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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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- Nonprofit organizations (9)
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Articles 1 - 30 of 63
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Innovation Capacity In Local Government Organizations : A Comparative Case Study Of Three Innovation Labs In The U.S, Qianli Yuan
Innovation Capacity In Local Government Organizations : A Comparative Case Study Of Three Innovation Labs In The U.S, Qianli Yuan
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Innovation in the public sector is a high priority on the agenda of both practitioners and academics, as government recently faces increasing citizens’ demands and growing wicked problems. It has been increasingly regarded as necessary to improve current practices that improve government performance in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and equity. In response to this demand for innovation, many government organizations established innovation labs to strengthen their capacity to introduce new and innovative solutions. Being agile and small and having a certain level of autonomy, they are advocated as a “safe space” that applies a variety of approaches, methods, and toolkits …
Policy Side Effects : How Do Policies Become A Source Of Social Problems?, Yongjin Choi
Policy Side Effects : How Do Policies Become A Source Of Social Problems?, Yongjin Choi
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
How do the consequences of a policy become a source of another social problem? Social science scholars have long recognized the possibility that policies often generate new social problems, unintentionally or even intentionally. However, public policy scholarship has been somewhat slow to translate these insights into systematic research inquiries and accumulate concrete knowledge about this issue. As a result, when confronted with the widespread social and political repercussions of unavoidable but strong policy responses, such as COVID-19 associated lockdowns and vaccine mandates, the policy literature has largely failed to advise on how to anticipate, handle, and overcome the hardships generated …
Explaining The Nras Radical Transformation : The Role Of Identity And Strategy In Discursive Boundary Work And The Emergence Of Sub-Group Dominance, William A. Sisk
Explaining The Nras Radical Transformation : The Role Of Identity And Strategy In Discursive Boundary Work And The Emergence Of Sub-Group Dominance, William A. Sisk
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
This dissertation asks how a radical faction within the National Rifle Association (NRA) took over the organization and transformed it into such a dominant force in American politics. To address this question, the researcher conducted a historical discourse analysis of articles and letters in two prominent gun magazines – Guns & Ammo and Field & Stream – during a critical period of development from 1958 to 1978. The project integrates existing theoretical models based on identity (Castells 2004) and discourse coalitions (Dodge & Metze 2016; Hajer 1995) to understand the process by which coalitional boundaries get shaped and reshaped in …
From Dissenting-Voice To Democratic Bureaucracy : Three Essays On Bureaucratic Whistleblowing, Minsung Michael Kang
From Dissenting-Voice To Democratic Bureaucracy : Three Essays On Bureaucratic Whistleblowing, Minsung Michael Kang
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Public administration scholars have long believed that bureaucratic whistleblowers help make bureaucracies more democratic, effective, and accountable. With these firm convictions, the U.S. federal government has introduced a series of whistleblower protection systems to balance administrative power and external political accountability of public organizations. Building on this intellectual history of public administration scholarship on whistleblowing, this dissertation aims to: 1) understand bureaucratic whistleblowing at the theory-level, 2) examine the effects of whistleblower protection laws on bureaucrats at the individual-level, and 3) investigate how whistleblowing outcomes can reshape bureaucracies at the organizational-level.
Dynamics In Public Finance And Disaster Management : Financial Impacts Of Natural Disasters, Intergovernmental Aid, And Community-Level Social Effects, Sungyoon Lee
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
This dissertation explores how various types of disasters affect the financial behaviors of local governments, interacting with public managerial decisions, intergovernmental aid, and community-context effects. The first essay examines whether 1) disaster aid distribution is associated with social vulnerability indicators of affected counties given the same level of disaster damage, and 2) ethnic representativeness of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workforce increases policy benefits in terms of disaster relief funds for counties with a higher level of vulnerability related to minority status. I use hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to test the U.S. counties that have received disaster aid funds …
Government, Citizen, And Social Media : Understanding Police-Citizen Interaction On Weibo In China, Yumeng Luo
Government, Citizen, And Social Media : Understanding Police-Citizen Interaction On Weibo In China, Yumeng Luo
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
This dissertation systematically examined the Beijing Police Department (BPD) daily use of social media and citizens’ comments it received. Previous studies in the field of e-government and political communication in the Chinese context focused only on the measurement of quantitative indicators of government use of social media or a single event. This dissertation incorporates theoretical frameworks of e-government, public relations, and the public sphere to provide a detailed picture of citizen and government interaction in the Chinese context. Using the BPD as my case study, I not only explored government’s daily activities and engagement strategies but also examined the nuances …
Organization Change And Institutional Environment : Employee Influence And Financial Management Of Public Retirement Systems In The U.S, Hao Sun
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Previous attempts to understand and examine the employee influence on the financial performance of public retirement systems have produced inconsistent results. There have been different understandings and ongoing debates over the main variables to include in the models and the direction (positive vs. negative) of the association. What are the roles of public employees within the financial management of public retirement systems? What are the main variables that define employee influence? To answer these questions, this dissertation project, based on organization theory, first attempts to construct an exploratory measurement framework of employee influence from three aspects, external environment, perceived influence, …
19th Century Exam, 21st Century Policing : An Examination Of The New York State Civil Service And Police Officer Recruitment:, Amani Edwards
19th Century Exam, 21st Century Policing : An Examination Of The New York State Civil Service And Police Officer Recruitment:, Amani Edwards
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
The civil service exam was created in the late 19th century to reform the hiringprocess for public officials, focusing on merit (skills and expertise) versus political patronage and other partisan factors. While much of the 20th century focused on redesigning the civil service organizations, exam redesign still remains an important next step that is infrequently considered. In the case of police departments, while other issues arise in recruitment efforts, the civil service exam has been noted by interviewees as the biggest barrier to redesign efforts in accordance with 21st Century Policing goals. Through in-depth interviews of current police chiefs and …
Can Transparency Transform Governments? : Effects Of Financial Information Disclosure On Management, Citizens, And Elected Officials, Hyewon Kang
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Financial information disclosure affects decision makings of important stakeholders of financial management in governments. Financial information disclosure can operate as an accountability tool by reducing? the information asymmetry between governments and citizens. Using data from U.S. state and local governments, this dissertation examines how financial information disclosure affects decisions made by local government managers, citizens, and elected officials. The first essay examines whether setting financial performance targets by state governments improves local governments’ financial performance. Using the framework developed from the performance management literature, the study tests the effectiveness of New York State’s fiscal stress monitoring system. The second essay …
Decentralized Mechanisms For Coordinating Citizen Participation, Cesar Renteria
Decentralized Mechanisms For Coordinating Citizen Participation, Cesar Renteria
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Decentralization has been an alternative mechanism of coordination to bureaucratic control. Although decentralization is a very old idea, we do not have enough clarity about how decentralization works and how this alternative can effectively help to overcome some of the problems attributed to traditional bureaucracies. In this dissertation, I bring further insights into the decentralization of decisions through two angles. First, by studying how and for what purposes crowdsourcing, a novel technology-based practice used to decentralize decisions and tasks towards citizens, has been used in government (Chapters 2 and 3). Second, by studying the process of decentralization of decisions within …
Contracting Out For Performance Of Democratic-Constitutional Values And Procedural Tasks In Federal Agencies : Evidence From The Equal Employment Opportunity Discrimination Complaint Process, Iseul Choi
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Contracting out has been considered one of the main performance management strategies for reducing costs and bringing more expertise into government agencies. Previous studies have examined the effects of contracting use on agency performance, but have focused more on measurable, traditional performance in the public sector. There is a lack of research analyzing the influence of contracting use on non-traditional performance outcomes, which are usually non-mission based and difficult to measure, such as fairness, nondiscrimination, due process, and individual rights. Scholars have pointed out that performance measurement processes pay less attention to these non-mission-based values and tasks.
The Dynamics Of Financial Condition In The U.S. State, Local, And Territory Governments : Financial Reporting, Public Service Delivery, And Tax Policy, Youngsung Kim
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
A large body of literature in public administration has demonstrated the importance of financial condition in managing government organizations. Scholars have found that financial condition affects many aspects of public management while governments actively respond to their financial conditions. Using data from varied levels of U.S. governments – states, localities, and territories – this dissertation examines the dynamic roles of financial condition in three important areas of public management: financial reporting, public service delivery, and tax policy. The first essay examines how financial condition affects the ways in which state governments communicate with stakeholders through official financial documents. It applies …
Right Size Me : Policy Responses To The Obesity Eidemic And Behavioral Change, Wenhui Feng
Right Size Me : Policy Responses To The Obesity Eidemic And Behavioral Change, Wenhui Feng
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Obesity is a critical health and social concern. Almost 40% of American adults are obese, creating more than $300 billion dollars in annual medical costs. While obesity is a public concern that has been on the policy agenda for some time, obesity policies have proven difficult to formulate, adopt and implement in practice. In this dissertation, I explore three obesity-related policies – adoption of obesity prevention policies by local health department, calorie labeling on restaurant menus and food assistance benefits – and find the importance of ideological and political considerations for obesity policies at different stages in the policy process …
Endogenous Policy Design In Healthcare : A Case Study Of Emergency Department Crowding, Katrina Alexandra Hull
Endogenous Policy Design In Healthcare : A Case Study Of Emergency Department Crowding, Katrina Alexandra Hull
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
The United States’ health care system has faced growing per capita use, and subsequent crowding, of the emergency department since the 1990’s, evidenced by longer wait times and the institution of ambulance diversions. Emergency departments are but one element of a complex system, with difficulties which persist despite policy efforts.
From Jim Crow To Diversity : Racial Formation As Institutional Logic In The U.S. National Park Service, 1935-2011, Rick Caceres-Rodriguez
From Jim Crow To Diversity : Racial Formation As Institutional Logic In The U.S. National Park Service, 1935-2011, Rick Caceres-Rodriguez
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
This study uses the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) as case to study how racial formation in organizations is shaped by the changing institutional logics of race. It draws from the institutional logics perspective to advance theorizing on race in organizations as a multi-level process structured by societal race dynamics. It does so by studying three critical moments in the history of the NPS in which the organization was exposed, and had to respond to, varying logics of race.
Exploring Three Strategies For The Prevention Of Hospital-Acquired Clostridium Difficile Infection In Nys Acute Care Hospitals-- : Structure-Process-Outcome Model Of Quality Improvement, Danielle Jane Durant
Exploring Three Strategies For The Prevention Of Hospital-Acquired Clostridium Difficile Infection In Nys Acute Care Hospitals-- : Structure-Process-Outcome Model Of Quality Improvement, Danielle Jane Durant
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Those receiving medical care are at risk for developing serious hospital-acquired conditions (HACs), which include infections (HAIs) and other harm while receiving medical care. Pay for performance programs initiated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and private payers, linking reimbursements to quality of care, have created financial incentives for hospitals to address these HACs. The most common HAI in the United States, causing almost half a million infections, with 29,000 deaths within 30 days of diagnosis, results from Clostridium difficile. Infection with this bacterium leads to deadly diarrhea, and disproportionately impacts patients 65 and older, representing 80% …
For Better Or Worse? : Exploring How Decentralization Shapes Local Expenditures And Health Service Utilizations In Indonesia, Adenantera Dwicaksono
For Better Or Worse? : Exploring How Decentralization Shapes Local Expenditures And Health Service Utilizations In Indonesia, Adenantera Dwicaksono
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Decentralization has become one of the most important public-sector reform programs globally since the 1990s with mixed results. In this four-paper dissertation, I explored how decentralization reforms affect public goods and services delivery, by analyzing how post-decentralization institutional changes shape local expenditure decisions and health service utilizations in Indonesia. The main goal of this dissertation was to improve understanding on a better approach to studying public goods and services delivery under a decentralized governance. I used primarily quantitative methods in this dissertation. I started with a systematic review of quantitative studies on the impacts of decentralization reforms and health system …
The Organizational Antecedents Of Public Service Motivation In The Korean National Assembly Staff Workforce, Eunhyoung Kim
The Organizational Antecedents Of Public Service Motivation In The Korean National Assembly Staff Workforce, Eunhyoung Kim
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Over the past few decades, research on public service motivation (PSM) has flourished internationally in the field of public administration. The concept of PSM, i.e., motivating public sector employees to pursue the public interest and thus contribute to the society, fits well within the core interest of public administration. In addition, PSM has been found to be associated with important organizational constructs that are related to public sector employees’ attitudes, behaviors, and performance. There have, however, been surprisingly few studies that have examined PSM in public domains other than the executive branch of government. Moreover, while there is a large …
Patronage As A System Of Insiders And Outsiders : Lessons From The Commonwealth Of Puerto Rico, Elizabeth H. Perez-Chiques
Patronage As A System Of Insiders And Outsiders : Lessons From The Commonwealth Of Puerto Rico, Elizabeth H. Perez-Chiques
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Although in place for more than 100 years, Puerto Rico’s merit-based civil-service system still does not function to uphold merit as officially intended. Patronage—the disbursement of public resources or benefits in exchange for political support—is a normal and routine part of governing in Puerto Rico. How does a patronage system work within a formal merit-based system? And, what are the mechanisms that keep patronage in place? Through a mixed-method strategy—including in-depth interviews with public employees, limited participant observation, and analysis of political discrimination and public corruption cases—this research aimed to understand: how patronage works, how patronage relates to the formal …
Motivation To Adopt : Understanding Nonprofit Inter-Organizational Collaboration In Delivery Of Social Services, Sung-Eun Kim
Motivation To Adopt : Understanding Nonprofit Inter-Organizational Collaboration In Delivery Of Social Services, Sung-Eun Kim
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Inter-organizational collaboration has been emphasized by governments, nonprofit funders, and community-based nonprofits for service integration and capacity building. As collaboration has become one of the big buzzwords in nonprofit management and public policy, a large number of studies have focused on cross-sectoral collaborations such as government-nonprofit relationships (Boris & Steuerle, 2006; Bryson, 2011; Gazley, 2008; Gazley & Brudney, 2007; Salamon, 1987, 1995; Young, 2006). However, little attention has been paid to collaboration between community-based nonprofits (Provan, Milward, & Isett, 2002; Takahashi & Smutny, 2001), and the existing literature stays short of specifying the unique features of collaboration between them (Guo …
Nonprofits, Governance Arrangements, And Outcomes For Society In Brazil, Marcelo Marchesini Da Costa
Nonprofits, Governance Arrangements, And Outcomes For Society In Brazil, Marcelo Marchesini Da Costa
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
This dissertation analyzes the contribution of nonprofit organizations to society. The main goal is to discuss through which conditions nonprofits present beneficial results to society, exploring mainly the alternatives of collaboration with the government or a more autonomous action. Using data from Brazil, the first essay discusses nonprofit location. Despite great regional variation, the previous density of nonprofits existing in a municipality has a stronger positive effect that is larger than the effects of social needs or resources available in explaining why new nonprofits choose to locate in certain sites. The second essay analyzes the effect of nonprofits on the …
Antecedents And Consequences Of Performance Information Use In Collaborative Networks, Manabu Nakashima
Antecedents And Consequences Of Performance Information Use In Collaborative Networks, Manabu Nakashima
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
This study aims to explore antecedents and consequences of performance information use in collaborative networks, focusing on the effects of network members’ interaction patterns and relational characteristics on performance information use. Using a case of the Faraway County system of care wherein network participants engaged in collective decision making and service provisions to mentally-ill children and youth, this study addresses three research questions:
Public Finance Of Long-Term Services And Supports, Young Joo Park
Public Finance Of Long-Term Services And Supports, Young Joo Park
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Nursing home finance is an important issue for policy makers and healthcare financial managers due to an aging population and the dependence of nursing facilities on public finance. In this dissertation, I have three specific aims: (1) to test whether neighborhood characteristics affect the availability of resources in urban nursing homes in the U.S.; (2) to identify the optimal administrative support for maintaining financially sustainable nonprofit nursing facilities in the U.S.; and (3) to examine the effect of Medicare-Medicaid financial alignment on government expenditure structures. This set of analyses provides a constructive framework for a better understanding of nursing home …
Three Perspectives On Social Equity And Public Health Emergency Preparedness And Response Policy, Lucila M. Zamboni
Three Perspectives On Social Equity And Public Health Emergency Preparedness And Response Policy, Lucila M. Zamboni
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
In the past 20 years, large-scale disasters have generated economic loss of $660 billion in the United States. Research has identified that low income individuals and economically vulnerable communities are at heightened risk and often experience disadvantages in access to public services during emergencies. Public administration literature has claimed that social equity should be included as a consideration together with economic and efficiency principles when formulating and implementing public policy. Yet there has been limited empirical research that follows this premise. The three studies that comprise this dissertation are guided by one overarching research question: which socioeconomic characteristics at the …
The Collateral Effects Of Representation : Three Essays Evaluating Representative Bureaucracy In Practice, Ashley Miller Alteri
The Collateral Effects Of Representation : Three Essays Evaluating Representative Bureaucracy In Practice, Ashley Miller Alteri
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
This dissertation evaluates representative bureaucracy, a public management theory that has been embraced by public management scholars and implicitly embraced by practitioners through the use of diversity hiring initiatives. The theory of representative bureaucracy posits that a bureaucracy will function better if the administrative arm of government, in addition to its political one, is representative of the public. This representativeness is achieved if the bureaucrat shares a common identity with the group or groups they are meant to represent. The three papers within this dissertation provide an analysis of how this theory translates into practice. Specifically, these papers examine the …
Does Distrust Aid Network Management In A Regulatory Policy Context? : A Study On A Local Hydraulic Fracturing Policy Network In New York State, Jeongyoon Lee
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
This study examines factors that explain the structure of a regulatory policy with a particular focus on how distrust plays a role in shaping the structure of a regulatory policy network. Understanding the mechanisms that explain the structure of policy networks has been an important subject in the era of collaboration. However, previous research have almost exclusively studied network structures in the context of social service policies. Little is known about what factors explain network structures in the context of regulatory policies where policy decision-making processes end up being challenged in court or the competing groups tend to manipulate scientific …
The Patient Experience At Hiv/Aids Outpatient Clinics In New York State, Terence Meehan
The Patient Experience At Hiv/Aids Outpatient Clinics In New York State, Terence Meehan
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
People with chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS become experts through their extensive experience with healthcare organizations and so have valuable patient-centered insight into the organization of healthcare delivery services. The AIDS model of care, largely funded by the federal Ryan White Care Act, is a long-standing, yet understudied innovation with many similarities to “new” models such as the PCMH. This dissertation is designed to uncover the voices of patients on the patient experience at three HIV/AIDS outpatient clinics in New York State and to offer lessons for policymakers and healthcare leaders. Data was collected through in depth, semi-structured interviews of …
Regulation Through Accreditation In Argentine Graduate Education : Regulatory Actions And Organizational Responses, Dante Javier Salto
Regulation Through Accreditation In Argentine Graduate Education : Regulatory Actions And Organizational Responses, Dante Javier Salto
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Most countries, developing as well as developed, have adopted some type of quality assurance mechanism. Argentina is neither an island nor an outlier in higher education reforms in general, and it not when it comes to graduate program accreditation in particular. This study explores the way higher education institutions, as examples of autonomous organizations, respond to a new set of regulatory policies. My specific core interest is to discover what types of responses graduate programs give to compulsory accreditation. The study incorporates analysis from the regulatory and the higher education literature, theories and findings.
Capacity In Grassroots Nonprofit Organizations : Perspectives From Emergency Food Providers, Bethany Slater
Capacity In Grassroots Nonprofit Organizations : Perspectives From Emergency Food Providers, Bethany Slater
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Scholars generally agree that organizational capacity influences a nonprofit’s sustainability and overall effectiveness. Identified challenges include defining capacity, operationalizing it and understanding how capacity affects effectiveness. This research project seeks to explore these challenges and examine the construct of capacity from the perspectives of 195 emergency food program practitioners across eleven counties in upstate New York. The qualitative study aims to understand “what” capacity is; the quantitative study aims to understand “how” capacity is operationalized and the mixed method study examines the “why this matters”, through asking how capacity influences effectiveness.
Linking Goal Perceptions To Employee Performance In The Public Sector : Assessing The Mediating Role Of Psychological Empowerment And The Moderating Role Of Work Context, Jaehee Jong
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
A substantial number of management and psychology studies have examined the positive effect of goal setting on organizational outcomes (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002). Conceptually, goal setting theory is as applicable for motivating an employee in the public sector as it is for motivating an employee in the private sector (Latham, Borgogni, & Petitta, 2008). There have, however, been relatively few studies that have examined employee motivation as a linking mechanism between goal setting and employee performance in the context of public sector organizations (Perry, Mesch, & Paarlberg, 2006; Wright, 2001, 2004). In addition to suggesting the motivational mechanism underlying …