The problem of this study is to determine the soundness of the Gilmer-Aikin Law financially and administratively. No attempt will be made to apply the principles of the law to any particular area or school district, but the law will be considered as a whole as it will apply to the schools of Texas in general.

The problem of this thesis is to examine the Gilmer-Aikin plan as it will affect the Montague County, Texas, schools in order to ascertain whether present inequities, if any, will be corrected, and to present additional remedial proposals if needed.

This dissertation examines the key success drivers of hedonic media products like movies and video games, across both the production and distribution phases. Essay I analyzes how public and private funding impact the cultural and economic success of movies, using German film funding as an example. It finds that public funding attracts private investment and increases box office revenues globally, but does not directly improve movie quality ratings. Essay II focuses on the digital home video market and how pricing and timing of releases influence streaming success for purchases and rentals. It reveals differences in consumer behavior, with purchases being more price-elastic and rentals more sensitive to release timing. Essay III investigates how casting popular actors as in-game characters, i.e. star power, drives the success of video games. It finds star power can directly boost game success, especially for genres like horror and RPGs, but counteracts the benefits of multiplayer games. Overall, the dissertation provides valuable insights for entertainment companies, marketers and policymakers on strategically leveraging factors like funding sources, pricing, release timing and star power to enhance the success of hedonic media products across different distribution channels.:Index of Figures VIII Index of Tables IX Abbreviations X 1 Synopsis 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Summaries of Dissertation Essays 7 1.2.1 Essay I: The Global Impact of Public and Private Funding on Cultural and Economic Movie Success: Evidence from German Film Funding 7 1.2.2 Essay II: Strategic Levers for Sequentially Distributed Digital Products: The Case of Home Video 9 1.2.3 Essay III: From Screen to Screen: How Star Power Drives Video Game Success 12 2 Essay I: The Global Impact of Public and Private Funding on Cultural and Economic Movie Success: Evidence from German Film Funding 14 2.1 Abstract 14 2.2 Introduction 15 2.3 Conceptual and Research Background 18 2.3.1 The German Public Funding System 18 2.3.2 Impact of Quality Signals on Movie Financing (RQ1) 19 2.3.3 The Relationship Between Public and Private Funding (RQ2) 20 2.3.4 Impact of Movie Financing on Cultural Success (RQ3) 21 2.3.5 Impact of Movie Financing on Economic Success (RQ4) 23 2.4 Study Design 25 2.4.1 Data 25 2.4.1 Model 27 2.5 Results 29 2.5.1 Overview 29 2.5.2 Impact of Quality Signals on Movie Financing (RQ1) and Impact of Public on Private Funding (RQ2) 32 2.5.3 Impact of Movie Financing on Cultural Success Variables (RQ3) 32 2.5.4 Impact of Movie Financing on Economic Success (RQ4) 36 2.6 Conclusion 38 2.6.1 Discussion 38 2.6.2 Practical Implications 42 2.6.3 Limitations and Research Outlook 43 Appendix A: Essay I 44 Appendix A.1: Bivariate Correlations 44 Appendix A.2: Model Statistics and Extensive Results 48 Appendix A.3: T-Test Results 62 3 Essay II: Strategic Levers for Sequentially Distributed Digital Products: The Case of Home Video 66 3.1 Abstract 66 3.2 Introduction 67 3.3 Theoretical Framework and Research Background 69 3.3.1 Home Video Success 70 3.3.2 Strategic Distribution Levers and Competition 73 3.3.3 Interactions of Strategic Levers and Preset Factors 75 3.4 Data 75 3.4.1 Basis 75 3.4.2 Pricing and Timing 78 3.4.3 Competition and Preset Factors 78 3.4.4 Controls 79 3.5 Method 80 3.6 Results 83 3.6.1 Impacts of Strategic Levers and Competition 84 3.6.2 Impacts of Preset Factors 87 3.6.3 Moderating Impact of the Strategic Levers 87 3.6.4 Simulation Analysis 92 3.7 Discussion 94 3.7.1 Pricing, Timing, and Competition 94 3.7.2 Preset Factors and Lever Interactions 96 3.7.3 Managerial Implications 97 3.7.4 Limitations and Directions for Further Research 99 Appendix B: Essay II 100 Appendix B.1: Model Robustness 100 Appendix B.2: Comprehensive Results 115 4 Essay III: From Screen to Screen: How Star Power Drives Video Game Success 128 4.1 Abstract 128 4.2 Introduction 129 4.3 Research Background and Theoretical Framework 131 4.3.1 Literature Review 131 4.3.2 Video Games vs. Movies 133 4.3.3 Theoretical Framework 134 4.4 Study Design 139 4.4.1 Data 139 4.4.2 Method 144 4.5 Results 145 4.5.1 Overview 145 4.5.2 Impact of Star Power on Video Game Success 147 4.5.3 Star Power Impact Across Game Traits 149 4.6 Discussion 152 4.6.1 Conclusion 152 4.6.2 Managerial Implications 155 4.6.3 Limitations and Directions for Further Research 156 Appendix C: Essay III 157 Appendix C.1: Bivariate Correlations 157 Appendix C.2: Regression Model T-Test Results 161 Appendix C.3: Extended Results 163 References 167 Curriculum Vitae XII Eidesstattliche Erklärung XIII

This thesis seeks to construct an empirical model of highway finance in the United States, and in particular, to examine the relationship between highway-user revenues and highway spending. It provides a general overview of the current highway system, including the federal-aid highway program, and the flow of highway funds between different levels of government. It also examines issues relating to highway-user revenues. A review of the literature failed to provide any "standard" model of highway spending and no previous studies of spending across all levels of government. Using data from the 50 states and the District of Columbia over the three-year period 1998-2000, regressions were run on the dollars spent on highways in each state from all levels of government. The independent variables included highway-user revenues (as defined by the Federal Highway Administration) in each state from all levels of government, lane-miles, daily vehicle-miles of traffic, land area, percent of land area classified as urban, population, gross state product, annual average wage, percent of traffic consisting of trucks, and average winter temperature. OLS estimates using the classical linear regression model were found to be unreliable, and attempts at using a growth rate model provided poor overall fit. Opportunities for future research are identified, as this is an important issue that should be of interest in public policy decision-making. / Master of Arts

Investment decision-making is a critical theme in entrepreneurial research. This study aims to explore how different types of investors are influenced by regulatory, political, economic, environmental, and societal changes following the rise of sustainable policies such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Grounded in the External Enablement Framework and employing a qualitative, multi-case methodology, this thesis identifies eight key factors that influence investor decisions in sustainable entrepreneurship. It finds that external enablers like regulatory and societal changes motivate investments, while inhibitors such as stringent regulations and economic crises deter them. Additionally, investor preferences are shaped by past experiences, personal ethics, and team authenticity. The findings provide organizations with valuable insights into the factors that influence investment decisions in sustainable entrepreneurial ventures. Investors can gain a better understanding of external factors and opportunities, entrepreneurs can identify key considerations and potential new areas for growth, and policymakers can develop more market-oriented policies and or regulations to support sustainable investment and entrepreneurship.

No / Since the development of the first cytotoxic agents, synthetic organic chemistry has advanced enormously. The synthetic and medicinal chemists of today are at the centre of drug development and are involved in most, if not all, processes of drug discovery. Recent decreases in government funding and reformed educational policies could, however, seriously impact on drug discovery initiatives worldwide. Not only could these changes result in fewer scientific breakthroughs, but they could also negatively affect the training of our next generation of medicinal chemists.

Yes / The National Health Service (NHS) Five Year Forward View in 2014 issued a grave warning that if healthcare demand in the UK continued to grow as its current rate, and efficiency or funding changes were not instigated there could be a mismatch between the service (in terms of resource provision) and patients of up to £30 billion a year by 2020/21. The report asserted that in order to “sustain a comprehensive high-quality NHS; action will be needed on all three fronts – demand, efficiency and funding” (2014:5). Based on this escalating issue, and with a focus on the expanded and value-added role of Community Pharmacists, this study chooses to focus on this service operation in light of the pressures as highlighted above by examining what Sustainability means and how it is applied in Community Pharmacy as a service provider in the NHS (UK).

Yes / This article considers how cuts in Government funding will affect continuing professional development and mentorship training for NHS staff

Yes / Despite a wealth of activity across the globe in the area of longitudinal population cohorts, surprisingly little information is available on the natural biomedical history of a number of age-related neurodegenerative diseases (ND), and the scope for intervention studies based on these cohorts is only just beginning to be explored. The Joint Programming Initiative on Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) recently developed a novel funding mechanism to rapidly mobilise scientists to address these issues from a broad, international community perspective. Ten expert Working Groups, bringing together a diverse range of community members and covering a wide ND landscape (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, frontotemporal degeneration, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lewy-body and vascular dementia) were formed to discuss and propose potential approaches to better exploiting and coordinating cohort studies. The purpose of this work is to highlight the novel funding process along with a broad overview of the guidelines and recommendations generated by the ten groups, which include investigations into multiple methodologies such as cognition/functional assessment, biomarkers and biobanking, imaging, health and social outcomes, and pre-symptomatic ND. All of these were published in reports that are now publicly available online.

The study's main objective is to explore the association of the internal barriers female entrepreneurs may experience when pursuing funding opportunities and the consequences of these barriers in the Swedish market. Statistics indicate that women create more profitable businesses, yet only 1% of all venture capital is distributed to female-only founding teams. Additionally, women continuously encounter challenges in pursuing external funding, which arise from internal barriers and societal and external perceptions. The research is grounded on a thorough literature review, the empirical findings derived from a qualitative data analysis through semi-structured interviews with eight female entrepreneurs and one “industry professional”.  The frame of reference assisted in analyzing the empirical findings by drawing parallels between gender role theory and self-efficacy theory. The findings unveiled three prominent internal barriers to apprehension when seeking external funding: Civil status, Fear of failure, and Gender bias. The study uncovers that internal barriers substantially impede female entrepreneurs’ access to funding, causing apprehension to seek external funding and a tendency to utilize slow-paced organic growth strategies. Therefore, scalability is hampered, and gender disparities remain in the Swedish funding landscape. The researchers suggest governmental implementations of networks aimed at supporting and educating female entrepreneurs, as well as standardizing measures of financial institutions to improve the funding landscape.