EFFECTS OF HEAVY DRINKING IN COLLEGE ON STUDY EFFORT, GRADE POINT AVERAGE, AND MAJOR CHOICE

This article measures the effects of college drinking on study hours, grade point average (GPA), and major choice using simultaneous equation models and data from the 1993 College Alcohol Study. Binging and intoxication decrease GPA directly and indirectly by reducing study hours. Greater frequency of drinking increases the effect on study hours but not the total effect on GPA. College drinking increases the probability of choosing a business major but decreases the probability of choosing engineering. Simulations show that the effects of heavy drinking on GPA and major choice reduce future weekly earnings by between 0.3 and 9.8%. Copyright 2002 Western Economic Association International.

Replication Data for: Are We All Predictably Irrational? An Experimental Analysis

The three data files and do-file replicate "Are We All Predictably Irrational? An Experimental Analysis"The three data files and do-file replicate "Are We All Predictably Irrational? An Experimental Analysis

Chutes and Ladders: Migration and Male Racial Occupational Segregation

We examine the relationship between migration and occupational segregation for black and white job changers. Using a modified experience good model, our findings from the NLSY suggest that black migrants in good quality occupation matches advance their occupational positions, but do not catch up to whites. Bad match black migrants, on the other hand, lose the most ground on occupational ladders relative to all blacks and whites in our sample. Our results suggest that future research should focus on the underlying labor market history of individuals, where finding good initial occupation matches for blacks in combination with geographical mobility may be the most effective strategy for public policy aimed at decreasing occupational segregation

The Effects of Political Action Committee Contributions on Medical Liability Legislation

This paper examines representatives' voting on the HEALTH Act of 2003, which proposed a limit on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits. The estimates show that the more campaign contributions a representative received from law firm PACs, the less likely he or she was to vote for the bill, while money from insurance and health care industry PACs increased the likelihood of an aye vote. These effects remain after controlling for the endogeneity of campaign contributions. Other factors affecting voting decisions include party affiliation, representative ideology, whether or not the representative was an attorney, the change in state malpractice premiums and payouts, and the change in the number of doctors in the state. There is no strong evidence that the AMA's strategy of naming certain states as being in "crisis" increased the probability that representatives from those states supported the bill.

Pennsylvania Health Atlas & The Future is Now - RESC098

In fall 2012, Prof. Amy Wolaver (Economics) consulted with GIS Specialist Janine Glathar on developing a web-based atlas on healthcare economics in PA. Wolaver received Mellon GIS funding to purchase inpatient hospitalization data from the PA Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4). In 2012-13, Wolaver and Glathar worked with a library-funded GIS student assistant, Darin Rockwell (Geology ’13) to begin mapping & analyzing the data. In summer 2013, Wolaver received Mellon funding to develop a prototype atlas that would also serve as a learning module for the 1st year students in the Society & Technology Residential College. Prior to this research/course integration, Prof. Wolaver had taken a Mellon-funded GIS workshop. Neither of the student researchers chosen to work on the project, Michael McGowan (Biology ’14) and Noelle Watters (Mathematics ’16), had prior experience with GIS or statistical analysis. Student work split into three clearly-delineated phases that unfolded across a roughly 10 week research period (summer-early fall 2013): Statistical Analysis – STATA/Data Management boot camp with Prof. Wolaver + work sessions with Wolaver to choose and calculate variables from PHC4 dataset GIS Visualization – ArcGIS Virtual Campus & weekly work sessions with Glathar to map output tables from STATA and visualize map layers Publication & Presentation – work with GIS Specialist to publish map services and create the web maps and data dictionary needed for RESC098 assignment. RESC098 materials were shared in a Map Gallery and accessible via a public-facing website. Once they received their initial training, the students served as technical experts on the project. Other roles on the project were delineated as follows: Prof. Wolaver – frame research agenda, provide raw data for analysis, teach and supervise students in statistical analysis, write course materials for RESC098 Student researchers – (1) develop expertise in data management, statistical analysis and GIS mapping and visualization; (2) apply technical expertise to a pre-existing dataset; and (3) create presentation-ready materials GIS Specialist – design web-based map module to meet assignment requirements; train and supervise student researchers on applying GIS methods The maps in this gallery were created for use in an in-class assignment for Bucknell’s Fall 2013 RESC098 class, ‘The Future is Now.’ The class is a foundation seminar for first-year students living in Bucknell’s Society & Technology Residential College and explores how technology affects our everyday lives. Prior to the assignment, Prof. Wolaver delivered a lecture to the class with background and context info students would need to have to connect the data in the maps to their readings from a class text, “Tracking Medicine: A Researcher’s Quest to Understand Healthcare,” by Dr. John Wennberg. The assignment was designed to prompt students to think critically about the decisions (made by their peers who worked on the summer research project) that went into crafting the variables shown in their map – and to think spatially about the dynamics of health care provision in Pennsylvania and how this might relate to sustainability of the healthcare system