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In the first chapter of this dissertation, I exploit the Covid-19 pandemic and associated government restrictions as a natural experiment in order to study the resilience of businesses in the United States. I use a border-county identification strategy with data on government restrictions, employment and open small businesses, in order to assess the resilience of small businesses in the United States. In my main results, I find negative impacts of stay-at-home orders on the number of open small merchants. In particular, shutdowns of businesses accelerated 8 weeks after imposition of a stay-at-home order, suggesting that many businesses were only resilient enough to handle adverse conditions for 8 weeks. On average, a county with a stay-at-home order experienced an additional 1.51 percentage points loss in the number of open small businesses, relative to January 2020, 8 weeks later compared to a neighboring county that did not have a stay-at-home order. Firms were quicker to resort to layoffs. On average a county with an active stay at home order in a month experienced an additional 1.19 percentage point loss in employment, relative to January 2020, the following month compared to a neighbor that did not have a stay-at-home order the previous month. My results suggest that in future scenarios where governments consider enacting similar restrictions further aid is needed for businesses in order to help them stay afloat. In particular, more assistance should be delivered to businesses within two months from the enacting of the order. In the second chapter of this dissertation, I study economic spillovers in the context of theCovid-19 associated government restrictions. I use a detailed geolocation dataset to construct data on the number of visitors per-capita between neighboring counties in the early stages of the pandemic, which I use as a proxy for economic spillovers. I employ a similar border-county identification strategy as in the first chapter to identify the causal effect of stay-at-home orders on inter-county movement. Additionally, I provide evidence for an assumption used in chapter one by examining if there are reduced spillovers in county-pairs that lie in the different commute zones. I find that stay-at-home orders caused reductions in inter-county visits in both directions in a county-pair. That is, I find a decrease in travel from the county without a stay-at-home order to the county with one, as well as a decrease in the opposite direction. On average, a county that does not have stay-at-home order will receive 408 fewer weekly visitors from their neighboring county that has a stay-at-home order. I also examine the effect of stay-at-home orders on the ratio of travel between the two directions in order to find evidence of a net spillover effect between the two counties and fail to find evidence of a net spillover effect. I also find that spillover effects are indeed reduced in neighbor county-pairs where the two counties are in different commute zones. The results of this paper imply that residents in counties with stay-at-home orders decreased travel to their neighboring counties even when those counties did not issue their own orders. In future situations where policy makers need to consider similar restrictions, they should focus on acting more quickly and not be concerned if neighboring counties are not cooperative. In the third chapter of this dissertation, I test the predictions of career concerns models by studying Major League Baseball umpires. Major League Baseball games can be dramatically shaped by minor lapses in judgement from the umpires officiating the game. Due to the indefinite length a game may have, this can include having the game shaped in a way that ends it faster. I study whether evidence for the career concerns model can be found in baseball umpires. A career concerns model would suggest that older umpires, whose careers and reputations are much more established than younger ones, would be more inclined to improperly make judgements that favor the end of the game in extra innings. I use data on MLB umpires and extra-innings games from the 2010-2018 seasons to conduct my empirical analysis and use a linear probability model to isolate the impact of the umpires’ tenure on the probability they make a “bad call.” I find evidence supporting the career concerns hypothesis and that the probability that an umpire makes a bad call that shortens the length of the game and allows them to go home increases with their tenure. I show that these results are likely driven by career concerns, rather than carelessness, by showing their error rate does not increase with tenure in situations where it would not reduce their workload.

El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la relación entre el sentido de vida y las fuentes de sentido de vida durante la cuarentena por el COVID-19. Los participantes fueron 424 voluntarios (53.1% mujeres y 46.9% hombres) con edades entre 18 y 65 años. La investigación es de tipo cuantitativo correlacional. Los instrumentos aplicados fueron una ficha de datos sociodemográficos, el MLQ, instrumento de 10 ítems que mide la presencia y búsqueda de sentido, y el PMP-B, instrumento de 21 ítems que mide siete fuentes de sentido: relaciones, intimidad, logro, autoaceptación, autotranscendencia, trato justo y religión. Los resultados indican que presencia de sentido se relacionó significativamente con autotrascendencia (r=.51) y logro (r=.50). Los participantes hombres presentaron mayores niveles de presencia de sentido en comparación con la mujeres. Asimismo, los adultos mayores de 60 años presentaron mayores puntuaciones en autotrascendencia, trato justo y autoaceptación. Se concluye que el sentido de vida es un factor protector ante la crisis e incertidumbre de la pandemia a través de las fuentes de sentido de vida. En esta coyuntura, autotrascendencia y logro son variables que se asociaron de manera significativa con presencia de sentido. / This study aimed to analyze the relationship between meaning in life and the sources of meaning in life during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. 424 volunteers participated (53.1% women and 46.9% men) aged between 18 and 65 years. This is a correlational quantitative investigation. The applied instruments were a sociodemographic datasheet, the MLQ, a 10-item instrument that measures the presence and search for meaning, and the PMP-B, a 21-item instrument that measures seven sources of meaning: relationships, intimacy, achievement, self-acceptance, self-transcendence, fair treatment and religion. The results indicate that the presence of meaning is positively and significantly associated with self-transcendence (r = .51) and achievement (r = .50). The male participants presented higher levels of presence of meaning compared to the women. Likewise, adults over 60 years of age had higher scores in self-transcendence, fair treatment and self-acceptance. It is concluded that the meaning of life is a protective factor against the crisis and uncertainty of the pandemic through the sources of meaning of life. At this juncture, self-transcendence and achievement are variables that were significantly associated with the presence of meaning. / Tesis

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From roughly 1865 to 1926, the forces of European imperialism brought the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca under the scrutiny of non-Muslim interests. The driving force behind this dramatic change was the expansion of the British Empire’s maritime supremacy in the Indian Ocean basin. With the development of steamship travel and the opening of the Suez Canal, colonial authorities became increasingly involved in the surveillance of seaborne pilgrims. During this period, the hajj came to be recognized as both the primary conduit for the spread of epidemic diseases, such as cholera and plague, and a critical outlet for the growth of Pan-Islamic networks being forged between Indian dissidents, pilgrims, and the Ottoman Empire. As a result, the British and Ottoman empires engaged in a struggle for control of the hajj, which would ultimately reshape both the hajj and the political landscapes of the Middle East and South Asia.

This thesis seeks to uncover women’s concerns about chemicals in the household, and, more specifically, in cleaning products. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with women who are primarily responsible for household cleaning and who consciously avoid conventional cleaning products. From a sociological standpoint, the topic remains unstudied. The women were critical of greenwashing and the institutions responsible for chemical regulation. Further, the women’s chemical-free lifestyle defied conventional definitions of activism. Sociological theories of risk are used to help understand women’s avoidance of chemicals. It was found that tenets of the precautionary principle were reflected in their reasoning for avoiding chemicals. Recent biomonitoring and body burden studies have influenced women’s knowledge of chemical risk and their decision to avoid them. The thesis demonstrates that risk-management, in this context, has become an individualized pursuit reflective of the neo-liberal ideology informing chemical regulation. / Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Introduktion: Mäns våld mot kvinnor är ett globalt folkhälsoproblem och ett brott mot mänskliga rättigheter. Under 2020-2021, påverkas hela världen av covid-19-pandemin, med restriktioner som hemkarantän och arbeta hemifrån har detta även resulterat i en social isolering, minskat socialt stödsystem samt ökat våld mot kvinnor. Vilket i sin tur innebär att situationen för våldsutsatta kvinnor riskerar att förvärras. Av de kvinnor som utsätts för våldsbrott, inträffar tre av fyra incidenter i kvinnans egen bostad. Detta innebär att för en kvinna är det hennes egna hem som i statistiken är den farligaste platsen för henne att befinna sig. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att belysa covid-19-pandemins konsekvenser av mäns våld mot kvinnor i nära relationer. Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudie med en tematisk analys baserad på tio vetenskapliga originalartiklar. Resultat: Samtliga artiklar rapporterade psykiskt våld som den formen av våldshandling som både ökat och nyttjades mest av män i våld mot kvinnor, men mycket tyder på att mörkertalet för mäns våld mot kvinnor i nära relationer i samband med covid-19 är globalt mycket större än vad som framkommit i dessa studier. Slutsats: Den aktuella studiens resultat fann ett begränsat stöd för sambandet mellan hypoteser i förhållandet mellan olika samhällsåtgärder under covid-19-pandemin och vissa socioekonomiska faktorer, på mäns våld mot kvinnor. När de socioekonomiska faktorerna påverkades av en pandemi samtidigt som den ekonomiska stressen uppkom, ökade mäns våld mot kvinnor. Psykiskt våld var den formen som rapporterades både ökat och användes mest av män i utövandet av våld mot kvinnor under covid-19-pandemin. / Introduction: Men's violence against women is a global public health problem and a violation of human rights. In 2020-2021, the entire world is affected by the covid-19-pandemic. Restrictions such as home quarantine and working from home have resulted in social isolation, reduced social support, and increased violence against women. This indicates that the situation for abused women is in danger of deteriorating. Of women who are victims of violence, three of four incidents occur in the woman's own home. This means that for a woman, her own home is the most dangerous place for her to be. Aim: This analysis aims to clarify the covid-19-pandemic's consequences of men's violence against women in intimate relationships. Methods: A systematic review with a thematic analysis based on ten scientific original articles. Results: All articles reported psychological violence as the form of violence that increased and was used the most by men in violence against women. Data indicate that the magnitude of men's violence against women in connection with covid-19 is globally large. Conclusion: The results of the current study found limited support for the hypotheses in the relationship between different society restrictions in connections with the covid-19-pandemic and socio-economic factors on men's violence against women. When the socio-economic factors were affected by the pandemic and at the same time experienced economic stress, men's violence against women increased. Psychological violence was the form of violence that was, reported to be used the most by men in their violence against women during the covid-19-pandemic

År 2020 drabbades världen av Covid-19. Spridningen av viruset resulterade i att många länder upprättade en lockdown. Detta påverkade sjöfartsbranschen negativt och ställde till med problem när folk blev sjuka. Detta är på grund av den unika miljön som finns ombord på fartyg. Syftet med studien var att analysera och utvärdera hur olika fartyg och rederier agerade under covid-19-pandemin med fokus på effektivitet, framgång och problem när det kommer till smittskydd. Studiens frågeställningar berörde hur rederiers existerande smittskyddsplaner såg ut och huruvida de kan förbättras, vilka lärdomar som kan dras om smittspridning ombord på fartyg och huruvida en förbättrad smittskyddsplan kan konstrueras utifrån de som redan existerar. En kvalitativ metod i form av granskning och inläsning av studier i området smittspridning i allmänhet samt studier om utbrott av covid-19 ombord på fartyg. Smittskyddsplaner samlades in genom ett mailutskick till svenska rederier. Resultatet visar att rederierna efterlevde många av WHO:s riktlinjer där de även implementerade egna tillägg till den ombordhavna smittskyddsplanen. Vi kom även fram till att landbaserad assistans är en viktig komponent för att kunna bekämpa smittspridning ombord. / In 2020, the world was struck by Covid-19. The spread of the virus resulted with many countries establishing  lockdowns. This negatively affected the shipping industry and caused problems when people got sick. This is because of the unique environment that exists on board ships. The purpose of the study was to analyze and evaluate how different ships and shipping companies acted during the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on efficiency, success and problems when it came to controlling the spread of infections. The study's questions concerned how shipping companies' infection control plans were complied with and whether they can be improved, what lessons can be learned about the spread of infections on board ships and whether an improved infection control plan can be constructed from those that already exist. A qualitative method of reviewing and reading studies in the field of infection control in general and studies on COVID-19 outbreaks on board ships. Infection control plans were collected through a mailing to Swedish shipping companies. The results showed that the shipping companies complied with many of the WHO's guidelines where they also implemented their own additions to the on-board infection control plan. We also came to the conclusion that land-based assistance is an important component for combating the spread of infections on board.