9150 research outputs found
Sort by
Give it a Nudge: A Comparative Analysis of the Values and Application of Voluntary Environmental Programs in the United States
Get PDFIn recent years, companies have increased their voluntary commitments to reducing carbon emissions and implementing sustainability goals. While existing research mainly focuses on government-organized voluntary environmental programs (VEPs), exploring corporate voluntary commitments is essential. The business sector’s active role in environmental management is noteworthy. Traditionally, governments have relied on command-and-control regulations and market incentives to compel companies to protect the environment. However, companies are now demonstrating a willingness to go beyond legal requirements. Naturally, we seek answers to whether these commitments are effective, what factors can contribute to their authenticity, and how we compare these voluntary commitments to other VEPs.
Research on VEPs began in the 1990s and peaked between 2002 and 2008. During this period, scholars primarily focused on government-organized VEPs, overlooking business-led corporate social responsibility initiatives and VEPs organized by civil society organizations (CSOs). Comparing VEPs’ direct results to mandatory approaches, researchers found that VEPs had limited benefits due to weaker outcomes. However, it is challenging to quantify VEPs’ benefits by only numbers. Notably, existing research predominantly studied Western countries’ programs and comparison studies, but excluded China (the world’s second-largest economy). To address these limitations, this thesis systematically reviews VEPs developed by businesses, CSOs, and government agencies in the United States and China. This research aims to enhance our understanding of VEP effectiveness and impact by examining various social actors\u27 contributions.
The thesis explored the following questions: (1) Differentiate key terms used in existing research– VEPs and voluntary approaches. (2) What motivates different social actors to develop VEPs? (3) How to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of these VEPs? (4) How does existing law in different societal settings support VEPs’ development and implementation? (5) What is the relationship between VEPs and future legislation? Would different societal settings matter? The thesis adopted a program-organizer-oriented perspective, focusing on the key players involved in VEPs: program organizers, participants, and supervisors. By examining these interactions, the research sheds light on effective environmental governance strategies.
Chapters 2 to 4 delve into the incentives driving companies, CSOs, and government agencies to develop VEPs in the United States and China. The thesis proposes a checklist-like framework to evaluate VEP effectiveness and authenticity applied in the aforementioned chapters. This framework comprises four key indicators: the organizer’s willingness, the substantial content of the VEP design, stakeholder participation, and the quality of information disclosure. The thesis further examines and compares how existing laws in the U.S. and China regulate the proposed indicators and whether these legal requirements contribute to VEPs’ effectiveness.
Additionally, Chapters 2 to 4 examine how existing laws in both countries regulate these proposed indicators and their impact on VEP effectiveness. Importantly, each chapter identifies conditions that influence the translation of VEPs into future legislation; it also highlights the limitations within current legal frameworks, hindering the establishment of effective multi-actor schemes to hold VEP participants accountable for their commitments.
Chapter 5 is the final chapter, comparing three distinct types of VEPs organized by different social actors (businesses, CSOs and government agencies). Despite differences in governmental systems, remarkable similarities emerge between VEP developments in the United States and China. The thesis (based on the discussions in previous chapters) reveals that VEPs transcend their role as mere flexible, cost-effective engagement alternatives described in the existing literature. Instead, they serve as bridges to future legislation and solutions for environmental gridlocks. These findings hold true across diverse societal settings. Chapter 5 further concludes with practical suggestions to enhance collaboration among businesses, CSOs, and governments in both countries through effective VEP development and implementation
LINK Virtual Forum on Authentic Assessment for Early Childhood Intervention: Interdisciplinary & International Consensus
Get PDFThe LINK Virtual Forum on Authentic Assessment for Early Childhood Intervention: Interdisciplinary & International Consensus was orchestrated through a series of virtual focus-groups during the pandemic in 2021-2022. This new strategy for conducting a more robust national/international consumer social validity study gathered practice-based evidence from the field using national and international expert panel focus groups and an expert panel forum to survey Authentic Assessment experts and users. Uniquely, these deliberations relied upon the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) among participants to reach consensus decisions and Qualtrics survey results. The decision-making process addressed types of assessment measures that address early childhood intervention purposes best, but also, what specific processes and procedures best engage parents, professionals, and young children in a developmentally-appropriate and ecological assessment using best practice competencies and standards in the field to fulfill diverse ECI purposes. The central organizing feature of the Focus Groups and the Forum was the use of seven disciplinary focus groups (n=56) with membership selected by a disciplinary chairperson and the authors consisting of the following interdisciplinary professional groups: Early Childhood Educators/Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Educators; Speech/Language Specialists; Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists; Psychologists; University Faculty Representatives, and International Experts. We recruited a national and international representative sample of interdisciplinary participants (n=56) from the US, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Holland, China, Colombia, Korea, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, for two major LINK activities: (1) LINK Expert Panel Focus Groups (n=7); and (2) a cross-disciplinary LINK Expert Panel Forum. The process and outcome data on best practices in AA for ECI from the LINK Forum were based on the consensus of interdisciplinary and international experts in the ECI field.
Keywords: authentic assessment; early childhood intervention; recommended practices; best practices; international; interdisciplinar
DECREASING THE UNITED STATES’ MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE: USING POLICIES OF OTHER HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES AS A MODEL
Get PDFThe United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income countries. This article focuses on policies the United States can implement to decrease the maternal mortality rate, with a focus on access to abortion, the standard of care for pregnant women and new mothers, access to healthcare, and family leave. This article also explores policies surrounding those areas in other high-income countries and analyzes the differences in both the actual policies and the outcomes of those policies. To effectively decrease the maternal mortality rate in the United States, policies from other high-income countries, with lower maternal mortality rates should be enacted. Finally, this article explains the likely result of implementing these policies in the United States. This article is meant to serve as a framework for decreasing the maternal mortality rate in the United States by adopting the policies of other high-income countries
The Transmogrification of Moratoria in Support of Rent Regulations: False Steps to Affordable Housing
Get PDFThe real challenge in property law is demarcating its contours. In this Article, I explore current challenges to our conception of property and the courts\u27 specification or retraction of long-recognized limits on government interference for larger societal benefits. I am largely prompted by recent rulings in state and federal courts on moratoria on evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing burdens of rent regulation in a world of persistent housing shortages. In Part II, I discuss property law theories as a backdrop to the discussion of political limits, with a brief summary of how the concepts have evolved over time. In Part III, I give a history of the use of “moratoria” in various contexts and discuss their economic and social efficacy as well as the legal challenges to moratoria and why, without specific limits and objectives, they should be regarded as takings that require compensation to the landowners affected. In Part IV, I show how moratoria in the form of rent regulation have become permanent constraints. In Part V, I will attempt to draw lines between regulatory takings cases, in particular, Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid and the moratoria cases. Finally, I conclude by offering suggestions for dealing with competing claims to property that might be useful in the next national health or economic crisis
Press Release: Pace University to Kick-Off Social Justice Week on October 26
No full textPace University will kick-off its annual Social Justice Week on Saturday across its three campuses – in lower Manhattan, Pleasantville, and at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law in White Plains. In its fifth year, the week features events that adhere to values of equity and inclusion while engaging the campus community in learning activities and dialogue centered on the issues of social justice.
The original article, with additional photos, can be viewed her