48670 research outputs found
Sort by
Essays On Corporate Political Strategies And Firm-Stakeholder Relationships
Get PDFThis dissertation examines the nonmarket strategies that firms use to respond to and to create change in the social and political environment. In the first chapter, I document the extent of corporate political connections across Europe and analyze the institutional contingencies of their impact. I find that a political connection increases the annual value of public procurement contracts awarded to firms, but that this positive impact is moderated by accountability institutions that enable different bodies of government to check one another’s power. When accountability institutions are weaker, firms become more likely to hold political connections, and the competition between rival firms to form political connections intensifies, suggesting that nonmarket competition in the political arena becomes increasingly consequential as the constraints of political patronage are weakened. In the second chapter, I analyze the grantmaking behavior of private foundations in the United States and find evidence consistent with philanthropy being used as a tax-advantaged method to influence politics through grantmaking to politically active nonprofits. In the third chapter, co-authored with Brian Ganson and Witold J. Henisz, we develop theories to explain how a firm’s relational strategies might impact the structure of relationships, and hence conflict risk, between groups in conflict-affected areas. Firms can affect broader societal outcomes when their actions, such as the unequal distribution of benefits to majority groups over minority groups, change the tenor of conflict and cooperation between identity groups delineated by ethnic, class, geographic, cultural, or other divides. As such, firms become implicated in shaping how they and their stakeholders reach mutually acceptable settlements in response to collective challenges. In the fourth chapter, co-authored with Anne S. Jamison, we propose a set of a methods to map the structure of relationships between firms and stakeholders in conflict-affected areas. We utilize geo- and time-tagged data from media reports and apply natural language processing techniques to construct a network of relationships between political figures, civil society actors, and firms in Rwanda
Washington, D.c., A Black Aesthetic, & The Politics Of Renewal
Get PDFSince 2010, Washington, D.C. has undergone major shifts in its racial demographics and property value. What was once a city that boasted a seventy percent population of black residents in the 1970s, giving it the moniker “Chocolate City,” has become an urban landscape overrun by developers, construction sites, and new residents who assist in branding the “new” Washington. What does that branding include? Not only new buildings, but an investment in an aesthetics that makes use of “Chocolate City’s” past to define its new and “authentically urban” future. I argue that despite the intentional attempt at erasure of black life and culture from the capital’s landscape, native black Washingtonians continue to produce an aesthetic birthed out of the Chocolate City of the 1970s, but decidedly invested in the contemporary focus on specificity of place. To that end, “Washington, D.C., a Black Aesthetic, & the Politics of Renewal” is an excavation of literary, film and visual artistic production as a means by which to interrogate what I identify as a new practice in black aestheticism. I articulate that black aesthetic, which I term an aesthetics of loss, as existing alongside and despite ongoing displacement and dispossession of black people and black spaces, and I enact a multi-methodological approach to get at its nuance. My work centers around black cultural curators in Washington, D.C. who use literature, film, music, and visual art to inscribe themselves and their communities as in place in the face of systemic erasure. To be clear, by “in place” I mean taking up material place, not just ideological space, on the mapping of the District of Columbia. Ultimately, this dissertation asks: What does it mean to live when you have been pronounced dead
Inference Of Shared Genetic Architecture With Genome-Wide Association Data
Get PDFGenome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified thousands of genetic variants associated with complex traits. Many complex traits and diseases share common genetic architecture. Studying the shared genetic architecture provides valuable insights into the underlying disease mechanisms. In this dissertation, we develop several statistical methods for investigating the shared genetic architecture based on GWAS data. We first discuss the quantification and estimation of the shared genetic architecture based on genetic covariance, which is defined as the underlying covariance of the genetic effects. We develop a unified approach to robust estimation and inference for genetic covariance of general outcomes that can be associated with genetic variants nonlinearly. The theoretical analysis shows that the proposed estimator is robust under certain model mis-specification. Various numerical experiments are performed to support the theoretical results. Application of this method to an outbred mice GWAS data set reveals interesting genetic covariance among different mice developmental traits. We then consider a practical challenge when the raw genotype data are unavailable, but only the GWAS summary association statistics are available. We develop a method of moments estimator of genetic correlation between two traits in the framework of high dimensional linear models. Theoretical properties of the estimator in terms of consistency and asymptotic normality are provided. Simulations and real data analysis results show that the proposed estimator is more robust and has better interpretability than the LD score regression method under different genetic architectures.
Finally, in chapter 4 we discuss the problem of genome-wide detection and identification of shared genetic association, which is a global assessment of the existence of shared genetic architecture. The challenge is that the linkage disequilibrium (LD) between the SNPs makes test statistics highly dependent, which complicates the detection and identification. To account for such a dependency, an eigenvector-projected score statistic is proposed and a max-type test statistic (max-block) is developed for the genome-wide detection of shared associations. The max-block method is easy to calculate and is shown to control the genome-wide error rate. The method is applied to study shared cross-trait associations in 10 pediatric autoimmune diseases, leading to several regions that explain the genetic sharing between diseases
Inalienable Bodies: Palenquera Women And Negotiations Of Embodied Sovereignty In The Colombian Caribbean (cartagena De Indias And San Basilio De Palenque)
No full textThis dissertation, (In)alienable Bodies: Palenquera Women and Negotiations of Embodied Sovereignty in the Colombian Caribbean, explores contemporary configurations of sovereignty for Afro-Colombian women in the context of neoliberal multiculturalism. My approach in this project is twofold. First, I analyze the discursive, symbolic and affective processes through which state and private actors reconfigure Palenquera women as folkloric symbols frozen in the past through a process I term assemblages of alienation. To probe this concept, I illustrate how home-grown versions of multiculturalism, tourism, and heritage attempt to uncouple the bodies of Palenquera women from their sovereign attachments, thereby producing affective intensities of estrangement. Second, I uncover the quotidian practices through which Palenquera women fashion their bodies as a locus of sovereign power and African diasporic kinship. The questions that animate this investigation are, how might attention to embodiment surface the affective dimensions of sovereignty and dispossession? What are the techniques and technologies through which sovereignty becomes fastened to the body? What are the uses and limitations of sovereignty for Black and Indigenous communities in twenty-first century Latin America? Informed by fifty months of engaged ethnographic research in Cartagena and San Basilio de Palenque spread over more than a decade, this multi-sited project draws from archival research, audio-visual documentation, tourism propaganda, and participant observation with Palenquero/as, government officials and major stakeholders in the tourism and heritage industries. Through these methods, I examine how sovereignty becomes produced as an embodied stance, its enactments, and the processes of alienation against which sovereign beings must contend. I conclude through strategic deployments of refusal, disavowal, and opacity, Palenquera women manage to refute processes of alienation and affirm their status as (in)alienable bodies, even while engaging in essentialized forms of cultural performance. This project departs from existing scholarship that positions the Pacific coast as the primary locus of Black politicization in Colombia. Instead, it highlights the local-specificities of Black political action by foregrounding racialized, classed, and gendered modes of grassroots mobilization in the Colombian Caribbean. I investigate the micro social realities of neoliberal multiculturalism and explore the everyday strategies through which Palenquera women articulate themselves within and against the sovereignty of the nation state
Biomass Valorization Using Doped Oxides And Inverse Catalysts
Get PDFWith the increasing demands for sustainable energy and growing concerns of global warming, the use of biomass as a replacement for conventional petroleum has received considerable attention. Phenolic and furanic compounds derived from biomass could potentially serve as platform molecules with valuable chemical structures. However, the technologies to upgrade and utilize such molecules are still under development. This thesis aims to study the capabilities of oxides doped with metal-atom catalysts and metal-oxide, inverse catalysts to transform biomass platform molecules into useful chemicals, such as fuel, surfactant, and lubricants. Firstly, NbOx on Pt was found to be extremely active, selective, and stable for the direct deoxygenation of m-cresol, a model compound for phenolics. The metal-oxide overlayer was found to be the active site for the reaction while Pt itself hydrogenated the aromatic ring. This well-defined inverse catalyst structure was prepared by strong metal-support interactions (SMSI). To provide the H2 economically for the deoxygenation process, different oxides doped with isolated Co atoms were investigated for the dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) was shown to be able to synthesize the single atom structure readily, which is the active site for dehydrogenation. Lastly, aldol condensation of furfural, a furanic model compound, was investigated over the solid-base catalyst, CaO, to increase the carbon chain length. It was found that the aldol condensation rates are high when small ketones were used as the reactants. When larger ketones were used, the Cannizaro reactions could override the aldol condensation and lower the selectivity of furfural to high carbon products. The contributions from these studies should help develop catalytic processes for biomass valorization
Essays In Urban Economics And Public Finance
Get PDFHousing policy poses unique and outsized economic significance. The first chapter, Returns to Political Contributions in Local Housing Markets investigates whether firms donate to political campaigns in order to influence supply in local housing markets. Using new data on local campaign donors in the U.S. and a regression discontinuity design in close mayoral elections, I uncover three key findings. Politically connected residential development firms sell more new housing units, consistent with mayors awarding discretionary favors to donors. Favors shape the supply of new housing citywide, as mayors with more residential development donors double permits for new housing construction. But differences in housing policy between mayors are empirically more important than favors for determining local housing supply. The second chapter, Poverty Alleviation by a Large-Scale Homeownership Program evaluates whether homeownership alleviates poverty by exploiting a large-scale affordable housing program in Brazil. Linking applicants to administrative data on formal employment, we investigate the impact homeownership has on labor supply, earnings, mobility, occupations, and formalization. Becoming a homeowner reduces wages, increases hours worked, and increases formal labor market participation. New homeowners increase public sector employment and, consistent with the home voter hypothesis, political participation. Expanding homeownership primarily accelerates formalization of the poor
Cosmology And Astrophysics From Small Scales
Get PDFCross-correlations between tracers of large-scale structure (LSS), such as galaxies, weak lensing, and thermodynamics of hot gas, provide powerful tests of the cosmological model. In this Ph.D. thesis, we develop analytical models of these tracers and apply them to compare measurements to theoretical predictions of the standard model of cosmology. The complicated non-linear interactions between various components of the Universe present a significant challenge to constraining cosmological or astrophysical models. We aim to maximize the information gained from current and future cosmological datasets in the presence of astrophysical and observational sources of uncertainty. In the first half of the thesis, we describe and validate a hybrid galaxy biasing model (non-linear mapping between dark matter and galaxies) aimed at analyzing the correlations between galaxy positions and weak lensing. We then apply this model to recent data from the Dark Energy Survey, leading to a significant gain in cosmological constraints. In the second half of the thesis, we carry out high significance measurements of cross-correlations between the pressure of hot gas and weak lensing (shear-) and galaxy positions (galaxy-). We constrain the evolution of the average thermal pressure of the Universe and find evidence for reduced pressure in low mass halos. Our results point to the effects of increased baryonic feedback (the impact of supernovae or active galactic nuclei on LSS). These results will help in understanding how baryonic feedback impacts galaxy formation and using the non-linear regime for cosmological analysis with future survey data
Strategic Response In Regional Comprehensive Universities: The Influence Of The Environment In Higher Education
Get PDFU.S. higher education (HE) faces a multitude of challenges brought on by shifts in demography, the economy, technology, and global competition. The disconnect between these realities and HEIs\u27 perception of and response to their organizational environment may have negative implications for national educational attainment and the knowledge economy. While environmental analysis contributes to successful strategic response, many postsecondary leaders struggle to clearly understand their respective organizational environments. This multiple-case study examined how regional comprehensive universities leaders’ understanding of the external environment influenced the strategic response of their institutions. Research findings revealed that environmental scanning and analysis tools influenced leaders’ sensemaking during the strategic planning and, in turn, modulated their institutions’ strategic response. Macro- contextual and prospective sensemaking conditioned a future-focused strategy, relevant to the external organizational environment. In contrast, micro-contextual and retrospective ways of thinking produced an internally-oriented strategic response. This study provides evidence that universities’ leaders routinely make sense of their internal organizational environment, but only occasionally engage in sensemaking of the external surroundings. While the study confirms that university presidents played a crucial role in the strategy creation process, it also reveals that their average tenure might not be long enough to produce a successful strategic response. Findings illustrates how internal organizational challenges might lead to a deviated use of the strategic planning process, as compared to the processes suggested by extant literature. This research enhances extant theory via evidence that a developed definition of “strategy” separate from “planning” is crucial for producing an externally relevant organizational strategy. These findings could help HE practitioners to better understand their organizational environments and to enact strategic decision-making which allows for effective strategic response by their entire institutions. Understanding the relationships between the type of sensemaking and organizational environment as well as using macro-contextual, prospective, and routine scanning and analysis tools could produce an externally relevant strategic response
Cognitive Processes In L2 Vocabulary Acquisition: Exploring The Effects Of Four Online Vocabulary Tasks For Learners Of Different Proficiency Levels
Get PDFThis study investigates the effects of four online vocabulary tasks on second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition among learners of different proficiency levels. While tasks are widely used to support L2 vocabulary learning, the efficacy of a task depends on the interplay between task and learner factors. Thus, choosing an appropriate task requires not only identifying the task features which may foster cognitive processes that contribute to learning, but also considering how the effects of such features may be moderated by factors outside of the task. The present study aims to provide insights into this issue by exploring the effects of various task features on L2 vocabulary acquisition and the potential moderating role of one learner factor, L2 proficiency. Drawing from the involvement load hypothesis (ILH) and technique feature analysis (TFA), four instructional tasks which varied in their inclusion of features believed to facilitate vocabulary learning were selected for the study: (a) sentence writing (SW), (b) fill-in-the-blank (FIB), (c) fill-in-the-blank with pictures and audio (FIB+PA), and (d) word study with pictures and audio plus fill-in-the-blank (WS+PA+FIB). A total of 75 participants with high intermediate or advanced proficiency in English were randomly assigned to complete one of the four instructional tasks or a control task online. Participants’ vocabulary knowledge was measured through a modified version of the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) and a multiple-choice recognition test from which meaning recall, meaning recognition, and total VKS scores were obtained. Findings from multiple regression analyses and ANOVAs indicated that in general, the instructional tasks led to greater learning gains than the control task. Furthermore, among the instructional tasks, SW and WS+PA+FIB tended to be more effective than FIB and FIB+PA in promoting vocabulary learning. However, there was also evidence that the effects of the tasks were moderated by L2 proficiency, as SW and FIB effects were found to be more salient for advanced learners. These results are interpreted from the perspective of different cognitive processing theories, and the implications for L2 vocabulary acquisition theory and pedagogy are discussed
Rethinking The Heavy Hand Of Flood Prevention In Informal Settlements: An Investigation Of Retreat-Related Practices In The Philippines
No full textResearchers and decision-makers increasingly favor the adaptation strategy of managed retreat to address urban floods exacerbated by climate impacts. But as opposed to contexts in the Global North, national governments, development banks, and other knowledge brokers in the Global South employ retreat-related activities to disproportionately relocate informal settlers – who lack legal land tenure – to ostensibly lower-risk areas. Many of these relocation programs target risk-prone settlements with feasibility profiles similar to those that the U.N. and other global bodies instead recommend upgrading in-situ with climate-sensitive modifications. This dissertation examines two questions: (1) why do governments engaging in retreat policy in informal settlements tend to favor relocation rather than in-situ approaches, and (2) under what conditions would these governments be open to employ in-situ adaptation approaches more often? As an exemplar, this study evaluates retreat-related policies in Manila, Philippines because of the city’s high exposure to urban flooding, large number of informal settlers, and extensive application of both relocation and upgrading programs. It uses text and map analysis, participant observations, and 20 virtual interviews with public, private, and nongovernmental representatives to investigate activities of three national retreat-related programs between 2010 and 2016 at five project sites selected as case studies. Evidence suggests that state-led relocation patterns in the Philippines more often align with economically-driven land use changes than disaster-driven or planned modes of retreat. Government logics justified both in-city relocations using short-term time horizons and onsite upgrades without mitigation measures for future climate impacts on a project-by-project basis. By beginning to detail key place-based factors, logics, and practices driving government-led retreat in the name of urban flood prevention, this study opens up a menu of adaptation pathways and strategies tailored to different contexts and forms of decision-making. Planning scholars and practitioners can use these results to identify and facilitate more diverse, locally appropriate forms of adaptation in the Global South. Rather than approaching retreat as an exercise for relocating people, stakeholders throughout the Global South can integrate land use and livelihood considerations – when feasible – to ensure that residents can safely stay-in-place as long as possible while they plan future movements