Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Why Employees Accept Lower Pay At Mission-Oriented Companies, Insiya Hussain, Marko Pitesa, Stefan Thau, Michael Schaerer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Today’s companies are likely to tout how their work benefits human welfare or “makes the world a better place.” Recent research suggests that this may come with a potential financial drawback for workers, as it can inhibit them from negotiating for higher pay. Over five studies, job candidates consistently reported that they worried asking for higher pay from these companies would be seen as greedy or inappropriate. This suggests they are aware of a common bias, known as motivation purity bias, where managers believe employees interested in material rewards of work (such as pay) are less motivated than those motivated …

Multivariate Stochastic Volatility Models Based On Generalized Fisher Transformation, Han Chen, Yijie Fei, Jun Yu

Research Collection School Of Economics

Modeling multivariate stochastic volatility (MSV) can be challenging, particularly when both variances and covariances are time-varying. In this paper, we address these challenges by introducing a new MSV model based on the generalized Fisher transformation of Archakov and Hansen (2021). Our model is highly exible and ensures that the variance-covariance matrix is always positive-definite. Moreover, our approach separates the driving factors of volatilities and correlations. To conduct Bayesian analysis of the model, we use a Particle Gibbs Ancestor Sampling (PGAS) method, which facilitates Bayesian model comparison. We also extend our MSV model to cover the leverage effect in volatilities and …

Young Women In Cities, Yumi Koh, Jing Li, Yifan Wu, Junjian Yi, Hanzhe Zhang

Research Collection School Of Economics

Young women outnumber young men in cities in many countries during periods of economic growth and urbanization. This gender imbalance among young urbanites is more pronounced in larger cities. We use the gradual rollout of special economic zones across China as a quasi-experiment to establish the causes of this gender imbalance. Our analysis suggests that a key contributor is gender-differential incentives to migrate due to rural women’s higher likelihood of marrying and marrying up in cities when urbanization creates more economic opportunities and an abundance of high-income marriage-age men.

The Importance Of The First Generic Substitution: Evidence From Sweden, Aljoscha Janssen, David Granlund

Research Collection School Of Economics

We analyze changes in the willingness to substitute from prescribed pharmaceuticals to more affordable generic equivalents in response to the first experience with a substitution. Using Swedish individual-level data of prescribed and dispensed pharmaceuticals, we em-ploy a dynamic event study and an instrumental variable approach to show that an initial substitution reduces the probability of opposing subsequent substitutions by 39 percent-age points. We recommend that policy-makers target patients with a history of opposed substitution and offer additional discounts to promote substitution as long-term savings outweigh one-time costs.

The Impact Of Upzoning On Housing Construction In Auckland*, Ryan Greenaway-Mcgrevy, Peter C. B. Phillips

Research Collection School Of Economics

There is a growing debate about whether upzoning is an effective policy response to housing shortages and unaffordable housing. This paper provides empirical evidence to further inform debate by examining the various impacts of recently implemented zoning reforms on housing construction in Auckland, the largest metropolitan area in New Zealand. In 2016, the city upzoned approximately three quarters of its residential land to facilitate construction of more intensive housing. We use a quasi-experimental approach to analyze the short-run impacts of the reform on construction, allowing for potential shifts in construction from non-upzoned to upzoned areas (displacement effects) that would, if …

The Flow Matrix Offers A Straightforward Alternative To The Problematic Markov Matrix, Jessica Stzempko, Robert Gilmore Pontius

Geography

The Flow matrix is a novel method to describe and extrapolate transitions among categories. The Flow matrix extrapolates a constant transition size per unit of time on a time continuum with a maximum of one incident per observation during the extrapolation. The Flow matrix extrapolates linearly until the persistence of a category shrinks to zero. The Flow matrix has concepts and mathematics that are more straightforward than the Markov matrix. However, many scientists apply the Markov matrix by default because popular software packages offer no alternative to the Markov matrix, despite the conceptual and mathematical challenges that the Markov matrix …

A Public Health Educational Campaign For Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (Suid) Intervention, Elia G. Peralta Landeros

Master's Projects and Capstones

Purpose: The rate of infant mortality serves as a crucial indicator of the overall health of society (CDC, 2022). The five leading causes of infant mortality are birth defects, preterm birth, sudden infant death syndrome, injuries, and maternal pregnancy complications. The prevalence of infant mortality varies across states, with eastern states and minority-ethnicity infants having higher prevalence. This thesis proposes utilizing the Safe to Sleep framework to introduce Giving Breath, a public health education campaign that introduced breastfeeding as an intervention to Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID).

Methods:

1. Analyze current and new policies' impact on women's rights to breastfeed …

Seeking Better Sharpe Ratio Via Bayesian Optimization, Peng Liu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Developing an excellent quantitative trading strategy to obtain a high Sharpe ratio requires optimizing several parameters at the same time. Example parameters include the window length of a moving average sequence, the choice of trading instruments, and the thresholds used to generate trading signals. Simultaneously optimizing all these parameters to seek a high Sharpe ratio is a daunting and time-consuming task, partly because of the unknown mechanism determining the Sharpe ratio. This article proposes using Bayesian optimization to systematically search for the optimal parameter configuration that leads to a high Sharpe ratio. The author shows that the proposed intelligent search …

Workplace Culture Must Emphasise Mutual Respect [In Chinese], Siow-Heng Ong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In a commentary, SMU Professor of Communication Management (Education) Ong Siow Heng discussed the importance of having a respectful culture in the workplace. He opined that one way to appreciate employees is to provide equitable pay and career advancement opportunities for staff, so that workers will know that their employer respects their contribution. Even though more forms of disrespect for workers are being addressed by law, Prof Ong opined that improving respect for the workers’ dignity is best managed by those in workplace leadership even before relevant laws are passed, especially in areas that cannot be covered by law. He …

Vulnerability To Climatic And Environmental Disaster And Change In The Indian Ocean World, Philip Gooding, Fiona Williamson, Julie Babin

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

At the time of writing (Autumn 2022), extreme weather is devastating large swathes of the Indian Ocean World (IOW). In Pakistan, especially around the Indus River in Balochistan and Sindh, floods are causing severe distress. So far, more than 1,300 people have been killed, half a million more have been left homeless and there has been around $30 billion worth of damage to infrastructure. Nevertheless, even as the floods are projected to worsen during the second half of the south-west monsoon season, there are already fights on multiple spatial scales to shape the narratives about the root causes of the …

Investing In California’S Transportation Future: 2022 Public Opinion On Critical Needs, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Hilary Nixon

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study surveyed 3,821 adults living in California about their general travel behaviors and resources, use of ride-hailing, performance ratings for the transportation system and agencies responsible for transportation, transportation system improvement priorities, and preference for how transportation funds are allocated. Key findings include the following: • Californians are multi-modal: Although driving was the most common mode, respondents reported that in the previous 30 days 66% had made a walk trip, 28% had used ridehailing, 25% had used public transit, and 22% had bicycled. • Although many respondents had at least once substituted ride-hailing for transit, walking, or bicycling and …

Atmosphere, Environment, Society: The Typhoon Vulnerability Nexus In Early Twentieth-Century Hong Kong, Fiona Williamson

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

By looking at how typhoon risk was managed in early twentieth-century colonial Hong Kong, this article argues that bringing a historical lens to the discussion of the human-climate-environment nexus is an essential part of studies of resilience and vulnerability. It interprets physical evidence of the strength of a natural event against human factors, including structural and social vulnerabilities and governance. Investigating two of the deadliest typhoons to have hit Hong Kong's shores (1906 and 1937), this article notes that social vulnerabilities played a major part in turning the typhoon of 1937 into a worse disaster than 1906, despite advances in …

Extending The Service-Life Of Bridges Using Sustainable And Resilient Abutment Systems: An Experimental Approach To Electrochemical Characterization Of Lightweight Mechanically Stabilized Earth, Fariborz M. Tehrani, Kenneth L. Fishman, Farmehr M. Dehkordi

Mineta Transportation Institute

Bridges are critical components of transportation infrastructure. This research addresses the need to extend the service life of bridges by improving the safety and reliability of bridge abutments and reducing their life-cycle cost and footprints. Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) is a known strategy to enhance the economy and performance of bridge abutments. In addition, the application of rotary-kiln-manufactured lightweight aggregate backfills improves the performance of MSE bridge abutments with a leaner structural system. Such improvements include a reduction of structural demands due to a lower density, free drainage of granular materials, a high internal friction angle, less settlement with no …

Electrical Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Design And Operations, Yu Yang, Hen-Geul Yeh

Mineta Transportation Institute

California aims to achieve five million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on the road by 2030 and 250,000 electrical vehicle (EV) charging stations by 2025. To reduce barriers in this process, the research team developed a simulation-based system for EV charging infrastructure design and operations. The increasing power demand due to the growing EV market requires advanced charging infrastructures and operating strategies. This study will deliver two modules in charging station design and operations, including a vehicle charging schedule and an infrastructure planning module for the solar-powered charging station. The objectives are to increase customers’ satisfaction, reduce the power grid burden, and …

Effective Leader Development Within A Church-Planting Organization For A Changing And Chaotic World, Jeremy Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A challenge in cross-cultural church planting is developing leaders. Cross-cultural church-planting organizations like Latin American Mission (LAM; pseudonym) that lack a leadership development strategy struggle to form lasting leaders, sending missionaries with Biblical training but not leader development training. Additionally, developing leaders in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment creates specific challenges that missionaries must address. The purpose of this qualitative, Delphi method study was to investigate the leadership development perceptions and experiences among existing LAM missionaries in the regions of Latin America (Colombia, Cuba, Mexico City, Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador) to provide suggestions for improving effective leadership …

On-Campus Mental Health Service Use Among College Students With Autism: A Case Study Applying The Andersen Behavioral Model Of Health Services Use, Estella C. Lilyquist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The unique set of impairments and limitations presented by students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make the accessing of campus-based nonacademic resources more difficult and complicated than their typically developed peers. Each year, the rate of students entering college with disabilities continues to grow, but their mental well-being is relatively poor. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to apply the conceptual framework of the Andersen behavioral model of health services use (ABMHSU) to the experiences of college students with ASD to understand and predict their utilization of campus-provided mental health resources. The participants were seven college students with …

What Explains Spatial Cariations Of Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy?: A Social-Ecological-Technological Systems Approach, Arun Pallathadka, Heejun Chang, Daikwon Han

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

While COVID-19 vaccines have been available since December 2020 and efforts have been made to vaccinate the maximum population, a large number of people are continuing to be hesitant, prolonging the pandemic in the US. While most previous studies investigated social, economic, and demographic variables that are associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, we added ecological and technological variables to better understand the spatial variations of vaccine rates in the contiguous United States using spatial regression and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models. We aim to identify spatially varying social, ecological, and technological factors that are associated with COVID-19 vaccination rates, which …

2023 July, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for July of 2023.

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Brookline, Phillip Granberry, Victor Luis Martins, Michelle Borges

Gastón Institute Publications

Brookline is a town of 63,191 residents, of whom 4,272, or 6.8%, identify as Latino or Hispanic, according to the 2020 Decennial Census. Statewide, Latino residents constitute 12.6% of the total population. In Brookline, the largest population is White (65.3%), followed by Asians (19.1%). Blacks account for 3.1% of the town’s residents.

Between the 2010 and 2020 Decennial Censuses, Brookline experienced 7.6% population growth, slightly higher than the state's 7.4% growth. During this time, the White population of Brookline declined by 4.2% while the Latino population increased by more than 44.1% (higher than their statewide rate of 41.4%), the Asian …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Cambridge, Phillip Granberry, Victor Luis Martins, Michelle Borges

Gastón Institute Publications

Cambridge is a city of 116,892 residents, of whom 10.0%, identify as Latino or Hispanic, according to the 2020 Decennial Census. Statewide, Latino residents contribute 12.6% of the total population. In Cambridge, the largest resident population is White (60.9%). The Asian population is the second largest group in the city, making up 21.0%, followed by the Black population, which accounts for 11.2% of city residents.

Between the 2010 and 2020 Decennial Censuses, Cambridge experienced 12.6% population growth, and all major ethnic-racial groups had increasing shares. Asians and Latinos grew by more than 30%, while the Black and White populations grew …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Chicopee, Phillip Granberry, Victor Luis Martins, Michelle Borges

Gastón Institute Publications

Chicopee has a population of 55,560, of whom 13,027 identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to the 2020 Decennial Census. The majority of the city identifies as non- Latino White, while Latinos are the second largest population, comprising 23.4% of the population. Latinos' share of the city’s population is almost twice as high as in the Massachusetts overall population, which is only 12.6% Latino. Black, Asian, and “other” populations make up 9.8% of the city’s population.

Chicopee underwent significant population shifts between 2010 and 2020, even though its population increased by only 0.5%, much slower than the statewide increase of …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Randolph, Phillip Granberry, Victor Luis Martins, Michelle Borges

Gastón Institute Publications

Randolph is a town of 34,984 residents, of whom 3,798, or 10.9%, identify as Latino or Hispanic, according to the 2020 Decennial Census. Statewide, Latino residents contribute 12.6% of the total population. In Randolph, the largest resident population is Black (41.9%), followed by White (26.6%), Asian (12.9%), and Latino (10.9%) populations. The 'other' populations make up 7.8% of the population in Randolph.

Between the 2010 and 2020 Decennial Censuses, Randolph experienced a population growth of 8.9%, slightly higher than the state's 7.4% growth rate. The Black population increased by more than 23.0%, surpassing the statewide rate of 16.7%. The Latino …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Peabody, Phillip Granberry, Victor Luis Martins, Michelle Borges

Gastón Institute Publications

Peabody is a town of 54,481 residents, of whom 5,414, or 9.9%, identify as Latino or Hispanic, according to the 2020 Decennial Census. Statewide, Latino residents constitute 12.6% of the total population. In Peabody, more than three-fourths of the residents (77.3%) are White with Latinos making up the second largest group. Blacks (3.3%) and Asians (2.4%) trail, while the “other” populations make up 7.0% of the population. This last figure includes the 1,662 foreign-born Brazilians who live in Peabody, as the Census classifies Brazilians in the “other” category.

Between the 2010 and 2020 Decennial Censuses, Peabody experienced 6.3% population growth, …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Haverhill, Phillip Granberry, Victor Luis Martins, Michelle Borges

Gastón Institute Publications

The city of Haverhill, Massachusetts, has 67,787 residents, of whom 15,998 identify as Latino, according to the 2020 Decennial Census. The city is majority non-Latino White (66.3%), with Latinos making up the second largest ethnic-racial group (23.6%). Latinos are a higher proportion of Haverhill’s population than of the statewide population, of which they account for 12.6%. Black, Asian, and “other” populations collectively make up only 10.1% of Haverhill’s population.

Between 2010 and 2020, Haverhill’s population increased by 11.2%, faster than the statewide increase of 7.4%. The Latino population’s 81.2% increase accounted for much of the city's growth. The statewide Latino …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Pittsfield, Phillip Granberry, Victor Luis Martins, Michelle Borges

Gastón Institute Publications

Pittsfield has a population of 43,927, of whom 3,539 identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to the 2020 Decennial Census. The majority of the city identifies as non- Latino White, while Latinos are the second largest population, comprising 8.1% of the population. Latinos are a lower proportion of Pittsfield’s population than the statewide population, which is 12.6% Latino. The Black population has a similar share (6.5%), while Asian and “other” populations make up 7.6% of the city’s population.

Pittsfield underwent significant population shifts between 2010 and 2020, somewhat due to its population decline of 1.8%. Massachusetts experienced a population increase …

The Growing Latino Population Of Massachusetts: A Demographic And Economic Portrait, Phillip Granberry, Victor Luis Martins, Michelle Borges

Gastón Institute Publications

This report highlights the increasing number of Latinos and their growing diversity in Massachusetts. In the state, as well as nationally, Latinos’ share of the population continues to increase, while the non-Latino White population declines. The Latino population is young, with a higher rate of dependent children and a lower rate of dependent elders. Its workforce composition has not changed significantly: Latinos continue to be over-represented in blue-collar and service-sector jobs and under- represented in white-collar jobs. Across all occupational sectors (including white- collar jobs), Latino workers earn less on average than those of other ethnic-racial groups. Latinos also lag …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Quincy, Phillip Granberry, Victor Luis Martins, Michelle Borges

Gastón Institute Publications

Quincy is a city of 101,636 residents, of whom 5,214, or 5.1%, identify as Latino or Hispanic, according to the 2020 Decennial Census. (Statewide, Latino residents constitute 12.6% of the total population.) In Quincy, the largest resident population is Whites (54.2%), followed by Asians (30.7%) and Blacks (5.4%).

Between the 2010 and 2020 Decennial Censuses, Quincy experienced 10.1% population growth, slightly higher than the state’s 7.4% growth. Latinos, however, increased by a much higher percentage in Quincy (68.8%) than statewide (41.4%). The Asian population grew by 41.0%, and the Black population increased by 36.3%. Similar to many other cities and …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Westfield, Phillip Granberry, Victor Luis Martins, Michelle Borges

Gastón Institute Publications

Westfield has a population of 40,834, of whom 3,942 identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to the 2020 Decennial Census. The majority of the city identifies as non- Latino White (82.1%), while Latinos 9.7% are the second largest population; Black, Asian, and “other” populations make up the remaining 8.2%. The Latino share of Westfield’s population is lower than the statewide Latino share, which is 12.6%.

Westfield underwent significant population shifts between 2010 and 2020. The city’s population decreased by 0.6%, while the statewide population increased by 7.4%. The Latino population increase of 27.3% is lower than the statewide Latino population …

Climate & Conflict: View Into A Warming World, Faelynn Carroll

Master's Theses

Unlike weather patterns, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a large-scale, cyclical climate system that is now predictable for up to a year and a half in advance. ENSO cycles occur every two to seven years for approximately two years at a time, affecting large swaths of the globe with plausibly random variation in the exact location and strength of local effects. However, its systemic nature allows for aggregate effects to be accounted for by its outcomes. This research uses novel 0.5 x 0.5 degree ENSO teleconnection analysis for precipitation and temperature to uncover environmental mechanisms that underly the …

Testing Automated Driving Systems By Breaking Many Laws Efficiently, Xiaodong Zhang, Wei Zhao, Yang Sun, Jun Sun, Yulong Shen, Xuewen Dong, Zijiang Yang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

An automated driving system (ADS), as the brain of an autonomous vehicle (AV), should be tested thoroughly ahead of deployment. ADS must satisfy a complex set of rules to ensure road safety, e.g., the existing traffic laws and possibly future laws that are dedicated to AVs. To comprehensively test an ADS, we would like to systematically discover diverse scenarios in which certain traffic law is violated. The challenge is that (1) there are many traffic laws (e.g., 13 testable articles in Chinese traffic laws and 16 testable articles in Singapore traffic laws, with 81 and 43 violation situations respectively); and …