Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2016, Industrial and Systems Engineering (Engineering and Technology)

The healthcare sector possesses big issues needing to be addressed in a number of nations including the United States. Problems within and effecting healthcare arena are complex as they are interdependent on several factors. It. To cope this situation and find solutions, best of predictions backed by data for effective decision making are required. Even though predictions are made, it takes extreme cautiousness to make claims for policy inaction. The EuroQol five Dimension (EQ-5D) questionnaire developed by the Euro-Qol group is one of the most widespread used tools assessing the generic health status of a population using 5 dimensions namely mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. This thesis develops a methodology to create forecasting models to predict these EQ-5D model indicators using chosen 65 indicators, capable of defining population health, from the World Bank, World Health Organization and the United Nations Development Programme databases. The thesis provides the capability to gauge an insight into the well-being at individual levels of population by maneuvering the macroscopic factors. The analysis involves data from 12 countries namely Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and United States, for both sexes with ages ranging from 18 to 75+. The models are created using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and are contrasted with statistical models. It is observed that the ANN model with all 65 indicators performed the best and the age group of 75+ was found to be the most correlated with EQ-5D dimensions. Conclusively the research also provides with the countries and indicators that need the most attention to improve the corresponding EQ-5D parameter. This thesis aims at fostering better policy making for increasing well-being of populations by understanding the impact of predominating factors affecting population health.

Committee: Gary Weckman (Advisor); Diana Schwerha (Committee Member); Tao Yuan (Committee Member); Andy Snow (Committee Member) Subjects: Aging; Artificial Intelligence; Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Behaviorial Sciences; Cognitive Psychology; Demographics; Demography; Developmental Psychology; Economics; Educational Tests and Measurements; Evolution and Development; Finance; Gender Studies; Health; Health Care; Health Care Management; Health Sciences; Higher Education; Industrial Engineering; Information Science; Information Systems; Information Technology; Literacy; Mental Health; Public Health; Public Policy; Sanitation; Social Psychology; Social Research; Statistics; Sustainability

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Educational Studies

This dissertation examines the implications of datafication and capacity development in the Global South, with a specific focus on Punjab, Pakistan. It demonstrates how the discourse of datafication and capacity development, constructed by global actors, establishes a discourse infrastructure that legitimizes educational reforms at the local level. The study also investigates how local actors respond to the conditions created by this global discourse infrastructure. The study employs the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD) framework to connect the literature on datafication and capacity development and investigate the processes through which the Global North transitions from supporting to governing educational reforms in the Global South. Through this examination, the dissertation establishes the interdependence between datafication and capacity development, a connection that has not been extensively explored in the educational literature. This study makes a significant contribution to educational scholarship by providing a nuanced understanding of the relations and practices between the Global North and South.

Committee: Jan Nespor (Advisor); Bryan Warnick (Committee Member); Ann Allen (Committee Member) Subjects: Education Policy; Public Policy

Honors Theses, Ohio Dominican University, 2023, Honors Theses

It is crucial to analyze the relationship between formal institutions and the informal sector to gain a better understanding of the challenges that certain informal industries face. Given the wide-ranging nature of the informal economy, this paper will focus on the food sector, specifically street food vending in three Colombian cities–Barranquilla, Bogota, and Medellin–which has garnered considerable social and cultural significance over time. This paper will employ a political economy research approach. A surveying method will be the primary source of data collection. Insights obtained from first-person accounts provide invaluable information regarding the reality of the challenges that small-scale informal vendors face. This study posits that the majority of the businesses surveyed surpass the upper-middle income economy poverty line and minimum wage. The majority of businesses responded that they have attained education up to the secondary level. Additionally, the tenure exhibited spans from 8 years of age to someone who has been informally operating for a period as short as 5 months. The study highlights that women in the informal sector face higher financial barriers, especially in regard to the low supply of microcredits. Finally, the data suggest that males are more likely to become formally recognized businesses compared to females, although both genders present a high disposition toward formalization. This exploratory research may furnish policymakers with pertinent information on how to introduce incentives to expand the economic activities of the informal food sector while improving the transition process from informality to formality.

Committee: Kenneth Fah (Advisor); Michael Dougherty (Committee Member); Douglas Ruml (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Cultural Anthropology; Demography; Economic Theory; Economics; Political Science; Public Policy; Social Structure; Statistics; Urban Planning

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2020, International and Comparative Politics

This research develops a novel theory for domestic diversionary violence, contending that the main drivers for this type of conflict are the specific characteristics of state-targeted domestic minority groups. Seven new variables measuring minority group characteristics are identified through a case study of the Kurdish minority in the Turkish Republic, then applied to a quantitative analysis of domestic diversionary violence in a dataset of 284 observations across 117 countries during the years 2004-2005, utilizing data from the University of Maryland's Minorities at Risk Project, the University of Illinois Cline Center SPEED Database, and World Bank. A proportional odds logistic regression model shows that the minority group's recent grievances with the base population and its geographic concentration have statistically significant positive correlations to the likelihood of targeting for diversionary violence, while the protest level of the minority group achieves a statistically significant negative correlation.

Committee: Liam Anderson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Vaughn Shannon Ph.D. (Committee Member); Carlos Costa Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: International Relations; Political Science

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2018, International and Comparative Politics

This research examines the relationship between the number of refugees hosted by states and the economic ability of host states by using UNHCR's refugee data and World Bank's GNI per capita data. To identify the relationship between these two variables, this study uses two sets of panel data covering 145-178 countries, around 43-55 years and 3000-5000 observations. For the two sets of panel data, four models are produced to test the null and alternative hypotheses. In all four cases, results show that there is a statistically significant negative correlation between the number of refugees hosted by states and GNI per capita of host states. Thus, this study concludes that across time, when GNI per capita or economic ability increases most countries tend to receive a fewer number of refugees regardless of their economic statuses, such as high-income, upper middle income, lower middle income, and low-income.

Committee: Liam Anderson Ph.D. (Advisor); Carlos Costa Ph.D. (Committee Member); Vaughn Shannon Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: International Law; International Relations; Middle Eastern Studies; Peace Studies; Political Science; Regional Studies; Statistics

Bachelor of Arts, Ashland University, 2016, History/Political Science

In my thesis, I am looking at the possible causes of the 1997 Thai financial crisis, which started the Asian economic crisis. Economists disagree on which parties are to blame for causing the economic crisis. This thesis reviews the possible explanations and seeks to corroborate them by the historical evidence. Upon examination, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank laid the foundation for the Thai financial crisis while the other parties involved, speculators, the Thai government, and Thai businessmen further worsened the crisis. This research highlights the importance of continuing to study economic issues of the past to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

Committee: Rene Paddags Ph.D. (Advisor); Christopher Swanson Ph.D. (Committee Member); John Moser Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Economics; International Relations

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2007, International and Comparative Politics

The available literature on the democratic process in third world countries shows that there is a strong correlation between the strength of a country's economic and social infrastructure and the successful promotion of democratic principles. It is my assumption that democracy can not be established without strong economic and social infrastructures. Furthermore, the current aid programs as operated by international financial institutions (IFIs) like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) give false hope to third world countries that fail to develop sound socioeconomic policies and yet want to establish stable democratic societies. Are neo-liberal policies advocated by international financial institutions necessarily associated with successful democratization? Is a strong economic and social infrastructure a necessary prerequisite in order for neo-liberal policies to be correlated with strong democracies?

Committee: December Green (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Political Science

My research questions are: Do non-governmental organizations (NGOs) impact the Bretton Woods Institutions, and why or why not? I advance four hypotheses to explain change at the BWI which accord with NGO preferences: H1) Response to Member States (Null), H2) Organizational Defense, H3) Mission Efficiency, H4) Institutional Redefinition. These hypotheses are based in the three main paradigms of international relations theory: H1 from neorealism; H2 and 3 from neoliberal institutionalism; H4 from social constructivism. I use organizational theories to fill out the substance of H2-4. Systems theories of organization suggest that organizations adapt to pernicious environmental impacts; I term this ‘organizational defense.' Structural-functional organizational theories suggest organizations adapt for the rational purpose of more efficient mission completion. Finally, interpretive and sociological theories of organization suggest that organizations, like any social institution, may learn from environmental pressures and so redefine their self-understanding. In the case the null is incorrect, I postulate a battery of indicators of NGO impact to correspond to the counter-hypotheses. Change on these indicators suggests support for the parallel hypotheses. These indicators begin with the adaptive behavior of simple organizational defense and rise to the deep organizational learning of institutional redefinition: I1) Organizational Change (H2), I2) Program Consultation (H2), I3) Program Impact (H3), I4) Evaluation (H3), I5) Legitimacy (H4), I6) Policy Change (H4). The method is a structured, focused comparative study across this spectrum of indicators of NGO impact. Each institution is mapped against the scale of indicators, with evidence, or the lack, for each indicator presented individually. The means of data collection were 1) a survey, 2) interviews, 3) documentary analysis, and 4) participant observation. I found that the Bank has moved further down the list of indicator (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Chadwick Alger (Advisor) Subjects:

BA, Oberlin College, 2003, Economics

After years of intense debate, global climate change has finally been acknowledged as a serious threat to global biological, political and economic systems. There is overwhelming evidence that the atmospheric warming observed over the course of the past 50 years, as well as the increasing incidence of extreme weather events and floods, is being caused by the acceleration of the rate in which greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced by the burning of fossil fuels are being released into the atmosphere. The extreme weather and weather-related events associated with climate change, such as landslides and flooding, totaled roughly $40 billion in the 1990s. It is not surprising, then, that the governments of many developed and developing nations, as well as intergovernmental bodies like the United Nations and the World Bank, have adopted a variety of measures to reduce GHG emissions and mitigate the potential impacts of climatic change. The government of Slovakia sold credits for 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents to a Japanese trading house at an undisclosed price on December 6, 2002, making history by signing the first deal to be officially credited within the international Kyoto Protocol, a global agreement to reduce the GHG emissions of participating countries seven percent relative to their 1990 levels by 2010. Nor is it surprising that environmental interest groups and active citizens in the United States and elsewhere are pressing their elected leaders to pass stricter regulations on the emission of GHGs. What is somewhat baffling, though, is the number of privately owned companies that have taken it upon themselves to voluntarily reduce GHG emissions as a way to address climate change in recent years. Dozens of companies are voluntarily participating in the design and implementation of GHG emission reductions programs. For example, the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) lists 47 international members including Gaz de France, British Petrole (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Hirschel Kasper (Advisor) Subjects: Economic Theory; Economics; Environmental Economics; Environmental Management; Environmental Studies