Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Spatial And Temporal Intricacies Of Natural Resource Use: Studies In Water, Forests, And Hydrocarbons, Dadhi Adhikari

Economics ETDs

This dissertation examines spatial and temporal impacts of natural resource use. The second chapter integrates hydrological and economic systems to examine the impact of drought on these two systems and explores the spatial impact of policies aimed to mitigate the drought impact. The systems dynamics model developed for this chapter simultaneously considers the physical hydrology in the Middle Rio Grande water basin in New Mexico, the engineered water management system, and a behavioral model of residential water demand for three cities: Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The simulation results showed that droughts that occur in later periods, …

Reactions To Market Failure And Approaches To Reduce Market Failure, Yingzhe Cheng

Economics ETDs

Market failure can have serious negative consequences on human welfare, including various health risks to people. How to best correct market failure becomes an important question. Different approaches may reduce market failure, such as direct government regulation, or market based approaches. This research explores consumers’ or societies’ reactions to market failure and approaches to reduce market failure.

The first study uses a random utility model and a choice experiment method to estimate Chinese parents’ marginal willingness-to-pay for potential policy changes that target overall food safety. Results suggest that a policy that provides both direct government regulation and information to create …

Investigating Strategies To Improve Health Care Labor Market, Health Outcomes, Health Care Quality, And To Reduce Emergency Department Utilization And Costs: A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Family Friendly Policies, Patient-Centered Communication, And Enhanced Access To Care, Juliette Guemmegne Tayou

Economics ETDs

This dissertation investigates three important issues in the US health care system: the low utilization of family-friendly policies by health care professionals, the sub-optimal quality of medical services, and the high level of emergency department (ED) expenditures. Chapter 2 uses a unique dataset from a choice experiment to address the first issue by exploring the impact of supervision support on the economic value of family-friendly policies. My results suggest that supervisors’ support for the use of family-friendly services significantly increase the economic value of the family-friendly benefits provided. Chapter 3 and 4 investigate the effectiveness of patient-centered care models in …

Individual And Household-Level Effects Of Energy Poverty On Human Development, Brandon Bridge

Economics ETDs

This study investigates some of the predictors of energy poverty, the interrelationships between different expressions of energy poverty, and the human development impacts of energy poverty on primarily rural individuals and households in an underdeveloped country. It uses data from four rounds of Nicaragua's Living Standards Measurement Survey, and examines the effects of energy poverty on income, education, and health.

Chapter 1 provides background information on energy poverty in general, as well as the specific situation that has developed in Nicaragua. It also provides a modeling framework, both conceptual and mathematical, for the ways in which energy poverty impacts human …