Can protests lead to political change by influencing voting behaviour in subsequent elections? My thesis examines whether the ‘Black Lives Matter’ (BLM) protests helped the Democratic presidential candidate in the 2020 US election. Using an instrumental variables strategy with rainfall, I find that non-violent BLM protests increased the Democratic vote share in swing states in part by discouraging Republican voter turnout. Simple model predications also suggest that the BLM protests had an impact in three states that flipped Democrat in the 2020 election.
Are there long-term negative educational effects that stem from hurricanes? Does living through hurricanes during key educational years (6 to 9 yrs.) entail worse long-term educational outcomes? In my honors thesis, I explore these questions focusing on Puerto Rico, an understudied territory subject to extreme climate risk. I found that, on average, hurricanes have little impact on the long-run highest grade completed in Puerto Rico; I also find no statistically significant results that those individuals ages 6 to 9 are more at risk than other cohorts
Can sanctuary policy shield Hispanic residents from education interruptions amid uncertainty? From 2007 to 2019, the immigrant community in the U.S. experienced various degrees of tension and hostility due to racial profiling and the political atmosphere, culminating during the 45th presidency. Many states cooperate with federal immigration enforcement agencies (ICE) to identify and deport undocumented residents via the transfer of data and information on their residents. Sanctuary states have passed local laws prohibiting the transfer of such information and collaboration with ICE on deportation matters. I found that state-level sanctuary policy can effectively encourage Hispanic non-citizens to attend higher education.
One of the most obvious impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labor force is the dramatic increase in employees working remotely. As many nations placed lockdown orders, K-12 schools temporarily shut down, and the children’s education was relocated to the internet. As a result, working parents who worked from home had to care for their children during working hours. My thesis explores the impact of living with children on the efficiency of working from home in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, using survey data from the U.S residents.
Since 2007, Peru has experienced an exponential and unequal increase in internet infrastructure and connectivity across districts. My research explores the effect of an increase in internet access on the level of competition in municipal elections. I constructed a novel panel data set with electoral, mobile internet infrastructure, and census data from 2010 to 2018. I find that higher levels of internet penetration led to tighter competition, an increase in electoral participation, and a reduction in the positive effects of campaign spending on vote share.
For a fifth consecutive year, Finland has been named the world’s happiest country, according to the World Happiness Report, co-authored by Vancouver School of Economics Professor Emeritus John Helliwell.
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the world saw an increase in three measures of benevolence – helping strangers, volunteering, and donations – in 2021.
“This surge of benevolence, which was especially great for the helping of strangers, provides powerful evidence that people respond to help others in need, creating in the process more happiness for the beneficiaries, good examples for others to follow, and better lives for themselves,” said Helliwell.
The report, which uses Gallop World Poll data, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Canada ranked 15th.
Criminals prefer to do their work when it is dark. Therefore both natural daylight and artificial night light could deter potential offenders by increasing the risk that they will be caught. Are the two sources of light substitutes in crime deterrence?
My thesis revisits the effect of light on crime by pairing detailed data on criminal acts with the amount of artificial nightlight in the location where the crime occurred. I then estimate the size of changes in criminal activity around Daylight Savings Time in places with high and low artificial night light.
In 2013 B.C. moved the property rights of common law spouses closer to those of married couples. My thesis estimates how this increase in property rights affected people’s choice of marital status in B.C.
I use both difference in differences and event study methods to measure the policy effect. I found that couples were less likely to be married and more likely to live as common-law partners following the policy change.
Do political considerations influence federal assistance in emergencies? In the United States, the president decides which requests for federal disaster relief are granted or denied. In my honours thesis, I studied whether a humanitarian institution, natural disaster relief, was vulnerable to politicization.
I constructed a rich dataset of major weather events and federal disaster declarations in U.S. congressional districts between 1966 and 2016 and matched it to political data. I found that presidents use disaster relief to attempt to flip seats in competitive congressional districts.
My thesis examines how enhancing enforcement against unauthorized immigration in the United States impacts the employment patterns of legal migrant workers in undocumented labour intensive sectors. I focused upon a case study of the effects of Arizona Senate Bill 1070 on the hiring of H-2A temporary visa workers in agriculture.
Using a data-driven approach to select a weighted set of control states to simulate counterfactual outcomes, I found that the passage of this law decreased employment of these visa workers in Arizona by 36 per cent.
Can protests lead to political change by influencing voting behaviour in subsequent elections? My thesis examines whether the ‘Black Lives Matter’ (BLM) protests helped the Democratic presidential candidate in the 2020 US election. Using an instrumental variables strategy with rainfall, I find that non-violent BLM protests increased the Democratic vote share in swing states in part by discouraging Republican voter turnout. Simple model predications also suggest that the BLM protests had an impact in three states that flipped Democrat in the 2020 election.
Criminals prefer to do their work when it is dark. Therefore both natural daylight and artificial night light could deter potential offenders by increasing the risk that they will be caught. Are the two sources of light substitutes in crime deterrence?
In 2013 B.C. moved the property rights of common law spouses closer to those of married couples. My thesis estimates how this increase in property rights affected people’s choice of marital status in B.C.
Do political considerations influence federal assistance in emergencies? In the United States, the president decides which requests for federal disaster relief are granted or denied. In my honours thesis, I studied whether a humanitarian institution, natural disaster relief, was vulnerable to politicization.
My thesis examines how enhancing enforcement against unauthorized immigration in the United States impacts the employment patterns of legal migrant workers in undocumented labour intensive sectors. I focused upon a case study of the effects of Arizona Senate Bill 1070 on the hiring of H-2A temporary visa workers in agriculture.