One-year, renewable research grants are available to MSU faculty to conduct research projects related to our mission. Research grantees produce publicly-accessible policy issues papers and other communications that inform lawmakers, policy advisers, and the general public on critical policy and regulatory issues, and participate in workshops and conferences organized by the group. Read more about the Research Grants Program's criteria, expectations, and requests for proposals.

The 2020-2021 funding cycle has closed.

 The Initiative is committed to engaging undergraduate students participate in MSU's world-class, ground-breaking research under the guidance of faculty mentors. Listing your research opportuities or indicating your willingness to be an undergraduate research mentor is a great help in this work. Thank you for your dedication to undergraduate learning and IRAEA's mission to engage students in faculty-led research.

 2020-2021 Grantees

mark anderson

Mark Anderson

Associate Professor, Agricultural Economics & Economics

Abstract

Most Southern hospitals were segregated by race until the spring of 1966, when the federal government threatened to withhold Medicare funding from those that were not in compliance withTitle VI of the Civil Rights Act. This study will use newly transcribed hospital records from theJournalof the American Hospital Associationto explore the effects of hospital desegregation on the decision ofwhere to give birth (i.e., the hospital or at home), the choice of birth attendant (i.e., a midwife or aphysician) andinfant mortality by race in 7 southern states. By leveraging within-county variation inMedicare participation, we can distinguish the effects of desegregation from those of other policies and secular trends. We anticipate that our results will contribute to the ongoing debate about why theblack-white infant mortality gap converged so dramatically during the civil rights era and help explain persistent racial disparities in healthcare access today

Specific aims

Under political and legal pressure, a handful of Southern hospitals desegregated between 1962 and 1965 (Brown-Nagin 2011; Smith 2016). Most hospitals in the South, however, remained racially segregated until the spring of 1966, when the federal government threatened to withhold Medicare funding from those that were not in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Beginning in April, federal inspectors, working closely with civil rights activists, fanned out across the country certifying whether hospitals were Title VI compliant (Smith 2016). Despite the complete desegregation required for Medicare certification, a number of hospitals in the Deep South lagged behind those in other states. The effect of desegregating hospitals on the birth outcomes of black mothers is theoretically ambiguous. As emphasized by Almond et al. (2008), desegregation could, through increasing access to higher-quality care, lead to better birth outcomes. On the other hand, desegregation did not eliminate racial disparities in health care delivery (Davis 1975, 1976; Davis et al. 1987), and it is important to note that, although there are many accounts of hospital desegregation proceeding smoothly with the support of medical staff and administrators (Brown-Nagin 2011; Smith 2015, 2016), it was, at least in some instances, met with fierce resistance (Smith 2015, 2016). In the 1950s and 1960s, black hospitals were chronically under-resourced and, with a few prominent exceptions, viewed as providing lower quality care than their white-only and segregated counterparts (Thomas 2006; McBride 2018); after the rollout of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, they struggled financially and most eventually closed their doors (Odum 1992; Smith 2016). Black hospitals were, however, staffed by doctors and nurses dedicated to caring for their black patients. Without the option of delivering in a black-run hospital, black mothers living in the South could choose to deliver in a formerly discriminatory (i.e., white-only or segregated) institution or they could deliver at home, attended by a midwife or physician, neither of whom was necessarily well trained in obstetrics (Mongeau et al. 1961; Houde et al. 1982; Ward 2003). Using newly transcribed hospital records that include information on Medicare participation, this study will explore the relationship between hospital desegregation and infant mortality by race in 7 southern states (AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, and SC) for the period 1955-1975. Using natality data from the National Vital Statistics System, we will also explore potential mechanisms through which desegregation may affect birth outcomes, namely through the decision of where to give birth (i.e., the hospital or at home) and through the choice of birth attendant (i.e., a physician or a midwife). 

Atwood

Joe Atwood

Professor,Department of Agricultural Economics & Economics

Abstract

Current agricultural lending regulatory requirements emphasize the use of "cash flow", "collateral", and "repayment capacity" metrics as a means for evaluating loan and bank soundness.  Loans that do not meet these regulatory requirements are usually reclassified which generates additional costs upon both lenders and borrowers.  Agricultural lending has traditionally oscillated between emphasizing "cash-flow based" and "collateral based" metrics as determinants of loan soundness.  Anecdotally, agricultural lenders often favor the former when agricultural production profits are expected to be robust, and the latter when profits margins are expected to decline.  In addition, traditional repayment "capacity" metrics have proven largely uninformative to both creditors and regulators.  Both lenders and regulators have expressed an interest in a more informative repayment "capacity" metric.  The usual 5-Cs used to determine credit worthiness are collateral, capacity, capital, character, and conditions.  This project examines the efficacy of a proposed sixth-C of loan evaluation -- "Constant-Dollar Financial Statements” – as a more informative measure of credit worthiness for borrowers, lenders, and regulators.

Specific Aims  

This project will examine the ability of "Constant-Dollar" performance metrics to predict long-term loan repayment capacity.   The results of the study will be (1) submitted for publication in a referred journal such as Agricultural Finance Review, (2) presented in a seminar, (3) presented to bankers and bank examiners and other interested parties, and (4) distributed via internet available documents.  The results of this study should prove useful to producers, bank, and bank examiners.      

Bigelow

Daniel Bigelow

Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics & Economics

Abstract

A large number of empirical farmland valuation studies rely on self-reported market value estimates, as opposed to observed farmland transaction prices. The primary goal of this study is to provide the first US national comparison of self-reported market value estimates and observed farmland transaction prices. As an application of our comparative framework, we conduct a Ricardian analysis of how climate is capitalized into farmland prices and contrast our results with existing estimates based on self-reported values. In doing so, our proposed work also speaks to the presence of aggregation bias in existing Ricardian estimates. An extension of our work, using the data framework described here, studies the effects of real estate non-disclosure policies on land market and local public finance outcomes. Our proposed study represents a novel contribution to the growing literature on Ricardian climate impact estimation, as well as the broader body of research on farmland valuation.

Specific Aims

The two overarching aims of the original project proposal remain the same. First, we will provide a national assessment of the comparability of self-reported farmland values and observed farmland transactions. Farmland values serve as a critical indicator of the financial health of the United States farm sector, and have far-reaching implications for the design of agricultural policy and other sector-wide issues. Second, as an application of this comparative assessment, we conduct the first, to our knowledge, Ricardian study of US climate impacts using observed farmland market transactions. Ricardian impact estimation entails estimating the extent to which climate conditions are capitalized into farmland values and then projecting how those values may change, in aggregate, under future climate scenarios. This exercise will allow us to measure any bias in current US Ricardian estimates stemming from the use of self-reported hypothetical land value estimates, as opposed to observed market prices.

In beginning this research over the past year, we have also uncovered two additional aims which represent extensions of our original proposed research design. First, by leveraging the fine-scale nature of the farmland transactions database, our project will also contribute to the fairly sparse literature on aggregation bias in climate impact estimation, which has received no attention in extant US Ricardian analyses. Second, we will provide an analysis of the effects of transaction non-disclosure policy. While, in most states, information on property transactions is public record, states with non-disclosure policies constrain, to varying degrees, the dissemination of property transaction information. Our analysis will shed preliminary light on the degree to which non-disclosure policies influence (1) farmers’ perceptions of land market conditions and (2) local property tax revenue.

Carmen Shanks

Carmen Byker-Shanks

Associate Professor, Department of Health and Human Development 

Abstract

Pandemic regulations can have impacts on public health, as they may cause shifts in lifestyles such as changes in food purchases that consequently alter dietary quality, nutrition, and health outcomes. We hypothesize that in March and April 2020, state and county COVID-19 pandemic regulations altered food purchases in Gallatin County, Montana. The overall objective of our project is to explore the short-term effects pandemic regulations had on consumer grocery store food purchases. We will analyze 300 randomly selected consumer receipts of three stores between March and April 2020 and compare those to corresponding receipts from March and April 2019. Data from the receipts will be used to measure changes in food quality based on adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as well as on the degree of food processing. Additionally, we will compare the monthly food expenditures. Findings from this study will be applied to create outreach material for local legislators and food system stakeholders.

Specific Aims

AIM 1 Assess the changes in quality of consumer’s food purchases from pre to post COVID-19 regulations in compliance with dietary recommendations. Compliance with Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) will be measured through the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI 2015) and NOVA (not an acronym) classification system using the food receipts of 300 adult consumers at three grocery stores matched March to April 2019 and March to April 2020. In a policy briefing, recommendations will be generated to develop regulations that facilitate healthy diets during a public health crisis.

AIM 2 Examine changes in per customer expenditures of consumer’s food purchases from pre to post COVID-19 regulations. Per capita expenditures will be measured by calculation total net per capita expenses and a sub-analysis of costs within food groups using the food receipts of 300 consumers at three grocery stores matched from March to April 2019 and March to April 2020. To reduce the externalities of a health crisis on the food security of consumers, economic considerations will strongly influence our policy briefing to stimulate a healthy diet during a public health crisis.

The proposed project will identify the consequences of state and county regulations on the quality and cost of food on food receipts from grocery stores in Gallatin County. These findings will be used to establish policy recommendations for similar public health crises that facilitate healthy diets even under stay-at-home orders or similar regulations. The expected outcomes are (1) the mitigation of negative health consequences (due to unbalanced nutrition as a consequence of altered food purchase habits) during future health crises, and (2) help understand what occurred in the Gallatin County during the COVID-19 crisis in terms of food purchase to contribute to concerted interventions for decreasing potential negative health effects.

The overall impact of this project is to contribute to the development of pandemic regulation that not only effectively prevents the spread of communicable diseases such as COVID-19 but also reduces the negative externalities on health and nutrition such a disease and necessary response policies have on the population.

gilpin

Gregory Gilpin 

Department Head,Department of Agricultural Economics & Economics

Abstract

Teens and young adults continue to experience substantial declines in labor force (LFP) and sports participation. The declines appear widespread and universal across demographic groups. One often-touted explanation for both is that youth are too plugged into their electronic devices. On the other hand, compulsory schooling regulation and graduated licensing laws may have played dominant roles. The purpose of this research is to study impacts on youth and young adult LFP and sports participation using a 2SLS estimator after accounting for changes in household composition, minimum wage laws, and family income. The analysis will be conducted on those age 16-24 between 2000 and 2009, a time of rapid residential high-speed internet access (RHSIA) expansion. Two existing instruments in the labor economics literature are considered to address endogeneity concerns. The proposed study is a novel contribution to better understand youth and young adult labor-leisure behaviors.

Specific Aims

There are several aims of the project. First, the project documents youth and young adult LFP and sports participation by various demographic characteristics and region to provide current estimated declines. Second, the project will explore whether changes in youth and young adult LFP and youth sports participation are attributable to recent changes in compulsory school laws and/or graduated licensing requirements. Third, the project aims to estimate the causal impact of residential high-speed Internet access (RHSIA) on youth and young adult labor force participation and on youth sports participation. A comprehensive understanding of what drives changes in youth LFPR and sports participation, including what public policies may drive changes, is lacking in the existing labor economics literature. The analysis will be conducted using empirical methods, i.e., 2SLS estimators. It is hypothesized that increases in the minimum dropout age from 16 years of age to 18 years of age will lead to reductions in youth LFP and increases in youth sports participation, and may also lead to reductions in full-time employment of recent high school graduates who are now more likely to attend college. It is hypothesized that graduated licensing laws reduce teen mobility and this will lead to reductions in LFP and sports participation. It is hypothesized that access to RHSIA increases the value of certain leisure activities, causing changes in the composition of leisure activities and also the labor-leisure decisions (see Aguiar et al. (2017)). The increase in the value of certain leisure activities may decrease LFP and sports participation. It is also hypothesized that RHSIA increases information networks and communication that may reduce search costs and increase participation in the labor force and sports. Combining these hypotheses indicates that the impacts on youth and young adult LFPR and sports participation require empirical methods to determine net effects.

hagerty

Nick Hagerty

Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics 

Abstract

How do policy choices in water resource allocation shape agricultural production? This project will measure the effects of surface water allocation in the western United States on land use and crop revenues in the short run and the long run. Short-run effects will be estimated using methods standard to the environmental economics literature, while long-run effects will be estimated using a new empirical method that requires weaker assumptions than prior approaches. Long-run and short-run effects are each important inputs to different kinds of regulatory decisions, but short-run effects are typically easier to estimate. The comparison between them will inform the extent to which regulatory analyses can rely on short-run results for long-run planning. Extensions to the project will investigate the effects of groundwater allocation policy, estimating the returns to groundwater management and how groundwater regulation affects land-use decisions.

Specific Aims

Water is a critical input to many sectors of the economy – most of all agriculture, which accounts for 70 percent of global water withdrawals (FAO 2012). Unlike most other factors of production, water in the western United States is generally not a market good; instead it is allocated via a combination of legal rights and regulatory decisions. Evaluating the costs and benefits of a wide range of regulatory and policy decisions requires detailed quantitative knowledge of how water allocation affects agricultural production.

This project will measure the effects of surface water allocation on land-use decisions, cropping patterns, and crop revenues in the short run and the long run. This distinction between the short- and long-run is critical. In response to temporary changes in water allocations, farmers have limited ability to respond. But when these changes instead arrive as a permanent shift, farmers may be able to respond in a wider range of ways.

Effects of short-run changes in environmental variables are straightforward to estimate, thanks to abundant data and rich temporal variation (Hsiang 2016; Auffhammer 2018). However, effects of persistent, long-run water allocations are notoriously difficult to estimate well. As for many kinds of environmental variables, it remains an open question how much adaptation is possible, and therefore how different these long-run effects are from the short-run effects.

Kwapisz

Agnieszka Kwapisz

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Human populations around the world are growing older and public policies in response to the changing needs of their adult citizens are needed. Self-employment may be a reasonable option for many older adults facing threat of unemployment, age discrimination, insufficient pensions or retirement funds, or the need for self-fulfillment and social inclusion. Public policy programs targeting senior entrepreneurs (similar to those that provide targeted services to women, minority, and immigrant populations) are desired but are almost nonexistent in the US. The proposed research addresses one more possible benefit of helping older individuals to become self-employed: improved mental health. Older people who remain engaged in life stay healthier. At any age, entrepreneurs report being extremely happy in their work and highly satisfied with their life. On the other hand, mental health is associated with huge economic costs. Based on the results of this research, I will provide public policy recommendations.       

McMillian

Colleen McMilin

Assistant Professor, College of Education, Health and Human Development

Abstract

Registered dietitians (RD) are vital to societal health and well-being as we provide services focused on providing nutrition care to restore an individual’s state of nutritional balance. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Montana Law SB0270 was enacted (2014) to provide regulation of telemedicine including requiring insurance coverage for health care services. However, this law, like many across the United States, does not require reimbursement at the same level as in person visits. Through survey and key informant interviews I propose investigating (1) the financial impact; (2) the impact of telenutrition on access to, and delivery of, care; and (3) the impact of COVID-19 on these regulations. Components of the proposed research project will be integrated into two courses, Medical Nutrition Therapy I and II to develop translational research skills in undergraduate dietetic students. The knowledge gained from this research will inform advocacy and future legislation focused on parity laws.

Specific Aims

SB0270 was enacted by the legislature of the state of Montana in 2014. This act requires insurance coverage for health care services provided via telemedicine. Within this law, telemedicine means “the use of interactive audio, video, or other telecommunications technology that is (A) used by a health care provider or health care facility to deliver health care services at a site other than the site where the patient is located; and (B) delivered over a secure connection that complies with the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, 42 USC 1320d, et seq.” For the purposes of this proposal the use of the word telemedicine will be used when discussing SB0270, telehealth as the umbrella term, and telenutrition is directly related to a registered dietitian providing medical nutrition therapy via telecommunication technology as described above. Over the course of the funding period, I propose to meet the following aims:

Aim 1: Investigate the impact of state telehealth regulation on dietetic services delivered via telenutrition in the outpatient or ambulatory care setting in Montana. Through a survey and key informant interviews, dietitians working in Montana will be asked to respond to questions focused on (1) the financial impact of telenutrition; (2) how delivering telenutrition has improved access to, and delivery of, care; and (3) how COVID-19 has impacted their ability to deliver dietetic services through telenutrition. Aim 2: Develop research skills within a pre-health profession undergraduate population, within the field of dietetics, to foster lifelong learning. Undergraduate students will conduct field research in the community in teams, and findings will be disseminated by the research team (PI and undergraduate research assistant) via presentations and publications to the students in MNT I and II as well as within other settings.

Sally Moyce

Sally Moyce

Assistant Professor, College of Nursing

ABSTRACT

Agricultural workers are four times more likely than workers in other industries to experience heat-related illness (HRI), and HRI results in increased treatment costs and workers compensation claims. In 2005, California’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (Cal/OSHA) adopted a heat protection policy requiring employers to provide measures to protect against HRI. Other states follow federal recommendations to prevent HRI. It is unclear whether the Cal/OSHA standard provides additional protections against HRI than the federal recommendations. We propose a policy analysis to estimate the effect of Cal/OSHA heat protection standard on employers’ provision of potable water and toilet facilities for agricultural workers. We will use a difference-in-difference approach to analyze questionnaire data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey. Our goal is to estimate the effect of the Cal/OSHA standard in order to understand whether workers in California report improved access to water and toilets relative to similar workers in other states.

 

SPECIFIC AIMS

Heat related illness (HRI) is an occupational hazard of outdoor agricultural work. To prevent HRI and fatalities, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a set of recommendations which include providing workers the opportunity to rest, rehydrate, and cool down. In response to heat-related fatalities, in 2005, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) implemented heat prevention standards and regulations that require employers to provide measures to protect outdoor agricultural workers against HRI. While the regulatory policy in CA is more stringent than the federal recommendations, it is unclear whether the standard is more effective in preventing HRI than federal recommendations. Therefore, the specific aim of this proposal is to estimate the effect of state-level heat protection standards on the provision of potable water and toilet facilities by employers.

The objective of this aim is to determine if the Cal/OSHA standard makes a difference beyond the federal recommendation in the provision of water and toilets at the worksite. To attain this objective, we will test the working hypothesis that the standard will yield more workers who report access to water and toilets; that is, that workers employed under the CA standard will have more access to water and toilets than other workers. Our approach will be to evaluate the responses from the National Agricultural Worker Survey (NAWS) questions regarding water and toilets and compare (1) responses in CA both before and after implementation of the standard and (2) responses in CA to the rest of the nation after implementation of the standard. The rationale for this aim is that successful completion is likely to point to the differences that heat prevention standards make in the field. This proposal has an economic basis: Understanding the costs and benefits associated with policies is a core component of any economic and policy analysis, and this study aims to increase our understanding of the costs and benefits of occupational protections for agricultural workers.

Yang

Lisa Yang

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Abstract

There has been significant changes in laws and security exchange rules on corporate governance over the past decade. In particular, partly stemming from the recent financial crisis in 2008, the Dodd-Frank Act imposes more governance-related provisions. Moreover, there is an unprecedentedly high level of shareholder activism as many institutional investors have significantly increased their engagement efforts on governance issues. Our project intend to investigate whether and how corporate governance influences cost of issuing debts in this changing regulatory and institutional environment. We will also analyze the relative importance of the governance-related provisions, the interplay with institutional investors as majority shares, and possible unintended consequences of these policies.

 

Specific Aims

Separation of ownership and control in corporations creates information asymmetry problems between shareholders and managers that expose shareholders to agency costs. Corporate governance mechanisms intend to mitigate these agency problems. Public and regulatory interests in the corporate governance practices of modern corporations increased dramatically following the high-profile collapses of a number of large corporations in the early 2000s, then again after the recent financial crisis in 2008. Corporate governance issues have always been a center topic of the security and exchange commission (SEC). There is increased regulatory burdens imposed on public companies in recent years, bringing new challenges from operational, regulatory and compliance perspectives. Moreover, as institutional investors become majority shareholders now, companies have undertaken unprecedented levels of proactive engagement with their major shareholders. Many institutional investors have significantly increased their engagement efforts on governance issues, making overall levels of shareholder activism remain at record highs.

 

Our project is to investigate how corporate governance influences the cost of raising capital, specially, in debt issuance in this changing regulatory and institutional environment. Currently, public companies collectively raise trillion dollars every year. In the debt issuing process, the issuing companies, underwriting banks, institutional investors all play important roles in pricing and timing the corporate bond offerings. However, underwriting banks usually have private information on demand, and informed investors are more likely to have private information on market valuation. This asymmetric information together with the significant economic interests create a situation where agency problems are particularly prominent. Therefore, we believe the costs of issuing debts will largely affected by the corporate governance mechanisms adopted by the companies and imposed by regulatory rules and policies.

Sean Yaw

Sean Yaw

Assistant Professor, Gianforte School of Computing, Montana State University

Abstract

CO2 capture and storage (CCS) is a climate change mitigation strategy aimed at reducing the amount of CO2 vented into the atmosphere by capturing CO2 emissions from industrial sources, transporting the CO2 via a dedicated pipeline network, and injecting it into geologic reservoirs. To have a meaningful environmental impact, CCS needs to be widely deployed in the very near future by many industries, most notably power generation. Section 45Q of the U.S. tax code is aimed at incentivizing private industry to initiate CCS projects by providing tax credits for capturing CO2. CCS has not been widely deployed, even though 45Q has been in the tax code for 12 years. Recently, legislators and nonprofits have explored modifying 45Q in an urgent attempt to spur wide-spread CCS development. In this project, we propose quantifying the impacts of potential 45Q changes on national CCS project development by developing novel CCS infrastructure modelling capabilities.

Specific Aims

Section 45Q of the U.S. tax code provides a tax credit for CO2 emitters to sequester CO2 in long-term storage instead of releasing it into the atmosphere [1]. The credit from 2008 until 2018 was for $20 per metric ton (tonne) for secure geological storage and $10 per tonne for qualified economic utilization, such as enhanced oil recovery (EOR). 45Q was updated in 2018 to provide a $50 per tonne credit for geological storage and $35 per tonne for economic utilization for 12 years after a project begins capturing CO2. A project must begin construction of its capture equipment (typically retrofitting existing industrial sources such as power plants) prior to January 1st, 2024 to utilize the updated 45Q credit. In an effort to further incentivize CCS project initiation, proposals have been made to expand the 45Q credit yet again. In early 2020, legislation was introduced in Congress that would expand 45Q credits and permanently include them in the U.S tax code. In addition to credits, taxation of CO2 emissions (i.e. a carbon tax, like what has been enacted in Europe and other regions) has also been suggested as a negative incentive mechanism for encouraging CCS adoption [2]. 

Credits and taxes serve as mechanisms to incentivize private industry to develop CCS projects so they can realize the credits or avoid the taxes. Industry will usually initiate CCS projects only if doing so is more profitable than not. To assess the viability of a CCS project with a single source and single reservoir requires evaluating the tradeoff between operating costs (e.g. capture, transport, storage), credits and taxes, and economic utilization (e.g. proceeds from CO2 sales to EOR). Things become more complicated when considering CCS projects with multiple sources and reservoirs, since they can be collectively more profitable when sharing pipeline transportation networks that benefit from economies of scale. As such, a complex analysis of concurrent capture economics (including taxes and credits), reservoir economics, and spatially dependent pipeline economics is needed to predict how the market will respond to proposed changes in 45Q.

It is not clear what the appropriate mix of credits and taxes, their specific values, or their incremental changes over time that will most effectively spur wide-scale deployment of CCS infrastructure, thereby substantially reducing CO2 emissions. In this project, we propose quantifying the impacts of 45Q tax credits and carbon taxes on CCS project deployment by modeling the CCS infrastructures that result from scenarios reflecting changes to 45Q. For various 45Q proposals, we expect to:

  • Identify the trade-offs between tax revenues and industry profits.
  • Determine which sources and reservoirs can participate profitably, as well as the pipeline network to optimally support them.
  • Find that collaborative project designs will enable more industry participants (thereby resulting in more CO2 being captured) and higher system profits.

EOR is the process of injecting CO2 into oil fields to increase production. Oil fields will pay for CO2 for this purpose, so the capture facility will get both the tax credit and the proceeds from sale of CO2 to the oil field.

Yang Yu

Yang Yu

Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics & Economics

Abstract

Omitting food waste in consumer demand analysis likely leads to biased estimates such as underestimated price elasticities (Yu 2020). In addition, many studies that measure consumer dietary healthfulness are based on observed purchase quantities instead of the actual amount of food consumed. This project will address these issues by modeling food waste as a rational choice made by households, conditional on their heterogeneous food-management abilities and composition of their food purchases. By incorporating food waste, the investigator will modify the methods used in leading scholarly articles that focus on policy impacts of food-related programs and re-evaluate these programs accordingly. Policymakers can utilize the results from this project to construct more effective mechanisms to improve food security and to incentivize healthy eating behavior.

Specific Aims

The proposed project aims to provide a more accurate evaluation of food policies and supplemental nutrition programs by modeling households’ rational choices of food waste. The major objectives of the study are (1) to examine how consumers respond to price subsidies and in-kind transfers by adjusting their amounts of both actual consumption and food waste; and (2) to provide a better measurement of dietary healthfulness based on calibrated actual consumption, net of wasted food.

Existing studies that assess the effectiveness of food policies generally ignore the important role of food-wasting behavior because food waste is not observed in most consumer datasets. This project will utilize the methods developed in Yu (2020) to structurally identify food waste and incorporate it into demand estimation. To make a direct comparison with previous literature, the investigator will first choose two notable food programs and a set of published academic articles that analyzed these programs. Next, the approaches in these studies will be modified to incorporate food waste, and results will be compared. Therefore, the project serves as both a re-assessment of existing studies and an attempt to provide refined policy suggestions.

 

austin

Graham Austin

Associate Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Craft brewing is an engine of economic growth and community revitalization in Montana; we currently have the second-highest number of breweries per capita in the US (Hall 2019). However, the industry exists in a regulatory and competitive environment that appears to stifle the industry’s full economic capacity. A suite of statewide regulations is designed to limit breweries’ ability to brew and sell large volumes of beer, and their ability to sell beer directly to customers. Nevertheless, the number of breweries in the state doubled between 2012 and 2017 (Hall 2019). I have been curious about this apparent paradox since 2008 – how and why people decide to open breweries in a state that simultaneously invites and stifles this type of entrepreneurship. This project explores (1) craft brewers’ perceptions of the legal regulations on the industry, and (2) the impact these perceptions have on their business decision-making.

Specific aims

The goal of this project is to understand how craft brewers (1) perceive, and (2) respond to state, local, and federal regulations specifically aimed at the craft brewing industry. Montana is home to a thriving craft brewing industry – ranked second per capita in the US in 2019, yet the state imposes strict regulations that limit the operation of these businesses (e.g., ability to operate a tasting room, limits on tasting room hours, quantities sold, sales promotions, distribution, licensing; see MCA 2017 16-3).

In policy discussions, these types of regulations are often framed as critical elements in zero-sum competitions between different types of businesses in a shared marketspace. After a bill to extend tasting room hours was defeated in the 2019 legislative session, the Montana Brewers Association wrote that opponents “view beer sales as a fixed pie and believe any gains by breweries means taking more of their piece of the pie (montanabrewers.org/2019-winter-newsletter/). Media coverage also portrays Montana’s craft brewers and bar and tavern owners as adversaries; each side claims to be unfairly disadvantaged by the laws (e.g., Healy 2013). On the other hand, a news story about Montana’s tasting room regulations noted, “Despite Montana’s different restrictions, owners of local craft breweries don’t seem too bothered by them” (Gillette 2014).

This is an inductive qualitative study, generating rather than testing perceptual variables and related hypotheses.

Bigelow

Daniel Bigelow

Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics & Economics

Abstract

A large number of empirical farmland valuation studies rely on self-reported market value estimates, as opposed to observed transaction prices. This comes despite longstanding preferences, held by many applied economists, for basing empirical analysis of real estate markets on observed transactions. Advancements in data collection, largely within the private sector, have recently made it possible to assemble comprehensive databases of real estate transactions. In this study, we conduct the first US national comparison of self-reported market value estimates and observed farmland transaction prices. In an application of our comparative framework, we conduct a Ricardian analysis of how climate is capitalized into farmland prices and contrast our results with existing estimates based on self-reported values. Our proposed study represents a novel contribution to the growing literature on Ricardian climate impact estimation, as well as the broader body of research on farmland valuation. 
Statement of Specific Aims of the Project 
Our project has two overarching aims. First, we provide a national assessment of the comparability of self-reported farmland values, collected by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and observed farmland transactions. Farmland values serve as a critical indicator of the financial health of the United States farm sector, and have far-reaching implications for the design of agricultural policy and other sector-wide issues. A comprehensive understanding of the differences between alternative measures of farmland value, including what may drive those differences, is lacking in the existing literature. We hypothesize that, based on the thin nature of farmland markets and limited research to date, self-reported estimates are biased downward and do not adequately account for the true marginal implicit price of nonagricultural factors. Second, as an application of this comparative assessment, we conduct the first, to our knowledge, Ricardian study of US climate impacts using observed farmland market transactions. Ricardian impact estimation entails estimating the extent to which climate conditions are capitalized into farmland values and then projecting how those values may change, in aggregate, under future climate scenarios. This exercise will allow us to measure any bias in current US Ricardian estimates stemming from the use of self-reported hypothetical land value estimates, as opposed to observed market prices.

Bratton

Virginia Bratton 

Associate Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Abstract

This research seeks to examine the impact of federal reporting requirements stemming from President Obama in 2016 which calls for employers to submit pay information by gender on EEo-1 forms to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Montana currently ranks 32nd in the state for gender pay equity (AAUW, 2018). Compared to higher-ranked states, Montana has less regulation at the state governmental level. Therefore, this federal EEOC reporting requirement represents one of the first and most direct forms of regulation to confront businesses in Montana (with 100+ employees). This project will explore (1) Montana business perceptions of the new EEo-1 form data requirement, and (2) the impact that these perceptions have on compensation policy decisions.

Specific aims

The goals of this project are to (1) understand how Montana business perceptions of the new EEo-1 form data requirement, and (2) understand the impact that these perceptions have on compensation policy decisions for these businesses. Though Montana has improved its national rank on equal pay in the past 8 years, Montana businesses continue to express a reluctance to acknowledge the existence of a gender pay gap, collect internal pay data based on gender, or support state legislation that would promote transparent and equitable equal pay business practices. The new EEo-1 reporting requirement offers a unique opportunity to learn how Montana businesses respond to government regulation in order to bridge the gender pay gap.

In past conversations with the former Montana Commissioner of Labor and Industry, we learned that, in a previous administration, the state government stopped collecting pay roll data by gender when it became apparent that gender could account for significant differences in pay. Further, when observing Montana business owners respond to equal pay guidelines presented by the Equal Pay for Equal Pay taskforce in 2015, much of the resistance centered around a reluctance to collect data that may prove incriminating in EEOC investigations or lawsuits. This anecdotal evidence suggests a strong reluctance on the part of Montana businesses to comply with the new EEo-1 reporting requirements. This research will seek to better understand if indeed this reluctance exists and what impact it may have on their compensation business decisions.

Harvey

Tim Harvey

Instructor
Director, Community Banking Program
Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Due to its human and physical geography, Montana is disproportionately served by community banks relative to most other states in the nation.  Because of this, the health of community banks is important to the health of Montana’s economy.  The proposed research project will survey Montana-based banks with the intent to learn first-hand how financial regulation is impacting Montana community banks, and which regulations are particularly challenging for small-bank competitiveness.

Specific Aims

The specific aim of the project is to assess, through survey methodology, Montana banker perceptions of the effect of regulation and policy changes on bank performance, compliance issues, investment strategy, and behavioral changes, and to gather bankers’ suggestions for regulation and policy changes.  The survey will focus on the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act (DFA), but we plan to also ask about compliance-related issues resulting from other regulations, such as the Community Reinvestment Act and the Bank Secrecy Act. Significantly, we intend to learn how bankers respond to regulatory changes. That is, do bankers (1) cut productive, non-compliance staff, (2) cut salaries of non-compliance staff, (3) raise loan rates, (4) discontinue certain products and/or services, etc. Coauthors on this project are Gary Caton (MSU) and Ed Gamble (MSU), who are submitting a separate IRAEA Fellowship application.

Hill

Andrew Hill

Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics & Economics

Abstract

Many goods and services are produced in teams. Team composition is clearly an important determinant of team productivity. There are arguments for why more diverse teams – such as teams with more equal gender ratios – may be more productive (Hong & Page, 2001), as well as why less diverse teams may be more productive (Beach & Jones, 2017). Several policies directly and indirectly affect team composition across a variety of settings in the US. For example, affirmative action in hiring, other than generating a more representative workforce or redressing past imbalances, may improve productivity if it generates more diverse teams and more diverse teams are more productive. On the other hand, more diverse teams may be less productive if diversity within teams generates frictions that are costly to overcome. To evaluate policies or goals that may affect team diversity, we need to understand how team diversity impacts team productivity. The goal of this project is to explore how one component of team diversity – team gender composition – affects team performance, and to explore the mechanisms through which it may do so.

Specific Aims of the Project

The aims of this project are (1) to estimate the causal effect of team gender diversity on team performance and (2) explore the channels through which team gender composition operates. In doing so, this project will speak to the potential effects of policies such as affirmative action and more general, broader goals of representation that may affect team gender composition. Understanding the factors that promote or impede team members’ complementarity in production is important to ensure that any policies affecting team gender composition are designed to emphasize the productive elements of team diversity and mitigate any costly ones. For example, it may be the case that teams with balanced gender ratios are the most productive, but only if team members have common goals and information. In this context, affirmative action policies favoring the underrepresented gender may be optimal if they also promote information-sharing.

johnson

Jerry Johnson

Department of Political Science

Abstract

The Alaskan heli-skiing industry is governed by strictly defined operational permits on federal public land. These rigid boundaries of the permit limit operations to the possible detriment of both skier safety and client satisfaction by limiting the landing and start zones of daily tours. In marginal conditions, if boundaries were flexible or fuzzy, landings could be made, and clients could ski safely. The additional complexity of rigid permit boundaries, combined with multifaceted hazard and client management pressures can result in extreme cognitive load for lead guides, potentially leading to sub-optimal decisions. We propose fine scale documentation of such conflicts, providing a buffering plan for specific locations, and changes to the nature of permit boundaries when operational conditions require flexibility. 

Specific Aims of the Project

The research problem for Alaska helicopter ski operations is twofold;

1), how often and what are the costs of inflexible landing zones to skier safety;. 
2), how could safety and operational efficiency be enhanced if permit boundaries were considered adaptive when conditions called for them to be rather than hard, defined lines.

We will survey heli-skiing operations who share permit boundaries. We will conduct in-person structured interviews with snow safety directors and lead guides. The goal is to spatially document both the incidence and location of boundary limiting operations. This will be achieved by using variable “fuzzy” boundary distances to explore how changes in the boundary buffer influence both conflict and safety. We will then present the findings to public land managers with buffers applied to the boundary where applicable.

Kleindl

William Kleindl

Assistant Research Professor, Land Resources and Environmental Sciences
Abstract: Wetland assessment has been designed to meet multiple goals of federal, state and local agencies such as the Clean Water Act (CWA) 404(b)(1) regulatory guidelines for mitigation, the CWA §305(b) guidelines for states report aquatic conditions, BLM guidelines to manage grazing allotments, and local governments managing non-point pollution sources. Because of the history of ecological assessment within these agencies, there is a multitude of assessment approaches, for instance, there are 6 separate riparian assessment tools in Montana. As our attention moves toward ecological goods and services, and the economic benefits those provide to Montana, future assessments tools of these services will build upon required assessment of ecological condition. However, without a meta-assessment of these multiple condition tools, it will be difficult to choose the most cost-effective approach that provides the best distinction of ecological condition.  
Kwapisz

Agnieszka Kwapisz

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Abstract

The proposed research will extend my work, previously sponsored by the IRAEA, on occupational licensing and perceived vs. actual government regulation. In the paper just published in the Journal of Business Venturing Insights, I discovered that many entrepreneurs suffer from bureaucratic illiteracy and perceptions about regulations are often formed without checking the actual requirements and that actual and perceived regulations are not correlated with each other. In the proposed research, I will merge data from the Northwestern Licensing Database and the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics in order to investigate 1) correlation between occupational licensing policies and success of nascent entrepreneurial firms, and 2) how this relationship is moderated by the perceived government support, by actually checking regulations, and by seeing government as a main startup barrier.

Specific Aims of the Project

Regulatory/policy issues addressed

The project will focus on the effect of actual occupational licensing regulations on entrepreneurial success and on how this effect is moderated by perceived government support and entrepreneur’s bureaucratic illiteracy.

First, I will investigate the relationship between occupational licensing and the success of nascent startups. An occupational license is a credential that government requires a person to hold to practice in a given occupation. To earn the license, an individual must clear various hurdles, such as paying fees, attaining a certain level of education or training, or passing an exam. Some occupations are universally licensed but many are licensed only in a specific state. There is a good reason to suspect that many licensing schemes are very arbitrary, as evidenced by the variability in the manner and burden of licensing across states (Kleiner, 2015; Broughman et al., 2012). Few would support a system in which anybody could be a doctor or a lawyer but overly extensive regulations hamper productive entrepreneurship (Henrekson & Stenkula, 2010; Thornton & Timmons, 2015). The most regulated state in the nation is California, which requires licenses for 177 job categories (Summers, 2007). Over 1,100 occupations are regulated in at least one state, but fewer than 60 are regulated in all 50 States (The White House, 2015). Such inconsistencies give good reasons to doubt that having so many licensing schemes is necessary. Most of the licensed occupations offer a possibility of entrepreneurship, suggesting that these laws may hinder both job attainment and creation. In fact, there are claims that licensing may be a contributing factor to the decline in entrepreneurship in the recent years (Davis & Haltiwanger, 2014). Nascent entrepreneurs are individuals who initiate activities (e.g. writing a business plan, talking to customers, seeking financial support) that are intended to culminate in a viable new firm (Reynolds, 1994; Davidsson, 2004; 2005). Therefore, nascent entrepreneurs are at the very early stages of starting a new venture when they determine the profitability as well as regulatory requirements of their ideas. The proposed research will investigate whether licensing has a negative correlation with either delaying the startup process or halting the efforts altogether.        

    Second, my recently published paper “Do government and legal barriers impede entrepreneurship in the U.S.? An exploratory study of perceived vs. actual barriers”, sponsored by the IRAEA, uncovered very interesting phenomena: there is no significant relationship between the actual and the perceived level of government bureaucracy. Additionally, only less than a half of all entrepreneurs (41%) actually checks government regulations. Thus, in the proposed project I will investigate if the relationship between actual licensing regulation and startup success is moderated by entrepreneurs’ perceived level of government support and by checking the regulations early. 

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses will be further developed in the proposed research:

H1: Occupational licensing laws decrease the probability and/or increase the time it takes for the nascent entrepreneurs to form a new viable firm.

H2a: Occupational licensing laws decrease the probability that nascent entrepreneurs form a new viable firm and/or increase the time it takes to form a new viable firm in a greater extent for the entrepreneurs who perceive no government startup support.

H2b: Occupational licensing laws decrease the probability that nascent entrepreneurs form a new viable firm and/or increase the time it takes to form a new viable firm in a greater extent for the entrepreneurs who do not check the regulations early.

H2c: Occupational licensing laws decrease the probability that nascent entrepreneurs form a new viable firm and/or increase the time it takes to form a new viable firm in a greater extent for the entrepreneurs who perceive government as a major startup barrier.

 

The rationale and economic basis

    The study of regulation of the occupations has a long tradition in economics, going back to Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and Milton Friedman, but has received relatively little attention in modern days until very recently (Kleiner, 2000). The reason for the renewed interest in licensing is its widespread and fast growth (Kleiner and Krueger, 2010; Kleiner, 2015; Larkin, 2016). The proportion of the workforce required to obtain a license to work was 4.5% in the 1950s, 18% in the 1980s, 20% in 2000, 29% in 2008, and this number is expected to grow (Kleiner & Krueger, 2010). According to Kleiner (2000), licensing directly affects more workers than either the minimum wage (10%) or unionization (15%). On one side, licensing is designed to protect the public’s safety and well-being by mandating training and experience for certain professional practices. It creates greater incentives for individuals to invest in more occupation-specific human capital, as they will not face low-quality substitutes for their services (Akerlof, 1970; Shapiro, 1986). It is intended to reduce customers’ uncertainty over the quality and potentially create more demand for the service. On the other side, many scholars report that “many occupational licensing schemes are the product of the political equivalent of bribery and extortion, rather than a considered attempt to improve the public welfare” (Larkin, 2016, p.4). Research shows that licensing requirements raise the price of goods and services (3-16%), restrict employment opportunities, make it more difficult for workers to take their skills across state lines, and often do not increase the quality of goods and services (The White House, 2015; Kleiner & Kudrle, 2000; Kleiner, 2015). One could argue that licensing is a vehicle to protect incumbent businesses and workers from competition, especially from younger, less educated workers and entrepreneurs (Davis and Haltiwanger, 2014; Konczal, 2013; Zapletal, 2017).    

Sally Moyce

Sally Moyce

Assistant Professor, College of Nursing

ABSTRACT

Agricultural workers are four times more likely than workers in other industries to experience heat-related illness (HRI), and HRI results in increased treatment costs and workers compensation claims. In 2005, California’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (Cal/OSHA) adopted a heat protection policy requiring employers to provide measures to protect against HRI. Other states follow federal recommendations to prevent HRI. It is unclear whether the Cal/OSHA standard provides additional protections against HRI than the federal recommendations. We propose a policy analysis to estimate the effect of Cal/OSHA heat protection standard on employers’ provision of potable water and toilet facilities for agricultural workers. We will use a difference-in-difference approach to analyze questionnaire data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey. Our goal is to estimate the effect of the Cal/OSHA standard in order to understand whether workers in California report improved access to water and toilets relative to similar workers in other states.

 

SPECIFIC AIMS

Heat related illness (HRI) is an occupational hazard of outdoor agricultural work. To prevent HRI and fatalities, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a set of recommendations which include providing workers the opportunity to rest, rehydrate, and cool down. In response to heat-related fatalities, in 2005, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) implemented heat prevention standards and regulations that require employers to provide measures to protect outdoor agricultural workers against HRI. While the regulatory policy in CA is more stringent than the federal recommendations, it is unclear whether the standard is more effective in preventing HRI than federal recommendations. Therefore, the specific aim of this proposal is to estimate the effect of state-level heat protection standards on the provision of potable water and toilet facilities by employers.

The objective of this aim is to determine if the Cal/OSHA standard makes a difference beyond the federal recommendation in the provision of water and toilets at the worksite. To attain this objective, we will test the working hypothesis that the standard will yield more workers who report access to water and toilets; that is, that workers employed under the CA standard will have more access to water and toilets than other workers. Our approach will be to evaluate the responses from the National Agricultural Worker Survey (NAWS) questions regarding water and toilets and compare (1) responses in CA both before and after implementation of the standard and (2) responses in CA to the rest of the nation after implementation of the standard. The rationale for this aim is that successful completion is likely to point to the differences that heat prevention standards make in the field. This proposal has an economic basis: Understanding the costs and benefits associated with policies is a core component of any economic and policy analysis, and this study aims to increase our understanding of the costs and benefits of occupational protections for agricultural workers.

Lisa Rew

Lisa Rew

Professor, Department ofLand Resources and Environmental Sciences

Abstract

Invasive species are a global problem because they negatively impact crop and livestock production, and biodiversity.  In the US certain species are legally mandated for control to reduce these negative impacts.  In Montana and surrounding states, problem non-native weeds are designated as “noxious”.  Such species must be controlled on all federal, state and private land.  Herbicide is the most often used method to control noxious weeds, but frequency of implementation differs between users. For example, noxious weed control is well implemented on highways whereas county roads tend to have lower levels of implementation due to fewer resources.  Information on the effectiveness of the mandated herbicide control of noxious weeds is lacking, as is a cost benefit of implementation frequency. The goal of this study is to evaluate the cost benefit of different levels of implementation of the regulations on noxious weeds along roadsides.

Specific Aims of the Project 

The implementation of noxious weed regulations differs. By studying roadsides I will be able to compare areas with high to low implementation levels, stratified on past (15 years ago) noxious weed richness (number of species) and abundance (cover per unit area). I will address the following questions:

 

  • Evaluate how different levels of noxious weed regulation implementation impacts a) noxious weed richness and b) noxious weed, grass, forb and shrub abundance (cover).
  • Estimate the cost benefit of higher frequency of controlling noxious weed richness and abundance.
Woodland

Angela Woodland

Associate Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

ABSTRACT

Not-for-profit organizations are vital to the functioning of the health and welfare of multiple populations in the U.S. These largely unregulated organizations distribute wealth from donors to the needy and to important causes. According to Montana’s Nonprofit Economic Impact Report, there are 7,468 charitable organizations in Montana. Given the numerous organizations and the wide range of constituents they serve, often with limited budgets, fraud can have far-reaching effects by derailing the efficient economic distribution of funds from donors to recipients and by reducing the willingness of donors to donate. There is very little empirical research on fraud in not-for-profit organizations, but understanding fraud is vitally important for determining how best to prevent it and for assessing whether monitoring mechanisms, including regulation, are justifiable in this vital, unique segment of the economy. This project will evaluate the effectiveness of monitoring mechanisms in preventing or detecting occupational fraud in not-for-profit organizations.

SPECIFIC AIMS

Not-for-profit organizations are largely unregulated. Other than minimal reporting and unrelated business income tax regulation related to their not-for-profit statuses, not-for-profit organizations operate with voluntary, donor-imposed, or only internal monitoring mechanisms in place. I intend to use a database of not-for-profit organizations that were victims of occupational fraud to evaluate which, if any, of those monitoring mechanisms where effective in preventing or detecting occupational fraud.

Research Question: 

What monitoring methods are effective in preventing or detecting occupational fraud in nonprofit organizations?

(I have proposed a research question instead of a hypothesis because there is not extant literature to support a directional hypothesis that one particular monitoring method is preferred over any other.)

Yang

Lisa Yang

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship
 
austin

Graham Austin

Associate Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship
Hill

Andrew Hill 

Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics & Economics
kleindl

William Kleindl

Assistant Research Professor, Land Resources and Environmental Sciences
Kwapisz

Agnieszka Kwapisz

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship
Ruppel

Kristin Ruppel

Associate Professor, Native American Studies
Yang

Lisa Yang

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship
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Edward Gamble

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship
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Andrew Hill 

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship
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Joseph Atwood

Professor, Agricultural Economics and Economics
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Lisa Yang and Gary Caton

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Associate Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

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Edward Gamble, Frank Kerins and Gary Caton 

 Associate Professors, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship
Paul Sturman

Paul Sturman, Frank Kerins, and Omar Shehryar

Center for Biofilm Engineering

Associate Professors, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

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Agnieszka Kwapisz

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship
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Lisa Yang

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship 
Gary Caton

Gary Caton, Frank Kerins, and Lisa Yang

Associate Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Associate Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

jatwood

Joe Atwood

Professor, Agricultural Economics and Economics

Freedom, Government, and Prosperity

The purpose of this study is to quantify the influence of government institutions on general well-being, as reflected in a country’s gross domestic product, and their influence on financial markets, as reflected by their effects on interest rates.  GDP data, interest rate data, and measures of economic freedom will be used along with other data in a cross sectional time series analysis to quantify the effects of increasing institutional performance on general well-being and financial markets.

gbrester17

Gary Brester

Professor, Agricultural Economics and Economics
The Effects of Regulations on the Commercial Fertilizer Industry

This project will examine the regulatory environment of the natural gas and fertilizer industries and empirically investigate the extent to which the regulatory structure has affected the efficiency of information transmission in fertilizer markets.  In addition, the program will investigate the degree to which uncertainty has influenced our ability to predict fertilizer prices.  The project will also evaluate the extent to which agricultural production costs are affected by natural gas and fertilizer industry regulations.

Gary Caton

Gary Caton and Frank Kerins

Associate Professors, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship
The Differential Impact of Dodd-Frank on Small-and Medium-Size Banks

This study will empirically test whether the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act has had differential impact on the performance of banks across asset size.  Using a quasi-experimental design framework, the performance effects of Dodd-Frank regulations will be analyzed.  The performance measures used will include return on assets, return on equity, net interest margin, non-interest expense to assets and others.  The overall aim of this study is to provide a more rigorous empirical examination the differential impacts of Dodd Frank regulations on small versus large banks.

billk

William Kleindl

Assistant Research Professor, Land Resources and Environmental Sciences
Foundations of a Wetland Benefits Assessment (WBA) Tool

This project will provide the foundations for constructing rapid wetland service assessment tools that will improve regulatory decision making by incorporating economic and other criteria.  The framework will blend local wetland ecological data with principles of environmental economics to create proposed wetland ecosystem service metrics to include qualities that promote human well-being.

agnieszkak

Agnieszka Kwapisz

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship
The Effect of Labor Market Regulatory Policy on Nascent Entrepreneurship 

The link between growth of nascent entrepreneurial firms and state minimum wage policies, subminimum wage provisions, and exemptions for small businesses will be empirically assessed.  The project will evaluate minimum wage policies, subminimum wage provisions, and exemptions enacted by state legislatures for small business, and their effect on the growth and success of nascent entrepreneurial ventures.  The analysis will specifically examine the effect of minimum wage on the probability of hiring employees, the timing of hiring, as well as the ultimate outcome for new firms.

kristinr

Kristin Ruppel

Associate Professor, Native American Studies
Land Tenure, Human Development and Economic Well-being on the Blackfeet Reservation

Using the Blackfeet Reservation as a pilot project site, this research project addresses the economics of land tenure within the exterior boundaries of allotted Indian reservations of the intermountain west.  Publicly available information will be used to measure human development and economic well-being at the Blackfeet Reservation as it is tied to different land tenure types. This research will
use databases to map indicators of human development and economic well-being in terms of different types of land tenure on the Blackfeet Reservation and produce a GIS map to see if there are discernible patterns of indicators tied to land tenure types.

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Paul Sturman, Frank Kerins, and Omar Shehryar

Center for Biofilm Engineering

Associate Professors, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

The Impact of Biofilm Regulatory Policy on the Development of Healthcare-Related Products

This study examines the impact of regulatory policies in the production of anti-biofilm products for use by health care providers.  The approach is to investigate decision making by both health care companies developing anti-biofilm products and the agencies regulating them.  The overall goal is to understand and report how regulatory policy at the national level influences decision making at healthcare-related businesses, specifically with regard to the development of products designed to prevent or mitigate health care-associated infections associated with biofilms.

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Lisa Yang and Gary Caton

Assistant Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Associate Professor, Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

The unintentional consequences of regulatory regime changes: Insider trading activities surrounding bond rating changes

An empirical analysis will be carried out of insider trading activities across three regulatory regimes: Pre-Regulation Fair Disclosure, post-Regulation Fair Disclosure and pre-Dodd-Frank, and post-Dodd-Frank. Specifically, this study will examine whether corporate insiders increased insider trading activity in the period between ratifications of Regulations Fair Disclosure and implementation of Dodd-Frank.  First, the 10-year inter-regulatory period relative to the pre-Regulation Fair Disclosure and post-Dodd-Frank legislation will be tested to determine if insider trading activity was elevated.  Then, using regression analysis, firm level variables will be controlled in order to help explain insider trading activity, as well as firm and time fixed-effects.

 

 

Those eligible for grants include MSU faculty engaged in research and economic analysis of regulatory issues as applied to agriculture, healthcare, technology, finance, natural resources, education, public safety, and other related sectors.  Interdisciplinary research proposals and proposals directed by multiple project leaders are welcome. Proposals are reviewed by the Research Grants Selection Committee (comprised of the co-directors, the Research Fellows, and members of the internal advisory committee). Requests for proposals are typically announced in early spring and the grant period runs August-August of each year.