Tree Shade and Energy Savings: An Empirical Study

Trees cast shade on homes and buildings, lowering the inside temperatures and thus reducing demand for power to cool these buildings during hot times of the year. Drawing from a large sample of residences in Auburn, Alabama, we develop a statistical model that produces specific estimates of the electricity savings generated by shade-producing trees in a suburban environment. This empirical model links residential energy consumption to hedonic characteristics of the structures, characteristics and behaviors of the occupants, and the extent, density, and timing of shade cast on the structures. Our estimates suggest that if an additional 10 percent of the 125 million home owners in America started using tree shade to reduce electricity consumption an average of 10 kwh/day for 100 days per year, the annual amount of electricity conserved would be approximately 12,500 thousand megawatts. At the 2007 average residential price of electricity ($0.1065/kwh), this would save each household an estimated$106/year and $1.3 billion in the aggregate. Moreover, the electricity saved would represent approximately one-third of the electricity produced annually in the U.S. by wind power.Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Impacts of Population and Income Growth Rates on Threatened Mammals and Birds

Per capita income and human population levels in a country have direct influences on its environmental outcomes. Countries with same level of income may have different rate of income growth and vice versa, suggesting that the influence of the rate of income growth on environmental outcomes could be different than that of income level. Similarly, the rate of population growth might have different impact in addition to the impacts of sheer number of population. We explore this empirical question using country-level data on threatened species published by IUCN for the year 2007. Controlling for other factors, our model estimates the influences of the rate of population and income growth on threatened mammals and birds across 113 continental countries. The results suggest that, among other factors, the rate of population growth has significant influences on number of threatened mammals and birds.income, population, spatial models, spatial autocorrelation, endemic species, biodiversity, Environmental Economics and Policy, C21, Q57,

The Impact of College Athletics on Employment in the Restaurant and Accommodations Industries

In this paper, we analyze Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)-level data in the U.S. to examine the economic impact of college athletics. Specifically, we examine the relationship between total athletics revenues (aggregated across all colleges in an MSA) and MSA-level employment in the accommodations and food services industries. Controlling for a variety of other factors that might influence hotel/restaurant employment within an MSA, we find that below $40 million (in 2005) in college athletics revenues there is no evidence that college athletics affects MSA employment in the food services and accommodations industries. However, above$40 million we find highly significant impacts on employment in the food services and accommodations industries that climb with college sports revenue generation.sports, college athletics, economic impact, food services and accommodations, tourism

Is Peer Review in Decline?

Over the past decade, there has been a decline in the fraction of papers in top economics journals written by economists from the highest-ranked economics departments. This paper documents this fact and uses additional data on publications and citations to assess various potential explanations. Several observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the Internet improves the ability of high-profile authors to disseminate their research without going through the traditional peer-review process. (JEL A14, O30)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (SES-0550897)Toulouse Network for Information TechnologyInstitute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.

Do Economics Departments Improve After They Appoint a Top Scholar as Chairperson?

There has been almost no research into what makes an effective chairperson in a university department. This paper constructs a historical longitudinal dataset on economics departments in 58 US research universities. It documents evidence that a department’s research output tends to improve substantially when the incoming department Chair is himself or herself an outstanding scholar (in particular, is highly cited). The analysis adjusts for a set of other possible influences, including the standing of the department, university resources, the previous Chair, the trend in the department’s productivity, and time-lags. Possible interpretations, and implications for future research, are discussed

Virales Marketing : nachfragerseitige Determinanten des Weiterleitens viraler Videoclips im Internet

Aus Unternehmenssicht gewinnt die interpersonelle Kommunikation zwischen Konsumenten aufgrund der hohen Werbedichte zunehmend an Bedeutung. Eine Marketingstrategie, die sich der Mundwerbung in sozialen Netzwerken im Internet bedient, ist das so genannte Virale Marketing. Dahinter verbirgt sich die Idee, dass Werbebotschaften durch Mundpropaganda wie ein Virus von Person zu Person weitergegeben werden. Obwohl der Begriff in der Marketingpraxis bereits weit verbreitet ist, hat sich die wissenschaftliche Literatur mit diesem Phänomen bisher kaum auseinander gesetzt. In der vorliegenden Studie werden zunächst die Grundzüge des Viralen Marketing dargestellt. Auf Basis der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse wird im Anschluss daran für einen Teilbereich des Viralen Marketing, dem Viral Advertising, ein Hypothesensystem zur Erklärung des nachfragerinduzierten Weiterleitens viraler Videoclips im Internet entwickelt. Die empirische Überprüfung dieses Hypothesensystems erfolgt abschlie- ßend mit Hilfe eines linearen Strukturgleichungsmodells. Die Ergebnisse der Studie zeigen, dass die Einstellung gegenüber dem viralen Videoclip, das wahrgenommene Community-Erlebnis, die wahrgenommene Überraschung sowie Market Mavenism zentrale Determinanten der Einstellung zum Weiterleiten eines viralen Videoclips darstellen. Diese wiederum bestimmt neben der sozialen Norm die Absicht zum Weiterleiten eines viralen Videoclips

The relation between Eigenfactor, audience factor, and influence weight

We present a theoretical and empirical analysis of a number of bibliometric indicators of journal performance. We focus on three indicators in particular, namely the Eigenfactor indicator, the audience factor, and the influence weight indicator. Our main finding is that the last two indicators can be regarded as a kind of special cases of the first indicator. We also find that the three indicators can be nicely characterized in terms of two properties. We refer to these properties as the property of insensitivity to field differences and the property of insensitivity to insignificant journals. The empirical results that we present illustrate our theoretical findings. We also show empirically that the differences between various indicators of journal performance are quite substantial

Evaluating the effectiveness of explanations for recommender systems : Methodological issues and empirical studies on the impact of personalization

Peer reviewedPostprin

Political Dynasties and the Selection of Cabinet Ministers

We investigate whether politicians whose family relatives previously served in parliament and cabinet enjoy a competitive "legacy advantage" in progressing from the backbenches to ministerial office. This advantage may stem from two potential mechanisms: a direct effect attributable to the informational advantages of legacies, or an indirect effect that operates through greater electoral strength. We evaluate the relative contribution of each mechanism using candidate-level data from Irish parliamentary elections and cabinets from 1944-2016. Our results reveal that politicians with a family history in cabinet do enjoy an advantage in cabinet selection, and that this advantage cannot be attributed simply to greater electoral popularity

Young Contemporaries 2020

Each spring, current LMU art students are invited to enter the Laband\u27s annual juried student show, Young Contemporaries. In 2020, our show went virtual due to Covid-19 and all artworks were judged remotely by two professionals from Los Angeles\u27s art world. The exhibition featured work from all the disciplines taught in LMU\u27s art program including drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, painting, ceramics, graphic design, and new media. This exhibition—the 36th Juried Student Art Exhibition hosted by the Laband—provided an excellent first professional experience for students and celebrated our students\u27 boundless creativity and the mentorship provided by LMU\u27s art faculty.Generous support for the exhibition is provided by The Friedman Family in memory of Andrea Kingaard Friedman \u2766.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/labandgallery-exhibits/1000/thumbnail.jp