This dissertation contains three essays on the political economy and economic development in Iran. In the first paper, I investigate the political resource curse. The comprehensive literature on the relationship between democracy and income counts oil-rich countries in Middle East as outliers: the abundance of funds for the states and the absence of effective tax systems hold back the formation of democracy. But democracy is more than a purely political system. Sustainable democracy requires a set of social norms and intra-citizen relationships that is called social capital. Emphasizing the importance of the formation of social capital on the democratization of a society, I use female labor force participation as a proxy for social capital. Using survival analysis, I show that oil revenue delays the formation of the social capital required for the democracy. In the second paper, I inspect the trend and patterns of group-based inequality in Iran. Inequality among groups can be a source of conflict and instability. Iran is a habitat of ethnic diversity and experiences stable peaceful relationships among its ethnicities, while its neighbors experience many ethnic conflicts. In this study, we compute three measures of group-based inequality for the following outcomes: education, assets, income, and expenditure per capita. The groups are defined based on gender, ethnicity/language (Persian, Azeri, and other ethnic minorities), and region (urban versus rural and capital city versus other places). The data are 23 years of annual Household Expenditure and Income Surveys (HEIS) from 1990 through 2012. Inequality between groups based on religion (Muslim, non-Muslim) and citizenship (Iranian, Non-Iranian) is also studied, using the 2006 census. The analysis of the trend of horizontal inequality reveals substantial reduction in between-group inequalities over the 1990–2012 period. On the other hand, gender based income inequality remains high. The implications and underlying reasons for these results are discussed. The third paper studies one the most serious recent problems facing Iran’s economy: the economic cost of the recent US and UN sanctions. This paper measures the economic cost of the U.N. trade and financial sanctions on Iran’s economy. While there is a substantial literature studying how sanctions impact the economies of target states, the aggregate economic cost of sanctions remains underexplored. This study provides a new measure of the cost of sanctions at the aggregate level, defined as the gap between Iran’s actual GDP and what it would have been without sanctions. Using the synthetic control method of analysis, I replicate Iran’s GDP without sanctions. I demonstrate that, while previous sanctions had a negligible impact, Iran’s GDP fell markedly following the financial sanctions of 2010. / PHD / This dissertation contains three essays on the political economy and economic development. The first paper studies the negative relationship between democracy and oil-income. Formation of democracy requires strong role of citizens in governing the society which is called social capital. I show that oil revenue delays the formation of the social capital, and therefore delays democratization. In the second paper, I inspect the trend and patterns of group-based inequality in Iran. Inequality among groups is counted as a source of conflict and instability. Iran is a habitat of ethnic diversity which experiences stability and almost peaceful relationships among its ethnicities, while its neighbors experience many ethnic conflicts. This study shows substantial reduction in between-group inequalities over the 1990–2012 period. On the other hand, gender based income inequality remains high. The third paper measures the economic cost of the U.N. trade and financial sanctions on Iran’s economy. I estimate the amount by which Iran’s GDP decreased following the financial sanctions of 2010.

This dissertation explores the relationship between scenario planning and the building of new social capital in addressing potential or actually perceived environmental turbulence. In particular, the research explores how, when environments around organizations risk unpredictable and disruptive change, people in those organizations can act to develop new social capital that contributes to their survival. In this research, I present scenario planning as a mechanism for organizations to build this new social capital. Scholars have suggested that certain forms of social capital are more conducive to being directly built than others. My research indicates that scenario planning entails aspects which, in effect, are direct investments in creating the cognitive social capital resources that make new sense of turbulence. These resources are created with the scenario process articulating new conceptual framings and possibilities for the future, thereby re-conceptualizing the situation. The resources enable new shared meanings to be created - directly building the cognitive dimension of new social capital while enabling the more researched structural and relational dimensions to be built as by-products. This dissertation also suggests that social capital can be built more quickly than researchers have previously indicated. By directly investing in the creation of new shared meanings, scenario planning can build new social capital faster than the centuries that Putnam and generations that Emery and Trist suggested were needed. The dissertation’s contribution to the social capital literature is to suggest how new social capital, by foregrounding the cognitive dimension, can be purposefully and more quickly built to address turbulent conditions. The contribution to the scenario planning literature is to propose a scholarly explanation for how scenario planning builds new social capital, suggested in practice but not yet theorized, and in so doing, provide practitioners with a new purpose to strengthen the return on investments these efforts require.

Two contrasting notions have been put forward on how social capital may influence individual effectiveness in organizations. Burt (1992) sets forth the informational and control advantages that are possible by building an open network characterized by large numbers of structural holes. In contrast, Coleman (1990) and Simmel (1950) have suggested that network closure, exemplified by large numbers of Simmelian ties, enables actors to develop trust, cohesiveness, and norms which contribute to effectiveness. Simmelian ties are strong, reciprocal ties shared by three actors. It is proposed that an actor's network cannot be dominated by both structural holes and Simmelian ties. Thus, this study examines whether a moderating variable is at work. It is proposed that the actor's task interdependence in the workplace influences the relationship between network closure and individual effectiveness. Actors in less task interdependent environments will benefit especially from the information and control benefits afforded by a network characterized by structural holes. Conversely, actors in highly interdependent environments will benefit especially from the creation of trust and cooperation that result from large numbers of Simmelian ties. Data was collected on 113 subjects in three organizations. Subjects were asked to rate the strength of their relationship with all organization members and their own level of task interdependence. Contrary to expectations, nearly all subjects reported high levels of task interdependence. Raters in each organization provided individual effectiveness measures for all subjects. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical set regression and bivariate correlation. The results indicated support for the hypothesized relationship of Simmelian ties with task interdependence. When examining all cases, no support was found for the hypothesized relationship of structural holes and Simmelian ties with individual effectiveness and of structural holes with task interdependence. Nonetheless, additional analyses provided some indication of an association between Simmelian ties and individual effectiveness. Task interdependence did not moderate the relationships between either Simmelian ties or structural holes and individual effectiveness.

Abstract Attracting and developing information technology (IT) professionals is one of the top concerns for companies. Although much research has been conducted about the job behavior and attitudes of IT professionals over the last three decades, findings are inconclusive and contradictory. This suggests that something may be missing in how we examine this phenomenon. Most of this research is drawn from theories of motivation, very little examines the effect of social relationships on IT professionals' behavior and attitude. Yet, social capital theory suggests that job behavior and attitude may be greatly influenced by these relationships. This suggests that IT professionals' social capital warrants empirical examination. The primary research question that this dissertation addresses is how social capital affects IT professionals' work attitude and behavior including job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, job performance and turnover intention. The research model in this dissertation examines the influence of three aspects of social capital on IT professionals' job attitude and work behavior: tie strength, the number of ties and the structural holes. Data were collected from 129 IT professionals from a range of jobs, organizations and industries. Results indicate that tie strength in the organization of an IT professional is positively related to job satisfaction. The number of ties outside an organization an IT professional has is also positively related to job performance. However, hypotheses about organizational citizenship behavior and turnover intention are not supported. Several implications for organizational executives and managers are offered based on findings.

This thesis examines the association between religiosity and academic achievement among adolescents. Recent research demonstrates a positive association between religiosity and academic success. However, some studies show that this is due to family and community factors; for example, variation in levels of family capital among religious affiliates may explain this association. Yet, whether religious factors affect academic achievement among adolescents may also be due to the concordance or discordance of religiosity among parents and their children. Using two years of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) (n=8,051), I examine the association between adolescent religiosity, parent religiosity, and academic achievement, in light of the effects of family and community capital. The results indicate that the association between student religiosity and academic achievement is largely due to family social capital, but the association between academic achievement and religious homogamy between parents and adolescents is largely independent of family and community social capital. In particular, the highest achievement is predicted when parents and adolescents report similar levels of religiosity; the lowest when parents report high religiosity and adolescents report low religiosity.

The research in this thesis investigates the relationship between social capital and the ability of a community food system (CFS) to contribute to broad community development goals. Social capital is understood to be an intangible resource that proliferates from strong relationships stocked with trust, reciprocity, and cohesiveness. This research presents a journey through the literature to provide an overview of community food systems, the anticipated benefits that can result from adequate expansion, and how the concept of "embeddedness" contributes to development between the CFS and the community at large. The concept of social capital is introduced and discussed as previous researchers have demonstrated the usefulness of social capital building in the context of community and economic development (CED). The literature suggests that social capital can help the community and economic development in six ways that are applicable to CFSs; resource sharing, entrepreneurial activity, human capital, supply chain performance, democratic participation, and economic development. It is proposed that if we wish to have strong CFSs then it is in our best interest to optimize these six attributes within the CFS, and therefore optimize the levels of social capital present in the CFS, too. Social capital in the context of CFS development has been investigated before, however, not from this point of view. I suggest a framework that uses the definition of social capital as one that pertains to the "norms and networks" of a community. This framework is useful in that it helps illustrate how researchers can investigate the level of social capital in a CFS and how that translates to CED gains. This research identifies the norms of a community as relational social capital (rSC) and the networks as structural social capital (sSC). Only rSC is measured in this research to explain the role of social capital in relation to community development objectives, however, it is asserted that sSC is also essential to measure. This thesis helps answer the question, "how can the quality of relationships as measured by the relational social capital influence the performance of a community food system?". The research is qualitative and uses 23 interviews with informants in the Tampa Bay community food system as evidence to suggest that rSC is positively related to the six community and economic development attributes that can strengthen a CFS. Then, it demonstrates the usefulness of the proposed framework to observe the presence of embeddedness that, in combination with social capital, can lead to general community development by means of CFS development.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD), / The confluence of a number of marketplace phenomena has provided the impetus for the selection and conduct of this research. The first is the so called value relevance of intangibles in determining share market performance of publicly listed companies. The growing gap between market and book values has been proposed as an indication of the impact of intangibles on share price values. A second related phenomenon is the increasing reliance on share price appreciation as the principal means for shareholder return as opposed to returns through dividends. This suggests that share prices are becoming an even more critical firm performance measure than traditional accounting-based firm performance measures like return on investment (ROI). A third phenomenon is the rapid growth in marketplace alliances and joint ventures, the number of which has grown rapidly over the past 30 years. The explanation for these phenomena may lie in the concept of corporate social capital (CSC) which, as an intangible asset (IA), has been proposed in several normative studies. CSC has been defined as “the set of resources, tangible or virtual, that accrue to a corporate player through the player’s social relationships, facilitating the attainment of goals” (Leenders & Gabbay, 1999, p3). However, constructs for CSC have only been loosely defined and its impacts on firm performance only minimally empirically tested. This research addresses this gap in the literature. The key aim of this research is to explore the impact of CSC on firm performance. Through the use of CSC as a lens for viewing a firm’s intangibles, several important sub-components of the CSC formulation are exposed. These include a firm’s market centrality (CENT), absorptive capacity (AC), internal capital (INC), human capital (HC) and financial soundness. Therefore, an extended aim for this research is to identify the differential impacts of the CSC sub-components on firm performance. Firm performance was measured as ROI, market-to-book ratios (Tobin’s Q) and total shareholder return (TSR). Overall, the research results indicate that CSC is a significant predictor of firm performance, but falls short of fully explaining the market-to-book value disparity. For this research an innovative computer-supported content analysis (CA) technique was devised to capture a majority of the data required for the empirical research. The use of a commercial news aggregation service, Factiva, and a standard taxonomy of terms for the search, allowed variables for intangible constructs to be derived from a relatively large sample of firms (n=155) from the global information technology services (ITS) sector from 2001 to 2004. Data indices for joint venture or alliance activity, research and development (R&D) activity, HC, INC and external capital (EC) were all developed using this CA approach. The research findings indicated that all things aren’t equal in terms of how the benefits of CSC accrue to different firms in the sector. The research indicated that for larger, more mature firms, financial soundness does not necessarily correlate with improved shareholder return. The inference is that these firms may have reached a plateau in terms of how the market is valuing them. In terms of market centrality, the research indicates that software firms could benefit from building a larger number of alliances and becoming more centrally connected in the marketplace. The reverse is true, however, for larger, more established firms in the non-software sectors. These companies can be penalised for being over-connected, potentially signalling that they are locked into a suite of alliances that will ultimately limit their capacity to innovate and grow. For smaller, potentially loss-making firms, the research indicates that investments in HC are potentially the only investment strategy that could result in improvements in profitability and shareholder return. Investments by such firms in R&D or INC developments are likely to depress shareholder value and therefore should be minimised in favour of HC investments. For larger, more established firms, investment in HC is beneficial for both ROI and TSR. Investments in areas like R&D and INC were found to be only beneficial to those firms who have the financial capacity to afford it. Firms that don’t appear to have the financial resources to support the level of investments they are making in R&D and/or INC were penalised by the market. Overall, the research provides specific insights into the links between firms and their performance, through appropriate investments in CSC. In terms of research practice, this research demonstrates the viability of computer-supported CA. Progress in the development of more intelligent search technologies will provide increasing utility to CA researchers, promising to unlock a vast range of textual source data for researchers that were previously beyond manual CA practices.

Despite the remarkable success of microfinance programs in poverty alleviation, empowering the clients of these programs has proven elusive in many cases. Social capital is a commonly missing, or at least misused, asset within microfinance programs, which often leads to this outcome. Creating and fostering social capital will have a positive influence on empowering microfinance clients. The values espoused by certain Christian theologies can have a considerably positive impact on the creation and fostering of social capital. A Christian-oriented social capital also has the potential to alleviate the ills and correct the failures of a microfinance program’s intent to empower clients. This thesis argues that the values and structure of certain Christian theologies and practices create a type of social capital that increases the likelihood of Christian-based microfinance programs empowering their clients.

Background The role of social capital for promoting health has been extensively studied in recent years but there are few attempts to investigate the possible influence of social capital on HIV prevention,particularly in developing countries. The overall aims of this thesis are to investigate the links between social capital and HIV infection and to contribute to the theoretical framework of the role of social capital for HIV prevention. Methods Key informant interviews with leaders of organizations, networks, social groups and communities and focus group discussions with members and non-members of the social groups and networks were conducted to map out and characterize various forms of social capital that may influenceHIV prevention. A quantitative community survey was carried out in three case communities toestimate the influence of social capital on HIV risk behaviors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to estimate the HIV prevalence in the urban district representing a high HIV prevalence zone to determine the association between social capital and HIV infection. Main findings In early 1990’s many of the social groups in Kagera region were formed because of poverty and many AIDS related deaths. This formation of groups enhanced people’s social and economic support to group members during bereavement and celebrations as well as provided loans that empowered members economically. The social groups also put in place strict rules of conduct, which helped to create new norms, values and trust, which influenced sexual health andthereby enhanced HIV prevention. Formal organizations worked together with social groups and facilitated networking and provided avenues for exchange of information including healtheducation on HIV/AIDS. Individuals who had access to high levels of structural and cognitive social capital were more likely to use condoms with their casual sex partners compared to individuals with access to low levels. Women with access to high levels of structural social capital were more likely to use condoms with casual sex partners compared to those with low levels. Individuals with access to low levels of structural social capital were less likely to be tested for HIV compared to those with access to high levels. However, there was no association between access to cognitive social capital and being tested for HIV. Individuals who had access to low levels of both structural and cognitive social capital were more likely to be HIV positive compared to individuals who had access to high levels with a similar pattern among men and women. Conclusion This thesis indicates that social capital in its structural and cognitive forms is protective to HIV infection and has played an important role in the observed decline in HIV trends in the Kagera region. Structural and cognitive social capital has enabled community members to decrease number of sexual partners, delay sexual debut for the young generation, reduce opportunities for casual sex and empower community members to demand or use condoms. It is recommended that policy makers and programme managers consider involving grassroots’ social groups and networks in the design and delivery of interventions strategies to reduce HIV transmission.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD), / The confluence of a number of marketplace phenomena has provided the impetus for the selection and conduct of this research. The first is the so called value relevance of intangibles in determining share market performance of publicly listed companies. The growing gap between market and book values has been proposed as an indication of the impact of intangibles on share price values. A second related phenomenon is the increasing reliance on share price appreciation as the principal means for shareholder return as opposed to returns through dividends. This suggests that share prices are becoming an even more critical firm performance measure than traditional accounting-based firm performance measures like return on investment (ROI). A third phenomenon is the rapid growth in marketplace alliances and joint ventures, the number of which has grown rapidly over the past 30 years. The explanation for these phenomena may lie in the concept of corporate social capital (CSC) which, as an intangible asset (IA), has been proposed in several normative studies. CSC has been defined as “the set of resources, tangible or virtual, that accrue to a corporate player through the player’s social relationships, facilitating the attainment of goals” (Leenders & Gabbay, 1999, p3). However, constructs for CSC have only been loosely defined and its impacts on firm performance only minimally empirically tested. This research addresses this gap in the literature. The key aim of this research is to explore the impact of CSC on firm performance. Through the use of CSC as a lens for viewing a firm’s intangibles, several important sub-components of the CSC formulation are exposed. These include a firm’s market centrality (CENT), absorptive capacity (AC), internal capital (INC), human capital (HC) and financial soundness. Therefore, an extended aim for this research is to identify the differential impacts of the CSC sub-components on firm performance. Firm performance was measured as ROI, market-to-book ratios (Tobin’s Q) and total shareholder return (TSR). Overall, the research results indicate that CSC is a significant predictor of firm performance, but falls short of fully explaining the market-to-book value disparity. For this research an innovative computer-supported content analysis (CA) technique was devised to capture a majority of the data required for the empirical research. The use of a commercial news aggregation service, Factiva, and a standard taxonomy of terms for the search, allowed variables for intangible constructs to be derived from a relatively large sample of firms (n=155) from the global information technology services (ITS) sector from 2001 to 2004. Data indices for joint venture or alliance activity, research and development (R&D) activity, HC, INC and external capital (EC) were all developed using this CA approach. The research findings indicated that all things aren’t equal in terms of how the benefits of CSC accrue to different firms in the sector. The research indicated that for larger, more mature firms, financial soundness does not necessarily correlate with improved shareholder return. The inference is that these firms may have reached a plateau in terms of how the market is valuing them. In terms of market centrality, the research indicates that software firms could benefit from building a larger number of alliances and becoming more centrally connected in the marketplace. The reverse is true, however, for larger, more established firms in the non-software sectors. These companies can be penalised for being over-connected, potentially signalling that they are locked into a suite of alliances that will ultimately limit their capacity to innovate and grow. For smaller, potentially loss-making firms, the research indicates that investments in HC are potentially the only investment strategy that could result in improvements in profitability and shareholder return. Investments by such firms in R&D or INC developments are likely to depress shareholder value and therefore should be minimised in favour of HC investments. For larger, more established firms, investment in HC is beneficial for both ROI and TSR. Investments in areas like R&D and INC were found to be only beneficial to those firms who have the financial capacity to afford it. Firms that don’t appear to have the financial resources to support the level of investments they are making in R&D and/or INC were penalised by the market. Overall, the research provides specific insights into the links between firms and their performance, through appropriate investments in CSC. In terms of research practice, this research demonstrates the viability of computer-supported CA. Progress in the development of more intelligent search technologies will provide increasing utility to CA researchers, promising to unlock a vast range of textual source data for researchers that were previously beyond manual CA practices.