Jaynanne Calaway did her honors research with Dr. Michael Seeborg on The Gender Pay Differential: Choice, Tradition, or Overt Discrimination?

ABSTRACT: No one disputes that a male-female gender wage differential favoring men exists. This study seeks to unearth not only the sources of this differential, but also the relative degrees to which the various sources impact the differential. The theories proposed by current literature suggest three principal causes: differences in human capital, crowding discrimination, and other forms of discrimination. This study estimates separate equations for men and women and then uses the regression results to decompose the gender wage differential into the three aforementioned components. It is found that differences in human capital characteristics comprise the largest proportion of the gender wage gap, though the crowding effect is also quite large. Moreover, when one considers that the human capital differences may be reflecting feedback effects, the justification for policies combating societal stereotyping of gender roles becomes even stronger.

Patrick Holly did his honors research with Dr. Carolyn Stumph analyzing The Effects of Technology Growth on Money Supply and Demand: A Cointegration Approach.

ABSTRACT: The 1990's have been a prosperous decade economically, characterized by notable surges in technological innovation and adaptation. Certain economic historians, Mokyr in particular, believe we are experiencing growth that is parallel to that of the Industrial Revolution, which places late 20th century America at the forefront of a new "Technological Revolution" (1996). Only time will dictate the accuracy of that designation. However, there is no doubt that substantial technological development has had a profound impact on U.S. economic evolution over the last 10-15 years. More specifically, significant technology growth has placed the nation's monetary structure at a dynamic crossroads. New purchase and payment methods have developed that are eclipsing older, more paper based forms.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the significance of the effects current payment technologies have had on money supply and demand. Specific attention will be given to M1 and M2 stocks, M1 and M2 velocities, the Fed Funds Rate and National Income, and how their interaction with each other has been affected by technology expansion. Using the 1980 ATM and EFT debut as a proxy for current technological development in a cointegration test model, it is hypothesized and marginally supported that current payment technologies have allowed for a more cohesive interaction between the above mentioned variables through a reduction in transaction costs.

Jaclyn Hood did her honors research work with Dr. Michael Seeborg measuring The Determinants of Home Ownership: An Application of Human Capital Investment Theory to the Home Ownership Decision.

ABSTRACT: Over the past years, vast changes in the economy and society have called for the reevaluation of the determinants of home ownership. The purpose of this research is to determine the factors of home ownership using a logistic regression. This paper differs from past research in that it applies human capital investment theory to the home ownership decision. Using a sample of young adults from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data set, it is found that the main determinants of home ownership are race, gender, educational attainment, age, marital status and net family income. These results are consistent with the findings of previous literature. The major contribution of this research is the refinement of the relationship between family size and home ownership. It is found that the probability of home ownership increases as family size increases up to a certain level at which the probability decreases as family size continues to increase.

Jennifer Van Dyke did her honors research work with Dr. Michael Seeborg pondering Does it Pay to be a Man? A Study of Pay Differentials Between College Graduates.

ABSTRACT: This paper examines whether or not there is a difference in the salaries of recent male and female college graduates. The human capital theory suggests that male and female college graduates, who studied in the same field, have similar education and little work experience, should have similar salaries. However, many studies have shown that men's starting salaries are greater than women's, and that over time the income gap increases. The model used in this study focuses on 1986 college graduates from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth database, and then follows these graduates through 1995. The results for my unique sample of college graduates confirm the general conclusion that men's starting salaries are greater than women's and that over time the income gap does increase.