2021
Coronavirus Vaccine Refusal and Hesitancy: Metro versus Nonmetro Differences
This paper highlights Covid-19 vaccine behavior among Medicare beneficiaries. Data are from the Winter 2021, Covid-19 supplement to the Medicare Beneficiary Survey. Results of data analysis suggest that slightly more than one-in-three metro and nonmetro residents do not want to get vaccinated; vaccine side effects are a major concern. It is recommended that marketing communications highlight that the vaccine is safe and effective.
Supplier-Induced Demand and Telemedicine in Rural Illinois: An Exploratory Analysis
This paper explores the market for telehealth in rural Illinois; specifically, the argument that medical practitioners have the ability to generate demand for telemedicine services is empirically tested using data from the Medicare Beneficiary Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and telemedicine use data from Center for Medicare Services. Results suggest that telemedicine use in the rural Midwest is around 40%, Covid-19 made one-in-three Midwesterners aware about telemedicine, and the service is associated with communities that have fewer healthcare professionals.
This paper uses the concept of ‘labor reserve’ to highlight the potential supply of labor in rural Illinois. Labor reserve encompasses those nonparticipants who are most likely to join the labor force under more favorable social conditions. For rural Illinois, this number is around 26,281 persons, majority of them female.
The Dynamics of Rural Illinois’ Human Capital
This paper shows educational attainment by race and gender for rural Illinois. Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) were used to calibrate a human capital metric for rural Illinois. Results show that White females contribute the most to the human capital stock for rural Illinois.
Explaining Outmigration Intentions of Rural Population
This study uses data from a recent Ipsos survey, Understanding Society: Wave 1 April 2021 2 , to explore the determinants of outmigration intentions of rural residents. Results of empirical analysis show that the odds of a person in the 18-24 age group liking to live in the city is 42 times higher than a person in the 25-34 age group, and 72,000 times higher than a person in the 50+ age category.
Direct Mail Advertisements and Their Economic Contributions: The Case of Rural Illinois
Any unsolicited advertising sent to potential customers through the mail is called “direct mail”. Illinois is home to 109 direct mail enterprises; the state is fifth largest in market concentration of direct mail businesses. In economics, advertising is considered a social waste. This paper is an empirical assessment of the contribution of direct mail to the GRP of rural Illinois. Results suggest that the share of direct mail in the GRP of rural Illinois is $1.549billion; 2% of rural Illinois’ GRP.
This paper addresses the question whether the introduction of the indoor mask mandate in Illinois stimulate or increase telemarketing activities in the state; data from the Federal Trade Commission were used to gain insights.
Twitter Reactions to Governor Pritzker’s Indoor Mask Mandate
This paper analyzed Tweets that were provided as responses to Governor Pritzker’s indoor mask mandate that came into effect on August 30, 2021. Illinoisans responded to the mandate the most, 67%. The low vaccination rates for rural counties and the reluctance of rural businesses to enforce the mandate were the Tweets associated with the “rural” adjective. Overall, the energy level of the responses was low and emojis contained either a face with a mask symbol or a warning sign.
Covid-19 Impacts on Women-Owned Businesses: A Systematic Literature Review and Empirical Analysis
This research shows that women-owned businesses were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic severely; during April, 2020, the number of women-owned businesses were 50% less than what it was during April, 2019. Businesses functioning in the wholesale and retail sectors were most affected – 83% shuttered their doors permanently during the peak of the pandemic. On a positive note, lot more female-owned businesses in the education and health services sectors have since appeared: as at end April, 2021, 25,362 new women-owned businesses have appeared in Illinois.
Problem Identification in Community Economic Development via Natural Language Processing
This paper highlights the use of natural language processing algorithms to mine popular press articles about CED; specifically, it highlights a methodology to extract CED problems, topics for research.
This paper is about people living geographically side by side, yet socially and politically dwelling in different spheres. This paper has highlighted some ideas and practices of the four prominent ethnic groups in the nation: White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian.
Deep-Tech Inventions in Illinois: An Empirical Analysis
This paper explores deep-tech inventions in Illinois using the USPTO data on patents. Download Appendix I here.
This paper addresses the question, “what are the emerging areas of research in community economic development (CED)”. Using dispersion-analysis of journal publications in the field, the difficulty of repeat-publications in CED is explored. Next, using natural-language processing algorithms, key concepts in CED are “mapped” to identify research opportunities. The results of this research should be of interest to CED stakeholders wanting to advance or promote research in the study area.
Marijuana Tax Revenues: Estimates for Illinois Counties, July 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021
This paper estimates marijuana tax revenues at the county level. Counties were allowed to collect taxes on recreational marijuana sales starting July 2020. In nonmetro, the median tax receipts for recreational marijuana is slightly more than $34,000, three times more than the average medical marijuana taxes. Gallatin County benefitted the least from marijuana tax revenues, taxes averaged less than $1,000 per month.
Marijuana Use: Differences Between Metro and Nonmetro Regions
What are the drivers of demand for Cannabis products in Illinois? Does marijuana use differ between metro and nonmetro regions? What are the characteristics of marijuana users? This paper addresses these and other related questions.
Covid-19 Pandemic: Effects on Minority-Owned Businesses in Illinois
This research explores minority economic development in Illinois, using self-employment numbers for the minorities during the Covid-19 pandemic. During all four phases of Covid-19 mitigation, African-American self-employment took the turn for the worse, the monthly growth in self-employment numbers during January 2020 to February 2021 was a dismal -7%. Overall, Hispanics have fared well, the growth in self-employment for Hispanics during the pandemic was 11%. Insights into demographics of the typical minority self-employed are provided.
This paper explores the verbal behaviors of Illinois lawmakers using their Tweets as the unit of analysis. Empirical analysis suggests that reinforcement history within the two major political parties has resulted in production of verbal units such as “family” by Democrats and “great” by Republicans.
Telemedicine in Illinois: Ecological Explanations
This paper explores the environmental correlates of telemedicine. Empirical analysis of telemedicine use in Illinois counties reveals that the service is patronized in large numbers by collectivists, people who value collective responsibility over individual rights.
Some Empirical Aspects of Manufacturing Sector During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Did Covid-19 shutter proportionally more small businesses (including manufacturing businesses) in the metro or the nonmetro? How do rural manufacturers in Illinois adapt to and cope with the threats of Covid-19? Is variability in adapting to Covid-19 workplace health and safety measures correlated with the characteristics of the business and the sociodemographic of the business location? This paper addresses these and other similar questions using a combination of primary and secondary data.
This paper constructs a theoretical framework that aids in evaluating people’s subjective utility of telemedicine, empirically tests the factors related to utility assessment, and employs relevant factors to compute the economic value of telemedicine for Illinois. The ‘value’ analysis, performed at the county level, is based on a combination of secondary analysis of survey data from MCBS, and CMS’ Carrier file data. Results of data analysis suggest that from 2019 to 2020, telemedicine generated $1bil in healthcare savings for IL. The paper provides an interactive computer application to visualize value metrics for the counties.
Download…Interactive application for telemedicine. Please unzip and execute the file “TelMed.Exe”; programmed to run on Windows operating systems.
Who Uses Telemedicine, Believers or Disbelievers of Covid-19 ?
This paper empirically explores the assertion that stronger is a patient’s belief about the threats of Covid-19, the higher is the probability of her use of telemedicine.
Consumer Awareness of Telemedicine During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Demographic Influences
This paper set out to address two questions about telemedicine: (i) to what extent did awareness about telemedicine change during the Covid-19 pandemic and (ii) is awareness related to the demographics of the population. Data from the MCBS were used to address the questions.