The Value of STEM as an Educational Tool for Enhancing Cognitive Development

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The focus of STEM education is to provide a holistic approach through hands-on, problem-based learning where students are able to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to real world problems.https://digital.sandiego.edu/npi-sdclimate/1034/thumbnail.jp

Uncertainty and Risk in Financial Markets

This paper considers a general equilibrium model in which the=20 distinction between un-certainty and risk is formalized by assuming agents= =20 have incomplete preferences over state-contingent consumption bundles, as=20 in Bewley (1986). Without completeness, individual decision making depends= =20 on a set of probability distributions over the state space. A bundle is=20 preferred to another if and only if it has larger expected utility for all= =20 probabilities in this set. When preferences are complete this set is a=20 singleton, and the model reduces to standard expected utility. In this=20 setting, we characterize Pareto optima and equilibria, and show that the=20 presence of uncertainty generates robust indeterminacies in equilibrium=20 prices and allocations for any speci=AFcation of initial endowments. We=20 derive comparative statics results linking the degree of uncertainty with=20 changes in equilibria. Despite the presence of robust indeterminacies, we=20 show that equilibrium prices and allocations vary continuously with=20 underlying fundamentals. Equilibria in a standard risk economy are thus=20 robust to adding small degrees of uncertainty. Finally, we give conditions= =20 under which some assets are not traded due to uncertainty aversion.

The Determinants of Cross-Border Equity Flows: The Geography of=20 Information

We apply a new approach to a new panel data set on bilateral=20 gross cross-border equity flows between 14 countries, 1989- 96. The model=20 integrates elements of the finance literature on portfolio composition and= =20 the international macroeconomics and asset trade literature. Gross asset=20 flows depend on market size in both source and destination country as well= =20 as trading costs, in which both information and the transaction technology= =20 play a role. Distance proxies some information costs, and other variables=20 explicitly represent information transmission, an information asymmetry=20 between domestic and foreign investors, and the efficiency of transactions.= =20 The remarkably good results have strong implications for theories of asset= =20 trade. We find that the geography of information is the main determinant of= =20 the pattern of international transactions, while there is little support in= =20 our data for diversification and =91return-chasing=92 motives for= transactions.