Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2017, Management

Social entrepreneurs are change agents that seek to maximize their use of limited financial resources to create long-term, lasting solutions to complex issues such as youth unemployment, recidivism, lack of home ownership, and a high rate of health disparities. Philanthropists, impact investors, and intermediaries play an imperative role in creating systems and influencing the strategies, choices, and intentions of these social entrepreneurs. The impact investing industry experiences inadequacies that limit its impact. These inadequacies include the lack of efficient intermediation, which indicates high search and transaction expenses, fragmented demand and supply, multifaceted deals, and underdeveloped networks (Kickul & Lyons, 2012). There is a need to study the interpersonal relationships among all of the key stakeholders in the ecosystem. This dissertation implements an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach in a 3-strand study to reveal the perspectives of a wide range of stakeholders in the social innovation ecosystem, such as social and commercial entrepreneurs, social enterprise staff and management, beneficiary groups, philanthropic and investment intermediaries, and funding bodies. The behaviors and practices of actors within the social impact investment ecosystem range from simple, informal responses for use in “everyday interactions” to more complex, formal structures. In the first qualitative study, I focus on the individual and organizational processes used to spark social enterprise in communities of economic distress. In the second quantitative study, I analyze the role of social enterprise financing and their social mission, geographic proximity, and risk absorption. Based on findings from the initial qualitative study and the quantitative study, I articulate a research model to study the tensions, issues, and challenges of philanthropic dyads in the social innovation ecosystem. The final strand of the three-part study examines the impact (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Richard Boland Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Paul Salipante Ph.D. (Committee Member); David Hammack Ph.D. (Committee Member); Roman Sheremeta Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Social Research; Systems Design

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 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.

Committee: Steven Elliott Dr. (Advisor); Sarah Dumyahn Dr. (Committee Member); David Prytherch Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Alternative Energy; Atmospheric Sciences; Climate Change; Environmental Justice; Environmental Management; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Finance; Natural Resource Management; Sustainability; Urban Planning

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