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Unemployment Insurance Policies and Employment
No full textThis dissertation consists of three essays concerning the way in which the unemployment insurance (UI) system in the United States affects the dynamics of labor markets, through the financing and the provision of unemployment benefits. The first chapter provides background on the financing of the UI system. In the U.S. unemployment benefits are financed with employer payroll taxes using experience rating methods, which consist of assigning a tax rate based on the firm's history of unemployed workers who collected unemployment benefits. This creates a cost to the firm when changing employment downward: the expected UI marginal tax cost (EMTC). However, these methods are imperfect in that not every additional separation increases UI taxes (there are minimum and maximum tax rates). I implement a novel empirical measure of the EMTC assuming firms have rational expectations. I find that, on average, firms expect to pay about 56\% of the additional unemployment benefit, with the remaining subsidized. This subsidy has potential implications for the dynamics of labor markets, which I explore in subsequent chapters. The second chapter studies the effect of increasing unemployment benefits on employment under an imperfect experience rating UI system. An endogeneity problem arises because both subsidized and total unemployment benefits respond endogenously to employment shocks. Thus, I construct instruments to overcome endogeneity by interacting systematic differences across states with aggregate shocks. I find that subsidized unemployment benefits reduced employment during the Great Recession. Also, using job flows data, I show that subsidized unemployment benefits have a positive effect on job separations, consistent with the negative effect on employment, while having little effect on job creations. The last chapter studies the effect of unemployment subsidies on the composition of unemployment by UI claims. I show that unemployment subsidies increase the incidence of insured unemployment, but reduce that of uninsured unemployment. While the first result is predicted by the existing theory, the second is not. I rationalize this result by proposing a relabeling hypothesis: firms profitably split the non-negative subsidy with workers by relabeling the job separation as UI eligible. The relabeling hypothesis suggests that if the UI subsidy is high, workers receiving benefits should better resemble the characteristics of workers separating via quits. I in fact see evidence of this hypothesis in terms of the impact of the UI subsidy on unemployment duration, recall rate, and wage growth of separated workers
Working with Sexual Offenders: A Didactic for Graduate Students
No full textThere are many myths, unknowns, and negative reactions about working with sexual offenders and while the work can be challenging it is a multifaceted and rewarding opportunity. For those reasons, my dissertation included creating a didactic aimed towards clinical psychology graduate students to provide important information about working with sexual offenders that would be useful to consider as a practicum training, eventual career path option, as well as overall awareness. The didactic was created based on the available literature to help increase awareness and knowledge when working with clients that have been convicted of a sex offense, specifically relevant legal definitions, risk factors, ethical considerations, clinician stress (compassion fatigue and burnout,) countertransference, emotional challenges and coping strategies, the role of the therapist’s age and gender, and the positive and rewarding aspects of working with this population. The goal of this didactic is to provide information to graduate students to assist them in making an informed decision about considering working, or not working, with sexual offenders. Feedback from a small number of mental health providers experienced with this population as well as clinical psychology graduate students was gathered via a survey and considered toward the final version of the didactic. Results are discussed in detail followed by clinical implications and recommendations for future research
Crop Response to Low-Dose Dicamba
No full textThe introduction of dicamba-resistant (DR) soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) followed by a label allowing over-the-top applications of dicamba in the 2017 provided growers an additional option for broadleaf weed control. Because non-DR soybean is sensitive to low concentrations of dicamba, postemergence dicamba applications present growers choosing to plant non-DR soybean with concerns of damage from off-target movement through physical drift and volatilization of the herbicide as well as tank-contamination from prior dicamba application. Consequences of low-dose dicamba exposure on sensitive vegetative and reproductive soybean have been well researched, but little is known regarding the interaction between low-dose dicamba exposure and commonly applied contact herbicides. There is also limited research assessing repercussions caused by dicamba exposure during reproductive development in corn (Zea mays L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.), two common cereal crops in Arkansas in proximity to soybean and cotton. Experiments included evaluating the potential for dicamba to elicit a hormetic response to sensitive soybean, determining if contact herbicides exacerbated off-target dicamba symptomology, and evaluating potential for low-dose dicamba exposure on reproductive corn and rice to reduce grain yield. Low doses of dicamba did not improve soybean grain yield, which indicates a hormetic response is unlikely. Contact herbicides such as glufosinate and acifluorfen applied in close proximity to a low dose of dicamba increased visible auxin symptomology to soybean at 21 and 28 days after treatment (DAT) compared to dicamba alone, but no effect on grain yield occurred. Soybean was injured more when dicamba exposure followed a glufosinate application than when dicamba preceded glufosinate or was applied in a mixture with glufosinate, with yield reductions resulting when the contact herbicide was applied 7 to 10 days after a V3 dicamba exposure. Visible injury to corn from dicamba was negligible (0%), but rice treated with dicamba at 56 and 560 g ae ha-1 demonstrated auxin symptomology which led to reductions in grain yield. Corn grain yield could only be reduced from dicamba at 560 g ae ha-1. In conclusion, dicamba tank-contamination and possibly off-target movement pose a greater threat to sensitive soybean regarding visible symptomology and yield as opposed to corn and rice, and it is unlikely that soybean exposure to low-dose dicamba will improve grain yields
Vicious or Virtuous: Exploring Whether Cognitive and Emotional Capabilities Predict a Manager’s Reaction to Organizational Paradox
No full textThis study explored the cognitive and emotional factors that contribute to how managers in high-hazard organizations respond to paradox. To achieve this, the study sought to test Smith and Lewis’s (2011) Proposition 2a: “Actors with cognitive and behavioral complexity and emotional equanimity are more likely to accept paradoxical tensions rather than respond defensively” (p. 392). Established measures of these psychological constructs were used to create a research design to assess the ability of cognitive complexity, emotional management, and their interaction to predict defensiveness to paradox. Targeting managers in high-hazard organizations—with the assumption that they would be likely to encounter organizational paradox and that their response to it would be consequential to health, safety, and environmental concerns—143 individuals were recruited and 40 complete data sets were obtained. Data analysis involved data visualization, correlation and regression analyses. No statistically significant result was detected due to lack of power in the sample size. However, scatterplot analysis suggested promising areas for future research, including the ability for emotional management to predict defensiveness to paradox and the strength of the interaction between cognitive complexity and emotional intelligence with respect to predicting defensiveness to paradox
Safety Climate and the Use of Personal Protective Equipment by Petroleum Refinery Workers
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the impact of peer and supervisor influences of task risks associated with refinery workers’ use of PPE while working in an industrial environment. The study focused on the safety climate model to discover the perceived value workers placed on safety and Fishbein and Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior’s roadmap for understanding their use of PPE. Methodology: This study used phenomenological qualitative methodology to collect responses from 16 petroleum refinery contractor workers from Los Angeles, California, regarding the influences peers, supervisors, and task risk have on their use of PPE. Respondents were selected through purposeful sampling. Semistructured interviews were conducted using an interview protocol based on Zohar’s safety climate model to capture their lived experiences. Findings: Six major findings emerged from the data collection and analysis. Supervisors positively influenced refinery contractor workers’ use of PPE when they were present at the worksite and demonstrated concern for their safety. Peers support each other’s use of PPE by providing reminders when it is not used or exercising stop work authority for serious infractions of safety rules. Refinery task risk procedures such as Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) positively influenced refinery contractor workers’ use of PPE because of the potential for serious injury or disciplinary action for not using it. Conclusions: The conclusions indicated that task risk to workers is decreased when supervisors provide direction at worksites and train their personnel on PPE use. Contractor workers, as a result of their shared hazardous workplace, expect that their peers will use PPE and will exercise stop work authority if they do not follow safety rules. Furthermore, refinery zero tolerance policies for violating safety rules improve worker commitment to use PPE. Recommendations: Recommendations include the use of virtual tools to promote direct supervisor interaction when conducting JHA’s or safety meetings. It is also recommended that refineries and contractor companies develop training programs for supervisors to function as safety coaches along with recognition programs for workers to nominate their peers for positively influencing their use of PPE
Online Teaching Self-Efficacy and Faculty ICT and Computer Attitudes in Higher Education
No full textThe digital age is reshaping learning and instruction and encouraging educational technology advances within higher education institutions. However, online faculty are not integrating technology into their classes despite the technology related professional development they receive. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if a relationship exists between online teaching self-efficacy and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and computer attitudes and faculty participation in technology professional development activities, gender, and age within the context of institutions of higher education. Alfred Bandura’s social learning theory and Roger’s diffusion of innovations theory framed the study. Using Qualtrics, survey data were collected from 42 faculty who had taught, co-taught, or developed an online course. The data were then analyzed using multiple linear regression via SPSS for two research questions. The findings showed no statistically significant relationship between technology professional development, online teaching self-efficacy, and ICT and computer attitudes. These non-significant findings indicate that factors other than those investigated in this study appear to have impeded faculty integration of technology in their classrooms. A qualitative investigation is recommended for further study to reveal these factors. Since this study indicates that neither gender nor age affects faculty online teaching self-efficacy, the implications for positive social change are that all faculty, regardless of their gender or age, can integrate technology in the classroom, thereby impacting student success
Strategy in Small Information Technology Firms
No full textSmall firm failure rates are consistently 10 times higher than the failure rates for larger businesses, which prevents small businesses from reaching their full potential as the world's primary economic engine for productivity and job growth. Enhanced performance, which can help small businesses overcome the odds against survival, has been linked to the application of strategy by business leaders. Establishing and maintaining an intentional link between the strategic thinking of senior leaders and the development of innovative products and services may result in a greater awareness of the competitive environment and improve firm performance. This study engaged the following question as a way to explore this premise: How do sole proprietors, managing partners, and other senior leaders of mature small information technology service firms in the U.S. federal sector describe change? An open-ended qualitative study was conducted with nine senior leaders in this business sector. The findings of the study included five themes and six subthemes that provided qualified support for the premise that strategic thinking improves business performance. Support for the premise was qualified because the process for strategy development is informal, applied primarily to business development, bound by a short time frame, and triggered by reactive adaptation as opposed to proactive action. Future research into whether a more formal approach to strategy would improve performance is suggested
Direct and Indirect Impact of Operations Strategy on Management Consulting Firm Profitability
No full textThis dissertation examined the direct and indirect effects of firm operations strategy’s determinants, including two mediating variables, on firm performance. Data collected under this quantitively driven research focuses on top management of 146 consulting firms in the U.S. We employed regression analyses and used Hayes Macros tests to determine the relationships amongst operations strategy determinants – cost, service quality, differentiation, and flexibility, our mediators – advertising and employee turnover, and performance. This dissertation’s findings are aligned with other empirical works suggesting that performance is significantly and positively influenced by operations strategy determinants. The study results also show the significant mediating effect of adverting on the relationship between cost, quality, and performance. No mediating effect of advertising is found between flexibility, differentiation, and performance. Employee turnover mediating relationship between operations strategy determinants and performance emerged as insignificant. We contended that management must adopt strategic approach regarding operations strategy determinants as the means to enhance and sustain firm performance
Young Adolescents’ Opportunity to Develop Concept Images of Polygons in Middle School Mathematics Textbooks
No full textYoung adolescents build notions of figures through experiences. When young adolescentsbegin middle school mathematics, they already have prior assumptions and conceptualizations about shapes (Herbst, Fujita, Halverscheid, & Weiss, 2017). Over years of experiences, interactions, and exposures with a particular concept, these students develop concept images consisting of all the visual information, pictures, mental images, or properties associated with the particular mathematical concept (Vinner, 1983). Seminal works in the field of mathematics education research found that without an opportunity to engage with varied representations, young adolescent students may not develop robust concept images (Aspinwall, Shaw & Presmeg, 1997; Hasegawa, 1997; Mesa, 2004; Presmeg, 1986, 1992; Tall & Vinner, 1981; Vinner, 1983; Vinner & Dreyfus, 1989). Therefore, in this study, I analyzed young adolescents’ opportunities to develop concept images of polygons in middle school mathematics textbooks (grades 6-8). I chose to analyze convex polygons in nine textbooks: Pearson enVisionmath2.0 Grades 6, 7, 8 (Berry et al., 2017), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Go Math! Grades 6, 7, 8 (Burger et al., 2014), and McGraw Hill Education Glencoe Math Course 1, 2, 3 (Carter et al., 2015). This sample of textbooks represents one series from each of the three major textbook publishers: Pearson, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw Hill Education (Banilower et al., 2018). I explored young adolescent’s opportunity to develop concept images of polygons in middle school mathematics textbooks in terms of the exposure to a variety of polygons represented, exposure to a variety of polygon orientations, exposure to non-prototypical images, exposure to a variety of contexts, exposure to a variety of image roles, and exposure to developmentally responsive tasks. The results of this study indicate that within three published middle school mathematics textbook series, students do not have adequate opportunities to develop robust concept images of polygons. In all three textbook series, students have more exposure to images of convex polygons in eighth-grade textbooks, followed by sixth-grade textbooks, and the finally seventh-grade textbooks, however, all three textbook series contained little variety in terms of types of convex polygons represented. The three textbook series did not provide ample opportunities for students to engage with images of convex polygons in a variety of orientations and did not provide many opportunities for students to engage with non- prototypical images of convex polygons. Additionally, the three textbook series did not provide much variety in terms of contexts and roles of images with a majority of convex polygons set in purely mathematical contexts and as interpretive images. Further, all three textbook series provided little to no developmentally responsive tasks containing images of convex polygons in terms of young adolescents' physical, psychological, social-emotional, and moral needs
The Implementation of Personalized Learning at Merryweather High School: A Case Study
No full textThe implementation of personalized learning (PL) in our nation’s public schools has been a hot topic over the past decade, and within recent years, nonprofit organizations as well as educators have embarked on various studies in order to gain additional understanding of PL. As schools and districts push to implement PL, classroom teachers as well as school administrators, especially at suburban high schools, lack adequate guidelines to support them in successfully implementing PL in their classes. This single case study ascertained teachers’ and building-level administrators’ implementation of PL in a high school, Merryweather High School (MWHS), that has recently adopted this approach. The findings from the study revealed that student ownership, a collaborative and authentic learning experience developed in a PBL approach, strong teacher-student relationships, PD opportunities geared to teachers’ individual needs and increased teacher professional autonomy all played a major role in the school’s ability to implement PL. In order to mitigate the challenges of a successful implementation of PL, the study additionally identified the importance for the institution to align its structures and practices with the tenets of PL