Thesis advisor: Richard Tresch / The Appalachia region has long been plagued by economic depression. Poverty is prevalent in this region, along with low income, and high unemployment. The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) was established in 1965 to promote economic development and alleviate poverty the historically lagging region. Until 1983 the ARC functioned under a growth center strategy that channeled funds to Appalachian areas that were more economically stable and appeared promising. In 1983 the ARC undertook a major change in policy with the introduction of the Distressed Counties Program, which shifted the focus and funds to counties in severe economic duress. My thesis uses regression analysis to test the effect of the Distressed Counties Program on poverty rates, unemployment rates, and real per capita income of the distressed counties in Appalachia. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2007. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics Honors Program.

This paper estimates the income elasticity of government pharmaceutical spending and assesses the simultaneous effect of such spending on gross domestic product (GDP). Using a panel dataset for 136 countries from 1995 to 2006, we employ a two-step instrumental variable procedure where we first estimate the effect of GDP on public pharmaceutical expenditure using tourist receipts as an instrumentforGDP. In the secondstep,weconstructanadjusted pharmaceutical expenditure series where the response of public pharmaceutical expenditure to GDP is partialled out and use this endogeneity adjusted series as an instrument for pharmaceutical expenditure. Our estimations show that GDP has a strong positive impact on pharmaceutical spending with elasticity in excess of unity in countries with low spending on pharmaceuticals and countries with large economic freedom. In the second step, we find that when the quantitatively large reverse effect of GDP is accounted for, public pharmaceutical spending has a negative effect on GDP per capita particularly in countries with limited economic freedom.

No description available.

The focus of my PhD research has been on the acquisition of computational modeling and simulation methods used in both theoretical and applied Economics. My first chapter provides an interactive review of finite-difference methods for solving systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) commonly encountered in economic applications using Python. The methods surveyed in this chapter, as well as the accompanying code and IPython lab notebooks should be of interest to any researcher interested in applying finite-difference methods for solving ODEs to economic problems. My second chapter is an empirical analysis of the evolution of the distribution of bank size in the U.S. This paper assesses the statistical support for Zipf's Law (i.e., a power law, or Pareto, distribution with a scaling exponent of α = 2) as an appropriate model for the upper tail of the distribution of U.S. banks. Using detailed balance sheet data for all FDIC regulated banks for the years 1992 through 2011, I find significant departures from Zipf's Law for most measures of bank size inmost years. Although Zipf's Law can be statistically rejected, a power law distribution with α of roughly 1.9 statistically outperforms other plausible heavy-tailed alternative distributions. In my final chapter, which is based on joint work with Dr. David Comerford, I apply computational methods to model the relationship between per capita income and city size. A well-known result from the urban economics literature is that a monopolistically competitive market structure combined with internal increasing returns to scale can be used to generate log-linear relations between income and population. I extend this theoretical framework to allow for a variable elasticity of substitution between factors of production in a manner similar to Zhelobodko et al. (2012). Using data on Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the U.S. I find evidence that supports what Zhelobodko et al. (2012) refer to as "increasing relative love for variety (RLV)." Increasing RLV generates procompetitive effects as market size increases which means that IRS, whilst important for small to medium sized cities, are exhausted as cities become large. This has important policy implications as it suggests that focusing intervention on creating scale for small populations is potentially much more valuable than further investments to increase market size in the largest population centers.

This study developed a new typology to better understand patterns of change in rural counties. A cluster analysis was performed to group rural Texas counties by the population percent change and per capita personal income percent change that occurred between the years 2000 and 2007. A stable five-cluster solution was selected as the most appropriate. The clusters were described as Declining Population/Stable Economy, Growing Population/Growing Economy, Declining Population/Growing Economy, Growing Population/Stable Economy, and Declining Population/Declining Economy based on the means of the cluster variates. The clusters were then profiled to determine how they differed on a series of identified factors that have been found in the literature to affect population and economic growth in rural areas. Clusters were found to differ on net migration, foreign born migration, race/ethnicity of residents, percentage of commuters, economic dependence status, and number of two and four-year education institutions. Generated maps of the clusters revealed that bordering a neighboring state or country may play a role in a county’s population and economic growth; thus, it is recommended that additional attention needs to be given to understanding and facilitating cross border collaborations. Recommendations were also made for community development efforts to focus on improving educational access in rural counties and developing services to draw in foreign born immigrants. / text

Esta pesquisa analisa a convergência da renda per capita dos municípios do Estado de Roraima, no período compreendido entre os anos de 1999 a 2004. Para determinar a hipótese de convergência, aplicou-se os testes de β - convergência e σ -convergência e utilizou-se o método de estimação de Barro e Sala-i-Martin (1991,1992). Para este método é aplicado um modelo linear simples de mínimos quadrados ordinários da taxa de crescimento da renda per capita em relação ao logaritmo da renda per capita inicial. Os resultados denotam a existência de β -convergência absoluta entre os municípios, o que indica que as economias menos desenvolvidas cresceram mais que as mais desenvolvidas, de forma que reduziu as disparidades entre os municípios neste período. Relacionada a β -convergência condicional, foi obtido o crescimento com redução das disparidades, contudo é apresentada uma diferença ínfima em relação à β - convergência absoluta, em que a variável de controle educação, representada pela taxa de matrícula, não influenciou de forma intensa. Concernente a β - convergência, os resultados demonstraram a ocorrência de redução da dispersão da renda per capita, indicando a mesma tendência da β -convergência absoluta. / This research examines the convergence of per capita income of the municipalities of the State of Roraima, in the period between the years 1999 to 2004. To determine the possibility of convergence, was applied, the tests of β - convergence and σ -convergence and using the method of estimation of Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1991, 1992). This method is applied to a simple linear model of ordinary least squares of the growth rate of per capita income on the logarithm of initial income per capita. The results show the existence of absolute β - convergence between the municipalities, which indicates that the less developed economies grew more than the most developed, so that reduced the disparities between municipalities in this period. Related to the conditional β -convergence, the growth was achieved with reduction of disparities, however is a small difference with respect to absolute convergence, where the control variable of education, represented by the rate of registration, not influenced so intense. Concerning the β -convergence, the results demonstrated the occurrence of reduction of the dispersion of per capita income, indicating the same trend of absolute β - convergence.

Esta pesquisa analisa a convergência da renda per capita dos municípios do Estado de Roraima, no período compreendido entre os anos de 1999 a 2004. Para determinar a hipótese de convergência, aplicou-se os testes de β - convergência e σ -convergência e utilizou-se o método de estimação de Barro e Sala-i-Martin (1991,1992). Para este método é aplicado um modelo linear simples de mínimos quadrados ordinários da taxa de crescimento da renda per capita em relação ao logaritmo da renda per capita inicial. Os resultados denotam a existência de β -convergência absoluta entre os municípios, o que indica que as economias menos desenvolvidas cresceram mais que as mais desenvolvidas, de forma que reduziu as disparidades entre os municípios neste período. Relacionada a β -convergência condicional, foi obtido o crescimento com redução das disparidades, contudo é apresentada uma diferença ínfima em relação à β - convergência absoluta, em que a variável de controle educação, representada pela taxa de matrícula, não influenciou de forma intensa. Concernente a β - convergência, os resultados demonstraram a ocorrência de redução da dispersão da renda per capita, indicando a mesma tendência da β -convergência absoluta. / This research examines the convergence of per capita income of the municipalities of the State of Roraima, in the period between the years 1999 to 2004. To determine the possibility of convergence, was applied, the tests of β - convergence and σ -convergence and using the method of estimation of Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1991, 1992). This method is applied to a simple linear model of ordinary least squares of the growth rate of per capita income on the logarithm of initial income per capita. The results show the existence of absolute β - convergence between the municipalities, which indicates that the less developed economies grew more than the most developed, so that reduced the disparities between municipalities in this period. Related to the conditional β -convergence, the growth was achieved with reduction of disparities, however is a small difference with respect to absolute convergence, where the control variable of education, represented by the rate of registration, not influenced so intense. Concerning the β -convergence, the results demonstrated the occurrence of reduction of the dispersion of per capita income, indicating the same trend of absolute β - convergence.

Esta pesquisa analisa a convergência da renda per capita dos municípios do Estado de Roraima, no período compreendido entre os anos de 1999 a 2004. Para determinar a hipótese de convergência, aplicou-se os testes de β - convergência e σ -convergência e utilizou-se o método de estimação de Barro e Sala-i-Martin (1991,1992). Para este método é aplicado um modelo linear simples de mínimos quadrados ordinários da taxa de crescimento da renda per capita em relação ao logaritmo da renda per capita inicial. Os resultados denotam a existência de β -convergência absoluta entre os municípios, o que indica que as economias menos desenvolvidas cresceram mais que as mais desenvolvidas, de forma que reduziu as disparidades entre os municípios neste período. Relacionada a β -convergência condicional, foi obtido o crescimento com redução das disparidades, contudo é apresentada uma diferença ínfima em relação à β - convergência absoluta, em que a variável de controle educação, representada pela taxa de matrícula, não influenciou de forma intensa. Concernente a β - convergência, os resultados demonstraram a ocorrência de redução da dispersão da renda per capita, indicando a mesma tendência da β -convergência absoluta. / This research examines the convergence of per capita income of the municipalities of the State of Roraima, in the period between the years 1999 to 2004. To determine the possibility of convergence, was applied, the tests of β - convergence and σ -convergence and using the method of estimation of Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1991, 1992). This method is applied to a simple linear model of ordinary least squares of the growth rate of per capita income on the logarithm of initial income per capita. The results show the existence of absolute β - convergence between the municipalities, which indicates that the less developed economies grew more than the most developed, so that reduced the disparities between municipalities in this period. Related to the conditional β -convergence, the growth was achieved with reduction of disparities, however is a small difference with respect to absolute convergence, where the control variable of education, represented by the rate of registration, not influenced so intense. Concerning the β -convergence, the results demonstrated the occurrence of reduction of the dispersion of per capita income, indicating the same trend of absolute β - convergence.

After heart disease, cancer is the most common cause of death in many developed countries. In this paper, we discuss the relationship between economic growth and cancer incidence. The purposes of the paper are to describe and measure the influence of an increasing real per capita income on the overall incidence of cancer. Using cross-sectional data for 162 countries, regression results with crude and age-standardised rates allow us to measure the elasticity of cancer incidence with respect to per capita income, and to decompose the elasticity coefficient into two components: age-effect and lifestyle-effect.

yes / Abstract: Background: Understanding how cancer incidence evolves during economic growth is useful for forecasting the economic impact of cancerous diseases, and for governing the process of resources allocation in planning health services. We analyse the relationship between economic growth and cancer incidence in order to describe and measure the influence of an increasing real per capita income on the overall rate of cancer incidence. Method:We test the relationship between real per capita income and the overall rate of cancer incidence with a cross-sectional analysis, using data from the World Bank and the World Health Organization databases, for 165 countries in 2008. We measure the elasticity of cancer incidence with respect to per capita income, and we decompose the elasticities coefficients into two components: age-effect and lifestyle-effect. Results: An Engel’s model, in a double-log quadratic specification, explains about half of the variations in the age-standardised rates and nearly two thirds of the variations in the incidence crude rates. All the elasticities of the crude rates are positive, but less than one. The income elasticity of the age-standardised rates are negative in lower income countries, and positive (around 0.25 and 0.32) in upper middle and high income countries, respectively. Conclusions:These results are used to develop a basic framework in order to explain how demand-side economic structural changes may affect the long run evolution of cancer incidence. At theoretical level, a J-Curve is a possible general model to represents, other things being equal, how economic growth influence cancer incidence.