Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1984, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Economics

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2011, Sociology (Arts and Sciences)

The issue of college credit card use has been studied in the United States for decades. This work explores the differences of credit card use between American and Taiwanese college students sampled at Ohio University and National Hsinchu University of Education in Taiwan. Based on sociological theories and Chinese culture, three variables—stigma of debt, fear of financial risks, and distrust of banks—are proposed to explain different credit card use results from culture. The connection between attitudes toward credit cards and five variables, which are credit card ownership, stigma of debt, fear of financial risks, distrust of banks, and parents‘ suggestions about credit card risks, were tested. The findings suggest that cultural factors—stigma of debt, distrust of banks, and fear of financial risks— and structural/institutional factors—credit card law, financial support from family members, and access to credit cards on campus—contribute to American and Taiwanese college students‘ different attitudes toward credit cards. The findings also imply that structural factors are powerful to affect consumer behaviors in different countries.

Committee: Deborah Thorne (Committee Chair); Jieli Li (Committee Member); Leon Anderson (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

PHD, Kent State University, 2008, College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Ambassador Crawford / Department of Finance

Nations have broadly varying cultures of equity financing. This dissertation examines both cross-national differences in the price of equity risk and cross-national differences in preference for equity financing, with a view toward how social factors such as trust, in the sense of actual and perceived contract reliability, affects nations' cultures of equity. As a planning measure for long-term investments, the equity premium is an important estimate. Nevertheless, there is little agreement on the empirical estimates of the equity premium in various countries or on the methods most appropriate for estimating the equity premium. Using improved and consistent methodologies, for the first time this dissertation provides equity premium estimates using two different estimation procedures for wide sample of countries covering a recent eight-year period. While Residual Income Growth (RIV) and Abnormal Earnings Growth (AEG) estimates follow similar trends though time, it is found that AEG estimates are consistently lower and less variable. Next, unlike prior studies, this dissertation assesses national characteristics as determinants of cross-border differences in equity premia. It is found that country equity premia narrow with greater concentration of equity ownership and greater economic inequality. Country equity premia widen with more uncertainty avoidance as well as more stock and bond market development, and better legal protection and regulatory quality. Results point to non-pecuniary benefits to holding equity or to controlling ownerships having preferential access to capital. Further, there is little research on the degree to which nations' reliance on markets versus institutions is determined by cultural, legal, and other national characteristics. This dissertation documents that national preference for market financing is associated with increased private monitoring of banks, market openness, and market concentration. Less national preference for market financi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Raj Aggarwal PhD (Committee Co-Chair); John Thornton PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Michael Ellis PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Finance

Honors Theses, Ohio Dominican University, 2023, Honors Theses

It is crucial to analyze the relationship between formal institutions and the informal sector to gain a better understanding of the challenges that certain informal industries face. Given the wide-ranging nature of the informal economy, this paper will focus on the food sector, specifically street food vending in three Colombian cities–Barranquilla, Bogota, and Medellin–which has garnered considerable social and cultural significance over time. This paper will employ a political economy research approach. A surveying method will be the primary source of data collection. Insights obtained from first-person accounts provide invaluable information regarding the reality of the challenges that small-scale informal vendors face. This study posits that the majority of the businesses surveyed surpass the upper-middle income economy poverty line and minimum wage. The majority of businesses responded that they have attained education up to the secondary level. Additionally, the tenure exhibited spans from 8 years of age to someone who has been informally operating for a period as short as 5 months. The study highlights that women in the informal sector face higher financial barriers, especially in regard to the low supply of microcredits. Finally, the data suggest that males are more likely to become formally recognized businesses compared to females, although both genders present a high disposition toward formalization. This exploratory research may furnish policymakers with pertinent information on how to introduce incentives to expand the economic activities of the informal food sector while improving the transition process from informality to formality.

Committee: Kenneth Fah (Advisor); Michael Dougherty (Committee Member); Douglas Ruml (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Cultural Anthropology; Demography; Economic Theory; Economics; Political Science; Public Policy; Social Structure; Statistics; Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

Commercial banks in the United States play an important role as the main liquidity providers for farm businesses. In recent decades, these liquidity providers have experienced rapid transitions due to regulatory changes and competitive market shifts. The next three studies examine different implications of banking sector regulation and consolidation. The first essay examines the impact of the Basel III bank regulation, which is one of the most significant bank regulations since the Great Recession, on lending activities by agricultural commercial banks. Using a difference-in-differences approach with bank panel data obtained from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, I find that the new Basel III regulation lowered the lending growth rate of agricultural lending institutions. The second essay evaluates the outcomes of agricultural bank consolidations. Using bank transformation data from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and panel fixed effect regression models, this study examines whether agricultural bank acquisitions result in improved performance for the acquiring banks. The outcomes of agricultural bank acquisitions by types of acquirers with different geographical, cultural, and product knowledge are examined, and the results show that there is no considerable gain as a result of agricultural bank acquisitions. The third essay examines comprehensive determinants of community bank acquisitions by utilizing a novel approach designed to address the issue of sample selection in the literature. After creating all possible acquisition scenarios between 2012 and 2018 to create counterfactuals, rare event logistic estimation is utilized. Results show that relative differences between the acquiring national banks and target community banks matter, and the acquisitions are triggered for the goals of achieving diversification and capability deployment.

Committee: Ani Katchova (Advisor); Abdoul Sam (Committee Member); Wuyang Hu (Committee Member) Subjects: Agricultural Economics; Agriculture

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2018, Political Science

According to empirical data, income inequality within countries has increased in the past several decades, despite theoretical models which predicted the opposite. During this same time period, levels of financial development have also increased. Therefore, what impact does financial development have on income inequality? Current theoretical models predict that financial development should decrease inequality in a negative linear or negative non-linear fashion, yet the direction of this relationship is still empirically ambiguous as there is evidence supporting both sides. Furthermore, in order to elucidate this relationship, I incorporate political science variables to assess this question. Measurements of state capacity, the idea that states need a competent administrative capacity to successfully implement laws throughout their territory, are included because state capacity is indirectly linked to mechanisms behind income inequality, including financial development. Thus, what is the relationship between state capacity, financial development, and income inequality? Using an unbalanced panel dataset of 134 developed and developing states from the years 1960 to 2016 and more appropriate regression estimation techniques, I find evidence which suggests current theories do not hold up to scrutiny. Rather, the relationship between financial development and income inequality is positive and linear. Additionally, the results are ambiguous as to how state capacity acts as a mediating variable in this relationship but we have preliminary evidence which suggests that state capacity dilutes financial development's income inequality inducing affects. Furthermore, I find that different combinations of government, business, and labor relations impact income inequality and financial development's influence as well. These findings have important implications for public policy.

Committee: Sarah Brooks (Advisor); Marcus Kurtz (Committee Member) Subjects: Political Science

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2017, International and Comparative Politics

"What contributes to the differences in women's economic empowerment?" To investigate this problem, a large N statistical analysis set up this comparative case study of Bangladesh and India that evaluates the relationship between women's access to employment in the formal labor market and women's access to ownership of accounts in banks and other financial institutions. The large N statistical analysis results illustrate a global pattern that the percentage of women working in the formal labor market is associated with a greater percentage of women having accounts in banks or other financial institutions. Neither Bangladesh nor India fit this pattern, and statistics from these two countries are very different, so the purpose of this comparison is to show why this is the case. Institutional and socio-cultural factors, including differences in each country's banking systems and how each country has developed over the years, explain the variances between Bangladesh and India.

Committee: December Green Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Pramod Kantha Ph.D. (Committee Member); Zdravka Todorova Ph.D. (Committee Member); Laura Luehrmann Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Comparative; Economics; Political Science; Regional Studies; South Asian Studies; Womens Studies

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2017, Theatre Arts-Arts Administration

The ever-changing nature of New Media art provides a unique set of challenges for art institutions. As technological tools and social interactions and routines continue to evolve, New Media art will use technology that continues to evolve and, ultimately, become obsolete. As a result, arts institutions, such as galleries and museums, struggle with funding. Furthermore, maintenance of New Media art's technological medium in its original form over long periods of time can become a museum conservationist's nightmare. Installation and presentation must some how be accomplished even as software and hardware becomes obsolete, hard to find, and therefore costly and difficult to fix and maintain. The cost of maintenance will continue to grow as increasingly rare in spite of being in demand. This makes investment to individuals and foundations increasingly difficult, because the art form's dynamic nature results in high costs without guaranteed longevity and the categorization of New Media is often misunderstood. Non- profit arts organizations need to seek none traditional funding methods and partnerships as difficulties increase.

Committee: James Slowaik (Advisor); Elisa Garagarella Ph.D. (Other); Michael Seiler M.F.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Art History; Arts Management; Business Administration; Business Costs; Finance; Mass Media; Multimedia Communications; Museums; Performing Arts; Sustainability

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1952, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Economics

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1956, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Economics

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2015, Economics

By examining the way in which a financial crisis affects religious participation and affiliation via a financial crisis's effect on relative trust, where relative trust is defined as trust in organized religion relative to trust in secular institutions, relative trust is being identified as one possible mechanism through which a financial crisis causes changes in religiosity. Using U.S. data from the most recent financial crisis, I find that a financial crisis leads to an increase in religious participation and affiliation via the financial crisis's effect on relative trust, when defined as trust in organized religion relative to either trust in banks and financial institutions or trust in the military. By empirically determining possible mechanisms through which a financial crisis leads to increased religiosity, the way a financial crisis could affect terrorism can be better understood, along with better understanding how religious institutions survive for centuries while secular institutions oftentimes collapse.

Committee: Prosper Raynold (Advisor); Jing Li (Committee Member); Ejindu Ume (Committee Member) Subjects: Economics

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Economics

My dissertation explores the impact of financial development, as well as regulatory changes in the financial sector, on economic growth. Recent literature on growth has often focused on the importance of financial intermediation and institutional quality. Advocates of financial development say that the development of the banking sector and stock markets increase the financing available to firms, raising productivity. The “institutions hypothesis” proponents suggest that institutions jointly determine the growth rate and the policy choice, while policies themselves bear no causal connection to growth. Such hypothesis is difficult to test empirically because the change in institutional quality is, with a few historic exceptions, very slow. For the most part, therefore, a country's economic performance can end up being attributed to a random cause. Using a cross-country data set and numerous financial indicators, institutional quality variables and growth measures, I find that this is not true of financial development. Financial variables have a significant effect on growth that is distinct from that of institutions like private property and rule of law. I also consider this issue in the context of the fifty U.S. states. States differ with respect to financial indicators like the number of banks, assets, equity, loans and deposits. They also vary in terms of their regulatory environments. States like Delaware, Texas and Nevada have very high scores for economic freedom; Mississippi, New Mexico and West Virginia have very low ones. The results again underscore the importance of financial deepening in order to achieve economic growth. Taking up from this point, the final essay studies the impact of U.S. banking deregulation on growth. Many states relaxed restrictions on intra-state bank branching beginning in the early 1960s, both by allowing bank holding companies to convert subsidiaries into branches and by permitting statewide de novo branching. This increased comp (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Paul Evans (Advisor); Huston McCulloch (Committee Member); Robert de Jong (Committee Member) Subjects: Banking; Economics; Finance

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Economics

Connected lending is prevalent in many countries and might play an important role in generating the idiosyncratic investment distortions faced by firms. Connected lending occurs when financial intermediaries extend loans to firms based on special connections rather than firm characteristics. Controlling owners of commercial banks might use their banks to channel funds to their non-bank businesses. Connected lending can therefore cause a misallocation of resources, which in turn reduces aggregate productivity. My three papers focus on connected lending, resource misallocation, and aggregate productivity. My first paper, “Misallocation and Manufacturing Total Factor Productivity (TFP) in Thailand,” uses census data on Thai manufacturing plants to quantitatively study resource misallocation and its effect on manufacturing TFP in Thailand. I find that there is more resource misallocation across plants in Thailand than in China, India, and the United States. When misallocation of capital and labor were hypothetically reduced to the extent observed in the United States, manufacturing TFP would increase by about 70 percent. I also find that plants which have government ownership or are located in the northern or the northeastern regions have lower plant productivity and face lower distortions than other plants. In addition, plants with medium size face larger distortions than small and large plants. My second paper, “Connected Lending and Aggregate Productivity,” uses cross-country data to document a negative association between connected lending and aggregate productivity. I develop a model incorporating entrepreneurship, financial frictions, and connected lending to quantitatively study the effects of connected lending on aggregate productivity. The quantitative results show that connected lending has a moderately negative effect on aggregate productivity. Along with the stylized facts documented in this paper, the results also indicate that connected lending is better e (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Paul Evans (Advisor); Huston McCulloch (Committee Member); Pok-Sang Lam (Committee Member) Subjects: Economics

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, Economics

My dissertation focuses on the roles of international trade and transportation costs in explaining cross-country patterns of development. The three essays in my dissertation have important implications for trade patterns and income levels for developed and developing countries. In particular, the essays suggest policies that can be adopted by developing countries to close cross-country income gaps. In the first essay, I develop a new theory of comparative advantage in time-sensitive goods based on the asymmetries in the relative costs of air shipping faced by developed and developing countries. I find evidence that for a given distance, developed countries face a lower relative cost of air shipping than developing countries. I incorporate these asymmetries in a multi-country Ricardian model of trade, and look at the implications of these asymmetries for cross-country trade patterns and trade costs. I find that developed countries specialize in exporting time-sensitive goods, while developing countries specialize in exporting time-insensitive goods. Furthermore, trade costs of developed countries have a negative relationship with exports sent by air relative to surface, while for developing countries there is no such relationship. These findings are shown to be consistent with some new facts that I document about trade patterns and trade costs. In the second essay, I quantitatively solve the model developed in the first essay and look at how well it describes cross-country income levels. The model is able to describe 78% of cross-country income differences in data. Motivated by the discussion in Hummels (2007), that air shipping costs have been drastically falling since the 1950s, I consider a counterfactual thought experiment in which air shipping costs become the same and extremely low for all countries. I show that in such a scenario, all countries experience welfare gains, but developing countries gain more than developed countries. This has important policy imp (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Paul Evans (Advisor); Lucia Dunn (Committee Member); Joseph Kaboski (Committee Member); Nan Li (Committee Member) Subjects: Economics

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, Economics

Several studies link modern economic performance to institutions transplanted by European colonizers and here I extend this line of research to Asia and Africa. In case of Asia, Japan imposed its system of well-defined property rights in land on some of its Asian colonies, including Korea, Taiwan, and Palau. In 1939 Japan began to survey and register private land in its island colonies, an effort that was completed in Palau but interrupted elsewhere by World War II. Within Micronesia robust economic development followed only in Palau where individual property rights were well defined. Second, I show that well-defined property rights in Korea and Taiwan secured land taxation and enabled farmers to obtain bank loans for capital improvements, principally irrigation systems. Considering all of Japan's colonies, I use the presence or absence of a land survey as an instrument to identify the causal impact of new institutions. My estimates show that property-defining institutions were important for economic development, results that are confirmed when using a similar approach with British Colonies in Asia. Third, my analytical model predicts that high costs of creating an ownership updating system and a citizen identity system discourage a short-sighted government from implementing these crucial components, the absence of which gradually makes land registration obsolete. Finally, I analyze the importance of legal safeguards against land expropriation in Africa. It is generally established that Britain was more effective in transferring their legal systems in Africa during the decolonization process than was France. While most African countries repealed British-inspired legal safeguards after independence, Botswana and Mauritius (2009 GDP per capita (PPP) $12,100 and $12,400, respectively) kept all such safeguards. By using differences in decolonization and post-colonial reforms as instrumental variables, this dissertation provides empirical evidence suggesting that securi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Richard Steckel (Advisor); Lung-fei Lee (Committee Co-Chair); Logan Trevon (Committee Member) Subjects: Economic History; Economics

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2011, Leadership and Change

This dissertation asks the question, “What are the challenges of developing a leadership program in community banks in South Dakota, a slow growth environment?” The research looks at the intersection of leadership development, transformational leadership, and context—against a backdrop of community banking, corporate social responsibility, and demographic trends in South Dakota. The objective of the study is to provide theoretical and practical understanding of leadership development activities in South Dakota community banks. Using quantitative methods, seven hypotheses were created and tested using insights gained from reviewed literature and informational interviews that framed the study. The hypotheses were built looking to understand the drivers that shaped leadership development at community banks in the state and the relative importance of leadership programs in these organizations. In development of the study, a survey instrument was designed and administered via telephone to 80 community banks in South Dakota. Findings fall into three broad categories that form the thinking of community bankers in the state. First, data suggest that the topic of leadership development is growing in importance to community bank executives, boards of directors, and human resource managers in these organizations. Second, the need for succession planning and the challenges of finding new leadership for rural locations appear to be catalysts for creating leadership development programs in community banks in the state. Third, South Dakota banks characterize themselves, their culture, and their leadership by being defined as community banks. Many community banks in South Dakota are in need of renewal and recognize they cannot continue operating as they have in the past. Facing demographic challenges and having to own up to new regulations and increased competition has left them struggling to develop new leadership. Conversely, from survey data collected, it would appear that there (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mitchell Kusy PhD (Committee Chair); Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Member); Alan Guskin PhD (Committee Member); Larry Lovrien JD (Other) Subjects: Banking; Behavioral Psychology; Business Community; Demographics; Finance; Management; Organizational Behavior; Regional Studies