<p> </p> <p>This dissertation consists of three essays that examine the response of small businesses to disruptions in their environment. The first two essays focused on small non-farm businesses in the United States and how they deal with natural disasters. The last essay examined smallholder farm households in Malawi, and how their household labor allocation decisions are affected by land allocation to estates in their communities. The individual essays are summarized as follows:</p> <p>Essay 1: <em>A Conditional Process Approach to Understanding the Role of Adjustment Strategies and Disaster Experience in Racial Disparities in Small Business Performance. </em>Considering that most minority owned businesses have limited access to formal systems, this essay explored how race could indirectly affect business performance (measured as percentage revenue growth) through the adoption of three informal strategies: customer base expansion, supplier base expansion and family adjustment strategies. It also explored whether these indirect effects are moderated by experience with natural disaster. The results showed that being a racial minority was positively associated with revenue growth such that on average, minority business owners experienced 29% higher revenue growth than white-owned businesses (p<0.05) on business performance. It also showed a modest indirect effect of race on revenue growth through each mediating strategy (p<0.5). However, the results did not support a moderating role for disaster experience. </p> <p>Essay 2: <em>Willingness to Pay for Comprehensive Cyclone Insurance Coverage by Small Business Owners: Evidence from the Coastal States of the United States</em>. Small businesses in the coastal United States are usually uninsured or underinsured for cyclone events. The underinsuring of these businesses could be a result of limited insurance coverage as well as individual characteristics of small business owners. Using a discrete choice experiment, this essay used a hypothetical comprehensive cyclone insurance to understand what insurance attributes are important to small business owners. It also examined the role of previous disaster experience, charity hazard as well as temporal orientation on the willingness to pay for the disaster insurance. This study used a discrete choice experiment to elicit insurance preferences from small coastal businesses which employed less than 100 employees. A mixed logit model was used to analyze the data. The results showed that business owners exhibited positive marginal utilities from policies that covered flood, windstorm, and business interruption regardless of the combination. Notably, the mixed logit model showed that on average, business owners were willing to pay up to 450%, 472%, and 482% more than their total monthly business insurance premium payment for insurance that covers flood and business interruption, windstorm and business interruption, and flood, windstorm and business interruption respectively. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression showed that respondents who had previously experienced cyclones were more willing to pay for the presented insurance policies than those who have not. Future orientation was also found to be positively associated with the marginal willingness to pay for the insurance policies.</p> <p>Essay 3: <em>Estates and Small-Holder Agricultural Labor Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa:</em> <em>A Case Study of Malawi. </em>Estates are larger than the average farm holdings, which mostly grow one crop, require large capital investment, are centrally managed and rely a lot on hired labor. With such large investments in agricultural land, the labor decisions of smallholder households in Africa will likely be altered. This essay therefore examined the role of estate farms on smallholders’ allocation of labor between on-farm, and off-farm demand and supply of casual labor using the <em>ganyu</em> system of Malawi as a case-study. Using the Malawi Integrated Household Panel survey covering the years 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019, we estimated the effect of estates on the participation of smallholders on these labor decisions as well as the number of days spent in each activity. We also investigated the effect of these estates on community agricultural labor (<em>ganyu) </em>wage rates and the share of income accruable to ganyu and crop production. Linear probability (LPM), as well as tobit-correlated random effects (CRE) regressions were used to test these effects. Both models showed that the share of estates had a negative correlation with <em>ganyu </em>demand. The Tobit CRE regression showed that on average a 1% increase in the percentage share of agricultural land occupied by estates was associated with a modest 0.04% (p<0.01) decrease in the number of days <em>ganyu </em>labor was demanded, and a 0.02% increase in the number of days household members spent on their own farms. Further results showed that households in communities with higher shares of estates participated in less non-crop farming activities especially wage employment. We also found that the negative relationship between estates and <em>ganyu </em>demand was accentuated among households with higher levels of assets, and farm income. Finally, we found a modest negative relationship between share of estates and community <em>ganyu </em>wage rates </p>

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This research sought to explain the emergence of the Wyoming Core Area Strategy (WCAS), a state-based Greater Sage Grouse conservation plan. It presents a theoretical framework that is based on and adds nuance to the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF). The hypothesis this study explored was: if a subsystem's jurisdiction is threatened by a hierarchically superior subsystem's policy outputs and this jurisdiction is necessary to meet the threatened subsystem's goals, then policy change may occur as a result of a strategy by the agents in the threatened subsystem. The data used to examine the hypothesis included expert interviews, historical documents, and interviews from media sources (secondary source interviews). The hypothesis was supported; the WCAS emerged because the Endangered Species Act listing outputs within the Species Conservation Policy Subsystem threatened the Wyoming Land Use Policy (WLUP) Subsystem's jurisdiction, which was necessary to meet the WLUP Subsystem's economic and lifestyle goals; the Governor of Wyoming drove the development and enactment of the WCAS as a strategy to retain jurisdiction. The research demonstrated that in order to fully account for the WCAS's emergence, a less mechanistic view of the framework, one that accounts for the ability of agents in a subsystem to act strategically, was needed. The research also demonstrated that the Greater Sage Grouse conservation benefited from the ESA listing process despite its warranted but precluded listing status. The time frame the research explored was 2002 through March 2012. / Master of Arts

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Elizabeth B. Barrett / The primary purposes of this research were to 1) use the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)to assess Millennial generation wine consumers attitudes, perceived behavioral controls, and subjective norms related to purchasing wine in casual dining restaurants (CDR), and 2) use Conjoint Analysis (CA) to analyze Millennials’ preferences for wine information on the restaurant menu. An instrument was designed based on the TPB and CA and was sent online to 216 consumers using the database of a market research firm (e-rewards). Independent variables (attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms) were analyzed to predict behavioral intentions to purchase wine. Principal component analysis was combined with multiple linear regression to assess intention. Results identified attitudes and subjective norms as being significant in predicting behavioral intention, perceived behavioral controls was partially significant. Millennial’s believe ordering wine with their friends and family in casual dining restaurants will make them feel smart and sophisticated and will increase the enjoyment of food. However, they do not believe wine consumption is appropriate in CDR’s; they had strong perceptions that wine is purchased for special occasions and consumed in fine dining restaurants. Part II of the study employed conjoint analysis to determine Millennials preferences for wine information on the menu. Results indicated that Millennials prefer menus that provide wine/food pairing information, wine flavor descriptors located near food listings and quality wines at an affordable price. Millennials attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls support previous research that this generation is interested in wine and wine is a social experience that increases their enjoyment of food and time spent with their friends and family. Through the use of CA, the present study suggests wine information on the menu is important to this segment of consumers. Additional research should be conducted to understand the stereotypes this generation has about wine consumption in casual dining restaurants. These operators and owners should consider focusing their marketing efforts showing Millennials enjoying wine while celebrating special occasions with their friends and family. In addition, redeveloping menus in their operations to add wine information may increase interest in wine and generate profit.

The Swedish policy for integration has been accused of wrongly targeting only immigrants and therefore resembling assimilation. In this bachelor thesis I show that there seems to be a general understanding between academics and politicians of how integration should be achieved. If integration is the opposite of assimilation an integrated society has to be achieved trough mutual adaptation. The purpose of this thesis is to identify if the Swedish government design their policy for integration according to the idea of integration as mutual adaptation or not. A frame analysis is used to identify the de target populations in the Swedish strategy for integration. Through analysing the choice of target populations I conclude that the Swedish policy for integration does not fulfil the idea of integration as mutual adaptation. Another important conclusion is that there can be two different target populations for every policy, one tied to the causal story and one tied to the solution of the problem with integration. / Den svenska integrationspolitiken har anklagats för att felaktigt riktas mot endast invandrare och på så sätt mer likna assimilationspolitik. I den här kandidatuppsatsen visar jag att forskare och politiker på en övergripande nivå verkar vara överens om hur integration bör uppnås. Om integration är motsatsen till assimilation måste ett integrerat samhälle uppnås genom ömsesidig anpassning. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att ta reda på om den svenska regeringen utformar sin integrationspolitik efter idén om integration som ömsesidig anpassning eller inte. Frameanalys används för att identifiera målgrupperna i den svenska strategin för integration. Genom att analysera valet av målgrupper drar jag slutsatsen att den svenska integrationspolitiken inte uppfyller idéen om integration som ömsesidig anpassning. En annan viktig slutsats är att det kan finnas två målgrupper för varje åtgärd, en knuten till orsaksförklaringen och en knuten till lösningen på problemet.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Value added links a company’s financial statements to the national income and performs a useful function in macro-economic measurement. At the national level, productivity is a major determinant of economic growth and progress and of vital importance to the survival and wellbeing of all South Africans. The presentation of information in added value terms can provide an effective communication tool that enables all personnel at all levels to understand where the business stands, what their roles in it are and what can be done to improve certain ratios. The concept of value added does not only act as a communication medium in showing how a company is performing, but also demonstrates the need for increased wealth to ensure higher distribution to all the stakeholders. This research report aims to establish, amongst other matters, the future use of value added as a proxy for productivity as a basis (a new mindset) for determining salary increases at tertiary institutions. Because this could be regarded as a leap into the unknown, this study used the results of the industrial sector for benchmarking. As tertiary institutions never previously published a value added statement it was decided to follow the practice of the Value Added Scoreboard since 2002; that is, to compile a value added statement for tertiary institutions using the audited annual reports and, specifically, the income statement. The handling of part-time, casual or seasonal employees can cause measurement problems in the value added per employee ratio. The matter is also further complicated by the fact that there is a lack of full description of employee data in the financial statements as to whether or not the published employee numbers refer to either full-time equivalent, average number of employees over the period or number of employees at year end. If one is to use employee numbers to do an analysis of certain ratios there needs to be clarity in future on how these numbers must be reported. In conclusion it was found that the low increase or decrease in salaries, together with the increase in employee numbers resulted in a negative growth rate in salaries per employee. The conclusion can thus be made that the tertiary institutions did not take productivity into account when granting salary increases. Finally, though this research report was only exploratory, the recommendation can be made that the concept of value added should be implemented at tertiary institutions, preferably by firstly taking the research staff of the entire institution and from there the distribution per department into account, and lastly to reflect the value added for the institution as a whole. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Toegevoegde waarde verbind ’n maatskappy se finansiële state met die nasionale inkomste en vervul ’n nuttige rol as makro-ekonomiese maatstaf. Op nasionale vlak is produktiwiteit ’n vername bepaler van ekonomiese groei en vordering en is dit van kardinale belang tot die oorlewing en welstand van alle Suid-Afrikaners. Die aanbied van inligting in terme van toegevoegde waarde kan ’n doeltreffende kommunikasie-instrument wees wat alle personeel op alle vlakke in staat stel om te verstaan wat die stand van sake is, wat hulle rolle binne die besigheid is en wat gedoen kan word om sekere ratio’s te verbeter. Die toegevoegdewaarde-konsep dien nie slegs as kommunikasiemiddel om die maatskappy se prestasie aan te dui nie, maar toon ook aan dat daar ’n behoefte is aan groter rykdom om hoër verspreiding aan alle belanghebbendes te verseker. Hierdie navorsingsverslag het ten doel om onder meer die toekomstige gebruik van toegevoegde waarde te vestig as ’n aanduider vir produktiwiteit as ’n grondslag (’n nuwe geestesingesteldheid) vir die vasstel van salarisverhogings by tersiêre instellings. Aangesien dit beskou kan word as ’n sprong in die duister, het hierdie studie die resultate van die nywerheidsektor as normstelling gebruik. Omdat tersiêre instellings nog nooit vantevore ’n toegevoegde waarde-staat gepubliseer het nie, is daar besluit om die praktyk van die Toegevoegdewaarde-telbord sedert 2002 te volg. Dit beteken dat ’n toegevoegde waarde-staat vir tersiêre instellings saamgestel is deur die geouditeerde jaarverslae en, spesifiek, die inkomstestaat te gebruik. Die hantering van deeltydse, los of seisoenwerkers kan metingsprobleme in die toegevoegde waarde per werknemer-ratio tot gevolg hê. Die saak word ook verder bemoeilik deur die feit dat daar ’n gebrek aan volledige werknemerinligting in die finansiële state is wat betref of die gepubliseerde werknemergetalle verwys na die voltydse ekwivalent, die gemiddelde getal werknemers oor die tydperk, of die werknemers met jaareinde. Indien die werknemergetalle gebruik word om ’n ontleding van sekere ratio’s te doen, is dit duidelik dat daar in die toekoms meer klaarheid moet wees oor die wyse waarop hierdie getalle gerapporteer moet word. Daar is gevolglik bevind dat die lae styging of daling in salarisse, tesame met die styging in werknemergetalle, tot ’n negatiewe groeikoers in salarisse per werknemer lei. Die gevolgtrekking kan dus gemaak word dat die tersiêre instellings nie produktiwiteit in ag geneem het toe salarisverhogings toegestaan is nie. Laastens, alhoewel hierdie navorsingsverslag slegs verkennend van aard was, kan die aanbeveling gemaak word dat die konsep van toegevoegde waarde by tersiêre instellings geïmplementeer word. Verkieslik deur eerstens die navorsingspersoneel van die instelling te neem, daarna die verdeling per departement en dan laastens om toegevoegde waarde vir die instelling as geheel weer te gee.

L’étude de la phrase hypothétique d’après les traités de grammaires arabe médiévaux consiste à déconstruire la manière avec laquelle ce type de phrase a été conçue par les grammairiens classiques. Ces derniers, figures centrales dans le champ linguistique ont apporté un réel écot à la pensée grammaticale ; à partir du parler des Arabes, de la poésie et du Coran, ces acteurs ont élaboré des règles grammaticales, forgeant ainsi la tradition grammaticale arabe. Ils ont mis en lumière plusieurs aspects de la langue, parmi lesquels, l’expression de l’hypothèse, objet de notre recherche.La phrase hypothétique peut être, principalement introduite par l’une des trois particules X, Y et Z, pour exprimer respectivement l’irréel, le potentiel et l’éventuel. Les pronoms et les circonstances servent également à introduire une phrase conditionnelle et affectent le marquage modal de ses verbes. Ils sont dits, les noms conditionnels. Les grammairiens arabes se sont intéressés aux marques modales des verbes et aux marques casuelles des noms au sein de l’énoncé hypothétique. En outre, ils portaient un intérêt particulier aux pratiques langagières qui relevaient de l’exception, dérogeant ainsi à la règle. Cette thèse s’attache à mettre en lumière l’investissement des grammairiens arabes classiques à une époque charnière du VIIIe au XIVe siècle. On leur reconnaît l’assignation de l’énoncé rogatif à un énoncé conditionnel, car selon eux, ils renvoient implicitement à une condition.La question de la phrase hypothétique constitue l’une des pistes investies par les grammairiens classiques malgré leurs convergences, divergences et positionnements par rapport aux normes grammaticales. L’expression de l’hypothèse a suscité des débats et des controverses entre les grammairiens, et plus particulièrement entre ceux de l’école bassorite et ceux de l’école koufite. / The study of the hypothetical sentence according to medieval Arabic grammatical treatises, consists in deconstructing the manner in which this type of sentence was conceived by the classical grammarians. The latter, central figures in the linguistic field, have largely contributed to grammatical thought; from Arabic-speaking, poetry and Qur’an, these actors developed grammatical rules, thus forging the Arabic grammatical tradition. They highlighted several aspects of the language, among which, the expression of the hypothesis, the object of our research.The hypothetical sentence can be, mainly introduced by one of the three particles X, Y and Z, respectively to express the unreal, the potential and the eventual (possible). Pronouns and circumstances also serve to introduce a conditional sentence and affect the modal marking of its verbs. They are said, the conditional names. Arabic grammarians were interested in the modal marks of verbs and casual marks of nouns in the hypothetical statement. In addition, they had a particular interest in the language practices that fell under the exception, thus derogating from the rule. This dissertation aims to highlight the investment of classical Arabic grammarians in a transitional period, from the eighth to the fourteenth century. They are assigned the assignment of the rogatory statement to a conditional statement, because according to them, they implicitly refer to a condition.The question of the hypothetical sentence establishes one of the tracks invested by the classical grammarians, despite their convergences, divergences and positions in relation to grammatical standards. The expression of the hypothesis aroused debates and controversies between the grammarians, more particularly between those of the Basra school and those of the Kufite school.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2008 / The aim of the study was to asses the socio-economic impact of casualisation of female farm workers and to determine whether they understand their rights as provided in labour policies. The study was conducted in the Letsitele area in the Greater Tzaneen municipality, Mopani District, Limpopo Province of South Africa. A sample of eighty female farm workers was drawn from the population. The self-constructed questionnaire elicited biographic information, the socio-economic impact of casualisation and knowledge of female farm workers about labour policies was from the respondents The findings of the study showed that casualisation of female farm workers have a large impact on their lives. The low wages that they earn are usually insufficient to meet their basic financial needs such as schooling their children, buying food, and building proper houses. It was also established that they are not properly informed about labour policies.

This qualitative study aims to explore, from a cognitive perspective, the influence visuals have on conveying the game's narrative and how this engages the player. The focus being to further the understanding of how both visuals and narrative affect the overall experience. Motivated by the underrepresentation of visuals and narrative studies within game research. At the centre of the study is a thematic analysis of qualitative data collected from face to face interviews in a home and school environment, where players shared memorable moments experienced while playing a game. The interviews were complemented by data from popular forums, with the same focus. Helping the analysis of the data were cognitive theories into how our minds process and interpret information, an analysis which resulted in five main themes with corresponding code, which represented what appeared central for the creation of the memorable moment. There were, however, always more than one element within the game which provided and engaged the player in the narrative construction of the memorable moment, which served to highlight the importance of considering all aspects of the design, as all affected our meaning making. Central to engaging the player's narrative construction was the intrinsic motivation of curiosity, in tangent with our desire to learn. Exactly how different visuals elements affected the player's narrative construction did not become apparent during the analysis, as a fine line existed between what element provided for different memorable moments. Most notably was that all of the themes and codes could be tied back to engagement, as all of them served to engage the player's meaning making. A discovery that in turn, lead to the creation of a framework for future studies, which, while supported by cognitive theories, aims to enable the discovery of what and how different aspects engage the player in the experience. / Målet med denna kvalitativa studie är att, utifrån ett kognitivt perspektiv, utforska inflytande det visuella har på att förmedla spelets narrativ och hur detta engagerar spelaren i upplevelsen. Fokuset är att utveckla förståelsen för hur det visuella och narrativet påverkar den övergripande upplevelsen, vilket är motiverat av underrepresentationen av studier med fokus på det visuella och narrativet inom spelforskning. I centrum av studien är en tematisk analys av den kvalitativa data som samlats in från intervjuer i en hem och skolmiljö, där deltagarna delade minnesvärda stunder från när de spelade spel. Intervjuerna kompletterades med data från populära forum med samma fokus. Kognitiva teorier om hur man bearbetar och tolkar information, fick ge stöd till analysen av spelarnas meningsskapande som resulterade i fem huvudteman med motsvarande koder, som representerade det som framstod som det centrala i skapandet av de minnesvärda stunderna. Det fanns dock alltid mer än ett element i spelet som bidrog och engagerade spelaren i den narrativa konstruktionen av det minnesvärda ögonblicket, vilket lyfter fram vikten av att uppmärksamma alla aspekter av designen, eftersom alla påverkade meningsskapandet. Centralt för att engagera spelarnas narrativa konstruktion var vår inre motivation av nyfikenhet, i kombination med vår vilja att lära oss. Exakt hur de olika visuella elementen påverkade spelarens narrativa konstruktion framkom dock inte under analysen, eftersom gränsen mellan vilka element som bidrog med de olika minnesvärda stunderna, var hårfin. Det tydligaste exemplet av detta är att alla teman och koderna kunde knytas tillbaka till engagemang, eftersom alla bidrog till att engagera spelaren meningsskapande. En upptäckt som i sin tur ledde till skapandet av ett ramverk för framtida studier, som vars mål är, med stöd av kognitiva teorier, att möjliggöra upptäckten av hur de olika aspekterna engagerar spelaren i upplevelsen.

<p>HIV poses considerable social and health challenges in South Africa, particularly among young people aged 15-24. Research indicates a strong link between risky sexual behaviour and alcohol and illicit drugs. In the Western Cape drug-related behaviours is a growing concern among young people because of relatively high prevalence rates of drug abuse, particularly methamphetamine. Previous South African studies have tended to focused on the link between substance use and risky sexual behaviour among commercial sex workers. The theoretical approach of this study is the information motivation behavioural skills model. Participants were selected using non-probability sampling of 279 first year students registered for Psychology I at the University of the Western Cape. This study employed a quantitative research approach using a survey design. Results: Forty-six percent of students do not believe that the use of illicit drugs has an impact on a person&rsquo / s sexual behavior. However, the findings also showed that only 45% of students believed that there was a difference between illicit drug users correctly using condoms when compared to non-users. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Conclusion: Prevention is our best and most effective means of decreasing risk-taking behaviours associated with HIV infection. Information is the first line of intervention that is necessary to reduce risk-taking behaviours / however prevention strategies and interventions of risk-taking behaviours should aim to increase motivation and help young people integrate information in a way that it is personally relatable. This is vital to address the inconsistencies between perceptions of risk and the realities of risk-taking behaviour.</p>