Journal of Applied Business and Economics

What Is the Return From Hiring a Bankruptcy Attorney for Chapter 7 Asset Case Filings?

2025-03-21T00:45:52-04:00

This manuscript assesses the returns to hiring an attorney to represent an individual who holds exempt-eligible assets when filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. A panel of closed Chapter 7 asset case filings was collected over the years 2016-2021 from the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system in the Eastern District of Washington State. The study results indicate that filers with an attorney of record, and who report attorney payments to the Court, can shield 83.3 percent of assets through the exemption process, compared to the overall sample mean of 68 percent. This implies a return of approximately 22.5 percent. Therefore, hiring an attorney and reporting attorney payments in a filing leads to a higher expected return. We also find statistically significant evidence suggesting that filer specific factors, such as county of residence and year of filing, influence the expected return from hiring an attorney.

Mapping the Material World— Logistics in the Historical Narratives of Fernand Braudel

2025-03-21T00:55:50-04:00

This article examines the influence of logistics on economic and social structures, drawing on the work of French historian Fernand Braudel. Braudel emphasizes the crucial role of logistical facilities in managing the technical aspects of flow and shaping human societies throughout history. He notes that logistics impacts everyday life, particularly through the availability of goods and transportation costs. For example, the advent of railroads significantly transformed social and economic dynamics. Logistics also serves as instruments of power, allowing elites to control the flow of goods and capital, reinforcing social hierarchies. Technological innovations such as the telegraph and steamships have greatly enhanced the efficiency of logistical networks, promoting the integration of global markets. However, while Braudel underscores the importance of logistics, his analysis has certain limitations, particularly in overlooking the effects of political and cultural factors on societal transformation. To deepen the analysis, future research could explore global supply chain dynamics or the impact of logistics on contemporary social hierarchies.

Workplace Gratitude’s Impact on Banking and Financial Services Employees’ Psychological Capital, Intention to Stay and Satisfaction With Life

2025-03-21T01:05:30-04:00

Gratitude research has experienced increased attention from scholars; however, much is still unknown. This study investigated the relationship between gratitude, Psychological Capital, satisfaction with life, and intention to stay with current employers among banking and financial services employees. This research also analyzed gratitude’s moderating role between Psychological Capital, satisfaction with life, and intention to stay. Results indicated gratitude has a statistically significant relationship with Psychological Capital, satisfaction with life, and intention to stay among banking employees. The study supports gratitude as a moderator between Psychological Capital and satisfaction with life. This study supports the importance of gratitude in the workplace.

Environmental Impact of Foreign Direct Investment: The Role of Economic Complexity in Sub-Saharan Africa

2025-03-21T01:22:12-04:00

This study investigates the short-run and long-run effects of foreign direct investment (FDI), corruption, and economic complexity on the environment in twenty-five sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from 1996 to 2018. Using a dynamic panel data model, the results provide broad support for the pollution haven hypothesis and the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve in SSA. Our results indicate that the economic complexity index (ECI) is associated with rising environmental degradation. Low-quality FDI weakens environmental standards, and corruption facilitates the shift of polluting industrial activities from advanced countries to developing countries with less strict environmental rules. The paper finds that corruption, low quality FDI, and higher ECI tend to exacerbate environmental degradation in SSA. By considering the ECI, this studies contributes to the literature, analyzing the relationship between these key variables and the environment for some of the most vulnerable African countries that are said to be greatly impacted by climate change.

Stability of Multi-Part Pricing in the U.S. Less-Than-Truckload Industry: Evidence From the Panel Stationarity Test With Structural Breaks

2025-03-21T01:27:05-04:00

This paper aims to examine the stationarity of LTL carriers’ multi-part pricing structures. We construct a spillover index of inter-firm linkages among base yield, fuel surcharge, and total yield (measured by fuel surcharge plus base yield), and use a heterogenous panel stationarity test developed by Hadri and Rao (2008) to allow for structural breaks. After accounting for cross-sectional dependence, results indicate that a structural break occurred in all three revenue dimensions but with quite different break patterns, since the inter-firm price structure gap has narrowed and converged toward the industry average. In short, competition has intensified in the LTL industry.

Carbon Tax and Economic Stability: A Broader Approach to the Double Dividend of Ecological Taxation

2025-03-21T01:34:12-04:00

This article develops a Keynesian model of economic growth with involuntary unemployment in a situation of perfect competition in which we introduce an environmental tax. We show that it is possible to demonstrate a triple dividend from ecological taxation. This triple dividend is characterized by an ecological effect of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and two possible economic effects: a possible positive effect on employment, and an effect of reducing the instability of the economy. We therefore broaden the double dividend issue by highlighting an implication of ecological taxation that has been little studied in the literature. We show that highlighting a double or triple dividend from ecological taxation does not require introducing elements of imperfect competition.

BRICS: Rebalancing the New World Order An Impassioned Trajectory

2025-03-21T01:41:03-04:00

It has been more than 23 years since Jim O’Neil, head of economic research at the investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS), wrote in an internal policy paper that four countries, Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC). Seeking to attract investors, in his 2001 GS Global Economic Paper No. 66, “Building Better Global Economic BRICs,” O’Neil focused on investment opportunities in four developing countries— Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC), O’Neill further argued that the balance of world economic powers was already tilting in favor of these four countries which he labeled as “BRIC” economies. The BRIC nations embraced the term and invited South Africa In 2010 to join them. Hence the acronym BRIC became “BRICS.”

In this paper, I plan to focus on economic progress of BRICS countries, as reflected in their GDP, international trade, and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). I will illustrate the power of BRICS as well as the global challenges these countries will face in the coming decades in achieving their mission to change the global order.

Pharmaceutical Supply Chains: Risks, Challenges and Strategic Response

2025-04-01T22:00:45-04:00

A pharmaceutical supply chain consists of sourcing of ingredients and technology, production, distribution and delivery mechanisms to provide medicines and supplies to patients and healthcare facilities in a cost effective and timely manner. This paper introduces the structure of pharmaceutical supply chains within the larger context of health care supply chains and provides discussion on past work and the emerging trends in pharmaceutical supply chains. The paper further explores the unique operational challenges and strategic issues faced by the pharmaceutical supply chains. The paper further proposes a strategic response framework and a mapping tool to deal with these risks and challenges.

A Special Case for SME Sustainability: The Role of Government Financial Support, Regulatory Reforms, and Market Access in Ghana

2025-04-01T22:05:49-04:00

This study examines the impact of government financial support, regulatory reforms, market access, and skills development on SME sustainability and export performance in Ghana. Data from 4,764 SME owners/managers were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The empirical results show government support, regulatory reforms, and access to finance positively influence SME sustainability, while market access and skills development enhance export performance. However, access to finance does not mediate the relationship between government support and sustainability. These findings offer insights for policymakers, agencies, and SME stakeholders to improve sustainability strategies.

Does an Import Tariff Negatively Affect Economic Growth?

2025-04-01T22:20:08-04:00

An import tariff raises the price of imports causing a rise in producer surplus and a fall in consumer surplus on importable products inducing their domestic producers to increase production, which then raises the demand for the factor used intensively and lowers that for the factors used less intensively in their production. Also, according to the Stolper-Samuelson theorem, under the assumption of full-employment and constant capital-labor ratio, this leads to a rise in the real earnings of the factor used intensively and a fall in the real earnings of the factors used less intensively of the products. If the total of gains in producer surplus and earnings of the intensive factor is more than the loss in consumer surplus plus and earnings of less intensive factors, the nation experiences a net economic growth. We apply the VAR model on US data over the period 1990-2020 and finds an import tariff to have no impact on U.S. income and, therefore, on U.S. economic growth.

Impact of Smoke-Free Air Laws on Secondhand Smoking: Evidence From New York City

2025-04-01T22:30:21-04:00

Anti-smoking laws reduce exposure to secondhand smoke in areas that are targeted by such laws; however, the effects of these laws on displacing smokers to alternative locations where smoking is allowed remains unexplored due to limited data. This paper uses unique nonparticipant observational data on smoking frequency and location from New York City to estimate the impact of secondhand smoke exposure. Estimates indicate that nonsmokers are exposed to secondhand smoke once every 1.9 city blocks, and exposure is greater near smoking-restricted areas such as schools and hotels, which suggests anti-smoking laws displace smokers and increase exposure for others.

Student Debt Loans and Labor Market Outcomes: A Lesson in Unintended Consequences

2025-04-01T22:34:38-04:00

The student loan policy was initiated to improve the equality of educational opportunities and help low-income families provide higher education opportunities for their children. However, with the average student loan amount increasing, recipients experience problems and restrictions in their early-career choices. This study examines the early-career labor market choices of college graduates who obtained student loans to finance their higher education. We used the National Survey of College Graduates data to estimate the effects of student loans on the employment status and current wages of college graduates. In this research, we compared two groups of workers: those with student loans and those without loans. Using basic models and Mahalanobis distance matching, we found that graduates who rely on student loans are more likely to participate in the labor market than those who do not. Graduates with student loans tend to demonstrate risk-averse behaviors due to their financial restrictions. Thus, student loan debt creates inequity in the early-career labor market for college graduates.