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In this thesis we investigate the effects of real exchange rate (RER) uncertainty on output in the context of Southern Cone economies. The first chapter provides a framework to analyze the output effects of RER uncertainty when firms contract dollar-debt and no hedging instruments are available, by focusing on the channel uncertainty-output operating through the firms financial strategy. An increase in uncertainty increases the probability of bankruptcy, raising expected marginal bankruptcy costs, and reducing optimal output of a risk-neutral firm. We find the output response to uncertainty shocks to depend on firms' liquidity balances, trade orientation and perceptions about government assistance if large exchange rate movements occur. The second chapter examines empirically RER uncertainty effects on sectoral output for 28 manufacturing sectors in the Southern Cone over 1970-2002. We use alternative uncertainty measures allowing different degrees of sophistication in agents' expectation mechanisms to estimate a supply function. We use instrumental variable techniques to address potential simultaneity problems. Results suggest a negative non-negligible effect of uncertainty on output, threshold effects, and sectoral heterogeneity, explained by trade orientation, the intensity with which sectors trade within Mercosur and by sectoral productivity. The fourth chapter investigates the importance of past exchange rate behaviour when forming expectations and tests for the uncovered interest parity (UIP) hypothesis in Uruguay. Using interest rate differentials over 1980-2010 we identify a strong extrapolative component in expectations, following an inverted-U pattern over time. Agents internalise announcements and shocks that may affect fundamentals. Deviations from UIP are low for high-inflation periods, and highfor low-inflation periods and freely floating regimes. As long as what it takes to predict well is simple (look backwards, follow announcements), interest rate differentials perform well. Once exchange rate determination becomes intricate, agents fail at predicting. This finding remains unchanged when survey data are used for the period 2005-2010.

In the 1980s, the narrative of international migration was significantly altered in Europe. This thesis examines how this new narrative was brought about by policy-makers and shows how the narrative re-configured our understanding of international migration. Empirically, the focus of the thesis is the Inter-Governmental Consultations on Asylum, Refugee and Migration Policies in Europe, North America and Australia (IGC). These consultations are situated in the context of debates in the 1970s and 80s concerning ‘free-market conservatism'. The thesis argues that these debates comprised the conditions of possibility for the emergence of an 'informal plurilateralism'. Through thus far confidential memos between high ranking public servants, summaries distributed across embassies, background papers, minutes of meetings and personal letters, I trace the development of an altered discourse and the construction of a new figure: the ‘illegal migrant'. ‘Migration Management', I argue, is best seen as a hegemonic paradigm which embodies a tool-box of mechanisms for governments to deal with international migration; introduces a distinctive way of treating human mobility; prescribes specific ways of constructing migrants, including a minority of illegal migrants who remain just outside of the European external boundaries, stripped of their juridico-political status. As such, these migrants are suspended from the community of those with a place and function. The figure of the suspended migrant points to the disappearance of the political, understood as a space where public encounter of the heterogeneous is possible. This raises crucial questions about what democracy is, how it works and how the political can be realised in a climate where the logic of necessity and efficiency has filled the space previously occupied by bipolar grand-narratives. Most urgently, it raises questions about the way in which the value of a human being is established, granted or denied. Arendt and Rancière help me to start addressing these questions.

This thesis consists of three self-contained essays. It examines the impact of institutions and cross-border policies on socio-economic outcomes. The first essay focuses on the impact of religiosity, general and political trust, local participation, and welfare metrics on well-being in rural areas using the Ethiopian Rural Household Survey. Ordered probit methods reveal distinctive determinants of overall life satisfaction and momentary happiness. Broader socio-economic factors such as religiosity and political governance strongly predict life satisfaction, while largely welfare metrics drive momentary happiness. The second essay studies the determinants of cross-border flows of people for tourism, personal, or business purposes with a particular emphasis on the role of visa policies using instrumental variable estimation for outbound travel to a cross-section of countries for 2005 and 2010. We adopt the UN General Assembly Affinity Index, a measure of the quality of bilateral relations between nations, to instrument for bilateral visa policy. The affinity index explains 22% of the variation in visa policies in both 2005 and 2010. We find that, ceteris paribus, imposing visa reduces travel by about 80% and 73% in 2005 and 2010 respectively implying restrictive visa policies discourage cross-border travel significantly. We also find an adverse impact of restrictive visa policies on travel and tourism-related revenues and employment. The third essay addresses the role of the United States Visa Waiver Program (VWP) on inbound travel. We employ Difference-in-Difference (Diff-in-Diff) estimation on panel data in respect of US inbound travel from eight countries newly admitted to the program in 2008, versus several comparison (control) groups including ten aspirant - so-called `roadmap' - countries in the process of negotiation at the same time. We also restrict the treatment and comparison groups to Europe to reduce potential bias arising from heterogeneity and unobserved country characteristics. Treating the policy as a quasi-natural experiment allows a neater identification of the impact of visa policies on travel. We conclude, ceteris paribus, admitting a country to the program increases inbound travel from that country to the US by 29% to 44%.

<p> Studies show that students in lower socioeconomic status (SES) districts tend to have fewer resources, and in turn have greater achievement gaps than their affluent peers from neighboring districts. In an effort to bridge these gaps, schools have turned to 1:1 computing to bring electronic resources to their students that they might not have otherwise. However, to date there are minimal studies indicating whether or not high school students are willing to accept technology for classroom instructional purposes. This study examined the extent to which student demographic characteristics (e.g., sex, race/ethnicity, SES) are related to their acceptance of Chromebook use for instructional purposes during the initial implementation of a 1:1 initiative using framework of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. This study used quantitative correlational methods, using data from a survey that was administered to 171 public high school students in the Midwest region of the United States. Results indicated that the UTAUT model was upheld. Effort expectancy (EE) and performance expectancy (PE) positively predicted behavioral intention (BI), and race/ethnicity also had a relationship with BI. This study also found statistically significant interaction effects for experience &times; PE as well as gender &times; EE. Additionally, this study found that while including SES as a moderating effect did not result in statistically significant effects, the inclusion of the PE &times; SES and EE &times; SES interaction effect in the model resulted in a statistically significant relationship between race/ethnicity and BI.</p><p>

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The goal of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and attitudinal characteristics of secondary school teachers teaching population education; to examine the relationship between two dependent variables (population knowledge and attitude toward population education) and thirteen independent variables (age, sex, marital status, religion, ethnicity, education, teaching experience, experience in teaching population education, other sources of information on population issues, training participation, support from the community, support from colleagues, and support from administrators); and also to test hypotheses based on the premise that knowledge is theoretically related to attitude. / The sample comprised 224 teachers. The Pearson correlation analysis of data identified eight independent variables significantly related to knowledge (age, teaching experience, education, experience in teaching population education, training participation, other sources of information on population issues, support from the community, and support from colleagues). Five independent variables related significantly to attitude toward population education (education, training, age, teaching experience and experience in teaching population education). The analysis of data using parsimonious regression indicated that for this sample there were six significant determinants of population knowledge: education, training participation, sex (male), support from the community, environmental variables and other source of information on population matter). / For the attitude toward population education there were three significant determinants which affect attitude toward population education (education, training participation and age). Reciprocal analysis showed that there were a significant positive relationship between knowledge of population and attitude toward population education and vice versa. / The result of this study appear to throw some light on the relationship between attitude and knowledge on a subject matter. By taking a broader and more comprehensive definition of attitude than is often the case in attitude research, the direction of the relationship has been clarified, and at least a partial explanation can be proposed for the low correlation usually found between attitude and knowledge in a subject matter. However, this research used a small sample in a small geographic area. Before its findings can receive more general acceptance the study needs to be replicated in other places, and with difference social-demographic background. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: A, page: 2224. / Major Professor: Byron G. Massialas. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The purpose of this research was to determine a causal model of factors affecting age integrated/age segregated neighborhood preference during retirement. Data were anaLzed for 1299 preretirers in four states: Idaho, Michigan, Oregon, and Utah, collected in a mail survey in 1990 by the Western Regional Agricultural Experiment Station Committee (W-176). Preference for age integrated/age segregated neighborhoods during the first ten years of retirement was directly influenced by tenure preference (p=.00, B=.210). Those who preferred homeownership during retirement chose age integrated neighborhoods during their first ten years of retirement. Preference for age integrated/age segregated neighborhoods after ten years of retirement was significantly influenced by family income (P=.03, B=.096), suitability of home size (p=.02, B=.094), and tenure preference (p=.00, B=.155). Those who were economically well off indicated a predisposition for age integrated neighborhoods as did those who preferred homeownership and those who felt they had the right size homes for retirement. Indirect effects were also observed among the exogenous and intervening variables and age integrated/age segregated neighborhood preference during the first ten years and after ten years of retirement. Older preretirees preferred to retire in the community (p=.00, B= .125) and this preference for the present community influenced the choice of preferred homeownership during retirement (p=.00, B=.205). Those who favored homeownership indicated a preference for age integrated neighborhoods both during the first ten years (p=.00, B=.210) and after ten years of retirement (p=.00, B=.155). These interrelationships lead to the assumption that older respondents prefer to age in place as they showed a preference to retire in the present community and for homeownership. The findings of this research will be beneficial and of interest to retirees who are trying to create a suitable and affordable environment for themselves and communities will be enriched by their participation in economic and service functions. Community developers who are striving to boost their local economies can attract retirees by providing to the needs of the elderly consumers. / Graduation date: 1993

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-97).

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