published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In this three-article dissertation, I explore access to civil justice issues from several dimensions. Existing data tells us that poor households are significantly less likely than moderate- and high-income households to attempt to resolve civil justice problems, and that black households are significantly less likely than white households to attempt to resolve civil justice problems through formal means. However, we do not know why. The first article finds that among poor respondents, past experiences with public institutions, both legal and non-legal, contributed to a personal narrative about, and strong desire for, self-sufficiency. This narrative made respondents hesitant to seek help for civil justice matters, even if seeking help appeared to be the financially rational behavior. The second article argues that though there are many similarities between how poor blacks and poor whites interact with the legal system, blacks are much more likely to distrust legal institutions. This distrust leads them to avoid seeking out legal assistance, even in the most dire of circumstances. In the third article, I examine a different access to justice issue. I consider the changes Congress made in 2005 to try to limit access to one of bankruptcy's main protections, the automatic stay, for people who file for bankruptcy more than once in a 365-day period. I find that judges have mostly ignored this law, and that it has made little difference in access to bankruptcy for repeat filer debtors. I explore the roots of the judges' behavior and suggest potential legal reforms.

My dissertation is composed of three sections. The first section examines the effect of monetary incentives on student performance in public education in Texas. I address how to deal with non-random samples caused by self-selection bias by using propensity score matching method. For the second part, using household level panel data, it addresses the substantial heterogeneity across demographic groups. In addition, for the last section, I also investigate firm’s optimal innovation strategy. It addresses the relationship among firm growth, firm size and firm behavior in the U.S. manufacturing industry. The first section investigates the causal relationship between a teacher incentive program (District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.) Program) and student academic achievement in Texas by using school-grade level panel data. I find that D.A.T.E. schools obtain significantly higher student achievement gains in reading and math than non-D.A.T.E. schools after the implementation of the program. In addition, D.A.T.E. schools implementing selected school plan obtain greater student achievement gains than those implementing district wide plan. However, the causal effects are found mainly among middle school. Importantly, these findings imply that the teacher incentive program could be an effective policy tool in Texas for developing student performance, but should be cautiously implemented due to the difference in effects according to the U.S. school level. The second section shows that while financial benefit and moral hazard appears to be the main cause of bankruptcy for less educated individuals, well-educated individuals file due to negative income shocks. This is consistent with some evidence suggesting that educated individuals face greater stigma and/or worse information regarding bankruptcy than less-educated individuals. Importantly, these results imply that optimal bankruptcy policy should likely vary across different demographic groups. In the third section, I find that firm size is negatively related to firm growth and positively correlated with firm survivability in the manufacturing industry. R&D investment has a significantly positive effect on firm growth and survivability in the same industry. In the services industry, advertising investment causes a reverse effect on firm growth. This suggests that innovative activities should vary depending on the characteristics of each industry.

Magistro baigiamasis darbas skirtas apžvelgti mediacijos taikymo galimybes bankroto procese. Darbe analizuojama bankroto proceso samprata bei jo ypatumai, darantys bankroto procesą tinkamą mediacijai. Autorė aptaria stadijas, kuriose galėtų būti taikoma mediacija tiek juridinių, tiek ir fizinių asmenų bankroto procesuose. Taip pat apžvelgiama užsienio šalių patirtis (Jungtinės Amerikos Valstijos, Portugalija ir Japonija) taikant bankroto mediaciją teisminiame ir ikiteisminiame juridinių ir fizinių asmenų bankroto procesuose. Analizės pagrindu pateikiamos išvados ir pasiūlymai. Darbas naudingas tuo, jog šia tema dar nėra publikuotas nei vienas mokslinis darbas Lietuvoje. Kalbant apie mediacijos taikymo galimybes bankroto procese yra skatinama mediacijos plėtra Lietuvos Respublikos teisinėje sistemoje. Remiantis šiuo darbu galima toliau tęsti tyrimus apie mediacijos taikymo galimybes būtent Lietuvos Respublikos bankroto procese. / Master`s final thesis dedicated to an overview of mediation opportunities in bankruptcy process. The thesis analyzes bankruptcy process conception and features that make bankruptcy process suitable for mediation. The author discusses the stages, which could be subject to mediation, in both legal and individual bankruptcy proceedings. It also reviews the experience of foreign countries (United States, Portugal, and Japan) with the bankruptcy court-annexed and pre-trial mediation of legal and individual bankruptcy proceedings. There are conclusions and suggestions provided according to analysis. This thesis is useful because in Lithuania there hasn't yet been published a scientific paper in this subject. Writing about mediation opportunities in bankruptcy process, are promoting mediation development in Lithuanian legal system. Following this thesis, there are possibilities to continue research on the mediation opportunities in the Republic of Lithuania bankruptcy process.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2007--Regensburg.

Thesis (M.A.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-79). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Kiel, 2007. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. xv-xix) and index.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Erlangen.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Zürich.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Greifswald.