Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Direct Stratospheric Injection Of Biomass Burning Emissions: A Case Study Of The 2009 Australian Bushfires Using The Nasa Giss Modele2 Composition-Climate Model, Robert Field, Mike From, Apostolos Voulgarakis, Drew Shindell, Mike Flannigan, Peter Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Direct stratospheric injection (DSI) of forest fire smoke represents a direct biogeochemical link between the land surface and stratosphere. DSI events occur regularly in the northern and southern extratropics, and have been observed across a wide range of measurements, but their fate and effects are not well understood.

DSIs result from explosive, short-lived fires, and their plumes stand out from the background concentrations immediately. This makes it easier to associate detected DSIs to individual fires and their estimated emissions. Because the emissions pulses are brief, chemical decay can be more clearly assessed, and because the emissions pulses are so large, …

Generic Incident Model For Investigating Traffic Incident Impacts On Evacuation Times In Large-Scale Emergencies, Andrew J. Collins, Peter Foytik, Erika Frydenlund, R. Michael Robinson, Craig A. Jordan

VMASC Publications

Traffic incidents cause a ripple effect of reduced travel speeds, lane changes, and the pursuit of alternative routes that results in gridlock on the immediately affected and surrounding roadways. The disruptions caused by the secondary effects significantly degrade travel time reliability, which is of great concern to the emergency planners who manage evacuations. Outcomes forecast by a generic incident model embedded in a microscopic evacuation simulation, the Real-Time Evacuation Planning Model (RtePM), were examined to quantify the change in time required for an emergency evacuation that results from traffic incidents. The incident model considered vehicle miles traveled on each individual …

The Effect Of Kernel And Bandwidth Specification In Geographically Weighted Regression Models On The Accuracy And Uniformity Of Mass Real Estate Appraisal, Paul E. Bidanset, John R. Lombard

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

The article presents a study which examines the performance of kernel and bandwidth specification in geographically weighted regression (GWR) models in mass real estate appraisal. The kernels employed in the study are the bi-square kernel and the Gaussian kernel. Data from the sales of single-family homes in Norfolk, Virginia from 2010 to 2012 are highlighted.

International Trade With Increasing Returns In The Transportation Sector, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

In this general equilibrium framework, the transportation sector is modeled as a distinct sector with increasing returns. A more advanced technology has a higher fixed cost but a lower marginal cost of production. Even with both manufacturing firms and transportation firms engaged in oligopolistic competition and optimally choosing their technologies, the model is tractable and results are derived analytically. Technology adoptions in the manufacturing sector and transportation sector are reinforcing, and multiple equilibria may exist. Firms choose more advanced technologies and the prices decrease when the size of the population is larger.

A Survey Of Social Media: Perceived Effectiveness In Marketing Among Individual Nascar Tracks, Amanda E. Greene, Andy Dotterweich, Mauro Palmero, Don Good

ETSU Faculty Works

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of and attitudes toward social networking as a tool for use by NASCAR speedways and to gauge track perceptions on the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool. Individual NASCAR tracks were surveyed (n=22, 84.6% response) to explore current track social media practices and the potential impact of social networking sites on NASCAR marketing and consumer relations. Results found that individual tracks as well as the two major ownership groups highly agreed about issues concerning the use of social media to increase sales and to develop fan bases. However, …

Do Municipal Stat Programs Improve Services And Reallocate Resources? Evidence From Louiestat, Jamie Giles

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Performance metrics and municipal stat programs are becoming increasingly popular to measure performance of city departments in order to improve services and save taxpayers’ dollars. The intent of this research is to give decision makers a better understanding to what extent municipal stat programs make an impact on the departments being measured, using an analysis of Metro Louisville’s LouieStat as evidence. Understanding the effect of PerfomanceStat tools will provide insight for the Louisville Administration and for other cities considering using a similar tool.

The literature finds performance management tools to be more widely used as a management tool to influence …

Academic Asset Or Instructor’S Indulgence? The Effect Of Arts & Cultural Institutions On Academic Achievement, Hank Harned

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Across the country arts and cultural institutions seek to preserve our past and use it to educate our future. As their exhibits expand these institutions have become treasures in their own rights; places like the Smithsonian Institute are landmarks that attract visitors from around the world. In addition to travelers they also attract school groups. For decades schools have been using “field trips” to museums as a way to supplement their curriculum. But do these trips actually benefit the students or are they a waste of resources? This project aims to evaluate whether these institutions are an asset to academics …

Does Tax Revenue Diversification Help States Weather Economic Downturns? Evidence From The Great Recession, Nick Kilby

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This capstone seeks to build on previous research to assess the validity of the claim that revenue diversification is an effective policy tool for states to use during recessions in order to stabilize their revenue flow. Revenue diversification is defined as the degree to which states take advantage of various tax sources, rather than reliance on a few or one in particular. Previous research, especially by Carroll (2005) and Suyderhound (1994), has shown that states with higher revenue diversification rates experience lower revenue shortfalls during recessions and other economic downturns on average.

This paper will reassess these claims in terms …

The Effect Of Direct Payments To Rice Farming Households In Korea, Jaehyung Kim

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

1) Background

Rice farming is a very important agricultural policy issue for the Korean government not only because rice is a staple food for the Korean population but because rice production is also an important source of income for those involved in rice farming. The importance of rice production to the agricultural sector of Korea is indicated by the fact that 49% of Korea’s agricultural land is devoted to rice production. Therefore, Korean agricultural policy has focused on rice production issues as well as the income of farmers involved in rice production.

To support rice farming income, the Korean government …

Letting Teams Walk: Exploring The Economic Impact Of Professional Sports Franchises Leaving Cities, Jesse Stephenson

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Cities often use public funding to help construct and renovate the facilities of large, private sports franchises. As the major sports leagues grow in popularity and revenue, cities have had to offer increasingly competitive incentive packages to owners in order to keep their team from relocating to more profitable markets or cities willing to issue public funding for new facilities. Much literature has been conducted on the economic impact of sports teams with a general consensus that there is usually no positive economic effect for cities that serve as homes for these teams from the largest leagues (NFL, MLB, and …

Spending For Affordable Housing: How Lexington-Fayette Urban County, Ky Compares To Similar Cities In The U.S., Chenglin Zhao

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Objectives: The shortage of affordable housing in Lexington-Fayette urban county has become an important policy issue. The analysis in this study is designed to find out does Lexington-Fayette Urban County do better or worse in financing affordable housing for low-income residents.

Method: By comparing Lexington-Fayette Urban County with 11 similar cities in U.S., there may reveal options for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County government to improve housing supply financing assistance services, find new funding sources for affordable housing and ensure more low-income residents can find affordable housing.

Key finding: Nonprofit housing operations play meaningful roles in addressing the supply of affordable …

The Relationship Between Teacher Training Institutions And Student Performance, Shelby King

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This study intends to contribute to the literature by seeking evidence of a relationship between teacher characteristics and their high school students’ academic success in college. In this study, average college success is defined by six outcomes. The outcomes consist of the average first-year college GPA, average hours completed, percentage of students returning for a second year, percent of students receiving a GPA above a 3.0, percent of students completing 30 plus hours in their first year, and the average college math GPA. The analysis uses aggregated data at the school level from both the 2013 Kentucky High School Feedback …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Housing Policies On Housing Prices In South Korea, Daeil Kwon

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The South Korean government has been intervening in the housing market for a long time to either activate or stabilize housing prices. However, there is a controversy about the effect of housing policy in South Korea. I analyzed the effect of housing policies as well as other factor s (interest rate, cost of renting, inflation, stock price, unemployment rate, exchange rate) on housing prices nationally as well as in northern Seoul and in southern Seoul, from January 2000 to January 2015 (181 months of data).

According to the results of my regression analysis to test the effect of housing policies, …

Public Retirement Systems: An Examination Of Governance Characteristics And Their Impact On The Funded Ratio, Chris Groves

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

By almost all accounts, the fiscal health and stability of the United States public retirement system at all levels is in peril. Collectively, local and state public retirement systems are underfunded at a rate of $700 billion as a low estimate to $3 trillion as a higher estimate. While plenty of research has been conducted to identify the reasons that programs are underfunded, the system would be best served if more attention were paid to identifying program characteristics that improve performance. In turn, these characteristics could be evaluated and implemented if not already present. If programs do not want to …

Cost Analysis Of A Pharmacy Intern Program At A Tertiary Academic Medical Center, Bridgette Kanz

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In the modern world of healthcare, the role of the pharmacy intern is growing as hospitals look to decrease cost and increase care. The University of Kentucky Pharmacy Intern Program (UKPIP) employs pharmacy interns as pharmacist extenders to help complete the clinical task of medication reconciliation (med recs). The purpose of this study was to quantify the value of completing this task and determine whether it is cost effective to have interns or pharmacists in this role.

The Institutional Review Board approved this study. UK’s electronic medical record database identified admission med recs completed by pharmacy interns and pharmacists in …

Crossing The Border For The Pill: An Analysis Of The Decision To Purchase Oral Contraceptives Over-The-Counter From Mexican Pharmacies, Nadine Johnson

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In 2012, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists published an opinion statement in which they acknowledged that oral contraceptives were safe to be sold over the counter. Although there are several arguments that the lack of insurance of over the counter birth control would create a bigger cost barrier, research shows that women are in fact willing to pay for contraception if it is available over the counter. Some countries, such as Mexico, have this option available and because of the proximity to the United States, many women who live on the southern border take advantage of this. However, …

The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act’S Effects On Patterns Of Coverage In A Ryan White Funded Hiv Clinic: What Are The Implications For The Bluegrass Care Clinic?, Jacqueline Wagner Mccuddy

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Ryan White CARE Act of 1991 implemented a federal grant program to help individuals in the US with HIV/AIDS get access to healthcare and diminish barriers to care. Since its enactment, there have been many changes in the environment of HIV/AIDS, including a demographic shift in those most affected by the disease and a growing number of new infections, the introduction of Antiretroviral therapy, and most recently, the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

The PPACA is expected to have a positive effect on patients with HIV in the US by increasing access to care, …

Utilization Of The Kentucky Aids Drug Assistance Program Versus Kentucky Medicaid Using Medication Possession Ratio: Policy Implications For Public Program, Jenna Parrett

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Uninsured and underinsured people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) are able to utilize federally funded AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) to cover the price of their HIV-related medications. In Kentucky, this program also provides support services through social workers, a dedicated pharmacist, and medications by mail order. With the Affordable Care Act, many patients previously covered by the Kentucky AIDS Drug Assistance Program (KADAP) will be newly eligible for Medicaid and will no longer receive services through KADAP. There is concern that people in this situation will be at a disadvantage without these services and, in …

Deep And Chronic Poverty In The P.S.I.D. - Assessing The Panel Survey Of Income Dynamics Using Pα And Kα Indices, Paul G. Metzler

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Poverty, while an intuitive concept, proves harder to specify and measure, especially over time. Foster, Greer and Thorebecke (1984) introduced an axiomatically sound, and commonly used poverty index Pα that is later developed by Foster (2009) to include time spent in poverty. I use their dual-cutoff spells approach to determine the occurrence, depth, and severity of poverty in a longitudinal dataset.

Using the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics over the timeframe 1990-2010, high-risk populations are explored further, especially African Americans, unmarried females, and those without a high school diploma. I explore the proportions of poverty incidence to find head of …

Assessment Of The Quality Of Public Data Reporting By Nonprofit Social Service Agencies Receiving Funding From The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government In Fy 2013, Yuanyuan Song

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In 2012 and 2013, Lexington Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) Department of Social Service requested a “Social Service Needs Assessment Project” in Fayette County, Kentucky. In Aug, 31, 2012, Social Service Department established the “Needs Assessment Budget”. During Mar-Oct, 2013, two teams from The University of Kentucky College of Social Work (COSW) and the Martin School of Public Policy and Public Administration worked together to accomplish this project.

One of the tasks of this project is to assess the quality of data reported by the social service partner agencies of Lexington. “Partner organization” is the name government officials give to …

Riding In Real-Time: Estimating Ridership Effects Of The Adoption Of Mobile Real-Time Transit Tracking Applications, Kendrick Vonderschmitt

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Advances in technology, and declining costs of adoption have permitted local transit agencies to provide real-time tracking information to their customers. The customers through the use of a mobile phone can find up-to-the-minute wait times for transit stops. This is enabled through the use of GPS technology and modern mapping software to account for networked distance and traffic impedance. This technology is a service upgrade in strict economic terms, but it is important to inquire whether such an improvement would have an effect on service utilization. This study analyzes the relationship between ridership and adoption of this service upgrade.

The …

Nonprofit Organizations & Social Media Fundraising: An Analysis Of The Goodgiving Guide Challenge, Laura Whitaker

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In today’s age of social media and interconnectedness, nonprofit organizations have the ability to be creative in their fundraising efforts. One method of online fundraising is a social media campaign, such as the GoodGiving Guide Challenge, an eight-week online charitable giving campaign for nonprofit organizations across Central Kentucky.

A review of related literature shows that previous studies have touched on the growing trend of social media as a nonprofit marketing tool, the role of internet in the nonprofit sector in general, the return on investment in nonprofit internet use, and the importance of accountability and trust in terms of online …

Environmental Justice In Kentucky: A County-Level Study Of Enforcement Of The Clean Air Act, Katherine Meade

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Not available.

Study On Private Health Insurance Coverage For Adults Under 65: 34 States From 2003 To 2010, Weisheng Gu

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Objectives: The analysis in this paper is designed to find out what factors contributed to the change of uninsured rate of people aged between 18 and 65 from 2003 to 2010.

Method: A fixed-effect analysis with panel data is conducted. The analysis unit is state. The main independent variable is the private health insurance cost per enrollee per year. The private insurance cost data covered 34 states sampled in Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from 2003 to 2010.

Key finding: The private insurance cost per enrolled adult below 65, private insurance cost per enrolled adult below 65 as a proportion of …

Does Kentucky’S Merit-Based Scholarship Program, Kees, Improve College Completion?, Alex E. Combs

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

College completion is a complex process involving numerous socioeconomic factors at the individual, institutional, and governmental levels. One important factor is the way in which financial aid is disbursed so that affordability does not serve as a barrier to completion. Awarding scholarships on the basis of merit is one aspect of financial aid structure that has grown in popularity over recent decades, in turn, receiving considerable attention from policy researchers with the intent to assess how they affect an array of postsecondary education outcomes. To date, research of merit-based aid’s effect on college completion has been relatively sparse, yielding contradictory …

Influences On Reported Nonprofit Lobbying Efforts, Alyson Partain

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The nonprofit sector holds an interesting role in democracy, as this segment balances the powers of government and business by providing a way to cultivate social justice and afford people a means of acting and promoting interests outside of the government and private sectors. Nonprofit organizations therefore allow people to join together in providing services and programs that strengthen the communities in which they act. Advocacy involves identifying, embracing, and promoting a cause, especially by educating the public about their organization, whether this is through public engagement, coalition building, or lobbying.

Lobbying is a specific but critical component of general …

Sex, Slaves, And Saviors: Domestic And Global Agendas In U.S. Anti-Trafficking Policy, Chelsea L. Thompson

Scripps Senior Theses

In this thesis, I problematize the United States’ response to the global phenomenon characterized as human trafficking. The framing of trafficking as policy issue takes place in the context of politicized claims about the nature and prevalence of trafficking, its relation to the sex industry, and the kind of response that is required. U.S. anti-trafficking policy was built and shaped in the context of fears about immigration, global labor, and the sex industry. As a result, trafficking has been used to justify oppressive domestic reactions such as border crackdown, scrutiny of immigrant and sex worker communities, and victim “protection” that …

Ab 32 And Sb 375: Investigating Land Use And Transportation Policy On A Regional And Local Scale, Caroline Vurlumis

Scripps Senior Theses

The California Global Warming Solutions Act, also known as Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), was passed in 2006 to reduce California emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Senate Bill 375 (SB 375) was passed in 2008 to support AB 32's emission goals. SB 375 aims to reduce emissions from transportation and land use by assigning regional per capita emission targets for 2020 and 2035. Through a series of four case studies of San Diego, San Francisco, Fresno, and Berkeley, this thesis investigates the impacts of SB 375. Each region is required to combine housing and regional transit plans in the …

Hispanic Communities And Environmental Justice: A Comparative Study Of Mobility And Exposure To Air Toxics In Houston, Maricarmen Hernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Environmental justice research has focused too little attention on immigrant communities. This study extends from the premise that themes of immigration and mobility among racial/ethnic minority communities must be more carefully analyzed by environmental justice (EJ) scholars. By clarifying why Hispanic people live where they live, and what factors shape their exposures to cancer risks from hazardous air pollutants, this study aims to contribute to the existing EJ body of knowledge. The analysis employs qualitative methods, implemented as part of a larger National Science Foundation-funded study. In-depth semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with randomly selected Hispanic individuals, some of whom …

An Explanatory And Comparative Analysis Of Freight Transportation In Eu And U.S. Highways, Luis Alberto Hernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis provides resources for data collection regarding road freight transportation in the Unites States and the European Union, as well as an explanatory description of data available at each source. Afterwards, individual analysis of the current state of affairs of the highway freight transportation systems in U.S. and EU are performed. Thereafter, an explanatory and comparative analysis between the two land freight transportation systems is performed in terms of regulatory authorities and associations, trucks volume flow, freight weight and volume flow, major issues affecting the system, infrastructure funding sources, and major logistics hubs. Besides, a correlation analysis was performed …