Public Policy Commons^™

Institutional Context Drives Mobility: A Comprehensive Analysis Of How Academic And Economic Factors Relate To International Student Enrollment At United States Higher Education Institutions, Natalie Irby Cruz

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

International student enrollment (ISE) has become a hallmark of world-class higher education institutions (HEIs), particularly as global student mobility has grown exponentially worldwide in the last several decades. Although the United States (U.S.) has welcomed the largest numbers of international students since the 1950s, ISE shrunk by 10% in the previous three years from an all-time high of 903,127 students in 2016/2017 (IIE, 2019). A synthesis of research studies about international student mobility and enrollment highlights the significant role that academic and economic rationales play for international students who choose the United States. This quantitative, ex post facto study focused …

The Poverty In Usa: An In-Depth Analysis Of The Last Two Decades, Sara Negri

Economics Theses & Dissertations

Poverty is a global problem that affects not only the undeveloped states but also the most developed ones. This research paper will analyze this problem in depth, trying to summarize several definitions, several causes that can lead to an increase in the poverty rate, and policies implemented by the government in order to reduce the total number of poor people. The author analyzed the poverty rate in each state of the United States from 1990 to 2019 using a panel data analysis. She found out that California is the state with the highest value of poor people in the U.S. …

Odu Researchers Lead Local Resilience Partnership Aimed At Helping Displaced Vulnerable Populations During Disaster Events, News @ Odu

News Items

No abstract provided.

Systematizing Confidence In Open Research And Evidence (Score), Nazanin Alipourfard, Beatrix Arendt, Daniel M. Benjamin, Noam Benkler, Michael Bishop, Mark Burstein, Martin Bush, James Caverlee, Yiling Chen, Chae Clark, Anna Dreber Almenberg, Timothy M. Errington, Fiona Fidler, Nicholas Fox, Aaron Frank, Hannah Fraser, Scott Friedman, Ben Gelman, James Gentile, Jian Wu, Et Al., Score Collaboration

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Assessing the credibility of research claims is a central, continuous, and laborious part of the scientific process. Credibility assessment strategies range from expert judgment to aggregating existing evidence to systematic replication efforts. Such assessments can require substantial time and effort. Research progress could be accelerated if there were rapid, scalable, accurate credibility indicators to guide attention and resource allocation for further assessment. The SCORE program is creating and validating algorithms to provide confidence scores for research claims at scale. To investigate the viability of scalable tools, teams are creating: a database of claims from papers in the social and behavioral …

Short-Range Forecasting Of Covid-19 During Early Onset At County, Health District, And State Geographic Levels Using Seven Methods: Comparative Forecasting Study, Christopher Lynch, Ross Gore

VMASC Publications

BACKGROUND:

Forecasting methods rely on trends and averages of prior observations to forecast COVID-19 case counts. COVID-19 forecasts have received much media attention, and numerous platforms have been created to inform the public. However, forecasting effectiveness varies by geographic scope and is affected by changing assumptions in behaviors and preventative measures in response to the pandemic. Due to time requirements for developing a COVID-19 vaccine, evidence is needed to inform short-term forecasting method selection at county, health district, and state levels.

OBJECTIVE:

COVID-19 forecasts keep the public informed and contribute to public policy. As such, proper understanding of forecasting purposes …

The Drug Overdose Epidemic Seen Through Different Lenses, Barbara Blake Gonzalez, Richard Cebula, James V. Koch

Economics Faculty Publications

The age-adjusted death rate from drug overdoses in the United States per 100,000 individuals rose from 6.8 in 2010 to 17.1 in 2018. The most common explanation offered is the deaths of despair hypothesis. We identify additional factors that have contributed to the rise in drug overdose deaths in cities and counties. Methods: We utilize a period fixed effects model with a multi-variate panel data set for 94 independent cities and counties in Virginia for the period 2008 through 2017. Results: The drug overdose mortality rate is: (a) an increasing function (prob.

Agent-Based Modelling Of Values: The Case Of Value Sensitive Design For Refugee Logistics, Christine Boshuijzen-Van Burken, Ross J. Gore, Frank Dignum, Lamber Royakkers, Phillip Wozny, F. Leron Shults

VMASC Publications

We have used value sensitive design as a method to develop an agent-based model of values in humanitarian logistics for refugees. Schwartz’s theory of universal values is implemented in the model in such a way that agents can make value trade-offs, which are operationalized into a measure of refugee wellbeing and a measure of public opinion about how the refugee logistics is being handled. By trying out different ‘value scenarios’, stakeholders who are responsible for, or involved in refugee logistics can have insights into the effects of various value choices. The model is visualized and made usable as a platform …

Enhanced Model Of Collaboration And Social Capital: Hampton Roads All Hazards Advisory Committee: A Replication Study, Adale M. Martin

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

To address the call for improving the understanding of collaboration in public policy, this dissertation is designed to validate a study by Morris, Gibson, Leavitt, and Jones (2013), entitled, The Case for Grassroots Collaboration: Social Capital and Ecosystem Restoration at the Local Level. The Enhanced Model of Collaboration (EMC), which was developed to explore collaboration and social capital deriving from grassroots efforts, will be applied to examine agency-based regional collaboration in southeastern Virginia.

The population for this study is the members of the Hampton Roads All Hazards Advisory Committee (AHAC). Members include representatives of local, state, and federal government agencies, …

Governance Impact On Public-Private Partnerships For Member Countries Of The World Bank Group, Kouliga Koala

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Member countries of the World Bank Group (WBG) increasingly turn to public-private partnerships (PPPs) to finance their transportation infrastructure projects due to the financial burden of undertaking big projects on their own. The World Bank coordinates the PPPs between investors and recipient countries. PPPs are expected to produce positive outcomes that respond to policy objectives. However, the outcomes and benefits of PPPs not only depend on several factors, but more importantly on how those factors interact with one another to yield the expected outcomes. This dissertation has identified good governance, PPP governance, and PPP outcome as the key concepts in …

The Study Of Motivation For Defection Within The Intelligence Community: Hindering The Government's Ability To Prevent And Detect Defection, William Virgili

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Since its inception, the global community has been marred by insecurities about the intentions of other states, which led to states creating intelligence agencies to engage in human intelligence operations. In defense against foreign intelligence services, the U.S. has implemented policies and procedures, informed by defection research, to prevent and detect defection. However, this leads to the question does current research on motivation for defection adequately inform government policies and procedures to prevent and detect defection within the intelligence community? To interrogate this question, I present an in-depth analysis of motivation; the ways in which these conclusions have or have …

How Does The World Bank Influence The Development Policy Priorities Of Low-Income And Lower-Middle Income Countries?, Stephen Knack, Bradley C. Parks, Ani Harutyunyan, Matthew Dilorenzo

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

This study investigates the World Bank’s use of lending and non-lending instruments to affect the policy priorities of developing countries. In a typical year, the World Bank lends more than $30 billion to its client countries. It also spends approximately $200 million on the provision of analytical and advisory products each year. However, insufficiently granular data on the nature, timing, and distribution of these analytical and advisory products and the policy priorities of client countries has made it difficult for policymakers and scholars to understand which World Bank instruments are most useful for effectuating change in the direction of government …

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #2: Policy And Local Response Covid-19, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

Life in Hampton Roads: Politics, Policy and COVID-19 Response

The survey included several questions that provide a window into the views of Hampton Roads citizens concerning policy choices and leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic response. Overall and on most issues the public was quite divided, with divisions often falling along party lines, but President Trump and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) seemed to elicit the strongest negative and positive responses, respectively. A substantial majority approved of Governor Northam’s timing on the initial stay-at-home order, and respondents leaned toward the view that additional restrictions on public activity should …

Community Outreach For The Virginia Beach Comprehensive Flooding Response Plan (Sea-Level Wise), Michelle Covi, Wie Yusuf, Gail Nicula, Daniel Richards, Afi Anuar

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

[From Introduction]

In partnership with the City of Virginia Beach, the Old Dominion University research team of Drs. Michelle Covi, Wie Yusuf, Gail Nicula, Daniel Richards and Afi Anuar developed and executed a program for public engagement meetings using the ASERT (Action-oriented Stakeholder Engagement for a Resilient Tomorrow) framework to solicit resident engagement with and input into the City’s Comprehensive Sea Level Rise and Recurrent Flooding Response Plan, now known as Sea Level Wise.

Conceptualizing Governance Decision Making: A Theoretical Model Of Mental Processes Derived Through Abduction, Matt Loesch

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

The field of Public Policy and Administration is heavily influenced by the decisions individuals make regarding matters of governance. These types of decisions can affect a broad scope of government-related activities ranging from esoteric debates about political ideology to policy development to specific ways in which people directly interact with public services. Unfortunately, in the view of this research, there is no sufficient model for conceptualizing governance decision making. This creates the focus of inquiry for this work, which is to examine how governance decisions are conceived of and formulated. The purpose of this research is then to analyze the …

An Analysis Of The Differences Between Non-Profit Board Members According To The Method By Which Non-Profit Board Positions Are Acquired, Patricia N. Birungi

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the differences between individuals who acquire non-profit board positions by actively seeking out these positions and individuals who acquire non-profit board positions in other ways in regards to the concept of public service motivation, antecedents of public service motivation, and characteristics of service. First, Public Service Motivation (PSM) theory is used to study how the concept of public service motivation relates to the method by which individuals acquire positions on non-profit boards. Second, using PSM theory, this dissertation examines how antecedents of public service motivation, such as religious socialization and family socialization, are related to an individual’s …

Reducing Risk In Public-Private Partnership Contracts: Two Examples From Highway Tolling Projects, Martin Mayer, Juita-Elena Wie Yusuf, Lenahan L. O'Connell

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

In an effort to address financial constraints and environmental concerns states have increasingly turned to a combination of un-tolled (HOV) and tolled (HOT) lanes. Public-private partnerships (3Ps) are a popular mechanism for this more sustainable approach to highway infrastructure that couples environmental sustainability (efficient utilization of existing lanes, less congestion) with financial sustainability (private investment). This chapter offers an approach to 3P contract writing for HOV/HOT facilities that is structured by a stakeholder analysis of actors in the project accountability environment. By analyzing two Virginia 3P highway projects, the chapter shows it is possible to build into a contract a …

Support For And Behavioral Responses To Tolls: Insights From Hampton Roads, Virginia, Juita-Elena Wie Yusuf, Khairul Azfi Anuar, Lenahan L. O'Connell, David Chapman, Donta Council, Tancy Vandecar-Burdin, Meagan M. Jordan

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This chapter analyzes the experiences with tolling in the Hampton Roads region of Southeastern Virginia to better understand residents' and drivers' support for tolls and behavioral responses to tolls. The Hampton Roads region, with its population of 1.7 million and extensive network of highways, roads, bridges, and tunnels, has a long history of toll facilities that date back to the 1920s. The most recent tunnel tolls, associated with the Elizabeth River Crossing Project and introduced in February 2014, are the focus of this chapter. This chapter analyzes two sets of survey data to provide insights that have implications for policies …

Summary, Initial Observations, And Getting To A Tentative Theory Of Public Investment Behavior, Arwiphawee Srithongrung, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This chapter evaluates the 12 countries' capital management practices according to the systematic public capital management and budgeting process described in Chapter 1. The chapter characterizes and classifies the management practices of the twelve countries based on the authors' evaluation using the case study descriptions. The authors offer some initial observations based on comparisons across the case study countries and analysis of relationships between capital management and budgeting practices and political, economic, and public sector variables. The chapter proposes a tentative theory of public investment behavior and offers five propositions regarding the factors driving different practices across the case study …

From College To The City: Implications Of Rail Transit On The Movement Of The Young, College Educated Into The City Center, Lenahan L. O'Connell, Juita-Elena Wie Yusuf, Timothy J. Brock, Benjamain Blandford

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This chapter focuses on how investment in the American rail infrastructure has shaped changes in the population and residential patterns. Specifically, the chapter examines the association between commuter rail systems, urban rail transit systems, and the movement of the college-educated young into the inner city. Two hypotheses are proposed about the characteristics of rail systems and the relationship to the growth in the percentage of young college graduates residing in close-in neighborhoods. Using a sample of central cities within the 51 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., the chapter compares the growth in young college graduates (ages 25 to 34 …

The Influence Of Engineers On Public Policy, Sarah Bouazzaoui

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Engineers play a vital role in society and contribute positively to economic growth in various areas, including energy, transportation, telecommunications, and others. In the United States of America, these areas are monitored by public policies that are set by policy actors—mainly lawyers, public administrators and social scientists—at legislative and regulatory levels. In these domains, engineers have a reduced voice with key decision makers on critical engineering issues, and their input is very limited. Their lack of involvement results in costly unintended consequences, affecting both the interest of the profession and the interest of the nation.

Research has shown that increased …

Technology, Institutions And Their Interactions: How Do These Explain E-Participation Degree And Levels? A Cross-Country Analysis, Pragati Rawat

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation aims at explaining the difference in the degree of e-participation across countries using institution and technology variables. It further looks at how the factors differ in their influence across the three levels of e-information, e-consultation, and e-decision making. Institutional and technology variables are identified using the literature review of offline and online public participation (or e-participation). Using the policy feedback theory and Giddens’ structuration theory a conceptual model depicting the complex relationship between institutional and technology variables is developed. The dimensions of digital divide, namely ICT affordability and skills, are found to be the most important explanatory variables. …

Engineers' Motivation To Influence Public Decision Making: A Grounded Theory Approach, Sarah Bouazzaoui, Charles B. Daniels

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

In the United States of America, public policies and public decision making associated with the engineering field are set by individuals who does not possess expertise and knowledge to carry out these tasks [1]. Most of decision makers are lawyers and social scientists, not engineers [2]. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the various factors which either encourage or inhibit engineers from influencing and participating in public policy. In this study, a grounded theory approach will be followed, data will be collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed to develop a theory of research direct toward increasing the motivation …

Countervisuality As Policy Feedback: A Critical Policy Study On The Symbolic Role Of Visual Culture In Contemporary Antiracist Resistance, Lindsay N. Plott-Buckner

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

This critical interpretive study explores the relationship between public policy and visual culture. Drawing from five areas of research literature on (1) policy feedback theory, (2) the spectacle, (3) art and visual culture, (4) Black feminist theory, (5) and critical philosophies of resistance, images of contemporary antiracist activism are conceptualized as a form of policy feedback. Photographs of Ieshia Evans, Bree Newsome, and a self-portrait by Nona Faustine are reverse searched through Google Images. Utilizing constructivist grounded theory, a collection of publicly available news articles, blogs, and social media content are analyzed to better understand how mass publics engage with …

Exploring The Relationship Between Media Influence And Policy Output: A State Comparative Study, Stephanie Savas Joannou Menefee

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Through the years, various forms of media have become political institutions able to influence the public policy agenda. Analyzing policy helps to promote a better understanding of how the policy process works, how problems appear on the political agenda, and why governments choose to act or not to act on particular policy problems. This research utilizes Baumgartner and Jones’s (1993) Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium (PET) to examine the ways in which media attention influenced public policy on marijuana in the states of Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Vermont between 1996 and 2016.

Using qualitative research methods, the researcher conducted an exploratory, comparative …

Acquiring The Tools Of Grand Strategy: The Us Navy's Lcs As A Case Study, Sean P. Murphy

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Grand strategy is about how states allocate resources and employ these resources to achieve desired political conditions. In examining the match between desired ends and available ways and means, an often-overlooked subject is how the specific tools of grand strategy are forged. One of these tools is the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a Major Defense Acquisition Program (MDAP) that started in 2000. LCS remains a controversial and often unpopular program with many stakeholders to this day. This study examines how the means of grand strategy, in this case a new ship class, are acquired. It also looks at how these …

Obesity Policy Stringency Over Time: A Four State Policy Design, Luisa M. Lucero

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Over the past several decades obesity rates in the United States have increased exponentially, reaching epidemic proportions and placing heavy financial and health-related burdens on states. States could reduce their obesity-related spending by billions of dollars, however, if they reduced their obesity prevalence by five percent by 2030, which would reduce medical costs, loss of productivity, and loss of life. Despite the incentive to improve obesity rates, not all states are taking advantage of obesity-related policy as a means to combat obesity. Using a multiple case study design and policy design as the theoretical foundation, this study explores whether or …

Diffusion Of Renewable Energy Policies, Khatera Alizada

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the global diffusion of renewable energy policies: feed-in tariffs (FIT) and renewable portfolio standards (RPS). Existing studies of policy diffusion have failed to differentiate between four possible mechanisms of policy diffusion: emulation, suasion, learning and competition. To test these competing explanations, the study uses a mixed-method research design that combines statistical analysis of time-series cross-sectional data with an agent-based model of diffusion processes. The findings of the statistical analysis show strong support for the suasion (European Union Membership, Clean Development Mechanisms) and emulation mechanisms (cultural similarity or common language) in the diffusion of FIT. In the diffusion …

Event-Driven Simulation Of The State Institution Activity For The Service Provision Based On Business Processes, M. Yu. Kataev, N. V. Loseva, A. A. Mitsel, L. A. Bulysheva, S. V. Kozlov

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

The paper presents an approach, based on business processes, assessment and control of the state of the state institution, the social insurance Fund. The paper describes the application of business processes, such as items with clear measurable parameters that need to be determined, controlled and changed for management. The example of one of the business processes of the state institutions, which shows the ability to solve management tasks, is given. The authors of the paper demonstrate the possibility of applying the mathematical apparatus of imitative simulation for solving management tasks.

Corruption May Worsen In Democratizing Economies: But Don't Let It Erode Our Faith In Democracy, Shaomin Li, Ilan Alon, Jun Wu

Management Faculty Publications

This commentary is based on a recent study we conducted on the relationship between regime type, corruption, and economic development. We build a theory that links corruption and regime type to economic growth and test it on 158 countries, using multiple databases including Polity IV, transparency international, the World Bank, and others. We first distinguish three regime types, autocracy (dictatorship), anocracy (countries in early stage of democratization), and mature democracy. We found that when autocratic countries begin democratize, corruption usually gets worse. As the infant democracies mature, corruption decreases.

Civic Crowdfunding And Local Government: An Examination Into Projects, Scope, And Implications For Local Government, Martin Mayer

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Recently, through the development of online technology, civic crowdfunding has emerged as a way in which to connect citizens to community problems and projects. The growth and early success of the field underscores the importance of better understanding civic crowdfunding, how it works, and how it may impact local government. Through a mixed-methods design, this study investigates the growing field of civic crowdfunding in an effort to better understand what types of projects are proposed, where they are proposed, and why some civic crowdfunding proposals may be successful while others are not. Strengths and challenges of civic crowdfunding are discussed, …