Title of dissertation: Essays on Economic Spillovers, Labor Markets, and Economic Development Ben Zou Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation directed by: Professor Judith K. Hellerstein Professor Sebastian Galiani Department of Economics Location-based policies are widely used across the world in the hope of stimulating particular local economies. This dissertation consists of three chapters o...

Methods for analysing a hypothetical Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in the United States have improved greatly over cost-benefit methods. The estimated magnitudes vary greatly depending on assumptions about the epidemiological input, export loss and recovery, and consumer response. Greater consensus on those assumptions would narrow the range of estimates. Current research uses improved ...

GROWTH AND V?ELFARE LOSSES FROM CARBON EMISSIONS RESTRICTIONS: A GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS FOR EGYPT* This paper is an assessment for a particular country, Egypt, of the economic effects, under various conditions, of carbon emission restrictions. Like other work, it is an exemplification of some of the economic possibilities. However, it extends the domain of possibilities and suggests some ...

This study examines the effects of social welfare expenditures on infant mortality (deaths younger than age 1 per 1,000 live births) across 19 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries from 1980 to 2010. Data are obtained from various sources including the OECD, World Health Organization, and World Bank. The findings indicate that among three social welfare expendi...

This article tests the subset of public choice models for social security that have empirical implications. The data, collected from OECD countries for the years 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990, provide some support for each of the theories. Higher median voter age, more income heterogeneity, greater similarity in family size, and variables that make a public pension program more profitable are all ...

Why has physical piracy of music grown globally in recent years despite international efforts to reduce the problem? This research employs cross-country time series data analysis to examine physical music piracy rates across developed and developing economies. We provide 1999-2004 cross-country evidence from 70 countries that mean global music piracy rates grew over this period, and observe dif...

Can economic incentives be used to affect marriage behavior and slow the growth of single-parent families? This paper provides new evidence on the effects of welfare benefit incentives on the marital decisions of poor women. Exogenous variation in welfare program parameters arises from a randomized experiment carried out in California. Whereas previous studies have measured women’s responses to...