In the context of central place theory, this study develops a hierarchical city-size distribution model and clarifies underlying mechanisms whereby two systematic forces of economic maturity and the population multiplier factor lead to different types of city-size distributions. / For this purpose, this study re-examines the structure of multi-industry equilibrium in the Loschian location model for two equilibrium market shapes: hexagons and squares. Under the assumptions of linear demand and cost functions and assuming relocation costs and sequential entry, it is demonstrated that multi-industry equilibrium can result in densest packing equilibrium configuration as well as non-densest packing equilibrium configuration. / Based on the analysis of multi-industry equilibrium, this study develops a hierarchical city-size distribution model and demonstrates that the square densest packing central place system approximates the rank-size distribution, if the population multiplier factor is very small. Also, it is shown that the non-densest packing central place system and a high value of the population multiplier factor give rise to the primate distribution. / An empirical test is conducted for 122 sample countries which include developed as well as developing countries. The empirical test for the hypotheses indicates robust results against alternative functional specifications and employment of other control variables, when economic maturity and the population multiplier factor co-exist in the regression model. / These findings lead to welfare arguments that the rank-size distribution may be an optimal city-size distribution, while the primate-distribution may be sub-optimal or optimal city-size distributions depending upon the two parameter values. / The analysis provides important policy implications that the rank-size distribution can be an organization principle of city systems planning, when the population multiplier factor of the countries is very small. Meanwhile, it is argued that attempts to develop urbanization policies based on the rank-size rule for the countries with a high value of the population multiplier factor may misallocate resources. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2762. / Major Professor: Peter L. Doan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

This study aims to investigate the economic and social changes that occur in rural communities in Thailand, primarily as a result of government development projects. Employing the social system approach, this research concentrates on the structural changes that occur within communities, focusing on the two interrelated processes of differentiation and integration. Differentiation is the diversification of functions and specializations in the community economic and social spheres, whereas integration is the mechanism that combines these parts of the community together. Both processes are observable through the presence of institutionalized patterns in the community. Differentiation is hypothesized to relate to population size and to the linkages of the community with the outside world, or vertical ties, which are made mainly through government intervention, commericalization, and the presence of transportation and communication systems. Nine elements comprise the vertical ties: number of trip destinations, accessibility of the village from the district and the provincial seats, benefits from irrigation projects, transportation and communication facilities, frequency of government officials' visits, sales calls, mail service, and the presence of supplementary programs. It is hypothesized that as the community becomes increasingly differentiated, informal social integration will decrease while formal social integration increases. / The research was conducted in 100 villages in two provinces--Ayudhya and Suphan Buri--in the Central Region. Scalogram analysis is employed to investigate the patterns of structural change. Crosstabulation, Pearson correlation, and partial correlation analyses are employed to test the relationships between differentiation, integration, and related factors. / The findings in the study indicate that (1) there are empirical patterns of structural changes in the rural communities; (2) the levels of differentiation in these communities are relatively low; (3) population size, number of trip destinations, and transportation and communication facilities are most likely to be accountable for these changes; (4) all the related factors tend to generate economic differentiation, rather than social differentiation; and (5) social differentiation tends to generate greater formal social integration but does not lower informal social integration. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-02, Section: A, page: 0666. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

The electric utility industry has expressed some reservations about possible widespread utilization of solar technologies exacerbating the peak demand for electricity. This research has examined three decentralized solar technologies (solar water heating, solar space heating, and solar air conditioning) in terms of a potential supply of solar radiation that could be interfaced with an energy demand that can be imposed by heating and cooling requirements. Additionally, present and future load characteristics of most Florida utility companies indicate the industry, in general, will reach peak-demand capacity during the winter season. This is the period in which the solar space heating system could impose a high capacity demand, and, at the same time, require a significant reduction in kilowatt hours. Accordingly, electric utility companies could attempt to recoup the cost to serve solar customers through a rate schedule that thwarts the introduction of solar systems in Florida. However, advanced research and experiments could minimize the potential negative impact of solar systems if utility companies and the state support the development of solar systems that consider the relative demand for electric energy, the operating characteristics of the respective utility, and the regional solar radiation values. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-03, Section: A, page: 1250. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

A description study of three competing Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) was carried out in Rochester, New York to investigate the relationship between utilization review and hospital utilization rates. / The three HMOs were: (1) Health Watch (HW), a foundation-type plan sponsored by the Monroe County Medical Society, (2) Genesee Valley Group Health Association (GVGHA or Group Health), a centralized prepaid group practice model HMO sponsored by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Rochester, and (3) Rochester Health Network (RHN), a decentralized group model HMO which had been a series of neighborhood health centers sponsored by the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). / The study design accounts for all major alternative explanations for differing hospitalization rates including: age and sex distribution of the enrollees, geographic region, hospital bed supply, physician/population ratios, income, education, availability of alternatives to hospitalization, case mix, service intensity, adverse selection, scope of package benefits, out-of-plan hospital utilization, length of time in operation and financial risk of the physician. / Utilization review was seen as consisting of the utilization review procedures (prospective, concurrent and retrospective) as well as interaction and communication factors which potentiate the effect of the procedures. Interaction factors include those factors which increase the opportunity for plan physicians to interact with one another such as the number of practice sites. Communication factors include those factors which inform the plan physicians about the impact of their utilization decisions such as the type, specificity and frequency of utilization data available to the physician. / Hospital utilization rates, are considered in the aggregate, and for medical and surgical services, by plan. Rates are also considered in their component parts--hospital admissions and average length of stay. / The major finding is that as stringency of utilization review increases, the hospital utilization rate decreases. This relationship holds for all of the years (1974, 1975, and 1976) studied. In addition it was found that the most stringent utilization review are found in group model HMOs and the least stringent in foundation or IPA model plan. / When looked at in more detail, it was found that the more stringent the prospective utilization review procedures, the lower the hospital admission rates. More specifically, the more stringent the surgical prospective utilization review procedures, the lower the surgical admission rates. It had been expected that more stringent concurrent utilization review would be related to lower average lengths of stay, however this relationship was not found. / The study concludes that peer interaction and data feedback are important components of utilization review programs. Medical leadership appears to be important to the development of peer-interaction and the cost-effective orientation of physicians. / The study is important because before the experience of existing HMOs can be generalized, there must be a clear understanding of the way the physician's utilization decision can be brought into line with the objectives of the HMO. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2902. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 5219. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 36-08, Section: A, page: 5598. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1975.

An investigation of the relationship between economic development and urban primacy in 95 developing countries is carried out through a series of procedures designed to flow from cross-sectional techniques to longitudinal statistical tests. Economic development is here defined as a country's growth of gross national product (GNP) per capita to allow for comparisons with previous development studies. Urban primacy, measured by an index of urban population concentration, is an indicator of a country's level of polarized urbanization, which is representative of national development inequities. / Previous study findings of a negative relationship between a country's economic development and its degree of urban primacy are questioned. The chief policy implication of these earlier findings is the notion that the continued growth of a developing country's economy will eventually reduce its level of urban primacy, thereby diminishing the problems associated with over-populated cities while providing increased equity in national development by dispersing investments down the urban hierarchy. This notion is consistent with neoclassical economic theories of "trickle-down" processes in the long run, and often results in the formulation of policies designed to focus on economic growth in the short run. The emphasis has therefore been on economic efficiency now and social equity later. / This study finds that the relationship between economic development and urban primacy in developing countries is not negative. The implication is that policy intervention, rather than patience, is necessary to combat urban primacy and to provide for equitable national development. The need for national spatial planning in developing countries is reasserted as an appropriate means of balancing equity and efficiency in development planning. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-08, Section: A, page: 2897. / Major Professor: Michael Micklin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Existing models for finding the optimal location for medical facilities are in some ways theoretically insupportable. Four major shortcomings can be identified: (a) dependence on the nearest-center allocation rule, (b) disregard of some qualitative factors of facility, (c) inadequate consideration of the notion of equity and efficiency, and (d) exclusion of the benefit of service providers as a component of social benefit. / This research was designed to formulate a location-allocation model that can remedy several critical weaknesses of the existing models. The equity-efficiency trade-off model, a model constructed through this research, achieves this goal by introducing three innovations: (a) inclusion of producers' surplus in addition to consumers' surplus as a component of the efficiency measure, (b) using a production-constrained model instead of an attraction-constrained one, and (c) synthesizing efforts scattered over diverse fields. / The model was tested for three service categories (gynecology, orthopedics, and surgery), using the Chongju Metropolitan Area of Korea as the application region. Comparison of the existing distribution of resources with the predicted location pattern produced by the model shows that there is a marked discrepancy between the two configurations. / In addition to the testing of the model, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the effects of parameter variation on the model outputs. The analysis shows that the outputs of the model are significantly sensitive to the variance of model parameters, a finding that justifies the use of point estimates of the parameters. / Optimization (nonlinear programming) techniques were employed to operationalize the model for the Chongju region. The production-constrained gravity model was operationalized by unconstrained optimization and the solution of the trade-off model was accomplished through the Monte-Carlo integer and constrained optimization techniques. The chi-square test was used in performing the sensitivity analysis. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 4299. / Major Professor: James E. Frank. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-09, Section: A, page: 5758. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 36-06, Section: A, page: 4080. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1974.