Honours Theses, Academic Year of 2018-19

 

 

 

Year:                   

 2018-19

Student Name:

 Colton Evans

Title:

S&P 500 Index Option Pricing Inefficiency Surrounding U.S. Federal Reserve Meetings and Economic Uncertainty

Supervisor:

 Dr. Andrew Davis

Abstract: 

Many researchers such as Galai (1977) have showed that option markets experience periods of inefficiency. Other researchers such as Gemmill (1991) have shown that these periods of inefficiency occur surrounding uncertain events like political elections. Federal Reserve policy meetings occur roughly every six weeks and frequently have uncertain outcomes over potential policy changes. This study uses option data between February 11th, 2005 and December 31st, 2011 to conduct multiple OLS regressions and robustness tests to determine if Federal Reserve meetings and economic uncertainty increase pricing inefficiency in option markets. Results show a statistically significant, although not economically significant, positive relationship between option market inefficiency, Federal Reserve meetings and economic uncertainty.

 

 

 

Year:                   

 2018-19

Student Name:

 Hunter Powell

Title:

Education-Job Match and the Labour Outcomes of Recent Graduates:
An Empirical Analysis of the National Graduates Survey 2013

Supervisor:

 Dr. Andrew Davis

Abstract: 

It is well known that the effects of education are significant and positive; however, the dispersion of these effects is very large (Lemieux 2014). One possible cause of this is that recent graduates may have difficulty finding a job that is appropriate for their type of education and level of education. The alignment of the type of education one receives and the skills used at one’s job is referred to as qualitative match, whereas the alignment of the quantity of education one receives and the necessary quantity of education is referred to as quantitative match. Using a sample of recent graduates from Canadian post-secondary institutions taken from the National Graduates Survey (2013), the effects of job matching and other factors on income and job satisfaction are estimated using ordinary least squares and logit regressions respectively. The determinants of both types of matching are also estimated using logit and ordered logit regressions. Results show that both types of job matching have significant and large positive effects on wage and job satisfaction. Potential risk factors and causes of education-job mismatch are presented and policy recommendations are given regarding these findings.

 

 

 

Year:                   

 2018-19

Student Name:

 Zihao Wang

Title:

A Computable General Equilibrium Simulation of the U.S.-China Trade War

Supervisor:

 Dr. Andrew Davis

Abstract: 

On April 3rd 2018, the United States of America announced 25% tariffs on goods imported from China, which applied to approximately $46 billion (USD) of trade, and China retaliated by placing tariffs of equal value on imports coming from the United States. As the two biggest economies in the world, China and the U.S. comprise more than 40% of global trade, and their international trade policies have a significant influence on the global economy.

This study examines the possible consequence of the U.S.-China trade war at the aggregate level by applying an Armington type of static computable general equilibrium model. Simulation results show that both the U.S. and China experience a welfare loss, and the magnitude of loss in China is larger than that of the U.S.. If China retaliates, the U.S. is expected to gain in the manufacturing sector, and China
may suffer from a more significant loss in welfare.