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Donors' responses to profit incentives in the social sector: the entrepreneurial orientation reward and the profit penalty
No full textJournal of Policy Analysis and Management, Volume 39, Issue 1, 1 January 2020, Pages 218-242.This study uses an online survey experiment to test whether the pairing of profit-seeking with mission-related programs in the social sector attracts or deters donations from individual donors. We test individuals’ response to three types of profit incentives allowed under current U.S. public policy: (1) non-distributed profit to an organization, which is allowed for nonprofit entities; (2) profit to the organization's equity investors and owners, which is allowed under for-profit social enterprise governance charters; and (3) profit to lending investors, which is introduced by social impact bonds, a pay-for-success policy tool. We test trust theory, under which profit incentives deter donors against entrepreneurial orientation (EO) theory, which suggests that donors are attracted to organizations that use innovative, market-driven programs. Findings indicate support for both theories, but the support depends on how the specific profit incentive is structured. Donors support organizations that use profit-generating social enterprise programs—but only when the profits are non-distributable; donors’ support is significantly lower for social enterprises in which owners and equity investors may profit. Importantly however, this negative effect is not found for pay-for-success policy tools where lending investors, rather than equity investors and owners, receive profits
Evaluating interest in off-label use of disinfectants for COVID-19
No full textThe Lancet Digital Health, Volume 2, Issue 11, November 2020, Pages e564-e566
Take-out order pick up at a local restaurant
No full textIn the photo on the left, a person stands at the takeout window at Bistro Bohem, a restaurant on Florida Avenue NW. A worker stands in the other side of the window. The words 'bistro' is painted above the window. The photo on the right features a close-up of the sandwich board on the sidewalk that reads: 'We are open and ready for your takeout orders. 202 735 5895' along with a star and an exclamation point
2018-04 Marx, the predisposition to reject markets and private property, and the attractive alternatives to capitalism
No full textDepartment of Economics. Working Paper Series no. 2018-04. 15 pages.Ever since capitalism came to be recognized as a new economic system, its principal institutions of private property and markets have had vociferous critics, of whom none was more wide-ranging and influential than Karl Marx. Marx claimed that not only were private property and markets critical to creating an ideological patina of freedom behind which, as in slavery and feudalism, a small class extracted from the mass of producers practically all output above that necessary for bare subsistence, they were also corrupting. Yet, Marx recognized that capitalism, unlike earlier exploitative systems, was radically dynamic, producing unprecedented wealth, while transforming not only all it inherited from the past, but also its own nature so as to eventually empower even the producers, who he believed would abandon these capitalist institutions. This article claims Marx was correct in identifying the core problem of capitalism to be its extreme inequality in the ownership and control of the means of production, but that finding fault with private property and markets has been a mistake that has impeded the generation of an attractive and viable alternative to capitalism. It concludes with an outline of an alternative which would eliminate the core problem of exploitation due to unequal ownership and control of the means of production, while retaining roles for private property and markets. It would entail two components: Guaranteed employment at living wages and democratic worker control of firms
HOUSEHOLD HOUSING DECISIONS UNDER UNCERTAINTY
No full textReal estate is the largest component in most American households' portfolios. Prior studies have shown both negative and positive relations between uncertainty and households' housing decisions. This dissertation makes an effort to reconcile the differences in the literature through theoretical and empirical work that links uncertainty and households' housing decisions from a real options perspective. In the first chapter, I provide novel empirical evidence to show the importance of uncertainty in explaining households' several housing decisions - housing consumption, housing investment and mortgage default. After controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, I find that the effect of uncertainty has opposite signs on housing purchase decisions depending on the type of purchase (primary residence or investment property). I also find that uncertainty contributes to households' default decisions beyond other factors that have previously been identified in the literature. In addition to identifying the sign of the effect of uncertainty, I show that the uncertainty effect varies depending on the household's risk aversion, which is consistent with the predictions from a theoretical real options perspective. The second chapter introduces a real options type of model to explain from a theoretical perspective why the effect of uncertainty on households' home purchase decisions can depend on the type of a home purchase. Based on a real options approach introduced in Miao and Wang (2007) the model captures the dual nature of housing as a consumption good and an investment vehicle. It explains the uncertainty effect on the optimal timing of home purchase decisions either as a consumption good or as an investment. Unlike previous studies that rely on risk-neutral assumptions in the valuations of real options in explaining uncertainty effect on households' decisions, the model recognizes idiosyncratic risks and households' precautionary saving motives which allow the effect of uncertainty to vary across different degrees of risk-aversion. The third chapter introduces a real options type of model to explain the effect of uncertainty on households' default decisions. Unlike previous studies that focus on the link between uncertainty and investment decisions,the model shows the usefulness of a real options approach in explaining households' default decisions. The model predicts a positive relation between uncertainty and households' default decisions, which is consistent with the empirical results from the first chapter.EconomicsEconomicsDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Economics. American Universit
Person wearing mask walks dog across a crosswalk
No full textBlack and white photo of a person wearing a mask walking a dog across a crosswalk. The United States Capitol looms in the background
We Are Family' sign hanging on railing
No full textHomemade brown sign that reads 'We Are Family' in multiple colors is tied to a railing with pink string
EFFECTS OF BRIEF MINDFULNESS PRACTICES ON BODY IMAGE IN COLLEGE-AGED WOMEN
No full textPrevious research suggests a correlation between mindfulness and body image, but very little experimental research has been done to examine the differential effects that various mindfulness techniques can have on body image. 59 college-aged women were randomly assigned to complete either a loving-kindness meditation practice or a body scan meditation practice daily for one week. Body appreciation, body dissatisfaction, and appearance-contingent self-worth were assessed at baseline one week pre-intervention, on the first day of the intervention, and at post-intervention. State body image was assessed prior to and following each mindfulness practice. Qualitative data regarding comfort and satisfaction with the mindfulness practices was collected upon completion of the study. Body appreciation improved significantly more after a week of mindfulness practice than after a control week, but body dissatisfaction and appearance-contingent self-worth did not. Improvements in body appreciation were negatively correlated with baseline body appreciation. There were no significant differences in effects of mindfulness practice on outcome measures across experimental groups. Participants experienced significant increases in state body image after completing each mindfulness practice, but there were no differences in these increases across experimental groups. Overarching themes observed in qualitative response content are discussed.PsychologyPsychologyDegree Awarded: M.A. Psychology. American Universit
One second clips from quarantine
No full textOne second clips from quarantine, featuring homemade foods, virtual get-togethers, face masks, pets, reading material, and nature