Papers
(2022) The Effects of Implementing a Carbon Tax on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Abstract: Around the world, carbon emissions are projected to cause a 1.1°C to a 5.4°C increase in temperatures from now to 2100[1]. Current attempts to tackle the climate shift include market-based mechanisms ranging from varying levels of carbon taxes to emissions trading. Using multivariate time series regression, this paper analyzes the differing trends between nations that have implemented a carbon policy relative to nations that have not, and how those have affected their carbon emissions levels within 1 and 5 years of implementation. None of our model specifications reveal a statistically significant relationship of any kind between an increased carbon tax and carbon emissions. This marked lack of relation between carbon tax policy implementation and carbon emission decreases points to a need to reexamine the way we implement policy to reduce carbon in our world.
Unpublished
(2021) Is Free Education Worth it Modelling the Effects of Legally Guaranteeing Free Education on Student Outcomes
Abstract: Ensuring inclusive and equitable education is Sustainable Development Goal 4 in the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are to be achieved by the year 2030. This paper aims to examine guaranteeing free primary and secondary education as a solution to SDG 4, by looking at how free education affects the quality and inequality of an educational system measured using a wide range of educational indicators. We calculated a variety of relative index scores that include those indicators to measure the quality of educational systems around the world. We then used these index scores within 16 different multiple regression models to quantify the effects that free education has on student outcomes. Our results suggest that overall, free education has positive effects on student outcomes in terms of reducing educational inequality in addition to improving the average student outcomes, which suggests that free education is a viable solution to SDG 4.
Abstract published in STEM Fellowship Journal
Ongoing Projects
The Effect of the 2002 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act on Economic Growth
Description: A short empirical paper completed as a term project for ECON-495 (Intermediate Econometrics). Examines the relationship between the 2002 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) on economic growth. Got 100% on the project, and now aiming to rework it and submit it for publication at an undergraduate research journal.
The Welfare State as a Mediator to Civil Society Engagement
Description: An econometrics paper attempting to empirically ascertain the relationship between social spending and engagement with civil society across various countries. Engagement with civil society will potentially be operationalized using various measures of volunteerism and social trust. The aim is to utilize a panel dataset to ascertain the longitudinal effects of social spending on civil society.
The Role of Political Knowledge in the Relationship Between Personality and Political Orientation
Description: Utilizing survey data gathered from university students, this paper will conduct further tests on the finding that a person’s political orientation is in part a product of their personality. While previous research has found small but statistically significant relationships between various big five personality traits and political orientation, it is not clear whether this is confounded by differences between people in their relative levels of political knowledge. This paper will specifically test the hypothesis that amongst people with higher levels of political knowledge, there is a stronger link between their personality and political orientation. This is theorized to be because having higher political knowledge enables one to self-select into whichever political ideology best fits with their psychological predispositions. Utilizing survey data, the hypothesis will be tested using linear regression and t testing.
Jonathan Barazzutti 