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Three Essays on Actual Share Repurchases:
No full textThesis advisor: Thomas ChemmanurThesis advisor: David SolomonThis document comprises three essays regarding actual share repurchases. In Chapter 1, I show that external pressure in the form of equity analysts asking questions about a firm's actual repurchases can lead firms to more extensively follow through on their recently announced open market share repurchase programs. Such a phenomenon cannot be explained by mere firm characteristics. Instead, only analysts' questions that are shorter, more focused on share repurchases, and blunter in language appear to drive firms for greater follow-throughs. The second essay, detailed in Chapter 2, presents another motivation for firms to actually buy back shares under their active open market share repurchase programs. Specifically, firms with higher accounting quality will likely repurchase more shares to signal their accounting superiority after another firm operating in the same product market issues a financial restatement. As a result, the repurchasing firms separate from the pooling equilibrium with lower accounting quality firms and thus incur lower accounting-related litigation risks. Finally, in the third essay, located in Chapter 3, we compare cash dividends with share repurchases. Firms with greater heterogeneity in beliefs between insiders and outsiders, and among outside equity holders more likely prefer share repurchases to cash dividends for payout. Importantly, this finding can partially explain the disappearing dividend puzzle where rising heterogeneity in beliefs in the economy may have contributed to the substitution of cash dividends with share repurchases in the past two decades.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023.Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management.Discipline: Finance
Catholic Priest, American-Catholic Lawyer: William J. Kenealy and the Neo-Scholastic Legal Revival, 1939-1956
No full textThesis advisor: Mark S. Massa, S.J.Since the publication of Harvard Law School professor Adrian Vermeule’s now-infamous 2020 essay in The Atlantic, “Beyond Originalism,” American legal scholars have developed a renewed interest in natural law jurisprudence’s position in the American legal tradition. Although many of Vermeule’s critics have framed his jurisprudential method as foreign to the American legal tradition, American legal scholars likewise engaged in important debates about natural law jurisprudence nearly a century ago. During this earlier period, scholars debated whether natural law jurisprudence's reliance on deductive reasoning could withstand the inductive and socially scientific methods that became popular at elite American law schools during the 1920s and 1930s. To understand this earlier iteration of debate over natural law jurisprudence, this thesis turns to the life and legacy of William J. Kenealy—a Jesuit priest who served as dean of the Boston College Law School between 1939 and 1956. Although Kenealy has been almost entirely ignored in the historiography, he figured prominently in an attempted revival of natural law jurisprudence that occurred during the early/mid-twentieth century. Terming this movement the “Neo-Scholastic Legal Revival” because of its reliance on Neo-Scholastic understandings of natural law philosophy, this thesis uncovers how Kenealy's religious formation at the turn of the twentieth century, legal training at the Jesuit-run Georgetown University, and wartime leadership at Boston College positioned him well to contribute to the Revival. In doing so, this thesis reveals that leaders in the Revival, including Kenealy, exerted cognizable influence on twentieth-century American legal discourse. Thus, this thesis challenges dominant historical treatments of twentieth-century American legal development that have ignored an attempted revival of natural law jurisprudence that occurred almost a century before Vermeule emerged in the national legal consciousness.Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2023.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: History
ADouble-Edged Sword: The (Un)Intended Consequences of No-Excuses Charter Schools on College Success
No full textThesis advisor: Karen D. ArnoldNo-excuses charter schools are arguably the most successful and controversial school-choice model of the last quarter century (Cheng et al., 2017). Typically following a college-for-all ethos, they demonstrate sizable gains in test scores and college acceptance rates for marginalized student populations (Davis & Heller, 2019). However, concerns regarding how these schools achieve these short-term outcomes using strict practices warrants further qualitative investigation (Golann, 2015). A paucity of research explores the influence of no-excuses practices on long-term college success outcomes extending beyond graduation and persistence rates to include well-being, career preparation, academic growth, and satisfaction (Mehta, 2020). This three-article dissertation investigates the perceived influence of a no-excuses charter high school on four-year college success from multiple perspectives. Following a qualitative case study approach (Merriam, 1998) grounded in a conceptual model of college success (Perna & Thomas, 2006), the study utilizes observations, document review, and semi-structured interviews––some including photo-elicitation (Harper, 2002). Article One explores the four-year college experiences of no-excuses charter high school alumni. Article Two examines institutional agents’ roles in implementing college-for-all practices within a no-excuses charter high school. Article Three draws on this case study to propose a process for merging qualitative research and program theory development for school improvement (Funnell & Rogers, 2011; Joyce & Cartwright, 2021). These articles identify and expound upon certain no-excuses components that positively and negatively contribute to students’ college success. Aspirational college talk, comprehensive college and financial aid application support, and a caring environment contributed to four-year college matriculation. However, pressure institutional agents experienced to meet short-term outcomes associated with normative definitions of college success resulted in one-size-fits-all approaches to teaching, behavior management, and college preparation that minimized opportunities for students’ identity formation, noncognitive skill development, social-emotional learning, and discovery of intrinsic college-going motivation. This study offers recommendations for (re)envisioning college-for-all policies and school-based practices to be more flexible, student-centered, and culturally responsive in ways that honor a student’s personhood while helping them go to college, thrive, and graduate.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education
TheChristian Worldview and the Formation of Theo-Political Citizens: An Ethno-Case Study of a Conservative Christian School
Get PDFThesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-SmithThis dissertation presents an ethno-case study explaining how students at a conservative Christian high school were socialized into ideas about civic and public life in a pluralistic society. Drawing on democratic educational theory and institutional theory to analyze ethnographic data gathered during a full school year of observations, interviews, and document collection, this dissertation addresses the following questions: (1) What are the logics, practices, and symbolic representations concerning civic identity and participation in democratic society conveyed explicitly and implicitly at a conservative Christian high school? (2) How do students understand and engage with ideas about civic identity and participation conveyed at that school? (3) How do families understand and engage with these ideas about civic identity and participation? This dissertation argues that the school was organized around a theo-political institutional logic committed to the absolute truth of Christianity. This logic was symbolically represented in the language and concepts of the “Christian worldview” and reinforced through consistent and recurrent school practices that shaped students’ behavior and their ways of interpreting the world. This theo-political logic, which was pervasive throughout formal and informal curriculum and instruction at the school, presented an all-encompassing vision of Christianity as “the truth” and offered a coherent connection between doctrinal beliefs and actual behavior. This logic was also notable for what it omitted and lacked, particularly acknowledgment of the racialized nature of schooling and society, attention to the pluralism of worldviews in a diverse democratic nation, and recognition of the systemic and structural causes of injustice in society. The emphases as well as the omissions of the theo-political logic at the school shaped students’ civic identity as first and foremost a religious identity, which meant engaging with society to promote conservative social policies, candidates, and political perspectives. The dissertation shows that students largely embraced the theo-political logic that animated the school, and their parents chose the school because of the presence of this logic.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction
Bacterial multi-omics profiling reveals novel routes to immune evasion and disease outcome: Towards targeted therapeutic strategies
No full textThesis advisor: Tim van OpijnenAlthough vaccines and antibiotics have been historically successful in combating bacterial infections, limited vaccine coverage and the rise of antibiotic resistance emphasize the need to develop alternative, broadly effective, and/or targeted treatment strategies to reduce the health burden of bacterial infections. Rather than relying on therapeutics solely targeting the bacterial pathogen, such as standard antibiotics, therapies that simultaneously focus on host responses are emerging. In this thesis, we propose 'host-informed therapies' (HITs) in two categories: those that aid patients with fully functional immune systems and those that aid patients with perturbed immune processes, as promising alternative or adjunctive treatment strategies for bacterial infections. The host-pathogen interaction during infection is a highly dynamic process between diverse bacterial pathogens and hosts with varying degrees of susceptibility. Systems biology approaches have provided an understanding of host-pathogen parameters globally through the detection of putative biomarkers for diagnosis and identification of critical interactions to discover novel drug targets. However, there remains a gap in understanding bacterial pathogenesis in the context of designing novel host-informed therapies. Here, we use Streptococcus pneumoniae, the gram-positive pathogen responsible for the majority of bacterial respiratory tract infections worldwide, as a case study to: (1) Generate a genome-wide map of bacterial immune (complement) evasion targets to design novel host-informed therapies, (2) generate a dual host/pathogen transcriptome map to identify signatures of infection outcome, and (3) validate signatures of bacterial antibiotic tolerance in a mouse lung infection model. Overall, this work exemplifies how systems biology methods can elucidate the intricacies of bacterial pathogenesis but, more importantly, aid in the target identification, validation, and design of antibacterial host-informed therapies.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Biology
Spaces Matter: Examining the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Implications of Social Spaces, Physical and Ideological, on Women of Color Navigating Law School and Post-Graduate Endeavors
Get PDFThesis advisor: Celeste WellsThis thesis explores the ways in which physical and ideological spaces influence the experiences of women of color in law school and their subsequent perception of those spaces. Participants were interviewed and asked questions about their holistic experience in law school. The researcher applied Oyserman’s racial-ethnic self-schemas theory and Crenshaw’s intersectionality approach to analyze and interpret the findings of the data. Ultimately, it was concluded that women of color recognized their law school’s ability to prepare them to be lawyers but felt less so about their ability to navigate the professional legal industry as a woman of color. In addition, the thesis argues that the negative experiences of women of color go beyond imposter syndrome and other identity-based elements. Instead, it is more directly rooted in the spaces in law school, specifically related to the pedagogical model of the institution that clashes with identity-based experiences. Thus, the thesis suggests ways that law schools can better support women of color and a direction for future areas of study.Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2023.Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Departmental Honors.Discipline: Communication
Alzheimer’s Disease and Social Engagement: A Comparative Examination of Memory Care Facilities in Massachusetts
Get PDFThesis advisor: Alyssa GoldmanPeople’s needs for social engagement vary over the life course. Social engagement for individuals residing in memory care facilities is an important topic to research because this population benefits greatly from active participation in the communities in which they reside. This study examines the following research questions: To what extent does the facility in which adults with Alzheimer’s disease reside impact their social ties? How do the facilities differ in facilitating social engagement? I interviewed ten memory care facility employees across seven facilities in Massachusetts and found patterns in visitation for family members and friends of Alzheimer’s residents and social engagement for residents in memory care. Individual factors that affect visitation include family dynamics and disease progression. Structural factors that affect visitation include geographic location and religion. These findings are useful to inform policy and recognize increased opportunities for social engagement as an opportunity for facilities to slow disease progression.Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2023.Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Departmental Honors.Discipline: Sociology
Sentinel-2 and Landsat Derived Suspended Sediment Concentrations: Applicability to Multi-Dammed River Systems
Get PDFThesis advisor: Noah SnyderThe dynamics of river suspended sediment, derived from soil erosion, is critical for understanding floodplain and coastal wetland evolution, as well as reservoir sedimentation. Although the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has collected > 105 suspended sediment concentration (SSC) samples, data availability is often sparse or altogether lacking for large river transects. Landsat derived SSC measurements have proven accurate enough to supplement USGS datasets, allowing unprecedented spatial analysis of SSC trends throughout large river systems (Dethier et al. 2020). Here, I build on this approach by applying it to higher spatial and temporal resolution datasets. I have derived suspended sediment concentrations from the Sentinel-2 satellite sensor through a cluster and regression approach. To increase the number of training samples, I constructed SSC-discharge rating curves for all in-situ USGS stations. This has constrained the uncertainty of Sentinel-2 derived SSC to less than a factor of two, which has proven adequate for large rivers. In combination with the Landsat record, this allows for a multi-decadal analysis of sediment transport dynamics across multi-dammed systems. This study applies these methods to the Chattahoochee River in Georgia and Alabama, USA. Using observations from 1984 to 2022, there exists pronounced decreases in SSC downstream of dams along the river, with downstream reaches never regaining the same values as upstream observations. Also evident is a decreasing trend in SSC temporally, which could be indicative of changing land-use practices. Code for this project is publicly available at github.com/ivalencius/sentinel-ssc.Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2023.Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Scholar of the College.Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Designing Collaborative Learning in an Online Learning Environment: A Case Study
No full textThesis advisor: Ana M. Martínez AlemánThis qualitative research study examined the design of collaborative learning experiences in an online graduate course in educational leadership. Based on principles of design-based research, this single case study analyzed the design process among the faculty member and learning design team who created the course. Data were also gathered from the first time the course was completed by students. Content analysis was the primary method to analyze data sources that included design documentation, interviews with faculty and the learning design team, images of course modules in the university Learning Management System, transcripts of synchronous learning exchanges among students and the faculty, team-based assignment submissions, and a survey of students. Findings revealed that the design of collaborative learning experiences was dependent on the nature of the learning goals. The instructor oriented students toward the collaborative culture of the online course and employed numerous learning supports and facilitation strategies to aid them. Collaborative learning design was rooted in the learning sciences, social interdependence theory, and the conceptualization of the virtual classroom as a space for play and creativity. Student collaboration involved synthesis of readings, team-based design exercises, and supporting each other in making progress towards program-level goals. Students regularly engaged in metacognitive activity to reflect on their learning individually and as a collective. Students found the learning supports valuable and collaborative learning experiences challenging but affirming of their identities as graduate students. This study contributes to theory about designing and facilitating online collaborative learning in graduate programs and offers design considerations to guide future efforts in learning design.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education
Mapping the State and Pathways to Strengthen Services for Children in the Nepalese Juvenile Justice System:
No full textThesis advisor: Shanta PandeyChildren in conflict with the law are a significant global concern. Although the actual number of children in conflict with the law globally is unknown, on any day in 2020, approximately 261,200 children were in detention (UNICEF, 2021). HRW (2019) estimates that about 1.5 million children worldwide are detained annually, often illegally and unnecessarily, and deprived of liberty and basic needs. In seven countries in South Asia, about 44,900 children were in detention in 2020, and children can spend considerable time in pre-trial detention in many countries, e.g., 410,000 children were held in remand centers globally in 2018 (UNICEF, 2021). An earlier report highlighted that 59% of children in detention in South Asia had not been tried and sentenced, and pre-trial detention is regularly used as a sanction, violating the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty (UNICEF, 2006).
Furthermore, detention conditions are generally sub-standard, overcrowded, and deny children their rights, such as the right to appropriate health and education standards; also, they regularly house children with adults, which increases the risk for violence, abuse, and exploitation (UNICEF, 2006). Notably, higher-quality service delivery corresponds to positive outcomes for vulnerable youths (Sanders et al., 2017). However, many juvenile justice systems overlook these aspects as they are adult-centered and not adapted to the needs and rights of children.
Nepal is also increasingly affected by children coming into conflict with the law. The Act Relating to Children, 2018 defines a child as someone who has not completed the age of eighteen. Nepal saw a 118% increase in the number of children in conflict with the law between 2017/18 and 2018/19 (NCRC, 2020) compared to a 70% increase from 2015/16 to 2016/17 (CCWB, 2017). However, juvenile delinquency in Nepal has received little attention from researchers, administrators, and social workers (CWIN, 2013). Furthermore, existing literature on the juvenile justice system in Nepal disproportionately focuses on describing the legal system (see CeLRRD, 2001; Ghimire, 2013; Khatiwada, 2005; Mainali, 2018; Sangroula, 2004; Silwal, 2006) rather than identifying potential entry points for evidence-based systems strengthening. The increase in the number of children in conflict with the law, the identification of multiple issues within the justice system globally, including deprivation of liberty and inadequate services, and an under-exploration of the service delivery within the Nepalese juvenile justice system warrant scholarly attention.
This three-paper dissertation investigated the under-researched areas of the Nepalese juvenile justice system to map a comprehensive picture of the extant services and service delivery from the lived experiences and perspectives of the service providers, i.e., the employees of the juvenile justice system, including the juvenile bench workers, and the service users, i.e., children in conflict with the law residing in correctional facilities. The author conducted in-depth interviews with 14 employees working with major organizations in the Nepalese juvenile justice system, 14 social workers assigned to serve on juvenile benches, and 16 youths from correctional facilities. In addition, 150 youths from correctional facilities completed a structured survey.
The results illuminated that the Nepalese juvenile justice system struggles to provide adequate services to children in conflict with the law. It exhibited children's unmet survival, protection, participation, and development needs. Employees of the correctional homes and children within them reported several challenges in meeting the food, shelter, health, and education needs of children; children were beaten, threatened, handcuffed, and even abused or exploited by other children within the system; children and young people could not freely express themselves and were not heard in matters affecting their everyday lives; and children had limited opportunities for skill development. The agency representatives of the juvenile justice system identified inadequate budget and meagre infrastructure and professionals as the major challenges in service delivery. Social workers on the juvenile benches expressed that the benches did not function as provisioned in The Act Relating to Children, 2018 since social workers rarely shared the bench with the judge, child-friendly infrastructures were largely absent and underused when present, the judges were inadequately trained, and social workers were not paid for their services or were underpaid. The findings also revealed serious well-being concerns for children in the Nepalese juvenile justice system, including inappropriate treatment and delayed or denied justice.
The respondents’ suggestions to improve service delivery with the Nepalese juvenile justice system included immediately separating the youths from children; setting up standards for operating juvenile correctional homes; expanding and strengthening the homes, including increasing the daily allowances and allocating a separate budget for health; ensuring timely decisions on cases; using legal provisions effectively, including diversion and probation officers; providing adequate opportunities for skill development and income generation within the correctional homes; developing sufficient and appropriate human resources for the juvenile justice system, including social workers and counselors; and identifying and replicating good practices within the system.
The dissertation highlights the key areas needing intervention, providing a vantage point to plan and implement the necessary intervention. Thus, it establishes itself as an essential reference document for social work practitioners, researchers, and policymakers concerned about improving services and service delivery for children in conflict with the law in Nepal.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work.Discipline: Social Work