The BlueBox Practicum: Integrating Technology, Culture, and Academic Service-Learning

Advancing education in marginalized communities has been more difficult compared to more privileged communities due to the lack of infrastructure, which in part results in an absence of educational materials. The BlueBox Project was created to minimize this divide by bringing a wealth of information to these communities. Using a small digital computer, faculty, staff, and students across many disciplines built the BlueBox, a stand-alone digital library which hosts an array of books, articles, educational games, and videos to inspire learning in a variety of subjects including science, technology, math, music, and literature. The BlueBox is powered by solar energy, battery, or power outlets and is accessible without the need for Internet access. An academic service-learning practicum course was developed as part of The BlueBox Project to enhance students’ discipline-specific knowledge and create a dialogue surrounding development, poverty, culture, social injustice, and service. This innovative course has led to many partnerships and technological enhancements that will improve the project and ultimately change the lives of people around the world

Essays on international trade and plant behavior

This work investigates the influences of international trade on plant-level behavior. While the traditional trade literature has focused on inter-industry reallocations driven by increased international economic relationships, the more recent availability of plant-level data has provided an opportunity to investigate the intra-industry reallocations that occur due to this foreign exposure. I examine the impact of international trade using plant-level data from the Chilean manufacturing sector during the years 1979-1996. I develop a theoretical methodology to examine the joint role of trade liberalization and macroeconomic shocks on manufacturing plant behavior. An econometrically calibrated simulation of plant behavior is embedded into a computable general equilibrium model to reconsider the impact of trade liberalization on the Chilean manufacturing sector. I find that, once the other macroeconomic influences are addressed, the impact of the trade liberalization on manufacturing plants was relatively minor. However, I also find that real exchange rate effects and the surplus of labor played a role in the sector's growth. I also examine the influence of international trade on plant-level behavior by creating quantified measure of output from each plant's materials usage, which is then used to estimate a production function in capital and labor. This allows a productivity term to be created that measures a plant's ability to create physical output from capital and labor. This productivity measure is used to provide evidence that foreign competition, in the form of both import penetration and pricing pressure, promotes short-term efficiency gains at the plant level. The relationship between exports, capital investment, and economic growth is also investigated. Empirical results indicate that plant-level export status positively influences a plant's investment behavior. The evidence concurs with previous findings that exporting behavior is closely linked to past establishment-level export status. These results support the notion that entrants to the export market face a substantial obstacle. However once this initial hurdle is overcome, manufacturing plants not only maintain their export orientation, but also expand their capital stocks and output at greater rates than their non-exporting counterparts

Enclaves and Entrepreneurial Success

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of immigrant and ethnic enclaves on the success of entrepreneurial ventures as measured by firm profits and viability. Design/methodology/approach – Data on entrepreneurs and their new firms were provided by the Kauffman Foundation and covered the years 2004-2008. These firm-level data were linked to Census 2000 Summary Files at the ZIP Code level and were used to empirically investigate the effect of enclaves. Findings – The paper found a statistically significant negative effect of immigrant representation in an area on firm profitability. This effect operated on native, rather than immigrant, firm owners, which suggested that native-owned firms locating in immigrant enclaves may experience difficulty assimilating the benefits that enclaves offer. Practical implications – Cultural connections within local communities play a key role in the success of new businesses. Potential firms should recognize the importance of these connections when making firm location decisions. Likewise, the findings suggest that connections within local communities should be considered when designing aid programs. Originality/value – The authors used a unique measure of enclave representation to incorporate both immigrant, as well as ethnic, representation in the local area. The authors examined the effect of immigration on both immigrant- and native-owned firms in order to provide a broader scope and a more complete understanding of the effects of immigration on entrepreneurial ventures

Sectoral structure, heterogeneous plants, and international trade

I examine the impact of trade policy on manufacturing plant behavior by developing a methodology that addresses both plant heterogeneity and intersectoral resource reallocation. A plant-level microsimulation based upon the industry structure of Bernard et al. (2003) is linked to a multi-sector computable general equilibrium model. This linkage permits an analysis of plant-level behavior that encompasses the trade-induced changes in factor prices and consumption patterns. The methodology is applied in the examination of two counterfactual trade policy scenarios on the Chilean manufacturing sector. The results suggest that trade liberalization leads to a reallocation of output toward the most productive producers. This result is driven by two primary causes: (a) a reduction in the price of inputs that promotes the expansion of output by the most productive producers and (b) increased competition from overseas that drives the least productive producers out of the market.CGE Productivity Simulation Exports Chile