effects of vaping on birth outcomes, but these effects are about half the magnitude of those associated with smoking alone on birth weight. Overall, this dissertation sheds light on the issue of multidimensional poverty and the impact of public health policies on reducing health expenses and improving health outcomes. This highlights the importance of considering multiple dimensions of poverty, the potential benefits of telehealth and effective policy interventions in improving public health.
The Healthcare Impacts of Policies Addressing Inequality

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-04-19) Wallace, Alexandra E.

This dissertation is comprised of three essays examining economic disparities in healthcare and the impacts of policies attempting to address healthcare inequalities. The first two essays examine the financial impacts of changes in government regulation intended to expand access to medical care on healthcare markets. The third essay evaluates the potential for environmental health risks to cause disproportionate adverse health outcomes in low-income areas. The first essay examines the effects of expanding scope of practice laws on the cost and quality of healthcare. It evaluates the effectiveness of state-level laws lifting restrictions on nurse practitioners, allowing them to practice and prescribe medicine to the full extent of their training without physician oversight, by measuring how these laws affect changes in the spending, utilization, and quality of diabetes care for enrollees of a large commercial healthcare insurer. The results suggest that laws allowing nurse practitioners to act to the extent of their training are associated with significant reductions in the cost of delivering diabetic care without an associated decline in quality. The second essay addresses the impact of legislation affecting health insurance eligibility on the financial decisions made by entities providing healthcare. It studies the impact of state decisions to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansions on hospital investment in capital. The essay’s results find evidence of a heterogeneous response, where non-profit hospitals invested more on capital following market shifts from the increases in insurance eligibility. Hospitals are also shown to react to state decisions regarding Medicaid expansions by increasing the breadth of capital cost centers before the expansions went into effect, indicating evidence of an anticipatory reaction. The third essay examines the effect of industrial pollution on cancer rates in low-income populations. It evaluates the potential for a disproportionate impact of arsenic releases from industrial facilities on arsenic-related cancers among nearby residents in areas eligible for federal low-income housing tax credit programs. The findings suggest a disproportionately high increase in lung cancer rates in areas near arsenic-emitting facilities that are also eligible for low-income tax credits.