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2012

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An Exploratory Examination Of Antecedents To Software Piracy: A Crosscultural Comparison, Andrew J. Setterstrom, John M. Pearson, Hassan Aleassa Jan 2012

An Exploratory Examination Of Antecedents To Software Piracy: A Crosscultural Comparison, Andrew J. Setterstrom, John M. Pearson, Hassan Aleassa

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Software piracy continues to be a growing problem on a global scale for software developers. The purpose of this study was to conduct a cross-cultural comparison of a model predicting the intent of individuals to pirate software using two subsamples: Jordan and the US. Our results suggest that the Theory of Reasoned Action provides a strong predictive ability for our US subsample, but not for our Jordanian sample. Additionally, public self-consciousness, ideology, and religiosity varied in their ability to moderate the relationships of TRA across cultures. Overall, our results suggest culture plays an important role in affecting software piracy, and …

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Creating A Horticultural Curriculum Addressing Environmental Concerns, Carly Gillett Jan 2012

Creating A Horticultural Curriculum Addressing Environmental Concerns, Carly Gillett

LSU Master's Theses

Research indicates that the average age of the American farmer is 57 years old. There is a need for new programs to be developed to encourage youth to pursue careers in agriculture. This study developed and implemented a horticultural curriculum at a summer camp targeting participants aged 9-12. A treatment group consisted of campers that signed up for the Victory Garden camp track and a control group consisted of randomly selected campers from a different camp track. A pre-test and post-test were given to both student groups. The test consisted of 16 general horticultural knowledge multiple choice questions and four …

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Mechanisms By Which Exercise Training Attenuates Blood Pressure In Animals: Roles Of Cytokines, Oxidative Stress, And Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3Â, Deepmala Agarwal Jan 2012

Mechanisms By Which Exercise Training Attenuates Blood Pressure In Animals: Roles Of Cytokines, Oxidative Stress, And Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3Â, Deepmala Agarwal

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hypertension is a chronic multifactorial condition with high morbidity and mortality rates, currently affecting about one billion people worldwide. Currently available anti-hypertensive medications are found to be effective in reducing blood pressure (BP), but still more than 50% of those diagnosed with hypertension fail to respond to these anti-hypertensive regimens. Although hypertension has multiple etiologies, physical inactivity has been found to have strong correlation with the disease, so exercise has recently been recommended as a part of lifestyle modifications for all hypertensive patients. Therefore, the present series of in vivo and in vitro studies were undertaken to gain more insight …

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Training, Nutrition, Injury And Lifestyle Characteristics Of Shorter Distance Triathletes, Loren Elizabeth Johnson Jan 2012

Training, Nutrition, Injury And Lifestyle Characteristics Of Shorter Distance Triathletes, Loren Elizabeth Johnson

LSU Master's Theses

Triathlon is an increasingly popular sport in which an athlete competes in swimming, biking and running in a single competitive bout. Today there are more than 140,000 members in the sanctioning body for triathlon. However, there is little descriptive data about this group of athletes. PURPOSE: The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to describe the demographics, training habits, nutritional practices, injury occurrence and overall health status of triathletes and identify any differences between two studies that collected this information. The secondary purpose was to examine any significant correlations among the major outcome variables in the LSU study. METHODS: …

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The Effects Of Regulatory Uncertainty On The U.S. Acid Rain Program, Narendra Paramanand Jan 2012

The Effects Of Regulatory Uncertainty On The U.S. Acid Rain Program, Narendra Paramanand

LSU Master's Theses

Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA 1990) created the first large scale cap-and-trade program as a means to control acid rain in the United States. The program regulated the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrous oxide (NOx) in the atmosphere—the precursor to acid rain (formerly acid deposition). Economists have long argued for the use of market-based incentive approach as oppose to the traditional command-and-control methods for its ability to be efficient and cost-effective. Title IV went into full effect in 1995 and has been lauded among one of the most successful regulation as it …

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The Effect Of Video Self-Monitoring On Teaching Aba Paraprofessionals, Kristen Nicole Abbondante Jan 2012

The Effect Of Video Self-Monitoring On Teaching Aba Paraprofessionals, Kristen Nicole Abbondante

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the effects of psychoeducation method (video vs. manual) on the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of participants regarding the education of children with autism within a group design. There was not a significant difference between the two groups on the participants’ thoughts, attitudes, or knowledge. Study Two examined the effect of video self-monitoring on teaching paraprofessionals to implement discrete trial instruction with children with autism. A single-subject multiple baseline design across four participants was utilized. The participants were taught to use discrete trial instruction (DTI) using a video self-monitoring procedure. Results showed that performance feedback was necessary for …

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Phenotypic And Niche Evolution In The Antbirds (Aves: Thamnophilidae), Gustavo Adolfo Bravo Jan 2012

Phenotypic And Niche Evolution In The Antbirds (Aves: Thamnophilidae), Gustavo Adolfo Bravo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A pervasive goal in evolutionary biology has been to address why some clades are richer in species or phenotypic diversity than others. The Thamnophilidae is a large family of insectivorous passerine birds that provides great opportunities to study variation in species and phenotypic diversity. It comprises ca. 220 species that are mostly restricted to the lowlands and lower montane forests of the Neotropics. Its species are diverse in body size and shape, and the family exhibits high species richness, especially in Amazonian forests, where as many as 40 species may co-occur. Therefore, the fundamental research goal of my dissertation is …

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Originalist Ideology And The Rule Of Law, Ian C. Bartrum Jan 2012

Originalist Ideology And The Rule Of Law, Ian C. Bartrum

Scholarly Works

This essay contends that one of the basic tenets of the "New Originalism" -- the so-called "contribution thesis" -- compromises our underlying commitment to the rule of law. By locating some binding substantive content of constitutional language in a historical record beyond the text itself, originalism undermines the fundamental concepts of formal legality and public accessibility. With these issues in mind, the essay concludes that originalism is not a philosophical account of how the Constitution has meaning in our legal system, but is instead a judicial ideology intended to promote the constitutional policy judgments of an earlier generation.

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What Does The ¹⁴C Method For Estimating Photosynthetic Rates In The Ocean Really Measure?, Shaofeng Pei Jan 2012

What Does The ¹⁴C Method For Estimating Photosynthetic Rates In The Ocean Really Measure?, Shaofeng Pei

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The 14C method has been used extensively by both limnologists and oceanographers to measure photosynthetic rates in aquatic systems, and the large database of 14C measurements that now exists is the ground truth with which satellite algorithms for estimating marine photosynthetic rates on a basin and global scale have been calibrated. However, disconcerting uncertainties still remain with respect to whether and under what circumstances the 14C method provides an estimate of net or gross photosynthesis, or something in between. My study combined batch and continuous culture studies to clarify this ambiguous issue. The batch culture work with …

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Communicating While Stimulated: The Effects Of Sensory-Processing Sensitivity On Behavior And Relationships, Christopher Charles Gearhart Jan 2012

Communicating While Stimulated: The Effects Of Sensory-Processing Sensitivity On Behavior And Relationships, Christopher Charles Gearhart

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In light of claims made by Aron (1996, 2000; Aron & Aron, 1997), this dissertation tested the influence of sensory-processing sensitivity on communication via two sets of research questions. First, are highly sensitive persons more easily aroused by stimulation, and if so does this necessarily cause a decrease in affect recognition? Results of an experimental study (N = 342) indicate that highly sensitive persons (HSPs) were more distracted by audio stimulation, causing more errors in accuracy judgments on non-verbal decoding tests, most noticeably for facial expression detection. The implication is that, when aroused by stimulation in their environment, HSPs may …

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Immigration, The Welfare State And Income Inequality In Sixteen Oecd Countries, 1970-2007, Ping Xu Jan 2012

Immigration, The Welfare State And Income Inequality In Sixteen Oecd Countries, 1970-2007, Ping Xu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Many western democracies witnessed roaring levels of immigration and inequality in the past four decades. In spite of speculations that immigration is a contributing factor of the rising income inequality, existing studies do not have a consistent finding relating to this relationship. This dissertation utilizes new data sources to explore the relationship between immigration and inequality.My initial exploration points to the fact that immigration significantly leads to increases in post-redistribution income inequality in 16 OECD countries, but does not have any effect on pre-redistribution income inequality. I contend that it is because immigrants as non-citizens are often times not entitled …

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A Novel Rna Extraction Method For Cyanobacteria, Zenghui Zhang Jan 2012

A Novel Rna Extraction Method For Cyanobacteria, Zenghui Zhang

LSU Master's Theses

Research on production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) by microorganisms has captured attention over the last two decades, since PHA have similar properties as petroleum-based thermoplastics, yet are close to carbon neutral and made from renewable sources. Cyanobacteria are considered to be good PHA producers because of their simple nutrient requirements (mainly water, sunlight and CO2) and fast cell growth. However, knowledge of metabolisms behind PHA production by cyanobacteria is limited. Therefore, gene expression analysis of cyanobacteria is required to get a thorough understanding at the molecular level, and gene expression analysis requires the extraction of high quality RNA. Extracting high quality …

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Southern Bellas: The Construction Of Mestiza Identity In Southern Narratives, Wendy Aimee Braun Jan 2012

Southern Bellas: The Construction Of Mestiza Identity In Southern Narratives, Wendy Aimee Braun

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project analyzes representations and self-representations of Mestizas living in areas of the Deep South that lack a significant Latino presence. Incorporating a range of media, I take a comparative approach to Southern cultural narratives and propose a re-reading of these works through an examination of identity formation and cultural negotiation. By centering the Southern Mestiza, this dissertation advances concepts of intersectionality to address the role of region, as well as race and gender, in the representation and experiences of women often overlooked in Southern and U.S. Latino studies. The Introductory chapter summarizes the theoretical framework for the study, including …

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Movements And Habitat Use Of Southeastern Blue Sucker Cycleptus Merdionalis In The Lower Pearl River, Devon Charles Oliver Jan 2012

Movements And Habitat Use Of Southeastern Blue Sucker Cycleptus Merdionalis In The Lower Pearl River, Devon Charles Oliver

LSU Master's Theses

Riverine fisheries management programs often do not focus on non-sport and non-commercial fishes, such as catostomids, yet many suckers have become threatened or endangered throughout river systems in the United States because of habitat alterations. In the Pearl River, sedimentation, dam construction, and other hydrologic modifications have negatively impacted habitats used by southeastern blue suckers Cycleptus meridionalis, a species of concern in both Louisiana and Mississippi. The principal objective of this project was to investigate habitat use of likely historically abundant southeastern blue suckers in the lower Pearl River. During electrofishing surveys in 2010 and 2011, we observed no southeastern …

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Experimental Study Of Lean Blowout With Hydrogen Addition In A Swirl-Stabilized Premixed Combustor, Shengrong Zhu Jan 2012

Experimental Study Of Lean Blowout With Hydrogen Addition In A Swirl-Stabilized Premixed Combustor, Shengrong Zhu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Lean premixed combustion is widely used to achieve a better compromise between nitric oxides emissions and combustion efficiency. However, combustor operation near the lean blowout limit can render the flame unstable and lead to oscillations, flashback, or extinction, thereby limiting the potential range of lean combustion. Recent interest in integrated gasification combined cycle plants and syngas combustion requires an improved understanding of the role of hydrogen on the combustion process. Therefore, in present study, combustion of pure methane and blended methane-hydrogen has been conducted in a swirl stabilized premixed combustor. The measurement techniques implemented mainly include particle image velocimetry, CH*/OH* …

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Shades Of Grey: Slaveholding Free Women Of Color In Antebellum New Orleans, 1800-1840, Anne Ulentin Jan 2012

Shades Of Grey: Slaveholding Free Women Of Color In Antebellum New Orleans, 1800-1840, Anne Ulentin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the economic opportunities that free women of color could derive from slaveholding, their motivations, and their impact on New Orleans’ antebellum society and economy. Another aim is to find out the role and impact of free women of color from Saint Domingue (later Haiti), whose arrival in New Orleans doubled the number of free women of color in the city. Finally, the analysis of relationships between free women of color and their slaves and with the diverse population of New Orleans plays an important part in this study. Notarial deeds (sales and purchases of slaves, mortgages of …

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Painting A Surrealist Case Study Tableau: Culturally Relevant Post-Disaster Education Programming, Jolanta Smolen Santana Jan 2012

Painting A Surrealist Case Study Tableau: Culturally Relevant Post-Disaster Education Programming, Jolanta Smolen Santana

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This retrospective study explores how each disaster site needs to be considered as its own individual portrait for analysis and how inclusion of cultural elements contributes to the recovery of those affected by the disaster and helps in reinstating their cultural identity. This study was conducted after hurricane Katrina’s landfall, at the largest FEMA trailer park, Renaissance Village, from its inception in October 2005 until its closure June 2008. It portrays how programs may ensure their sustainability if cultural elements are included in the program design, development, and delivery of services. The nuanced notions of culture are predominantly recognized in …

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Impact Of Plug-In Electrical Cars On Energy Demand, On Power System And On Environment, Sital Tiwari Jan 2012

Impact Of Plug-In Electrical Cars On Energy Demand, On Power System And On Environment, Sital Tiwari

LSU Master's Theses

The use of an electric vehicle (EV) over a gasoline vehicle (GV) is often portrayed as environment friendly or green movement ignoring how the electricity is produced. EVs get credit for preserving green environment and preventing global warming by minimizing the dependency on oil. Most of the time, these assumptions that favor EV are not well justified. Therefore, proper studies on the impact of electric vehicles on energy demand, on environment and on power system are necessary before reaching to any conclusion. This thesis explores the possibility of energy consumption pattern shift within the different sectors of energy use due …

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Bacterial Dehalogenation Of Mixtures Of 1,2-Dichloroethane, 1,2-Dichloropropane, And 1,1,2-Trichloroethane By Dehalogenimonas, Jacob Laddye Dillehay Jan 2012

Bacterial Dehalogenation Of Mixtures Of 1,2-Dichloroethane, 1,2-Dichloropropane, And 1,1,2-Trichloroethane By Dehalogenimonas, Jacob Laddye Dillehay

LSU Master's Theses

The goal of the research presented here was to assess the ability of two bacterial strains, Dehalogenimonas lykanthroporepellens BL-DC-9T and Dehalogenimonas strain IP3-3, to reductively dehalogenate four contaminant mixtures comprised of combinations of the chlorinated solvents 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA), 1,2-dichloropropane (1,2-DCP), and 1,1,2-trichloroethane (1,1,2-TCA). Both of these bacteria were first isolated from contaminated groundwater at the PetroProcessors of Louisiana, Inc. Superfund site located near Baton Rouge, LA and are of interest because of their novel abilities to transform halogenated alkanes. In previous work (Yan et al., 2009, Bowman et al., 2012), it was demonstrated that both strain IP3-3 and D. lykanthroporepellens …

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Guaranteeing The Rights Of Public Employees, Ann C. Mcginley, Kenneth Dau-Schmidt Jan 2012

Guaranteeing The Rights Of Public Employees, Ann C. Mcginley, Kenneth Dau-Schmidt

Scholarly Works

In this Essay, Professors Ann McGinley and Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt introduce the important issues to be examined in this Symposium Issue examining the erosion of rights guaranteed to public employees by recent state legislation.

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On Tax Increase Limitations: Part Ii -- Evasion And Transcendence, David Gamage, Darien Shanske Jan 2012

On Tax Increase Limitations: Part Ii -- Evasion And Transcendence, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this essay, the second of a series, we continue our evaluation of state Tax Increase Limitations (TILs) – special rules that limit state legislatures’ ability to raise taxes, such as by requiring supermajority votes. We analyze two strategies whereby majority parties can evade TILs to the extent they so desire. We further argue that these strategies have some positive normative features. The strategies designed to evade TILs may ultimately lead toward a more effective means for controlling the size of state government than TILs themselves are able to provide.

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Vendor Compensation As An Approach For State "Amazon" Laws: Part 2, David Gamage, Devin J. Heckman Jan 2012

Vendor Compensation As An Approach For State "Amazon" Laws: Part 2, David Gamage, Devin J. Heckman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this essay, the second of a two-part series, we propose an approach for the U.S. states to tax interstate e-commerce. If the states adequately compensate remote e-commerce vendors for all tax compliance costs, we argue that the states can constitutionally impose use tax collection obligations on the remote vendors in a manner compatible with the Quill framework.

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The Saga Of State "Amazon" Laws: Reflections On The Colorado Decision, David Gamage, Darien Shanske Jan 2012

The Saga Of State "Amazon" Laws: Reflections On The Colorado Decision, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

Articles by Maurer Faculty

We analyze the Colorado district court’s decision in Direct Marketing Association v. Huber – a decision that permanently enjoined Colorado’s "Amazon" law. Had it not been enjoined, the Colorado law would have mandated information reporting by remote e-commerce vendors so that Colorado could levy its sales and use tax on the e-commerce purchases made by Colorado residents. We evaluate the applicability of the Tax (Anti-)Injunction Act and whether the Colorado statute and regulations should be reviewed as a tax or as a regulation. We also suggest alternative approaches that state legislatures might use in order to levy taxes on remote …

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Vendor Compensation As An Approach For State "Amazon" Laws: Part 1, David Gamage, Devin J. Heckman Jan 2012

Vendor Compensation As An Approach For State "Amazon" Laws: Part 1, David Gamage, Devin J. Heckman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this Essay, the first of a two-part series, we analyze the approaches U.S. states have been using in their attempts to tax interstate e-commerce. We argue that these existing approaches are unlikely to be effective. In our companion Essay, the second in the series, we outline a novel approach that states might employ in order to more effectively tax interstate e-commerce – based on adequately compensating remote vendors for all tax compliance costs. But before we can argue for our new approach, we must first survey the current constitutional and statutory landscape.

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Relationship Between Adult Mentors And Placement Outcomes Among At-Risk Youth, Meagan Curtis Jan 2012

Relationship Between Adult Mentors And Placement Outcomes Among At-Risk Youth, Meagan Curtis

LSU Master's Theses

Approximately 1.3 million students drop out of school each year (National Guard Youth Foundation, 2012). The Youth ChalleNGe Program, which caters to at-risk youths who have dropped out of high school, utilizes a mentoring program. This study examines the relationship between the youth having regular contact with a mentor and the youth’s placement outcomes. The sample of this study included 215 youths who graduated in September of 2008 from the Youth ChalleNGe Program (YCP) at the Gillis W. Long Center in Carville, LA. Data regarding each youth’s placements during the post-residential phase and the number of contacts with his or …

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The Unaccompanied Choral Works Of Vytautas Miškinis With Texts By Rabindranoth Tagore: A Resource Guide, Nicholaus B. Cummins Jan 2012

The Unaccompanied Choral Works Of Vytautas Miškinis With Texts By Rabindranoth Tagore: A Resource Guide, Nicholaus B. Cummins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This document serves as a resource guide for the unaccompanied choral works of Vytautas Miškinis, with texts by Rabindranoth Tagore, including pertinent background information, structural information, and accessibility considerations for the conductor. Additionally, there is a study of Miškinis’s compositional style according to the works in this guide that includes biographical information. Vytautas Miškinis (born 1954) is a Lithuanian conductor and composer currently published by several international music publishing houses. He is also a member of several juries for international choral competitions in addition to his duties as a professor of conducting at the Lithuanian Academy of Arts in Vilnius. …

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Korean Parents' Attitudes, Motivations, And Home Literacy Practices Toward Bilingualism Between Korean And English In Korea, Byunghyun Jang Jan 2012

Korean Parents' Attitudes, Motivations, And Home Literacy Practices Toward Bilingualism Between Korean And English In Korea, Byunghyun Jang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to examine Korean parents’ attitudes, motivations, and home literacy practices toward their children’s participation in bilingualism in Korean and English in Korea. The success of foreign language learning is influenced by positive attitudes and the level of motivation regarding the target language. Language learners’ attitudes and motivations toward a target language are closely related to their development of language proficiency, and children are often strongly influenced by their parents. The present study was conducted by the survey that was comprised of four-part Likert-type statements. The participants consisted of parents who have children enrolled in …

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Setting Us Up For Disaster: The Supreme Court's Decision In Terry V. Ohio, Thomas B. Mcaffee Jan 2012

Setting Us Up For Disaster: The Supreme Court's Decision In Terry V. Ohio, Thomas B. Mcaffee

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

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The Effect Of Extrinsic Rewards In The High School Classroom, Amanda Vargo Jan 2012

The Effect Of Extrinsic Rewards In The High School Classroom, Amanda Vargo

LSU Master's Theses

One of the biggest obstacles that a high school teacher faces in the classroom is motivating students to complete work. Traditional ideology focuses on intrinsic rewards as way to encourage students to participate and try in the classroom. Things like valuing education, planning for college, and taking pride in a good report card are used in attempts to motivate. Yet, in the adult world, people expect a concrete extrinsic reward (i.e. a paycheck) for the work that they do. This study takes the idea of extrinsic rewards and brings them into the classroom. This study was conducted over two academic …

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Analyzing Sustainability Impacts, Kristi Jane Yuthas, Marc J. Epstein Jan 2012

Analyzing Sustainability Impacts, Kristi Jane Yuthas, Marc J. Epstein

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Financial managers need basic models that incorporate the most significant variables, are robust enough to accommodate a wide variety of decisions, and provide results that are simple to communicate. We attempt to help fill this gap by providing a simple and familiar cost-benefit approach that's enhanced and improved through the addition of sustainability outcomes. We developed the cost-benefit tool presented here specifically with the needs of financial managers in mind. It allows them to simultaneously consider the financial and social outcomes of potential decisions without the need for advanced knowledge of sustainability models or methods. The tool is built on …

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