Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Mitigating Sex Trafficking: Preventative Methods For Reducing Sexual Exploitation, Autumn Rain Monroe

University Honors Theses

In recent years, sex trafficking has become more well-known in the public sphere, generating activism and legislation in an effort to combat this human rights issue. With this increased awareness comes challenges in appropriately understanding sex trafficking. The general public and even lawmakers often do not understand the complete dynamic or complexities of sex trafficking. Definitional inconsistencies make it difficult to provide a universal definition of sex trafficking, contributing to misconceptions involving the methods of entry and the barriers to exiting. Ultimately, this prevents proper identification of victims, hinders the protection of victims, and the implementation of survivor-oriented legislation, meaning …

The Past, Present, And Future Of The Latino Paradox, Sheila Flores

University Honors Theses

The Latino/Hispanic paradox has left scholars and researchers puzzled as to how Latinos, despite facing socioeconomic challenges, show better health outcomes when compared to other racial/ethnic groups. The emergence of this phenomenon can be traced back to the 1980s/1990s when researchers first noticed Latinos in the United States having characteristics of lower mortality rates and improved health compared with non-Hispanic whites despite having a better socioeconomic status. Performing a literature review of scholars analyzing the past, present, and future of the Latino Paradox will thus allow for an understanding of its origin, current state, and the possible potential trajectories that …

Proxies Of Design: A Case Study And Analysis Of Place And Commercial Real Estate In Seattle, Nicholas Miranda

University Honors Theses

What kinds of relationships exist between individual buildings and greater society in Seattle? Focusing on the role of design in shaping the value and desirability of commercial properties, the study examines and utilizes a large temporal and spatial dataset to test price analogs between common building attributes and metrics. By employing a hedonic pricing model, the study seeks to identify the impact of these attributes on property values and ultimately relate them to architectural and contextual design, from a micro to a macro level. The empirical findings are not necessarily novel or groundbreaking, but rather, they shed light on the …

Exploring The Relationship Between Green Space And Academic Performance, Audrey Demeaux

University Honors Theses

A growing body of literature is exploring the possibility that the presence of green spaces near schools can work to improve academic performance. Research to date on the relationship between green space and academic performance has shown mixed results. However, some see incorporating green spaces into school layouts as a key alternative strategy for improving academic achievement in the United States. This paper adds to the emerging discourse on the relationship between green space and academic achievement by using open-source data to conduct a regression analysis exploring the possible relationship between green space near K-12 schools and SAT scores in …

An On-Ramp To Financial Inclusion: Measuring The Impact Of Mercy Corps' Community Investment Trust Program On Minority Investors, Lexi Yokote

University Honors Theses

Mercy Corps' Community Investment Trust (CIT) was launched in 2017 as a low-risk real estate investment and education initiative. The program is now working to replicate this in cities across the United States. However, it has not been able to collect much feedback from existing investors about their experiences and needs. This paper will use primary and secondary research in the form of a literature review and original surveys to collect information about investor demographics, attitudes toward the CIT and investing, risk perceptions, and future investment plans. The results show that U.S.-born versus foreign-born status, ethnicity, and gender affect the …

Deciphering French Decentralization Efforts And Economic Attractivity Through The Evaluation Of France's Lyonnaise Region, Magwyer Grimes, Kimberley Brown

University Honors Theses

France has long been a country politically and economically dominated by its largest city: Paris. This dynamic seemed natural for an absolute monarchy and a subsequent empire that sought centralized administration, but in the second half of the twentieth century there were increasing calls for regional solidarity and a more active industrial policy to develop metropolitan France beyond the Paris basin. The objectives of the French government seem two-fold: to lean on and expand the economic strength of the Paris region while increasing the economic dynamism of the various other large agglomerations. But in an economy already so dominated by …

Designing The Future: The Influence Of Lloyd J. Reynolds On American Product Innovation, Bander Qadan

University Honors Theses

This research inquiry will explore how critical advances in American design products and consumerism can be traced back to the late Lloyd J. Reynolds and the silent yet powerful influence he has had on a generation of students, such as the innovative pioneer, Steve Jobs. Lloyd J. Reynolds was a renowned calligrapher and teacher at Reed College. The inquiry is structured chronologically, leading to Apple's 2022 valuation of about two trillion dollars. Four significant areas will be examined to trace this trajectory. Firstly, the paper examines the effects of calligraphy/typography on Lloyd J. Reynolds. Secondly, it delves into Steve Jobs’ …

In Favor Of Bringing Game Theory Into Urban Studies And Planning Curriculum: Reintroducing An Underused Method For The Next Generation Of Urban Scholars, Brian Mcdonald Gardner

Dissertations and Theses

By looking at some historical examples of Urban Studies literature and theory (and a detailed dive into Neil Smith's "Toward a theory of gentrification…") this thesis makes the case that Game Theory has valid insights to add to the foundation of Urban Studies and Planning and should be included in Masters and Doctorate level curriculums. As a discipline Game Theory has revolutionized multiple other fields, and can be used both mathematically and/or non-mathematically. It is postulated below that the inclusion of Game Theory would help scholars and practitioners arrive at better outcomes. This case is made by reviewing various areas …

Covid's Impact On Nurses & Their Labor Market, Joshua Stanfill

University Honors Theses

The Covid pandemic has swept across the globe impacting many different kinds of people in many different ways. Businesses and workers experienced changes in how their respective labor markets operated with new incentives. One group of laborers that experienced quite a significant impact are nurses working through the Covid pandemic. The pandemic created new incentives for nurses that heavily impacted their labor market. Through a literature review of scientific studies examining the impacts of working through a pandemic on nurses, I discovered that this was causing psychological and emotional damage to nurses. Covid spurred on an already occurring nursing shortage …

The Effect Of Stem Education On Women, Jasmine Gloden

University Honors Theses

This inquiry seeks to establish the effect of a STEM education on labor market outcomes for women. Gender differences in interest and performance in STEM fields begin at an early age, and remain steadfast through education and into the labor market. Due to factors like lack of female role models in STEM, gender stereotypes, and lack of growth mindset in terms of intellectual abilities, women can be discouraged throughout their education from continuing in a STEM education or pursuing a STEM occupation. Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, I determined the effect of a STEM education for …

School Lunch Policy And Parental Working Trends, Sophia D. Paniagua

University Honors Theses

This paper studies the effects of the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act on school lunch uptake and parental working trends. Using data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series' (IPUMS) Current Population Survey (CPS), an empirical analysis was conducted. The findings indicate that, after the policy's implementation, school lunch uptake increased for all individuals in the sample, but especially for low-income individuals. Working trends saw a decrease, virtually across the board. Low-income individuals decreased their hours per week by slightly more than half an hour.

Maturity Model For Customer-Centric Approach In Enterprise: The Case Of E-Commerce And Online Retail Industry, Soheil Zarrin

Dissertations and Theses

The network technologies are changing the dynamics of the interaction between customer and provider. Customers demand closer relationships and higher investment between partners, as well as cooperation between companies to build supporting technologies for their unique needs. Customer-centricity is defined as interaction with the customer through various touchpoints and aggregating these relations to create a position for the customer. Each Customer has a different need and expectation from the provider or seller, and companies need to be flexible enough to fulfill their needs. One of the reasons organizations invest less in customer experience is that they believe they are already …

An Economic And Political Lens Into The Lives Of Undocumented Migrant Female-Headed Households, Fátima V. Preciado Mendoza

University Honors Theses

Mexican undocumented women are essential in migrating in many households; they are often at the center of sustaining immigrant networks (Caroline B. Brettell 2015). The purpose of this study is to document, analyze, and report on the sociopolitical climate concerning the federal immigration detention and deportation pursued by the Trump regime and its effect on the mental health and financial well-being of undocumented migrant mothers working in Oregon. Throughout the interviewed data analysis process, the study examines the critical role women play in building community and navigating through multiple state social services and programs as a means of self-empowerment. This …

The Meghan Markle Effect: An Analysis Of A 21st Century Celebrity Through A Veblenian Perspective, Lucy Jensen

University Honors Theses

Following her engagement and subsequent marriage to Prince Harry, Meghan Markle has emerged as a global figure and fashion icon. Her ability to influence fashion trends has been labelled the "Meghan effect" by the news media. This thesis research applies the theories of Thorstein Veblen, an economist and author of the extremely influential Theory of the Leisure Class (1899). The thesis has the aim of clarifying how Veblen’s thinking can be applied to Markle or comparable high-profile women. What this inquiry ultimately finds is that Veblen was indeed correct in his assumption that high-profile, wealthy people such as Markle can …

Police Union Contracts And Impediments To Accountability: A Case Study Analysis Of Ppa Bargaining Agreements, Elizabeth Ott

University Honors Theses

Despite a growing widespread recognition that police unions represent a major component of policing and have major influences on aspects of policing such as disciplinary procedures, day-to-day management, and police-community relations, they have until recently been largely ignored by police scholars. In light of significant gaps in knowledge regarding police unions and the impacts that they have on law enforcement behavior and police accountability, this paper utilizes a case study approach to analyze all existing union contracts between the Portland Police Association (PPA) and the City of Portland in order to explore the prevalence of particular contract provisions that critics …

Towards An Evolutionary-Institutional Analysis Of Landlordship, Jaye Balentine

University Honors Theses

This inquiry considers the social phenomena of landlordship and traces its evolutionary tendencies. Furthermore, this effort argues that since the 18^th century through the present, landlordship can be viewed as an institution that is caught in a Teufelskreis, a vicious cycle that is related to ever-increasing emphases upon pecuniary values, that comes with a related tendency for ever increasing impersonal relations between tenant and landlord. This inquiry relies upon an evolutionary approach, considering the institution of landlordship since the emergence of capitalist landlords in 18^th century England--that runs up through the present. Using an evolutionary-institutional approach drawing …

The Dark Triad And Impulsivity: Predictors And Correlates Of Workplace Representative Task Problem Solving And Decision Making, Peter Kendall Glazer Jr.

Dissertations and Theses

This research investigated group and individual differences in decision-making and problem-solving on workplace representative tasks, and whether certain personality traits correlated with or were predictors of participant strategy. In parallel studies done online (N = 214) and in-person (N = 80) with Portland State University undergraduate School of Business students, performance was measured on two workplace representative tasks under two different difficulty conditions. The Number Place experiment resulted in two major findings: First, when given a comparatively easy task, women had more Time Remaining than men. However, this was moderated by the difficulty condition, such that men had more Time …

Gas Stations And The Wealth Divide: Analyzing Spatial Correlations Between Wealth And Fuel Branding, Jean-Carl Ende

Dissertations and Theses

The gasoline refining and sales industry has many peculiarities. One such oddity is a difference in sales, distribution and pricing between branded and unbranded gasolines. Although fuels leave the refinery a uniform commodity, branding determines entirely different marketing and pricing schemes, with entirely different volatility and risk premiums. In order to determine if this volatility is felt evenly across all wealth demographics, this study uses t-tests and CART models to analyze income, home value and other wealth-based indicators in the areas surrounding gas stations, to determine if there is a correlation between branding and wealth. The results show the wealth …

Legal Financial Obligations & Rehabilitation: How The Ability To Pay Fines And Fees Disproportionately Affects Citizens Based On Socioeconomic Status, Bailey R. Code

University Honors Theses

In the United States, legal financial obligations (LFO's), also known as monetary sanctions or criminal justice financial obligations, refer to the fines and fees that result from an individual’s involvement in the criminal justice system. Today, these fines and fees have become the most common form of punishment used by the United States' legal system. This paper answers the following research question: How can the ability to pay legal financial obligations shape the rehabilitation of incarcerated people in the United States?

Legal Financial Obligations are harmful to those entangled within the justice system, as shown by their cyclical nature and …

What Is The Impact Of Economic Stimulus Measures On Covid-19 Mortality Rates?, Stephanie C. Santaguida

University Honors Theses

This inquiry seeks to establish the degree to which economic stimulus measures impact COVID-19 mortality rates. There appears to be an inverse correlation between domestic social spending and COVID-19 deaths. While confirmed infections are the most reliable predictor of mortality rates, trust in government is an important factor to consider when public compliance with health directives determines the degree of epidemiological risk in each country. Although most economists agree that stimulus monies directed to low-income individuals to prevent financial collapse were appropriate, there is some dissention with regard to the type and size of such cash infusions. Nonetheless, behavioral economists …

Greening Inequality: How Urban Sustainable Development Fails Under Neoliberalism, Josie R. Allison

University Honors Theses

Despite its banner of common-good altruism, urban sustainable development becomes a branding scheme for municipalities when it operates under and prioritizes a neoliberal agenda. Neoliberalism is the dominant economic philosophy within the United States, and other western economies, that emphasizes extreme economic liberalism and open markets with public fiscal austerity and the diminished role of governments. This has transferred a great portion of power and funding once held by the public sector into the hands of the private sector. Under neoliberalism, city governments function with stripped federal funding and limited budgets, while leaning on private companies for public operations, like …

Nigerien Fertility Choice In The Face Of Desertification, Samson R. Swan

University Honors Theses

While the majority of the world experienced rapid fertility decline in the second half of the twentieth century, Niger’s fertility rate has remained relatively constant. A high fertility rate in itself is not a problem for the population as long as the resulting population can be sustained by the economic activity of the population. This is not the case for Niger, as extreme droughts in the Sahel have cast doubt on the sustainability of the majority-subsistence economy since the mid-1960s. Although not extremely common, there are some demographers and fertility experts who hold the idea that fertility decision-making is driven …

Examining The Popularity Concept In The Initial Public Offering (Ipo) Market, Preston Rad

University Honors Theses

Popularity is the act of being liked. In Popularity: A Bridge Between Classical and Behavioral Finance, authors Roger Ibbotson, Thomas Idzorek, Paul Kaplan, and James Xiong (hereafter IIDX) explore the concept of Popularity in capital market theory. IIDX argue that certain companies have Popular characteristics that leads to overpricing caused by a Popularity premium. This paper begins with an overview of the historical methods of asset pricing, starting with the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). It progresses through the expansion of the model by financial theorists such as Eugene Fama and Kenneth French. Jay Ritter (1991) has documented the …

Economic Analysis Of Green Marketing: The Correlation Between Consumers And Firms Through Environmental Incentives, Naomi Joyce

University Honors Theses

This thesis will seek to explore and analyze incentives in the market with relation to consumers and firms interacting in the current economic and environmental situation of the United States. These incentives are crucial to understanding the relationship between green consumerism and firm positions in the market. By analyzing the characteristics of green consumers and their reactions of firms, a better understanding of the economic relationship of firms and consumers for the future will become more apparent. The green consumer exhibits personal patterns in their purchasing habits which firms can utilize to attract the green consumer while increasing profits. When …

Millennial Perceptions On Homeownership And Financial Planning Decisions, Margaret Ann Greenfield

Dissertations and Theses

This master's thesis investigates the economic factors that are affecting the financial decision-making of educated, middle to upper class Millennials in Los Angeles, California. This thesis explores how economic factors, preferences, and self-efficacy interact to determine housing pathways. This thesis also asks whether Millennials in Los Angeles will be able to afford homes and how the cultural narrative of the American Dream affects preferences. In order to answer these questions, twenty in person interviews are conducted with residents of Los Angeles in which they are asked about their values and preferences regarding housing, and the economic factors they are currently …

An Analysis Of The Bizx Commercial Trade Exchange: The Attitudes And Motivations Behind Its Use, Ján André Montoya

Dissertations and Theses

The Global Financial Crisis underscored both the complexity and brittleness of the global financial system, especially for small to medium enterprises dependent on the current banking regime for credit. More than ever, we have also begun to see the disentanglement of small businesses from traditional banks at the local and regional level in the form of CDFIs, fintech alternative lending, and now complementary currencies. Through interviews with the management and members of the BizX complementary currency this study asks what the attitudes and motivations are behind its offering and use. In addition, it inquires into the economic and psychological benefits …

India's Economic Growth: Role Of Political Performance And Gender Wage Gap, Rajeev Indira Nagaraju

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation will explore how gender wage gap and political capacity represented by relative political extraction affect change in economic growth rate of a country. The main argument of the study is that gender wage gap is affecting the labor market by discouraging productive female labor force from entering the labor market. This in turn affects the efficiency and productivity of the labor market reflected in negative economic growth or economic growth potential being compromised. Here the case of Indian economy is examined. The important policy implication of this study is that it could account for the wage differential between …

El Capitalismo Y El Ciudadano Del Distrito Federal: Evolución De La Identidad En La Ciudad De México En Respuesta A Los Cambios Económicos En Dos Épocas Desde La Óptica De La Región Más Transparente De Carlos Fuentes Y Hotel Df De Guillermo Fadanelli, Douglas Mitchell L. Emison

University Honors Theses

Throughout the history of Mexico, the country's gradual involvement with capitalism has given rise to different eras of profound economic change which have consequently generated a variety of influences implicating changes in Mexican sociocultural identity. This work investigates two specific eras of novel capitalist engagement to determine the relationship between these economic changes and the evolution of Mexican identity using the urban environment of Mexico City as the socio-spatial center. The sociocultural effects of Mexico's post-revolutionary era of economic development from the 1940s to the 1960s will first be explored, followed by an investigation of the post-NAFTA / WTO era …

Democratization, Political Performance, And Income Distribution In Argentina And Brazil, Nicholas Paul Stowell

Dissertations and Theses

This research examines the effects of democratization and political performance on the functional distribution of income in Argentina and Brazil from the end of their authoritarian periods to the present. The existing literature tends to focus on the impacts of democratization and political performance on the economic growth of the country as a whole or on changes to per capita income. This analysis focuses on the equality of economic development in less developed countries because growth is not necessarily distributed equally and poverty and inequality are both endemic to many less developed countries and also negatively impact development as a …

Synthesizing The Vertical And The Horizontal: A World-Ecological Analysis Of 'The Industrial Revolution', Part I, Christopher R. Cox

Dissertations and Theses

'The Industrial Revolution' is simultaneously one of the most under-examined and overly-simplified concepts in all of social science. One of the ways it is highly under-examined is in the arena of the ecological, particularly through the lens of critical world-history. This paper attempts to analyze the phenomenon through the lens of the world-ecology synthesis, in three distinct phases: First, the history of the conceptualization of the Industrial Revolution is examined at length, paying special attention to the knowledge foundations that determine these conceptualizations. Secondly, I sift out what I believe is the dominant model throughout most of modern …