Three Essays in Applied Economics

Authors

Mohammad Javad MehreganFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Economics

First Advisor's Name

Hakan Yilmazkuday

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Cem Karayalcin

Second Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Jesse Bull

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Mohammad Hadi Amini

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

Applied economics, Subsidy reform, Total Factor Productivity, Covid_19, Weather based disease, 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, Small business, Default Rate

Date of Defense

7-1-2021

Abstract

Governments worldwide support their national economies to obtain growth, adequate employment, and price durability. Regulation is a unique approach through which governments control the economy. Governments attempt to maintain and regulate the economy in various ways to guarantee that business fosters the common good. The range of government regulations is enormous and touches all areas of the economy and all features of daily life. Understanding the effect of regulations on the economy is essential since its outcomes can improve government interventions’ efficiency. Applied economics can help measure the effectiveness of government intervention on economic outcomes.

This dissertation includes three essays in applied economics and tries to employ economical methods to understand the outcomes of selected government regulations on the economy and environment. The first essay estimates the effect of Iran’s subsidy reduction on industrial workshops’ total factor productivity (TFP). After the model was applied, results show that Iran’s subsidy reduction on energy and food caused TFP to decrease overall for all industrial workshops. For some industries, however, TFP increased.

The second essay tries to determine whether there is a connection between weather conditions and the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Finding this connection could help governments make more informed policy decisions and better prepare for the next waves and subsequent pandemics. The outcomes indicate a negative relationship between the number of infected cases and daily minimum temperature in South Korea. Meanwhile, an increase in air pressure, humidity, and daily minimum wind speed was associated with a higher number of infections. This study focused on the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of weather conditions, but other essential factors, like mobility, can also affect the COVID-19 pandemic, and can be as critical as weather conditions.

In the last study, this dissertation evaluates how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) affected small businesses’ default rate on loans. It focuses on small business loans since activity in this segment is a primary goal of policymakers, and shedding light on this area would help improve their policies regarding small businesses. The results show that the TCJA had a positive effect on avoiding defaults by small businesses. This kind of research could also prove helpful for policymakers since with it they can identify the results of their regulations.

Identifier

FIDC010257

Recommended Citation

Mehregan, Mohammad Javad, "Three Essays in Applied Economics" (2021). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4730.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/4730