This dissertation investigates some of the factors affecting modern household finance decisions in the United States using natural experimental variation and administrative data. In Chapter 1 I estimate the effects of financial education on retirement savings decisions. Between 2007 and 2008 the U.S. Army implemented a mandatory 8 hour Personal Financial Management Course (PFMC) for new soldiers. Staggered implementation across locations and time provides quasi-experimental variation in whether an individual received the training. I find that the course has large and lasting effects on individual retirement savings in the Thrift Savings Plan, a tax-deferred account similar to a 401(k). The course doubles savings, has significant effects throughout the distribution of savings and the effects persist out to two years. The mechanism for the effects is likely a combination of both human capital and behavioral assistance. In Chapter 2 I estimate the effects of financial education on a variety of other economic behaviors. I rely on the same natural experiment as in Chapter 1 but I use individually matched credit data to estimate the effects of financial education on credit scores, credit balances for several types of accounts, monthly payments and adverse legal actions. In some areas I find that the PFMC has beneficial effects, reducing cumulative account balances (especially for automobile accounts) and aggregate monthly payments. In other areas, including credit scores, the probability of being active in the credit market and the number of adverse legal actions, the PFMC has no statistically significant effects on financial behavior. In Chapter 3 I estimate the effects of stress on financial decision-making. I use the natural variation in the casualty rates faced by individuals deploying overseas an exogenous source of stress and I measure the effects of this stress on individuals' participation in the Savings Deposit Program (SDP), a risk-free 10% annual percentage rate savings account. I find a modest and statistically significant negative relationship between the stress of casualties and SDP participation on the order of 5%. Some failures of the randomization test and the confounding effects of overall activity levels and rural locations cannot be eliminated as a source of the observed savings differences and as a result, these results should be considered suggestive evidence of the adverse effects of stress on financial decision-making.

abstract: A sustainability strategy is a distinctive pattern in an organization’s sustainability programs that are designed to encourage individuals and organizations to behave in more sustainable ways. Local governments worldwide have increasingly pursued sustainability strategies to improve their community health and environment by adopting sustainability programs that span a variety of environmental issues and use a diverse set of policy instruments. Despite increasing prevalence of sustainability efforts at the local level, as yet, there has been little understanding of variation in their sustainability strategies and its relationship with environmental performance outcomes. Prior research has mainly focused on the number of programs that local governments adopt and assumed that local governments with more sustainability programs are more likely to improve the environment than local governments with fewer programs. However, local governments’ sustainability strategies require more nuanced understanding about variations in their sustainability programs, in particular across their program design in that a sustainability strategy relates to both quantity and design aspects of programs. I address these research gaps in three essays that explore the research question of (1) how design features of sustainability programs vary across US local governments, (2) which factors influence variations in program design, (3) how these factors are related to environmental quality outcomes in communities. By assessing US local governments’ sustainability programs, I found that even for local governments that adopt a same number of sustainability programs, they design their programs differently, especially across the breadth of environmental issues that local governments address in their sustainability programs and the breadth of policy instrument that are used in their programs. Findings suggest that pressures from external stakeholders and variations in local governments’ organizational capacities are related to local governments’ decisions to purse different types of sustainability strategies. Finally, I find that local governments that design their programs more comprehensively are likely to have greater environmental performance outcomes in their community. My dissertation expands existing research in a significant way by focusing on the importance of program design and its link with improved environmental performance, thereby providing important implications for distinguishing among local governments’ sustainability strategies. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Public Administration 2016

I will examine how immigration into the United Kingdom has changed due to globalization, the strength of immigrant transnational networks, and rising hostile nativism. Changing immigrant experiences in the United Kingdom are contextualized by Britain’s “leave” Brexit vote and devolution of integration systems. I will argue that economic and local political integration are the most important contributors to improving immigrant outcomes and reducing tensions between minority and majority groups in the United Kingdom. Using policies from Denmark and Germany, I will compare how different integration regimes across Europe include immigrants as stakeholders in social and economic processes and how transnational networks interact with policy. I will recommend a set of policies at the national and local level to combat rising tensions between minority and majority groups. I will conclude by forecasting the likely and ideal scenarios for the future of minority-majority relations and integration regimes in the United Kingdom.

A proposed Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) free zone, in the eastern region of Thailand, was evaluated by FMD experts with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) during 2012-2013. The zone, however, did not qualify for an FMD-free zone with vaccination because it did not comply with the requirements in the OIE Terrestrial Code. Then, the Department of Livestock Development (DLD) within the government of Thailand revised laws and regulations related to the FMD control program in order to be in compliance with the OIE's requirements. The revised FMD control program has been implemented since 2015. These revisions and implementations, however, have not been evaluated. The main objectives of this study were to determine whether the revised regulations (since 2015) currently being implemented are fully in compliance with the OIE's requirements, and to verify whether the implementation of the current FMD control program is sufficient to control FMD effectively. First, this study developed an evaluation framework and assessment tools for use in the evaluation of the FMD control policies and their implementation in the eastern region of Thailand. The assessment tools include assessment matrices, three sets of questionnaires, and interview questions. When applied, the assessment matrices identify shortcomings of policy design, policy implementation, veterinary capacity, and stakeholder engagement. Questionnaires and interview questions collect information that examines the consistency of elements of the FMD control program against criteria in the assessment matrix. Then, the design of current FMD control policies was assessed by interviews of DLD officers at national level who formulate policies related to FMD control program and by reviews of DLD existing written policies and documents. This study found that the design of current FMD control system is appropriate and meets the OIE's requirements. Next, the implementation of the current FMD control program in the eastern region of Thailand was assessed. The assessment was conducted by (i) questionnaire surveys with DLD officers at local level, private veterinarians, and farmers, (ii) interviews with DLD officers at national and regional level and private veterinarians, and (iii) field observations. The assessment found that the current implementation of the FMD control program in the eastern region of Thailand needs further improvement in order to meet the OIE's requirements. This study also proposes recommendations to the DLD in improving the FMD control system in the eastern region of Thailand including surveillance system, reporting system, vaccine strategy, animal movement control system, and response plans. For example, there should be an increase of stakeholders' awareness of disease reporting requirements. Evidence of adequate vaccination coverage and population immunity should be available and accessible. Allocation of staff at local level should be reconsidered for more appropriate service deliveries. Communications between DLD and stakeholders regarding the FMD control program need to be strengthened for more effective message delivery. Lastly, this study strongly recommends that there should be strong commitments and supported by the higher level of the Thai's government. / Doctor of Philosophy / Foot and Mouth Disease is a highly contagious and the most economically important infectious viral disease of livestock. The disease exists in Thailand and interrupts livestock trade through the loss of access to international markets. The Department of Livestock Development (DLD) within the government of Thailand has proposed to make the eastern region of Thailand an officially recognized FMD-free zone with vaccination in order to advance market access and trade facilitation. In order to be an official FMD-free zone, the proposed FMD-free zone (eastern region of Thailand) needs to be evaluated by experts within the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and must meet all requirements of the OIE standard for this certification. Since 2015, there has not been an evaluation to determine the effectiveness and appropriateness of the current FMD control program in the eastern region of Thailand. This study aims to evaluate the design and implementation of the current FMD control program in the eastern region of Thailand. This study, first, developed an evaluation framework and assessment tools for use in the evaluation of the FMD control policies and their implementation in the eastern region of Thailand. Then, the design of the current FMD control policies and their implementation were evaluated. The assessment found that the design of the current FMD control system is appropriate and meets the OIE's requirements. However, the current implementation of the FMD control program needs further improvement. This study also proposes recommendations to the DLD in order to enhance and improve the FMD control system in the eastern region of Thailand to be recognized as an FMD-free zone by the OIE.

This dissertation examines multi-agency policy environments as a policy system of systems (SoS). The research conducted for this dissertation establishes the need to develop a method of analysis suitable for the analysis of a policy SoS that allows for the examination of individual policy relationships while maintaining a holistic perspective of the entire SoS. The Three-Dimensional Policy Design Structure (3DPDS) is proposed as a method of analysis suitable for examination of a policy SoS. This dissertation focuses on application of the 3DPDS to three specific areas of space launch policy that impact space launch capacity: (1) policies related to space launch vehicles, (2) policies related to space launch facilities, and (3) the potential impacts of the cancellation of the Ares 1 launch vehicle. The first two applications of the 3DPDS provide a retrospective analysis of the policy relationships within the space launch policy SoS. The final application uses the results of the examination of policies related to space launch vehicles to systematically examine a current issue. The results of the first two applications, when compared against data gathered from subject matter experts during the interview process, provided a much more complete and holistic perspective of the policy relationships within the SoS, including identification of policy outliers. The third application enabled a systematic review of a current policy issue that incorporated information from formal policy documents with information provided by subject matter experts during the interview process. / Ph. D.

Sammanfattning Denna uppsats syftade till att utforska varför skolfrånvaron och därmed hemmasittandet har ökat. Genom att analysera elevhälsoplaner och jämföra dem med tidigare forskning, identifierades en möjlig koppling mellan ändringar i skollagen och ökningen av hemmasittande. Bronfenbrenners systemteori och Beckers avvikarkarriär-teori användes som huvudsakliga teoretiska ramar för analysen. Resultaten pekade på att förändringar i skollagen har manifesterat sig som strikta riktlinjer i elevhälsoplanerna. Dessa riktlinjer, tillsammans med skolornas stödinsatser, kan ha en oavsiktlig stämplande effekt på elever som inte uppfyller förväntningarna. Studien visade att medan dessa stödinsatser syftar till att hjälpa elever, kan de i vissa fall förstärka elevernas avvikelse från den etablerade normen. Tidigare forskning har belyst vissa riskgrupper, såsom de med ADHD eller ASD, och deras potential att undvika skolan på grund av utmaningar relaterade till sociala faktorer och inlärningssvårigheter. Även om dessa specifika diagnoser inte alltid nämndes explicit i elevhälsoplanerna, antyder planernas fokus på sociala faktorer och inlärningssvårigheter att dessa riskgrupper kan vara i åtanke. Metodologiskt använde studien dokumentanalys av elevhälsoplaner, vilket gav en inblick i skolornas officiella ställningstaganden men kunde sakna insikt i verklig implementering. Studiens implikationer pekar på att skolan kan behöva omvärdera sina stödinsatser för att undvika oavsiktlig stigmatisering. Dessutom kan involvering av fler samhällsinstanser, som socialtjänsten, vara en väg framåt för att bättre stödja elever i riskzonen för hemmasittande. / Abstract This study aimed to investigate the reasons behind the rise in school absenteeism and, consequently, the increase in students staying at home. By analyzing student health plans and comparing them with prior research, a potential link between amendments in the Education Act and the surge in students staying at home was identified. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory and Becker's theory of deviant behavior served as the primary theoretical frameworks for the analysis. The findings indicated that changes in the Education Act have manifested as stringent guidelines in student health plans. These guidelines, combined with schools' supportive interventions, may inadvertently label students who do not meet the expectations. While these interventions aim to assist students, they might, in certain instances, amplify students' deviation from established norms. Previous research highlighted specific risk groups, such as those with ADHD or ASD, and their likelihood to avoid school due to challenges related to social factors and learning difficulties. Even if these specific diagnoses were not always explicitly mentioned in the student health plans, the plans' emphasis on social factors and learning difficulties suggests these risk groups might be considered. Methodologically, the study employed document analysis of student health plans, offering insight into schools' official stances but possibly lacking a comprehensive view of their actual implementation. The study's implications suggest that schools might need to re-evaluate their supportive measures to avoid unintentional stigmatization. Moreover, involving more societal entities, such as social services, might present a proactive approach to better support students at risk of staying home.

Public Administration & Management / D.P.A.

Microfinance is a development tool used to reduce poverty among extremely poor households. Impoverished households can access lines of credit through microfinance institutions (MFIs), in order to create a new business, smooth household consumption, fund medical emergencies, etc. Many authors postulate that MFIs are drifting from a welfarist to an institutionalist approach to lending. Using MIXMarket data on specific MFIs in 118 countries between 1995 and 2011, the average loan balance of these organizations will be regressed against measure of outreach and sustainability of these institutions by charter type through a series of four, fixed effects models. The main research question is: given that a positive, overall shift in average loan balance indicates an institutionalist shift in mission, how does this impact microfinance institutions and the demographics they target on the intensive and extensive margins? These analyses will test the theory that MFIs with larger average loan balances serve households closer to the subsistence poverty level, a manifestation of mission drift toward the institutionalist philosophy of lending. The phenomenon of mission drift directly impacts the outcomes of microfinance institutions and the target demographic of the organization. The results of this study indicate that the mission of these organizations is drifting toward the institutionalist philosophy of lending. With this general result, mission drift can be observed within both the internal and external margins of the microfinance industry, which influences the chosen target market, profit generated, and structure of MFIs, as determined by the mission of the organization.

Connecting Urban Residents to Their Watershed with Green Stormwater Infrastructure: A case study of Thornton Creek in Seattle, Washington.

This paper investigates two aspects of the United States Foster Care System: racial inequality and privatization. Investigating the racial disproportionality of foster care children reveals that racial inequalities result from disproportionate rates of child maltreatment among minority children. The extended lengths of stay of minority children and difficulties in placing minority children in adoptive homes reveal that racial biases can impact the system, and overcoming these biases requires reforming child welfare either through developing orphanages, altering pay structures, racial matching, or privatization. Privatization, however, does not always result in improved quality and reduced costs. This paper analyzes the state-wide privatization initiative of Kansas and prison privatization movement to draw recommendations about the efficacy of future privatization efforts in the child welfare space.