Omicron Delta Epsilon Graduate Student Session
Paper Session
Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021 3:45 PM - 5:45 PM (EST)
- Chair: Ishuan Li, Minnesota State University-Mankato
Land Use Change at the Peri-Urban Nexus: The Greenbelt Act Study
Abstract
Many states in the US have land conservation programs to protect agricultural land from urban development. Greenbelt (GB) is one of such programs in many states. While the goal of GB programs is to preserve urban farmland by providing tax advantage to the owners, Utah’s GB program has slightly different criteria for land qualification. Using a panel of parcel-level land assessor data and combined with the Cropland Data Layer from USDA from 2008 through 2018, we examine the role of GB enrollment in land use conversions from agricultural to urban use. Besides, we investigate the effect of GB enrollment on developed land as many of the greenbelt designated land parcel in Utah is developed land. We find that GB designation helped to protect urban farmland from development, yet, this goal is achieved on the basis that the GB act let landowners develop the land and put agricultural use secondary. Proximity to central business district (CBD) also plays an important role in landowners’ decision in obtaining GB designation despite the attractive tax reduction. From our preliminary results, there are several underlining policy implications. First, the GB act does protect urban farming; at the same time, it is also promoting urban development. We notice the main source of urban conversion comes from other vegetation. As urban development is still rapidly increasing, there could be a spillover effect on the pressure on developing urban land to other vegetation. Second, a significant amount of eligible urban farmlands does not enroll for GB when it is close to CBD. Therefore, our results are suggesting that the GB act is not functioning as it is intended but manage to preserve urban farming. A revise of the act is needed if we want to preserve urban farming in the long term.The Political Economy of Forgiving Student Loans
Abstract
The rapid growth of U.S. student loan debt has drawn attention from scholars and raised public concerns with presidential candidates proposing "Student Loan Forgiveness" plans as part of their campaigns. I explore the political economy of such proposals by developing a two-period model of schooling and unemployment insurance with search costs. Schooling benefits individuals directly, through increased future earnings and lower search costs in the labor market, and indirectly, through increased aggregate taxable income in the economy which results in an enhanced unemployment insurance. The model suggests that schooled median voter will favor student loan forgiveness policy. This attitude intensifies as the average probability of employment in the economy falls. However, the median voter's support for the policy, and for redistribution in general, attenuates as his probability of employment increases. By contrast, unschooled median voter will not be in favor of the policy, since publicly funding higher education decreases the share of redistribution to unemployment insurance.Assessing the Allocative Efficiency of Interconnected Energy Grid Networks
Abstract
Integrated energy grids have gained popularity for allegedly increasing energy security and reducing the emissions from inefficient energy production. While national grids have indeed allowed countries to make energy production more efficient, the desirability of international grids remains to be proven. Factors such as national energy prices and production methods complicate the use of interconnected grid networks such as the Synchronous Grid of Continental Europe and the tentative Asia Super Grid. This paper examines the allocative efficiency of integrated international energy grids by assessing the change in net energy imports in the European Union [EU]. First, the centrality of member countries is derived by applying the Coleman Model for Resource Exchange, in order to account for the asymmetry in trade that results from geographical borders. Next, the centrality results are used to weight the increase in individual grid capacities and examine the gains in energy efficiency for both member countries and the EU between 1990 and 2017. This is done by modelling a perfectly integrated grid as a Walrasian equilibrium and testing the weighted quantities of energy traded against it. Finally, the results are tested against commonly cited barriers to energy trade to determine the primary causes for inefficient grid integration. The results show that while the integrated grid in the EU has been mostly allocatively efficient, it has been in a manner that disregards the centrality of its countries. The inefficiencies with regards to centrality are highly correlated with the share of renewable energy sources, but do not depend on the type of renewable source.Discussant(s)
Guncha Babajanova
,
Clemson University
Ryan McWay
,
University of San Francisco
Thiviya Kumaran
,
University of Chicago
Wai Yan Siu
,
Utah State University
JEL Classifications
- A1 - General Economics