In the U.S., wealth is unequally distributed across racial and income groups. Scholars have promoted numerous strategies to address inequalities in wealth, but evidence about their effectiveness is limited. This dissertation examines whether community-based organizations can help low-income individuals improve their credit usage and credit scores as part of a strategy to help them build their wealth. Credit histories and scores influence access to affordable loans and other forms of credit as well as employment and housing opportunities, insurance rates, and utility and rental deposits. As a result, credit plays an important role in individuals’ ability to weather financial crises, increase savings, and build wealth. Specifically, I assess the impacts and implementation of a program model that integrates financial education and counseling into employment services for low-income job seekers. The study uses a comparison group design to assess program impacts, comparing the outcomes of program participants to those of a matched group of low-income individuals who were seeking assistance from public employment agencies that did not offer financial or credit counseling. I use multivariate regression analysis to assess differences in the outcomes of program participants and comparison group members and to examine whether some organizations were more effective than others in helping participants achieve the outcomes. I also conduct a qualitative assessment of the organizational, programmatic, and contextual factors that influenced program implementation and outcomes across the five organizations in the study. I found that community-based organizations can help low-income individuals make progress in building positive credit histories. By combining financial education and counseling with employment services, the programs increased job seekers’ receipt of financial counseling relative to the comparison group, and program participants were more likely than comparison group members to have an increase in positive activity on their credit reports two years after entering the program. However, overall the program did not increase the likelihood that participants had a credit score or that they had a prime score after two years. Only program participants who had substantial recent credit activity when they entered the program were more likely than their counterparts in the comparison group to have a prime credit score after two years. Some organizations were more effective than others in helping low-income individuals achieve the targeted credit outcomes. Four of the five had impacts on whether participants had positive activity on their credit reports. One organization also had positive impacts on the likelihood of having a credit score and of having a prime score among all individuals who received financial counseling while two others had positive impacts on scores for subgroups of participants. One organization had no positive effects. The implementation analysis revealed that environmental, organizational, and programmatic factors interacted to produce differences in outcomes across organizations. Organizational and managerial experience with and commitment to the model and goals and integration of the model into the organizations’ core services were critical to effective implementation. The three organizations whose financial coaches embraced the model’s credit-building approach, which counsels individuals to use credit responsibly, had more positive impacts on credit outcomes than those that did not. The results also provide evidence that the characteristics of the communities the organizations served influenced outcomes. Communities’ racial composition was correlated with indicators of economic health, the presence of financial institutions, and credit availability, and the findings indicate that individuals in mixed race and majority-Hispanic communities were better able to access credit than those in majority-Black communities. This dissertation contributes to the policy and research literature in a number of ways. It uses a rigorous methodology to assess program effects, examines change in credit behavior and outcomes, assesses how implementation processes influence outcomes, and includes a broader segment of the low-income population than past studies, including those who lack credit histories. The findings provide evidence that low-income people of color face significant barriers to accessing mainstream forms of credit and suggest that policies are needed to increase consumers’ understanding of credit and access to credit at affordable rates and terms. The findings contribute to research and theory on the wealth accumulation process and can inform the work of policymakers and practitioners seeking to increase the financial well-being of low-income people of color. / Sociology

<p> Forests are essential to the livelihoods of billions of people worldwide. In addition to furnishing valuable resources for both subsistence and commercial uses, they provide critical environmental services, including soil conservation, water supply, recreational opportunities, biodiversity preservation, and carbon sequestration and storage. A new market-based paradigm for forest conservation based on payments for ecosystem services (PES) has emerged alongside state-led and community-based models. Various PES schemes have been introduced in order to harness the potential of regional and global markets to provide financial incentives to communities, private landowners and governments to protect and plant forests.</p><p> This doctoral dissertation examines the impacts of two international market-based responses to the pressing global environmental problems of deforestation and climate change&mdash;sustainable forest management certification and forest carbon trading (REDD+)&mdash;on the governance and wellbeing of the forests and communities that rely on them. Are these market-based conservation schemes compatible with local forest management priorities and needs? Do they exacerbate or alleviate existing governance issues and inequities? Do they promote inclusive and deliberative policymaking processes? In other words, can they fit into national and local contexts in ways that reinforce effective decentralized forest governance, especially the autonomy, rights, and livelihoods of forest communities? Focusing on Nepal, a country with a strong tradition of community-based forest management, this research probes these questions using two complementary empirical cases: (1) a study of SFM certification and REDD+ projects in Dolakha District; and (2) an assessment of national policymaking processes for REDD+. This facilitates an assessment of the implications of these globalized PES schemes for the future of decentralized forest governance in Nepal and other countries with community forestry initiatives.</p>

<p> This dissertation examines the reasons why low- and middle-income countries adopt financial inclusion policy and regulation. It does so starting with a quantitative model and ending with a comparative case study of the India and Mexico contexts. The quantitative model finds evidence that financial inclusion policy and regulation follows a state&rsquo;s capacity and a state&rsquo;s engagement with international organizations and peer states. The case of Mexico complicates these findings, challenging the causal direction of engagement with international organizations&mdash;Mexico uses international organizations both to emphasize the importance of financial inclusion policy and regulation within the country and to champion its position in the international community. The outlier case of India shows the prioritization of social inclusion at its extreme, displaying the role a social inclusion framework played even decades ago in creating a more inclusive banking sector. The dissertation concludes by articulating a road map for future scholarship, building on practitioner and international organization enthusiasm for the topic.</p>

<p> Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) attempts to curb opioid addiction by substituting a treatment opioid (i.e. methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone, etc.) for an addict&rsquo;s primary drug of abuse (i.e. heroin, oxycodone, etc.). However, insofar as patients continue abusing their preferred drug during treatment, OST programs may be increasing the absolute number of drugs patients are abusing. To the extent that some OST patients &ldquo;divert&rdquo; their treatment drugs into illicit markets, OST programs may also be increasing the absolute number of opioids abused by the surrounding population, as well. If corroborated, these trends would indicate a connection between OST treatments and the phenomenon most correlated with drug overdoses&mdash; &ldquo;polydrug use&rdquo;, or the concurrent use multiple drugs by one person. </p><p> To ascertain whether and to what extent OST treatment provisioning may be affecting regional polydrug use, this study models the annual number polydrug treatment episodes reported in a state as a function of that state&rsquo;s OST patient population. The study relies primarily on two administrative datasets&mdash;the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS) and the Treatment Episode Data Set-Admissions (TEDS-A)&mdash;collected between 2002 and 2006. </p><p> Using a two-way fixed-effects model that controlled for both state and annual fixed-effects, as well as for state populations and population densities, this study discovered a statistically significant positive correlation (p&lt;.002) between a state&rsquo;s OST patient population and the number of polydrug treatment episodes reported in the state. The model predicts that a doubling of a state&rsquo;s OST patient population will be correlated with a 6.16-percent increase in polydrug episodes. These results suggest that OST treatment may be producing a dangerous side effect. At the very least, they suggest that, when considering potential expansions to OST programs, circumspect policymakers should also consider simultaneous expansions to services that address the predicted increase in polydrug use.</p>

This study analyses the evolution of social assistance in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, and closely examines the four countries’ different experiences with Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) schemes. A process-tracing methodology uses data from secondary sources, archival material, and 46 interviews to construct an actor-centred model and pursue a multiple-causality, historical approach. Outcomes are shown to result from interactions among central governments, religious organizations, secular organizations and territorial actors; and also from destabilizing forces. It is assumed that social assistance beneficiaries are forced to rely on these actors, whose attitudes are found to vary significantly due to their different interests, subjective perceptions of fairness, and preferences. Case histories of the four countries show that the periods prior to the 1970s were marked by minimal central government interest; indifferent, hostile, and/or divided secular organizations; and governmental partnerships with religious organizations. In the post-1970s periods, destabilizing forces co-occurring with centre-left governments resulted in new policies and changes, with relevant actors/organizations gradually welcoming pluralistic social assistance systems. The existence and extent of GMI schemes has been the principal factor differentiating social assistance developments among the four countries in more recent decades: Portugal is the only country with a national GMI, Italy and Spain have solely regional schemes, and Greece has no GMI at all. Because GMIs cut across traditional social assistance categories and are often linked with overall welfare system restructuring, establishment of GMIs and their subsequent maintenance require the co-occurrence of destabilizing forces and strong pro-GMI coalitions. Portugal exhibits the highest level of pro-GMI consensus nationwide, Greece the lowest,while Italy and Spain occupy intermediate positions. The institutional empowerment of territorial actors in the latter two countries was a precondition to emergence of local schemes, while destabilizing forces and strong local pro-GMI coalitions greatly increased the odds for establishing and maintaining them.

<p> By the year 2050, about three quarters of the world&rsquo;s population will live in cities. Most cities are developed by state or federal governments; however, some cities are developed for the purpose of private interests that plan the city. While the concept of private companies planning and sometimes even owning cities is not a new development, there seems to currently be a rise in this trend, with communication corporations such as IBM, Google, Intel, and Cisco now taking advantage of this growing market. </p><p> Known as &ldquo;smart&rdquo; or &ldquo;wired&rdquo; cities, this new privatized way of planning communities allows major communication corporations to play an important role in shaping the future of our communities. Google, IBM, and Intel are all playing a role in planning the future of Portland, Oregon. By analyzing documents such as planning ordinances, financial reports, and government transcripts, as well as conducting interviews with city planners and corporate employees, this study found that many of the &ldquo;smart&rdquo; city efforts being undertaken by these communication corporations are intimately tied to their efforts to bring the Internet of Things (IoT) to fruition. Ultimately, the main goal of these efforts is to utilize urban communication technologies (UCTs) to gather data about community members by tracking their activities. In this emerging personal data economy, identities are the main commodity being fetishized.</p>

<p> Previous policy studies have demonstrated that affordable housing residents who live in neighborhoods with racial and economic integration, community investment, and access to amenities are more likely to experience improved well-being. The Moving To Opportunity (MTO), Gautreaux, and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) programs have best practices to increase neighborhood opportunity at affordable housing sites. This thesis analyzes primary policy documents to compare national best practices with those presented by an advocacy report and a Housing Element for Long Beach, California. The potential outcomes of applying such best practices in Long Beach are compared using GIS. The study finds policies conflict and converge in both guidelines and spatial outcomes. Finally, modifiable area unit problems may affect demographic-based guidelines. More research on amenities quality and neighborhood integration is needed.</p>

<p>This analysis evaluates three tax and expenditure limitation (TEL) policies in Colorado: the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (TABOR), the Statewide Limitation on Property Tax Revenue (SLPTR), and the Gallagher Amendment (GA). It extends previous research in two novel ways. First, it enables analysis of overlapping policies while incorporating county-specific characteristics, by abstracting away from specific policies. Rather, the focus rests on the impacts of these policies on property tax levies. Second, it incorporates spatial dependency to account for overlapping populations and economic activity. Econometric and machine learning techniques are employed to analyze county-level panel data from Colorado over the 1993-2009 time period. Within this framework, the revenue and expenditure implications of TEL policies are evaluated, and TELs are found to have material impacts in both cases. TELs are associated with depressed revenues and measurable changes in expenditure behavior. With this context, the final empirical section evaluates the drivers of successful "deBrucing" efforts, in which localities are able to exempt themselves from components of TABOR and SLPTR. The analysis demonstrates that socioeconomic factors are the dominant determinant of voting outcomes.

No description available.

No description available.