Month: April 2018

Thesis Corner: Megan Waldo

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Megan Waldo is one of three women graduating with an economics degree this year, 2018. Megan decided to conduct an empirical thesis using econometric methods. Her thesis was centered around analyzing the equity and accessibility of New York City’s bike share Citi Bike through an econometric regression that looked at the relationship between socio-economic characteristics of zip code tabulation areas and the density of bike share stations within them for 2016-2017. She used income, educational attainment levels, age, gender, and race compositions of each ZCTA to analyze the demographics and then a GIS system, carto, to count the number of Continue reading Thesis Corner: Megan Waldo→

The Denomination Effect

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To a rational decision-maker, the possession of $20 translates exactly to the ability to buy $20 worth of goods. The form of the $20 should not matter—whether it is one $20 bill, two $10s, four $5s, twenty $1s, or any configuration of change, the purchasing power is the same. However, humans are rarely perfectly rational, and this case is no exception. In the event that a person is given $20, that person is more likely to spend it if it is given in smaller denominations (for example, $1 bills or change) than if it is given in larger denominations (especially Continue reading The Denomination Effect→

Millian vs. Ricardian Stationary State

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Economists David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill dedicated their lives to economic writing that analyzed the dynamics of capitalist economies. Specifically, they investigated sources of economic growth and development. Principles of Political Economy and Taxation was David Ricardo’s contribution to this economic growth and development literature. Within this economic literature, Ricardo built a complex model through the theory of value and rent that attempted to thoroughly address topics of rent, profit, and wages. “To Ricardo, the economic world was constantly tending to expand.”[1] To Ricardo, continuous expansion by capitalist would cause a chain reaction that would affect prices of commodities, Continue reading Millian vs. Ricardian Stationary State→

Post-Purchase Rationalization

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Imagine this: A customer walk into a store looking for a new coat. In this store, she has two coats from which to choose. They have a few differences: they are each a different color, say green and blue; the blue one is made from thinner material; the green one has a larger, more obnoxious logo; the blue one has smaller pockets; the green one is a bit more expensive. Eventually, the customer decides she just has to pick one, so she does. Imagine she chooses the green one. Later, she wonders if she made the right choice, if she Continue reading Post-Purchase Rationalization→