Browsing by Author "Fremstad, Anders, committee member"
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Item Open Access Essays on Bitcoin mining and renewable energy: exploring sustainability and profitability(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Hutabarat, Simon Poltak Hamonangan, author; Iverson, Terrence, advisor; Fremstad, Anders, committee member; Shields, Martin, committee member; Burkhardt, Jesse, committee memberThis Ph.D. dissertation comprises three interlinked studies exploring the intersection of renewable energy economics and cryptocurrency mining, focusing on Bitcoin. Using data from the California Independent Service Operator (CAISO) and a case study from East Indonesia, this research aims to inform energy and financial policies for a sustainable future. The first chapter, "Harnessing Renewable Energy for Cryptocurrency Mining: An Analysis of Locational Marginal Prices in California," looks into the potential of Bitcoin mining to utilize the surplus renewable energy produced during daylight hours when demand is relatively low. It considers whether the Locational Marginal Prices (LMPs) are systematically lower in areas rich in renewable energy resources, presenting an opportunity for strategic Bitcoin mining operations. The second chapter, "Assessing the Impact of Bitcoin Prices on Optimal Mining Hours: Implications for Renewable Energy Development," explores the profitability dynamics of Bitcoin mining. The study discusses the influence of Bitcoin prices and electricity costs on mining operations' profitability, including the ideal hours of operation. The findings suggest that for Bitcoin to be "green" and reduce carbon emissions, the Bitcoin price must be significantly lower than historical averages. The final chapter, "Exploring the Effects of Production Tax Credits on Renewable Energy Development: A Computable General Equilibrium Approach in East Indonesia," evaluates the potential impact of production tax credits (PTCs) on Indonesia's renewable energy industry. This study provides a quantitative assessment of the economic implications of a PTC, contributing to the ongoing debate on incentivizing renewable energy development. Together, these chapters offer insights into the potential of cryptocurrency mining to harness renewable energy, the factors affecting the profitability of Bitcoin mining, and the impact of tax incentives on renewable energy development. These findings could guide policymakers and stakeholders in making informed decisions for a sustainable and profitable future.Item Open Access Generic support vector machines and Radon's theorem(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Carr, Brittany M., author; Adams, Henry, advisor; Shipman, Patrick, committee member; Fremstad, Anders, committee memberA support vector machine, (SVM), is an algorithm which finds a hyperplane that optimally separates labeled data points in Rn into positive and negative classes. The data points on the margin of this separating hyperplane are called \emph{support vectors}. We study the possible configurations of support vectors for points in general position. In particular, we connect the possible configurations to Radon's theorem, which provides guarantees for when a set of points can be divided into two classes (positive and negative) whose convex hulls intersect. If the positive and negative support vectors in a generic SVM configuration are projected to the separating hyperplane, then these projected points will form a Radon configuration.Item Open Access Institutions and structural transformations in the North American economy(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Walke, Adam Gregory, author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Vasudevan, Ramaa, advisor; Fremstad, Anders, committee member; Mumme, Stephen, committee memberIt is often asserted that secure property rights and legal frameworks conducive to the functioning of markets are essential institutional foundations of a capitalist economy. It is sometimes even claimed that they are preconditions of economic growth. Efforts to implement those institutions have, however, produced heterogeneous outcomes for different groups of people. This dissertation considers the effects of two waves of institutional change in North America: the nineteenth-century privatization and subsequent alienation of communal property in the United States and Mexico and the late-twentieth-century neoliberal reforms in Mexico. Both episodes contributed to profound structural transformations in the North American economy. In the process of shaping important aspects of the present capitalist economies of Mexico and the United States, the above-mentioned institutional changes resulted in land loss, dispossession, the destruction of traditional livelihoods and, for many people, insertion into labor markets on the lowest rungs, with reduced autonomy, and with little or no job security. The dissertation examines three cases of communal property privatization. First, it considers the effect of the 1887 Dawes General Allotment Act on American Indian migration using data from the 1930 U.S. Census. The results suggest that individuals who were likely to have lost land due to allotment had a higher propensity to migrate to cities and to other states. Second, historical literature is reviewed to understand how the privatization of communal property under Mexico's 1856 Lerdo Law exacerbated land loss and inequality. That episode inspired subsequent efforts to reverse the effects of privatization through the creation of a new form of communal property known as ejidos during and after the Mexican Revolution. Third, the consequences of 1992 constitutional reforms allowing the privatization of ejidos are considered. The main finding is that municipalities with larger relative declines in ejido and agrarian community membership (as a percentage of population) and more land sales to non-ejido-members experienced larger increases in income inequality. Mexico's 1992 ejido reforms were part of a broader set of neoliberal reforms aimed at seamlessly integrating the country into the North American and global economies. Trade and investment regulations were liberalized, which contributed to the spread of cross-border production sharing or "offshoring" arrangements in the manufacturing sector. The last section of the dissertation considers the effects of those arrangements on employment volatility. The main finding is that reliance on offshoring-related revenues generally had a large, positive impact on manufacturing-sector employment volatility in Mexico over the 2007 to 2020 period. In contrast, trade that was not related to offshoring had, at most, a weak impact on volatility. The main policy implication is that attracting jobs in the labor-intensive stages of transnational manufacturing production processes may entail the risk of increasing employment volatility.Item Open Access Model-based systems engineering application to data management for integrated sustainable human settlement modeling(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Adjahossou, Anicet, author; Grigg, Neil, advisor; Bradley, Thomas, committee member; Conrad, Steven, committee member; Willson, Bryan, committee member; Fremstad, Anders, committee memberThe challenges associated with the transition from current approaches to temporary humanitarian settlement to integrated, sustainable human settlements is largely due to a significant increase in the number of forcibly displaced people over the last few decades, the difficulties of sustainably providing the needed services to the required standards, and the prolongation of emergencies. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)'s Global Appeal 2023, more than 117.2 million people were forcibly displaced or stateless in 2023, representing a little over 1% of the world's population. The average lifespan of a humanitarian settlement is between 17 and 26 years (UNHCR), and factors such as urban growth and adverse environmental changes have exacerbated the scale of the difficulties. Despite these problematical contexts, short-term considerations continue to guide the planning and management of humanitarian settlements, to the detriment of more integrated, longer-term perspectives. These factors call for a paradigm shift in approach to ensure greater sustainability right from the planning phases. Recent studies often attribute the unsustainability of humanitarian settlements to poor design and inadequate provision of basic resources and services, including water, energy, housing, employment and economic opportunities, among others. They also highlight apparent bottlenecks that hinder access to meaningful and timely data and information that stakeholders need for planning and remediation. More often than not, humanitarian operations rely on ad hoc methods, employing parallel, fragmented and disconnected data processing frameworks, resulting in the collection of a wide range of data without subsequent analysis or prioritization to optimize potential interconnections that can improve sustainability and performance. Furthermore, little effort has been made to investigate the trade-offs involved. As a result, major shortcomings emerged along the way, leading to disruption, budget overruns, disorder and more, against a backdrop of steadily declining funding for humanitarian aid. However, some attempts have been made to move towards more sustainable design approaches, but these have mainly focused on vague, sector-specific themes, ignoring systemic and integrative principles. This research is a contribution to filling these gaps by developing more practical and effective solutions, based on an integrated systemic vision of a human settlement, defined and conceptualized as a complex system. As part of this process, this research proposes a model-driven methodology, supported by Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and a Systems Modeling Language (SysML), to develop an integrated human settlement system model, which has been functionally and operationally executed using Systems Engineering (SE) approach. This novel system model enables all essential sub-systems to operate within the single system, and focuses on efficient data processing. The ultimate aim is to provide a global solution to the interconnection and integration challenges encountered in the processing of operational data and information, to ensure an effective transition to sustainable human settlements. With regard to the interconnectedness between the different sectors of the sub-systems, this research proposes a Triple Nexus Framework (TNF) in an attempt to integrate water, energy and housing sector data derived from one sub-system within the single system by applying systems engineering methods. Systems engineering, based on an understanding of the synergies between water, energy and housing, characterizes the triple nexus framework and identifies opportunities to improve decision-making steps and processes that integrate and enhance quality of data processing. To test and validate the performance of the system model, two scenarios are executed to illustrate how an integrated data platform enables easy access to meaningful data as a starting point for modeling an integrated system of sustainable human settlement in humanitarian contexts. With regard to framework performance, the model is simulated using a megadata nexus, as specified by the system requirement. The optimization simulation yields 67% satisfactory results which is further confirmed from a set of surveyed practitioners. These results show that an integrated system can improve the sustainability of human settlements beyond a sufficiently acceptable threshold, and that capacity building in service delivery is beneficial and necessary. The focus on comprehensive data processing through systems integration can be a powerful tool for overcoming gaps and challenges in humanitarian operations. Structured interviews with question analysis are conducted to validate the proposed model and framework. The results prove a consensus that the novel system model advances the state of the art in the current approach to the design and management of human settlements. An operational roadmap with substantial programmatic and technical activities required to implement the triple nexus framework is recommended for adoption and scaling-up. Finally, to assess the sustainability, adaptability and applicability of the system, the proposed system model is further validated using a context-based case study, through a capacity assessment of an existing humanitarian settlement. The sustainability analysis uses cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) methodologies, and results show that the development of the settlement are unstable and therefore unsustainable, since there is no apparent difference between influential and dependent data. This research tackles an important global challenge, providing valuable insights towards sustainable solutions for displaced populations, aligning with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.Item Open Access Molecular configurations and persistence: branched alkanes and additive energies(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Story, Brittany M., author; Adams, Henry, advisor; Shipman, Patrick, committee member; Achter, Jeff, committee member; Fremstad, Anders, committee memberEnergy landscapes are high-dimensional functions that encapsulate how certain molecular properties affect the energy of a molecule. Chemists use disconnectivity graphs to find transition paths, the lowest amount of energy needed to transfer from one energy minimum to another. But disconnectivity graphs fail to show not only some lower-dimensional features, such as transition paths with an energy value only slightly higher than the minimum transition path, but also all higher-dimensional features. Sublevelset persistent homology is a tool that can be used to capture other relevant features, including all transition paths. In this paper, we will use sublevelset persistent homology to find the structure of the energy landscapes of branched alkanes: tree-like molecules consisting of only carbons and hydrogens. We derive complete characterizations of the sublevelset persistent homology of the OPLS-UA energy function on two different families of branched alkanes. More generally, we explain how the sublevelset persistent homology of any additive energy landscape can be computed from the individual terms comprising that landscape.Item Open Access The broken promise of mobility: higher education's funding impact on poverty and college debt(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Singleton, John, author; Pena, Anita Alves, advisor; Fremstad, Anders, committee member; Sharp, Ben, committee memberFollowing findings of increased poverty over time among Coloradans with college experience, I estimate the impact of Higher Education spending on poverty and debt outcomes for groups of individuals who have completed at least their post-secondary bachelor's degree. I hypothesize that the current level of Higher Education funding at the state level has contributed to the growing poverty and student debt. Using regression models with state and year fixed effects for poverty and additional institution-level fixed effects for debt, I find that an increase of $1 in spending on per capita Higher Education would reduce poverty by 0.03% and debt by $1.18 per student each year. The reduction in debt per student would be both proactive in reducing future debt and contribute to reducing current debt every fiscal cycle. Additionally, the relationship between debt and state spending indicates that growth in GDP and median income would reduce both the poverty rate and personal debt for college graduates. The impact of state supports on debt, in particular, validates the hypothesis that state spending on post-secondary institutions is currently failing to address the shifting cost-benefit value of a degree.Item Open Access The economic and the real: reflections on justice, methodology, and ontology in economics(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Teather-Posadas, Edward R., author; Bernasek, Alexandra, advisor; Ziliak, Stephen T., advisor; Fremstad, Anders, committee member; Vasudevan, Ramaa, committee member; Foskin, Kevin, committee memberThe role of perspective is often overlooked within economics. While the scale and scope of economics has expanded greatly in the last decades, less and less time has been devoted to introspection. Yet, as economics grows, so does the need for introspection, in order to explore the origins and relations of, and between, our own perspectives. This dissertation is an attempt to turn our gaze inwards in three different themes: justice, methodology, and ontology. Chapter Two reassesses the Seattle/Denver Income Maintenance Experiments (1970-1976) seeking to correct many misconceptions that have been taken as conventional wisdom about the experiments. Chapter Three expands on Martha Nussbaum's capabilities list through the inclusion of negativity and a "zeroth" capability. Chapter Four redefines the nature of economic pluralism through the use of parallax ontology.Item Open Access The provisions and implementation of just transitions: lessons learned from Colorado's Just Transition(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Aghababian, Sidra, author; Stevis, Dimitris, advisor; Scott, Ryan, committee member; Fremstad, Anders, committee memberAs the world progresses on a path towards decarbonization to achieve emission reduction and climate goals, the question of how to transition from fossil fuel energy sources arises. Transitions from fossil fuel energy sources have the potential to be "just" by addressing social and environmental justice implications. It is important to understand how to create and implement transitions that are "just". This work explores the provisions and implementations of Colorado's Just Transition Policy. Using qualitative analysis, it first examines and evaluates the goals or provisions of Colorado's Just Transition Policy. It then examines whether and how the implementation of the policy is weakening, reproducing, or strengthening these goals.Item Open Access Three essays about substance use and addiction in economics(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Perry, Teresa, author; Mushinski, David, advisor; Fremstad, Anders, committee member; Pressman, Steven, committee member; Bernasek, Alex, committee member; Prince, Mark, committee memberThis dissertation includes three papers on substance use and addiction in economics. Chapter 1 explains the different theories of addiction within economics with a particular emphasis on the rational addiction model. Once these theories are defined I present a historical overview of the different theories of addiction. Classical economists such as Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and others are incorporated into the paper as a critique to the rational addiction model. After the historical analysis Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 present a quantitative analysis about how community level events impact substance use. Chapter 2 models the impact of community level violence using the National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT) to examine how an exogenous measure, kingpin captures, impacts cigarette use. The results indicate that, in the short run, the number of current smokers increases for adults in areas of high levels of increased violence and that the consumption of cigarettes among current smokers increases for adolescents when violence increases in their municipalities or federal entities. Chapter 3 models the impact of the 2016 election on individuals based on their race, ethnicity, and gender by using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance system data set and a difference-in-differences estimation strategy. There results indicate that there has been an increase in cigarette use for Hispanic individuals after the 2016 election. Each chapter uses an interdisciplinary approach and incorporates literature and theories outside of economics to better understand the research question. Each chapter also expands on ways in which substance use can be studied within economics.Item Open Access Three essays in social economics: social perspectives on international environmental agreements and space tourism(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Houston, Mimi, author; Pena, Anita Alves, advisor; Fremstad, Anders, committee member; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Malin, Stephanie, committee memberThe social realm is an important locus of insight to understand economic behavior. Social economics recognizes that behavior is a "result of complex social interactions with ethical consequences" (ASE, 2023), that not only informs theory, but also broadens the available policy space. Most importantly, it allows for ethical values to enter the study of economics, giving space for considerations such as equity and justice that are inextricably interrelated to economic phenomena and policy outcomes. One area of study where this interdependence is especially pertinent is in the literature exploring country behavior in global environmental negotiations. The transboundary nature of many environmental issues, especially climate change, warrants international cooperation in the form of international environmental agreements (IEAs). In the field of economics, theoretical models of IEA formation (mostly in the for of non-cooperative game theory) suggest that IEAs should be few and far between. However, the post WWII era, especially the last few decades of the 20th Century, have seen a rapid increase in the number of IEAs ratified and entered into force. In the 1990s alone, over 300 IEAs were signed, and since the turn of the twenty-first century, almost 400 new IEAs have been signed. Empirical work has emerged looking to explain why countries sign and ratify IEAs. Chapter 1 expands and contributes to this body of work by taking a closer look at how international ties, in the form of intergovernmental organization membership, formal alliances, and diplomatic exchanges, affect countries' propensity to sign an IEA and by exploring cross- disciplinary theories on the role of socialization in influencing this behavior. Data is compiled from Mitchell's IEA Database along with Correlates of War Project data on the abovementioned international relations metrics. A negative binomial model is fit to a panel of the count of IEA signatures from 151 countries over the years 1960-2005. Results suggest that global relations matter in countries' IEA signature behavior—with intergovernmental organization membership and diplomatic exchanges increasing the number of signatures, while formal (military) alliances have a negative effect. Looking to inform the theoretical side of the economics of IEAs, Chapter 2 takes a feminist epistemological perspective to critique and expand this area of study. Feminist philosophy, namely feminist standpoint epistemology, points to the epistemic effects of social stratification and highlights the influence of Western, masculinist ideals on the economic study of IEAs and the policy space that it informs. It points to the possible role of geopolitical power relations that favor the global North and their economic and environmental ideologies. As a poignant and timely example, the history of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is used to demonstrate these points. To conclude and move us "toward a feminist foundation of the economics of IEAs," this chapter explores how feminist philosophy and economics offers a more expansive framework to understand country behavior and power relations in this context. Such approaches allow for salient ethical considerations, like equity and justice, that are increasingly recognized as inextricable from environmental policymaking today. The final chapter pivots from the discussion of IEAs toward consideration of expanded worldviews associated with the planet as our environment. This chapter explores a unique set of data from the newly established space tourism market. Specifically, it seeks to learn more about potential positive externalities associated with a changed worldview that astronauts reportedly experience. Using "citizen astronaut" data from nonprofit Space for Humanity's 2019 application round for a sponsored trip to space, this chapter employs a probit model to explore the influence of demographics on the propensity for citizen astronauts to choose environmental aims as their focus for humanitarian work. It is shown that there are complex correlations between region, age, and gender that affect these altruistic aims. The topics explored in this dissertation work together to exemplify the relevance of the social sphere in economics studies. By empirically establishing that global social relations matter (Chapter 1), to exploring how feminist philosophy helps to understand these relationships (Chapter 2), and lastly, by examining prosocial motivations in the space tourism market (Chapter 3), this dissertation represents a key contribution to their respective literatures and to social economics as whole.Item Open Access Value theory in environmental ethics and economics(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Williams, Allison, author; McShane, Katie, advisor; Shockley, Kenneth, committee member; Fremstad, Anders, committee memberThe need for an environmental ethic is clear. Many in environmental ethics claim that an environmental ethic ought to be based on the intrinsic and/or non-anthropocentric value of nature, without consensus on a clear definition of those terms and without a clear analysis of the implications of adopting such an ethic. The purpose of this thesis is to first make sense of those different definitions and claims. Then, I describe Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic, a community-based environmental ethic outlined by Aldo Leopold, in order to contrast the different ways in which we ought to value the natural world with how we value things in economics. I argue that theories of value in economics, specifically existence value, are not compatible with nor can they capture the intrinsic, non-anthropocentric value of nature, and I propose an alternative ethic in opposition to the commodification of nature, and the relationship to the natural world formed by economics.