Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2024, Civil Engineering (Engineering and Technology)

Most research findings in the past have been inconclusive about the strength of the relationship between transportation investments and the national or state economy. In addition to this, there has been a plethora of arguments regarding the significance of positive relationships in a developed nation that already holds a well-connected and efficient transportation system. While the national and state-level impact of transportation has been questionable, most research agrees with the positive significance of the localized and redistribution impacts. Although economic development remains one of the important goals in the transportation planning process, the State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) struggle to find a simpler methodology to quantify the impact of transportation investment at the state level. Using time-series cross-sectional data from 19 peer states including the state of Ohio from 1970-2020, this thesis analyzed the significance of the relationship between highway capital outlay as well as annual road mileage added and economic development indicators of real GDP, real PCI, total employment, and population to develop a regression model. Furthermore, a case study was conducted for the state of Ohio to discern the impact of highway investment on its economy using time-series data from 1970-2020, as well as to observe the redistribution of the economy from 2000 to 2020 by the National Highway System (NHS) across the Ohio Counties. The research findings suggested that while highway capital outlay had a weak positive but significant relationship with economic change parameters among peer states, it was insignificant in the case of the state of Ohio. Additionally, the annual road miles added to the existing transportation system had no significant impact on any of the economic parameters except population change. The regression models developed with highway capital outlay as a predictor variable explained less than (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Deborah McAvoy (Committee Chair); Bhaven Naik (Committee Member); Issam Khoury (Committee Member); Ana Mojica Myers (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Economics; Transportation; Transportation Planning

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2020, Theatre Arts-Arts Administration

In a time of constant threat to funding, elimination of the National Endowment, and competition over resources, philanthropy in the arts and culture sector is indispensable to the vibrancy and economic development of a city's core. The arts and culture sector is considered to take away from an economy's financial resources. However, it is the exact opposite. It is a thriving sector that contributes to the economy by creating jobs, spending money at local businesses, and bringing in cultural tourists. Fred Bidwell and Rick Rogers have a long history of philanthropy in this sector, and their demonstrated support has led to efforts of revitalization, vibrancy, and dollars spent in the cities of Akron and Cleveland. This thesis explores the history, issues, and successes of the two cultural producers' philanthropy efforts in the sector and the impact that their support has brought to the Northeast Ohio region.

Committee: James Slowiak (Advisor); Arnold Tunstall (Committee Member); Courtney Cable (Committee Member) Subjects: Arts Management

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

This project investigates the potential of existing underutilized rooftops in a dense urban fabric of the city of Shahjahanabad- The walled city within Delhi; to explore the opportunities to reintroduce urban green space for the improvement of ecological conditions while integrating it with the socio-cultural life of the community. The historically significant city of Shahjahanabad is a low-rise, high-density metropolitan city in the developing country of India. The city has a unique indigenous urban fabric juxtaposed with 700 heritage structure and 229 historical monuments in 569 ha of total area. Hence, the traditional urban planning informs the lives of its residents, and preservation of fabric becomes critical. However, with rapid growth, today the city is plagued with suffocating conditions due to traffic congestion, infrastructure deterioration, unauthorized construction, dilapidated housing stock and overall low quality of life. In a city with 70% built-up space, flat roof surfaces represent a significant proportion of total urban area. These surfaces provide multiple opportunities to play an important role in the reduction of heat island effect, energy conservation and reintroduction of lost green spaces while reducing surface run-off and providing opportunities to collect water which are all important for the future of the built environment, especially in view of rapidly changing climate and increased air pollution. This research utilizes an in-depth study of a small cluster of a typical mixed-use development in the city to design a prototypical roof infrastructure to restore ecological services. The objective is to rethink the urban form and skyline of the city by exploiting renewable energy potential and minimizing the negative environmental impact while creating habitable microclimate on the rooftop and community scale. The design concepts thus formulated are based on the existing socio-spatial context and infrastructure analyzed through literature re (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Pravin Bhiwapurkar (Committee Chair); Thomas Bible M.C.E. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

Bachelor of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2018, Economics

The perceived costs and benefits of immigration take front stage for many U.S. political and policy debates, in both the public and private spheres. Various Ohio lawmakers seek to decrease immigration levels into the United States, both documented and undocumented, primarily by aligning Ohio state law with Federal law.2 This raises the question: is there any measurable economic incentive to increase or decrease immigration levels in Ohio? One way to address this is to measure how immigration is correlated with income. If higher levels of immigration contribute to higher levels of income, increased immigration would be a beneficial policy, and vice versa. This study develops a model that quantifies the impact of immigration on incomes for native Ohioans. My study uses recent data from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) to develop and estimate an econometric model that suggests a more definitive answer to the question: "What effect does immigration have on per capita income in Ohio?" This study reports that across Ohio counties, a 1 percentage point increase in county immigrant population corresponds to a 0.0125 percent increase in county median income. The effect of immigration on county median income in Ohio suggested here is small but positive.

Committee: David Wishart Ph.D (Advisor); Ruth Hoff Ph.D (Committee Member); Lawrence Gwinn Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Demographics; Economics

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2017, Theatre Arts-Arts Administration

In Youngstown, Ohio and the Mahoning Valley region, the arts community and local economic leaders of the city wanted to jumpstart innovative change that would improve the quality of life for residents, and develop solutions to attract new businesses and organizations to be a part of the community. Discussion among artists and economic leaders were made to inspire the arts and economic development sectors to work together. However, there was an equal number of doubts expressed about the possibilities of coordinated plans to improve the state of Youngstown's community by implementing art throughout the public spaces. The purpose of this research was to study perceptions about the arts in Youngstown, Ohio in order to learn more about the feasibility of public art in the community and to better understand how to implement an arts-focused plan to strengthen the economy of Youngstown, Ohio. This study was conducted to investigate arts practitioners' and consumers' perceptions about the arts community's potential economic impact on Youngstown. Also, the study considered these perceptions when analyzing the importance of incorporating public art to encourage economic growth and development.

Committee: Elisa Gargarella Dr. (Advisor); Dominic Marchionda (Committee Member); Raymond Cox, III Dr. (Other) Subjects: Arts Management; Business Administration; Business Community; Economic Theory; Entrepreneurship; Fine Arts; Public Administration; Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies and Public Affairs, Cleveland State University, 2016, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

In an effort to apply the sustainability movement to the built environment, sustainable construction has gained substantial strength and momentum in global society. A growing body of literature reveals the positive effects of sustainable, or green, buildings in terms of real estate market premiums, energy cost savings, employee productivity, and regional economic growth. In this context, my dissertation examines three research topics pertaining to sustainable buildings, and does so in three separate chapters. The first study discusses the effect of lease structure on the tenant's willingness to pay for energy-efficient building features, and compares the tenant's stated willingness to pay with the revealed rental value of those building features. According to the statistical outputs from various regression models, the effect of Triple Net (NNN) lease on the tenant's willingness to pay for energy-efficient building attributes is positive and statistically significant. Specifically, the NNN tenants were 1.6 times more likely to have greater than or equal to the 2 percent willingness to pay than the Full Service Gross (FSG) tenant group. The second study examines the relationship between sustainable building features and employee productivity. The findings indicate that 58 percent of the tenant respondents recognize that a building's environment influences their productivity. When it comes to individual features, the analysis reveals that those who are willing to pay more for better access to daylight, improved indoor air quality, individual temperature control, and green (non-toxic) cleaning are more likely to agree with the proposition that workplace environments increase productivity. The third study finds an association between sustainable building projects and regional green economies. The statistical results from the panel data regression analysis support my initial idea that the diffusion of green construction projects is positively associated with a metro ar (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Robert Simons Ph.D. (Committee Chair); William Bowen Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sanda Kaufman Ph.D. (Committee Member); Spenser Robinson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Community Planning

The subject of tourism, manifesting at varying scales ranging from local to global, has been a topic of much discussion and research among both academic and professional circles. Tourists who visit places which possess a special cultural, historic or natural value, referred to as heritage tourists, seek a unique, immersive and authentic experience. This type of experience can come into conflict with the homogenization and commercialization that often accompanies tourism development, and in the worst cases can lead to deterioration of heritage. This issue can also be exacerbated by a significant increase in visitation following a site's designation as World Heritage, a prestigious brand which promotes cultural and natural heritage sites worldwide. This thesis analyzes and critiques projected economic and development impacts in Warren County, Ohio, resulting from the inscription of Fort Ancient, a Hopewell Native American hilltop enclosure, as a World Heritage site. The methodological framework comprises three parts: (1) an economic impact analysis, using IMPLAN; (2) build-out scenario production; and (3) build-out scenario visualization, using GIS. Predicted development outcomes, encompassing hotel/motel, restaurant, retail, and arts/entertainment sectors, are examined and discussed in conjunction with development patterns observed near three existing U.S. World Heritage Sites.

Committee: Carla Chifos Ph.D. (Committee Chair); John Eliot Hancock M.Arch. (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2013, Engineering and Applied Science: Industrial Engineering

Health and safety are gaining increasing interest across industries, but the business case for workplace health is not necessarily solid, as most operations models focus largely on compliance and risk mitigation. Managers realize that organizational health goes beyond health costs because employees are the primary drivers in achieving the business's desired performance. A more balanced approach should account for both contributions of a healthy workforce and the resources required to support it. This research introduces a financial model to quantify the effect of improvements on health and safety in the workplace, by (1) establishing a numerical relationship between improvements in the work environment and performance outcomes and (2) linking multiple operational outcomes into a common financial indicator. While different methods have been proposed to assess the implementation of health and safety programs, the challenge for any financial approach is the aggregation of the different performance outcomes linked to health and safety improvement. The Economic Assessment of the Work Environment (EAWE) builds upon prior work regarding health assessment in the workplace to forecast the financial benefits of health and safety implementations. The model can be applied by any organizational unit following a five-step process, beginning with a health assessment of the workplace to identify critical elements in the work environment. Based on the health assessment, an action plan is developed to address those gaps in the work environment. Next, performance targets are defined based on a set of internal goals and external benchmarks. The economic model transforms the expected improvements in the health and safety status into expected performance outcomes. The net cash-flow effect on the firm is the result of the combined costs and benefits associated with the implementation plan. The implementation plan should be applied in stages, starting from individual jobs and procee (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Henry Spitz Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Amit Bhattacharya Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ernest Hall Ph.D. (Committee Member); Richard Leroy Shell Ph.D. (Committee Member); David Thompson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Industrial Engineering

MDes, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Design

Should designers move past creating ‘tools which empower' impoverished communities to ‘empowering impoverished communities' to make tools? As designers have begun to work on the complex problems associated with global poverty they have slowly documented methods and identified best practices for creating social impact through design. One such practice is to increase the capacity of impoverished communities to solve problems. However, little has been written on how to accomplish this task. This thesis looks to community organizers for insight on community empowerment. It analyzes and compares design and community organizing in order to identify compatible and complimentary aspects of each profession. This comparison is used to suggest benefits each profession would realize from working with the other. The thesis culminates in the presentation of a novel approach for creating social impact through design and community organizing that moves beyond collaboration and into hybridization.

Committee: Mike Zender (Committee Chair); M. Ann Welsh PhD (Committee Member); Craig Vogel (Committee Member) Subjects: Design; Social Work; Urban Planning

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

Based on the new standards set by a directive issued by EPA, related to fine particulate matter and Ozone, Hamilton County and surrounding counties in Ohio and Kentucky, fall in the non-attainment category. The new RVP gasoline program is one of the programs proposed by the Clean Air Consortium of Southwest Ohio that reduce pollutant levels responsible for high Ozone concentrations. Even though the introduction of this gasoline will increase the price of gasoline, affecting consumers in terms of increased expenditure and producers in terms of higher cost of doing business in the region, it will also result in a cleaner and healthier environment to live in. An economic impact analysis using an Economic forecasting model developed by Regional Economic Model Inc. (REMI) Policy Insight after assessing the costs and benefits of the program was done to evaluate the program.

Committee: Rainer vom Hofe (Advisor) Subjects: Urban and Regional Planning

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

Inspired by the island of Santorini in Greece, the purpose of this thesis is to identify the range of positive and negative impacts that tourism has on a host place. This thesis will use the range of impacts to create a framework through which a systematic assessment can be made. This is important, as tourism is the fastest growing industry in the world, and provides employment and foreign currency to the host place as well as contributing to its country's gross domestic product, or GDP. However, tourism often has negative impacts as well, but these are often overlooked in favor of the economic benefits. This study identifies major factors of tourism impacts on host places, based on a review of the literature, illustrates them based on a study of the island of Santorini in Greece, and creates a framework to assess these impacts. The study extracts factors from three main areas: economic, socio-cultural and environmental. It then organizes these factors into a framework to assess systematically the impact of tourism in order to understand the magnitude impact of tourism on the island. The study, in a “snapshot”, draws attention to the magnitude of tourism impact in a comprehensive way. It will, hopefully, also help planners and administrators elsewhere to determine what can be done to capitalize on the positive impacts of tourism and mitigate its negative impacts.

Committee: Carla Chifos (Advisor) Subjects: Urban and Regional Planning

Master of Technical and Scientific Communication, Miami University, 2009, English

This internship report discusses my 14-week internship as a technical writer intern with the Houston, Texas office of Golder Associates Inc. (Golder), completed from January 2009 through April 2009. My primary role at Golder was to provide technical review of the communications generated from the environmental, oil and gas, and waste management sectors served by the Houston office. The report is broken down into four chapters that reflect on my overall internship experience, my coursework in the MTSC program, and my perception of technical communication. The first chapter provides an overview of Golder, the organizational culture, and my role in the organization. The second chapter describes the various projects I worked on during my internship. The third chapter examines one large project in close detail. Finally, the fourth chapter examines the impact of the economic crisis on Golder's culture and its impact on technical communicators in similar organizations.

Committee: Katherine Durack PhD (Advisor); Michele Simmons PhD (Committee Member); Sandra Woy-Hazleton PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Engineering; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Science; Rhetoric

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies and Public Affairs, Cleveland State University, 2011, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

The first essay develops a typology that identifies the multiple pathways, functions and operations where innovation can occur in a firm's internal business cycle based upon the extant literature that includes both technological and non-technological activities. This is an important step toward developing a comprehensive strategy for a regional economy and provides a common platform for the discussion of innovation among academics and practitioners. The typology adds to the existing knowledge of how innovation works in organizations by describing the pathways, business functions and operations in a firm's internal-business-process; the business strategies used to advance innovation to the market; and the market impact that innovation has in a regional economy. The typology is enhanced by the different threads of literature – innovation, technology, organization and marketing. The integrated approach allows academics and practitioners to understand how and where innovation occurs in firms and lays the foundation for robust metrics of the behavioral relationship between variables under study. The result is a set of assessment tools that permits diagnostics of the firm, industry, market and region. The second essay examines the relationship between innovation, emerging technologies, business firms' investment structure, and specialized types of private equity used to finance emerging technologies. A conceptual framework is developed for financial investment and a set of hypotheses tested for investment between Ohio and U.S. firms. Ohio firms take a different investing approach than U.S. firms when investing in a firm's stage of business development but are not significantly different when using specialized types of financing, investing in industry/technology niches, and investing in geographic markets. The third essay explores the role of innovation in business firms. The essay examines the reasons firms invest in innovation and then test the difference in the inn (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Edward Hill PhD (Committee Chair); Larry Ledebur PhD (Committee Member); Robert Scherer PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Economics

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies and Public Affairs, Cleveland State University, 2008, Levin College of Urban Affairs

Universities are frequently assumed to be essential contributors to regional economic development although conclusive evidence that universities trigger economic growth within their region does not exist. This dissertation presents a model that characterizes the influence of university research on regional economic outcomes, changes of total regional employment and gross metropolitan product. The model controls for industry research activity and incorporates differences in regional industrial organization. The model compares the influence of university research and industry research on changes of regional employment and gross metropolitan product during the expansion (1998-2001) and contraction (2002-2004) phases of the business cycle and over the entire time period studied (1998-2004). In addition, the dissertation tests the impact of university size and reputation on regional economic outcomes in conjunction with industry research. The models are tested on the universe of metropolitan statistical areas. Lessons from the dissertation research are drawn to inform state and local technology-based development strategies.

Committee: Edward Hill Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Larry Ledebur Ph.D. (Committee Member); Luis Proenza Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jun Koo Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Economics; Higher Education; Urban Planning