Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Understanding The Dynamics Of Food And Economic Development In The Community Of Kakisa, Northwest Territories, Canada, Laura Rodriguez Reyes

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

For Indigenous Peoples, the land embodies a source of cultural and spiritual well-being that is linked to their way of life and identities through divine and traditional connections. Unfortunately, colonial powers, the global food system, socioeconomic inequalities and environmental degradation are impacting northern Indigenous lands and food systems, leading to food insecurity. Nevertheless, communities are still thriving in the face of adversity. In the Northwest Territories, on the lands of Ka’a’gee Tu First Nations (KTFN) in the community settlement of Kakisa, people are growing food through vegetable gardens and greenhouses to support their vision of a resilient food system.

Through …

'Indirect Pathways Into Practice': Philippine Internationally Educated Nurses And Their Entry Into Ontario's Nursing Profession, Lualhati Marcelino

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

While there are several studies that highlight the quantitative and statistical profiles of internationally educated nurses (IENs) from the Philippines who migrate to countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the United States and Canada, there is little research that delves deeply into the qualitative review and analysis of their experiences in their own words. This study addresses that gap by applying the transnational feminist concept of “global care chains” in a single case study design that explores the experience of nurses who migrated to Ontario through permanent and temporary immigration streams and were interviewed in 2011 to 2012 to …

Working Joblessness: Young People Deploying 21st Century Skills In Post-Conflict Liberia And Sierra Leone, Frances Fortune

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In Liberia, state economic development policies based on the resource extractive industry's short-term needs have produced too few job opportunities for young people. The development policies have failed to grow the private sector to create jobs, recognize the importance of urbanization, or expand the informal economy's contribution to employment in urban areas. As a result, young people are obliged to use their creativity and digital connections to make a living outside of the normative models of work using an organic social process of bricolage. Bricolage is a type of entrepreneurship or a form of action which can occur in resource-scare …

Asset Pricing Under Randomized Solvable Diffusions, Hiromichi Kato

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

By employing a randomization procedure on the geometric Brownian motion (GBM) model, we construct our new pricing models with stochastic volatility exhibiting symmetric smiles in the log-forward moneyness, and admitting simple closed-form analytical expressions for European-style option prices. We assume that there are no infinitesimal correlations between the underlying asset prices and their volatility, and the integrated squared volatility processes are random variables with well-known probability density functions. Under some regularity conditions, closed-form expressions are obtained by taking the expectation of option prices under diffusion models over the integrated squared volatility process, which relate to the Bayesian framework in the …

Governing Chinese Engagement With The Hydrocarbon-Rich Countries; Examining Chinese Investment In The Hydrocarbon Sector Of Canada And Russia, Anastasia Ufimtseva

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

China’s global quest for energy has been one of the most fascinating developments of the past twenty years. As Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have increasingly gone ‘global’ in search of energy resources, scholars have explored the rationale and implications of China’s investment abroad. However, existing studies have yet to examine the ability of Chinese SOEs to complete the intended investment projects. Several studies that have noted this gap suggest that researchers should examine the ability of Chinese SOEs to adapt to different institutional environments (Smith and D’Arcy 2013) and to analyze the responses of local stakeholders to Chinese SOEs’ engagement …

The Role Of Indicators In Promoting Gender Equality Through The Millennium And Sustainable Development Goals, Sara Rose Taylor

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

With the global rise of evidence-based policy, indicators have become an increasingly important part of governance. Indicators are statistics that represent social experiences, turning complex norms into simplified representations. Although seemingly objective, indicators reflect the values and beliefs of the actors who create them. An indicator’s normative underpinnings have significant consequences for social governance and policy because of an indicator’s power to shape understanding. This multi-manuscript dissertation analyzes the impact of governance by indicators as seen in the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs and SDGs), two major United Nations initiatives in the field of global social governance. The focus …

Agents Of Change: The Role Of Foreign Financial Institutions In China’S Financial Transformation Since The Early 1990s, Anton Malkin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

What role have foreign financial institutions (FFIs) played in China’s financial evolution since the early 1990s? My research finds that FFIs, which include foreign commercial and investment banks, as well as private equity (PE) firms, have played a role in China’s financial evolution in three respects. First, US financial institutions have leveraged their influence in the US government, their ties to other business groups, and mobilized connections with the Chinese elite, to help China to join the World Trade Organization in 2001. This outcome created a relatively open formal, legal environment to foreign actors—helping in the cause of liberalizing China’s …

Responses To Change In The Global Political Economy Of Innovation – The Role Of Sub-National States In Industrial Transition, Dan Herman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation seeks to explore how sub-national levels of the state promote the development of new industrial sectors. To do so this dissertation builds on a series of theoretical perspectives on the role of the state in the economy and develops a unique view of how sub-national states coalesce and contrast within these perspectives. It does so through a series of empirical case studies focused on sub-national jurisdictions in North America that highlight diverse varieties of state actions that contribute, if not lead, industrial transitions and the development of new innovation-oriented industrial sectors. In so doing, the dissertation presents a …

Social Justice And Worker Cooperatives, Gurveer Shaan Dhillon

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Social Justice (SJ) is an organizing principle of contemporary community psychology (CP); however, the concept and understanding of social justice in community psychology is undertheorized and narrow. Specifically, the concept of distributive justice, which has been a popular notion of social justice in community psychology discourse, does not translate well into transformative action. In order to address this issue, the research uses a qualitative approach to explore the understanding of social justice from the perspectives of worker-members of 5 worker cooperatives in Ontario, with the aim to contribute to an understanding of SJ that has transformative implications. A worker cooperative …

Understanding The Influencers Of Second-Hand Apparel Shopping Behavior, Robyn Hobbs

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Shopping for second-hand apparel is rapidly growing and has become a notable segment of the retail market. The purpose of this study is to determine what influences consumers when shopping second-hand for apparel products in-store and online. According to the existing literature, a number of key factors play significant roles for second-hand apparel shopping consumer decisions. They include: social, costs, trends and environmental influencers. Past research has not concentrated in-depth on the hedonistic and social influences of second-hand apparel shopping, financial factors, and time spent shopping for second-hand apparel. This study has observed the socio-demographic profile of second-hand shoppers, what …

Pushing The Limits: International Land Acquisitions In Comparative Perspective, Ariane Goetz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The role of investor countries in large-scale land acquisitions is poorly understood in the contemporary “land grab” literature. Orthodox explanations largely build on deductive analyses that deviate from the emerging empirical evidence, and/or face analytical difficulties when trying to capture why large-scale land acquisitions happen. This thesis investigates the global phenomenon of “land grabbing” from the comparative perspective of two major investor countries: the UK and China. The regional focus is on Sub-Saharan Africa, a major target of land-consuming investments since 2000.

The dissertation advances three arguments: Firstly, the specific details of the home country’s industrial set-up, development challenges, ideological …

A Critical Review Of Ontario’S Blue Box Program: Identifying And Testing Best Practices In Printed Paper And Packaging Recycling, Calvin Lakhan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation undertook a critical review of four recycling policies used in Ontario which are designed to promote household waste diversion and reduce material management costs. These policies include:

1) Municipal funding should be directly tied to program performance relative to their peer group. 2) All municipalities should make investments in recycling promotion and education, and will be reimbursed $1 per household for all recycling promotion and education expenditures

3) Where possible, municipalities should implement pay as you throw schemes for household waste as a means to minimize the amount of material being disposed of in the waste stream.

4) …

The Impact Of Large Plant Closure On Small Firm Creation In Kitchener, Ontario, 1987 To 1998, Christopher William Charman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The impact of restructuring in the manufacturing sector of Kitchener, Ontario has been felt in many ways. For those who were displaced, the alternatives for re-employment were limited. In some cases, workers have turned to self employment and small firm creation as a source of income. This study attempts to quantify the business dynamic at work in the Manufacturing and Business Service sectors in Kitchener between 1987 and 1998. Using a database developed from the Kitchener Business Directory the process of manufacturing loss and service industry increase is studied. The examination follows new business creation, the change in activity within …

The Role Of Wine Tourism In Economic Development: A Case Study Of Niagara Region (Ontario), Gillian Mary Northwood

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Wine tourism is an expanding form of rural tourism which has recently become popular in several wine regions of the world One such area, the Niagara Region in southern Ontario, Canada, is used as a case study for this research. This study examines the role that wine tourism plays in sustainable rural tourism, and determines if wine tourism can be used as a tool for economic development. By completing a survey of winery visitors in the Niagara Region, as well as performing interviews with winery personnel, it was found that wine tourism plays several roles in rural tourism and can …

An Inquiry Into Changing Industrial Labour Force Patterns: Developed And Developing Countries, Kimberley Birjis Naqvi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Structural transformation patterns are examined to search for a systematic breakdown in the historical relationship between rising GDP and rising industrial labour force shares. Some older industrialised countries have considered focusing on knowledge and skill intensive activity as a new 'engine of growth' in response to industrial employment decline, and stagnating incomes. Such new economic activity anticipates trade with industrialising countries, whose incomes would rise with industrialisation. This relationship is dependent on the persistence of labour-intensive specialisation in industrialising countries. Three trends might prevent prolonged specialisation: increased international competitiveness, rising capital-intensity in production, and international economic specialisation. Each of these …

Industrial Trade Shows: Their Role And Spatial Dimension In Industrial Restructuring, Andras Gosztonyi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The fundamental changes in the economic environment since the 1970s put firms under immense pressure to adjust their strategies to the increasingly dynamic and flexible global economy. The simultaneous upsurge in industrial trade show activity suggests that these events hold a central position in the process of restructuring. Therefore this study aims at theoretically examining the economic functions of trade shows and thus their role in economic restructuring. Yet, if trade shows are significant in industrial restructuring, it is important to learn about their spatial structure and thus their accessibility to firms in different countries and regions. This is carried …

Gaining The Competitive Advantage: Ontario Universities And The Global Economy, Jonathan Sidney Greene

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Using a radical political economy approach, this thesis examines how changing global economic and political pressures have forced the Ontario government to reconsider their policies toward higher education. Specifically, this thesis describes and analyses provincial government initiatives toward universities in the period 1985 and 1995, and assesses what these changes mean for understanding the functions of Ontario universities in the present era of global economic change. The thesis argues that Ontario universities historically have served three primary functions: ideological, vocational, and research. In the period under study the Ontario government established an industrial strategy that focused on those industries that …

Urban-Rural Socio-Economic Links In African Countries: The Case Of Accra, Ghana, Edmund Nkansah Okoree

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

One of the most significant spin-offs of migration in developing countries is the remittance of cash and other resources from migrants to their family members remaining in the area of origin. Through remittances, income is redistributed from urban areas to rural areas. This results in an extension of social, economic, cultural and political fruits of urban life to rural households and communities. This study examines the types of links migrants in Accra, Ghana, maintain with their kin back home. Through a study of the flow of cash remittances and other resources between migrants in Accra and their area of origin, …

Recent Changes In Domestic Accessibility In The Canadian Airline Industry: The Pre- And Post-Deregulation Situation, Ruben Jose De Castro Furtado

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In 1987 the Canadian National Transportation Act was amended. Airlines became free to enter/exit markets as they saw fit, and a network-wide reform of airline services began. This thesis examines the extent of network development since 1970, and attempts to determine the some of the spatial effects of the 1987 deregulation of the airline industry on nodal accessibility. Accessibility is a relative term and difficult to define explicitly. While it can be measured in distance or time, it may also be measured as the frequency of links between places over time. In this thesis the connectivity among places is used …

The Demand Side Of Farmers' Markets In Kitchener-Waterloo: An Examination Of The Waterloo, St. Jacobs And Kitchener Farmers' Markets (Ontario), Dana Glenn Wells

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Farmers' markets have traditionally been outlets for a variety of everyday food items, many sold by local farmers. Today, many markets have changed from their original function, and now offer a variety of goods to a wider variety of people both demographically and geographically. In the Kitchener-Waterloo area, three farmers’ markets exist, the Kitchener Farmers’ Market, the Waterloo County Farmers’ Market and the St. Jacobs' Farmers Market. These markets, identified as recognisable farmers’ markets (Tunbridge 1992), differ from other market typologies including traditional markets, public markets and festival market places. Though broad in nature, farmers’ markets can be broken down …

An Attitudinal Evaluation Of Collaboration In The Community Economic Development Process In Southwestern Ontario, Lisa Susanne Mccormick

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Many small communities in Southwestern Ontario suffer from economic decline. Several areas have faced devastating plant closures and layoffs. In response, communities have been encouraged to adopt a community economic development strategy by senior levels of government. This strategy focuses on community participation, entrepreneurship and the retraining of the workforce. This thesis examines the accomplishments of eight predominantly rural areas in Southwestern Ontario. Attitudes and perceptions of sixty-four local actors involved in the CED process were evaluated. These eight areas received similar levels of funding and all have mechanisms in place for community economic development. However, the extent of CED …

The American Social Gospel And Korean Minjung Theology Look At Labor: A Comparison, Kee Hyang Ro

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Today, current global economic crises are forcing us to examine what the capitalist, industrial economy has done to workers and to explore alternatives to the prevailing concept of labor. For Koreans, who are involved with the Korean Labor Movement, their American counterpart that played a significant and an important role fighting the capitalists for the rights of laborers has taught them many lessons.

The Social Gospel Movement in America was started to fight "the real powers of darkness"—the economic corruption in high places and grinding poverty among lower sectors—both arising from industrialization and urbanization. Seeing that the labor movement coalesced …

Agro-Climatic Hazards And The Political Economy Of Food Insecurity In West Africa: A Case Of A Rural Food Economy, Raphael Lawer Djabatey

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Variability and declining food production and accessibility in West Africa have characterised the food system in the region’s rural economy. These phenomenon have contributed to the fluctuation and declining per capita food supply and calorie intake, falling wages of farmers, rising food prices and increasing reliance on food imports and food aid by the governments and people of West Africa. The cause of the problem still remains an illusion and continues to baffle policy makers. Very often the problem is attributed to drought. However, to reduce the problem of household food insecurity to natural forces is to miss the centre …

Organizations And Attitudes In The Local Economic Development Process: A Case Study Of The West Parry Sound Area (Ontario), Darin Gregory Tucci

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study is to further our understanding of the obstacles and catalysts to the local economic development (LED) process. The central issues under examination deal with multi-community and multi-organization integration at the subregional level. These issues are explored though a case study of West Parry Sound Area (WPSA). The difficulties associated with integration and the differences among member municipalities and organizations were evaluated in two ways. First, the agencies involved in the WSPA LED process were examined to assess the organizational structure resulting from overlapping objectives and representatives. Second, the attitudes of key actors within these agencies …

The Impact Of The Bruce Nuclear Power Development Planned Workforce Increase On Kincardine, Ontario, Robert Mark Flesch

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study investigates the underlying dimensions of public attitudes toward the impact of the Bruce Nuclear Power Development planned workforce increase on Kincardine, Ontario. Kincardine, a small rural community of approximately 5900 inhabitants (Statistics Canada, 1986), is located in the southwestern portion of Bruce County. Much of the current landscape, demographic composition, and industrial structure can directly be attributed to the locality’s function as a residential nucleation for the Bruce Nuclear Power Development workforce and their families (Hecht and Sharpe, 1990; Chalk, 1990). Two propositions form the basis for this study of community response. The first states that the underlying …

Technological Development In Mississauga And Canada's Technology Triangle: A Calibrated Application Of The Product Life Cycle, J. Colin Wright

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

No abstract provided.

The Changing Canadian Inventive Spatial Economic Pattern: An Urban And Regional Analysis Between 1881 And 1986, S.L. Brian Ceh

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Canadian urban and regional patent and trademark data was analysed between 1881 and 1986 in an attempt to distinguish spatial inventive patterns in Canada over time. Inventive activity, as a pre—condition for economic development, is a viable indicator for predicting future economic growth in an inventive spatial economy. As such, it will be possible to extend the description of spatial inventive patterns in Canada after 1986. The percentage and relative level of inventive activity in urban centers and regions in Canada will help distinguish spatial inventive patterns in Canada over time. This information was based on a 25 percent systematic …

University Growth-Poles And The Canadian Aggregate Situation, Stephen Paul Meyer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The utilization of higher education resources in a regional development function has become an increasingly popular ploy within the realm of government policy. The university, typically through an interaction with today’s growth-inciting high-technology industry, has tended to replace the traditionally-used manufacturing plant as the ‘new’ growth-pole. It is likely that no other single institution could benefit a region in as wide an array of economic and social capacities as can the university. And, it is with respect to this notion that a Canadian university study was pursued. However, where most university ‘impact-type’ assessments have tended to look at individual cases, …

A Social Ethical Analysis Of Economic Strategies To Alleviate World Hunger, David G.A. Pfrimmer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Throughout their history, human societies have been faced with many issues. In this study, the focus will be upon the issue of hunger in less developed countries that has presently reached a critical stage that threatens human existence. Church and world leaders have all voiced concern over this issue but to date no generally effective policies have been developed that would enable the almost 600 million people who are hungry at present to enjoy a basic level of nutritional food consumption.

In this study, we will provide one framework by which an accurate diagnosis can be made of the problem …