Theses and Dissertations

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Open Access
Three essays on the role of credit, labor, and information for small business establishments
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Gulati, Bhramman, author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, advisor; Thilmany, Dawn, committee member; Vasudevan, Ramaa, committee member
Small business establishments create jobs, promote innovation, and boost productivity in local and national economies. However, despite this pronounced and enduring impact, they face numerous existential challenges, especially in rural areas, which have smaller markets, population bases, and limited amenities compared to urban areas. Therefore, the United States government has introduced numerous policy measures to support and promote small establishments. This study informs such policy conversations by investigating three key factors that influence small business sustainability and growth: credit supply, labor supply, and information asymmetries. The first chapter reviews the study motivations and elaborates on these key factors. Existing literature outlines how lending from financial institutions plays an important role in the birth of new businesses. In Chapter 2, I add that bank lending fluctuations also impact the survival of existing (newborn) businesses, particularly in non-metropolitan areas. Next, Chapter 3 considers how local labor market dynamics affect the survival of new businesses by applying portfolio theory to evaluate employment-based and income-based measures of risk-and-reward trade-offs in local labor markets. I find that volatility in local labor markets observed during the study period, 2005-2009, has a positive impact on new business survival, especially in Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Thirdly, current and consistent information about a geographical entity's local economic, demographic, and social characteristics is a valuable commodity; however, such information is often scarce in rural and remote counties. The American Community Survey (ACS) was introduced to address this problem. However, its staggered data release—based on county population thresholds—created information gaps between otherwise similar rural counties. Therefore, Chapter 4 uses a synthetic control method to investigate any differences in economic impact between counties that received ACS information earlier and those that received it later (i.e., as measured through establishment births). There were encouraging results in some cases, indicating a potential economic effect from geographical information asymmetries. The last chapter reflects on the study's findings in the context of current economic events.
Open Access
Inventing in an uncertain world: biofuel patents and the anticommons
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Berklund, Annabelle, author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Kling, Robert, committee member; Iverson, Terry, committee member; Graff, Gregory, committee member
In 1998 Heller coined the term "anticommons" as a situation in which overlapping property rights lead to underutilization of a resource. Biofuel technologies offer a unique opportunity to explore Heller's hypothesis as there are a dozen different pathways all leading to the same end: a marketable fuel. Ethanol is the most common biofuel on the market today, but this first-generation biofuel comes at a high environmental cost. Advanced biofuels use non-food crops and other waste materials to create a final fuel, which offers hope when considering the environmental impacts of traditional liquid fuels. The patent rights surrounding each fuel type span from a single owner to many owners and vary across technology pathways. These papers explore biofuel technologies over 60 years via granted patents and show that along all technology and ownership patterns the number of assignees on a patent negatively impact follow-on citations. Paper 1, "The rise and fall of innovation in biofuels" was published in Nature Biotechnology in 2016. This paper is a patent landscape of biofuel technologies from 1960 to 2013. In this paper we show an uptick in biofuel patents in the early 2000's, followed by a slow-down post 2008. These trends vary by location and ownership structure, which is explored further in paper 3. Paper 2 builds on the traditional Nordhaus innovation model in which innovation outputs are a function of inputs. The model is expanded to include the potential for fragmented property rights in the form of diffuse patent ownership. The success of an innovation depends on basic research inputs, such as resources available to the researcher and existing patents for the technology in question. A hopeful inventor must consider the time and cost of negotiating rights to gain access to existing patents. And the risk of getting tied up in litigation, before deciding to move forward with a particular idea. As patent ownership becomes more diffuse private outcomes decrease relative to the social optimum and useful ideas are abandoned. Paper 3 uses the data from paper 1 to test the hypothesis of the anticommons empirically. The model uses count of citing patents as a function of various innovation inputs, including cited patents, inventor and assignee counts, time, and other control variables. The data is divided into technological pathways to illustrate how varying amounts of patent assignees impacts follow-on inventions. In all cases the number of assignees negatively impacts the number of follow on citations, suggesting the anticommons is present.
Open Access
Transgender stratification economics
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Haggar, Robert, author; Vasudevan, Ramaa, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Fremstad, Anders, committee member; Dockendorff, Kari, committee member
This dissertation provides extensive evidence of economic stratification articulated through cisheteropatriarchal power and white supremacy. This evidence is presented through three discrete chapters. Chapter 1: Research on the economic status of transgender status has found that trans* people face pervasive discrimination from both state and non-state actors. This paper builds upon the growing labor-economics of transgender people but breaks with it by considering economic precarity more broadly. By incorporating insights from intersectional theory and Marxian Feminism, this paper seeks to argue that economic marginalization and social oppression reinforce and enable one another. Following the intersectional methods of stratification economics, this paper compares the economic marginality of trans* people to the US population across income distributions and labor force status using the 2015 United States Transgender Survey and the 2015 American Community Survey. Trans* individuals are clustered in precarious labor force statuses which are characterized by low income. This clustering is more pronounced for transgender women, nonbinary people, and racially marginalized people. These transgender individuals, alongside those with disabilities and those who have experienced workplace discrimination due to their gender identity, are far more likely to engage in low-income self-employment, sex work, and illegal employment. Chapter 2: Trans* people are disproportionately poorer than their cisgender counterparts. Due to the financial cost of maintaining residence in housing and the negative effects of not having adequate housing, the relative impoverishment of transgender individuals may influence their ability to afford housing. The US Dept of Housing and Urban Development defines an individual or household as "cost burdened" when they pay more than 30% of their monthly income to cover housing costs. This study will compare the rates of cost burden across the transgender and cisgender populations and across housing types in the US using the Household Pulse Survey. To estimate housing cost burden, I will construct a cost burden variable for each observation by constructing upper and lower bounds of the range within which cost burden, defined as rent cost divided by income, lies. Transgender men allocate 7.9% more of their total income to rent payments, while female "nones" allocate 9.5% more of their total income, compared to cisgender men. The rent premia paid by transgender individuals compared to cisgender men varies conditional on the racial group considered. Increased rent burdens faced by white individuals are lower than that for Black or Hispanic individuals. Chapter 3: Using Phases 3.2-3.5 of the Household Pulse Survey, this paper establishes statistically significant differences in likelihood of Unemployment Insurance utilization between cisgender men and transgender men, transgender women, and individuals assigned male at birth but identifying as not a man, a woman, or transgender. Transgender men and women and individuals assigned male at birth but identifying as not a man, a woman, or transgender are also more likely than cisgender men to live in households where another adult receives Unemployment Insurance income, relative to cisgender men. These results may follow from the interaction between patriarchal breadwinner norms and the structure of unemployment insurance, which undercuts the ability for cisgender women to access unemployment insurance and encourages cisgender men to avoid unemployment. Psychological costs and lower average incomes may discourage trans* individuals from engaging with Unemployment Insurance.
Open Access
Feeling the squeeze: looking for lemons in the market for used banks
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Totten, Gregory, author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Thilmany, Dawn, committee member; Kling, Robert, committee member
This study examines adverse selection and geographic information asymmetry costs stemming from branch network expansion on bank performance. Using a comprehensive dataset covering the period from 1994 to 2022 from the FDIC, this paper investigates how geographic expansion and resulting merger and acquisition (M&A) activity impact bank performance, as measured by Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Non-Performing Loans. The findings reveal that while increasing bank size generally (as measured by total assets) yields benefits, likely due to operational efficiencies, these are accompanied by offsetting costs due to both local information losses resulting from increased geographic branch network size and adverse selection ("lemons") effects stemming from the M&A process. These costs are particularly acute during economic downturns, as evidenced by the interaction effects observed during the Great Recession. The results suggest that information asymmetries, resulting from geographic distance and a lemons effect, are significant in determining bank performance outcomes. This study contributes to the existing literature by reconciling previously mixed findings regarding the net benefits of bank branch network expansion, highlighting the importance of considering both the benefits and costs associated with these strategies.
Open Access
Essays on local economic development and social capital
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Poerbonegoro, Anna Farina, author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Alves Pena, Anita, advisor; Zahran, Sammy, committee member; Suter, Jordan, committee member
Creative Sector activities and social capital are interconnected in the same spectrum of local economic development, even though is not always immediately apparent. The two are related in that social capital is a product of, and simultaneously a determinant for, the Creative Sector. The three essays in this dissertation address each component separately. The first two essays examine the Creative Sector, and the third focuses on social capital. Motivated by the increasing role of the role of Creative Sector as growth driver and the economic base approach, in Chapter 1 titled Role of Creative Initiatives in Economic Performance: Case Study on Colorado's Creative Districts and Main Street Communities I examine the influence of Colorado's place-based initiative / policy on economic performance. Two dependent variables are chosen to represent performance, namely Business Establishments and Net Job Creation. In addition, sectoral employment (the Creative Sector and NAICS sector 71 (Arts, Entertainment and Recreation) and employment in sectors outside of the two) are examined as a supplement; for the placed-based policy, Creative District Certification program and the Main Street Communities program are selected, along with a set of control variables and a set of interaction terms that signify co-existence of the two policies in any particular county. The data used in estimation is a panel dataset for Colorado's 64 counties in a ten-year period (2010 – 2019). Results indicate that both place-based initiatives affect business establishments but not their birth rates, but each influence is opposite direction; co-location of the two is also playing a role, which is positive in Urban areas but negative in Rural areas. Job creation is positively influenced by the MS Communities program in the Rural region but not by Creative District certification program. Creative Sector employment is slightly negatively influenced by the initiatives; in contrast, they do not influence employment in either Sector 71 or Other Sectors. The results suggest that the two initiatives are beneficial, but each for different types of counties. Chapter 2, titled Sectoral Employment Spillover in Colorado, focuses on spatial spillover effects of employment in two leading industrial sectors – namely the Arts, Recreation and Entertainment (NAICS 71 or Sector 71) and the Creative Sectors – on employment in Other Sectors in Colorado, based on the Economic Base Theory. The analysis is performed using county-level Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data. The study aims at answering the question of whether sectoral employment in one county affects that in a neighboring county (in other words, whether spatial correlation exists). Moreover, the analysis also examines how sectoral employment (Creative Sector and Sector 71) in one county influences employment in sectors outside the two, in different counties; this is the employment spillover question. Two variations of model specifications are tested, examined spatially and non-spatially, using lagged variables in one model and lagged log variables in another. The result suggests that overall, the two sectoral employments do influence Other Employment, but the spatial spillover is not detected. More specifically, the Creative Sector is negatively associated with the next period's employment in Other Sectors in both models. However, the significance of Sector 71 employment's relationship with employment in Other Sectors depends on how it is modeled. Social Capital is discussed in Chapter 3, County Level Social Capital in Colorado. While social capital is acknowledged as being a fuzzy concept, it embeds both demand and supply side within itself. While the demand side typically addresses how social capital affects other dimensions in economics, Chapter 3 here focuses on the supply side, by inquiring how social capital at county level in Colorado is affected by various socio-economic aspects. The discussion covers various standpoints of social capital contexts and definitions that are indicative of the fuzziness of the concept itself. Empirically, I employ a quantitative measure of social capital in the form of an index portraying civic participation (developed by Rupasingha et al. (2006)). A short panel regression was performed using a series of explanatory variables (physical infrastructure, poverty, unemployment, personal and regional incomes, education, and an economic recession). The results indicate that poverty and economic shock have the tendency to reduce social capital in Colorado in the form of civic engagement particularly in Urban regions, while larger pool of the unemployed in the society indicates a positive relationship with civic participation. Physical infrastructure, proxied by new housing permits, is negatively associated with civic participation in all three regions.
Open Access
Three essays on gender inequality in Latin America: understanding labor market segregation, job quality, and environmental issues from a feminist perspective
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Machado Nunes, Débora, author; Braunstein, Elissa, advisor; Tavani, Daniele, advisor; Chatterjee, Sushmita, committee member; Barber, Edward B., committee member
For the past three decades, Latin America experienced remarkable progress in educational attainment and health care access for women, combined with decreasing household income inequality and higher wages across the board since 2002, especially at the bottom of the wage distribution for most countries. Yet, gender job segregation in the labor market has increased since the early 1990s. Urban women persistently occupy jobs in the informal sector, where jobs are generally characterized by low wages, lack of benefits, poor working conditions, and no promotion possibilities. Concerning both urban and rural women is Latin America's unique vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and the lack of progress in preventing deforestation, which disproportionally impacts impoverished communities, especially women and children. Despite some progress on reproductive rights in several countries, persistent economic challenges and constraints present serious barriers to the advancement of gender equality and reproductive justice—understood as the right to prevent and terminate undesired pregnancies, carry desired pregnancies, and raise a healthy and happy child to the best of one's ability. Based on the premise that such a complex scenario can only be understood through feminist research methodologies, this dissertation proposes three independent yet connected essays. Each essay focuses on a different research question that helps us better understand the gendered impacts of economic policies in Latin America, how women with different intersectional identities are impacted by them, and how to build useful scholarship for policy makers and activists to advance gender equality and reproductive justice in the region. The first essay focuses on the connections between gender job segregation, income distribution, and real exchange rates in Latin America. For the second essay, we propose a theoretical discussion, focusing on building reproductive justice as a research program within economics. Finally, the third essay focuses on rural women, exploring the relationship between deforestation and hours unpaid care work in the Amazonia rainforest.
Open Access
Spatial characteristics: improving model accuracy and providing regional research insights
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Crofton, Kevin, author; Cutler, Harvey, advisor; Weiler, Stephan, committee member; Shields, Martin, committee member; Manning, Dale, committee member
The research presented in this dissertation began with an investigation of water transfers from rural Colorado to a growing urban region and how this would affect the rural economy. Chapter 1 focuses on the growing concern of water scarcity in the arid western region of the US. In this part of the country, it is widely known that water is limited, and as populations continue to increase, so will the demand for water, which is already in short supply. A multiregional Computable General Equilibrium (MRCGE) model using spatially detailed data was built to study the impact of urban growth on a rural community and is presented in Chapter 1. The construction of the MRCGE model led to consideration of how aggregation shapes output. This evolved into a comparison of a MRCGE model that utilized spatial details that explained the differences between a rural and urban economies with a single region CGE model that aggregated these regional differences. Chapter 2 discusses identical simulations in either model, demonstrates insights gained from refining the spatial details into a MRCGE model, and identifies specific elements lost when using a broader aggregated description blending different regions together. Different spatial qualities between locations are critical in expanding the understanding of skier behavior. Chapter 3 provides a skier behavior model of the US, which confirms the pull effect of destination snowfall shown in regional models of the ski industry. Additionally, this research demonstrates that skier origin weather also influences skier visitation by shifting the subjective interest of traveling to another region. The result of this model provides evidence of push and pull weather variables for a winter ski destination, filling a gap generally left by travel literature that often focuses on warm weather destinations. Chapter 1 describes a three-region CGE model that utilizes the unique spatial characteristics of urban, rural, and interface regions; the latter includes a blend of features of both the rural and urban regions. Using explicitly defined regions provides an enhanced analysis of each community's Ag and non-Ag sectors, while also describing the impact on households. This model connects the three regions via a water market, which allows for endogenous transfers of water to occur due to urban population growth. The model adds an interregional intermediate input market, allowing urban growth to demand greater domestic supply from the rural and interface industries. The interregional intermediate input market, which captures another link between the urban region and the rural region, is a new addition to the literature. These key modeling features refine the approach to investigate urban growth's influence on a rural economy by modeling multiple interregional markets and identifying regional specific characteristics. Chapter 1 allows for a more complete understanding of the dynamics between urban growth, water transfer from the rural region, and the resulting influence on the rural economy. Chapter 1 compares a model, which includes the water market and the intermediate input market, to two restricted models, either only trade water or only trade intermediate inputs, between regions to assess the impact these markets have on the rural economy. This comparison demonstrates that both markets can increase the cost of production due to greater urban demand, but when either is restricted, rural economies can expand in respond to urban growth. When water cannot be traded between regions factor prices become relatively cheaper in the rural region because there is not the greater urban demand causing higher water prices. With cheaper factors the rural economy can expand supply to meet the growing urban demand for intermediate inputs. When the water market is the only interregional market, the rural region transfers water (primarily from the agricultural sector resulting in Ag output decline), to the urban region. The rural agricultural sector subsequently reduces their demand for land and labor making it available to the rural non-Ag sector, thus expanding their output with these relatively cheaper factors. The greater output of the non-Ag sector offsets the Ag decline in output, resulting in a total domestic supply increase. The rural economy increases output in each alternative model due to different cross-regional effects but experiences a decline in output when all interregional markets are modeled. The inclusion of both markets generates higher cost of production that cannot be offset by substitution between sectors or by the greater urban demand for intermediate inputs. Past research has focused on how the rural region adjusts to water transfers with varied conclusions. For example, Berck et al. (1991) describes rural agriculture shifting to less water intensive production methods and benefitting from the combined payment for their water and the adjusted domestic supply. Alternatively, Seung et al. (2000) describes a decline in rural domestic supply in response to water transfers, relying on a Leontief factor substitution specification. Both research conclusions depended on the elasticity of factor substitution. The model used in Chapter 1 applies a constant elasticity of substitution that is similar to Berck et al. (1991) but describes a decline in rural domestic supply. This different economic outcome is due to the dynamics of markets that connect the multiple regions, rather than only modeling the rural region in isolation. The Watson and Davies (2009) model includes a water market that endogenously transfers water between sectors due to urban population growth. In their model, water is a factor input for all sectors of the economy, and as urban population expands, it shifts the demand for water to non-agricultural outputs, resulting in a higher water price. The higher price of water forces the agricultural sector to shift to less water intensive production methods resulting in less output. However, the large urban population demands greater agricultural output offsetting negative supply shift. One weakness of this model is that households and industries are not regionally identified, making it unclear how rural and urban regional economic outcomes differ. The model in Chapter 1 applies a similar endogenous water market driven by urban growth but concludes that rural domestic supply and household income both decline due to regional price variations derived from the multiregional approach. Chapter 2 compares a spatial disaggregated MRCGE model to a single region model that uses the same data to expose the importance of spatial aggregation in CGE modeling. This analysis isolates the influence of how aggregation shapes output, revealing the differences between the two models with identical simulations. The performance of the two models highlights that spatial data must be correctly leveraged by a disaggregated structure to explain unique regional output. This comparison demonstrates that qualities in the analysis are lost when CGE models use larger aggregated regions rather than a spatially sensitive MRCGE approach, which illustrates the importance of modeling spatial details. The water model from Chapter 1 is transformed into a single region model and compared to the original specification. The same data is used in each model, leaving only the regional specification as the structural difference between them. The data used in this model is based on PUMS data that describe community level labor and household characteristics, refining the disaggregated descriptions of regional economies. Additionally, county assessor's data provide parcel level descriptions of land and building values, thus improving the descriptions of residential and business in the model. Each of these data sets refine spatial details, which enhance the multiregional specification. When these details are aggregated into a single region, many of the county level insights are obscured. For example, rural labor markets have greater wage gains compared to similar labor groups in different regions in response to a total factor productivity increase. This outcome is unique to the rural region, and under the aggregated single region model, this labor group does not experience an increase in wages. The model comparison demonstrates how spatial characteristics represented by the MRCGE structure can shape output by preserving spatial characteristics, which determine unique model behaviors that enhance economic analysis. The literature has recognized the benefits of the MRCGE specification. However, the justification for the MRCGE improvements over past aggregated approaches is due to adjusting the older aggregated structure with spatially descriptive data and revealing new outputs. The problem with this approach is that the new model has both a change in structure from a single region to a multi-region, and it includes additional spatial descriptive data. This method cannot determine whether improved spatial data or the spatial disaggregation is responsible for the improvement. To address this, the model presented in Chapter 2 aggregates a disaggregated model so that the spatial data values are the same but have been transformed from spatial to aspatial. This approach allows the spatial structure to be analyzed without the influence of additional data, revealing how this uniquely impacts and shapes the output. Chapter 3 describes how weather motivates skiers to travel from one region to another in the US. It is widely known that skiing benefits from winter conditions and that skiers are willing to travel to other locations to pursue better quality ski experiences. This model considers seasonal weather variations of destination ski areas and the origin weather variables that could impact their decision-making process. Destination and origin weather variables are significant determinants of skier visits, as confirmed by the research. Snow accumulation at a destination can pull greater visits, and colder weather at the origin makes ski trips more appealing. Chapter 3 fits within the broad literature on travel that has focused on weather's influences on travel decisions. The travel literature describes the desirable weather variables that pull travelers towards those destinations. Additionally, this literature provides push variables where the weather of a traveler's origin changes their subjective demand for leaving their home for vacation. The push and pull effects of destination and origin weather have been applied extensively to warm weather destinations, but there are many fewer applications for the winter season and cold-weather destinations. This model tests the push and pull effect for ski areas in the US and confirms that colder, snowy destination weather pulls a greater number of skier visits and that colder weather at a skier origin further pushes them to ski in any region. The gap in the travel literature is also shared by the ski industry studies that have exclusively focused on how destination temperature and snowfall contribute to skier attendance. The ski industry research has not examined how the skier's origin influences attendance. This model addresses the smaller scope of the ski industry research that focuses on one ski area instead of skier behavior across the whole country. Across each of the chapters in this dissertation, spatial details motivate unique economic activity. From western water markets to the differences between rural and urban labor markets to the impact of destination snowfall on skier visits, the inclusion of spatial characteristics improves model analysis and provides key insights into regional research. The diverse application in the following chapters provides strong evidence of the importance of spatial characteristics, highlighting how they shape individual behavior and drive unique research and economic outcomes.
Embargo
Two essays on entrepreneurship, bankruptcy and employment concentration, and a detour on homelessness
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Correas, Ignacio Maria, author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Alves Pena, Anita, committee member; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Bajtelsmit, Vickie, committee member
This doctoral thesis is composed of two chapters that attempt to explain some of the causes for the decline of entrepreneurship in the United States since the late 1980s, and a third chapter the motivation for which arose while researching the other two. Chapter one looks at the laws protecting certain assets from repossession in the event of personal bankruptcy and their possible influence on entrepreneurship. As the US Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the raison d'être behind the bankruptcy statutes is to provide individuals with an unencumbered "fresh-start" in life, and that this is done both to promote entrepreneurship and for "humanitarian reasons", it was only logical to follow up this chapter with another one exploring whether bankruptcy exemptions indeed offer some relief from destitution. This became the second chapter in this dissertation. Lastly, the third chapter circles back to the topic of entrepreneurship and looks at whether the concentration of economic activity (particularly employment) in larger enterprises, as is the case with the US labor market when compared to other OECD countries, has an effect on new business creation. As stated, chapter one looks at how the changes in personal bankruptcy laws from 1986 to 2017 influence entrepreneurship. There are two components of the bankruptcy law explored in this section: its debt forgiveness or "fresh start" provision, and the protection from repossession that it extends to certain personal asset categories. The paper finds that the implementation of the 2005 BAPCPA law restricting access to debt discharge during bankruptcy was the most detrimental to entrepreneurship of the two, being strongly associated with a decrease in firm creation. Asset exemptions from repossession have an impact on entrepreneurship also, and larger (inflation adjusted) protections are paradoxically linked to fewer start-ups in general. However, this chapter also finds that immediately following a statutory increase in the exemption amounts there is a transitory rise in firm creation which only lasts for two years. The final verdict is that when it comes to personal bankruptcy law, it is debt forgiveness that encourages entrepreneurship; property protections offer at best a temporary boost to new firm creation but are in general detrimental to it. Alas, and since humanitarian reasons have historically and legally been recognized as a second premise for the US personal bankruptcy law, might asset protections during bankruptcy at least help in this regard? The second chapter in this dissertation thus looks at the connection between the rate of homelessness in a state and the bankruptcy laws applicable to that state from 2007 to 2017. More generous homestead exemptions are surprisingly found to be associated with a significant increment in the rate of homelessness that is between 26 and 30 per 100,000 people. The wildcard exemption on the other hand (which can be used for any asset category) has an opposite effect: a one percent increment in its amount, when measured as a percentage of median household income, lowers homelessness by 219 to 230 individuals for every 100,000 people. Traditional economic indicators such as growth in per-capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have the foreseeable impact on homelessness, which is in fact not as strong as that of the asset protections: each one percent increase in GDP per-capita lowers homelessness by roughly 2 people per 100,000. Surprisingly, protections shielding filers from having their homes being taken away during bankruptcy are associated with increases in homelessness, whereas similar safeguards applicable to any asset, although comparatively smaller in amount, are effective in reducing it. The last chapter in this dissertation goes back to the topic of entrepreneurship, and explores the effect that workforce concentration in large employers, regardless of their nature, may have on new firm creation. As such the paper serves as a test of the 'Chinitz's hypothesis of agglomeration being the catalyst for local economic dynamics, and it is new in its approach in that it looks at total general employment in a given area (instead of focusing on particular industries), and because it takes into consideration the share of the workforce in large employers both in the private and the public sectors. The analysis uses economic and demographic data at the county level; given the possibility of feedback effects between the variables measuring the share of the workforce in large employers and the creation of new business, an instrumental variable approach is utilized for estimation. The findings in this last chapter confirm the Chinitz hypothesis, while also considering the effect of public sector employment on the private economy: concentration of the workforce in large employers, regardless of their nature, is determined to be a crucial driver for the local economy as it relates to entrepreneurship and is in fact deleterious to firm creation. The evidence from these three essays suggests that bankruptcy debt forgiveness fosters entrepreneurship, but asset exemptions from repossession and employment concentration in large organizations negatively affect it. However, exemptions allowing a would-be filer to shield any item of their choice from repossession, even if they are modest in amount compared to other exemption categories, help in reducing homelessness. After all, people do need boots if they are to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, as Dr Martin Luther King once noted.
Open Access
Essays on migration and tourism in Georgia
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Murvanidze, Elene, author; Alves Pena, Anita, advisor; Miller, Ray, committee member; Weiler, Stephan, committee member; Cavdar, Gamze, committee member
In the context of the Georgian economy, migration, tourism, and agriculture are fundamental sectors, each significantly influencing the country's socio-economic structure. Migration, driven by economic opportunities and geopolitical factors, impacts labor markets, remittance flows, and cultural diversity. Although emigration has historically led to challenges such as brain drain, remittances from Georgian migrants support household incomes and contribute to GDP. Tourism leverages Georgia's cultural heritage, scenic landscapes, and urban attractions to draw international visitors, creating jobs and generating foreign exchange. Agriculture, with its deep historical and geographical roots, remains crucial for food security, export earnings, and rural livelihoods, benefiting from the diverse crops grown in Georgia's fertile soils. As Georgia progresses economically, understanding and leveraging the interactions between migration, tourism, and agriculture is essential. This requires thorough examination and expansion of existing research to gain deeper insights into their socio-economic impacts. Only through such detailed analysis can policymakers develop strategic policies and make informed decisions. This dissertation aims to represent one small step towards this goal. Since 1990, over one million individuals, comprising about 25% of the country's population, have emigrated from Georgia due to political instability, security concerns, and socioeconomic challenges. Among the 25 East European and former Soviet countries, only Albania and Kazakhstan have experienced a greater proportion of population loss through emigration. Women constitute over half of all migrants, 39% of Georgian children reside in households with at least one migrant family member, and 19% of children live in households that receive remittances. Public discussions surrounding migration have subtly evolved: the stigma attached to independent female migrants for "abandoning" their families has gradually given way to an acknowledgment of their role in ensuring household survival. The first chapter of this dissertation examines the relationship between remittances and the education outcomes of children left behind. We use the 2012 household survey collected by Maastricht University and the International Centre for Social Research and Policy Analysis and measure the impacts on education outcomes of children between 11 and 18 years old. We estimate results for being a high academic performer (probit model), and average academic scores (OLS model). Our findings show that remittances do not impact children's school performance. When we control for migrant characteristics, we find that the migration of a female household member negatively impacts the child's school performance. To further investigate the impact of migrant gender on school performance, we analyze the child's current caregiver arrangements. The results show that a child's education outcomes are negatively impacted when mother is abroad and father is a caregiver. The impact is larger for girls than for boys. We do not find statistically significant evidence of adverse effects when fathers migrate and mothers are caregivers, or when both parents migrate and grandparents are caregivers. Remittances do not have a statistically significant impact in any of our specifications (in rural or urban settings, for daughters or sons). The dissolution of the Soviet Union drastically transformed the Georgian economy. High rates of unemployment and poverty, prompted the government to reconsider its economic strategies. Recognizing the need to diversify the economy, particular emphasis was placed on boosting the tourism sector. From 2009 to 2016, Georgia had one of the fastest-growing tourism sectors in the world. The number of international visitors quadrupled, and the tourism revenue as a share of GDP increased eight-fold. Despite the pivotal role played by tourism development in Georgia's economic landscape and policy formulation, its effects have not been extensively studied. There is no research indicating that the development of tourism in Georgia leads to sustainable economic growth. The second chapter investigates the impact of tourism development on economic growth. We utilize the autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing (ARDLBT) model, examining both annual data spanning from 1997 to 2019 and quarterly data from 2011 to 2019. The annual data results for the trivariate model (real GDP, tourism, real effective exchange rate) confirm Aliyev and Ahmadova's (2020) findings. Cointegration tests indicate the relationship between tourism and economic growth, a 1% increase in tourism arrivals is associated with a 0.14% decrease in real GDP. However, once we add agriculture (AGR) and foreign direct investments (FDI) as additional controls we do not find the long-run relationship between tourism and real GDP to be statistically significant. These conclusions are consistent across various model specifications and are further supported by our analysis of quarterly data. In terms of other tourism impacts, we find tourism to have a positive impact on the real effective exchange rate (REER), a 1% increase in tourism development is associated with a 0.08-0.19% increase in REER in the long-run. Additionally, tourism demonstrates short-term correlations with agriculture (AGR) and foreign direct investment (FDI), with a 1% increase in tourism development corresponding to increases of 0.11-0.49% in AGR and 1.07-1.46% in FDI. The third chapter evaluates the effects of protected areas on land use and income distribution, focusing on changes in tourism and agricultural production in a theoretical framework. Our findings show that conservation policy has economic and environmental consequences even when it does not directly intersect the agricultural frontier. The establishment or expansion of the protected area tends to attract more visitors. The growth of tourism and agricultural sectors will raise nominal wages and agricultural prices. The extent of these changes will determine whether inequality increases or decreases.
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 member
The 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.
Open Access
The welfare effects of a market allocation of an exhaustible resource
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1977) Ward, Frank A., author; McKean, John R., advisor
In recent years, cost-benefit theorists have developed “net benefit" measures of welfare change attributable to shifts in the allocation of flow resources. Presumably, such welfare-change measures have been developed as an attempt to minimize the wastage of resources on unsound projects. However, to the author's knowledge, no such welfare-change measure has been developed to rank alternative allocations of an exhaustible resource. This dissertation attempts to devise such a measure. The measure is developed in three steps. The first step (Chapter two) is an explanation of how a free market allocates the exhaustible resource over time. Inquiry is made as to how the time path of extraction is affected by changes in (1) production costs, (2) total known supply, (3) the costs of a substitute techno1ogy, and (4) the discount rate. Knowledge of the allocation explored in this step is important, because, once determined, the market outcome can be compared to some appropriately-defined efficiency norm. The second step (Chapter three) develops an efficiency norm as a basis for determining whether the market depletes the exhaustible resource too quickly, too slowly, or at the right rate. The third step (Chapter four) of this dissertation is an attempt to develop a measure which quantifies how well the market's time-use of the mineral approaches an efficient allocation. The methodology used is the development of a measure of welfare change. Specifically, this measure is designed to ascertain the net change in benefits attributable to changes in either of two generalized distortions relevant to the market for an exhaustible resource. At all three steps, this dissertation draws from and extends the theory of exhaustible resources. The first step is an extension and refinement of the comparative statics of competitive mining theory. At the second step, the optimality properties of a market allocation over time are examined. At the third step, the degree to which the market breaks down is the subject of concern. Specifically, an extension of currently-accepted welfare-loss theory is developed and made applicable to the exhaustible resources sector. The results of this dissertation are that, indeed, such a welfare-loss measure can be quantified. By incorporating (1) the effect of a change in a market distortion on the private profit-maximizing output path of each of n mining firms, and (2) the effect of these n output path changes on aggregate total discounted net benefits, a welfare-loss measure is developed. The measure can, in principle, rank alternative allocations of an exhaustible resource on the basis of the net size of two generalized distortions, the values of which would depend on the size of the policy variable under consideration.
Open Access
The development of a multisectoral model for the Thai economy (MUTE)
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2008) Suebpongsakorn, Auttapol, author; Fan, Chuen-Mei, advisor
The MUTE model is a multisectoral model developed for the Thai economy. The structure of the MUTE model resembles 1NFORUM type models consisting of 3 main modules, namely, (1) the real side which estimates 7 components of the final demand, (2) the price - income side which calculates the 5 value added components, and (3) the accountant which includes the identity equations and some important behavioral equation in order to link both the real side and the price - income side. The major difference of the MUTE model from the INFORUM models, especially a Thai Interindustry Dynamic Model (TIDY) is the inclusion of a dummy variable representing the event of the political disorder, which is widely believed as one of the non-economic factors affecting the performances of the economy. Moreover, the use of the time-series technique called AICc to forecast some series (when the explanatory variables are non-stationary and the cointegration test reports the nonexistence of the cointegrating vector), the use of the RAS technique instead of Across the Row method in estimating the direct input requirement matrices, and the application of the ADF and the cointegration tests for all equations are among the new contributions aimed at improving the model reliability. Finally, the model is employed to forecast the performances of the Thai economy from 2005 to 2020 under the impacts of the Baht appreciation and the political disorder. The results show that these two impacts will adversely cause the growth rate of GDP to slowdown. The Baht appreciation against U.S. dollar worsens the net export, while the political disorder causes both consumers and producers to lose their confidences in the Thai economy, which results in the reduction in the personal consumption expenditure and the gross fixed capital formation. However, both impacts do not affect the income and output structures of the Thai economy. The Thai economy still moves toward the industrialized country by reckoning on manufacturing and service sectors as the main sources for generating income and employment with or without the presence of these two impacts.
Open Access
Export-led growth and crowding-out effect case study: a cointegration approach
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Ngo, Trung Quang, author; Cutler, Harvey, advisor
During last three decades, development policies have major shifted from what is known as import-substitution to export-led growth in which many developing countries have focused on reducing their dependence on primary commodity export and increasing their manufactured exports. The important motivation supports for export-led growth policy is the vision of growing market which lead to increase specialization and division of labor. Developing countries can move up to the development ladder by specializing in exporting low-technology products to industrialized countries. In addition, with abundance of cheap and unskilled labor, developing countries will gain from international trade. These gains would allow them to graduate to the rank of middle or higher income countries by exporting more technologically sophisticated, skill-intensive products. While, export-led growth has been increasingly applied around the world, the deterioration in economic still occurred and created a new challenge for export-led growth model. In facts, it faces a fallacy of composition where exporters rely on growth of demand in export markets. Developing countries sell most of their export manufactured to industrialized countries markets. However, export markets demand does not grow fast enough to support the growth of export expansion of all developing country exporters. As a result, trade barriers and macroeconomic policies will be applied. If consider developing countries as a group, the problem of export-led growth can be described as export displacement or crowding-out effect. This means when one country tries to increase its export; it may displace the export shares of another. This study analyzes whether export-led growth exists in Vietnam and the crowding-out effect occurs among ASEAN countries. The approach in this study is the use of cointegration in a multi-equations model which allows us to examine the long-run relationship between exports and economic growth in Vietnam and the connection within ASEAN countries for export manufactured goods. The results lead to policy recommendation for Vietnam's export in particular and ASEAN's export in general to improve their economic growth and export benefits.
Open Access
The value added tax: annual vs. lifetime perspective evidence from Tanzania household data
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Mushi, Delphina Prosper, author; Fan, Chuen-Mei, advisor
The study compares the annual vs the lifetime perspective of the Value Added Tax (VAT) using the Tanzania Household Budget Survey of 2000/2001. The impact of exemptions on both government revenue and distribution of the tax burden is examined. The "distributional characteristics approach" is used to find whether exemptions are justifiable on distributional grounds. Finally the study examines changes in vertical equity of moving from the previous sales tax to the VAT. Results show that when annual income is used to measure well being, the VAT looks very regressive, while using "lifetime income" makes the VAT proportional. With lifetime income as a measure of ability to pay, incorporating exemptions into the analysis makes the VAT slightly progressive while several alternatives to exemptions could make the VAT more progressive and improve revenue performance. The distributional characteristics of exempted items show that unprocessed food, public transport and petroleum products are mostly consumed by the relatively poor. On the other hand, the rich consumes postal supplies, books, newspapers, and others. Comparing VAT and the previous sales tax shows VAT to be less progressive, even though it is not regressive.
Open Access
Gender, race, and credit rationing of small businesses: empirical evidence from the 2003 Survey of Small Business Finances
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Mijid, Naranchimeg, author; Bernasek, Alexandra, advisor
Rapid rates of growth of small business ownership among women and minorities have motivated research on issues related to small business performance. The importance of access to credit for the success of small businesses, as well as evidence that women and minorities have less access to credit than male and white business owners has led researchers to explore the reason for this. The purpose of this study is to determine whether credit rationing in the small business credit market is different based on gender and/or race of the business owner. This study examines two types of credit rationing and uses a comprehensive measure that includes discouraged borrowers. In addition, we examine how loan amounts are determined. We utilize three different types of methodologies to analyze data from the 2003 Survey of Small Business Finances. Our results are consistent with previous studies that have found higher loan denial rates and lower loan application rates among women and minority business owners. Testing the robustness of the results, we find an asymmetry in the response of women business owners compared with minorities. The results suggest that women tend to ration themselves in the credit market, whereas minorities are rationed by banks through what appear to be prejudicial lending practices. The results for discouraged borrowers that estimate joint decisions of lenders and borrowers suggest that among those who apply for a loan, minority-owners have a higher chance of approval. This indicates that only higher quality firms apply for a loan, confirming the discouraging effect of banks' probabilistic offers. We also find that women and minority owners are more likely to be given a smaller loan than they request (type 1 rationing) than men and white owners. In addition, women-owned firms receive significantly smaller loan amounts than men-owned firms. There is no difference, however, in the approved loan amount between minority and white-owned firms.
Open Access
Welfare reform, child care considerations, and migration decisions
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Kepner, Valerie K., author; Mushinski, David, advisor
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), passed in 1996, instituted a new welfare program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), with an emphasis on working for one's benefits and a five-year lifetime limit on benefits whereby benefits are withdrawn no matter one's financial or employment circumstances-thereby putting an end to the "enabling" aspect of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Given the changes to the welfare system, the research conducted here is done in an attempt to determine the migration effects (both the welfare magnet effect and the effect of social capital on migration) of the new work incentives arising out of PRWORA. Regarding the welfare magnet effect, the empirical results suggest that more aggressive state TANF programs effectively deter migration. In one way, this implies that states need only toughen their stance on welfare benefits and work requirements to stop the flow of potential welfare recipients into their states. On the other hand, the results also suggest that welfare recipients already living within the more aggressive states are not moving to find employment and, therefore, may not be behaving in ways that would make available sufficient employment opportunities. Regarding the effect of social capital on migration patterns, the empirical results suggest that some welfare-receiving mothers are not responding to TANF incentives by moving. More specifically, if welfare-susceptible mothers reported using their access to social capital (i.e., relatives) to provide care for their children, they were less likely to have moved recently. It may then be proposed that many single mothers are not poor because they choose to be but because their choice sets (at least in their eyes) are such that self-sufficiency is unattainable and financial and emotional help is a necessity, whether it comes from the government or friends and family.
Open Access
The battle over broadcast regulation: can the free press survive a free market approach?
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2008) Jackson, Pamela Taylor, author; Stanfield, J. Ron, advisor
This dissertation examines the 100-year-old political economic evolution of broadcast regulation in the U.S., primarily focusing on the shift toward a free market approach to FCC policy decisions and the consequences for a free press in democratic society. Deregulation and concentration of media ownership trends have cast doubt on the independence of the press, and raised questions regarding the vitality and viability of American democracy. This research is premised on the belief that an effective democracy cannot exist without an informed public, and voters rely on the news media for the knowledge they need to make accurate social valuations in the political process. Evidence suggests the important mission of a free press to keep the citizenry informed is being derailed by institutional and market failures. Immediate institutional and regulatory reforms are recommended to insulate the press from the predatory expansion of a free market system that permeates every aspect of social life, including broadcast regulation and policy. The profit values of a market system clash and interfere with the moral agency of a free press, and the two are inherently incompatible. In addition, this study concludes that the growing Internet-based grassroots media reform movement in the U.S. is the last best hope for driving a corrective response to reverse the damage already done to the institution of news and to reinstate the news media's role as public interest advocates in a democracy. A multi-disciplinary approach is adopted to chart the evolution of broadcast regulation since the early 1900s and the fallout for a free press in democratic society. A broad spectrum survey of economics, political science, and mass communications literature allows for a synthesis of otherwise divergent theoretical perspectives in examining the free press-free market paradox. The theories addressed include institutional change, comparative economic systems as applied to changing budget constraints for network news divisions, commodification theory, regulatory capture, political ideology, democratic thought, market-driven journalism, and the propaganda model of news production. In particular, this research offers an unprecedented application of commodification theory and economic transition theory to the problem of the sustainability of a free press.
Open Access
Income tax evasion: theoretical modeling and empirical evidence
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2007) Gahramanov, Emin F., author; Fan, Chueh-Mei, advisor
Income tax evasion is a very important problem faced by most of the countries around the world. The phenomenon interferes with economic efficiency, socially desirable income distribution, long-run economic growth, and might even negatively affect the price stability. The intent of this study is to contribute to the economic theory of income tax evasion by demonstrating the ways to resolve the paradoxical relationship between the tax rate and compliance and to conduct various cross-model and cross-country comparisons, relying both on the theoretical and applied analysis. The study considers the intergenerational welfare implications of the recent dramatic decline in the income tax audit rate in the United States, which has been a source of big concern for many politicians, economists, and general public. It has been demonstrated that the wide-spread evasion can worsen the welfare of the generation working during the fall in the audit rate. Other issues, such as tax compliance costs and revenue-maximizing taxation have also been analyzed.
Open Access
Impulsive consumers and optimal social security
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2007) Findley, Thomas Scott, author; Kling, Robert W., advisor
Unfunded social security programs are primarily justified on grounds that individuals have specific behavioral tendencies that lead to inadequate saving for retirement. To date, very little has been pursued in the way of theory to analyze this justification. I design a new model of consumer behavior that is consistent with many of the salient features of evidence on impulsive consumption behavior. In my model, "impulsive consumers" optimally formulate long-term plans, but often deviate from these consumption programs upon experiencing a psychological impulse to uncontrollably consume above and beyond. In order to examine how impulsive consumers fare in an unfunded social security program, I calibrate my model to match specific empirical features of aggregate life-cycle consumption. After calibrating the model, I employ dynamic welfare measures and find: (i) a significant welfare cost to consuming impulsively; (ii) a social security program (calibrated to the current U.S. program) does not generally improve the welfare of impulsive consumers; (iii) social security almost never improves the welfare of impulsive consumers under future demographics; and, (iv) the optimal social security tax rate is drastically smaller than the current U.S. rate.
Open Access
Empirical examination of the determinants of corruption: cross-sectional and panel analysis
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2008) El-Bahnasawy, Nasr Galal El-Din, author; Revier, Charles F., advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, advisor
This study explores the determinants of corruption, using cross-sectional, panel random-effects, and dynamic panel analysis to check the robustness of the results to alternative specifications and estimation methods. The study uses two different indexes of perceived corruption, the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and the Control of Corruption measure (CC), to check the robustness of the results with alternative corruption measures. The study also uses a large array of explanatory variables that may influence corruption, including a large set of economic variables, a set of political variables, and a group of sociocultural variables. The first interesting result indicates that the rule of law strongly impacts corruption and that a better quality of law enforcement is correlated with lower corruption. Moreover, rich countries are perceived to have lower corruption than poor countries. This work highlights the importance of the rule of law and per capita GDP in the battle against corruption. Furthermore, this study finds the following. Lagged corruption impacts current level of corruption. Larger countries seem to have higher perceived corruption. A larger percentage of the population that is rural is associated with higher perceived corruption. Higher proportion of seats held by women in the national parliament is associated with lower corruption. Political stability, regulatory quality, ethnic fractionalization, and natural resource abundance do not impact corruption in my analysis. This study also examined the impact of some other factors on corruption such as voice and accountability, government effectiveness, the cost of business start-up procedures, the ratio of average government wage to per capita GDP, the degree of openness to international trade, membership in various religions, the level of economic development, and the legal system origin.