published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Design and Management

This dissertation focuses on two main research questions related to the effect of a factor in a local labor market. Both relate to a finding of Black et al. (2014) that married women are less likely to work in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with more traffic congestion. The first essay evaluates the appropriateness of an MSA as a geographical entity in estimating the effect of congestion on labor supply of married women. One concern with such aggregated data is that they do not take into account within-city variation in congestion. In order to address this issue, I replicate the works by Black et al. (2014) at smaller geographical levels. Once the coefficient on commute time at each level is estimated, I compare the coefficients from smaller geographical entities with one from the MSA to examine if they are statistically similar. I find that an MSA is a geographically proper unity when the effect of commute time on the LFP of married women is examined. Additionally, I explore whether commuting time has also a significant effect on other related to labor market issues. First, I find longer commuting time is associated with shorter weekly working time of high school educated women. Secondly, fewer married women are self-employed in the area with longer commuting time. The second essay begins with the possibility of correlation between congestion and the error term in the estimation equation by Black et al. (2014). The coefficient on congestion in their equation might be biased due to the endogeneity problem. I employ a structural approach with a multinomial logit in order to deal with the endogeneity issue. By examining the effect of congestion and its interaction term on city-specific fixed effects that can be estimated using a discrete-choice model of residential decision, I find that the negative relationship between congestion and labor supply of married women discovered by Black et al. (2014) is partially true. The effect of congestion is statistically uncertain or depends on the model specifications, with the exception of a finding that married women with children are especially responsive to the effect of traffic congestion on their willingness to work.

Cheap water, massive federal subsidies and political clout have sustained rice farming in the lower Colorado River basin for decades, but now the industry is in a precarious situation. Drought, population growth upstream and economic boom in Austin are pushing out the practice because of increasing demand for Texas’ scarce water resources. The tightening supply of water raised questions about the sustainability of producing such a water intensive crop in the state. Drought has cut off the cheap water to farmers for three years, and a mobilized coalition of upper river basin interests is calling for a permanent end to subsidized water. It’s increasingly clear that the politics of water in a drought-prone future is likely to side with cities, where voters are heavily concentrated. Rice farmers have scrambled to adapt. Larger rice farms have switched to groundwater. Some farmers have swapped rice for corn, milo or soybeans to keep their income. Crop insurance, which made up for at least 55 percent of the money lost in drought, softened the blow for rice farmers. But revenues in rice-related industries in Wharton, Matagorda and Colorado counties have dropped sharply and some businesses have already packed it in. These new realities cast uncertainties throughout the lower river basin, where locals fear this way of life is disappearing. / text

<p><b>Context</b>. This thesis takes an opportunity perspective. Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID) has showed potential in enhancing and optimizing supply chains. For Pan Nordic Logistics (PNL), this represents an interesting opportunity and a possibility to enhance goods flow, increase quality, and gain competitive advantage.</p><p><b>The study</b>. This study has looked at how RFID could benefit PNL. A number of opportunities have been identified. Of these opportunities, the ‘Hub’ in Jönköping has been analyzed in further detail. The current logistics process has been mapped out in order to determine where in the logistics process the technology could have the optimal impact. Since it is not possible to perform a full financial evaluation without benchmarking and measuring the effects of RFID, a framework have been provided for future measurement, evaluation, and implementation.</p><p><b>Findings and recommendations</b>. This study concludes that an RFID implementation at the ‘Hub’ in Jönköping is ‘most likely’ to be financially feasible. RFID is a promising technology that should be taken to the next level. A small-scale implementation is recommended in order to ‘try out’ the technology and to fully evaluate how it could be adapted to fit existing solutions of PNL such as computer systems. If implemented, this trial should serve to map out the financial side of the technology using the provided framework. It is currently neither possible, nor feasible to fully understand the financial impact of the technology. Such a forecast would be imprecise and possible misleading.</p>

3 pp. / Arizona Well Owner's Guide to Water Supply / To develop a ground water resource, it is necessary to design and construct a well capable of yielding a pumping rate compatible with the needs of the water well owner. Sufficient and sustained well yields are highly dependent on the characteristics of the aquifer, the construction of the well, and the maintenance of the well. Causes of low-yielding wells are explained and practices to restore well performance are recommended.

Explicit parameterizations of labor supply are specified and estimated on a sample of single unattached individuals using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and a generalized Tobit maximum likelihood method which is consistent under the assumption that employed hours are exogenous. Results of these estimations are then used to compute triangle approximation and direct closed form solutions for labor market constraint compensation. Underemployment compensation estimates are generated and compared to actual and hypothetical payments which would accrue under the UI systems of representative states. Certain compensation results for overemployment are also offered. Where they are directly comparable, results from Tobit estimation of the basic labor supply relations are found to strictly dominate ordinary least squares (OLS) results in terms of efficiency. While the OLS and Tobit parameter estimates differ dramatically in most cases, the latter are consistent with the bulk of recent empirical labor supply research. A corollary purpose of estimating the several labor supply specifications is the search for an appropriate structure of preferences to be used in modeling the labor-leisure choice problem. Direct likelihood ratio tests yielded no best form, but suggested that more flexible parameterizations are to be desired. Results on compensation amounts tend to support accepted standards of UI benefit adequacy. For all levels of unemployment the direct compensation results suggested that "one-half gross wage replacement" would slightly overcompensate individuals from a utility based perspective.

This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

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