Economics Commons^™

The Politics Of Where: The Federal Government And Canada's Urbanization, 1867-2017, Charles D. Crenna

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation responds to a single overarching research question: what is the nature and extent of the federal government’s influence on urbanization in Canada, both on its systems of cities and on their internal structure? Lessons learned regarding the federal role in Canada’s urbanization remain relevant and applicable to emerging conditions. They offer a sound, streetwise foundation for future urban policy development, based on understanding the vital politics of where.

Large, complex systems of cities are both self-organizing and responsive to strategic guidance by the federal government. Politically-difficult choices among competing urban locations can be made both by hiding …

Stumbling Toward The Up Escalator: How Trends In International Trade, Investment, And Finance Have Complicated Latin America’S Quest For Sustainable, Diversified Economic Development, Mary Eliza Rebecca Ray

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores economic, environmental, and social aspects of Latin America and the Caribbean’s (LAC’s) halting steps away from commodity dependence (the “down escalator” envisioned by Hans Singer). It focuses on the most recent commodity boom (2003-2013), during which the region shifted back toward primary commodity production under a new policy framework aimed at limiting the environmental and social costs of this production while more broadly sharing its benefits through infrastructure, social spending, and closer oversight of foreign investors. This dissertation’s three essays focus on three international flows: trade, development finance, and investment. The first essay weighs the environmental impact …

The Influence Of The Electric Supply Industry On Economic Growth In Less Developed Countries, Edward Richard Bee

Dissertations

This study measures the impact that electrical outages have on manufacturing production in 135 less developed countries using stochastic frontier analysis and data from World Bank’s Investment Climate surveys. Outages of electricity, for firms with and without backup power sources, are the most frequently cited constraint on manufacturing growth in these surveys.

Outages are shown to reduce output below the production frontier by almost five percent in Africa and by a lower percentage in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. Production response to outages is quadratic in form. Outages also increase labor cost, reduce exports …

The Cost Of Earmarks, Nicholis John Zappia

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Finding revenue is a challenge that faces many municipalities in the United States. As the tax base continues to decline and demand for government services increases, local governments are forced to make hard choices. Low on the list of priorities for local governments is the maintenance, and construction of infrastructure. Traditionally there have been several ways for local governments to fund long-term infrastructure projects including, federal-aid through the process of earmarking. The practice of earmarking has been around since the first congress, but hit its peak between 2003 and 2007. The earmarking process is controversial for several reasons; earmarking bypasses …