Impact of CARB\u27s Tailpipe Emission Standard Policy on CO2 Reduction among the US States

U.S.Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set the nationwide emission standard policy, but each state in the U.S. has an option to follow the higher emission standard policy set by CARB (California Air Resources Board) in 2004. There are 14 “CARB states” that follow California’s more restrictive standards. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of CARB’s tailpipe emission standard policy. Using the panel dataset for 49 U.S. states over a 28-year study period (1987–2015), this paper found the long-term policy effect in reducing CO2 emission from CARB’s tailpipe standard, and its long-run effect is 5.4 times higher than the short-run effect. The equivalent policy effect of the CARB emission standard in CO2 reduction can be achieved by raising gasoline price by 145.43%. Also, if 26.0% of petroleum consumed for transportation is substituted by alternative clean fuels (natural gas or electricity), it will have a comparable policy effect in CO2 reduction. Findings in this study support to continue the collaborative efforts among the EPA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and California in order to achieve the CO2 reduction goal set by CARB and adopted by the EPA in 2012. The packaged policy approach rooted in persistent public and political support is necessary for successful policy implementation

Wages Differentials and Interregional Migration in the U. S. : An Empirical Test of the "Option Value of Waiting" Theory

The "option value of waiting" theory applied to interregional migration predicts that a potential migrant actually moves only when the wage differential between origin and destination places exceeds a certain threshold, which might be much higher than the Marshallian trigger. In this paper we exploit the panel structure of a dataset on interregional migration among nineteen MSAs in the US from 1993 to 2001 to estimate a modified dynamic gravity model of migration. In particular, using both semi-parametric and GMM estimators (taking into account possible endogeneity of the explanatory variables), we find robust evidence of a non-linear relation between migration and wage differentials. With a wage differential smaller than a certain threshold, people rarely move controlling for the other socioeconomic variables. Only beyond the threshold, the interregional migration grows rapidly proving an important role of the option value of waiting in migration decision process.

The Impact of Education and R&D Investment on Regional Economic Growth

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of education and R&D investment on regional economic growth in South Korea. We develop a simultaneous model of production, human capital accumulation, migration, population and physical capital investment of two regions: the Seoul Metropolitan Area and the rest of Korea. We decompose the regional growth path into a quality path and a quantity path to identify how regional economies grow and run simulations to evaluate alternative policies in terms of effectiveness and adaptability. The impact of education and R&D investment on regional growth in the rest of Korea is only 22.3% of that in the Seoul Metropolitan Area due to lower elasticity values of young in-migrants with respect to the investment in the rest of Korea. An enhanced efficiency of regional human capital accumulation is effective and adaptable to alleviate regional economic disparity

Socioeconomic Effect on Crime in the Southwest United States Pre- and Post-Great Recession

Facing the Great Recession, the Southwest megapolitan cluster in the United States including Las Vegas, Southern California and Sun Corridor in Arizona had a massive negative economic shock. Skyrocketing unemployment, massive foreclosures and other socioeconomic factors may negatively affect our safe environment with changing patterns in crime. This study aims to investigate the impacts of socioeconomic factors on different types of crimes committed in the megapolitan cluster of the Southwest United States. Using annual crime datasets, we look at the three years before the Great Recession and subsequent three years (2005-2010). The metropolitan areas, Los Angeles, CA, Las Vegas, NV, Phoenix, AZ, and Tucson, AZ and surrounding neighborhood counties are included for the analysis. A set of spatial regression models is developed to estimate the impacts of socioeconomic factors and neighborhood effects. Proposed spatial dynamic model enables us to test the temporal stability under the panel data structure on the different types of crime and the associated factors. Identified spatial effects through exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) can be formally tested on their temporal stability with the recent Great Recession. Since the Great Recession started, the types and the magnitude of socioeconomic factors having impacts on crime have changed. This study guides to answer how negative economic situations affected different types of crimes. Understanding on the impact of socioeconomic factors on crime during economic recession helps public policy makers and law enforcement agencies design effective policy tools to provide a safer environment

Nonprofit Organizations and the Nevada Economy: An analysis of the employment, economic impact, and scope of the nonprofit sector in Nevada

The Nevada nonprofit sector plays an important role in the state’s economy. This research report examines the role of nonprofit organizations in the economy and details regional differences in terms of employment and economic impact in the state

The Economic Impact of COVID-19: Rebuilding the Las Vegas Economy

This study analyzes the recent trends of monthly visitors to the Las Vegas-ParadiseHenderson, NV metropolitan statistical area (MSA) for the first five months of 2020. In addition, six scenarios for the seven-month period of June through December 2020 estimate the net loss of visitors to Southern Nevada and the impact for the state economy in terms of employment, income, the total value added (contribution to Gross State Product), output sales, and state and local tax revenues. The counter-factual scenario – projecting the regional economy if no COVID-19 outbreak occurred – serves as a baseline scenario that allows measurement of the net economic losses from a significantly reduced number of visitors to Las Vegas due to the coronavirus pandemic. Finally, this study proposes three forecasted recovery paths for the tourism industry in Las Vegas, in terms of the number of predicted visitors for future years

The Relationship between Service Quality and Revisit intention: Based on self-service retail technology

This paper is focused on how firms increase customers’ acceptance of self-service retail, and impact of self-efficacy on effective customer experience, customer satisfaction and loyalty. This paper mainly uses questionnaires to conduct empirical research on collecting 308 used self-service convenience stores from China. The study employs a structural equation model to analyze relationship between service quality and revisit intention, Word of mouth. The results shown that service perceived quality significantly influences customer satisfaction. Also, self-service retail service quality and experience values are two important elements for consumers to accept self-service retail stores. Additionally, the relationship between consumer experience value and satisfaction, loyalty, and self-service retail stores has a significant impact on Perceived self-efficacy

The Improvement of the Regional Regulatory Governance System for Radiation Risk Management: Spatial Analysis on Radiation Hazards in South Korea

Since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, nuclear regulators have strength-ened safety standards or decided to decommission the nuclear power plant. The vast majority of radiation is from nuclear power plants, so safety measures are also concentrated in nuclear power plants. Radioactive materials located much closer to the people are scattered around the nation. However, it is difficult for citizens to predict the radiation risk around them because regulatory agencies do not provide adequate information on radiation. The main goal of this study is to analyze the spatial distribution patterns of radioactive materials that serve as indicators for potential risk from a radiological hazard. The empirical findings in this study demonstrate the presence of spatial autocorrelation for the number of radiation licenses among 244 regions in the Republic of Korea. The policy implications are three-fold: (1) it is necessary to improve regulatory governance in considera-tion of permitted use; (2) the regional offices of regulatory agency can be established based on the identified spatial distribution of permitted use; (3) it is required to improve the information-disclosure system for materials. This study provides an opportunity to create a safer society by understanding the radiation around the public in general

Interstate Migration Among Latinos and the Foreign‐Born Latino Population in Nevada, 2007‐2011

Over the past two decades, Nevada’s foreign‐born Latino population has grown dramatically. As a consequence, by the end of 2011, approximately 42% of Latinos residing in Nevada had emigrated from Latin America, with over three‐fourths of the foreign‐born Latino population originating from Mexico. In part, Nevada has been attractive to Latin American immigrants (and Latinos more generally) because of the relative abundance of jobs in the state that require relatively low levels of skill and educational attainment, as well as the state’s close proximity to Arizona and California. Prior to 2008, Latino employment was concentrated in Nevada’s hospitality, construction, and retail and wholesale trade sectors, as well as other low skilled occupations. However, in the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2008, the residential home construction and hospitality sectors were hard hit, with attendant consequences for patterns of unemployment among the U.S. and foreign‐born Latino population in the state