Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-168). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, 1993. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 274-285).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Saint Mary's University, 2008. / Includes abstract and appendices. Advisor: E. Kevin Kelloway. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-147).

A presente pesquisa busca verificar empiricamente o impacto da lei do dividendo obrigatório sobre o investimento das empresas de capital aberto. Para alcançar este objetivo três hipóteses foram criadas. A primeira objetiva testar se o valor marginal do caixa diminui com o pagamento de dividendos acima do mínimo obrigatório, testando assim o pagamento de dividendos no Brasil como proxy para restrição financeira, visto que esta classificação é importante em modelos de investimento. A segunda busca mensurar o impacto do dividendo obrigatório no investimento de empresas brasileiras de capital aberto que distribuem apenas o dividendo mínimo. A última hipótese avalia a influência deste mecanismo legal em uma amostra multi-países. Os resultados obtidos indicam que o dividendo obrigatório impacta direta e indiretamente no investimento das companhias. E, este efeito é ainda maior e mais relevante para as empresas restritas financeiramente. Considerando o contexto nacional, onde as fontes de financiamentos são caras e escassas, esta evidência obtida pela presente pesquisa possui grande relevância para o mercado financeiro. / The present research seeks to empirically verify the impact of the mandatory dividend on publicly traded companies’ investment. To achieve this goal, three hypotheses were created. The first one aims to test if the marginal value of cash decreases with the payment of dividends above the mandatory minimum, thus testing the distribution of dividends in Brazil as proxy for financial constraint, since this classification is important in investment models. The second seeks to measure the impact of the mandatory dividend on the investment of Brazilian publicly traded companies that distributed only the minimum dividend. The last hypothesis evaluates the influence of this legal mechanism on a multicountry sample. The results indicate that the mandatory dividend has a direct and indirect impact on the companies’ investment. And, this effect is even greater and more relevant for financially constrained companies. Considering the national context, where the sources of financing are expensive and scarce, this evidence obtained by the present research has great relevance for the financial market.

A presente pesquisa busca verificar empiricamente o impacto da lei do dividendo obrigatório sobre o investimento das empresas de capital aberto. Para alcançar este objetivo três hipóteses foram criadas. A primeira objetiva testar se o valor marginal do caixa diminui com o pagamento de dividendos acima do mínimo obrigatório, testando assim o pagamento de dividendos no Brasil como proxy para restrição financeira, visto que esta classificação é importante em modelos de investimento. A segunda busca mensurar o impacto do dividendo obrigatório no investimento de empresas brasileiras de capital aberto que distribuem apenas o dividendo mínimo. A última hipótese avalia a influência deste mecanismo legal em uma amostra multi-países. Os resultados obtidos indicam que o dividendo obrigatório impacta direta e indiretamente no investimento das companhias. E, este efeito é ainda maior e mais relevante para as empresas restritas financeiramente. Considerando o contexto nacional, onde as fontes de financiamentos são caras e escassas, esta evidência obtida pela presente pesquisa possui grande relevância para o mercado financeiro. / The present research seeks to empirically verify the impact of the mandatory dividend on publicly traded companies’ investment. To achieve this goal, three hypotheses were created. The first one aims to test if the marginal value of cash decreases with the payment of dividends above the mandatory minimum, thus testing the distribution of dividends in Brazil as proxy for financial constraint, since this classification is important in investment models. The second seeks to measure the impact of the mandatory dividend on the investment of Brazilian publicly traded companies that distributed only the minimum dividend. The last hypothesis evaluates the influence of this legal mechanism on a multicountry sample. The results indicate that the mandatory dividend has a direct and indirect impact on the companies’ investment. And, this effect is even greater and more relevant for financially constrained companies. Considering the national context, where the sources of financing are expensive and scarce, this evidence obtained by the present research has great relevance for the financial market.

In 2014, the Child Protective Services received 3.6 million referrals alleging child abuse and neglect, of which, 702,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect and an estimated 1,580 children died due to maltreatment. In addition to this appalling toll, the welfare effects of child victimization are substantial. Evidence suggests that compared to demographically similar adults who were non-victims, adults with documented histories of maltreatment are more likely to engage in criminal behavior; have adverse mental and physical health problems such as depression, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder; and have lower levels of education and earnings. These essays contribute toward the understanding of the consequences of two very distinctive policies – mandatory arrest and medical marijuana laws – and their impact on child maltreatment. An important and controversial question in criminal justice policy concerns whether aggressive sanctions, such as mandatory arrest policies, serve as effective deterrents to familial violence. Chapter 1 provides a theoretical framework that models child abuse in which I allow for a strategic interaction between the child and his or her abuser. The comparative statics yield clear predictions of the impact of sanctions on child maltreatment – as the cost and probability of external interventions rise, the probability of violence falls. I follow this theoretical analysis with an empirical investigation of the impact of mandatory arrest policies on child victimization. I find a statistically significant and positive relationship between states that have implemented mandatory arrest laws and reported child maltreatment rates. This may seem surprising; however there are two explanations for the results. The likely explanation is that reporting of maltreatment increased in states mandating arrest; alternatively, recidivism may have increased in these states. Evidence from the OLS estimates for the reporting of abuse and child fatality rates (a proxy for the true incidence of child abuse), demonstrates that the increase in maltreatment is not due to recidivism but, in fact, more people reporting abuse to the police and Child Protective Services. The most important result that emerges from the data, however, is that while reported abuse increases in states with mandatory arrest laws, the true incidence of maltreatment actually falls. The ultimate goal of this paper is to stimulate further theoretical and empirical research that focuses on child abuse and prevention, thus enhancing an understanding of how sanctions influence child victimization. The next chapter looks at one potential risk factor for child maltreatment –marijuana use and liberalization –using evidence from medical marijuana laws (MMLs). Chapter 2 begins by extending the current MML-crime literature by providing a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of MMLs implemented at the state level on reported child victimization rates. I show that specific modes of medical marijuana regulation differentially influence the magnitude of reported incidences of child abuse, a finding which sheds new light on the current literature. More specifically, using fixed effects analysis applied to data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Database System (NCANDS) and the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), I show that states that allow for home cultivation in addition to decriminalizing its use see a further increase in the magnitude of reported incidences of child maltreatment rates. Since completing my dissertation, I have continued to investigate into issues that have implications for both theory and practice in my field. To that extent, I plan to analyze the slowly developing public sphere –a platform where culture and social change rely on both media and conversation.

The aim of this thesis is to study Iranian women's struggle against the mandatory veil, based on Nancy Fraser's (1990) theory on subaltern counterpublics and Mia Lövheim's (2012) use of Stig Hjarvard’s theory on mediatization of religion. Specifically, how the Iranian-exile Masih Alinejad's Twitter can be seen as an alternative sphere in which she creates a mediatized subaltern counterpublic for marginalized women. The research questions are as follows:(1) How is Iran and the compulsory hijab portrayed in the selected material? (2) Can this portrayal be seen as a mediatized subaltern counterpublic? The material consists of 100 tweets from the campaign #WhiteWednesdays. By using a qualitative method with an abductive approach, I found four themes in the material. Research question (1) showed that Iran is portrayed as a stratified society where men are superior to women and that the public sphere constitutes problems regarding women's rights. The mandatory veil is presented as the most visible symbol of gender apartheid and religious dictatorship. Research question (2)showed that, based on subaltern counterpublics and mediatization, societies (especially with religious authority) exclude women from speaking in authorized discourse, which contributes to a search for alternative spheres. The study’s chosen theories proved to be a good fit for capturing, describing and explaining how Alinejad creates a mediatized subaltern counterpublic - via new digital media - for marginalized women whom have been excluded from the authorized and official capacity of the country. The results further showed how Alinejad participated in the mediated public sphere as an independent agent who engaged in religious issues from a position of authority. She continues to use the #WhiteWednesdays campaign as a space to perform activism against the regime's veil policy.

This study critically analyzes the mandatory financial disclosure requirements imposed on extractive companies operating in Liberia under the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) and examines their implications on transparency, accountability, and sustainability in the extractive sector. Firstly, the study utilizes a qualitative approach and conducts interviews with stakeholders involved in or affected by the extractive sector in Liberia. The study reveals that mandatory financial disclosure under the LEITI has contributed to increased transparency, trust, compliance, and revenue generation in the extractive sector. However, the implementation of these requirements has encountered challenges in reducing corruption, addressing environmental and social issues, and ensuring participation and enforcement. Despite these challenges, the LEITI has proven to be more effective, efficient, and sustainable compared to other transparency initiatives in the extractive sector, such as the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Coalition Liberia. Through the LEITI implementation, the study identifies best practices and lessons learned, including the importance of mandatory financial disclosure, multi-stakeholder engagement , a broad scope of reporting, and regional and global cooperation. Nevertheless, the study concludes that mandatory financial disclosure alone is insufficient to improve the performance and accountability of extractive companies in Liberia. Transparency initiatives like the LEITI should address both technical and political aspects of natural resource governance, while also considering the social and environmental impacts of extractive activities. In light of these findings, the study recommends that stakeholders in the extractive sector enhance the institutional and operational aspects of the LEITI. These recommendations encompass strengthening the legal and regulatory framework, empowering and involving civil society, addressing structural inequalities and power imbalances, and establishing effective oversight and enforcement mechanisms.

Yes

The goal of the thesis is to analyze structure and development of the mandatory expenditures in the Czech Republic in the period 1993-2013. The theoretical part deals with theories of public expenditures and public revenues in order to explain the importance of the mandatory expenditures in the scheme of Czech public finance. The second section of the theoretical part describes the features and legal framework with regard to the methodology of the Ministry of finance of the Czech Republic. The practical part of the thesis adopts the framework built in the theoretical part of the thesis. The most important expenditures are expenditures arising from law, which represent over 90 % of mandatory expenditures. The social transfers came into scrutiny because of special importance within this group of expenditures. The fastest growing expenditures within non-social transfers were debt-service expenditures caused by irresponsible fiscal policy of the government within the period. The other mandatory expenditures are divided into expenditures arising from other legal regulations, which are negligible, and into expenditures arising from treaties, which are very hard to cut down. The quasi-mandatory expenditures, involing defence spending and wages of employees of the public sector, were analysed in order to build up definition of mandatory expenditures in the broad sense, meaning sum of mandatory and quasi-mandatory expenditures. The last section of practical part of the thesis is devoted to comparing the development of the mandatory expenditures and mandatory expenditures in the broad sense with the development of important macroeconomic indicators, as GDP and inflation and total expenditures and revenues of the government budget. Mandatory expenditures and also mandatory expenditures in broad sense has grown during the whole period, the ratio to public revenues and public expenditures has grown, resulting in decrease of the fiscal democracy of the government and increase of the government debt.