The Dog ATE my Economics Homework! Estimates of the Average Effect of Treating Hawaii’s Public High School Students with Economics*

Hawaii is one of 27 states that do not require testing of public high school students regarding their understanding of economics. We report results for the first economics test administered to a large sample of students in Hawaii public high schools during the Spring 2004 semester. Our analysis focuses on evaluating the impact of a semester-long course in economics on student scores on a 20-question, multiple-choice economics test. We specify and estimate a regression analysis of exam scores that controls for other factors that could influence student performance on the exam. While student scores on the economics exam are relatively low, completion of an economics course and participation in a stock market simulation game each add about one point to student scores.economic education, high school economics, stock market simulation

The Impact of Civil Unions on Hawai`i’s Economy and Government

On 29 April 2010, the Hawai`i State Legislature passed HB 444, a measure that allows same-sex and opposite-sex couples to enter into civil unions. This report provides quantitative and qualitative measures of the impact of civil unions on the Hawai`i economy, Hawai`i businesses, and the State of Hawai`i’s budget. More specifically, we examine the effect of civil unions on tourism arrivals to Hawai`i; state government revenues and expenditures; employer provision of health insurance to civil union partners and their dependents; and the family with civil union partners. We conclude that the Legalization of civil unions in Hawai`i will have only a very minimal impact on any aspect of Hawai`i’s economy and state government operations.civil union, health insurance, visitor arrivals, Hawai`i

Economic Education’s Roller Coaster Ride In Hawaii, 1956-2006

During the early 1960s a few of Hawaii’s public high schools began to offer economics courses, and they gradually became popular social studies electives. By 1999, over 46% of public high school seniors completed a one-semester course in economics. From this peak, enrollment rates would plummet to just 11% in 2003, before rebounding to 27% in 2005 and 2007. Our analysis searches for an explanation by identifying large changes in key variables and public policies that determine demand for and supply of economic education in Hawaii’s schools. We conclude that changes in the incentives facing large Hawaii businesses, University of Hawaii faculty and administrators, and bureaucrats in the State of Hawaii Department of Education have reduced the supply of qualified teachers and student enrollment rates.economic education, Hawaii, enrollment, network externality

Disruption: Maya Angelou and the Singing Body

This presentation will provide of brief overview of the singing body in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), and All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986). I examine how Angelou’s focus on the singing body allows a critical re-imagining of black female embodiment in which the body and the mind are interconnected. I contend that the singing body is itself, as Spillers suggests, a form of writing— a “hieroglyphic” that speaks as much to the experience of black female being as the literary text. In this presentation, I will share selected recordings of Maya Angelou’s own singing to consider questions such as: What does it mean to consider music as an archive in Angelou’s work? Specifically, what does the singing body mean for a construction of black female identity or black feminist identity? In addition to exploring challenges of the process itself and what they reveal about our values and assumptions as scholars, I will examine the significance of re- thinking the boundary lines of the body (lived experience) and voice (the expression of the mind) and what lies at the intersection. In particular, I am interested in questioning what remains troubling about the mind/soul or body/spirit connection in the re-telling of one’s life and what it proffers to discussions about gender. I argue that the singing body in Angelou’s writing disrupts normalized narratives of black female subjectivity and internalizes a discussion of boundary and dislocation within the black female body

Is China’s Growth Sustainable?

A central pillar of the sustainability movement is the call to include environmental accounting in standard measures of economic performance. This increased transparency would, in principle, mitigate the temptation of economic managers and policy makers to increase growth in material consumption at the expense of the environment. Moreover, as Repetto (1989) and others have argued, deducting depreciation of produced capital from NNP but not deducting depreciation of natural capital is inconsistent and debases NNP as a possible indicator of welfare. Based on the evidence available, it appears that while GNNP is substantially less than NNP, these adjustments do not adversely compromise existing estimates of economic growth for China.sustainable development, China, genuine saving, SOx, NOx, TSP, resource depletion, natural capital, Environmental Kuznets Curve, green net national product

Delaying the Catastrophic Arrival of the Brown Tree Snake to Hawaii

This paper develops a two-stage model for the optimal management of a potential invasive species. The arrival of an invasive species is modeled as an irreversible event with an uncertain arrival time. The model is solved in two stages, beginning with the post-invasion stage. In this stage, we assume perfect certainty regarding population size and arrivals. The loss-minimizing paths of prevention and control are identified, resulting in a minimized present value penalty associated with the invasion. After calculating this penalty, we analyze the pre-invasion stage and solve for the level of prevention expenditures that will minimize expected total cost. For the case of the Brown Tree Snake potentially invading Hawaii, we find that under a regime of precommitment, pre-invasion expenditures on prevention should be approximately $3.2 million today, decreasing every year until invasion. However, if the planner is permitted to re-evaluate the threat following a non-event, prevention will be lower ($2.96 million a year) and constant until invasion. Once invasion occurs, optimal management requires lower annual expenditures on prevention ($3.1 million) but requires$1.6 million to be spent on control annually to keep the population at its steady state level.catastrophe, hazard function, invasive species, Brown Tree Snake, Boiga irregularis, prevention and control, Hawaii

Determinants of Success in High School Economics: Lessons from the Field

Recently, the Hawaii Council on Economic Education conducted a survey of high school seniors to gauge their understanding of basic economic concepts. Based on these results, we conduct a series of case studies, consisting of interviews with principals and economics teachers at eight Hawaii public high schools. We summarize the qualitative and quantitative results of these interviews. We then use these and other data to estimate the effects of school, demographic, and other characteristics on average student achievement on the survey. We find that the improvement in student test scores as a result of a one semester economics course is modest, but that the single greatest determinant of achievement is overall school quality. Based on these and other findings, we present recommendations for policy and further research.

Economic Impacts of E. Coqui frogs in Hawaii

Eleutherodactylus coqui, a small frog native to Puerto Rico, was introduced to Hawaii in the late 1980s, presumably as a hitchhiker on plant material from the Caribbean or Florida (Kraus et al. 1999). The severity of the frogs' songs on the island of Hawaii has lead to a hypothesis touted both in the scientific community and in the popular media that the presence of the frog on or near a property results in a decline in that property's value. The objective of this study is to explicitly test the extent to which this hypothesis is true, and if it is, what the level of localized damage incurred on a property's value is. The invasion began on either Hawaii or Maui, and has now expanded to Oahu and Kauai. Spread has occurred through the movement of nursery plants and through intentional introduction of the frogs to previously uninfested areas. The coqui frogs have attained some of the highest densities ever observed for terrestrial amphibian populations (up to 133,000 per ha on Hawaii). These extremely dense populations have lead to both economic and ecological concerns, especially on the island of Hawaii. The loud mating song of the male frogs is the most widely cited complaint in Hawaii. The frog's song has been measured to range in the 80-100 decibel level (Beard and Pitt 2005). Given that 45 decibels may be enough to prevent the average person from sleeping , the song of the coqui is considered a form of noise pollution in Hawaii. In this study we focus only on the direct damage costs of the coqui's loud mating songs through a hedonic pricing model. Because this only one component of the economic costs of noise pollution, it should be considered a lower bound estimate of the true cost of their noise and their presence. Since this lower bound is generated through measurable losses in property value, its use in invasive species policy should be welcomingly straightforward compared to survey methods or other efforts to quantify damages from ecosystem change. We find that coqui frogs do impose localized damages to real estate values, but by 800 meters distance from a complaint this damage is declining relative to the effect at 500m. The per-transaction reduction in value when frog complaints have been lodged within 500m appears to be about 0.16%, holding constant district, acreage, financial conditions, zoning, and neighborhood characteristics. This is just over 1/3 of the impact that an increase of 1% in mortgage rates is estimated to have on price.Land Economics/Use,

Control of Invasive Species: Lessons from Miconia in Hawaii

Once established, invasive species can rapidly and irreversibly alter ecosystems and degrade the value of ecosystem services. Optimal control of an exotic pest solves for a trajectory of removals that minimizes the present value of removal costs and residual damages from the remaining pest population. The shrubby tree, Miconia calvescens, is used to illustrate dynamic policy options for a forest invader. Potential damages to Hawaii's forest ecosystems are related to decreased aquifer recharge, biodiversity, and other ecosystem values. We find that population reduction is the optimal management policy for the islands of Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii. On the island of Kauai, where tree density is lower and search costs higher, optimal policy calls for deferring removal expenditures until the steady state population is reached.

Environmental Policy Issues for Sustainable Economic Development in China

A central pillar of the sustainability movement is the call to include environmental accounting in standard measures of economic performance. This increased transparency would, in principle, mitigate the temptation of economic managers and policy makers to increase growth in material consumption at the expense of the environment. Moreover, as Repetto (1989) and others have argued, deducting depreciation of produced capital from NNP but not deducting depreciation of natural capital is inconsistent and debases NNP as a possible indicator of welfare. Based on the evidence available, it appears that while GNNP is substantially less than NNP, these adjustments do not adversely compromise existing estimates of economic growth for China.Environmental Economics and Policy,