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An Economic Remodel: The Genesis Of Modern Corporate Sustainability, Caitlin R. Doak

Environmental Studies Senior Theses

My thesis aims to understand and analyze what is catalyzing the advancement of sustainability in corporate agendas. After my internship at Deloitte and four years of Dartmouth undergrad, I recognized some important themes emerging in the sustainability landscape. Sustainability is at the forefront of policy and stakeholder engagement right now. Shareholders, consumers, regulators, policy makers, are all putting pressure on CSuite executives to redefine materiality and increase transparency in order to properly understand sustainability-related risks and opportunities within companies. Climate and nature-related disclosures are becoming just as important as financial disclosures because companies are being evaluated holistically, and a company’s …

A Man Ahead Of His Time: Lee Kuan Yew’S Iron First Beneath The Velvet Glove, Yi Chen Zhai

Master's Projects and Capstones

This study examines the role of Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore, in the country's development from a third-world nation to a first-world economic powerhouse. Lee Kuan Yew was the Prime Minister of Singapore for over three decades and was responsible for implementing policies that transformed Singapore's economy, infrastructure, education, and social systems. This paper analyzes the various policies and strategies, as well as personal values and ideologies, adopted and implemented by Lee Kuan Yew that were instrumental in Singapore's growth. Additionally, the paper discusses the challenges faced by Lee Kuan Yew during his leadership in his public …

The Effect Of Payment Method On Consumer Behavior During Economic Crises, Abira Naeem

Honors Theses

The aim of this thesis is to delve into the machinations of consumer payment choices during times of crisis. This thesis, additionally, examines the ways in which gender may play a role in varied payment method use, during crises. Consumer payment choices are characterized by the decisions individuals or households make, surrounding their utilization of various payment instruments in circulation. Common payment instruments include, but are not limited to, cash, checks, debit, and credit. Existing research and literature of payment choice split trends on the utilization of payment instruments into long-term, adoption observations, and more sporadic, use categories. Adoption and …

Specialization Vs Diversification: The Rise And Fall Of Windsor-Essex’S Automotive Industry, Mikal Fakhreddin

Major Papers

There is a longstanding debate between economic specialization, focussing on the production of a limited set of goods, and economic diversification, producing a wide variation of goods and services. While economic diversity boasts a stable and resilient economy, specialization claims to lead to rapid growth. This study explores both schools of thought, examining the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches, and applies them to Windsor-Essex as a case study on the city’s reliance on the automotive industry. This paper explores the rise of the automotive industry from the 1970s, examines unemployment rates following economic downturns, analyzes the economic state of …

Vietnam’S Gdp: Re-Assessing Growth Rate And Identifying An Alternative Indicator, My Linh D. Nguyen

Honors Theses

Since the economic reform known as Doi Moi (Renovation) in 1986, Vietnam has changed from one of the world’s poorest to a middle-income country in one generation (USAID, 2022). The country has consistently registered high and stable economic growth since the reform, averaging 6.3% from 1985 to 2021 (World Bank, 2022). High growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) is good news, but it has also raised questions that go both ways. On one side, there is much speculation that the government of Vietnam has manipulated economic statistics, compared to the case of China and India. As quoted in Kinh …

The Economics Of Mass Incarceration: How Imprisonment Due To Drug Offenses Impacts The Economy Of Texas, Leah N. Letterhos

Senior Theses

I begin by addressing drug use and how it impacts individuals’ economic outcomes, through psychological substance abuse disorders, income, and employment, where I discuss how each factor is impacted by drug use. Next, I undergo the same process for how incarceration and how it affects economic outcomes of individuals, through the debt cycle, the drain of household resources, limited/lack of pay while in prison, and difficulty in finding employment after release from prison. I follow this by connecting incarceration to drug use by writing about the background on the United States’ incarceration rates and link to drug enforcement and systemic …

The Impact Of Prison Closure On The Local Economy, Isabel Dhillon

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper examines the impact of prison closures on economic indicators in rural and urban counties in the United States using panel data regression analysis. The dataset focuses on the years 2001 to 2020 and includes 81 counties across 19 states. The analysis uses two key predictors, a dummy variable indicating the presence of a prison in a county, and a continuous variable representing the number of prisons in a county each year. The results reveal no significant impact of the presence of prisons on real GDP, unemployment, per capita personal income, or employment. These results have important policy implications …

The Financial Impact Of Undocumented Workers On Kentucky's Economy, Diana Gold

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Undocumented immigrant workers have a significant presence and impact on the economy of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. However, it is difficult to fully understand their financial impact due to the scarcity of published statistics on this topic. In addition, undocumented immigrants try to live unnoticed due to the nature of their legal status and fear of deportation. Some nonprofit organizations and a few public institutions have been able to track data related to their tax contributions, population size, ages, work fields, spending habits, and public resources used. Gathering the available data will help better understand the financial impact of undocumented …

Women Economic And Social Empowerment In Urban Middle Class Egyptian Households Post 2016 Austerity Measures, Maha El-Kady

Theses and Dissertations

Women empowerment has for long been part of all development agendas as part of the developing economies' social and economic reform plans. However, statistics do not usually reflect much improvement in the status of women’s empowerment, especially under austerity. And while most research focuses on the agony and vulnerability of poorer women, a big gap emerges with regard to middle classes women, who try hard to maintain the status of their households and not fall into poverty.

This research attempts to cover part of this gap by investigating the social and economic empowerment of urban middle classes Egyptian women post-2016 …

System As A Living Organism, Xinyi Liu

Masters Theses

This is cross-disciplinary research in urban systems, architecture, bio-systems, agriculture, energy supplies, circular economy, and sustainability.

The Spatial Associations Between Crime And Economy In Chicago 2015-2020, Hongtao Huang

Honors Capstones

The severity of the crime is often the most intuitive reflection of whether a region is safe and the top factor for the public when evaluating a region. Economist's list of the safest cities in seven major North American cities, Chicago was ranked at six, just above Dallas. Chicago scored the lowest in personal security, which is closely tied to the crime. Against the backdrop of higher unemployment and prices, this study is interested in how property-based crimes are related to the economic decline in Chicago geographically. The study used the heterogeneity analysis tool Geodetector to investigate the correlation between …

The Political Pandemic: The Relationship Between Political Leanings, Covid-19, And The Economy In 2020, Garrett Clark

Honors College Theses

The effect of political leanings on the pandemic outcomes, both in terms of the COVID-19 cases and death totals and the extent that the pandemic affected the economy, is the analysis of interest. The literature indicates a relationship between political leanings and the COVID-19 response. Data is gathered from a variety of sources, and a series of regressions are performed to analyze several control variables and determine their significance. The results indicate a relationship between political leanings and COVID-19 outcomes. However, results regarding the effects of politics on the economy are less clear. Possible explanations are provided for the results.

Green, Clean, And Mean? China’S Foreign Direct Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa Economy, Makuochukwu Okoma

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is an investigative study that utilized the Panel Vector Autoregressive (PVAR) model that examines the impact of China’s Foreign Direct Investment on the environment and economy of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In evaluating this impact, 43 SSA countries were analyzed and subdivided into various income levels; three arguments were proposed and tested.First is China’s FDI in SSA, “green.” Does China’s FDI lead to sustainable growth and development for the environment in SSA.? Second, does China’s FDI clean up pollution through the reduction of Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions? Lastly, does it lead to economic growth and development in SSA? The …

The Banality Of Corporate Evil, Amina Dessouki

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis critiques the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) through tracing the multiple dynamics between a multinational corporation and a development consultancy working on a recycling project in collaboration with the Zabaleen in Mansheyet Nasser, Egypt. The thesis looks at the ways in which actors negotiate their different positions, the harmonies and discordances that unfold through various agendas coming together, the silences produced, and the ways in which structural violence is intensified under the guise of development. The thesis contrasts the detached efforts of corporate workers and development consultants with the lives of the zabaleen, who live in a …

Space Opens Its Doors To Unexpected Players, One Of Them Paraguay, Macarena Carrizosa

Capstones

Paraguay successfully sent its first native satellite into orbit in 2021, proving how essential and accessible the industry has become, even for developing countries. This article looks at how knowledge and technology transfer programs combined with a lower cost of entry helped Paraguay reach its first major milestone in the space industry, having its own satellite.

2+2=Cake: A Book Of Conversations About Possibilities In Business And Art, Elizabeth Ann Alspach

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

2+2=CAKE is a toolkit for people interested in creating their own economic container to support their livelihood. Calling upon the entrepreneurial experience of artists and creatives who founded or run organizations, the book and accompanying workbook and motivational posters serve as an incubator, buoy, and affirming resource for those looking to build the economic container in which they make their livelihood.

Influences On Business Journalists In Egypt During Imf-Backed Economic Adjustments Of 2016-2019, Tamim Salman

Theses and Dissertations

The economic adjustments that Egypt implemented as part of an IMF-backed program between 2016 and 2019 were a milestone event in the country's economic history. Business journalism was an important part of it as people, policymakers and businesses tried to grasp the developments. Using qualitative in-depth interviews with business journalists and editors, this study attempts to examine the various influences experienced by journalists that affected their framing of news and the quality and type of coverage. The study argues that journalists came under the influence of political pressure and media controls, as well as the technical allure of market sources …

Building Relationships As An Expat In China: An Observation On How To Successfully Build And Manage Business Relations In China, Lauren Saunders

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

Since opening itself to free trade in 1979, China’s economy has doubled in size on average every 8 years. With sustained growth across forty years, China now controls the second-largest economy, just behind the United States by an ever-thinning margin. Seeing opportunity, American businesses moved operations into China immediately. As China’s economy grew, America’s reliance on supply chains across China grew. 2020 U.S. trade value in goods with China surpassed 500 billion USD, with the majority trade value coming from imports to the United States. However, starting in 2018, trade war disputes, geopolitical disruption, and the largest pandemic of the …

Central Appalachia Severance Taxation And Policies For Future Economic Growth, Nathan Frisbie

Honors Theses

Central Appalachia is a region in the United States that has been referred to as a paradox by researchers who have studied it. The area is rich with natural resources, yet the region lacks economic development. The mineral extraction industry has been the center of the economy for over a hundred years. The reliance on the industry has caused Central Appalachia to fall behind in several categories. The region has unusually high concentrations of poverty and low high school graduation rates. The revenue from the taxation of coal is the primary source of income for many of the rural counties. …

Is United States’ Economic Power In Decline? Can China Replace The U.S. As The World’S Next Economic Superpower?, Islam Bakirci

Dissertations

The decline of American economic power has been passionately debated for decades. Starting from the Kennedy administration, there were many cases that declinist scholars interpreted as the beginning of American economic power decline. The financial crisis of 2007-09 is the latest case of the same debate. However, unlike the previous cases, declinist scholars who support the idea of U.S. economic power is in decline after the financial crisis, strongly believe that this time the decline is different. This time the decline is real. In addition, the same scholars also argue that China, as an economic challenger which is different from …

China’S Success Unraveled, Wilson Vo

Early College

No abstract provided.

The Economic And Environmental Effects Of Recycling Plastic In South Carolina, Sophia Gouhin

Senior Theses

The state of South Carolina generated 4,809,041 tons of municipal solid waste during the fiscal year of 2019 (July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019). During this same period, the state maintained an average municipal solid waste recycling rate of 28.2% (Toomey, 2019b). This thesis gives an in-depth look in to the economic and environmental effects of recycling, specifically plastic, in South Carolina. I have researched and analyzed the process, capabilities, and impact of recycling plastic in South Carolina. This includes all seven types of plastic as classified by their chemical makeup. In addition, I surveyed South Carolina residents to …

Non-Monetary Economies: A Study On Different Governing Principles, Richard Perry Vest Ii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This thesis examines a new economic system with a focus on non-monetary (primarily automation) aspects. Currency has been used in exchange for goods and services and this exchange has often resulted in benefits gained by any given individual. What if that wasn’t the case? How might society function if it was not influenced by currency? This thesis explores this hypothetical concept of an economy without currency with a focus given to automation. Using utility and production functions, discussion is given on how supply and demand functions behave in a non-monetary economy, how governing policy could be handled, and how society …

The Impact Of Particular Provisions Of The 2017 Tax Cuts And Jobs Act On The United States Economy Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic, Hillary Obinna Maduka

LL.M. Essays & Theses

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the most significant overhaul of the U.S. federal tax system in the last two decades. This paper seeks to discuss some of its most significant provisions and examine their overall impact on the U.S. economy, especially throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

This paper begins by undertaking an overview of the legislative history of the Act and then proceeds to discuss three provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts which have had a tremendous impact on the U.S. economy by altering some major provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986. …

Is The Irish Immigration Policy Delivering The Best For Its Economy Through Its Non-Eu Dependent Immigrants. An Empirical Study, Pai M.J Arjun

Masters

The Emerald Isle is fast becoming the next big hotspot for highly skilled migrants aspiring to relocate to the last English-speaking nation within the European Union [EU]. The transition from the state of being an emigrant country to an immigrant nation poses complex opportunities for the country, its people, and the immigrants who relocate in making Ireland their home. Despite a consistent inflow of skilled immigrants migrating into the country since the last few decades, policy reforms adopted in Ireland towards dependent immigrants remain reactive, lacks the backing of studies in evaluating the utilization of available skilled dependent immigrants in …

Retirement Readiness Under The Gig Economy, Laila Hmaidan

Capstones

This piece looks at the implications of retirement savings for Americans under the changing work environment, more specifically, the gig economy. Currently, 34% of Americans engage in some form of gig or short-term work. Those who engage in gig work as their main job, have far fewer savings set aside for retirement. Additionally, these types of jobs don’t give workers access to tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

https://leilahmaidan.github.io/JOBS-CORONA/

Changing The Industry’S Dynamics Covid 19’S Reversible Impacts On Pakistan’S Reviving Tourism, Mohammad Ali Syed

MSJ Capstone Projects

Pakistan’s tourism industry, still in its infancy, has taken a major hit during the corona virus pandemic.One such example is the Shigri’s native region of Gilgit-Baltistan welcomes millions of tourists during the spring-summer season, but with the pandemic in full spring during peak travel season, his guest house along with hundreds of hospitality businesses across Pakistan remained shut for months causing millions in losses to the economy.

Orson Pratt And The Expansion Of The Doctrine And Covenants, Brian C. Passantino

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a faith that is distinguished by its religious texts. The nickname "Mormon," that has been applied to adherents of the faith, comes from the name of its most cherished canonical book, the Book of Mormon. Aside from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, Latter-day Saints accept two other books of scriptures – the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants. These four books constitute the authorized scriptures of the faith, or as they refer to them, "the standard works."

My thesis focuses on the book entitled the Doctrine …

The Impact Of Chinese Investments On The Kenyan Economy, Candice Newcomb

International Studies (MA) Theses

The involvement of China in Kenya has been increasing in recent years. China’s investments in Kenya are still impacting the Kenyan economy significantly. This thesis will examine the positive and negative impacts that the Chinese investments have had on the Kenyan economy.

This thesis will also address the role that the Kenyan government plays in the facilitating of the Chinese investments. It will highlight the importance the Kenyan government has in prioritizing policies such as labor laws for the Kenyan people. The Kenyan government has a responsibility to protect its citizens from the negative impacts of Chinese investments such as …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Singapore: Understanding Recent Events And Exploring Future Possibilities, Guanshuo Li

Master's Projects and Capstones

Singapore has among the lowest COVID-19 infection and mortality rates in the world, despite being a major urban country and global economic hub in Southeast Asia. This paper explored how Singapore has accomplished this using an analysis of literature and current events news. The analysis demonstrated that Singapore has mobilized a cross-industry and cross-functioning group of healthcare professionals, medical researchers, biostatisticians, and personal protective equipment manufactures to effectively combat COVID-19. Singapore’s government ministries have enacted a campaign of public education, social distancing, and business closures to combat the spread of COVID-19. The government has passed a significant economic relief bill …