Economics

Marginal Revenue Product and the Effect of Teammates on Player Productivity in the NHL - This paper creates a process for estimating the marginal revenue products (MRPs) of players in the National Hockey League (NHL). Since hockey is a team sport, where a given player's output depends on the abilities of his surrounding teammates, I wanted to include the effect of a player's teammates in my estimates, which previous MRP calculations for hockey players lack. Using detailed play-by-play data from the NHL's real time scoring system (RTSS), I obtained the total number of goals for and goals against for each combination of players on the ice at a time (five skaters and a goalie). I then estimated several linear OLS regressions to create production equations that explore the impact of each individual players' dummy variable on the goals for and goals against per 60 minutes of ice time for every player combination. Afterwards, I estimated a linear OLS regression, examining how a team's cumulative goals for and goals against impacted its revenue. Taking the dummy variable coefficients from the production equations and the goals for and goals against coefficients from the revenue equation, I created MRP estimates for every NHL player. Ultimately, I created very noisy MRP estimates, partly because the large degree of multicollinearity among the dummy variables in the production equations created imprecise coefficient estimates. While my estimates do not include the impact of a players' teammates, they pave the way for incorporating it in the future by including player pair dummy variables that examine how a player's production changes with different teammates.; How are Trade Policies Affecting Stock Prices of US Multinational Corporations? Evidence from the US-China Trade Dispute - This project studies the US-China trade war consequences in the financial market. Specifically, it evaluates the impact of the trade frictions on US multinational corporation (MNC) stock prices and examines the differentials between corporations that produce tradable goods and corporations that provide services. The Chinese government has been depreciating its currency as a retaliation measure against the continuously rising tariff rates set by the United States. Rather than tariff rates, which has been used in previous literature, this paper uses the China-US exchange rate as a measure of trade frictions. I find that on average, stock prices of US MNCs that produce tradable goods are affected negatively by the devaluating Chinese Yuan. This correlation is especially prominent for MNCs in the automotive and machinery industry.; ASEAN in Global Value Chains: The Effects of Deep Trade Agreements on Value-Added Trade - This thesis investigates the role of trade agreements on global value chains (GVCs) in the context of ASEAN countries. Trade in value added is considered as a close proxy for the extent of trade taking place within the GVCs. In this thesis, three distinct measures of value-added trade at the sectoral level are used: domestic value added (DVA) in gross exports, DVA in intermediates exports, and DVA in final goods exports. In terms of trade agreements, I explicitly address the heterogeneity in their design by computing a series of depth indices based on coverage and legal enforceability. I estimate an augmented gravity equation to investigate whether the composition of trade agreements is relevant for ASEAN’s integration in GVCs. The results suggest that adding policy areas to a trade agreement increase GVCs-related trade among participating countries. More specifically, the effect is driven by value-added in intermediates rather than traditional final goods trade. The content of the trade agreements also matters to trade and varies by WTO membership status of trading partners. Legally enforceable provisions that are under the current scope of WTO mandate have a stronger impact on trade than those beyond WTO regulation. The positive impact of deep trade agreements on ASEAN trade is subject to phase-in effects of up to 10 years after the agreement is enforced.