LU Researchers

Tag: LU Researchers

A Question of Consumption? An Analysis of the Relative Effectiveness of Multilateral and Bilateral Aid Receipts

Our recent graduate, Oliver Zornow, has just published his paper entitled “A Question of Consumption? An Analysis of the Relative Effectiveness of Multilateral and Bilateral Aid Receipts” in the Undergraduate Economic Review. Here is the abstract of his paper:

“The literature focusing on the effects of foreign aid on economic growth contains a wide range of conclusions. Despite this lack of consensus, policy makers have been strongly influenced by the work of Burnside and Dollar (2000) (B&D). In addition to their primary conclusion that total aid is linked with growth in a good policy environment, B&D make a claim which is not directly supported by their results. My research is motivated by their claim that multilateral aid is the most effective form of aid. This paper demonstrates that B&D’s data does not support this claim.”

If you’re interested, you can download and read the paper from the journal website:

http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/uer/vol7/iss1/12/

Congratulations, Oliver!

Professor Shober: Appleton not part of the Russ belt

Government department Professor Arnold Shober is in the news, handicapping the fall elections for the Appleton Post-Crescent.  Here’s a portion of the transcript in response to a question on whether Wisconsin Democrats are going to be taken to the woodshed this November:

The answer to that question is really how well Russ Feingold does. He’s the top race in the state. We think about governor, but Feingold gets a lot more attention. If he has trouble — and a series of recent polls suggest that he really does — then it will very bad. If he can’t carry reliable Democrats into the polling booth, nobody can.

Polling out last week suggested that, in northeast Wisconsin, Ron Johnson is up 60-40. That means Steve Kagen (in the 8th Congressional District) is certainly out. Penny Bernard Schaber (in the 57th Assembly District) is most certainly out. Tom Nelson’s seat (in the 5th Assembly District) will probably flip, and on and on and on, because that’s a big margin.

Certainly, everyone voting for Russ Feingold is going to be voting for a Democrat. He’s a maverick, but he’s definitely on the left. So if he does poorly, Democrats across Wisconsin are going to be in big trouble. If he can hold it even, it may not be so bad.

Emphasis is mine (Prof. Shober typically doesn’t speak in bold font), and included so I could use the pun in the title.

You can see the latest polling results outside of Professor Shober’s door right here on Briggs 2nd.

Kudos to Professor Shober

This looks interesting. The best way to foment effective policy outcomes is to allow administrative agencies to do their thing unfettered. How do they solve the agency problem? I guess we’ll have to read the book and find out.

Order now!

Splintered Accountability: State Governance and Education Reform

Arnold F. Shober

The No Child Left Behind Act declared that improving education in every school in the United States was a top national priority. However, this act did not acknowledge how state departments of education have successfully constructed reforms for the past few decades, despite the power struggle between governors, legislators, school districts, and state boards of education. Drawing upon archival sources, state budget documents, interviews, and statistical analysis, Splintered Accountability amply demonstrates that sustained education reform is best left in the hands of the relatively autonomous state departments of education in order to maintain curriculum standards, school finance, and teacher licensure systems. Comprehensive and successful education reform originates from within state education agencies, propelled by savvy state superintendents.