Congrats to all our econ majors that just came back from Dallas, Texas!
Seven students attended the Dallas Federal Undergraduate Research Conference. Three presented research, three attended the poster board session, and one attended as a discussant. There they were able to network with influential people at the Dallas FED in addition to meeting other students from all around the country. They spent the entire day on Friday presenting and listening to presentations.
Presenters
Allison Jakubek:
Title: Take me out to the Ball Game? The Effect of Crime on Major League Baseball Game Attendance
Major League Baseball attendance has been examined since the league’s establishment in 1869. Winning percentage, opponent quality, and stadium quality have all been deemed significant determinants of increasing attendance, but deterring factors have yet to be closely examined. Since a majority of professional sports stadiums are constructed in economically poor, crime ridden areas, it seems natural to assume that crime could have an impact on people’s desire to attend Major League Baseball games. Panel data collected on twenty-eight teams over the course of ten years was used to determine whether or not crime rates have a significant effect on attendance.
Christian Potter:
Title: The Determinants of Residential Solar Adoption coauthored with Ryan Berry
Residential solar adoption substantially increased in recent years (SEIA). Previous literature attribute rising solar adoption to several factors, but acknowledge the wide variance in types of solar incentives; differing solar incentives create a large disparity in consumer knowledge and different incentives effectiveness. This study uses ordinary least squares regression, with state level cross sectional data, to analysis the factors leading to residential solar adoption. An increase of 10,000 people within a state results in an estimated 0.695 megawatt increases in residential solar capacity. We find statewide solar incentives lack statistical significance, in determining a state’s residential solar adoption. Better quantifications of state level solar incentives are needed before strong conclusions may be drawn.
Margaret Gallager:
Title: To What Extent Does Minimum Wage Effect Nonviolent Crime in the United States
This research examines the effect that the level of minimum wage has on the rate of nonviolent crime in the United States in 2015. Using STATA to run a linear regression this study examined the effect of minimum wage holding state GDP, high school graduation rate, police force size and unemployment rate constant. The study finds that minimum wage does have a significant negative correlation with nonviolent crime in the United States in 2015.
Poster Sessions:
Liam Missios:
This study examines the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on female employment. I use a fixed-effects model with a panel of 70 countries to estimate the impact of FDI on female employment at the sector level. I then disaggregate the data and estimate the effect of FDI on female employment in both developing and developed countries. This is based on the assumption that motivation for FDI differs based on the receiving country’s stage of development. I find that FDI inflows cause a slight increase in female employment in the service sector of both developing and developed countries. I also find evidence that FDI inflows have a slightly positive impact on female employment in the industrial sector of developed countries.
Zainab Imbabi:
Income inequality and tertiary education are among the most controversial, and arguably the most important, topics in today’s political climate. As globalization continues to re-shape the needs of labor markets worldwide, the demand for individuals with specialized skills regarding technology, medicine, engineering, etc. continues to rise. Countries are now faced with providing their citizens with modern educational opportunities and firms are seeking workers who are equipped and prepared for the 21st century economy. As these challenges begin to become more relevant in everyday life across the globe it is necessary to understand what effects they have and how to adapt to the market. The following paper examines the relationship of income inequality through the scope of Organization for Co-Operation and Development (OECD) members and attempts to quantify the extent of which it, ceteris paribus, effects tertiary education attainment. Income inequality was determined to be statistically significant and negatively correlated with tertiary education attainment.
Sarah Manugo:
This paper studies the effect that being partnered with a Major League Soccer (MLS) team has on the attendance of National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) matches. Data was gathered from the 2014, 2015, and 2016 NWSL seasons. NWSL partnership with a MLS team is characterized by being run by the same front office as their MLS Page | 22 counterpart and having access to their training facilities, including home stadiums, and their fan base. This research finds that NWSL teams that are partnered with a MLS team should have a larger average attendance.
Discussants:
Allison Jakubek
Wyatt Priddy