Crime and Natural Resource Booms: Evidence From Unconventional Natural Gas Production

The USA has experienced a sudden expansion of oil and natural gas production due to the combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The energy extraction boom has had many localized impacts, most notably in areas with substantial shale gas reserves. This paper exploits a natural experiment in the Marcellus region to examine one channel of the so-called resource curse, the effect of resource extraction on local crime. The results show that areas experiencing a natural gas extraction boom suffer an increase in overall violent crimes, while property crimes remain similar to non-boom areas. Furthermore, the violent crime increase appears to be driven primarily by increases in aggravated and sexual assaults

Are Religion and Environmentalism Complements or Substitutes?: A Club-Based Approach

In this article, we analyze the causal link between membership in environmental groups and active participation and membership in religious groups. We use a club-based model and employ OLS and spatial econometrics with controls to test for whether membership and participation in a religious group is a substitute or complement for membership in environmental groups. Instrumental variables estimation was used as a robustness check. We found that religious participation and religious membership in evangelical groups are a substitute for environmental membership. Much of the work on environmental concerns has focused on answers to survey questions, not on membership. We used a dataset of environmental membership at the county level to perform our analysis. We further add quantitative evidence to the discussion by some researchers on the link between religion and environmentalism. In this respect, our work aims to investigate further the causal links between religion and environmentalism

Local Fiscal Adjustments from Depopulation: Evidence from the Post–Cold War Defense Contraction

In this paper, we estimate the long-term causal effect of population losses on local government revenue, expenditure, and debt by exploiting a quasi-exogenous change that reduced the number of US military personnel by about 40 percent between the late 1980s and 2000. Aggregating across governmental units within commuting zones, we find that real per capita total revenues and expenditures remained unchanged for remaining citizens. At the same time, however, we note several important compositional effects. First, local governments appear to have offset reductions in state intergovernmental aid by increasing property tax revenues. Second, they significantly shifted the composition of expenditures by making disproportionately large cuts in capital spending, including cuts in K–12 education, to maintain levels for current operations. Third, localities increased their long-term nonguaranteed debt to finance investments not covered by general capital outlays. Taken together, these actions run the risk of hindering a region’s relative competitiveness in the long term

Does Starting School Before Labor Day Affect High School Retention and Graduation: Evidence From Virginia\u27s Kings Dominion Law

Several states have required K-12 public schools to start after Labor Day in an effort to aid the tourism and hospitality industry. However, little is known about how these policies impact educational outcomes. We examine the impact of Virginia\u27s post-Labor Day school start law on high school retention and graduation rates. We use a difference-in-differences model to exploit exogenous variation in school division start dates. Our results show small differences of up to three weeks have little effect on high school dropout and graduation rates. Our findings inform the debate on post-Labor Day school start laws and compulsory attendance age cutoff laws

Institutional management of greenhouse gas emissions: How much does 'green' reputation matter?

Climate Change, green reputation, conjoint analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q29, Q40, Q51,

2022 State of the Commonwealth Report

This is Old Dominion University’s eighth annual State of the Commonwealth Report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion, its president, Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., the Board of Visitors, the Strome College of Business, or the generous donors who support the activities of the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy. Our work seeks to contribute to the conversation about how Virginia can foster growth across the Commonwealth over the coming decade without glossing over the challenges we face. Instead of retreating into partisan enclaves where affirmation is sought instead of information, we want to encourage difficult conversations to improve economic outcomes for all of Virginia’s residents

The State of the Region: Hampton Roads 2017

This is Old Dominion University\u27s 18th annual State of the Region report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion, or its president, John R. Broderick. The report maintains the goal of stimulating thought and discussion that ultimately will make Hampton Roads an even better place to live. We are proud of our regions many successes, but realize that it is possible to improve our performance. In order to do so, we must have accurate information about where we are and a sound understanding of the policy options open to us.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/economics_books/1021/thumbnail.jp

The State of the Region: Hampton Roads 2019

[From the introductory material] This is Old Dominion University’s 20th annual State of the Region Report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion, its president, John R. Broderick, the Board of Visitors, the Strome College of Business or the generous donors who support the activities of the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy. While the enthusiasm we have for our work remains high, it has been dampened by the recent passing of George Dragas, the individual most responsible for perceiving the region\u27s need for the report and procuring the financial support to sustain it. George was a very successful businessman, who simultaneously exhibited marvelous foresight and a keen sense of civic duty. Without George and his family, there would be no State of the Region Report and no Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy. We and the Hampton Roads community are indebted to him

Essays on the Economics of Environmental Management and Green Reputation

Many governments, firms, institutions and individuals have become increasingly cognizant of their impact on the environment, most notably with respect to global climate change. This coupled with a threat of future regulation and a desire for a ‘green’ image, among other reasons, has led firms and institutions to begin critically evaluating and managing their own “carbon footprint”. Effective programs to manage greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) benefit from understanding the preferences of the constituents the program intends to serve. This study uses a survey at Michigan State University to examine the preferences of constituents (students, faculty and staff) for attributes of alternative greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction strategies. The first essay examines how much respondents were willing to pay for GHG reduction program attributes and the welfare implications of several alternative policies. The second essay examines how the attributes of alternative GHG management plans influence the university’s ‘green’ reputation