Digital Commons Network^™

Kentucky’S Public Health Strategic Plan: Strengthening Foundational Services & Improving Population Health, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

This session examines recent progress toward the 2012 Institute of Medicine recommendation to identify the components and costs of a "minimum package" of public health services and foundational capabilities to be available across the U.S. Research about the health and economic benefits of Foundational Public Health Services has begun to shape Kentucky's strategic plan for transforming the public health system.

Want A Job? Get A College Degree, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

While it is well known that a positive relationship exists between educational attainment and earnings for those who are in the labor market, an important part of how education impacts the well-being of families in Kentucky is the access to employment that it provides. In this brief, we examine the relationship between education and two measures of employment status: unemployment and labor force participation. What we find is quite striking: not only do those with higher education experience less unemployment, they are far more likely to be participating in the labor market. Education leads to better access to employment.

Education Pays Everywhere!, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Economists and other researchers have long demonstrated the relationship between education and earnings. In this brief, we focus on the relationship between educational attainment and earnings in the state of Kentucky. Our results, in many ways, are unsurprising, as the old ad campaign said, “Education Pays.” What may be surprising is that we demonstrate that education pays not only in the big cities of Lexington and Louisville, but also in the more rural parts of the state, such as eastern Kentucky and western Kentucky.

Moving People Off Public Assistance Programs Through Education, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Two of the largest federal transfer programs are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Federal expenditures on SNAP exceeded $74 billion in 2014, and SSI exceeded $3 billion. While these programs provide families in distress with important support, ideally we desire that Kentucky families would not require this kind of assistance. In 2014, over 800,000 Kentuckians received SNAP assistance each month while over 190,000 received SSI. This brief examines the relationship between participation in these programs and educational attainment for Kentuckians. We find that education is highly related to participation and that those with higher …

Crime And Punishment And Education, Christopher R. Bollinger, Bethany L. Paris

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

Crime impacts the lives of Kentuckians in myriad ways. It has direct costs to victims and indirect costs through property values and business activity. Citizens and policymakers alike desire to reduce and limit crime. In this brief, we investigate the link between crime rates in Kentucky’s counties and the aggregate level of education. Perhaps surprisingly, higher education, and specifically the percent of the population with a Bachelor’s degree, is associated with lower crime. We find that increasing educational attainment in Kentucky to the U.S. levels could reduce the costs of crime by over $3 million annually.

How To Raise State Revenue Without Raising Taxes, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

A positive relationship exists between educational attainment and earnings, which has been well established in the literature through multiple studies. This, in turn, influences the revenues generated for the state of Kentucky through the personal income tax. We predict even the modest change of increasing Associate’s and Bachelor’s degree holders by 1% would increase revenue by $37 million. Kentucky loses between $300 million and $500 million in state tax revenues every year because our educational attainment is lower than the national average.

Impact Of Education On Medicaid Eligibility, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

The individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) coupled with the Medicaid expansion in Kentucky makes reducing Medicaid eligibility rates of crucial importance. This brief examines the link between education and eligibility for Medicaid for the citizens of Kentucky. In general, the relationship is nearly mechanical in that higher education leads to higher incomes. Since income is the key determining factor of Medicaid eligibility, and because of the individual mandate eligibility is mostly equivalent to participation, our estimates show that higher education reduces the likelihood that an adult will be on Medicaid or have children and family members on …

Education For Your Health!, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

The health of the people of Kentucky is of high concern for policymakers and citizens alike. Individuals want to live healthy, productive lives, while policymakers recognize that chronic illnesses cost the state in myriad ways. In this brief, we examine the link between educational attainment and health outcomes. We focus on two groups of health outcomes. The first are behavioral and include choices: tobacco use, alcohol use, obesity, and exercise. The second group are outcomes highly associated with these behaviors: heart attack, angina, stroke, and diabetes. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that these four diseases may cost Kentuckians …

The Effects Of Education Across The Kentucky Economy, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

The Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) (Gatton College, University of Kentucky) was commissioned by Kentucky’s Council for Postsecondary Education to examine the implications of education across the Kentucky economy. This study used data on Kentuckians from the American Community Survey (ACS), the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The focus on Kentucky is unique, as most studies of this kind have used only national data. The results have allowed us to examine how education is related to important outcomes related …

Agriculture Of The Middle Participation In State Branding Campaigns: The Case Of Kentucky, Alicia M. Hullinger, Keiko Tanaka

Community & Leadership Development Faculty Publications

In the past decade, statewide agricultural branding campaigns have blossomed. Examining the case of the Kentucky Proud™ (KyP) program, this paper investigates the potential benefit of a state-level marketing strategy for the declining class of midsize farms, referred to as Agriculture of the Middle (AOTM). First, we discuss why AOTM farms are important to maintaining a viable agriculture structure. Second, we introduce the context of state branding and explain how KyP developed as part of the transition from highly tobacco-dependent agriculture. Using recent agricultural census data and a survey of KyP members, we compare the key characteristics between three sets …

Stone Walls And Shopping Malls: Retail Landscapes In The Bluegrass, Jason Richards

Kaleidoscope

This paper is an analysis of the recent use of veneered stone walls in the contemporary retail landscapes of the Bluegrass. These walls have been used in conjunction with other elements of the region’s landscape symbol vocabulary to re-create the equine landscape of Central Kentucky in commercial spaces. They seek to evoke the region’s symbolic landscape of wealthy horse estates, utilizing their inaccessibility to elicit an associative attitude of aspiration in the shopper. But they also speak to the values of the businesses and citizens who produce them. The earliest of these walls were found in the street frontage and …

Ebony And Ivory? Interracial Dating Intentions And Behaviors Of Disadvantaged African American Women In Kentucky, David J. Luke, Carrie B. Oser

Sociology Faculty Publications

Using data from 595 predominantly disadvantaged African American women in Kentucky, this study examines perceptions about racial/ethnic partner availability, cultural mistrust, and racism as correlates of interracial dating intentions and behaviors with both white and Hispanic men. Participants reported levels of dating intentions and behaviors were significantly higher with whites than Hispanics. The multivariate models indicate less cultural mistrust and believing it is easier to find a man of that racial/ethnic category were associated with higher interracial dating intentions. Women were more likely to have dated a white man if they believed it was easier to find a white man …

Preserving Kentucky’S Newspapers: Analogue Beginnings To Digital Frontier, Kopana Terry, Eric Weig

Library Presentations

Over fifty years ago an historian and a library director traveled the back roads of Kentucky (USA) with a portable microfilm camera, two lights, and a dream of preserving Kentucky’s newspapers. From their ambitions arose a successful newspaper preservation program at the University of Kentucky Libraries (UKL). Now in its sixth decade, the program has developed a new way of preserving contemporary born-digital newspapers. This paper explores some of the people and events behind the early success of UKL’s program, as well as an in-depth look at the development and functionality of Paper Vault: a largely automated, in-house process delivering …

Preserving Kentucky’S Newspapers: Analogue Beginnings To Digital Frontier, Kopana Terry, Eric Weig

Eric C. Weig

Over fifty years ago an historian and a library director traveled the back roads of Kentucky (USA) with a portable microfilm camera, two lights, and a dream of preserving Kentucky’s newspapers. From their ambitions arose a successful newspaper preservation program at the University of Kentucky Libraries (UKL). Now in its sixth decade, the program has developed a new way of preserving contemporary born-digital newspapers. This paper explores some of the people and events behind the early success of UKL’s program, as well as an in-depth look at the development and functionality of Paper Vault: a largely automated, in-house process delivering …

Unbridled Spirit: A Foreigner In The Bluegrass, Mirgul Karimova

Ex-Patt Magazine

A Fulbright Scholar reflects on her time at the Patterson School and in the Bluegrass.

Kentucky Digital Newspaper Program, Kopana Terry

Library Presentations

No abstract provided.

Aca Implementation In The South: The Political Economy Of Full Participation In Kentucky, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

This analysis, conducted as part of the ACA Implementation Research Network, examines economic and political forces shaping Kentucky's early experience with implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Kentucky Forestry Economic Impact Report 2014, Jeff Stringer, Billy Thomas, Bobby Ammerman, Alison Davis

Kentucky Forestry Economic Impact Reports

Forests cover one-half of Kentucky and provide a wide range of benefits to the commonwealth. One of the most notable benefits is the economic contribution that we gain from the utilization of timber and wood resources. Analysis of Kentucky’s forest and wood industries in 2014 indicated an estimated direct economic impact of $8.3 billion (up 4.4% from 2013). These industries employed over 28,200 individuals. Total economic impacts were estimated at $12.8 billion and 57,700 jobs in 2014. Kentucky is one of the leading producers of hardwood forest products in the south and exports wood products across the nation and the …

Tactical Police Officers, Romantic Attachment And Job-Related Stress: A Mixed-Methods Study, Natalie Fagan

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

Stressors stemming from tactical policing such as social isolation and increased work responsibilities often spill over into the home and affect personal relationships. Using attachment theory as the guiding framework, this mixed methods study aimed to obtain a better understanding of the factors involved in maintaining long-term relationships between tactical officers and their romantic partners. Phase I consisted of surveys administered to tactical officers in Kentucky and measured romantic partner attachment, organizational and operational police stressors. Research questions examined how operational and organizational stress correlated with attachment while controlling for demographics. Analysis indicated that holding a rank above an officer …

The Impact Of Education Cascading Through The Economy, Center For Business And Economic Research, Gatton College Of Business And Economics, University Of Kentucky

CBER Infographic Posters

Research confirms what common sense suggests, higher levels of education are associated with better economic outcomes like higher wages and lower unemployment. And by improving health, increasing technology use, expanding volunteerism, and reducing public assistance, higher education levels have long-lasting effects on the economy. Eighty years ago, Kentucky's per capita personal income was just over 50% of the U.S. average; today it is just over 80%. Kentucky's educational position has improved significantly over the last twenty-five years, but the state still lags the U.S. in college attainment (23% compared to 30%) and academic achievement gaps continue to mute overall educational …

Kentucky Annual Economic Report 2015, Christopher R. Bollinger, William H. Hoyt, David Blackwell, Michael T. Childress, James M. Sharpe

Kentucky Annual Economic Report

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Administrative Procedures In Preventing The Backlog Of Sexual Assault Evidence Kits, Heather Darby

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Across the nation, states are facing a large backlog of sexual assault evidence kits. Sexual assault evidence often sits in a police department or hospital for years without being tested. Public safety is diminished as criminal DNA is not tested and entered into CODIS. Victims have no sense of justice, and may lose confidence in the system. Without attention to the issue, the backlog will only continue to grow. As states have developed innovative and effective methods for addressing the backlog, their successes and failures have served as a base for others who are considering changes to avoid future backlogs. …

Internet Reviews: Open Access Institutional Repositories, Jennifer A. Bartlett

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

From Grapes To Wine To Brands To Culture: A Qualitative Study Of Kentucky Wineries And Kentucky Wine Producers, Benjamin J. Triana

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

The Kentucky wine industry has grown from six wineries in 1999 to more than sixty wineries as of 2013. However, the industry has reached a crucial point in its development as funds allotted from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement ended in 2014. As a result, Kentucky wine producers must navigate the demands of local, regional, national, and international wine markets without the same amount of economic support provided in the early stages of the industry’s development.

The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) how Kentucky wine producers use cultural associations to manage their brands, (2) communicate with multiple …