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This doctoral dissertation deals with causal modelling in the social sciences. The specific question addressed here is: what is the notion, or the rationale, of causality involved in causal models? The answer to that epistemological query emerges from a careful analysis of the social science methodology, of a number of paradigmatic case studies and of the philosophical literature. The main result is the development of the rationale of causality as the measure of variation. This rationale conveys the idea that to test – i.e. to confirm or disconfirm – causal hypotheses, social scientists test specific variations among variables of interest. The notion of variation is shown to be embedded in the scheme of reasoning of probabilistic theories of causality, in the logic of structural equation models and covariance structure models, and is also shown to be latent in many philosophical accounts. Further, the rationale of causality as measure of variation leaves room for a number of epistemological consequences about the warranty of the causal interpretation of structural models, the levels of causation, and the interpretation of probability. Firstly, it is argued that what guarantees the causal interpretation is the sophisticated apparatus of causal models, which is made of statistical, extra-statistical and causal assumptions, of a background context, of a conceptual hypothesis and of a hypothetico-deductive methodology. Next, a novel defence of twofold causality is provided and a principle to connect population-level causal claims and individual-level causal claims is offered. Last, a Bayesian interpretation of probability is defended, in particular, it is argued that empirically-based Bayesianism is the interpretation that best fit the epistemology of causality here presented. The rationale of variation is finally shown to be involved or at least consistent with a number of alternative accounts of causality; notably, with the mechanist and counterfactual approach, with agency-manipulability theories and epistemic causality, with singularist accounts and with causal analysis by contingency tables.

Agricultural cooperatives are a unique form of business whose performance is tied closely to the financial health of their farmer members. The changing business environment in Texas and other parts of the Midwest has put strain on farm and ranch owners as well as the cooperatives that serve them. As margins diminish and customer base grows smaller, cooperatives must become more financially efficient to remain economically viable. This study was aimed at identifying those operational decisions and company characteristics that separate successful, growing cooperative agribusinesses from stagnant ones through empirical analysis. In addition, through the use of directed acyclic graphs and econometric techniques, the study sought to explain the connection of manager practices and perceptions to organizational performance. The analysis was based on a survey of managers in the state of Texas operating a diverse group of agricultural cooperatives. It did not include financial or utilities cooperatives. The results indicated that successful cooperatives were larger in size, had a smaller number of close competitors, and perceived loyalty to be a large issue for the cooperative. Strategic planning was utilized equally by successful and stagnant cooperatives. Successful cooperatives were more apt to have a formal equity redemption plan, but this did not appear to have a significant impact on financial performance. The directed graphs showed a strong impact of manager perceptions in the area of member loyalty and performance. Further econometric analysis brought us to the conclusion that performance group and perceptions have some measurable impact in the areas of competition and loyalty. This is evidenced by the coefficients of the slope and intercept shifters for performance group being different from zero. An understanding of the factors that have the greatest impact on performance, such as competition and loyalty, can assist cooperative management teams in making operational decisions to mitigate their greatest risks and weaknesses, leading to a stronger financial position.

This dissertation begins with the Islamic philosopher Avicenna, who transforms Aristotle’s conception of the efficient cause in the Metaphysics of his Shifā’. Its first goal is to examine the arguments which constitute Avicenna’s metaphysical account of agency. Its second goal is to examine Scholastic disputes about the causal powers of natural agents that arise in connection with his view. In its final chapter, it relates Medieval debates about efficient causality to Descartes’ account of the causal powers of bodies. One of the original features of Avicenna’s account of agency is his argument for the claim that the existence of contingent things requires an efficient cause. This aspect of his view was influential in the Latin West. Avicenna also holds that the cause of the existence of contingent things is an incorporeal principle, which he describes as an agent who “bestows forms”. I argue that Avicenna fails to resolve the tension between this claim and his commitment to an Aristotelian account of generation. This failure sets the stage for Avicenna’s role in Scholastic disputes about the causal powers of natural agents in cases of generation. Both Aquinas and Suarez attribute to Avicenna the view that generation requires the creation of form. They argue that generation occurs through natural processes. Suarez’s view includes the claim that the substantial form of a substance is an immediate efficient cause of its actions. Suarez defends this claim against other Aristotelians, who hold that a substantial form gives being to a composite substance as a formal cause and that the actions of substances depend directly on their accidents alone. Descartes claims in his letter to Regius of January 1642 that it is absurd to hold that substantial forms are immediate principles of action. He thinks that bodies act in virtue of their modes. Here Descartes sides with those Aristotelians who hold that the actions of substances depend directly on their accidents alone. I argue that this aspect of Descartes’ view tells against Daniel Garber’s claim that his denial of substantial forms deprives bodies of causal efficacy.

This dissertation begins with the Islamic philosopher Avicenna, who transforms Aristotle’s conception of the efficient cause in the Metaphysics of his Shifā’. Its first goal is to examine the arguments which constitute Avicenna’s metaphysical account of agency. Its second goal is to examine Scholastic disputes about the causal powers of natural agents that arise in connection with his view. In its final chapter, it relates Medieval debates about efficient causality to Descartes’ account of the causal powers of bodies. One of the original features of Avicenna’s account of agency is his argument for the claim that the existence of contingent things requires an efficient cause. This aspect of his view was influential in the Latin West. Avicenna also holds that the cause of the existence of contingent things is an incorporeal principle, which he describes as an agent who “bestows forms”. I argue that Avicenna fails to resolve the tension between this claim and his commitment to an Aristotelian account of generation. This failure sets the stage for Avicenna’s role in Scholastic disputes about the causal powers of natural agents in cases of generation. Both Aquinas and Suarez attribute to Avicenna the view that generation requires the creation of form. They argue that generation occurs through natural processes. Suarez’s view includes the claim that the substantial form of a substance is an immediate efficient cause of its actions. Suarez defends this claim against other Aristotelians, who hold that a substantial form gives being to a composite substance as a formal cause and that the actions of substances depend directly on their accidents alone. Descartes claims in his letter to Regius of January 1642 that it is absurd to hold that substantial forms are immediate principles of action. He thinks that bodies act in virtue of their modes. Here Descartes sides with those Aristotelians who hold that the actions of substances depend directly on their accidents alone. I argue that this aspect of Descartes’ view tells against Daniel Garber’s claim that his denial of substantial forms deprives bodies of causal efficacy.

Agricultural cooperatives are a unique form of business whose performance is tied closely to the financial health of their farmer members. The changing business environment in Texas and other parts of the Midwest has put strain on farm and ranch owners as well as the cooperatives that serve them. As margins diminish and customer base grows smaller, cooperatives must become more financially efficient to remain economically viable. This study was aimed at identifying those operational decisions and company characteristics that separate successful, growing cooperative agribusinesses from stagnant ones through empirical analysis. In addition, through the use of directed acyclic graphs and econometric techniques, the study sought to explain the connection of manager practices and perceptions to organizational performance. The analysis was based on a survey of managers in the state of Texas operating a diverse group of agricultural cooperatives. It did not include financial or utilities cooperatives. The results indicated that successful cooperatives were larger in size, had a smaller number of close competitors, and perceived loyalty to be a large issue for the cooperative. Strategic planning was utilized equally by successful and stagnant cooperatives. Successful cooperatives were more apt to have a formal equity redemption plan, but this did not appear to have a significant impact on financial performance. The directed graphs showed a strong impact of manager perceptions in the area of member loyalty and performance. Further econometric analysis brought us to the conclusion that performance group and perceptions have some measurable impact in the areas of competition and loyalty. This is evidenced by the coefficients of the slope and intercept shifters for performance group being different from zero. An understanding of the factors that have the greatest impact on performance, such as competition and loyalty, can assist cooperative management teams in making operational decisions to mitigate their greatest risks and weaknesses, leading to a stronger financial position.

The role of land-use and related policies in reducing automobile dependence has been the subject of heated policy debate for over two decades. Previous research has shed light on the correlations between land-use and travel. Yet a crucial knowledge gap still exists in establishing causality between the two. Do changes in land-use characteristics cause behavioral changes in individuals’ decisions on what transportation means to use for travel? How does land-use as a contextual factor shape the decision process and outcome of trip frequency and travel mode choice? These questions remain largely unanswered. Attempting to fill the gap, this study applied the directed acyclic graphs method to identify the causal relationship between land-use and travel in the 9-county Dallas- Fort Worth (D-FW) metropolitan area. The logit captivity (LC) model, an extension to the conventional multinomial logit, was utilized to capture the contribution of land-use in affecting individuals’ decisions on travel mode choice. All the data for this study were obtained from the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG). Evidence from the D-FW region confirms to a certain extent the causal effects of land-use on travel. For work trips, increases in regional accessibility, job density and share of commercial land-use reduce the use of automobiles. Higher regional accessibility, however, causes households to generate automobile trips and thus leads to the increase in vehicle miles of travel (VMT). For non-work trips, population density, job density and regional accessibility are direct causes of the choice of automobile, while only regional accessibility is causally connected to reducing automobile trips and VMT. The logit captivity model results indicate that land-use contributes to captive-driving choices for home-based work trips. Lack of land-use mix at trip origins increases the probabilities of trip-makers being captive to the automobile from 0.06% to 5.62% for driving-alone and from 0.38% to 3.55% for shared-ride.