Economics
Department Honors Students
Class of 2006
Congratulations!
The
Economics Department is proud to present the 2006 Economics
Department honors students: Nick Buonome, Ann Henderson,
Tiffany Kouri, Raul Portillo, Patrick Thomson, and Erin
Wall. Below are paper abstracts and links to their full
thesis papers. The complete papers can be downloaded in
PDF format by clicking the titles. (A free PDF document
reader is available from Adobe (www.adobe.com).)
The
papers were presented at the Holy Cross Academic Conference,
on April 27-28, 2006 (times below), in Hogan Campus Center
room 403. Congratulations to each of these fine students!
A
list of some past honors theses can be found at the bottom
of this page. A description of the department honors
program is available on the program
web page.
Prof.
Miles B. Cahill
Director, Economics
Honors Program
Thursday,
April 27, 2006
Thursday's presenters: Nick Buonome, Pat
Thomson, and Erin Wall
Patrick
Jeffrey Thomson
Pat with advisor, Prof.
John F. O'Connell
The
Arbitrator's Decision and Wage Determination in Major
League Baseball
Abstract
Labor
arbitration, a process of conflict resolution, has been
modeled based upon data from a number of occupations. This
study examines the process of salary arbitration in Major
League Baseball, introducing established arbitration
modeling of the arbitrator’s decision and examining
its effectiveness in this case. The study of the arbitrator’s
decision leads to an examination of the player’s wage.
To that end, a wage determination function based on a least
squares model is constructed using variables the arbitrator
is instructed to consider, as well as those the arbitrator
is instructed to disregard. A market wage is estimated for
each player who has gone through the arbitration process
since the inception of the program in 1974. This market
wage, along with the wage offers of both the player and
the club, are introduced to an established modeling of the
arbitrator’s decision. Results suggest that the arbitrator,
in concert with the two parties to the dispute, serve as
a reasonable substitution for the market.
Thesis
advisor: Prof.
John F. O'Connell
Please send comments to Pat Thomson, PJTHOM06@holycross.edu
Nicholas
D. Buonome
Nick with advisor, Prof. Victor Matheson
Media Bias in Major League
Baseball Award Voting:
An Examination of Voting Discrimination in the MVP and
Cy Young Awards
Abstract
This
paper seeks to investigate potential voting bias of the
Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) in the
MVP and Cy Young awards. Using Win Shares as a measure
of a player's true value, it was possible to analyze the
difference between how good someone statistically is and
how our national sportswriters perceive them. This study
provides evidence of media-based discrimination in both
the MVP and Cy Young award voting during the ten year
period after Major League Baseball's strike in 1995. Results
showed discrimination against Whites in MVP voting, and
discrimination against Nonwhites in Cy Young voting. The
results add to the empirical literature investigating
media-based discrimination in professional sports.
Thesis
advisor: Prof.
Victor Matheson
Please send comments to Nick Buonome, NDBUON06@holycross.edu
Erin
E. Wall
Erin with advisor, Prof. Chuck Anderton,
and reader Prof. Kathy Kiel
The
Terrorism Labor Market
Abstract
This
paper presents a labor market analysis of terrorism. First,
I review selected literature to understand how economic
models can be applied to terrorism behavior. I then mathematically
model the supply and demand for terrorism labor. The theoretical
model gives rise to a number of labor oriented hypotheses,
which are empirically tested for a sample of 112 countries
over the 1975-97 period. The theoretical and empirical
results suggest that there are labor factors that influence
the amount of transnational terrorist events in a region.
Thesis
advisor: Prof.
Chuck Anderton; Second reader: Prof.
Kathy Kiel
Please send comments to Erin Wall, EEWALL06@holycross.edu
Friday,
April 28, 2006, 4:00-5:30
Friday's presenters: Ann Henderson,
Raul Portillo and Tiffany Kouri
Tiffany
Kouri
Tiffany with advisor, Prof. Miles Cahill
Death
and Taxes are Still the Only Things Certain in Life:
The Impact of Economic Factors on Tort Suit Filings
Abstract
This
paper looks to discover if economic factors have an effect
on the rate of tort suit filings in the forty-five largest
counties in the United States. This study examines both
tort trials and tort cases and focuses on three different
years: 1992, 1996, and 2001. The difference between this
paper and previous papers is that this study examines
the data on a county level. The results reveal that tax
revenue, race, the number of accidental deaths and perhaps
the region play an important role in determining the number
of tort suits filed. The claimant's gender, sales at retail
establishments, and the political preference of the claimant
have drastically varying results between the two primary
regressions in this study, which indicates a need for
further research on these specific variables.
Thesis
advisor: Prof.
Miles Cahill
Please send comments to Tiffany Kouri, TGKOUR06@holycross.edu
Ann
E. Henderson
Ann with advisor, Prof. Kolleen Rask
The Choice of Exchange Rate Regime in Argentina during
the 1990's
Abstract
In
1991, an inflation-ravaged Argentina shifted to a currency
board system that strictly pegged the peso to the dollar.
Despite the early successes of this regime, by 2001 the
Argentine Currency Board had entirely collapsed, leaving
Argentina in no better situation than before its initiation.
This
paper attempts to assess the appropriateness of Argentina's
decision to peg its currency rather than float in the 1990's.
A probit model is constructed to assess the relative importance
of five fundamental economic characteristics to the determination
of the currency regime in approximately 117 countries. These
results are then used to predict the appropriate regime
for Argentina in the years 1991, 1995, and 1999.
Thesis
advisor: Prof.
Kolleen Rask
Please send comments to Ann Henderson, AEHEND06@holycross.edu
Raul
D. Portillo
Raul
with advisor, Prof. Nicolas Sanchez
Contraception and the Likelihood of First Marriage
in the United States
Abstract
This
paper analyzes the effects of oral contraception on the
probability that an individual woman will marry given
her age group, geographic region and other controls. The
analysis is based on a model that uses a 1 percent sample
of the 1970 and 1980 Census of the Population, and it
extends the literature on the age of first marriage of
women. The study is based on the diffusion of easily accessible
oral contraceptives in the 1970's having a full impact
on behavior by 1980. Evidence indicates that for almost
all age groups (except women 40-45 years old), the percentage
of women married in the 1970's is larger than the percentage
in the 1980's. The percentage difference between women
married in each year starts out small in the young age
categories, swells for women in their mid twenties, and
then converges again for the older age categories. This
convergence in the later age groups shows that for this
data set, some women put off being married, but the number
of women ever married at least once is the same.
Thesis
advisor: Prof.
Nicolas Sanchez
Please send comments to Raul Portillo, RDPORT06@holycross.edu
Class
of 2005 Honors Theses
Full
2005 Program
Kate
E. Giapponi, Maternal
Education: The Key to Unlocking the Issue of Child Immunization
and Health
Katie
Lucia, The
Determinants of Education: An In-Depth Examination by
Race/Ethnicity
Class
of 2004 Honors Theses
Full
2004 Program
Class
of 2003 Honors Theses
Alaina
C. George, Incentives
in Executive Compensation Contracts: An Examination of
Pay-for-Performance
Brian
D. Huber, The
Effect of Alcohol Taxes on the DUI Fatality Rate
Tina
R. Ziemek,
Attention
all Spenders: Life-Cycle Hypothesis for Sale
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