MiddLab

Transitional (In)Justice in Chile: Judge Juan Guzman Tapia

Rebecca Walters — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:08:26 +0000

People Judge Juan Guzman Tapia Related Links Downloads Human Rights Advocate Judge Juan Guzman Tapia recently visited the Monterey Institute. He is best known for the prosecution of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Guzman spoke about the importance of transitional justice around the world.

“Who is a Turk?”: Creating the Myth of Turkish National Identity

Eric Morrow — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:54:38 +0000

Nuket Kardam is a professor in the Public Administration department at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Professor Kardam is from Turkey and is currently researching the identities of people in her country. In this video, Professor Kardam talks about “Who is a Turk” and the findings from her ongoing research. People Nuket Kardam, Public [...]

The Wrong Type of Pluralism: Toward a Transdisciplinary Social Science

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:00:00 +0000

When heterodox economists talk of pluralism they generally are talking about pluralism within the economics professionthey are asking: how can we have a more pluralistic economics profession? This paper argues that another, perhaps more useful, way to think of pluralism and economics is from the perspective of all the social sciences. When looked in reference to the social science profession rather than in reference to the economics profession, the amount of pluralism increases significantly, since different social sciences follow quite different methodologies. But looking at pluralism from the social science perspective reveals a different type of pluralism problem in social science. While there may be plenty of pluralism within social science as a whole, there is a serious question about whether it is appropriately distributed. This paper argues that heterodox economists agenda should be a greater blending of all the social science departments. It summarizes proposals to do so on both the undergraduate level and graduate level, and explains why supporting variations of these proposals would be a strategy that would further the objectives of most heterodox economists more so than would their current strategy of pushing for more pluralism in economics.

Creating Humble Economists: A Code of Ethics for Economists

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:00:00 +0000

From the movie, Inside Job, one gets the sense that economists are ethically challenged because they take payments for writing papers that say what the funders of their research want them to say. This paper takes issue with that and suggests that the more serious ethical problem of economics has little to do with the funding of economic research. It has to do with lack of humility. It argues that economists have a tendency to convey more scientific certainty in their policy positions than the theory and evidence objectively would allow. Too many economists are willing to make seemingly definitive scientific statements about policy based on models, that they know, or should know, are highly imperfect. To deal with that problem, this paper suggests that applied economists should see themselves as engineers, not as applied scientists. It argues that doing so is important because engineering has a broader and more humble methodology than does science. Because applied economists are essentially engineers, the paper argues that an Economists Code of Ethics can be closely based on the National Society of Professional Engineers Code of Ethics.

Why the U.S. No Longer Leads in Environmental Policy

Ian McBride — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:33:58 +0000

Jason Scorse discusses the theoretical underpinnings of economic thought that support very strong government intervention in the environmental realm, as well as the politics and messaging that the environmental community needs to win the major battles ahead.

HIV Testing and Risky Sexual Behavior

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Using data from a study that randomly assigns offers of HIV testing in two urban centers in East Africa, I examine the effects of testing, taking into account people's beliefs of their HIV status prior to testing. I objectively measure risky sexual behavior using sexually transmitted infections (STIs) contracted during the 6 month study as proxies. Individuals surprised by an HIV-positive test are over nine times more likely to contract an STI indicating an increase in risky sexual behavior. Individuals surprised by an HIV-negative test are 84% less likely to contract an STI indicating a decrease in risky sexual behavior. Using these estimates, I simulate the effects of testing on new HIV infections. I find the overall number of HIV infections increases by 30% when people are tested compared to when they are unaware of their status - an unintended consequence of testing.

Petrogenesis of Two New Eucrites from Northwest Africa

Ian McBride — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:00:33 +0000

Eucrite meteorites formed within the first seven million years of the start of the solar system, and are widely believed to originate from the asteroid 4 Vesta. Thus eucrites hold important insights into the geologic processes that were active on small planetary bodies, and particularly into their chemical differentiation. Two meteorites recovered in 2009 from Northwest Africa appear to be unbrecciated basaltic eucrites, and have similar mineral assemblages. The characterization of these samples by petrography, mineral chemistry, and whole-rock chemistry will help to provide an understanding of their formation, and will indicate whether they are paired. Comparisons with other eucrites described in the literature may provide additional insights into the chemical evolution of 4 Vesta.

English, Arabic, and Diglossia: Protest Language in the 2011 Egypt Demonstrations

Ian McBride — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:30:17 +0000

This is a linguistic survey of the written language used by protesters in the 2011 demonstrations in Egypt. The hypothesis is that Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA), Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), and English are all used for specific purposes in specific contexts. As such, the literal messages across these three categories may differ, as they are aimed at different audiences. In addition, the case will be made that the specific linguistic situation of Arabic (especially the factors of Diglossia and English dominance as a global language that are not paralleled in other linguistic communities undergoing demonstrations. Twitter tweets, Facebook posts, and online blogs of the protesters will be the major sources of material. The Nile Valley variants will be the primary focus.

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Armelle Crouzieres-Ingenthron

Ian McBride — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:56:53 +0000

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In her interview, Armelle Crouzieres-Ingenthron discusses the freedom she gained from learning new languages, teaching French and English in Switzerland, the importance of being the first in her family to graduate from college, the difference in suburban life between France and Boston, why leaving your own country makes you more aware of your status in society, overcoming the aloofness of peers and forming friendships with international professionals at Middlebury, learning from a student who hated France, and the advantages of raising bi-lingual children.

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Susan Watson

Ian McBride — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:20:32 +0000

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In her interview, Susan Watson discusses adapting lessons from High School to teaching in college, her strategy of isolation for dealing with being a woman in a predominantly male field, the TA who became her mentor in college, lunch discussions with past generations of female physicists, the importance of brutal honesty in mentoring colleagues, how the size of Middlebury has helped her get to know students, and creating an environment where people are encouraged to succeed.

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Erin Fuller

Ian McBride — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:15:56 +0000

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In her interview, Erin Fuller discusses attending college close to home, being a personal care assistant to a boy with autism, being a ski instructor for people with disabilities, pursuing her academic interest in disability studies, the differences in dorm life between boarding school and college, and how she plans to integrate these experiences in a medical profession.

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Roman Graf

Ian McBride — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:17:22 +0000

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In his interview, Roman Graf talks about his reluctance to teach at a liberal arts college in New England, the politics of Jeans Day, the difficulty of individual expression in a professional environment before tenure, his prejudices of small-town living, the difference between America and Europe in terms of sexism, racism, and homophobia, learning to say "yes", why working as a diversity administrator created a daily experience of negativity, how a blind student helped him improve teaching, and why we need "theory checks" instead of "reality checks".

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Missy Foote

Ian McBride — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:46:08 +0000

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In her interview, Missy Foote talks about crafting homemade lacrosse sticks for her team in Chester, VT, the early days of Title IX implementation and women's athletics, having to share the women's locker room with opposing teams, how sports are defined by race, the tug between academics and athletics, the difficulty of recruiting, how technology is changing sports, the pleasures of living in Middlebury, and her philosophy of coaching.

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Arthur Choo

Ian McBride — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:02:44 +0000

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In his interview, Arthur Choo talks about the "global community" ideal in higher education, the experience of activism while being an ethnic minority, how an individual's idea of race affects their perception of self, the effect of political correctness on classroom discussions, the humor of stereotypes, the difference between the ideal of diversity and the reality in the dining halls, combating the feeling of exclusivity in the Korean American Student Association, and the paradox of the success of minority students.

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Claudia Cooper

Ian McBride — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:00:15 +0000

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In her interview, Claudia Cooper talk about teaching literature with Middlebury College students in Africa, her work in advocacy for community building to overcome AIDS, adopting a foreign-born child, and the feeling of difference at home and abroad.

Team Peru: Empowering Indigenous Communities towards Sustainable Development in the Sacred Valley

Ian McBride — Fri, 27 May 2011 23:26:58 +0000

People Aaron Ebner (MPA ’11) Tina Novero (MPA ’11) Adam Stieglitz (MPA ’11) Chui Archuleta Danielle Johnson Elsa Figueroa Kat Gordon Hilda Diaz Brian Dean Natalie Sherman Elma Paulauskaite Jeanne Amrein Jessica Torres Pujols Noelia González Danny Gallant Marina Savinovich Related Links Team Peru’s Website TEDxMonterey – Aaron Ebner – Sharing Empowerment Downloads Team Peru Report [...]

Buying Out the Poor? Bolsa Familia and the 2010 Elections in Brazil

Ian McBride — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:30:04 +0000

Hailed for reducing poverty and inequality in Brazil, the Bolsa Familia program (PBF) is the largest conditional cash transfer program in the world. Critics, however, have accused President Lula and his party of indirectly 'buying' the poor vote through the PBF. This research investigates the relationship between the PBF and the voting patterns of its recipients in the recent elections. Is the PBF an apolitical poverty reduction strategy? Does it influence the formation of political preferences? Based on interviews conducted in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, I focus on the beneficiaries' own perception of the program, exploring the concepts of "ownership" and "clientelism" in social welfare.

Sustainable Television 2011

Jason Mittell — Tue, 24 May 2011 18:13:41 +0000

In Spring 2011, nine students enrolled in FMMC 285 Sustainable Television: Producing Environmental Media, collaborating to produce a 50-minute television program on environmental issues. Watch the entire episode below, or scroll down for individual segments:

Geographies of Access: A Spatial Analysis of Access to Public Obstetric Services for Migrant Populations in Buenos Aires

Ian McBride — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:45:50 +0000

Transformations in Argentine immigration and healthcare policy have collided to create a dynamic landscape of public health utilization in Buenos Aires. This study presents empirically grounded analysis of healthcare utilization in the wake of these policy changes by examining the spatial distribution of 841 patients receiving obstetric services at Hospital Rivadavia in 2009. Analysis carried out at both the individual level and aggregated by partido reveals patterns in both the relative utilization of public healthcare services by migrants compared to native Argentines as well as the spatial distribution of patients, and in particular, migrant patients. The results of this study suggest that utilization of public obstetric services at Hospital Rivadavia by migrants is significantly higher than that of native Argentines and finds the distribution of migrant patients to be spatially clustered. These results have important implications for future immigration policy and healthcare provision at municipal, national, and international scales.

From “It-girl” to Forgotten Poet: A Cultural Reading of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Reputation

Ian McBride — Thu, 12 May 2011 20:50:45 +0000

Early twentieth-century lyric poet Edna St. Vincent Millay was, at the height of her career, a literary celebrity treated as a major poet. Today, her poetry remains marginally popular but largely unstudied in literature classrooms. This presentation considers Millay in a cultural and hisorical context, discussing her complex relationship to Modernism, critical reactions to Millay over the course of the twnetieth century - ranging from New Critic John Crowe Ransom's attack on Millay's poetic and intellectual capabilities, to feminist critics' attempts to reclaim her from obscurity - and the phenomenon of literary celebrity, particularly for women writers.

Framing and Blaming: The Role of Media in the 2005 Parisian Riots

Ian McBride — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:50:20 +0000

The media played a significant role in the riots of Paris in 2005. This study examines the French and American media's role in the formation of the identity of the rioters. The study draws on media content analysis based on news sources from the political right and left in each country. The results suggest two things. First, media on the political left, in both France and the United States, tends to frame the cause of the riots as a structural issue of exclusion while the political right tends to characterize the source of conflict as an agency issue of integration based on social differences. This can be explained by differences in political influences and underlying goals. Second, American media uses national and religious terms to describe the rioters' identity while French media portrays them as a frustrated suburban youth. This reflects the respective historical contexts and political traditions.

Every Exit Is An Entrance Somewhere Else: Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Ian McBride — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:15:38 +0000

This presentation deals with a portion of my senior ENAM thesis, which focuses mainly on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard. The specific portion that I presented at the Symposium examined Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead's relation to William Shakespeare's Hamlet, and to my knowledge is the first sustained and in-depth comparison between the two works. My presentation examines the precise nature of the relationship between the two works, as well as how events within Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead modify and enrich our understanding of Hamlet. Within Stoppard's play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern feel they have no free will; however, we can perceive the overall causes and effects of events in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead because of our prior knowledge of Hamlet and in that way can recognize the limits and contradictions of both predestination and free will.

Building a Laser Harp

Ian McBride — Thu, 12 May 2011 18:00:07 +0000

First developed in 1976 by Geoffrey Rose, the laser harp is an electronic instrument designed to stimulate visual and aural senses together when used in live concerts. Provided with the advantage of many technological advancements since Rose's time, I constructed a laser harp using electronics, a MIDI CPU converter and computer synthesizer equipment. The laser harp is framed - with the lasers affixed to the top and indicdent on photocells positioned at the base. The electronic instrument includes up to twenty lasers, each of which play a different note as specified by the MIDI signal. Additional lasers may be included which, when disrupted, would change the volume, octave or sound for any or all of the other beams.

Degas, Gauguin and the Theme of Isolation in Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Art

Ian McBride — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:38:43 +0000

Paul Gaugin and Edgar Degas were working side by side, though they had never collaborated on a project. In 1892, Gauguin took an unprecedented step in his career and completed the unfinished drawing of Degas titled Nude Woman Drying Herself. Degas and Gauguin are two of the most celebrated nineteenth-century French artists. Degas' art focuses primarily on the urban Parisian figure, while Gauguin is more fascinated with the rural character, enhanced by his sojourns in both Brittany and Tahiti. What unites the two artists' work is their fascination with the depiction of the human figure in intimate contexts and the theme of isolation. In nineteenth-century art, the capturing of private moments was not a theme exclusive to Gauguin and Degas; however, these two artists are linked by inextricable similarities in their art. My research focuses on these aforementioned similarities that scholars have yet to explore.

Scientists Know, Historians Guess: What Adolescents Believe About Knowledge and Knowing Across Domains

Ian McBride — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:00:40 +0000

This research examines how adolescents think about knowledge and knowing, evaluate competing sources of knowledge, trust certain sources of knowledge, justify knowledge, and approach certainty of knowledge, processes collectively referred to as "personal epistemology." This project is a four-year, multi-method and multi-measure study in which students from grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 were interviewed about their views on knowledge and knowing. In this set of analyses, we examined the question of domain specificity in adolescent epistemic development and found that personal epistemology is not consistent across all domains, but rather, adolescents' views about knowledge vary depending on the domain of knowledge that they evaluate. By comparing adolescents' views on historical knowledge vs. scientific knowledge, we found that adolescents were more likely to trust sources of knowledge in science, to justify sources of scientific knowledge as more trustworthy and valid, and to view knowledge in science as more certain.

Detroit: The Past and Present of the American City

Ian McBride — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:30:42 +0000

Known as America’s “Arsenal of Democracy,” “Most Dangerous City,” and more recently, “Laboratory for Saving the American City,” Detroit, Michigan has functioned as a model city and symbol in American popular culture since the early 20th century. This research explores the significance of Detroit’s role as a representative city through a content analysis of national news publications and other channels of media in the last century. Relying on theories of the narrative construction of social events and actors in public discourse, this case demonstrates the evolving signification of Detroit in American culture. The emergent narrative of Detroit as a model for reimagining the American city in the 21st century relies on previous labeling of Detroit as a symbol of American ascendency and decline. The story of Detroit as a laboratory for reforming America’s cities demonstrates a reclamation of Detroit as a positive American symbol and a reinvigoration of the discourse of civil society through the democratic production of knowledge about the city. Detroit offers American society a new framework through which to think of shrinkage, community, and identity rooted in place.

Going Comma-tose: The Effect of Punctuation and the Space Between Words on Medieval Europe

Ian McBride — Wed, 11 May 2011 13:30:50 +0000

For thousands of years, the written word contained only streams of capital letters, with unseparated words and sentences. Punctuation appeared in only rudimentary forms in the early centuries A.D., and was invented specifically to prevent those who read aloud in church from misreading on misinterpreting a passage of the scriptures. Spaces between words did not appear until the 700s A.D., after the development of the Carolingian Miniscule and the establishment of Benedictine rule, and it was not until the 1100s that they became common place. Suddenly, readers no longer needed to mumble through passages to discern their meanings, and began to read as we do most commonly today: in silence. The new written form inspired the first alphabetized glossaries, made books more compact and personal, and made literacy a more widespread goal. But it also triggered a sense of independence and empowerment as yet unknown in medieval society, causing a rise of critical thinkers and skeptics, and, in turn, inciting fear of heresy in the church. Indeed, without punctuation and the space between words, would we have the same capacity for questioning that we do today?

Teaching History with Technology: The State of Primary Sources in the Modern World

Ian McBride — Tue, 10 May 2011 20:30:30 +0000

Primary sources, diaries, ancient coins, a mere scrap of paper, are the materials from which the stories of the past are discovered. The project I undertook while interning at the National Archives and Records Administration addressed how we, as teachers of history, keep primary sources available, captivating, and the focus of historical education. I investigated this directly by assisting in the testing and presenting of DocsTeach, one of the most innovative historical tools for educators, which provides interactive activities built from a database of digitized primary sources. I helped increase access to records further with use of social media. The growing social phenomenon of digitization is not just connecting us with our future; it is connecting us to our past like never before, lowering the barrier of access for students young and old. The educational tools being created around these now easily accessible records, such as DocsTeach, are just the beginning.

Arsenic Contamination in Vermont’s Private Wells

Ian McBride — Mon, 09 May 2011 20:30:41 +0000

The Environmental Studies Senior Seminar (ENVS 401) is the capstone course for the Environmental Studies major. The goal of this course is to bring seniors from the various foci within the Environmental Studies major together to examine a specific topic in depth from an interdisciplinary perspective. The course follows a service-learning teaching model, which combines collaborative work with a community organization, scholarly reading, classroom discussions, and reflective writing. Topics of ENVS 401 vary from semester to semester, but focus on issues with relevance to the local region as well as the global environment. Our theme for this semester was “The Groundwater Resource: Global Concerns, Local Perspectives.” The class split into three groups: the survey group, partnering with the Vermont Department of Health; the spatial group, partnering with the Vermont Geological Survey; and the policy group, partnering with State Senator Virginia Lyons. The goal of the survey group was to evaluate the public’s knowledge of their well water and testing recommendations in a study area in Rutland County. The goal of the spatial group was to investigate the incidence of high arsenic well test results and the relationship between bedrock and high arsenic to locate areas of concern in Vermont. The goal of the policy group was to provide our community partner with information pertinent to advancing the policy discussion regarding private well testing regulations in Vermont. We used our research to create a policy framework that the legislature worked off of in the 2010-2011 legislative season.

Promotion of Chastity: Saint Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins of Cologne

Ian McBride — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:30:19 +0000

Beginning in the thirteenth-century, artists in Cologne created reliquary busts to contain the physical remains of Saint Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins. These reliquaries are visually unique because they are strikingly life-like and coney obvious feminine qualities. It is odd that the reliquaries' approachable femininity is celebrated because women were often damned as the instigators of the original sin. With this central Christian idea in mind, it is therefore all the more surprising that Christians venerated Saint Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins, a group of female martyrs, whose reliquaries and legend have highly gendered characteristics. In my presentation, I explicated the significance of these reliquaries through examining the symbolism of the Passion of Saint Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins, the formation of the cult of their relics, and the meaning of these reliquary busts in late medieval society.

Modeling Forest Regeneration for Management Purposes in Valley Forge National Historical Park

Ian McBride — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:03:56 +0000

Intensive herbivory by white-tailed deer has plagued Valley Forge National Historical Park's forests since the early 1980s. A deer management plan was enacted to reduce the size of the herd by at least 1000 deer over the next two years. The goal of my research was to model the impacts of changing levels of deer herbivory on the forests. I developed a forest model using data from a large deer exclosure erected in the park in the late 1980s. I am using the model to simulate how changes in herbivory and disturbance may affect forest composition over the next 120 years. My results suggest that changes in herbivory may be a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for restoring forests to their historical state. The finished model will serve as a tool for the park's resource managers to use in developing long-term restoration plans.

Promoting Far Transfer with the Testing Effect: Learning Mathematical Probability Principles to Solve Analogical Word Problems

Ian McBride — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:00:51 +0000

Recent evidence shows that a combination of studying and testing can enhance a memory more than strictly studying over that same amount of time, as measured by a test afterward. This is a phenomenon known as the testing effect. Most testing effect studies have focused on testing to improve rote memorization. The present study investigated whether the testing effect aids the application — or transfer — of learning to new situations. In this study, 64 participants learned to solve analogical word problems that required the application of mathematical probability principles. In the first phase of the experiment, half of the participants studied some word problems and their solutions repeatedly while the other half of the participants both studied and solved those word problems. A day later, all participants were tested on new probability word problems. These new problems were designed to assess whether participants were able to apply the probability principles that they learned to new problems. Results suggested that preliminary testing did not improve participants’ ability to solve new problems on the final test, and that all participants were most accurate on new problems that were most similar to old problems.

Between Traditional Practice and Secular Law: Examining Honor Killings in Modern Turkey

Ian McBride — Mon, 02 May 2011 14:00:24 +0000

Turkey maintains the image of a country bridging the divide between the Middle East and Europe; however, the continued prevalence of honor killings testifies to the difficulty in uprooting traditional patriarchal practices that remain widespread throughout the country. Although the Turkish government has enacted legal reforms - for instance, in 2002 and 2004 - aimed at eradicating the practice, new laws have been mostly ineffective and evidence indicates that both honor killings and the practice of "honor suicides" are actually increasing. My research explores this tension between secular government laws banning honor crimes and the continuation of honor killings within traditional and tribal communities. I argue that despite government efforts to educate the Turkish populace and institute legal reforms, the complex relationship between the cultural, patriarchal, and religious bases of honor killings makes it challenging to eradicate this practice in modern Turkish society.

James Welling’s Glass House Series: A Postmodern Take on a Modernist Icon

Ian McBride — Mon, 02 May 2011 13:45:15 +0000

Photographer James Welling's career has variously explored ideas of transparency, color theory, and abstraction through his vibrant images. The most recent exhibition of Welling's work, which debuted at the David Zwirner Gallery in early 2010, showcased his Glass House Series - a collection of digital images taken around the Connecticut estate of Phillip Johnson's Glass House. The photographs are compelling not only for their technical use of cinema gels to extract monochromatic tones, but also for what architectural critic Sylvia Lavin describes as a "promiscuous transformation" of an American icon of orthodox modernism. Through a preoccupation with surface, reflection, fragmentation, and arbitrariness, Welling's photographs arrive at a contemporary understanding of Johnson's house. The argument will reference the series as a whole, but will discuss as an example the specific photograph that the Collecting Photography Now J-term class has recommended for acquisition by the Middlebury College Museum of Art.

From Entitlement to Stewardship: Children’s and Young Adult Literature of the Chesapeake Bay

Ian McBride — Mon, 02 May 2011 13:40:25 +0000

Although early literature of Maryland and Virginia's Chesapeake Bay reflected the first settlers' unbridled consumption of resources, as the twentieth centuries due to habitat loss, overfishing, and pollution, literature, specifically an emergent genre of children's and young adult literature, demonstrated a shift from entitlement towards stewardship of the Bay's resources. Authors of children's and young adult literature increasingly encouraged youth, either didactically or through metaphor, to value the Bay's resources, protect the health of the Bay, and persuade others to become stewards of a healthy Chesapeake for future generations. This presentation will examine the transformation of Chesapeake Bay literature, and explore how these children's and young adult works color the growing environmental education movement in the Bay region.

Why National Memory Matters: A Study of National Identity and Historical Responsibility in Contemporary Germany and Italy

Ian McBride — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:00:12 +0000

It is impossible to understand a nation's motivations and actions without being familiar with its national identity and the circumstances that shaped it. In the early twentieth century, Germany and Italy were both governed by authoritarian regimes that intertwined extreme nationalism with fascist ideology. After WWII, each nation faced the difficult task of redefining the political, social, and ethical terms of its national identity. We ask the question "How did Italy and Germany come to terms with their fascist past, and to what extent is the legacy of fascism still alive in national discourse?" Our research, which uses Italian, German and English sources, shows that despite underlying similarities, each nation has taken a different approach to integrating their fascist past into national identity. We look, for example, at how Hitler and Mussolini are differently remembered and the effect of their political and cultural legacies. The larger aim of this presentation is to show how, generally speaking, memory is a key factor in national identity.

Poverty Alleviation North and South of the Himalayas: Why has China Alleviated More Poverty than India?

Ian McBride — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:13:34 +0000

Despite unbelievable economic growth rates averaging between 8-10% in 2009 and bright economic prospects, China and India have become two of the largest contributors to world poverty. However, China has been able to alleviate more poverty than India. I believe that there are lessons to be learnt from China's success. Thus, I will compare both nations and examine the impact of provincial politics (decentralization) on poverty alleviation to determine why China has been able to alleviate more poverty than India. Since China and India are populous, large countries, there is a strong presence of state-level political institutions, which guide policy implementation. I will, thus, examine the cases of Sichuan and Anhui in China and Kerala andBihar in India. The contrast between the success of Sichuan and Kerala and failures of Anhui and Bihar will provide insight on the impact of decentralization and effectiveness of policy implementation towards poverty alleviation.

Good Mother/Bad Mother: Cultural Motherhood from “Hansel and Gretel” to Coraline

Ian McBride — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:00:39 +0000

This project examines how the figure of the split mother in folk tales has changed over three historical eras. First, it focuses on two oral tales originating in the Early Modern period: “Hansel and Gretel” and “The Juniper Tree.” It also looks at Lucy Lane Clifford’s “The New Mother” (1882) and Neil Gaiman’s novel, Coraline (2002). The project examines the cultural and historical anxieties involved in this Good Mother/Bad Mother split. Finally, it questions whether today’s notion of the unattainable ideal mother continues to reflect the prejudices of the Early Moderns and Victorians.

The Role of Nuclear Energy in India’s Future with Regards to CO2 Emissions

Ian McBride — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:28:54 +0000

The Indo-US 123 agreement will allow nuclear energy to become a vital part in India's domestic energy supply. Nuclear energy could provide India 35% of its energy supply by 2050, reducing its CO2 emissions. It will substitute for the energy baseline which has been fossil-fuel based until now. India is the third highest CO2 emitter globally and the role of nuclear energy as a baseline will be vital to CO2 emission reduction goals. Foreign involvement in the Indian nuclear sector will aid the development of India's three-stage programme, which will help to sustain its growing energy demand. In addition to providing an alternate baseline to coal, nuclear energy will increase domestic self-sustainability and reduce dependence on fossil fuels in a cost-effective manner. As a combination of multiple efforts, domestic, bi-lateral and international, the nuclear energy transition will assume an important role in India and this represents successful global environmental policy.

Millborne Farms: A Case Study of Modern Dairy Farming in Vermont

Ian McBride — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:21:23 +0000

As times and consumer preferences change, how is a traditional Vermont dairy farmer to make a decent living? Is it worth their time to simply continue producing traditional products (milk, yogurt, cheese, butter) in a heavily saturated market, or should they branch out into kefirs, smoothies, or probiotic shots? Should they stay local and maintain the integrity of the farm or ship products around the country in order to avoid financial ruin? Gert and Arda Schute of Millborne Farms in Shoreham, VT deal with these concerns on a daily basis. This presentation will be the culmination of my personal research on profitability and dairy farming. It will also critically analyze the business issues currently facing Gert and Arda and offer solutions that will maintain the vitality and increase the profitability of their farm.

Creating a National Ideal: How Baseball Drove Bushido in 20th Century Japan

Ian McBride — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:00:13 +0000

Baseball is certainly Japan's most popular sport, in part because players there are said to embody bushido, an ancient set of values said to have described samurai gentlemen of old. However, bushido is far from timeless and unchanging. Instead, it is a dynamic term that has changed, especially in the 20th Century, as Japanese society has struggled to maintain its unique identity despite the homogenizing pressures of globalization. I argue that baseball players bring about this change by setting examples for the rest of society, and that as the behavior of players has evolved, the popular perception of bushido and the way Japanese citizens idealize their own history has evolved right with them.

“Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!”: The American Social Order through the Lens of the Jerry Springer Show

Ian McBride — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:00:15 +0000

This project examines the continued success of The Jerry Springer Show. Does the show promote the inclusion of the "other" in the American social order or is it a profit-seeking mechanism that proves only to further uphold a hierarchal American social structure in which some are excluded? By viewing scholarly articles on the talk show format, footage from The Jerry Springer Show, and other critical works in American Studies, I set out to prove that The Jerry Springer Show uses coded mechanisms to create the illusion of a democratic forum which promotes oppositional culture and challenges social norms. This, in turn creates a "participatory illusion" that veils the underlying profit-based motivations of the show. The goal is engaged viewers that question the motives of a seemingly un-refined format, "cheap amusements." What is the show telling us about American society, and how is its shaping of perspective relevant to how we function as a society?

Monitoring Carbon Uptake on College Lands

Ian McBride — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:08:15 +0000

Middlebury College has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2016. As the largest private landowner in Addison County, there is tremendous potential for land management practices to contribute to the goal of carbon neutrality. As part of an effort to understand how carbon sequestration varies among the different forest types on College-owned lands, we monitored carbon uptake in the Battell Research Forest, an old-growth hemlock forest in East Middleury, VT. As expected for an old-growth forest, the Battell Research Forest contains substantial pools of carbon in live and dead biomass. The size of the woody debris pool was substantially larger at the Battell Research Forest than in secondary forests at Breadloaf. We conclude our presentation with a proposal for how to implement an ongoing carbon monitoring protocol on College-owned forest lands.

Marching on Rome: The Public and the Private in Civil Strife at Rome

Ian McBride — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:00:43 +0000

The Roman Republic rested on a paradox, in which men of the elite were expected to distinguish themselves and win glory, but not overstep certain bounds of self-sacrifice to the common good. Rome was a "contest culture," in which the tension between the ideal of service to the Republic conflicted with ambitious individuals who subverted that ideal by vying for control of the state. I examine Julius Caesar's own account of his march on Rome in 49 BC; the history written by Sallust of the Catilinarian conspiracy, a plot hatched by a disillusioned and disenfranchised failed politician in 63 BC; and the story of Coriolanus, an Roman general of the 5th-century BC who marched on Rome because of a perceived personal insult. Each of these three accounts features a Roman aristocrat reacting to a public conflict and perversely making that public, political issue into a private conflict.

Understanding the Purpose of Modern Adaptations of Classic Works of Dramatic Literature: A Case Study of Anton Chekhov

Ian McBride — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:32:42 +0000

As arguably the most famous playwright that Russia has ever produced, Anton Chekhov has written works that have been read and performed on an international level since their first publication in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His literary genius has helped to further the genre of realistic theatre with a tragicomedy of simultaneous humor and melancholy unique to his plays. In comparing three contemporary dramatic literature adaptations of Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya to the original (Sam Holcroft's Vanya, Howard Barker's Uncle Vanya and David Mamet's Uncle Vanya) I will prove that Chekhov's particular use of tragicomedy creates a human universality that dramatists try to emulate to this day, while each individually adjusts the test to fit his own distinctive writing style and vision for the plotline. This comparison asserts that classic works of dramatic literature contain an isolated universal human element that compels playwrights to create modern adaptations.

The Raja of Sattara and British Power in 19th Century India

Ian McBride — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:58:53 +0000

One way of understanding British power in India is by looking at British policies in individual states. Beginning in 1818, the state of Sattara was ruled by an Indian prince called a Raja, who was directly put into power by the East India Company. Two decades later, the East India Company came into the possession of documents which questioned the Raja's allegiance to the Company, British troops within India, and even Great Britain itself. Even with the knowledge that these documents were falsified, however, the British deposed the Raja of Sattara after an insufficient and politicized investigation into his supposed crimes. An examination of the fall of the Raja provides a glimpse into British power in India.

Middlebury Solar Decathlon: Students Design and Build a Solar-powered Farmhouse for the 21st Century

Ian McBride — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:20:50 +0000

Team Middlebury College has earned the opportunity to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011, a competition which challenges students from around the world to design and build 100% solar-powered homes. In September 2011, our student-led team will be one of 20 finalists to erect a complete, fully-functioning, net zero-energy home on the National Mall in Washington D.C., facing competitors like Team China and Team California. The competition is a chance for our team to redefine the future of residential energy use and home design, and to educate large audiences about sustainable living. It is also an opportunity for students studying different disciplines to come together, work as a team, and gain real life experience that will prove invaluable when entering the job market. Currently, our team is comprised of more than 80 students from 20 different majors. We tackle challenges from how to use computer modeling to optimize a home's energy system to how to educate the Middlebury community about green building. At the end of March, we began constructing our vision of the New England farmhouse, Self-Reliance, which is designed for a Vermont family of four. It features a green wall and ample public living space, as well as locally sources, environmentally friendly materials.

Community Connection: Big Action Performance Ensemble

Shannon Bohler-Small — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:14:09 +0000

In reaction to dance competition reality shows that evaluate who is qualified to dance, Big APE presents Everyone Can Dance, a community-based performance project that celebrates the contagious allure of movement and the dynamic capabilities of the human body. The project includes a statewide tour and a four-week residency with Middlebury College students and local community participants. The company held several open rehearsals so anyone could watch the performance take shape. Members of the company, as well as over 50 community members, suddenly appeared in front of the bank during Middlebury's Chili Festival. The High-Tech Hoedown was created by Tiffany Rhynard and members of the group.

21st-Century Global Challenges: The Promise of Social Entrepreneurship

Jonathan Isham — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:26:38 +0000

In a January 2011 Winter Term Class, "Twenty-First Century Global Challenges," 21 Middlebury students studied great challenges of our time – including wide-scale poverty, climate change, and the struggle for human rights. They then analyzed how social entrepreneurs - individuals and groups who are developing new ways to attack systematic problems - are taking on these challenges. For example, Nina Cameron '12 studied how the Global Network is trying to reduce the prevalence of neglected tropical diseases; Erin Kelly '13 studied how the University of the People is providing tuition-free higher-education throughout the developing world. The students also spend much of the course developing a vision for a new center for social entrepreneurship based at Middlebury College. On this MiddLab, we report the ongoing results of this work.

American Poverty in Context: Understanding Social Determinants of Health

Ian McBride — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:43:21 +0000

Samantha Marder is the Program Manager of Project Health in Providence, RI. Prior to joining the Project HEALTH staff team, Samantha worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Rhode Island Department of Health as a Project Specialist with a focus on healthy and affordable housing. Hannah graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in sociology and continues her work with Project HEALTH after volunteering at the Family Help Desk at the Providence, RI site.

American Poverty in Context: Poverty, Gender Politics, and the Origin of Labor Legislation

Ian McBride — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:28:13 +0000

Robert E. Prasch is Professor of Economics at Middlebury College where he teaches Monetary Theory and Policy,

Macroeconomics, American Economic History, and the History of Economic Thought. He is the author of over

90 academic articles, book chapters, and book reviews in addition to Op-Eds and interviews in several outlets

including The Burlington Free Press, The Huffington Post, VPR, and WBAI (New York City).

NERCHE’s 2011 Student Civic Engagement Think Tank Series

Ian McBride — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:49:36 +0000

Middlebury College is proud to participate in NERCHE’s 2011 Student Civic Engagement Think Tank Series. As the host institution for Vermont, we look forward to collaborating with over 10 other higher education institutions in the state to discuss what it means for today’s undergraduates to be civically engaged. An examination of various levels of political action, student self-perception and the important role which undergraduates have to play in their communities will be at the heart of this discussion. The New England Resource Center for Higher Education (NERCHE) is committed to collaborative change processes in higher education to address social justice in a diverse democracy. NERCHE’s work is informed by a grassroots approach to developing collaborative leadership, oriented to building diverse and inclusive communities. Committed to higher education’s responsibility to the public realm, we value the principle of equal respect for the wisdom and experience of everyone involved in discovering new knowledge, improving practice, and providing leadership for institutional change. NERCHE strives for the widest possible inclusion of diverse voices—from underrepresented individuals, across role and position, and across institutional types—to foster authentic learning. Vermont Campus Compact (VCC) facilitates individual, institutional, and community growth by connecting people and ideas and actions. VCC works with campus leaders, faculty, staff, students, and community partners from our member campuses to: - Improve the quality of education by developing academic and co-curricular policies and practices that cultivate in our students the skills and habits of thoughtful and compassionate leaders, citizens and problem-solvers; - Engage faculty in community-based teaching and scholarship that address social, economic, and environmental concerns; - Develop collaborative partnerships among campuses and communities; - Create diverse opportunities for students to engage in local and global communities, to promote an ethic of service, develop compassion and respect for diversity, and provide real-world experience; - Advance leadership throughout the state in addressing critical issues and strengthening democracy.

One Less, Una Menos: Students Working to End Human Trafficking

Rebecca Walters — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:02:31 +0000

One Less, Una Menos, a non-profit founded by Monterey Institute students, partners with organizations in the San Jose area to end human trafficking. Last semester a group of students in the Master of Public Administration program completed a case study of One Less, primarily addressing organizational sustainability in the young nonprofit start-up.

American Poverty in Context: Housing Issues, Homelessness and Community Action in Vermont

Ian McBride — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:58:24 +0000

Ingrid Pixley is a long-time Vermont resident, working as a Property Manager for Addison County Community Trust, a local non-profit organization that provides affordable housing to the low- and middle-income people of Addison County. Doug Sinclair’s the co-founder of the Middlebury Community Care Coalition (MCCC), which since 2004 has since grown to 600 members who contribute over 18,000 volunteer hours per year supporting the housing and food needs of families and individuals who need a helping hand.

American Poverty in Context: Poverty 101

Ian McBride — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:03:43 +0000

In 1997, Dr. Beckley helped to create and became the first Director of the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability, which integrates sustained rigorous academic study and focused direct service to disadvantaged communities and persons. In 1999, Dr. Beckley was named the Fletcher Otey Thomas Professor of Religion and in 2002 he received the state of Virginia's highest award for excellence in education, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia's Outstanding Faculty Award.

American Poverty in Context: Community Action in New England

Ian McBride — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 06:45:55 +0000

Hal Colston is the founder and director of the Good News Garage. GNG was created to address transportation equity for people in poverty. Hal left the GNG in March 2004 to start a new nonprofit, NeighborKeepers - an inclusive community built that generate Circles of Support. Dr. Colston also teaches a community service course at Champlain College, and serves on the board of the HowardCenter, United Way Community Investment Committee, Vermont Health Foundation and the Visiting Nurse Association.

Towards a Verified Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone

Ian McBride — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:26:25 +0000

Since 1995 there have been no forward-looking and realistic program of action to promote the goals of the 1995 Middle East Resolution. Remarkably, regional powers are yet to contemplate on concrete steps toward implementing the resolution due to complex security dynamics and daunting geopolitics that have stymied previous efforts for decades. A combination of regional challenges and opportunities to implement the 1995 Middle East Resolution provide reasons to revisit the concept of the zone and suggest next steps that could lead to progress. The paper concludes that peace and security are both sides of the same coin and suggests practical mechanisms; inter alia, the establishment of parallel processes between efforts to establish a WMDFZ and peaceful relations in the Middle East.

Curricular Connections: A year of Greek Tragedy

Shannon Bohler-Small — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:57:18 +0000

This Fall marks another step in the cooperation between the Department of Classics and the Theatre Program, as they collaborate on a series of events this year that center on Euripides’ Hecuba. First produced in the 420s BCE, when Athens was at war, this tragedy is set in the harsh aftermath of the fall of Troy in the mythical past. Showing the plight of the captured women and their courage in the face of the worst suffering, Euripides weaves a gripping tale of greed, murder, political manipulation, and revenge. What do students think today of this play and genre of theater, its relevance and place in both cultural and theater history? How are Hecuba's themes being discussed in a modern classroom from two different disciplinary angles? How do those different lenses bring to light new inferences on an ancient form?

Enterprise Land Use in the Russian Federation

Ian McBride — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:52:26 +0000

What is the state of urban industrial land use in Russia today? Why did the 2001 Land Code reforms fail, and what is more, why does successful reform have yet to be instated? What are the economic effects of ineffective land reform in Russia, and are there legal or other effects, as well? Most importantly, which amendments need to be considered in order to create effective Russian land policy?

Curricular Connections: Tamar Rogoff Performance Projects

Shannon Bohler-Small — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:35:59 +0000

The interface between science and art is the core of this residency. Innovative choreographer and current Guggenheim Fellow Tamar Rogoff, and actor/dancer Gregg Mozgala share their findings from two years of daily work expanding the limitations and possibilities of cerebral palsy through dance. Three days of free classes and discussions culminate in the public, ticketed performance of Diagnosis of a Faun on October 29 and 30. Video top right: CBS Sunday Morning story, original broadcast December 2009 Video bottom right: Audience members leaving the Friday night, October 29th performance were asked "If you could describe Diagnosis of a Faun in one word, what would it be?" Responses were as varied as they were enlightening.

The Changing Landscape of Migrant Labor Markets in China: Differences in Compensation Across Space

Ian McBride — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 12:59:00 +0000

Chinese household registration policy classifies each citizen as either an urban or rural dweller. As China's coastal urban economies began to rapidly develop in the late 19070s and 1980s, many rural dwellers migrated to cities in search of higher wages. These migrant laborers were not able to receive the services provided to urban dwellers by local city governments. Preliminary results show that employers are more likely to offer these types of increased compensation when they are located in more mature job markets where the supply of jobs exceeds demand.

Environmentally Caused Chemical Constituent and Nutritional Variation in the Oilseed Crop Camelina sativa

Ian McBride — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 12:39:40 +0000

It is important to understand how crops will respond to climate change. Temperature, water availability, and insect predation influence crop yield and may also affect crop nutrients. Camelina sativa (camelina), an oilseed crop high in omega-3 fatty acids (FAs), grows best in the cold climates of Canada and northwestern US. In this study, camelina seeds and leaf tissue were grown at different temperatures and analyzed for FAs; glucosinolate levels were also studied in leaf tissues. This study's findings suggest that higher temperatures significantly reduce omega-3 FAs and glucosinates in camelina.

Curricular Connection: Exploring the piano

Shannon Bohler-Small — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 19:22:35 +0000

Dr. Bettina Matthias FYSE class, The Cultural History of the Piano, has spent some time exploring the piano in the Concert Hall and met with visiting artist Paul Lewis. Ross Commons Heads Pavlos Sfyoeras and Maria Hatjigeorgiou graciously invited the students, along with some Ross students, to a reception for Paul in their home. Diana and Emory Fanning, along with Town Hall Theater director Doug Anderson, mixed with students until Paul's arrival. Then the questions began...

Dialogues of Tradition and Nationality in the Legal Systems of Cameroon’s Muslim North

Ian McBride — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:34:01 +0000

During my study abroad experience with SIT's Development and Social Change program in Cameroon, I spent six weeks in Ngaoundéré, a large town in the country's Muslim North. Using surveys, interviews, and secondary materials I examined the relationship between the national secular legal system and traditional Islamic Fulbe law. My goal was to explore the balance between the two systems and identify areas of tension.

Fall 2010 Student Symposium: American Poverty in Context

Veronica Muoio — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:34:50 +0000

October 21st- 29th will be the Fall Student Symposium, "American Poverty in Context." We aim to build awareness and encourage discussion of poverty-related issues on the local and national level. The symposium will tackle issues such as hunger and local foods, social determinants of health, labor legislation, community action, and homelessness. In addition to inspiring intellectual discourse on poverty, we hope to motivate more students to participate in volunteer activities and to consider pursuing careers in non-profits.

Please click on the posters below in the downloads section for more detailed information about each event!

The Splendor of Europe: Art Markets in Antwerp, Amsterdam, and London

Sophia Wang — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:44:14 +0000

This research explores these markets from cultural, geographic, political, and economic angles, concentrating on an aspect peculiar to each city. Thanks in part to its strategic crossroads location, the Antwerp market developed earliest, nurturing a dynamic, cosmopolitan scene. In Amsterdam, we shall also discuss financial difficulties that artists, notably Rembrandt, may have faced. Lastly, we shall leave the continent, venturing across the English Channel to roost in London, which itself came to showcase a glittering auction and art market, dominated by the royalty and aristocracy.

Made in Tianguis: Informal Commerce in Guadalajara, Mexico

Ian McBride — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:13:04 +0000

Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, has grown and thrived primarily through commerce. Often the most important kind of commerce in the city is informal buying and selling at unfixed prices in unfixed or temporary locations. Important aspects of Tapatían (Guadalajaran) culture are represented in the day-to-day activity of street vendors and tianguis (open-air markets). This presentation is adapted from a long-form essay (in Spanish), written during a semster on Middlebury's program in Guadalajara.

Changes in the leaf area index (LAI) due to ice storm damage at Harvard Forest

Ian McBride — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:11:08 +0000

Terrestrial ecosystems play an integral role in the global carbon balance, potentially functioning as carbon sinks that fluctuate through time and seasonal changes. The net ecosystem exchange of these ecosystems has been heavily studied at the Harvard Forest Environmental Measurements Site (HFEMS) and has shown an increase in carbon sequestration over the past two decades. My study was conducted to analyze various impacts of the ice storm tat struck New England in December 2008 with respect to the forest carbon flux.

Civil War, Ethnicity, and the Migration of Skilled Labor

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0000

We investigate the impact of civil war on high skilled emigration rates to the OECD over the period 1985-2000. Controlling for economic and institutional characteristics of source countries, we find that civil war increases high skilled emigration by about 5 percent on the average. However, the nature of conflict matters: While brain drain from countries with ethnic conflict is about 6-8 percent greater on average than it is from countries without conflict, brain drain from countries with nonethnic conflict is less, and statistically insignificant. Duration also matters: Each additional year of ethnic conflict worsens the brain drain by between 0.4 and 1 percent, whereas the effect of an additional year of nonethnic conflict is small and insignificant.

The Evolution of U.S.Economics Textbooks

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads The Evolution of U.S.Economics Textbooks

The Economics Profession, the Financial Crisis, and Method

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads The Economics Profession, the Financial Crisis, and Method

The Choice Architecture of Choice Architecture: Toward a Non-paternalistic Nudge Policy

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0000

The paper seeks to recast the goal of nudge policy from a goal of achieving a specific result determined by government or by behavioral economists to a goal of giving individuals as much power as is practical to decide the choice architecture they face. We call a nudge with such a giving individuals power over choice mechanisms goal a non-paternalistic nudge policy. The goal of non-paternalistic nudge policy is not to achieve a better result as seen by government or by behavioral economists. The goal of non-paternalistic nudge policy is to achieve a better result as seen by the agents being nudged as revealed through their choices of choice architectures. We argue that non-paternalistic nudge policy fits much better with the values inherent in Classical liberalism than does libertarian paternalistic nudge policy.

Reintegrating the Social Sciences: The Dahlem Group

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Social science disciplines see themselves as distinct, with their own territory, their own methods, and their own framework. Within such an environment multidisciplinary work involves enormous conflict and translation problems. This situation is no longer acceptable. Dealing with modern problems requires researchers with broad transdisciplinary knowledge and with the ability to communicate with other social science researchers in a way that will allow them to arrive at transdisciplinary recommendations. Complex issues such as healthcare, income distributions, crime prevention, industrial policy, agriculture require not only insights from multiple social disciplines, but the integration of those insights. This document offers a proposal for training social science researchers. Specifically, it proposes reintegrating the social sciences by modifying the current system of trainingwhich provides completely separate training for researchers in each sub-disciplineto incorporate a common first year core"of training for all social science researchers. If implemented, the proposal will reduce the babble that currently characterizes much of the interdisciplinary conversations.

Can European Economics Compete with U.S. Economics? And Should It?

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Can European Economics Compete with U.S. Economics? And Should It?

The Keynesian Method, Complexity, and the Training of Economists

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads The Keynesian Method, Complexity, and the Training of Economists

Petrologic and spatial analysis of volcanic ballistics from the 1790 explosive eruption of Kilauea, Hawai’i

Ian McBride — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:15:30 +0000

Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawai’i is well known for its effusive, fountain-style eruptions. However, its eruptive history is punctuated byexplosive eruptions that would today be a serious hazard to local humanpopulations. Explosive eruptions induced by contact between waterand magma are known as phreatomagmatic, and such an eruption in1790 was responsible for the deaths of roughly 80 Hawaiians.

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Ian McCray

Ian McBride — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:29:21 +0000

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In his interview, Ian McCray discusses the transfer student experience, the growth of the Middlebury campus, working as a staff member at the College, the admissions process, questioning perceptions of racism in town, and the changes to the student body in terms of socioeconomic and racial diversity.

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Miguel Fernández

Ian McBride — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:06:07 +0000

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people’s experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In his interview, discusses growing up while living abroad, studying Russian, French, Spanish, and Japanese, differences between rural and urban settings, performing a wedding at Middlebury, diversity, raising a family in Middlebury, and being 'the other'.

CCSRE Life Stories Project: Ryan Kellett

Ian McBride — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 12:34:23 +0000

“Life Stories of Middlebury College” is a multi-phase initiative intended to gather people's experiences while at the college, particularly reflections that highlight issues of diversity. In his interview, Ryan Kellett discusses issues of diversity he encountered growing up in San Francisco, his time studying and working in China, being part of a diverse group of students at the PALANA House, reflecting on work at Middlebury, and blogging.

Trends and Perceptions in Zoo and Aquarium Field Trips

Ian McBride — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:48:39 +0000

This paper reports the results of a survey designed to examine trends in zoo and aquarium field trip attendance, as well as the perceptions and practices of zoo and aquarium educators. The results suggest that field trip attendance is down at most zoos and aquariums over the last five years, but increased during 2009 over 2008 at about half of the institutions reporting data. The results obtained here, combined with those reported in the published literature, suggest that zoo and aquarium educators must continue to provide classroom teachers with professional development opportunities if field trips are to remain an educationally-relevant part of the K-12 experience.

The Role of Orexin System Signaling in a Rat Model of Selective Attention

Ian McBride — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:14:33 +0000

One of the most fundamental aspects of cognitive function is the ability to filter and extract, through focused attention, useful information from the vast array of incoming stimuli at any given moment. Impairments in selective attention performance are associated with disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia. To further investigate the role of orexins in selective attention, male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained on a selective attention task paradigm designed to measure their ability to focus on external stimuli and perform appropriate response actions. Based on the available literature we expect orexin to cause a dose-dependent impairment on performance of the selective attention task.

The Non-Enzymatic Glycation of Ubiquitin: A Structural and Functional Study

Ian McBride — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:26:57 +0000

The glycation of ubiquitin with ribose 5-phosphate (R5P) and glucose was studied to determine the effect of post-translationally modified ubiquitin on intracellular proteolysis. Our investigations focused on identifying the location of glycation sites on the ubiquitin protein and on developing a method for assessing the effect that glycation has on ubiquitin activity. A novel method which employs yeast cytochrome c as a ubiquitination target substrate and LC-MS for subsequent analysis is under development for use in assessing the functionality of modified ubiquitin. Preliminary results suggest that this is a robust method for the detection of ubiquitination. Further refinement of this method is necessary before the effects of glycation on ubiquitination can be analyzed.

The Effectiveness of Charity Auction Mechanisms

Ian McBride — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 21:00:48 +0000

Nonprofit organizations depend on charitable donations to provide cash revenue. Charities frequently employ auctions and raffles to grow revenue and transform “in kind” donations into cash. Despite this, neither the theory nor the practice of efficient fundraising – and, in particular, charity auctions – has received sufficient attention from economists. In the previous stage of our research, we studied the revenue potential of fifteen different charity auction mechanisms in the experimental lab. While some mechanisms had already received attention from theorists and empiricists, we also explored the potential of new formats, such as the “bucket” and “hybrid” auctions. We are now testing the most lucrative mechanisms from the lab in the field at national non-profit conventions to identify the fundraising mechanisms that generate the most revenue for charitable organizations.

Restorative Justice at Middlebury College

Ian McBride — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:04:27 +0000

According to Howard Zehr (2002), "Restorative justice is a process to involve, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in a specific offense and to collectively identify and address harms, needs, and obligations, in order to heal and put things as right as possible." We propose various methods of incorporating restorative practices into the Middlebury College judicial system.

Is There A Road-ice Advantage In NHL Shootouts?

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersAlexandra A. FoxTucker P. DonahoeJohn M. Yanchek Related Links Downloads Is There A Road-ice Advantage In NHL Shootouts?

Are First-round NFL Draft Picks Better Than Second-round Picks?

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersAlyssa A. Chong Related Links Downloads Are First-round NFL Draft Picks Better Than Second-round Picks?

Babe: The Sultan of Pitching Stats

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersMatthew H. LoRusso Related Links Downloads Babe: The Sultan of Pitching Stats

When is the Honeymoon Over for Baseballs New Stadiums?

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersMark B. Whelan Related Links Downloads When is the Honeymoon Over for Baseballs New Stadiums?

Real March Madness: Rewarding Schools for Low GSRs

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersAlyssa A. Chong Related Links Downloads Real March Madness: Rewarding Schools for Low GSRs

The effects of prolonged exposure to prolactin upon adult neurogenesis

Ian McBride — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:06:57 +0000

For his thesis research, Tyler Prince (’11) is continuing our research with prolactin to examine the effects of prolonged exposure to prolactin upon adult neurogenesis. This summer, he conducted histological staining for newly proliferated cells in the hippocampus (See pictures). The hippocampus is an area of the brain that plays a critical role in the processing of spatial and temporal memories and is involved in working memory more generally. Therefore, the growth of new nerve cells is of particular interest in this brain region, and our research has implications for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and chronic depression.

Oath-Sworn: The Concept of Oath-taking in Northwestern Medieval Europe

Ian McBride — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:22:58 +0000

Oaths play an important role in our modern society from swearing-in procedures to Middlebury's own Honor Code. A thousand years ago, oaths had a much larger role in early medieval society. Oaths were used to create artificial bonds between people. These bonds were the glue that kept the often violent early medieval society from falling apart. My study focuses on the social history of the oaths in northwestern Viking Age Europe through a close examination of Norse Sagas and French and English epics.

The Financial Burden of Terminal Illnesses and the Support System

Ian McBride — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 14:00:56 +0000

The onset of terminal illness within low and middle income families often has devastating effects. This effect is substantially magnified if the person who becomes terminally ill is the primary bread winner of the family. In the Indian setting the onset of terminal illness causes three primary changes within a family's daily functioning. Firstly, the individual and to an extent the family has to face social stigma that is associated with certain terminal illnesses like HIV/AIDS and Cancer. Secondly, if the primary bread winner is affected then the family looses a significant revenue source. Thirdly, the terminal illness results in large increases in medical expenses. However, regardless of the intensity of the financial crisis these families do function (however impaired) from a week to the next. My research explores the support structure that allows for this sustenance, its nature and composition, and attempts to utilize the findings to stimulate policy changes within the local and state systems.

El Salvador Practicum: Collaborating for Sustainable Community Development

Ian McBride — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:21:32 +0000

Last January fifteen intrepid graduate students (aka Team Monterey 4) traveled to the Bajo Lempa region of El Salvador to tackle agricultural, water access, and conservation issues. Visit the Equipo Monterey blog to explore their adventures searching for illicit turtle eggs at the local markets, or designing workshops for food producers to share knowledge and potential growth strategies.

Behavioral Effects of Unique Perspective-taking Methods in Mildly Aggressive Situations between Strangers

Ian McBride — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:54:47 +0000

The use of perspective taking, loosely defined as checking in with another person's point of view, inhibits aggressive responding. The present study investigates two specific perspective-taking methods: Imagine-Other, which involves imagining how another person feels by trying to understand the situation from his/her point of view, and Imagine-Self, which involves coming to know the other's perspective by imagining oneself in the other person's situation.

Mapping the Islands of Old Providence and Santa Catalina, Colombia

Ian McBride — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:38:49 +0000

For this project I returned to Old Providence for almost a month over J-term with a Garmin GPS to ground-truth information I had acquired from CORALINA (the government-sponsored Corporation for the Sustainable Development of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina) and to create my own more accurate dataset. I recorded data for all of the roads, dirt roads, sidewalks and trails on the island, as well as important waypoints, and compiled a map of this information, populated areas, the biosphere reserve, and English nomenclature—which I fact-checked with native islanders.

Have Sports Venues Mitigated the Home Foreclosure Crisis?

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0000

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Racer Swimsuits Fit to a T

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersJay Li Related Links Downloads Racer Swimsuits Fit to a T

Gastronomic Hierarchies of Value: the Market for French AOC Wines

Ian McBride — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:27:32 +0000

The business model of the food industry, as it stands today, is unsustainable. To counter these negative trends, organizations like Slow Food International have begun to champion the importance of "quality" for health, the environment, and the art of gastronomy. But what does quality mean and what will be its impact on the global food industry? An analysis of wines produced in France and labeled with the government-sponsored quality certification system, Appelation d'Origine Contrôlée, reveals that an emphasis on quality and geography, rather than brand, makes the food market more monopolistically competitive, more inclusive yet hierarchical.

Reassessing the First Anglo-Dutch War of the Seventeenth Century

Ian McBride — Fri, 21 May 2010 21:32:14 +0000

At the dawn of Europe’s global age, England and the Dutch Republic clashed in a series of violent naval battles known as the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654). I argue that the First Anglo-Dutch War was the direct result of the calculated political and economic strategies of the English East India Company (EIC). Through carefully crafted popular marketing campaigns and the consistent, calculated lobbying and infiltration of England’s monarchy and national government, the EIC definitively influenced English foreign policy - a strategy that would establish the foundation for the greatest global empire the world had yet seen.

Chinese Interethnic Marriage: Passion or Rational Choice?

Ian McBride — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:03:25 +0000

The One Child Policy (OCP) has had an enormous impact on Chinese society over the past thirty years and has further exacerbated the gender imbalance of the nation. The ensuing ―"marriage market shortages" in China have had important implications for marriageable-aged Chinese men and women. The scarcity of Han women in Chinese marriage markets and the concessions of the OCP with regard to ethnic minorities may increase the propensity of female Han to marry out when they see gains to marriage such as being able to have more than one child. Given this and other potential gains to intermarriage, under certain circumstances, interethnic marriage may be a rational choice for females in Chinese society.

Hope Walks into a Bar Looking for Change

Ian McBride — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:59:12 +0000

One of the presenters for TEDxMonterey was Kelley Calvert, a MIIS alumna and faculty member. Kelley spent the summer of 2009 on a cross-country road trip exploring the nation for signs of hope and change. This was no ordinary journey; she traveled via a twenty-year-old retrofitted biodiesel Jetta. This adventure has inspired her book, Hope Walks into a Bar Looking for Change, a fast-moving tale on the open road that attempts to learn if hope can emerge from change. The cross-country journey and the process of documenting her experience inspired her TEDxMonterey talk where she encouraged participants to add their hope to her online map.

Slow Food’s Contribution to a Shift in American Food Culture

Ian McBride — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:00:48 +0000

My research looks at the success of the Slow Food movement in the United States, and how it was a contributing factor to a mental shift from fast unhealthy food to local healthy ones in a portion of the population. The movement was started in Italy, and while support for the movement has grown at the grass roots level, new pro-fast food elements have become present in Italian politics. Since its arrival in 2000 to the United States, the movement encouraged a process of education that promotes an understanding of the food industry. This study focuses on the changes in the food culture that were spurred by the Slow Food movement and have led to educational programs across the country and how this compares to Italy's current situation.

The Population-level Impact of Density-dependent Seedling Mortality of Big-leaf Mahogany

Ian McBride — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:46:30 +0000

A high mortality of seeds and seedlings has been documented in areas of high conspecific adult density as a result of increased predation and disease. Although this phenomenon has received significant attention in the scientific literature, the long-term evolutionary and ecological impact of density-dependent seedling mortality remains poorly understood. The purpose of the present study is to determine the population-level impact of density-dependent seedling mortality on heavily exploited big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla).

Mapping Trees: A Horticulture Study

Ian McBride — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:19:27 +0000

Tim Parsons, the College's Horticulturalist developed an interactive map of all the trees on campus. In Tim’s Urban Forest class, his students took the tree population and ran it through modeling software called iTree to look at carbon sequestration, pollution abatement, etc. Students in other classes have used the map for tree identification. For example, a student recently contacted Tim because she was looking for Cherry trees to evaluate for a plant community ecology class.

Hidden Cities: Locating Slums on the Globalized Map

Ian McBride — Tue, 04 May 2010 19:58:46 +0000

From the Spring 2010 issue of the student-published Middlebury Geographic magazine, Andrea Jones examines the economic and geographic conditions that lead to the creation of slums and shantytowns across three continents.

Gender bias and the female brain drain

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 May 2010 04:00:00 +0000

This paper contributes to the emerging literature on gender differences in the causes and

Brain Drain and Institutions of Governance: Educational Attainment of Immigrants to the US 1988-1998

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 May 2010 04:00:00 +0000

We investigate the impact of home country institutions on the skill level of immigrants to the United States over 1988-1998. Specifically, we explore the hypothesis that institutions are multidimensional and that the different dimensions have conflicting impacts on the migration of skilled labor. Using an exploratory factor analysis on fifteen institutional variables, we identify the following dimensions of institutional character: credibility; transparency; democracy; and the security of civil society. We find that credibility and transparency increase the magnitude of brain drain; security reduces it; and democracy has no significant impact.

Deconstructing Butter

Dana Yeaton — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:16:28 +0000

Can a fiction based upon a hoax tell us anything about who we are? “Spinning Into Butter” is a controversial and award-winning play, inspired by a racial incident that occurred while playwright Rebecca Gilman was a student at Middlebury in the early ’80s. On April 9th a multi-racial cast presented scenes from “Spinning Into Butter,” interspersed with audience reactions, to explore the script, its source material, and how we experience and respond to race at Middlebury in 2010.

Does Shooting Efficiency Matter in Explaining NBA Salaries?

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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Are Canadian NHL Hall of Famers Winter Babies?

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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IS THERE HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE IN INTERLEAGUE PLAY?

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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THE SKINNY ON OBESITY RATES AND THE U.S. ECONOMY

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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Are Russians the Highest-paid Goalies in the NHL?

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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Why Volunteer? Evidence on the Role of Altruism, Image, and Incentives

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

We examine motivations for prosocial behavior using new data on volunteer firefighters that contain a dictator-game based measure of altruism, surveyed measures of other behavioral factors, and call records that provide an objective measure of time spent volunteering. Controlling for a variety of other explanations, we find that the decision to volunteer is positively correlated with altruism as well as with concern for social reputation or image. Moreover, by utilizing variation in the presence and level of small stipends paid to the firefighters, we find that the positive effect of monetary incentives declines with image concerns, supporting a prediction that extrinsic incentives can crowd out image motivation for prosocial behavior.

Derby Drop-Offs

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersNicholas B. AngstmanAndrea L. BuonoTrevor B. DoddsAndrew K. Somberg Related Links Downloads Derby Drop-Offs

The WNBA and Graduation Rates of Female Basketball Players

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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DO NEW BALLPARKS AFFECT THE HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE?

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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Heres the Scoop: Ground Balls Win Lacrosse Games

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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An Empirical Test of Bill Jamess Pythagorean Formula

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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Moving Back the NCAAs Three-point Line: A Challenge?

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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A POISSON MODEL FOR "HITTING FOR THE CYCLE" IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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BORN TO RUN CHI-SQUARE TESTS: MATHEMATICS IN MUSIC

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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The Career Save Percentage Profile of NHL Goalies

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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IN DIVISION I HOCKEY, DOES THE PUCK STOP JUNIOR YEAR?

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

The 2004-2005 National Hockey League (NHL) lockout has had a twofold effect on mens Division I college hockey programs. First, NHL entry-level contracts are now much less expensive than they were before the lockout. As a consequence, NHL teams are now more inclined to induce Division I hockey players to forego years of remaining eligibility. Second, the age of unrestricted free agency has dropped, encouraging rookies to begin their NHL career at a younger age. The authors show that there has been not only a surge in the number of Division I college players who have signed NHL contracts in the two years after 2004-2005 lockout than in the two years before the lockout, but since the lockout disproportionately more NHL bound college players have left college in their junior year.

MONOPOLY POWER

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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WHO REALLY VOTED FOR BARACK OBAMA?

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersAlyssa A. ChongMonica B. RalstonAndrew C. Waxman Related Links Downloads WHO REALLY VOTED FOR BARACK OBAMA?

Review of The Hesitant Hand: Taming Self-Interest in the History of Economic Ideas

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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Marshall, Models, and Macroeconomics: Comments on Michel De Vroeys The Marshallian Roots of Keyness General Theory

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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The Genesis of Macroeconomics: New Ideas from Sir William Petty to Henry Thornton

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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The Complexity Era in Economics

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0000

This article argues that the neoclassical era in economics has ended and is being replaced by a new era. What best characterizes the new era is its acceptance that the economy is complex, and thus that it might be called the complexity era. The complexity era has not arrived through a revolution. Instead, it has evolved out of the many strains of neoclassical work, along with work done by less orthodox mainstream and heterodox economists. It is only in its beginning stages. The article discusses the work that is forming the foundation of the complexity era, and how that work will likely change the way in which we understand economic phenomena and the economics profession.

Review of From Political Economy to Economics: Method, the Social and Historical Evolution of Economic Theory

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:00:00 +0000

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Who favors freer markets? The composition and interests of Russias regional business lobbies

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Why are some lobby groups less benign in their external effects than others? Olson (1982) proposed that those that are less encompassing in the sense that their constituents collectively represent a narrower range of sectors are more apt to seek the types of subsidies, tariffs, tax loopholes and competition-limiting regulations that impose costs on the rest of society. But his hypothesis has to our knowledge not been directly tested. Part of the reason, we suspect, relates to the absence of adequate data. By drawing on a unique pair of surveys, targeted to both business associations (lobby groups) and their constituents, we provide what we believe to be the first direct test of Olsons hypothesis. Managers from a diverse array of Russian industrial firms and business associations were asked similar questions regarding their attitudes to policies that explicitly benefit well-defined sectoral or regional interests and, implicitly, impose external costs. The pattern of responses is striking. Managers of both the less encompassing associations and the firms that belong to such groups are much more apt to view such policies in a favorable light. More encompassing associations and the members of such organizations are relatively more skeptical of narrowly-targeted government interventions. The results, we believe, provide strong support for Olsons hypothesis.

Brain Drain and Institutions of Governance: Educational Attainment of Immigrants to the US 1988-2000

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:00:00 +0000

We use a fixed effects panel data model to investigate the impact of institutions of governance on the educational attainment of immigrants to the United States over the period 1988 2000. Distinguishing between the quality and stability of political institutions in the countries of origin, we find that the two characteristics of institutional structure have conflicting impacts on the nature of brain drain. Immigrants from countries with a higher quality of political institutions tend to be better educated, on the average, than immigrants from countries with institutions of lower quality. However, immigrants from countries with greater political instability tend to be better educated than immigrants from countries with more stable governments.

The Ancillary Benefits from Climate Policy in the United States

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This study investigates the benefits to human health that would occur in the United States (U.S.) due to reductions in local air pollutant emissions stemming from a federal policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). In order to measure the impacts of reduced emissions of local pollutants, this study considers a representative U.S. climate policy. Specifically, the climate policy modeled in this analysis is the Warner-Lieberman bill (S.2191) of 2008 and the paper considers the impacts of reduced emissions in the transport and electric power sectors. This analysis provides strong evidence that climate change policy in the U.S. will generate significant returns to society in excess of the benefits due to climate stabilization. The total health-related co-benefits associated with a representative climate policy over the years 2006 to 2030 range between $90 and $725 billion in present value terms depending on modeling assumptions. The majority of avoided damages are due to reduced emissions of SO2 from coal-fired power plants. Among the most important assumptions is whether remaining coal-fired generation capacity is permitted to backslide up to the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) cap on emissions. This analysis models two scenarios specifically related to this issue. Co-benefits increase from $90 billion, when the CAIR cap is met, to $256 billion if SO2 emissions are not permitted to exceed current emission rates. On a per ton basis, the co-benefit per ton of GHG emissions is projected to average between $2 and $14 ($2006). The per ton marginal abatement cost for the representative climate policy is estimated at $9 ($2006).

How Economists Got It Wrong: A Nuanced Account

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This paper considers how economists failed society by not preparing society to expect and plan for a possible financial crisis. It argues that the story told by Paul Krugman in his recent NYT Magazine article was too black and white in that it made it look as if Classical economists who were blinded by the beauty of mathematics, are to blame and that Keynesian economics is the path of the future. This paper takes issue with both those claims. It reviews the evolution of economic thinking from Classical to modern times, and shows the Keynesian/Classical terminology misses many of the nuances of policy discussions. It suggests that the solution for the macroeconomics profession isnt the solution that Krugman suggests it isto re-embrace Keynes. The solution is to re-embrace the broader Classical economic tradition, and to recognize that Keynes was an important part of that Classical tradition.

Brains versus Brawn: Labor Market Returns to Intellectual and Health Human Capital in a Poor Developing Country

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Previous studies report that adult height has significant associations with wages even controlling for schooling. But schooling and height are imperfect measures of adult cognitive skills (brains) and strength (brawn); further they are not exogenous. Analysis of rich Guatemalan longitudinal data over 35 years finds that proximate determinantsadult reading comprehension skills and fat-free body masshave significantly positive associations with wages, but only brains, and not brawn, is significant when both human capital measures are treated as endogenous. Even in a poor developing economy in which strength plausibly has rewards, labor market returns are increased by brains, not brawn.

Business Boot Camp: Helping Liberal Arts Students Acquire Preprofessional Skills

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

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How Do Median Graduate Economic Programs Differ from Top-ranked Programs?

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This paper reports the results of a survey of median economics graduate programs and compares it with the results of a survey of top economics graduate programs done by Colander. Overall it finds that while there are some differences in the programs, there are large areas of similarity. Some of the particular finding are that there are more US respondents in median programs than in top programs, median students have more interest in econometrics, history of thought and economic literature than do students at top programs, although after the fifth year, their interest in any field drops significantly. It also finds that students at top schools are much more likely to be involved in writing scholarly papers, and that students at top schools give far less emphasis to excellence in mathematics as a path to the fast track than do students at median schools.

What Was It that Robbins Was Defining?

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This paper argues that Robbins famous definition of economics was of economic science which he saw as only a narrow branch of the field of economics. The field of economics included both economic sciencewhich his definition dealt with, and political economy--which his essay did not deal with. His prescriptive message was that policy belonged in the political economy branch of economics. He believed that while the science of economics should avoid value judgments as much as possible, the political economy (applied policy) branch of economics should, and must, include value judgments. That prescriptive message has been lost.

Does Supply Matter? Initial Supply Conditions and the Effectiveness of Conditional Cash Transfers for Grade Progression in Nicaragua

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

We combine administrative and survey data to examine the effect of a conditional cash transfer program on grade progression in Nicaragua from 19992003, putting the spotlight on initial supply side conditions and the extent to which they conditioned program effectiveness. Our principal findings are that the program had a substantial effect on grade progression and that these increased over time, even after the original intervention group stopped receiving demand-side transfers. Half of the estimated program effect on progression is accounted for by a reduction in the dropout and repetition rates of beneficiary children who were already in school when the program began. Supply side conditions were important and several of them led to heterogeneous program impacts. The program was more effective in areas with autonomous schools, suggesting flexibility at the school level better enabled schools to respond to changing demand conditions. At the same time, it was also more effective in intervention areas with poor initial supply conditions as measured by indicators of grade availability and distance to school. These were the areas with lower enrollments and grade progression before the program, and thus more room for improvement. With the analysis of child schooling in hand, we then turn to assess the effect of the program on school supply conditions. It is precisely in the intervention areas with poor initial school supply conditions, that the program was relatively more effective in improving school supply as measured by grade availability, number of sessions per day and number of teachers. The results suggest that initial school supply conditions do not represent insurmountable obstacles for the implementation of a conditional cash transfer program, as long as these constraints are identified at the planning stage and mechanisms put in place to deal with them during the execution stage. Our results also underscore the importance of carefully considering the integrated (demand and supply) nature of conditional-cash-transfer programs, something often overlooked in the design of these interventions and, particularly, in the impact evaluation literature.

Economists, Incentives, Judgment, and the European CVAR Approach to Macroeconometrics

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This paper argues that the DSGE approach to macroeconometrics is the dominant approach because it meets the institutional needs of the replicator dynamics of the profession, not because it is necessarily the best way to do macroeconometrics. It further argues that this DSGE-theory first approach is inconsistent with the historical approach that economists have advocated in the past and that the alternative European CVAR approach is much more consistent with economists historically used methodology, correctly understood. However, because the European CVAR approach requires explicit researcher judgment, it does not do well in the replicator dynamics of the profession. The paper concludes with the suggestion that there should be an increase in dialog between the two approaches.

What is so Austrian about Austrian Economics?

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Modern mainstream economics is a plurocracy in which there is no orthodoxy of ideas, only an orthodoxy of method. Given the training it provides its students, mainstream economics natural domain is science. With the mainstreams acceptance of complexity views of the economy, Austrian economists views can now get a hearing within the mainstream. Thus, within the science of economics, there is no need for a separate Austrian economics. However, there is a need for Austrian economics in political economy, that branch of economics that takes the insights of science and relates them to policy. The paper urges Austrian economics to embrace political economy as its domain, and to position its work as within political economy.

Moving Beyond the Rhetoric of Pluralism: Suggestions for an Inside-the-Mainstream Heterodoxy

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

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How Did Macro Theory Get So Far off Track, and what Can Heterodox Macroeconomists Do to Get it Back On Track?

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This paper argues that the ideas that win out in economics are not necessarily those that a representative researcher would choose, but are rather the emergent result of the competition of ideas in which system replicator dynamics dominate. This means that those ideas that fit the analytic technology available to researchers at the time dominate, while better ideas that do not offer advancement to researchers lose out. This paper spells out that view. It differentiates a consumers understanding of theory from a producers understanding of theory, and argues that a consumers understanding of theory is often better suited to applied policy than is a producers understanding of theory. Because the replicator dynamics of the economics profession does not reward people for acquiring a consumers understanding of theory, that understanding is often neglected. Heterodox economists often have a better consumers understanding of theory than do mainstream economists but because they do not prepare students to be successful in economic institutional environment, their views do not receive the hearing they should in the profession. The paper offers a number of suggestions for heterodox European macro economists for competing and shaping the economic institutional environment.

The Choice Architecture of Choice Architecture: Toward a Nonpaternalistic Nudge Policy

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This The goal of nudge policy is generally presented as assisting people in finding their true preferences. Supporters argue that nudge policies meet a libertarian paternalism criterion. This claim has provoked complaints that nudge policies are unacceptably paternalistic. This paper suggests that by changing the explicit goal of nudge policy to a goal of making the choice of choice mechanism an explicit decision variable of the subgroup being affected by the nudge one can have a non-paternalistic nudge policy that better fits with the values inherent in Classical liberalism. The goal of non-paternalistic nudge policy is not to achieve a better result as seen by government or by behavioral economists. The goal of non-paternalistic nudge policy is to achieve a better result as seen by the agents being nudged as revealed through their choices of choice mechanisms. Examples are given of how nonpaternalistic nudge policy will and will not differ from paternalistic nudge policy.

Characterizing Uncertainty in Air Pollution Damage Estimates

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This study uses Monte Carlo methods to characterize the uncertainty associated with per-ton damage estimates for 100 power plants in the contiguous United States (U.S.) This analysis focuses on damage estimates produced by an Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) for emissions of two local air pollutants: sulfur dioxide (SO2) and .ne particulate matter (PM2:5). For each power plant, the Monte Carlo procedure yields an empirical distribution for the damage per ton of SO2 and PM2:5:For a power plant in New York, one ton of SO2 produces $5,160 in damages with a 90% percentile interval between $1,000 and $14,090. A ton of PM2:5 emitted from the same facility causes $17,790 worth of damages with a 90% percentile interval of $3,780 and $47,930. Results for the sample of 100 fossil-fuel .red power plants shows a strong spatial pattern in the marginal damage distributions. The degree of variability increases by plant location from east to west. This result highlights the importance of capturing uncertainty in air quality modeling in the empirical marginal damage distributions. Further, by isolating uncertainty at each module in the IAM we .nd that uncertainty associated with the dose-response parameter, which captures the in.uence of exposure to PM2:5 on adult mortality rates, the mortality valuation parameter, and the air quality model exert the greatest in.uence on cumulative uncertainty. The paper also demonstrates how the marginal damage distributions may be used to guide regulators in the design of more efficient market-based air pollution policy in the U.S.

Retail Redlining: Are gasoline prices higher in poor and minority neighborhoods?

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Higher retail prices are frequently cited as a cost of living in poor, minority neighborhoods. However, the empirical evidence, which primarilycomes from the grocery gap literature on food prices, has been mixed. This study uses new data on retail gasoline prices in three major U.S.cities to provide evidence on the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and consumer prices. We find that gasoline prices do not varygreatly with neighborhood racial composition, but that prices are higher in poor neighborhoods. For a 10 percentage point increase in the percentof families with incomes below the poverty line relative to families with incomes between 1 and 2 times the poverty line, retail gasoline prices are estimated to increase by an average of 0.70 percent. This differential is reduced to 0.22 percent once we add controls for costs, competition, and demand. Finally, we provide evidence that the remaining, small, price differential for poor neighborhoods is likely the result of traditional price discrimination in response to less competition and/or more inelastic demand in these locations.

The Effect of Deposit Insurance on Market Discipline:Evidence from a Natural Experiment on Deposit Flows

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:00:00 +0000

We explore how the introduction of explicit deposit insurance affects deposit flows into and out of banks of varying risk levels. Using evidence from a natural experiment in Russia, we employ a difference-in-difference estimator to isolate the change in the deposit flows of the newly insured group (i.e., households) relative to the uninsured control group (i.e., firms), thus improving upon prior studies that have sought to identify the effect of deposit insurance on market discipline. We find that the relative sensitivity of household deposits to bank capitalization diminished markedly after the introduction of an insurance program covering their deposits but not those of firms. The finding, we demonstrate, is not an artifact of the two groups responding differently to a banking crisis that occurred in Russia at roughly the same time.

Economics: The Just Right Liberal-Arts Major?

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0000

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Can European Economics Compete with U.S. Economics? And Should It"

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0000

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The Financial Crisis and the Systemic Failure of Academic Economics

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0000

The economics profession appears to have been unaware of the long build-up to the current worldwide financial crisis and to have significantly underestimated its dimensions once it started to unfold. In our view, this lack of understanding is due to a misallocation of research efforts in economics. We trace the deeper roots of this failure to the professions focus on models that, by design, disregard key elements driving outcomes in real-world markets. The economics profession has failed in communicating the limitations, weaknesses, and even dangers of its preferred models to the public. This state of affairs makes clear the need for a major reorientation of focus in the research economists undertake, as well as for the establishment of an ethical code that would ask economists to understand and communicate the limitations and potential misuses of their models.

Multilateralism cursed by bilateralism: Japans Role at the International Whaling Commission

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0000

We propose a new categorization of international organizations to account for the fact that within multilateral international organizations, states may engage in enticement strategies in order to advance their policy preferences. Thus, to the traditional multilateral/bilateral categorizations we substitute a hard multilateral/soft multilateral and reciprocal bilateral/bilateral taxonomy. For illustration purposes, we use the well-known case study of Japan and the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Using a modified gravity model to analyze Japans Official Development Assistance from 1973-2005, we find that Japan has a very traditional and generous assistance policy broadly defined, but when it comes to the IWC, some of the general principles driving the aid policy are put aside to possibly influence vote outcomes. Given this finding, we conclude that the IWC is best categorized as a soft multilateral organization.

In Praise of Modern Economics

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0000

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Matching the gold standard: Comparing experimental and non-experimental evaluation techniques for a geographically targeted program

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0000

We compare non-experimental impact estimates based on matching methods with those from a randomized evaluation to determine whether the non-experimental approach can match the so-called gold standard. The social experiment we use was carried out to evaluate a geographically targeted conditional cash transfer antipoverty program in Nicaragua. The outcomes we assess include several components of household expenditure and a variety of childrens health outcomes including breast feeding, vaccinations, and morbidity. We find that using each of the following improves performance of matching for these outcomes: 1) geographically proximate comparison samples; 2) stringent common support requirements; and 3) both geographic- and household-level matching variables. Even for a geographically targeted program, in which the selection is at the geographic-, rather than at the individual- or household-level, and in which it is not possible to find comparison individuals or households in the program locales, matching can perform reasonably well. The results also suggest that the techniques may be more promising for evaluating the more easily measured individual-level binary outcomes, than for outcomes that are more difficult to measure, such as expenditure.

The Professional Development of Graduate Students in Economics

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

This paper provides insight into the skill development activities of graduate students at U.S. institutions providing graduate education in economics. It documents the extent of student participation in and preparation for research and teaching activities while in graduate school. Over fifty percent of students are involved in teaching related activities including grading, leading recitation sections, and teaching their own sections with and without guidance. Most were generally satisfied with their preparation. About fifty-five percent of graduate students attend economic conferences, twenty percent present papers, twenty-two percent submit papers and ten percent have published. Important differences by assistantship assignments, institutional rank, and gender in such activities are highlighted. Findings suggest that programs could do more to prepare students for participation in professional activities post graduation.

Resource Flows Among Three Generations in Guatemala Study (200708): Definitions, tracking, data collection, coverage, and attrition

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

The allocation of resources across generations and the consequences of these allocations represent a research agenda with significant policy implications. At the same time, their empirical investigation imposes immense data requirements, and therefore data collection challenges. In this paper, we describe how we met these challenges, in the Resource Flows Among Three Generations in Guatemala Study, or IGT, carried out in 200607. In doing so, we provide a guide for using and interpreting the data collected as part of IGT, as well as an example for others interested in implementing research projects on similar themes elsewhere. Complex research topics, across generations and across a range of possible measures of well-being, led to a relatively complicated sample selection process and survey design, with component modules that were applicable to different types of sample members, depending on their generational status and age, and who often lived in different locations. It also led to a wide set of survey domains, ranging from economic, educational, and psychological surveys to clinical medical exams for both the young and the elderly. Survey coverage was above 85% of the targeted sample for most categories of respondents and most modules, and a number of safeguards were in place to ensure high quality data. Biases due to attrition, measured against the original 1970s rounds of survey work upon which IGT built, while present, should not reduce substantially the validity of research findings to come from this rich sample. The extent to which this is true, though, may vary depending on the topic under consideration and the controls included in the analyses.

The Economics Major and a Liberal Education

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

People David ColanderKimMarie McGoldrick Related Links Downloads The Economics Major and a Liberal Education

The Myth of the Myth of the Rational Voter

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

This paper argues that Bryan Caplans Myth of the Rational Voter overstates in case against democracy by not dealing with what might be called the historical/instrumentalist argument for democracy. It argues that the case for democracy that he attacks is primarily an academic exercise, which makes his argument against that case also an academic exercise. It further argues that the supposed policy choice that Caplan presents between the market and democracy is not the correct choice, and that his proposals that economists should be given more voting weight in the democratic decision process is inappropriate.

Beyond DSGE Models: Toward an Empirically Based Macroeconomics

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

This paper argues that macro models should be as simple as possible, but not more so. Existing models are more so by far. It is time for the science of macro to step beyond representative agent, DSGE models and focus more on alternative heterogeneous agent macro models that take agent interaction, complexity, coordination problems and endogenous learning seriously. It further argues that as analytic work on these scientific models continues, policy-relevant models should be more empirically based; policy researchers should not approach the data with theoretical blinders on; instead, they should follow an engineering approach to policy analysis and let the data guide their choice of the relevant theory to apply.

MACROECONOMIC POLICY AND COLLECTIVE ACTION

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads MACROECONOMIC POLICY AND COLLECTIVE ACTION

Economists, Incentives, Judgement and Empirical Work

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

This paper asks the question: Why has the general-to-specific cointegrated VAR approach as developed in Europe had only limited success in the US as a tool for doing empirical macroeconomics, where what might be called a theory comes first approach dominates? The reason this paper highlights is the incompatibility of the European approach with the US focus on the journal publication metric for advancement. Specifically, the European general-to specific cointegrated VAR approach requires researcher judgment to be part of the analysis, and the US focus on a journal publication metric discourages such research methods. The US theory comes first approach fits much better with the journal publication metric.

Complexity, Pedagogy and the Economics of Muddling Through

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

This paper was first presented at the AEA meetings on complexity. It was later published in a book edited by Massima Alszano and Alan Kirman, Economics: Complex Windows, Springer Publishers.

The Making of a Global European Economist

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

This paper provides some background for considering the future of these two traditions by looking at global Latin American graduate economic programs. It reports the findings of a survey of Latin American global economics programs and discusses the debate between global economics and traditional economics, arguing that there is a role for both, with global economics concentrating on the science of economics, and traditional economics concentrating on the applied policy "political economy" branch of economics--which is much broader than the applied policy training that graduate students get in global economics.

What Economics Students Think of the Economics Major

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

People David ColanderSteven JonesEric HoestRichie FuldMahesh Dahal Related Links Downloads What Economics Students Think of the Economics Major

Complexity and Macro Pedagogy: The Complexity Vision as a Bridge between Graduate and Undergraduate Macro

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0000

The macro economy is complex; everyone knows that. Complex systems are difficult to analyze and manage; everyone knows that too. The best approach to teaching and describing the complex macro economy is something we know much less well. Currently, in teaching macro to both graduate and undergraduate students, we dont stress just how complex the economy really is. The argument in this paper is that we should emphasize that complexity to frame the macro question.1 Having done that, we can get on with what we do, and much of the structure of both the graduate and undergraduate macro can be taught as it currently is. But instead of seeing the approaches at the two levels as substitutes for one another, complexity helps to frame as what they really are: complementary approaches to addressing a challenging set of questions.

Complexity and the History of Economic Though

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 05:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Complexity and the History of Economic Though

HOUSEHOLD TARGETING IN PRACTICE: THE NICARAGUAN RED DE PROTECCIN SOCIAL

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0000

This article describes the details underlying the targeting of a Nicaraguan anti-poverty program, emphasizing the rationale for how it was designed and implemented. It offers, by way of example, a guide for targeting in an anti-poverty program, and highlights some of the potential tradeoffs. It then goes on to present a quantitative assessment of how well the program was able to target poor households. A combination of ad hoc and statistical procedures led to targeting that was effective, with undercoverage rates of 10 percent or below and leakage rates of 15 percent or below. This was in spite of the fact that the targeting methodologies used were imprecise at both the household and geographic levels.

Pluralism and Heterodox Economics: Suggestions for an Inside the Mainstream Heterodoxy

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Pluralism and Heterodox Economics: Suggestions for an Inside the Mainstream Heterodoxy

Watering Down Coors: The Rockies’ Ball Humidor

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersMark J. ShimrockPeter M. LefeberChristian Hansen Related Links Downloads Watering Down Coors: The Rockies' Ball Humidor

Using Hedonic Property Models to Value Public Water Bodies: A Note Regarding Specification Issues

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0000

The hedonic literature has established that public water bodies provide external benefits that are reflected in the value of nearby residential real estate. The literature has employed several approaches to quantify these nonmarket services. With a residential hedonic model, this paper tests whether model specification affects resource valuation using an actively managed reservoir in Indiana and a passively managed lake in Connecticut. The results indicate that valuation is quite sensitive to model specification,and that omitting either the waterview or waterfront variables from the hedonic function likely results in a misspecified model. The findings from this study are important for researchers and public agencies charged with managing water resources to bear in mind as the external benefits from existing or man-made lakes anr reservoirs are estimated. Therefore, while it requires considerably more effort to determine which properties are in waterfront locations and which properties have a view, the potential misspecification of distance-only models likely justifies these extra research costs. Further, the findings in this analysis callinto question results from distance-only models in the literature.

The War in Iraq and the 2006 U.S. Elections

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul Sommers Related Links Downloads The War in Iraq and the 2006 U.S. Elections

The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Consumption and Investment in Nicaragua

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0000

People Related Links Downloads The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Consumption and Investment in Nicaragua

The Changing Hitting Performance Profile In the Major League, 1996-2006

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

The career batting profile of a regular starting major league ballplayer typically rises, at least up to a point, and then falls as skills diminish with age. The career batting profiles are derived for all regular starting players in the National and American Leagues for each of five different years: 1966, 1976, 1986, 1996, and 2006. The profiles have changed dramatically since the 1960s, with arguably stronger ballplayers reaching a higher peak several years after the batting average reached a peak for regulars in 1966. The profiles for 2006 show what might be early manifestations of baseballs tougher steroids policy.

A Poisson Model For No-Hitters In Major League Baseball

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersDavid L. CampbellBenjamin O. HannaConor A. Lyons Related Links Downloads A Poisson Model For No-Hitters In Major League Baseball

WIN A WORLD SERIES, RAISE TICKET PRICES. BUT, EXCESSIVELY?

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersRyan M. Keohane Related Links Downloads WIN A WORLD SERIES, RAISE TICKET PRICES. BUT, EXCESSIVELY?

Ladies First? A Field Study of Discrimination in Coffee Shops

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

Despite anecdotal and survey evidence suggesting the presence of discrimination against customers in stores, restaurants, and other small transaction consumer markets, few studies exist that identify or quantify the nature of any unequal treatment. We provide evidence from a ?eld study of wait times in Boston-area coffee shops that suggests that female customers wait an average of 20 seconds longer for their orders than do male customers even when controlling for gender differences in orders. We ?nd that this differential in wait times is inverse to the proportion of employees who are female and directly related to how busy the coffee shop is at the time of the order. This supports the conclusion that the observed differential is driven at least in part by employee animus and/or statistical discrimination rather than unobserved heterogeneity in the purchasing behavior of female customers.

Why Volunteer? Evidence on the Role of Altruism, Reputation, and Incentives

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

Volunteering plays a prominent role in the charitable provision of goods and services, yet we know relatively little about why people engage in such prosocial acts. The list of possible motivations is long, but recent research has focused on altruism, reputational concerns, and material incentives. We present an analysis of a unique data set that combines an experimental measure of altruism, surveyed measures of other factors including reputational concerns, and call records from volunteer firefighters that provide an objective measure of the hours volunteered. Controlling for a variety of other explanations, we find that altruism and reputational concerns are positively associated with the decision to volunteer. Moreover, by utilizing variation in the presence and level of small stipends paid to the firefighters, we find that the positive effect of monetary incentives declines with reputational concerns, supporting a prediction that extrinsic incentives can crowd out prosocial behavior.

What Norms Trigger Punishment

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

Many experiments have demonstrated the power of norm enforcement-peer monitoring and punishment-to maintain, or even increase, contributions in social dilemma settings, but little is known about the underlying norms that monitors use to make punishment decisions. Using a large sample of experimental data, we empirically recover the set of norms used most often by monitors and show ?rst that the decision to punish should be modeled separately from the decision of how much to punish. Second, we show that absolute norms often ?t the data better than the group average norm often assumed in related work. Third, we ?nd that di?erent norms seem to in?uence the decisions about punishing violators inside and outside ones own group.

Tee Tests: Playing with Tiger

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersBrett P. Shirreffs Related Links Downloads Tee Tests: Playing with Tiger

An Empirical Study of Price Dispersion in Homogenous Goods Markets

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

This paper presents the results of an empirical study of price dispersion in homogeneous goods markets. Modern economic theory suggests that inevitable asymmetries of information in markets lead to an equilibrium in which price dispersion is present even when goods are perfectly homogenous. In this paper we present an empirical analysis in which we employ both cross-sectional and time-series data gathered directly from Pricegrabber.com, one of the most popular and comprehensive online shopping/price-comparison sites on the Internet. In particular our analysis focuses on (i) the effect that the number of firms offering a good has on price dispersion, (ii) the informational value to the consumer of using the Pricegrabber website, and (iii) the persistency of price dispersion over time.

Why the NBA Bounced Their New Basketball?

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersRobert M. MarcouxFilip MarinkovicGeorge A. Mayer Related Links Downloads Why the NBA Bounced Their New Basketball?

When Do NFL Quarterbacks Pass Their Prime?

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersStefan G. Hrdina Related Links Downloads When Do NFL Quarterbacks Pass Their Prime?

Endogenous Participation in Charity Auctions

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

Data from a recent ?eld experiment suggests that differences in participation rates are responsible for much of the variations in revenues across formats in charity auctions. We provide a theoretical framework for the analysis of this, and other related, results. The model illustrates the limits of previous "?xed" results and introduces some new considerations to the choice of auction mechanism. It also implies, however, that the data cannot be explained in terms of participation costs alone: there must exist mechanism-speci?c obstacles to participation.

TOURNAMENTS AND OFFICE POLITICS: Evidence from a real effort experiment

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0000

In many environments, tournaments can elicit more effort from workers, except perhaps when workers can sabotage each other. Because it is hard to separate effort, ability and output in many real workplace settings, the empirical evidence on the incentive effect of tournaments is thin. There is even less evidence on the impact of sabotage because real world acts of sabotage are often subtle manifestations of subjective peer evaluation or offce politics. We discuss a real effort experiment in which effort, quality adjusted output and o?ce politics are compared under piece rates and tournaments. Our results suggest that tournaments increase e?ort only in the absence of offce politics. Competitors are more likely to sabotage each other in tournaments and, as a result, workers actually provide less e?ort simply because they expect to be the victims of sabotage. Adjusting output for quality with the rating of an independent auditor shrinks the incentive effect of the tournament even further since output tends to become more slipshod. "The person who says Im not political is in great danger... Only the fittest will survive, and the fittest will be the ones who understand their offces politics." Jean Hollands, quoted in Playing Offce Politics, Newsweek, 16 September 1985

The Making of a Latin American Global Economist

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0000

What Was It that Robbins Was Defining?

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0000

This paper argues that Robbins famous definition of economics was of economic science which he saw as only a narrow branch of the field of economics. Moreover, it was descriptive, not prescriptive, and was simply a statement that that was what economists were then doing in the science of economics. His prescriptive message was that policy belonged in the political economy branch of economics, and that the science of economics should avoid value judgments, but that political economy should include value judgments. That prescriptive message has been lost.

Organized Business, Political Regimes and Property Rights across the Russian Federation

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0000

This article explores the inter-relationship of collective action within the business community, the nature of the political regime and the security of firms property rights. Drawing on a pair of surveys recently administered in Russia, we present evidence that post-communist business associations have begun to coordinate business influence over state actors in a manner that is sensitive to regional politics. A firms ability to defend itself from government predation and to shape its institutional environment as well as its propensity to invest in physical capital are strongly related to both its membership in a business association and the level of democratization in its region. Of particular note, the positive effect of association membership on securing property rights increases in less democratic regions. The evidence, that is, suggests that collective action in the business community substitutes for democratic pressure in constraining public officials.

Live and Dead Issues in the Methodology of Economics

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0000

We attempt to clarify divisions made by us in previous work (Colander et al., 2004a,b) between orthodox, mainstream, and heterodox in economics, following very useful remarks in Dequech (2007), whom we thank. We also provide specific advice for heterodox economists, namely: worry less about methodology, focus on being economists first and heterodox economists second, and prepare ideas to leave the incubator of heterodoxy to enter the mainstream economic debate.

GENDER AND GRADUATE ECONOMICS EDUCATION IN THE US

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0000

This paper reports on the ?ndings of a survey of top economics graduate schools as they relate to women and men. The results provide strong evidence that at these top graduate schools, women graduate students are less integrated in their economic disciplines than are male graduate students. In the second part of the paper, this paper relates those ?ndings to alternative theories as to why this is the case. This paper concludes by suggesting that the emphasis on theoretical studies in the current core of the graduate economics program can be seen as a type of hazing process that seems to have a signi?cant cost since many women (and men) with great creative promise are discouraged from continuing in economics and do not bene?t nearly as much as they would have from more policy-driven core courses.

Edgeworth’s Hedonimeter and the Quest to Measure Utility

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Edgeworth's Hedonimeter and the Quest to Measure Utility

Stability and Growth Pact II? Lets Move On to SGP III: la carte

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 May 2007 04:00:00 +0000

After the fuzziness in Europe that surrounded the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure foreseen by the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), the European Union had to restore the credibility of the weakened fiscal rule. On March 2005, the 25 members amended the SGP. The constraint was to keep alive the Treaty of Amsterdam, which instituted the SGP. Indeed, an attempt to make major changes to the SGP would have necessitated a new Treaty, and hence a ratification by the 25 countries. This could have meant no more Europe-wide fiscal rule. But are minor changes enough? This paper addresses this question by deciphering the amended version of the SGP, and finds that, in the case countries still breach the SGP, another minor change is possible: an la carte version of the SGP.

Open Source Software Development, Innovation, and Coordination Costs

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Open source is often presented as a very promising governance structure for the development of software in the Internet world. One of its greatest advantages is that it enables and integrates the flow of innovation coming from many unrelated developers. We extend previous inquiries by showing that, due to information communication problems, this governance structure is in fact more efficient for the development of incremental innovations rather than radical innovations. Implications are drawn in terms of the future of the open source system, the economics of innovation and public policy.

A Note on Post-Modern Monetary Policy

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:00:00 +0000

This paper surveys the roots of the modern literature on monetary policy, and illustrates the convergence that occurs between open-economy approaches and the micro foundations of monetary policy. From the Banking School versus Currency School debate to the credibility versus flexibility refinement, monetary policy has a long history of scholarly works. Although it may be hard to imagine that there is still room for innovations, the current developments of the literature on open-economy monetary policy seem to spawn a new and essential branch.

Behavioural Development Economics: Lessons from field labs in the developing world

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:00:00 +0000

Explanations of poverty, growth and development more generally depend on the assumptions made about individual preferences and the willingness to engage in strategic behaviour. Economic experiments, especially those conducted in the field, have begun to paint a picture of economic agents in developing communities that is at some variance from the traditional portrait. We review this growing literature with an eye towards preference-related experiments conducted in the field. We rely on these studies, in addition to our own experiences in the field, to offer lessons on what development economists might learn from experiments. We conclude by sharing our thoughts on how to conduct experiments in the field, and then offer a few ideas for future research.

What Determines Adult Cognitive Skills? Impacts of Pre-Schooling, Schooling and Post-Schooling Experiences in Guatemala

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 04:00:00 +0000

Most investigations of the importance of and the determinants of adult cognitive skills assume that (a) they are produced primarily by schooling and (b) schooling is statistically predetermined. But these assumptions may lead to misleading inferences about impacts of schooling and of pre-schooling and post-schooling experiences on adult cognitive skills. This study uses an unusually rich longitudinal data set collected over 35 years in Guatemala to investigate production functions for adult (i) reading-comprehension and (ii) nonverbal cognitive skills as dependent on behaviorally-determined pre-schooling, schooling and post-schooling experiences. Major results are: (1) Schooling has significant and substantial impact on adult reading comprehension (but not on adult nonverbal cognitive skills)but estimates of this impact are biased upwards substantially if there are no controls for behavioral determinants of schooling in the presence of persistent unobserved factors such as genetic endowments and/or if family background factors that appear to be correlated with genetic endowments are included among the first-stage instruments. (2) Both pre-schooling and post-schooling experiences have substantial significant impacts on one or both of the adult cognitive skill measures that tend to be underestimated if these pre- and post-schooling experiences are treated as statistically predeterminedin contrast to the upward bias for schooling, which suggests that the underlying physical and job-related components of genetic endowments are negatively correlated with those for cognitive skills. (3) The failure in most studies to incorporate pre- and post-schooling experiences in the analysis of adult cognitive skills or outcomes affected by adult cognitive skills is likely to lead to misleading over-emphasis on schooling relative to these pre-and post-schooling experiences. (4) Gender differences in the coefficients of the adult cognitive skills production functions are not significant, suggesting that most of the fairly substantial differences in adult cognitive skills favoring males on average originate from gender differences in schooling attainment and in experience in skilled jobs favoring males. These four sets of findings are of substantial interest in themselves. But they also have important implications for broader literatures, reinforcing the importance of early life investments in disadvantaged children in determining adult skills and options, pointing to limitations in the cross-country growth literature of using schooling of adults to represent human capital, supporting hypotheses about the importance of childhood nutrition and work complexity in explaining the Flynn effect of substantial increases in measured cognitive skills over time, and questioning the interpretation of studies that report productivity impacts of cognitive skills without controlling for the endogeneity of such skills.

MEASURING PLAYER LOYALTY AMONG BASEBALLS HALL OF FAMERS

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul Sommers Related Links Downloads MEASURING PLAYER LOYALTY AMONG BASEBALLS HALL OF FAMERS

WORK INCENTIVES AND SALARY DISTRIBUTIONS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersBrandon M. Avrutin Related Links Downloads WORK INCENTIVES AND SALARY DISTRIBUTIONS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Is There Ingroup Favoritism in the NBA

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersAndreas J. Apostolatos Related Links Downloads Is There Ingroup Favoritism in the NBA

The WNBA and Graduation Rate of Female Basketball Players

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersElizabeth T. Knopman Related Links Downloads The WNBA and Graduation Rate of Female Basketball Players

The Impact of Nutrition during Early Childhood on Education among Guatemalan Adults

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 04:00:00 +0000

Early childhood nutrition is thought to have important effects on education, broadly defined to include various forms of learning. We advance beyond previous literature on the effect of early childhood nutrition on education in developing countries by using unique longitudinal data begun during a nutritional experiment during early childhood with educational outcomes measured in adulthood. Estimating an intent-to-treat model capturing the effect of exposure to the intervention from birth to 36 months, our results indicate significantly positive, and fairly substantial, effects of the randomized nutrition intervention a quarter century after it ended: increased grade attainment by women (1.2 grades) via increased likelihood of completing primary school and some secondary school; speedier grade progression by women; a one-quarter SD increase in a test of reading comprehension with positive effects found for both women and men; and a one-quarter SD increase on nonverbal cognitive tests scores. There is little evidence of heterogeneous impacts with the exception being that exposure to the intervention had a larger effect on grade attainment and reading comprehension scores for females in wealthier households. The findings are robust to an array of alternative estimators of the standard errors and controls for sample attrition

Time Zones As Cues For Coordination: Latitude, Longitude, And Letterman

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 04:00:00 +0000

Market productivity is often greater, and leisure and other household activities more enjoyable, when people perform them simultaneously. Beyond pointing out the positive externalities of synchronicity, economists have not attempted to identify exogenous determinants of timing. We develop a theory illustrating conditions under which synchronicity will vary and identify three factors the amount of daylight, the timing of television programming, and differences in time zones that can alter timing. Using the American Time Use Survey for 2003 and 2004, we first show that an exogenous shock to time in one area due to non-adherence to daylight-saving time leads its residents to alter their work schedules to continue coordinating their activities with those of people elsewhere. With time use data from Australia, we also demonstrate the same response to a similar shock there. We then show that both television timing and the benefits of coordinating across time zones in the U.S. generally affect the timing of market work and sleep, the two most time-consuming activities people undertake. While these impacts do not differ greatly by people's demographic characteristics,workers in industries where we would expect more coordination outside of their local areas are more responsive to the effects of time zones.

Tax Competition and Information Sharing in Europe: A Signaling Game

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 05:00:00 +0000

This paper provides a challenging view to the tax harmonization issue. The literature often proposes tax harmonization to avoid free-riding behaviors in free-trade areas, and more particularly in monetary unions. Countries may decrease their tax rates in order to develop tax competitive advantage and attract capital. Without tax harmonization, tax autonomy may lead to a race to the bottom. The model proposed here uses a game-theoretical approach to analyze this question. It shows that tax competition may lead to stability. The mechanism leading to this outcome rests upon the impact of the signal given by both players. If a country gives the signal that friendly taxation behavior is not its priority, the result can be a race to the bottom. Conversely, if both countries signal their ability to conduct such a war, this war will not occur, and the stability of the system will be ensured.

Sophisticated Discipline in Nascent Deposit Markets: Evidence from Post-Communist Russia

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 05:00:00 +0000

In nascent markets with relatively immature institutions, do depositors have the capacity to discipline banks with poor fundamentals? If so, what information specifically guides their response? Using a database from post-communist, pre-deposit-insurance Russia, we present evidence for quantity-based sanctioning of weaker banks by both firms and households, particularly after the 1998 financial crisis. More notably, the discipline that we observe is surprisingly sophisticated. Specifically, our evidence is consistent with the proposition that depositors interpret a banks deposit rate and capital as jointly reflecting its subsequent stability. In estimating a deposit supply function, we show that, particularly for poorly capitalized banks, interest rate increases run into diminishing, and eventually negative, returns in terms of deposit attraction.

The Stability and Growth Pact: A European Answer to the Political Budget Cycle?

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 05:00:00 +0000

The existing literature on political budget cycles looks at the temptation for incumbent governments to run a greater deficit before an election by considering the characteristics of the incumbent. We propose here to look at the signals the incumbent receives from the voters. For this purpose, we consider the votes from the previous national elections and see whether they may influence the incumbent government to run a sound fiscal policy or an expansionary fiscal policy. However, since 1993 Europe has been equipped with two fiscal rules: a deficit and a debt ceiling. In this context, can we find evidence of a political budget cycle before 1993, and did the fiscal rules prevent the existence of a political budget cycle afterwards? To address these questions, we use a cross-sectional time series analysis of European countries from 1979 to 2005.

Mutual Monitoring in Teams: Theory and Experimental Evidence on the Importance of Reciprocity

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 05:00:00 +0000

Monitoring by peers is often an effective means of attenuating incentive problems.

Performance Pay and the Erosion of Worker Cooperation: Field experimental evidence

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 05:00:00 +0000

We report the results of a field experiment with bicycle messengers in Switzerland

Can Tax Competition Lead to a Race to the Bottom in Europe? A Skeptical View

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 05:00:00 +0000

This paper addresses the question of the likelihood of a race to the bottom in a monetary union, like the Euro-zone, that could result from tax competition between countries. This fear of a race to the bottom is used both in the economic literature and the political arena to promote tax harmonization. Using a game theoretical approach with the costs of changing tax policies to analyze the conditions of a race to the bottom, this paper shows that countries may not choose such an extreme strategy. In other words, the extreme case scenario of a race to the bottom is unlikely, and proponents of tax harmonization should base their reasoning upon other assumptions.

From Full Employment to the Natural Rate of Unemployment: A Survey

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 05:00:00 +0000

On its face, unemployment seems to be a concept easy to grasp. But when one looks closer, the intricacies are numerous and assump-tions are multiple. Nowadays, the New Classical School is a bit closer to New Keynesianism than ever before. It still has a strong footprint in Monetarism, since in the long run, there is no interest in stabilizing an economy. But unlike the Classical school, the New Classical School concedes that in the short run things are much more complicated. If Keynes was right when he said, in the long run, we are all dead, one may even conclude that the New Classi-cal School is far more Keynesian than it first appears.

They Come to Play: Supply Effects in an Economic Experiment

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 05:00:00 +0000

Our experiment challenges the standard, social preference, interpretation of choices in the double blind dictator game. In our bilateral treatment both groups are endowed with $20, any fraction of which can be passed to a randomly determined player in the

"Free Entry and Exit" from the Market: Simplifying or Substantive Assumption?

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 05:00:00 +0000

Economic theory, of necessity, presents an abstraction to the reader. Abstraction is required to achieve the perspective that allows for theory, that is to say, understanding and interpretation, to occur. If the abstraction is done well only inessential details are set aside -- details that would otherwise divert the theorist from grasping the essential or fundamental elements of the process under examination. For example a study of the mechanisms that cause a moving automobile to stop can reasonably abstract from the vehicle's color scheme.

Searching where the Light Is: Connecting Theory and Policy in Economics

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 05:00:00 +0000

In this paper I discuss economists tendency to do abstract theory, and suggest an alternative way of relating theory and policy that I provides a much more positive spin on mainstream economists tendency toward abstract theorizing than that given it by most heterodox economists. The gist of the argument is that we should think of economic theory not as a precise map, but as a general pattern generator, which is useful to keep in the back of our minds and we approach policy problems.

Alternative Concepts of Utility and Applied Economics

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 05:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Alternative Concepts of Utility and Applied Economics

From Muddling through to the Economics of Control: Views of Applied Policy from J. N. Keynes to Abba Lerner

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads From Muddling through to the Economics of Control: Views of Applied Policy from J. N. Keynes to Abba Lerner

The Making of An Economist Redux

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads The Making of An Economist Redux

The Long-Run Consequences of Trade and Outsourcing

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads The Long-Run Consequences of Trade and Outsourcing

A Note on International Fiscal Policy Practices

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:00:00 +0000

The paper proposes an overview of the literature in fiscal policies as well as a comparative assessment in an international context. A large section addresses the specific question of the European fiscal rule, namely the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP).

A Cure for Discrimination? Affirmative Action and the Case of California Proposition 209

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:00:00 +0000

Proposition 209, enacted in California in 1996 and made effective the following year, ended

The Determinants of Sunk Cost Sensitivity In Students

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:00:00 +0000

We conduct a vignette study of the propensity to commit the sunk cost fallacy with 106 undergradu-ates.

The Cost of Poverty Alleviation Transfer Programs: A Comparative Analysis of Three Programs in Latin America

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:00:00 +0000

A common criticism of antipoverty programs is that the high share of administrative (nontransfer) costs substantially reduces their effectiveness. Yet, there is surprisingly little rigorous empirical evidence on program costs. Improved information and a better understanding of the costs of such programs are crucial for effective policymaking. This study proposes and implements a replicable methodology for a comparative cost analysis of three similar poverty alleviation programs in Latin America, and assesses their cost efficiency. The findings underscore that any credible assessment of cost-efficiency requires a detailed analysis of program cost structures that goes well beyond simply providing aggregate cost information.

The Stability of the Inter-war Gold Exchange Standard. Did Politics Matter?

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:00:00 +0000

The collapse of the inter-war gold standard has frequently been studied in economic his-tory.

Household Savings in Russia during the Transition

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:00:00 +0000

We exploit panel data from the second phase of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey

Collective Action and Post-Communist Enterprise: The Economic Logic of Russias Business Associations

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:00:00 +0000

Drawing on a unique set of surveys, this article explores the question of whether

Resolutions, Recoveries and Relationships: The Evolution of Payment Disputes in Central and Eastern Europe

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:00:00 +0000

What determines the mechanism chosen to resolve a commercial dispute? To what

Local Environmental Groups, the Creation of Social Capital, and Environmental Policy: Evidence from Vermont

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:00:00 +0000

Scholars who have studied local environmental groups and their effects in the United States have

Discrimination as a Competitive Device: The Case of Local Television News

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:00:00 +0000

Local news offers a unique look not only at customer preferences but also at the strategic

Selection and Reporting Bias in Household Surveys of Child Labor: Evidence from Tanzania

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 04:00:00 +0000

People Jessica HolmesYohanne N. KidoleziHugo opo Related Links Downloads Selection and Reporting Bias in Household Surveys of Child Labor: Evidence from Tanzania

The Hiring of an Economist: A Case Study

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 04:00:00 +0000

People Jessica Holmes Related Links Downloads The Hiring of an Economist: A Case Study

Do Social PreferencesIncrease Productivity? Field experimental evidence from fishermen in Toyoma Bay

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 04:00:00 +0000

We provide a reason for the wider economics profession to take social preferences, a concern for the outcomes achieved by other reference agents, seriously. Although, we show that student measures of social preference elicited in an experiment have little external validity when compared to measures obtained from a field experiment with a population of participants who face a social dilemma in their daily lives (i.e. team production), we do find strong links between the social preferences of our field participants and their productivity at work. We also find that the stock of social preferences evolves endogeously with respect to how widely team production is utilized.

Park Elevation and Long Ball Flight in Major League Baseball

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersJason M. BlochKieran M. CoeJames K. Ebberson Related Links Downloads Park Elevation and Long Ball Flight in Major League Baseball

A Matching Penal-t in Mens Ice Hockey

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 04:00:00 +0000

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Competitive Work Environments and Social Preferences: Field experimental evidence from a japanese fishing community

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 04:00:00 +0000

Models of job tournaments and competitive workplaces more generally predict that while individual effort may increase as competition intensifies between workers, the incentive for workers to cooperate with each other diminishes. We report on a field experiment conducted with workers from a fishing community in Toyama Bay, Japan. Our participants are employed in three different aspects of fishing. The first group are fishermen, the second group are fish wholesalers (or traders), and the third group are staff at the local fishing coop. Although our participants have much in common (e.g., their common relationship to the local fishery and the fact that they all live in the same community), we argue that they are exposed to different amounts of competition on-the-job and that these differences explain differences in cooperation in our experiment. Specifically, fisherman and traders, who interact in more competitive environments are significantly less cooperative than coop staff who face little competition on the job. Further, after accounting for the possibility of personality-based selection, perceptions of competition faced on-the-job and the treatment effect of job incentives explain these difference in cooperation to a large extent.

Promotions And Attendance in Minor League Baseball

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersLorna Gifis Related Links Downloads Promotions And Attendance in Minor League Baseball

Does Relationship Lending Still Matter in the Consumer Banking Sector? Evidence from Two Financial Service Organizations in Vermont

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 04:00:00 +0000

We use actual loan applications submitted to a community development credit union (CDCU) and a traditional community bank to examine the role of relationship lending in the automobile loan market. We first show that the community bank relies upon credit scoring, not relationship lending; low-income households with poor credit histories are very unlikely to receive car loans from this traditional bank. We then show that relationship lending is a critical factor in the loan decision at the CDCU; low-income households with strong ties to the institution are likely to receive loans, despite poor credit histories. We conclude that as consolidation, deregulation and technology move mainstream financial institutions away from relationship lending and toward credit scoring, CDCUs will occupy an increasingly critical niche for low-income households.

Home Hill Advantage in Eastern Collegiate Ski Racing

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersKellan M. FlorioJacob A. Whitcomb Related Links Downloads Home Hill Advantage in Eastern Collegiate Ski Racing

The Influence of Free-Agent Filing on MLB Player Performance

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersEvan C. Holden Related Links Downloads The Influence of Free-Agent Filing on MLB Player Performance

Monetary Policy: From Theory to Practices

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 04:00:00 +0000

The paper proposes an overview of the literature on monetary policy. It shows the influence of the debates in the theoretical literature on the actual implementation of policies, as well a the counter effect. The European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is largely studies a an exampe of this counter effect with regard to the study of the credibility concept in an open economy setting.

Chemical Bonds

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 04:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersAdam R. PosnerThomas J. SullivanKatherine B. Chambers Related Links Downloads Chemical Bonds

A Note on the Anglo-Saxon and Continental Approaches to Europe: Identical in Spirit, not in Practice

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 04:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this note is to propose a breakdown of the European concept into different sub-categories, based upon the different stages of the European integration process. In doing so, it is easier to understand the political differences and debate between an allegedly Anglo-Saxon approach and a Continental one. This note challenges the usual definition of the Anglo-Saxon and Continental approaches, and highlights the usual misconceptions and misunderstandings of the European economic goal.

Experiments and Economic Development: Lessons from Field Labs in the Developing World

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 May 2005 04:00:00 +0000

Along with the traditional primitives of economic development (material preferences, technology, and endowments), there is a growing interest in exploring how psychological and sociological factores (e.g., bounded rationality, norms, or social preferences) also influence economic decisions, the evolution of institutions, and outcomes. Simultaneously, a vast literature has arisen arguing that economic experiments are important tools in identifying and quantifying the role of institutions, socialnorms and preferences on behavior and outcomes. Reflecting on our experience conducting experiments in the field over more than five years, we survey the growing literature at the intersection of these two research areas. Our review has four components. In the introduction we set the stage identifying a set of behavioral factors that seem to be central for understanding growth and economic development./ We then divide the existing literature in two piles: standard experiments conducted in the field and on how to econometrically identify sociological factors in experimental data. We conclude by suggesting topics for future research.

Wild and Crazy Ideas: In Memory of Ken Koford

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 05:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Wild and Crazy Ideas: In Memory of Ken Koford

Norm Enforcement: Anger, Indignation or Reciprocity?

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 05:00:00 +0000

The enforcement of social norms often requires that unaffected third parties sanction offenders. Given the renewed interest of economists in norms, the literature on third party punishment is surprisingly thin, however. In this paper, we report on the results of an experiment designed to evaluate two distinct explanations for this phenomenon, indignation and group reciprocity. We find evidence in favor of both, with the caveat that the incidence of indignation-driven sanctions is perhaps smaller than earlier studies have hinted. Furthermore, our results suggest that second parties use sanctions to promote conformism while third parties intervene primarily to promote efficiency.

Labor Discipline, Reputation and Underemployment Traps

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 05:00:00 +0000

The introduction of "effort inducible" and non-effort" workers into an otherwise standard model of labor discipline produces a paradox of sorts: when firms cannot tell the difference, the predictable reductions in both output and real wages are sometimes accompanied by an increase in profits. The resolution of this paradox is found in the difference in expected productities of workers with and without jobs, the source of a reputation effect that alters the balance of labor market power. When, as a consequence of the acquisition and depreciation of productive skills, the relative proportions of such workers are then endogenized, the model exhibits multiple equilibria for plausible parameter values. One of these equilibria can be understood as a new sort of "underemployment trap" with an atrophied primary sector.

Stability and Growth Pact: An Index to Trigger an Early Warning Earlier?

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 05:00:00 +0000

This paper addresses the question of a technical change in one the components of the Stability and Grown Pact (SGP). Indeed, the SGP is composed of (1) a political commitment, (2) a preventive element, and (3) a dissuasive element, and an improvement of the SGP efficacy can come from any of these three components. In this paper the author proposes a new early warning procedure, part of the preventive element. The ideal situation would be for the European Commission to be able to identify countries at risk as soon as they vote their national budgets. Although this is not possible, as the measures of the deficit are based on GDP forecasts, the conclusion this paper makes is that the EC should avoid relying on GDP forecasts by calculating a reference index.

Water Demand and the Welfare Effects of Connection: Empirical Evidence from Cambodia

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 05:00:00 +0000

Using cross-sectional household-level data from seven provincial Cambodian towns, we estimate a water demand equation for households connected to the network, and provide an empirical measurement of the economic value of tap water connection. The use of a two-step econometric procedure allows us to analyse issues relating to household access to water and to the volume of household water consumption. We estimate that the connection elasticity with respect to the one-off initial cost of connection is -0.39; the price elasticity of water demand for the connected households lies in a range between -0.4 and -0.5; and the welfare effects of water connection are approximately 17 percent of the actual expenditure of the poor unconnected households. Furthermore, providing a network connection to all households in the sample would have the distributional consequences of decreasing the estimated Gini coefficient by three percentage points and the poverty head-count ratio by six percentage points.

Integrating Ethics and Altruism with Economics

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 05:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Integrating Ethics and Altruism with Economics

The Social Cost of Labor

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 05:00:00 +0000

People Robert Prasch Related Links Downloads The Social Cost of Labor

"Little Think" Economics: Is That All There Is?

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Oct 2004 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads "Little Think" Economics: Is That All There Is?

What We Teach and What We Do

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

Fifty years ago what we taught in the principles of economics course reflected reasonably well what we did in our research. That, however, is no longer the case; today what we teach has a more nuanced relation to what we do. The reason is that the economics profession and the texts have evolved differently. This paper deals with the implications of the changes that have occurred in the profession for the way economics is taught and the way economics is presented in the micro principles textbooks. First, it summarizes the changes I see happening in the profession. Second, it discusses the stories that the principles texts tell in micro. Third, it discusses how those stories might change to better reflect what economists currently do.

From Muddling Through to the Economics of Control: View of Applied Policy from J.N. Keynes to Abba Lerner

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads From Muddling Through to the Economics of Control: View of Applied Policy from J.N. Keynes to Abba Lerner

What’s the Point of Reciprocal Trade Negotiations? Exports, Imports, and Gains from Trade

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

This paper explains why trade-policy makers may prefer reciprocal trade negotiations (RTN) to unilateral tariff reductions (UTR) for economic reasons. It answers puzzles like "Why WTO reciprocity?" and strengthens the unncecessarily weak case made for the WTO by those who downplay or dismiss benefits from foreign tariff reductions (FTR).

The Many Roads to Serfdom

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

The paper considers the planning/laissez faire debate discussed in the Hayek symposium, and offers three comments. The first is that all debates are contextual and Hayek's Road to Serfdom needs to be considered in its contextual setting. The second is that there are many roads to serfdom, not just the one outlined by Hayek, and the Hayek/Lerner debate today would probably focus a different road than it did in the 1930s. The third is that modern economists' focus on technical issues has in large part removed them from the role that Hayek and other top economists played in their time.

Economics as an Ideologically Challenged Science

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Economics as an Ideologically Challenged Science

Trade, Outsourcing, and the Future of the U.S. Economy

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Trade, Outsourcing, and the Future of the U.S. Economy

Efficiency, Journal Publishing and Scholarly Research – A Discussion Paper

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

People David ColanderTerry Plum Related Links Downloads Efficiency, Journal Publishing and Scholarly Research - A Discussion Paper

Economics as an Ideologically Challenged Science

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Economics as an Ideologically Challenged Science

Should Europe Get Rid of the Stability and Growth Pact?

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

The paper addresses the question of the abolition of the Stability and Growth Pact. More and more authors and policymakers are arising the negative impacts of the European deficit rule on te countries and their ability to respond an asymmetric economic shock. Some others are asking for a redefinition of the Pact. If the focus is only fiscal and in light of the non-respect of the Pact by two of the biggest countries in Europe since its implementation, it could be demonstrated that the SGP needs at least a reexamination. To the converse, if we introduce into the analysis its impacts on the European structural policies, things are different and getting rid of the SGP could hinder the still up-to-date convergence prospective. Indeed, this paper proposed a theoretical analysis of the SGP that emphasizes a new feature of the SGP: a strong incentive to structural reforms.

Charity Auctions: A Field Experimental Investigation

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

Auctions are a popular way to raise money for charities, but relatively little is known, either theoretically or empirically, about the properties of charity auctions. The small theoretical literature suggests that the all-pay auction should garner more money than winner-pay auctions. We conduct field experiments to test which sealed bid format, first price, second price or all-pay raises the most money. Our experiment suggests that both the all-pay and second price formats are dominated by the first price auction. Our design also allows us to identify differential participation as the source of the difference between existing theory and the field. To conclude, we show that a model of charity auctions augmented by an endogenous participation decision predicts the revenue ordering that we see in the field.

The Making of an Economist II

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

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Paradise Lost and Found? The Econometric Contributions of Clive W.J. Granger and Robert F. Engle

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

This paper provides a non-technical and illustrated introduction to the econometric contributions of the 2003 Nobel Prize winners, Robert Engle and Clive Granger, with special emphasis on their implications for heterodox economists.

Thinking Outside the Heterodox Box: Post Walrasian Macroeconomics and Heterodoxy

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Thinking Outside the Heterodox Box: Post Walrasian Macroeconomics and Heterodoxy

Effects of Volunteering for Nonprofit Organizations on Social Capital Formation: Evidence from a Statewide Survey

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Aug 2004 04:00:00 +0000

As membership in traditional civic organizations declines in the United States (Putnam, 2000), could volunteering for nonprofit organizations be an alternative source of social capital formation? We use an updated household production framework (Becker, 1996) to theoretically connect volunteering with two forms of social capital: social connections and civic capacity. Using a unique statewide data set from Vermont, we then use the Cragg (1971) model to estimate the determinants of the probability of receiving a social capital benefit, and the level of such a benefit. We first show that the probability of receiving a social connection or a civic capacity benefit from one's most important nonprofit organization is increased: (a) if it is a religious or social service organization; (b) if one increases their volunteering for the organizations; and (c) if one is female, college educated or in a two-parent family. However, the relative magnitude of volunteering is similar, or relatively small, compared to the other significant determinants. We then show that an increase of volunteer hours does increase the levels of social connection and civic capacity, but the magnitude of this effect is also relatively small.

Information and Pollution Permit Markets

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Aug 2004 04:00:00 +0000

In a recent article Smith and Yates (Smith and Yates, 2003) argued that regulators could gain additional information about the optimal number of permits to issue from two-sided markets. This paper argues that they are incorrect in their assertion because the market they refer to is an asymmetric two-sided market in which individuals are only allowed to decrease the number of permits. When a symmetric two-sided market is considered, the public good nature of the problem makes it unlikely that any useful information can come from a two-sided market.

Pluralism, Formalism and American Economics

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Aug 2004 04:00:00 +0000

People David ColanderHarry Landreth Related Links Downloads Pluralism, Formalism and American Economics

"Little Think" Economics: Is That All There Is?

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Aug 2004 04:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads "Little Think" Economics: Is That All There Is?

Who is Post-Walrasian Man?

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Aug 2004 04:00:00 +0000

This paper, written for a conference volume on "post-Walrasian macro-economics," reviews what we have learned, and perhaps not learned, about the character of economic man over the last few decades, and discusses some of the macroeconomic implications of this research.

Integrating Sound Finance with Functional Finance

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Aug 2004 04:00:00 +0000

People Peter MatthewsDavid Colander Related Links Downloads Integrating Sound Finance with Functional Finance

Local Environmental Groups, the Creation of Social Capital, and Environmental Policy: Evidence from Vermont

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Jul 2004 04:00:00 +0000

Many scholars have documented the important role of national environmental groups in affecting environmental policies in the United States. The role of local environmental groups, however, has not been thoroughly documented. Using data from a complete census of all environmental groups in two Vermont counties, we :(1) offer a set of conceptual categories for local environmental groups; (2) analyze how civic engagement in these groups is creating different forms of social capital through stewardship activities, education and communication, partnerships with other organizations, and alliances with public agencies; and (3) explore how these groups are affecting the policy process, illustrated with two case studies. We argue that the prevalence and contribution of local environmental groups, particularly local autonomous groups, has been underappreciated. We conclude that the greeining of social capital is significantly affecting environmental outcomes in the United States.

The Varieties of Resource Experience: How Natural Resource Export Structures Affect the Political Economy of Economic Growth

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 04:00:00 +0000

Many oil, mineral, and plantation crop-based economies experienced a substantial deceleration of growth since the commodity boom and bust of the 1970s and early 1980s. Rodrik (1999) has demonstrated that the magnitude of a country's growth deceleration since the 1970s is a function of both the magnitude of the shocks and a country's "social capability" for adapting to shocks. In this paper, we demonstrate that in this respect countries, with what we term "point source" natural resource exports are doubly disadvantaged. Not only are countries with these types of exports exposed to terms of trade shocks, but the institutional capability for responding to shocks is itself endogenous and negatively related to export composition. Using two different sources of export data and classifications of export composition, we show that point source and coffee/cocoa exporting countries do worse across an array of governance indicators (controlling for a wide array of other potential determinants of governance). This is not just a function of being a "natural resource" exporter, as countries with natural resource exports that are "diffuse" do not show the same strong differences-and have had more robust growth recoveries.

Social Reciprocity

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 May 2004 04:00:00 +0000

We define social reciprocity as the act of demonstrating one's disapproval, at some personal cost, for the violation of widely-held norms (e.g., don't free ride). Social reciprocity differs from standard notions of reciprocity because social reciprocators intervene whenever a norm is violated and do not condition intervention on potential future payoffs, revenge, or altruism. Instead, we posit that social reciprocity is a triggered normative reponse. Our experiment confirms the existence of social reciprocity and demonstrates that more socially efficient outcomes arise when reciprocity can be expressed socially. Too provide theoretical foundations for social reciprocity, we show that generalized punishment norms survive in one of the two stable equilibria of an evolutionary game with selection drift.

Overcoming Information Asymmetries in Low-Income Lending: Lessons from the ‘Working Wheels’ Program

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 05:00:00 +0000

Without access to reliable transportation, the welfare-to-work transition for low-income households is nearly impossible, yet very little is known about the effectiveness of targeted loan programs designed to improve their access to credit. Since 1998, Vermont's TANF funds have been used to provide automobile loans to low-income residents through the "Working Wheels" program of the Vermont development Credit Union. In this paper, we take advantage of unique micro-level data on Working Wheels loan applications and loan performance to explore how such programs can cost-effectively provide car loans to those who are unable to obtain affordable loans elsewhere. Our results verify the importance of relationship lending, particularly among those without documented credit histories. In the presence of pronounced information asymmetries about credit history, our results justify a loan officer's increased trust in a client with whom the bank has had a stronger relationship; such clients, ceteris paribus, are less likely to default. We conclude that in the current climate of welfare reform, policymakers should consider programs that encourage welfare recipients to establish and maintain relationships with financial institutions in order to facilitate access to affordable credit and to minimize the risk of loan default.

The AFTERMATH of Sammy Sosa’s Corked Bat Incident

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 05:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersBrian VickeryNicholas DiganiCaitlin Toombs Related Links Downloads The AFTERMATH of Sammy Sosa's Corked Bat Incident

Has a Salary Cap in the NFL Improved Competitive Balance?

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 05:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersAndrew BarrigerJohn SharpeBrendan Sullivan Related Links Downloads Has a Salary Cap in the NFL Improved Competitive Balance?

HIV Prevalence Rates and Economic Performance

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 05:00:00 +0000

People Paul SommersJames NicholsonEkaterina NikolovaShahan Mufti Related Links Downloads HIV Prevalence Rates and Economic Performance

The Greening of Social Capital: An Examination of Land-Based Groups in Two Vermont Counties

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 05:00:00 +0000

By undertaking a census of all agricultural, outdoor recreational, and environmental groups (land-based groups) in two adjacent counties in Vermont, we demonstrate the dramatic increase of local environmental groups in the last 15 years. Building on the methodologies of Kempton et al. (2001), we first show that official lists of nonprofit groups-from the Vermont Secretary of State, the Internal Revenue Service, and local grassroots directories-significantly undercount local environmental groups. Second, we show that since the mid-1980s, the number and membership roles of local autonomous environmental groups have grown rapidly relative to all other types of local and non-local land-based groups in these counties. This article provides preliminary evidence of the recent "greening of social capital."

Ethnicity and Earnings in Urban Peru

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 05:00:00 +0000

In this paper we study the relationship between ethnic exclusion and earnings in Urban Peru. Our approach to the concept of ethnicity involves the usage of instruments in many of its several dimensions: mother tongue, parental background, religion, migration events and race. In order to approximate what can be called racial differences in a context like the Peruvian in which "racial mixture" is the main characteristic of the population, we use a score-based procedure to capture both the differences and the mixtures. By means of this procedure each individual is assigned intensities by pollsters in each of the four categories that correspond to the most easily recognized distinct racial groups in the Peruvian society: Asiatic, White, Indigenous, and Black.

Gender and Racial Discrimination in Hiring: A Pseudo Audit Study for Three Selected Occupations in Metropolitan Lima

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Dec 2003 05:00:00 +0000

In this paper, we adapt the audit studies methodology to analyze gender and racial differences in hiring for a particular segment of the market of three selected occupations in Metropolitan Lima: salespersons, secretaries and (accounting and administrative) assistants. The adapted pseudo-audit study methodology allow us to reduce the room for existence of statistical discrimination. The results suggest the existence of no significant differences in hiring rates for different gender-race groups but some systematic (and significant) differences in the aimed wages of the individuals in their job search processes.

Matching as a Tool to Decompose Wage Gaps

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Dec 2003 05:00:00 +0000

In this paper I present a methodology that uses matching comparisons to explain gender differences in wages. The approach emphasizes gender differences in the supports of the distributions of observable characteristics and provides useful insights about the distribution of the unexplained gender differences in pay.

The Effect of Stakes in Distribution Experiments

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Dec 2003 05:00:00 +0000

We replicate previous results showing that stakes do not affect offers in the Ultimatum Game and show that stakes also have no effect on allocations in the Dictator Game. Both results are robust to the inclusion of demographic factors.

Post Walrasian Macro Policy and the Economics of Muddling Through

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Dec 2003 05:00:00 +0000

This paper expands on my earlier discussion of Post Walrasian macroeconomics policy. (Colander and van Ess 1996) First, it defines what I mean by Post Walrasian macroeconomics. Second, it discusses some of the theoretical differences between Post Walrasian and Walrasian macro theorizing as they relate to policy. Finally, it discusses how an acceptance of Post Walrasian economics might change the focus of macro policy discussions.

Caveat Lector: Living With the 15% Rule

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Nov 2003 05:00:00 +0000

People David Colander Related Links Downloads Caveat Lector: Living With the 15% Rule

How is Labor Distinct From Broccoli? Some Unique Characteristics of Labor and Their Importance for Economic Analysis and Policy

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Nov 2003 05:00:00 +0000

People Robert Prasch Related Links Downloads How is Labor Distinct From Broccoli? Some Unique Characteristics of Labor and Their Importance for Economic Analysis and Policy

The Changing Face of Mainstream Economics

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Nov 2003 05:00:00 +0000

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The Strange Persistence of the IS/LM Model

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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One Welfare State for Europe: A Costly Utopia?

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Sep 2003 04:00:00 +0000

This paper addresses the question of the social policy harmonization in the European Union. In adopting a common monetary policy Europe is faced with structural and fiscal concerns, as national growth levels differ. Another possible factor in output shocks are the levels of various social expenditures in the member countries. OECD data on the level of social program expenditures in four EU countries will wb compared to fluctuations in GDP growth to identify existing relationships. Significant relationships between independent social expenditure policy and GDP growth shocks portends structural harmonization as an improvement if Europe is to take full advantage of the common market. However, the effects of expenditure levels may be easier to identify and predict than the dynamic effects of policy change. As the effects of future policy changes are more difficult to ascertain, harmonization may not consistently appear to be a Pareto-optimum solution to asymmetric shocks.

William Vickrey’s Contribution to Economics

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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The Complexity Revolution and the Future of Economics

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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Post Walrasian Macro Policy and the Economics of Muddling Through

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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Information and Pollution Permit Markets

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 04:00:00 +0000

In a recent article Smith and Yates (Smith and Yates, 2003) argued that regulators could gain additional information about the optimal number of permits to issue from two-sided markets. This paper argues that they are incorrect in their assertion because the market they refer to is an asymmetric two-sided market in which individuals are only allowed to decrease the number of permits. When a corrct two-sided market is considered, the public good nature of the problem makes it unlikely that any useful information can come from a two-sided market.

A Poisson Model for Hurricanes of the North Atlantic

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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Complexity, Muddling Through, and Sustainable Forest Management

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Aug 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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An Analysis of Infant Mortality Rates in the U.S.

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jul 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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Pro-social Behavior in the Global Commons: A North-South Experiment

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jul 2003 04:00:00 +0000

Differences in group affiliation may affect the level of cooperation in global commons situations such as programs for the conservation of resources which generate benefits that transcend state boundaries. We design a real-time, cross-cultural common pool resource (CPR) experiment purposely using participants from cultures that derive different benefits from biodiversity (extraction versus conservation) to analyze the effect of group affiliation on cooperative behavior. In addition, we elicit real donations to local and international conservation funds to augment our CPR results. In the CPR environment, we find evidence that group affiliation affects hehavior such that heterogeneity contributes to over-extraction in the commons. In the donation stage, we show that nationality affects the distribution of donated earnings between the local and global funds. We also examine the possibility that altruistic preferences to donate to a conservation fund are endogenous, in that they reflect the level of cooperation in the CPR game.

Why Punish: Social Reciprocity and the Enforcement of Prosocial Norms

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jul 2003 04:00:00 +0000

Recently economists have become interested in why people who face social dilemmas in the experimental lab use the seemingly incredible threat of punishment to deter free riding. Three theories with evolvutionary microfoundations have been developed to explain punishment. We survey these theories and use behavioral data from surveys and experiments to show that the theory called social reciprocity in which people punish norm violators indiscriminately explains punishment best.

The Potential For Exploitation By Sports Franchises

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jul 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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The Real Curse of the Bambino

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jul 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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Muddling Through and Policy Analysis

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jul 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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Is a Ticket to Cooperstown Getting Any Cheaper?

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Jul 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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Paul Davidson Interview of July 1997

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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A Scoring Change in World Cup Rugby

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2003 04:00:00 +0000

Following the World Cup in 1991, the International Rugby Foundation recommended that one more point be awarded for a try. Although the average number of points per match increased in the subsequent World Cup, the scoring change had no discernable impact on the relative number of tries or successful penalty kicks.

George Brockway: A Remembrance

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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The New Hurry-Up Face-Off Rule in the NHL

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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Foreword to John and Wendy Cornwalls book Modelling Capitalist Development

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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Crying Over Spilt Milk: Sunk Costs, Fairness Norms and the Hold-Up Problem*

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2003 04:00:00 +0000

This paper explores a possible connection between two behavioral anomalies in economics, the observed responsiveness of individual decision-makers to sunk costs, and the apparent failure of backward induction to predict outcomes in experimental bargaining games. In particular, we show that under some conditions, a "sunk cost sensitive" fairness norm can evolve in such environments. Under this norm, a fair distribution allows all parties to recoup whatever each has invested in their relationship before the net surplus is then divided into equal shares. The establishment of such a norm would have important consequences for the hold-up problem, which we characterize in terms of ultimatum bargaining in the presence of an outside option. We then conclude with a brief discussion of the possible labor market implications of our results.

Complexity and the Principles Course

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Jun 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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The Art of Teaching Economics

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 May 2003 04:00:00 +0000

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Cooperation, Trust, and Social Capital in Southeast Asian Urban Slums

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 May 2003 04:00:00 +0000

We conduct experiments in the field with people who live in urban slums to measure trust and cooperation and to see how behavior varies with demographic factors and associational measures of social capital. Overall, we find high rates of contributions among Thai and Vietnamese participants in a voluntary contribution game and we see that many participants are willing to socially sanction other participants who free ride. At the individual level, we find that behavior varies with many demographic factors (e.g., sex, schooling, age) and with many associational factors (e.g., home ownership and community homogeneity). However, many of these correlations differ significantly between our Thai participants and our Vietnamese participants indicating the role of culture.

The Varieties of Resource Experience: How Natural Resource Export Structures Affect the Political Economy of Economic Growth

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Apr 2003 05:00:00 +0000

Many oil, mineral, and plantation crop-based economies experienced a substantial deceleration of growth since the commodity boom and bust of the 1970s and early 1980s. Rodrik (1999) has demonstrated that the magnitude of a countrys growth deceleration since the 1970s is a function of both the magnitude of the shocks and a countrys social capability for adapting to shocks. In this paper, we demonstrate that in this respect countries, with what we term point source natural resource exports are doubly disadvantaged. Not only are countries with these types of exports exposed to terms of trade shocks, but the institutional capability for responding to shocks is itself endogenous and negatively related to export composition. Using two different sources of export data and classifications of export composition, we show that point source and coffee/cocoa exporting countries do worse across an array of governance indicators (controlling for a wide array of other potential determinants of governance). This is not just a function of being a natural resource exporter, as countries with natural resource exports that are diffuse do not show the same strong differencesand have had more robust growth recoveries.

The Strange Persistence of the IS/LM Model

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Mar 2003 05:00:00 +0000

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Are Institutionalists an Endangered Species?

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Feb 2003 05:00:00 +0000

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The Effects of Volunteering for Non-profit Organizations on Social Capital Formation: Evidence from a Statewide Survey

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Feb 2003 05:00:00 +0000

We use the household production framework to theoretically connect sociability and purposive incentives for volunteering and two forms of social capital: social connections and civic capacity. Then, using a unique statewide data set, we estimate the determinants of (a) the probability of receiving social capital benefits and (b) the level of such benefits. We show that: religious and social service organizations have a large impact on social capital formation; the probability of being socially and civically engaged increases with volunteering; and two-adult families are more likely to feel socially and civically engaged. These results are consistent with recent aggregate evidence on the decline of social capital in the United States: social capital formation declines with less religious and altruistic orientation at the community level, and as families move away from a two-adult family structure. By contrast, through volunteering, one can increase the likelihood of being socially and civically engaged.

No Switchbacks: Rethinking Aspiration-Based Dynamics in the Ultimatum Game

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Feb 2003 05:00:00 +0000

Aspiration-based evolutionary dynamics have recently been used to model the evolution of fair play in the ultimatum game showing that incredible threats to reject low offers persist in equilibrium. We focus on two extensions of this analysis: we experimentally test whether assumptions about agent motivations (aspiration levels) and the structure of the game (binary strategy space) reflect actual play, and we examine the problematic assumption embedded in the standard replicator dynamic that unhappy agents who switch strategies may return to a rejected strategy without exploring other options. We find that the resulting "no switchback" dynamic predicts the evolution of play better than the standard dynamic and that aspirations are a significant motivator for our participants. In the process, we also construct and analyze a variant of the ultimatum game in which players can adopt conditional (on their induced aspirations) stategies.

The Aging of an Economist

Ian McBride — Sat, 01 Feb 2003 05:00:00 +0000

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Is Geography Destiny?

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Jan 2003 05:00:00 +0000

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Beliefs, Intentions and Emotions: Old versus New Psychological Game Theory

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Jan 2003 05:00:00 +0000

We compare Colman's proposed "psychological game theory" with the existing literature on psychological games (Geanakoplos, Pearce and Stachetti 1989), in which beliefs and intentions assume a prominent role. We also discuss the experimental evidence on intentions, with a particular emphasis on reciprocal behavior, as well as some recent efforts to show that such behavior is consistent with social evolutions.

The Changing Composition and Influence of Land-Based Groups: Evidence from Two Counties in Vermont

Ian McBride — Wed, 01 Jan 2003 05:00:00 +0000

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"Consumption" and "Earnings"

Ian McBride — Fri, 01 Nov 2002 05:00:00 +0000

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Overcoming Information Asymmetries in Low-Income Lending: Lessons from the "Working Wheels" Program

Ian McBride — Tue, 01 Oct 2002 04:00:00 +0000

This study analyzes the role of relationship lending in the automobile credit market among a population generally perceived to be high risk - and thereby 'unlendable'. Using a unique dataset from the Vermont Development Credit Union's "Working Wheels" low-income car loan program, we find that the strength of the relationship between creditor and higher risk borrowers significantly raises the probability of loan approval, and that such borrowers who receive loans are relatively creditworthy. Specifically, for applicants without credit scores, we find that -- in addition to income and debt ratio -- age and the nature of the established relationship with the lender significantly affect the probability of loan approval. By contrast, for applicants with credit scores, only income, debt ratio and the credit score are the significant determinants. In addition, despite the greater information asymmetry associated with applicants whose credit histories are unknown, we find no significant difference in delinquency rates between those with and without credit scores. In the current climate of welfare reform, we conclude that policymakers should consider programs that encourage welfare recipients to establish relationships with traditional financial institutions and establish more programs like "Working Wheels" that facilitate access to affordable credit for automobiles.

Crowding out private insurance: Medicaid’s medically needy program

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Sep 2002 04:00:00 +0000

This paper examines the extent to which public health insurance crowds out purchases of private insurance. Specifically, the effect of Medicaid's medically needy program on the probability that an individual will buy private insurance is investigated. Evidence presented here suggests that the presence of the medically needy program and more specifically, its relative generosity significantly reduces the likelihood that an individual will purchase private insurance. For individuals living in more generous medically needy states, the crowd out is particularly evident for individuals whose family incomes lie closest to the eligibility thresholds. This does suggest that expansions of public coverage not only provide a "net" for the targeted uninsured, but also may attract individuals into the "net" who would otherwise seek private insurance. Such crowding out has serious implications for the net benefits of such public expansions.

Measuring the determinants of school completion in Pakistan: Analysis of censoring and selection bias

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Sep 2002 04:00:00 +0000

This paper explores the demand for child schooling in Pakistan, using the Pakistan Integrated Household Survey (1991). There have been few such studies for Pakistan, a country with relatively low enrollment rates and education levels, high illiteracy, and large disparity between male and female education. Additionally, this study focuses on two potential sources of bias in the estimation of the demand for schooling. First, studies that do not distinguish between currently enrolled children and those who have completed their schooling subject their estimates fo a form of censoring bias. Second, studies that exclude children who have left the household from their samples may introduce sample selection bias if the decisions to leave home and to attend school are related. This study finds evidence of both "censoring" and "sample selection" bias in the demand for child schooling in Pakistan.

The Demand for Punishment

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Sep 2002 04:00:00 +0000

While many experiments demonstrate that the actual behavior is different than predicted behavior, they have not shown that economic reasoning is necessarily incorrect. Instead, these experiments illustrate that the problem with homo economicus is that his preferences have been mis-specified. Modeled with social preferences, agents who forgo material gains can often be called rational. The current experiment illustrates this point with an example. Assuming self-interested agents, punishment is not credible in social dilemmas, yet people are often willing to incur costs to punish free riders. Despite this seeming irrationality, we show that these same people react to changes in the price of punishing and income as if punishment was an ordinary and normal good.

Reputation Flows

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Sep 2002 04:00:00 +0000

This paper exploits a survey of manufacturing firms in five transitioning countries to evaluate the factors that affect whether or not information on contractual disputes between firms is disseminated to other market participants. We find that these reputation flows are channeled both through informal communication among firms as well as through third party organizations; in addition, they are sensitive to firms' perceptions of the macro-institutional environment and specific features of the bilateral relationship in which the dispute occurs. The finding that some trade associations play a meaningful role in coordinating these flows suggests that their private and social value is significant.

Does health infrastructure substitute or complement mother’s education and household resources? A study of child health in rural Pakistan

Ian McBride — Sun, 01 Sep 2002 04:00:00 +0000

This paper analyzes the effect of quality and accessibility of health services and other public infrastructure on the health of children in rural Pakistan. It also explores whether local infrastructure substitutes or complements mothers education and household wealth in the production of child health. The analysis is done separately for boys and girls since there are known to be large gender disparities in human capital investment in Pakistan. The results suggest that access and quality of community health facilities tends to substitute for household wealth and mothers education in the production of child health. On the other hand, public health infrastructure such as piped water and sanitation tends to complement mothers education in the production of child health.

Former Socialist Economies and the Undergraduate Curriculum

Ian McBride — Thu, 01 Aug 2002 04:00:00 +0000

The authors report on the results of a survey of current undergraduate instruction on the socialist economic system and post-socialist economies. Based on responses from eighty colleges and universities, they evaluate how course offerings and content have changed in light of the momentous developments of the past decade. The evidence is then used to comment on trends and potential future developments in classes on comparative economic systems and transition economies. Although undergraduate offerings in these areas have arrived at a short-run equilibrium, there are good reasons to believe that the structure of the courses should soon be re-thought.

Do Contenders Really Outspend Non-Contenders in Major League Baseball?

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 04:00:00 +0000

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Globalization and Economics

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 04:00:00 +0000

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The Trade-Off Between Supervision Cost and Performance-Based Pay: Does it Matter?

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 04:00:00 +0000

The study adds to the literature by providing new empirical evidence consistent with efficiency wage theory, and by providing estimates of the average cost of supervising a worker by industry. This research uses the 1996 wave of the NLSY and incorporates estimates of supervision cost computed from industry classifications. We further detect presence of no gender differences neither in risk-averseness nor in productivity gains associated with cost of Supervision and performance-based pay.

Functional Finance, New Classical Economics and Great Great Grandsons

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 04:00:00 +0000

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A Note on Measuring the Unofficial Economy in the Former Soviet Republics

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 04:00:00 +0000

This note argues that the most commonly used estimates of the size of the unofficial economies in the former Soviet Republics are flawed. Most important, they are based on calculations that disregard the variation in unofficial economic activity across space in the pre-transition Soviet Union. In addition, these estimates appear to understate the size of the unofficial economies in these countries. We propose alternative estimates and find that they are more strongly related to the institutional factors commonly used to explain the size of the unofficial sector. Our estimates also show that the size of a country's pre-transition unofficial economy is an important predictor of its size during the transition. This suggests that the size of the unofficial economy is to a large extent a historical phenomenon only partly determined by contemporary institutional factors.

Union-Nonunion Wage Differentials and Macroeconomic Activity

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 04:00:00 +0000

This research is concerned with identifying the differing responses of union and nonunion wages to shocks to real output growth, inflation, and the stance of monetary policy. Aggregate measures of union and nonunion wages and salaries are used to construct a time series of the wage differential for several major industrial sectors over the 1976-2001 period. The literature documents the existence of a union wage premium; however, previously the focus has primarily been at the micro-level, and on whether or not a union worker receives greater compensation than an otherwise comparable nonunion worker [e.g., Wunnava and Ewing (1999, 2000)]. Research also links the wage differential to the stage of the business cycle [Wunnava and Okunade 1996] and to the industrial sector [Okunade, Wunnava, and Robinson (1992)]. Theoretical macroeconomic models imply that wages will respond in certain ways to unanticipated changes in aggregate measures of economic activity [e.g., Romer (1996)]. Given the differences in compensation level of union and nonunion workers, and the link to the stage of the business cycle and industry, it is expected that the aggregate wage differentials both for the entire private sector and by industry will respond to macroeconomic shocks in a predictable manner. The relationship among these wage differentials and the macroeconomy is examined in the context of a vector autoregression. In addition, the paper employs the newly developed technique of generalized impulse response analysis [Koop, et al. (1996), Pesaran and Shin (1998)], a method that does not impose a priori restrictions on the relative importance that each of the macroeconomic variables may play in the transmission process. The results show the extent and the magnitude of the relationship between the union-nonunion wage differentials and several key macroeconomic factors. Finally, the paper documents how the responses of these wage differentials vary by industrial sector.

Social Reciprocity

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 04:00:00 +0000

We conduct a survey and find that 47% of respondents state they would sanction free riders in a team production scenario even though the respondent was not personally affected and no direct benefits could be expected to follow an intervention. To understand this phenomenon, we define social reciprocity as the act of demonstrating ones disapproval, at some personal cost, for the violation of a widely-held norm (for example, dont free ride). Social reciprocity differs from reciprocity because social reciprocators punish all norm violators, regardless of group affiliation or whether or not the punisher bears the costs. Social reciprocity also differs from altruism because, while the latter is an outcome-oriented act benefiting someone else, the former is a triggered response not conditioned on future outcomes. To test the robustness of our survey results, we run a public goods experiment that allows players to punish each other. The experiment confirms the existence of social reciprocity and additionally demonstrates that more socially efficient outcomes arise when reciprocity can be expressed socially. Further we find that most subjects who punish do so to discipline transgressors and helping others is largely a positive externality. Finally, to provide some theoretical foundations for social reciprocity, we show that generalized punishment norms survive in one of the two stable equilibria of an evolutionary public goods game with selection drift.

On the Treatment of Fixed and Sunk Costs in Principles Texts

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 04:00:00 +0000

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The Death of Neoclassical Economics

Ian McBride — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 04:00:00 +0000

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The Paradox of Labor Discipline With Heterogenous Workers