Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2021, Higher Education (Education)

This study examines how Chief Student Affairs Officers (CSAO) make sense of their role engaging with fundraising at small, private, liberal arts institutions with endowments below the median endowment size of $140.2 million. Specifically examining how they make sense of engaging with fundraising and how they have gained knowledge or experience in fundraising. Over its history, the field of student affairs has evolved to serve the needs of institutions and students, and, with that evolution new focus areas of the role have emerged, including fundraising. Through the exploration of Organizational Sensemaking, this study highlights avenues for future student affairs preparation, training, and education. Through qualitative inquiry, seeking new knowledge, presidential influence, drawing from prior foundations, driven to serve students, strengthening the institution, and harnessing the value of relationships are outlined as ways CSAOs made sense of engaging with fundraising and gaining knowledge on fundraising.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, History

Traditionally, scholars of Classical Athenian history have assumed that the Athenian demokratia organized itself for war around the principle of egalitarianism. My dissertation, which focuses on the military contributions of the elite, marks a significant departure from this view by arguing that this is decidedly not the case. In fact, I argue that the elite were so dominant in every aspect of war-making that warfare under the demokratia was primarily an elite concern. Not only did wealthy Athenians serve more frequently in the ranks, but they did so in a larger number of capacities. The liturgies of elite citizens funded both the individual triremes and in many cases, entire military expeditions. Athenian armies and fleets were led by the most elite citizens, who also dominated debates over matters of war and peace in the ekklesia. This elite domination did not undermine the sovereignty of the demos as a whole, however, as the demos was able to keep its elite members in line due to strict accountability measures. Significantly, these accountability measures, which were vital to the demokratia, were enforced almost exclusively by the elite. This decidedly inegalitarian approach to warfare has a broader significance when it comes to understanding the very nature of demokratia itself. I argue that, when we consider both the inequalities that we see at work when the Athenians made war with better known inequalities, such as the non-inclusion of women in politics and the widespread use of slave labor, this shows that demokratia was built on different principles than modern democracy and did not share modern concerns about inequality. The broader significance of this realization, I argue, is that future studies of demokratia should be more careful about delineating the differences between demokratia and democracy before hazarding comparisons.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1984, Graduate School

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1983, Graduate School

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1966, Graduate School

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1961, Graduate School

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1959, Graduate School

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Regional Development Planning

Tax Increment Finance (TIF) has become one of the most popular tools to support economic development in the United States. Since its inception over 60 years ago, TIF adoption and implementation has expanded nationally and evolved to cover a wide variety of uses. Once a tool primarily employed to support development in only the most blighted urban neighborhoods, today, TIF is utilized in projects ranging from large-scale industrial developments to high end, suburban shopping centers. While the majority of study has been devoted to measuring TIF effectiveness at local levels, very little work has been done to understand TIF use and implementation nationally. The primary objective of this study is to better understand TIF's evolution over time and across the United States. This study focuses on TIF legislative changes that have allowed for its extensive use across a wide variety of locations. In addition, this study measures some of the possible factors that contribute to TIF use in particular regions. This study uses a mixed methods approach, integrating an historical, policy analysis of TIF legislation with a geographic exploration supported by a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial statistical analysis using GeoDa. The results of this policy analysis indicate a general loosening of TIF legislation that allows TIF use to support a broader range of economic development initiatives. TIF legislative changes follow many national trends such as decreasing federal support for local economic development programs and increasing leadership from local governments initiating economic development efforts. In order to measure TIF adoption and implementation, state adoption dates and TIF district implementation are mapped and compared against state level, historical population and employment growth across the United States. The results of the spatial analysis indicate that early TIF adoption and higher TIF use tend to occur in states with a history of (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, Miami University, 2016, Environmental Sciences

Debt-finance is a growing opportunity to fund environmental solutions. Green Bonds are being used by investors wishing to improve their Corporate Social Responsibility positions while maintaining valid returns on their investments. Based on the well-established bond-finance model, Green Bonds put money into diverse environmental projects addressing impacts from climate changes, depletion of natural resources, biodiversity loss, and pollution control. “Green” is a voluntary designation, based on a set of guidelines known as the Green Bond Principles. With varying degrees of clarity regarding their use and environmental impact and whether they are a viable solution to climate damages or merely a “greenwashed” ploy used by some issuers to appear more sustainable were questions examined as part of this research. A concise summary briefing (Appendix A), case study draft, and targeted public engagements were completed. Adaptability and responsiveness, sustainability, credibility, legitimacy, and opportunity for social transformation through the use of Green Bonds were reviewed using a case study analysis method. A unique pool of investment capital being mobilized by Green Bonds is emerging through motivated environmental investment coalitions. A review of the integrated impacts of Green Bonds as well as practical knowledge for their issuance is described here.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2013, Business Administration

In this dissertation, I explore how the organizational structure of firms impacts corporate financing and investment decisions. I focus on the geographic structure of firms across countries in the first and second essays and changes in boundaries of firms through acquisitions in the third essay. In the first essay, I examine the effect of international corporate diversification on firms' debt financing policies. I hypothesize that multinationals should have easier access to different sources of funding across countries than purely domestic firms because their operations are located in multiple countries. Using a sample of capital raising activities of U.S. multinationals and domestic firms in bank loan and corporate bond markets during 2000-2010, I provide evidence that international corporate diversification improves access to capital, especially in foreign countries. One implication of multinationals' ability to use multiple sources of capital is that they are less affected by capital market dislocations in their home country than domestic firms. Using the 2007-2009 financial crisis as a capital supply shock, I find that U.S. multinationals relied more on foreign funding sources in bank loans after the failure of Lehman in contrast to domestic firms. In addition, better access to capital markets is associated with lower funding costs when multinationals issue bank loans from foreign lead lenders. The second essay is an attempt to improve our understanding why firms diversify internationally. I investigate the motivation for international diversification decisions of U.S. firms during 2000-2011. Specifically, I examine why firms internationally diversify their operations, where and how they enter foreign countries, and how firms' international expansion decisions affect firm values. Using comprehensive data on changes in subsidiary structure of U.S. firms that are domestic as of 1999, I find that the international expansion strategies of U.S. firms in the 2 (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2013, EDU Policy and Leadership

Two-thirds of college students will borrow money to attend college or university. Among them is a group categorized as `independent' according to federal criteria, including age, income, familial status, veterans, and those for whom dependency is not possible, such as foster children. This qualitative study explores the meaning that independent undergraduate students ascribe to the debt they encumber while enrolled in college. What is their perception of their student debt? Do they believe their education is worth the debt? The researcher originally sought to ask twenty independent undergraduate students in their junior year or above about their experience of student debt while enrolled at a large regional public university in the Midwest. In addition to interviewing, twenty individuals who met the original criteria, an additional eight were interviewed who expanded the original definition of independence beyond the federal criteria and the need to focus on those close to graduation. Results suggest that student debt is considered a necessity by all of the participants as it relates to their college attendance and their lifestyle choices. College attendance was seen as a requirement to gain access to future employment. Student loans often were used to supplement or provide full support for external living expenses. Acceptance of this syllogism may explain expanded levels of debt tolerance, consistent with the application of prospect theory to the data. Their own needs and networks facilitated the participants' understanding of their student debt. Some of the participants viewed the impact of debt on their academic and social experience as negative, while the majority recognized student debt as a “necessary evil” and a personal “investment” in their own human capital. Student debt was viewed as distinctly different from other kinds of debt. While all of the participants recognized the value of their education, some level of distrust of the current structure of (open full item for complete abstract)

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Business Administration : Finance

While many studies have revealed that experimental subjects and individual investors display behaviors associated with overconfidence, fewer authors have investigated whether corporate executives fall prey to these same tendencies. This dissertation examines the impact of nine overconfidence-linked individual characteristics on the financial decisions of CEOs from domestic exchange-traded firms. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 focus on firms' capital investment, acquisition, and disposition activities, respectively. Overall, the overconfidence-linked variables do not consistently and significantly affect the aforementioned financial decisions. There are, however, a few exceptions. First, CEOs' press portrayal and ownership stakes correlate with their firms' relative investment rates and investment-free cash flow sensitivities. Second, CEOs who face potential competition from a larger number of operating segment vice presidents have higher acquisition and disposition likelihoods. Third, acquisitions' announcement returns significantly increase (decrease) with CEOs' stockholdings (tenure). While behavioral explanations exist for most of these relationships, so do agency justifications. Altogether, our lack of results contradict the findings of Malmendier and Tate (2005a,b) and could imply that firms are structured in such a way so as to control for managerial overconfidence.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, Business Administration

I explore how the "human element" of corporate managers impacts corporate policies and decisions. Specifically, I investigate how identifiable differences in managers affects: 1) executive labor market outcomes, 2) capital structure decisions, and 3) employment decisions. In the first essay, I examine the role of geography in the labor market for CEOs. I find that the frequency with which firms hire CEOs from their own state is five times more than is expected if CEO geographic origin were random. Smaller, less Research and Development-intensive firms located in less desirable locations, with weaker board incentive alignment, and whose previous CEO was locally hired are more likely to hire local CEOs. Compensation and turnover are lower for local CEOs than for non-locals and adjusted operating performance significantly decreases when firms replace non-locally hired CEOs with locals. These findings are consistent with the existence of search costs, agency conflicts and CEO geographic preference. In the second essay, co-authored with Anil Makhija and Henrik Cronqvist, I show empirically that firms behave remarkably similarly to how their CEOs behave personally in the context of leverage choices. Using a database of CEOs' leverage in their most recent home purchases, I find a positive, economically significant, robust relation between personal home leverage and corporate leverage in the cross-section and when I examine CEO changes. The results are consistent with an endogenous matching of CEOs with firms based on leverage preferences on both sides, as well as with CEOs imprinting their personal preferences on the firms they manage, especially when governance is weaker. In the third essay, I find that local managers are more labor-friendly than their non-local industry peers during times of poor industry performance. During industry downturns layoffs are 13 percent less frequent among firms run by local managers than among similar firms run by non-locals. This number in (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2004, Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics

This dissertation explores the interaction of tax and land use policies in the U.S. The first essay, Exclusionary Fiscal Zoning and Residential Housing Density, explores the hypotheses that local generation of tax revenue encourages local governments to enact zoning policies that reduce the efficiency of land markets. The theoretical model predicts that heavy reliance on local income tax revenue by local governments will encourage strict large-lot fiscal zoning restrictions. Empirical results support the theoretical hypothesis for tax districts in Delaware County, Ohio. The second essay, The Effect of Use-Value Assessment on Land Use Change in Rural and Suburban Areas, explores the effects of preferential property tax treatment for agricultural uses. A survival model is employed to explain the timing of farmland conversion to urban uses. Preferential tax assessment is found to be effective at slowing farmland conversion in a rural Ohio township, but ineffective in a suburban township closer to Columbus, Ohio. The third essay, The Capitalization of Property Taxes into the Prices of High and Low-Value Homes, employs a hedonic model to test the impact of local property taxes and large-lot zoning on housing values. The empirical results show mixed evidence to support the hypothesis that property taxes have a more negative impact on high-value homes as compared to low-value homes. The results also show a price premium on homes with small lots. This premium may be explained by a zoning induced shortage of small-lot homes.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2009, Elementary Education

This content analysis examined the distribution of financial mathematical tasks (FMTs), mathematical tasks that contain financial terminology and require financially related solutions, across the National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education categories (JumpStart Coalition, 2007), the thinking skills as identified by A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing (Anderson et al., 2001), and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards (NCTM, 2000). Two hundred seventy-eight FMTs, recording units for this study, were taken from a selected portion in each lesson within the three grade level textbooks of the middle school mathematics textbook series, Math Connects Concepts, Skills, and Problem Solving Course 1, 2, and 3 (Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009). Three research questions, with corresponding coding forms, were developed for this study. After the coding forms were evaluated, the researcher trained coders, held trial codings, and conducted a pilot test to determine reliability, address validity concerns, and determine her credentials as the sole coder. As a result of the evaluations, trial codings, and pilot test, the coding forms were refined. The data analysis yielded frequency counts and percentages. None of the FMTs focused on planning a budget. The FMTs poorly addressed Create, the highest order thinking skill. The FMTs did not support the NCTM standard Representation adequately. The findings indicate that the FMTs did not uniformly address the personal finance categories, the selected thinking skills, and the selected NCTM standards investigated in this research study. The potential is limited for middle school students to experience FMTs that contain: a balanced array of personal finance concepts and skills, challenging higher order thinking requirements, and an equal balance of the NCTM standards investigated in this research study. Among the recommendations advocated are: stabilizing the alignment of the FMTs to the personal finance cate (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1918, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1915, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1950, Graduate School

Master of Business Administration, The Ohio State University, 1970, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1970, Graduate School