Public Policy Commons^™

Effect Of The National Accelerated Agricultural Inputs Access Subsidy Program On Fertilizer Usage And Food Production In Kakamega County, Western Kenya, Abednego Kiwia Mavuthu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite 25 years of concerted efforts by African governments to adopt consistent policies for increasing food production, hunger and poverty are still prevalent in the continent. Using Bernanke's conceptualization of the credit channel theory of monetary policy, the purpose of this correlational study was to investigate whether a subsidy program, the National Accelerated Agricultural Inputs Access Program (NAAIAP), affected the rates of fertilizer usage and food production in Kakamega County, Western Kenya. Purposive stratified sampling was used to select 114 participants consisting of 72 farmers in each of the 2 groups: NAAIAP beneficiaries and nonbeneficiaries. Participants completed a survey on …

The Effects Of The Foreclosure Crisis On The Black And Hispanic Population In Lee County, Florida, Stenia K. Reid-Hall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The housing foreclosure crisis of 2007-2010 in the United States disproportionately affected persons of color. Some states, such as Florida, were heavily impacted by property value losses, yet there has been little research since about the experience of losing a home and recovering from that loss from the perspective of the homeowner. Using Carlson's conceptualization of resiliency theory, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to assess the impact of housing foreclosure and the experience of recovery from foreclosure on Black and Hispanic people in Lee County, Florida. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 15 people in Lee County …

Employee Perceptions Of Merit Pay And Its Influence On Work Performance, Michael John Mcknight, Sr.

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The work performance of employees remains a vital factor both in an organization's viability as well as in the prosperity of its employees. Merit pay can influence employee performance and is one of the most frequently used monetary reward incentives for motivating employees to achieve a higher level of performance. The problem is the limited knowledge on how state employees in a southern state perceive merit pay and how those perceptions may influence employee work performance. Using a conceptual framework built from elements of various motivational theories including Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's 2 factor theory, the purpose of …

The Economic Impact Of City-County Consolidations: A Synthetic Control Approach, Joshua Hall, Josh Matti, Yang Zhou

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

Although more rapid development is a primary motivation behind city-county consolidations, few empirical studies explore the impact of consolidation on economic development. No studies look at government consolidation in the United States using modern causal inference methods. We use the synthetic control method (SCM) to examine the long-term impact of city-county consolidations on per capita income, population, and employment. The results from the three cases explored indicate that consolidation does not guarantee development and actually can have negative effects. Additionally, consolidation can deepen the urban-rural divide by accelerating the decline of rural populations relative to those of urban areas. The …

Beliefs, Costs, And Policies Influencing African American Men's Decisions On Psa Screening, Mary Frances Carter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the growing concerns about routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in men, little is known about the societal and economic impact of screening among the African American population. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore beliefs among African American men about PSA screening, funding for screening, and the role of the United States Preventive Service Task Force in addressing the problem. Guided by rational choice theory, data collection consisted of completion of a health beliefs survey, face-to-face interviews, field notes taken during interview, and interview audio recording. The population for the study included African American men residing …

Community-Oriented Policing And Crime Rates And Crime Clearance Rates In North Carolina, Elizabeth Wrenn Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While community-oriented policing was touted as a new paradigm in American policing, little data reflects its success in reducing crime and/or increasing crime clearance rates. Researchers have failed to definitively describe community policing as a successful style of policing, leaving much more research to be done on its effectiveness as a crime reduction method. Using Trojanowicz's seminal conceptualization of community-oriented policing as the foundation, the purpose of this correlational study was to determine whether there are statistically significant associations between community-oriented policing, crime rates, and crime clearance rates for the 9 municipalities of Carteret County, North Carolina. Data for community-oriented …

Immigration Policy Demanders: The Influence Of U.S. Interests Groups And The American Electorate On Major Political Party Platforms, Scott D. Sears

Senior Independent Study Theses

This Independent Study seeks to understand how political parties create their platforms. Specifically, this study examines how, when, and why political parties cater to the interests of interest groups and the electorate regarding immigration policy. Three qualitative case studies are examined: 1984, 2004, and 2016 party platforms and the corresponding policy preferences of interest groups and the electorate. Bawn et. al’s theory on political parties forms the theoretical framework of this study, which claims that parties are likely to cater to interest groups when political salience is low and parties are likely to cater to the electorate when political salience …

Lived Experience Of Military Mental Health Clinicians: Provided Care To Oif And Oef Active Duty Service Members Experiencing War Stress Injury, David W. Vandegrift

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Military mental health clinicians (MMHCs) have been essential to Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. They served in extreme stress conditions, including on the front lines. As co-combatant/clinician, the MMHC bridged unique perspectives on the effects of war stress experienced by Active-Duty Service Members (ADSMs). To date, no study has focuses uniquely on MMHCs narratives as they provided care from this multiple perspective. This investigation was carried out from a phenomenological perspective. A single, open-ended question was asked of seven MMHCs about lived experiences while serving, resulting in in-depth interviews. These were textually coded. Though clinician positive and negative experiences …

The Effects Of Gender And Perception Of Community Safety On Happiness, Jennifer K. Daffon

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Income-based indicators of happiness have been shown to be limited in their ability to predict happiness. Alternative measures of happiness have been gaining prominence in happiness research, and two predictors of happiness were investigated in the current study. The extent to which happiness (measured by affect, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being) could be predicted by gender and perception of community safety was investigated with 19,644 participant responses to The Happiness Alliance Survey. Multiple linear regression models indicated that gender and community safety are significant predictors of affect, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being. The effect of the predictor variables was similar …

'Whose Goals Am I Meeting?' Policy And Practice Dilemmas In Adult Basic Education (Abe) In The Era Of Accountability, Alma Hallulli Biba

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

For the last two decades, federal legislation and Massachusetts’ state ABE policies have linked adult learners’ educational outcomes to performance systems and accountability requirements. These outcomes, represented as ‘goals’, reflect an emphasis on return-on-investment strategies and outcome-based accountability measures. Greatest emphasis is placed on that subset of adult learners’ goals that are easily measured, attainable, and that are associated with public outcomes. This dissertation, in contrast, seeks to understand the goal setting process from the perspective of learners and local ABE stakeholders. Using a novel, mixed-method approach, this dissertation presents ABE learners’ goal setting as a decision problem in order …

Fraternity, Dignity, And Democracy: Forms Of Value In Northeast Brazil’S Health Care Reform Movement, Jessica Jerome

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This essay applies Terence Turner’s insight that production is the key to understanding social value to the context of an urban poor community in Fortaleza, Brazil. It uses this insight to address a contemporary tension in the community between democratic values espoused by city and state politicians and local forms of value which glorify fraternity and dignity. I argue that older women’s daily activities (such as courtyard maintenance, siestas, and dinner potlucks) produce the values of dignity and fraternity, which women regard as essential to sustaining their households’ viability. It is the dispossession of these values by government sanctioned forms …

The Effect Of Health Insurance On Young Adults' Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence From The Affordable Care Act's Dependent Coverage Expansion, Quazi Hassan

Theses and Dissertations

The Affordable Care Act’s dependent coverage mandate extended young adults’ parental coverage to age 26. I study the expansion’s impact on young adults’ labor market outcomes using a control function method. Following the expansion, I find dependent coverage lowered labor force participation, lowered incomes, and mixed evidence regarding labor supply.

Fresh Air: The Impact Of Reformulated Gasoline On Infant Health, Mohammed Husain

Theses and Dissertations

This paper considers a 1996 Reformulated Gasoline program, where gasoline emissions were regulated in California, to observe the effects on infant health indicators. I use a cross-county analysis to find significant effects from the policy that suggests an improvement in birth weight, gestational length, and infant mortality.

Us Small Arms To Syrian Rebels, Roberto Capocelli

Capstones

The capstone is an investigation into the procurement of Russian-style weapons by small companies to the US government for shipment to Syrian rebels, Iraqi and Afghani military. Through an analysis of procurement contracts, court records and audits the investigation unveils the checkered past of some of the company procuring weapons for the Special Operation Command.

Different Names For Bullying, Marco Poggio

Capstones

“There's all different forms of bullying,” says Steven Gray, a Lakota rancher and former law enforcement officer living in South Dakota. In this look into Gray’s life, we learn about two instances of bullying: the psychological and physical harassment that pushed his son, Tanner Thomas Gray, to commit suicide at age 12; And the controversial construction of an oil pipeline in an ancient tribal land that belongs to the Lakota people by rights of a treaty signed in 1851, which Gray sees as an institutional abuse infringing on the sovereignty of his people. Gray is involved in the movement that …

“Mexico, Public Policy And Obesity In A Global Context”, Daniela Carina Bermudez

Master's Theses

Mexico has one of the most obese populations in the world. A country known for its diversity of rich flavorful food is drowning in low nutritional food products. This thesis examines Mexico’s obesity epidemic within the larger global context of international economic trade policies, public policies and Mexico’s health policies. The key research questions are 1) why is there an obesity epidemic in Mexico? and 2) what remedies should Mexico implement to control it? This thesis contributes to a viable policy strategy for the Mexican government to control and prevent the further increase of this obesity epidemic. Reviewing both the …

Solar Urban Planning: Addressing Barriers And Conflicts Specific To Renewable Energy Policy And The Current Field And Practice Of Urban Planning Within The Context Of A Changing Climate, Toryl P. Hanna

Capstone Collection

The world is in a period of rapid urbanization while experiencing unprecedented rise in global temperature as a result of climate change. Questions have been raised as to how strategies for urbanization will be able to address the fetish for energy, while halting carbon emissions produced by traditional energy sources for urban inhabitants around the world. First, this paper seeks to look to cities, at the intersection of solar energy and the field of urban planning, looking into the opportunities and challenges that are currently surfacing. Conflicts and barriers in traditional urban land use patterns emerge as a topic of …

Regulation Of Recreational Marijuana In Small Cities And Counties In Colorado, Katherine Nesse, Colin Victory

SPU Works

In November 2016 the number of states where recreational marijuana sales are legal increased to eight. Thousands of cities and counties are now on the front lines of regulating these new land uses. Local governments in Colorado, the first state to implement recreational marijuana legalization, are models for jurisdictions in other states. We study counties and municipalities in the eight micropolitan statistical areas in Colorado to learn how they regulate recreational marijuana businesses. We reviewed codes, ordinances, and other documents of 43 local governments and interviewed planners in a third of these jurisdictions. These places were purposefully selected and reflect …

Not Enough To Go Around: Statistical Analysis Of Staffing Of Child Life Programs, Caroline Greene

Masters of Public Administration Theses

Child life programs are gaining popularity and support in pediatric care as the field grows. However, healthcare is growing rapidly and child life programs are struggling to advocate for their place within pediatric care despite the fact that the American Academy of Pediatrics defines child life as a necessity. This study seeks to answer the question: How does the level of pediatric care offered by a hospital affect the staffing of child life programs? The sample (N=154) hospital programs in this study offer varying levels of pediatric care. The independent variable is the level of pediatric care offered by hospitals, …

Cpaf Updates Vol. 17 No. 12, Guien Eidrefson P. Garma, Samantha Geraldine G. Delos Santos, Stella Concepcion R. Britanico

CPAf Updates

In this issue:

• CPAf bags Parolan 2016 grand prize, 1
• CPAf now an associate member of NASPAA, 2
• CISC holds year-end planning workshop, 2
• CPAf faculty support NAST PHL learning events, 3
• KMO hosts crash course on GIS, 4