State Level Perspective Research Articles

Future changes in state-level population-weighted degree days in the U.S

This study analyzes future changes in population-weighted degree-days in 48 states over the contiguous U.S. Using temperature data from the NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projects and population data from NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, we computed population-weighted degree-days (PHDD and PCDD) and EDD (energy degree-days, PHDD + PCDD) over the 21st century, under a business-as-usual scenario. Results show that although the rising temperature is the primary driver, population distribution and projection play undeniable roles in estimating state-level heating and cooling demand. Throughout the 21st century, the U.S. is projected to experience a heating-to-cooling shift in energy demand, with the number of heating-dominant states dropping from 37 to 17 and the length of cooling seasons extending by 2 months (indicating a corresponding reduction in heating seasons) in all states by late-century. Meanwhile, a more homogenous EDD pattern is expected due to the increasing PCDD and decreasing PHDD, and the peak EDD month will switch from winter to summer in 15 out of 48 states. Our study provides a more nuanced understanding of future heating and cooling demand by examining both annual and monthly variations in the demands and how their relative dominance in a single framework may evolve over time. The study’s state-level perspective can provide valuable insights for policymakers, energy providers, and other stakeholders regarding the forthcoming shift in demand patterns and related building operations and energy consumption at both state and regional levels.

Exploration of the impact of political ideology disparity on COVID-19 transmission in the United States

BackgroundBased on individual-level studies, previous literature suggested that conservatives and liberals in the United States had different perceptions and behaviors when facing the COVID-19 threat. From a state-level perspective, this study further explored the impact of personal political ideology disparity on COVID-19 transmission before and after the emergence of Omicron.MethodsA new index was established, which depended on the daily cumulative number of confirmed cases in each state and the corresponding population size. Then, by using the 2020 United States presidential election results, the values of the built index were further divided into two groups concerning the political party affiliation of the winner in each state. In addition, each group was further separated into two parts, corresponding to the time before and after Omicron predominated. Three methods, i.e., functional principal component analysis, functional analysis of variance, and function-on-scalar linear regression, were implemented to statistically analyze and quantify the impact.ResultsFindings reveal that the disparity of personal political ideology has caused a significant discrepancy in the COVID-19 crisis in the United States. Specifically, the findings show that at the very early stage before the emergence of Omicron, Democratic-leaning states suffered from a much greater severity of the COVID-19 threat but, after July 2020, the severity of COVID-19 transmission in Republican-leaning states was much higher than that in Democratic-leaning states. Situations were reversed when the Omicron predominated. Most of the time, states with Democrat preferences were more vulnerable to the threat of COVID-19 than those with Republican preferences, even though the differences decreased over time.ConclusionsThe individual-level disparity of political ideology has impacted the nationwide COVID-19 transmission and such findings are meaningful for the government and policymakers when taking action against the COVID-19 crisis in the United States.

A Mexican State-level Perspective on Covid-19 and its Economic Fallout

Mexico has had one of the highest death tolls from Covid-19 and among the largest declines in output compared to peers. This paper utilizes data on Mexico’s thirty-two states to better understand the relationship between health and economic outcomes. For instance, did the states with worse pandemic outcomes suffer more economically? What state-level characteristics impacted health and economic outcomes? Among the findings are: individual traits such as age and certain pre-existing conditions were associated with higher illness and fatality risks. States with higher initial health expenditure and capacity on average had a lower case fatality rate. The economic fallout was widespread well beyond the direct impact of the pandemic. Tourism-heavy states were particularly badly affected, while states with larger exposures to manufacturing exports performed better. These findings support the case for adequate health spending, fiscal lifelines for hard-hit workers and sectors, and further integration into global value chains to bolster economic outcomes and resilience.

A Mexican State-Level Perspective on COVID-19 and its Economic Fallout

Mexico has had one of the highest death tolls from Covid-19 and among the largest declines in output compared to peers. This paper utilizes data on Mexico's thirty-two states to better understand the relationship between health and economic outcomes. For instance, did the states with worse pandemic outcomes suffer more economically? What state-level characteristics impacted health and economic outcomes? Among the findings are: individual traits such as age and certain pre-existing conditions were associated with higher illness and fatality risks. States with higher initial health expenditure and capacity on average had a lower case fatality rate. The economic fallout was widespread well beyond the direct impact of the pandemic. Tourism-heavy states were particularly badly affected, while states with larger exposures to manufacturing exports performed better. These findings support the case for adequate health spending, fiscal lifelines for hard-hit workers and sectors, and further integration into global value chains to bolster economic outcomes and resilience.

Technology Improvements, Input Use, and Natural Resource Abundance

Are technology improvements contractionary? In an influential study, Basu, Fernald, and Kimball (2006) (BFK) answered this question in the affirmative. Taking a state-level perspective, using the aggregate technology series computed in BFK, we find that this contractionary phenomenon is restricted to the natural resource rich U.S. states. Conversely, in the natural resource poor states purified technology improvements are contemporaneously expansionary in input use and output, consistent with the predictions of the frictionless RBC model.

A new look at dynamic behavior of binary coherent system from a state-level perspective

In this paper we study lifetime properties of binary coherent systems from a state-level perspective. We define and study a system whose performance levels are determined by its total number of working components and structure. That is, the more working components the better performance level for the system. This enables us to make a more detailed analysis of a binary system. We obtain the distributions of the time that is spent by the system in a specific state subset and a specific state. Our analysis is based on the use of system signature. We also define an optimization problem concerned with the determination of the number of warm standby components.

Medicaid Expansion and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Lessons and Hopes for Implementation of Healthcare Reform

THE CALIFORNIA Journal of Politics & Policy Volume 3, Issue 4 Medicaid Expansion and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Lessons and Hopes for Implementation of Healthcare Reform Autumn Kieber-Emmons, Thomas Bodenheimer, & Kevin Grumbach University of California, San Francisco Abstract This study was designed to examine the perspectives and concerns of California healthcare policymakers and stakeholders about the upcoming expansion of Med- icaid. Key California stakeholders show general support for the expansion of Med- icaid, with concerns about the cost to implement expansion, hopes for increased use of managed care delivery system reform to produce cost savings, worries about provider access and physician payment rates, and support for the recent California Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver “bridge to reform” as a timely measure for the tran- sition to Medicaid expansion. This state-level perspective from California can help to inform state and national preparations for the 2014 implementation of Medicaid expansion. Keywords: healthcare reform, The Affordable Health Care Act, California health - care Copyright © 2011 The Berkeley Electronic Press. All rights reserved. www.bepress.com/cjpp

The Banking Crisis in the U.S.: How Effective Were U.S. Regulators?

This study explored the causes of the tremendous spike in U.S. bank failures that occurred during the recent financial crisis of 2009-2010. Specifically, the study tested whether U.S. bank regulators identified early warning signals of the forthcoming crisis and once the industry began to falter significantly in 2008, if they took the appropriate actions. The study examined the hypotheses that regulators may have failed to identify signs of overheating in the residential real estate market well in advance of the crisis, and that they did not take sufficient action against financially weak banks during the crisis. Several recent studies of bank failures have focused on the impact of state-level economic factors in driving the extremely high failure rates during the credit crisis particularly among smaller community and savings banks. I analyzed the recent bank failure phenomenon primarily from a state-level perspective by first isolating only failed banks that did not have a national banking charter and whose banking activities therefore were concentrated mainly at the state level. The results of the Tobit regression model partially supported the hypotheses, as two of the three predictor variables chosen as proxies for regulatory effectiveness, subprime adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) foreclosure rates and the volume of regulatory sanctions issued, both exhibited explanatory power that was statistically significant in relation to state bank failure rates in 2009-2010. These results, while suggesting several areas for further research, may prove useful to regulators as they likely search for new or enhanced methods of ensuring the safety and soundness of the banking sector and avoiding future banking crisis.

Theories of International Cooperation: The Case of the Lomé Convention

The Lomé Convention between the European Economic Community and a number of third world nations has not lived up to expectations, but it remains an important case study of international cooperation. This article, which is based on 48 interviews conducted in Brussels and other EEC capitals, compares the evolution and workings of the Lomé Convention to three theories of international cooperation which stress interdependence, negotiations, or dependency. The author finds that important features of all three theories are not supported by the experience with the Convention and argues that a state level perspective provides a better understanding than does any of the three more general theories.