Daniel J. Choi

Predictors of Violent Crime Rate in the United States

Academic

This regression analysis was prepared as part of a final project for Statistics 104: Introduction to Quantitative Methods for Economics.

Abstract

The following report seeks to provide explanations of the variation in violent crime rates throughout the United States by analyzing the statistical signi cance of relationships between the violent crime rate and seven potential predictor variables. A multiple linear regression showed that two of the seven potential predictor variables, teen birth rates and the percentage of the population living in metropolitan areas, proved to be strongly signi cant (p < 0:001). As each of these variables increase, the violent crime rate rises. This fi nding suggests that states with greater teenage promiscuity and larger cities exhibit higher violent crime rates. Despite demonstrating a strong statistical correlation, these results cannot be used to support a causal relationship. Still, though, the results of this report provide important insights into violent crime rates and potential ways to address them.

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How Hindu Attitudes and Institutions Shaped India’s Economic Growth

Academic

This term paper was written for Economics 1776: Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, an undergraduate course taught at Harvard College by Benjamin Friedman.

Introduction

Hinduism has no single authoritative scripture from which its believers derive meaning. Unlike the Christian and Jewish traditions, its history does not begin at a singular point or event in history (á la “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”). Neither does there exist in the religion a single mode of worship or even a single object of worship. Its disciples draw upon numerous canons, and as a result, within the umbrella term of Hinduism myriad contrasting schools of thought have existed. For this reason, if it hopes to reach meaningful conclusions, an analysis of Hinduism’s effect on India’s economic development must refrain from a holistic study and must focus on specific components of the greater religion. Vikas Mishra writes of this intricacy, “It is almost naïve to treat Hinduism as one entity. For instance, the economic implications of the ‘Dayabhag’ School of Hindu Law are vastly different from those of the ‘Mitakshara’ School.” Polarizing features can also be discovered in countless other comparisons of Hindu belief sets. For example, the Carvaka school championed materialism while the Ascetic tradition emphasized an aversion toward physical comforts. Interestingly, both beliefs find basis in Hindu scriptures. This disparity between schools of thought in Hinduism complicates the issue at hand.

This study attempts to establish an analysis of the correlations and possible causations regarding certain Hindu beliefs and India’s economic history. It seeks not to make sweeping generalizations about Hinduism, but rather to concentrate on specific aspects of the religion as they relate to the nation’s secular development. To that end, this paper will examine various attitudinal and institutional characteristics of Hinduism and will be generally structured by the enumeration and discussion of these concepts. In doing so, it may be enlightening to also examine within this context other closely related religions such as Buddhism and Jainism. This is by no means an all-encompassing study, but it does address many important connections between Hindu beliefs and structures and India’s economic development.

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“Institutions” and Economic Development

Academic

This paper was written for Economics 1339: Generating Wealth of Nations, a Harvard undergraduate course taught by visiting professor Jeffrey Borland.

Introduction

Defined by Douglass North as the “humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction,” institutions understandably affect many aspects of society, and as such they are often placed at the center of studies regarding the causes of economic development. Indeed, institutions play a strong, if not causal role in economic growth. Though their influence alone cannot explain all economic development, institutions in its various forms are, at the very least, one of the necessary pre-conditions of economic growth and key accomplices of economic stagnation.

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Catch-up and Convergence: Leaders and Followers

Academic

This paper was written for Economics 1339: Generating Wealth of Nations, a Harvard undergraduate course taught by visiting professor Jeffrey Borland.

Introduction

The convergence hypothesis at its most fundamental level posits that countries with lower productivity will tend to grow at faster rates than their more productive neighbors. This theory follows directly from the law of diminishing returns, which explains that the marginal output of a production factor progressively decreases as the factor is increased. Following this logic, a less productive country can exploit the same techniques utilized in more productive countries to achieve a greater output for any given level of input. While theoretically sound, the convergence hypothesis relies upon one key assumption that is not brought to bear in the real world – either no other determinants of productivity growth exist, or countries with varying productivities are equal in all other aspects. Empirical evidence runs contrary to both possibilities. For example, in the period from 1870 to 1913, America continued to increase its already well-established lead in productivity, while the average productivity level of laggard countries in Europe fell. Following the Second World War, however, Europe’s rapid growth and convergence with the United States seems to validate the hypothesis. These discrepancies imply the existence of other important determinants of growth. This paper seeks to examine the mechanisms by which convergence occurs to uncover the characteristics that explain why some laggard countries experience accelerated growth rates, why others with high productivity remain leaders, and why still others fail to ever catch up.

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A Malthusian Study of 20th Century Korean Economic Development

Academic

This paper was written for Economics 1339: Generating Wealth of Nations, a Harvard undergraduate course taught by visiting professor Jeffrey Borland.

Introduction

While there exists substantial literature regarding the application of Malthus’s economic model to European countries prior to and following the Industrial Revolution, little effort has been spent applying the model to Europe’s neighbors in the east. South Korea in particular seems to be a compelling subject, insofar as its meteoric rise to economic power in the 20th century remains largely unprecedented and a fairly complete data set exists for many of its economic indicators. Dubbed the “Miracle on the Han River” by some economists, South Korea’s recent history has seen the country’s per capita national income increase 80-fold from US $125 in 1966 to over US $10,000 in 1995. Like Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution, Korea prior to the Korean War followed the Malthusian economic hypothesis of rising populations preventing sustained increases in standards of living. Statistics from the post-Korean War era up to the present day, however, indicate that South Korea (hereinafter as “Korea”) has since broken free of the Malthusian trap, thanks in large part to a series of government-endorsed economic development plans and also to cultural shifts like the rise in family planning.

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© 2026 Daniel J. Choi

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My friends call me Dan.

Currently, building Recca.

Previously, co-founder @ Plastiq.

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