The issue of immigration is arguably one of the most loaded political issues. Not only for several member states of the European union but since the Dublin-agreement fell apart, maybe also for the union as a whole. The growing number of anti-immigrant parties on the rise have intensified the interest by scholars in the issue of anti-immigrant sentiments and its explanations, and recently, trust has been found to constitute one of the strongest explanatory variables for the attitudes toward immigration.    But although the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence are there from separate fields of research, the link between voluntary associations, trust and support for immigration has not yet been connected. The idea of associations as a generator for “civic virtues” has been influential in the field of political science. But could the virtues fostered in associations have an impact in the attitudes toward immigration as well?    By using data from the SOM-institutes national survey of 2016, this study conducts a quantitative investigation on an individual-level to the relationship between associations, trust and anti-immigrant sentiments. The study’s findings suggest that there is a significant positive relationship between membership in associations that partially is mediated by trust, and somewhat surprisingly, the study finds there may be something else to associational membership that has an significant impact on trust. Lastly, some theoretical arguments are provided to attribute this “something else”-effect to Putnam’s second civic virtue “generalized reciprocity”.

The diploma thesis focuses on the relation of gender and health. Attitudes and behavioral manifestations associated with the male or female roles of individual personalities in society are one of the factors that affect human health and the length of life. The thesis maps the situation in the Czech Republic - whether there is a policy aimed at reducing gender inequalities in the use of health services, and whether differences between women and men in needs and in attitudes to their health are reflected. The thesis is based on the theory of implementation focusing on the identification of barriers to successful implementation, the concept of health determinants and gender mainstreaming. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were applied. The primary data was collected through both expert interviews and written comments of experts. Among the secondary data, strategic public policy documents and published statistics were key. It has been found that the Czech Republic adopted strategic goals in relation to gender inequalities, but there is no adequate action to achieve them. Several barriers have also been identified that can make it difficult or impossible to meet those strategic goals. These barriers were divided into two main groups: subjective and objective barriers.

This thesis investigates the impact of social determinants on life expectancy in 16 transition economies from 1995 to 2012 by a panel data regression analysis. The regression result suggests that, air quality, coverage for tertiary education, spending in health care have statistically positive associations with life expectancy. To be specific, 1 microgram per cubic meter reduction in PM 2.5 air pollution(mean annual exposure) is associated with a gain of 2.16 months of life expectancy at birth. 100 dollars increase in health expenditure per capita is associated with a gain of 2.4 months of life expectancy at birth. 10% points increase in the gross enrolment ratio for tertiary school is associated with a gain of 3.6 months of life expectancy. But the proxy variable of democracy(Unified Democracy Sores), Economic Freedom and out-of-pocket health expenditure are not significant factors of life expectancy.

This paper investigated the change in corporate debt levels in South Africa from 1994 to 2016. Included is an analysis of factors that companies take into consideration when determining the company's capital structure. This study used data from companies, largely from the mining sector, within sectors listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), including chemicals, general industries, oil and gas. Four different leverage measures were used to determine the change in capital structure for the period under review, as well as six of the most commonly used determinants of capital structure. A high-level interpretation of the results reflected the following; a slight but relatively consistent increase in the use of debt relative to equity over the period for both the total sample and the mining sector. An increase in the use of long- relative to short term debt was also found, as well as a convergence between the use of current and non-current liabilities. Results from the analysis of the capital structure determinants varied, with some showing statistical significance. Asset tangibility was positively correlated to debt, while profitability and growth had a negative relationship. The relationship between company size, tax and cost of debt and leverage was varied.

In the past decade, the Somali Canadian community has experienced a heightened rate of youth violence. Since 2005 several dozen young Somali men have lost their lives. Most of the incidents occurred in Edmonton and Toronto, with sporadic incidents in Ottawa as well. The violence, mostly concentrated in northern Alberta, attracted sustained media attention which, in turn, led to public and private discussions within the Somali community. This study explores the determinants of youth involvement in violence and related criminal activities, as well as the impact of that violence on the families of its victims and perpetrators, and the larger Somali community. The study’s design consisted of in-depth interviews with Somali Canadians and non-Somali key informants, in the three cities where the majority of the Somali population resides, to elicit their explanations of the violence, and their perceptions of its impact. Results indicate that the proximal determinant of the violence was the young men’s participation in the drug trade in northern Alberta. Distally, determinants of the violence link three intersecting themes: poverty, racialization and gender. Poverty and racism marked the early lives of the male youth and their families in Ontario. The resettlement barriers experienced by first generation Somali refugees, the racism that this community and its youth encountered in public institutions such as schools, the criminal justice system and the media, and the anti-poor posture of neoliberalism, combined to create vulnerabilities to risky behaviour in male youth. My analysis suggests that young men entered the drug trade and/or participated in criminal activities in order to fill material needs and enhance their self-esteem. The inequities that underpin the determinants of violence require remedy at multiple levels. I propose an evidence-based population health framework for the prevention of youth violence, and identify interactive levels (individual, community, institutional, societal) at which to target prevention and intervention efforts.

Background/Rationale: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends universal surveillance of social determinants of health in primary care. Addressing these determinants is likely crucial to reducing extant health disparities. Such screening in urban pediatric primary care has been shown to increase access to relevant resources for families when combined with provider training in using a community resource binder (Garg et al., 2007). However, resources in more rural areas are often scarce and helping families navigate a complex resource system often requires a more individualized approach. Additionally, in an increasingly screener heavy pediatric environment, social determinant screeners that are comprehensive but brief are needed to reduce the burden on both patients and providers. Methods/Results: A brief TEAM Care social determinants screener protocol was developed to meet the needs of families presenting to ETSU Pediatrics. Our clinic serves primarily low income families, many of which live in ruralareas. During the first eight months of data collection, 2043 TEAM Care screeners were administered at annual well child checks. The prevalence of caregiver endorsed concerns was as follows: financial concerns impacting ability to pay for food, housing, or utilities (7%), transportation problems (4%), caregiver depression (4%), concerns about caregiver drug/alcohol use (2%), domestic violence (1%), and literacy problems (1%). 13.4% of caregivers endorsed at least one concern on the screener. Caregivers who endorsed a concern were provided individualized resources via a warm handoff or phone call by integrated social work interns. Interns were available on an ongoing basis to check in with families, adjust resource recommendations as needed, and coordinate care with the child’s primary care physician. Our poster will report on an anticipated 3000 TEAM Care screeners collected during the first year of administration. Conclusion: Last year at CFHA, we reported the initiation of the TEAM Care Screener, modeled after the WE CARE Screener (Garg et al., 2007) and designed to screen for social determinants of health in pediatric primary care via six items. Previous preliminary reports of this study included data from approximately 1000 screeners. A one year report of the TEAM Care screener will be completed in September 2017, making it ideal timing to present at CFHA in October 2017. We anticipate reporting prevalence data from 3000 screeners and incorporating results from a provider satisfaction survey of the screener process. The TEAM Care screener process was designed to maximize efficiency for families and providers, and the addition of social work interns ensures that families who endorse needs receive individualized help. A future goal is to more systematically follow up with families to determine how many were connected to recommended resources.

This thesis analyses the biggest reward-based crowdfunding platform in the Czech Repub- lic using textual tools on uniquely collected microdata. The research question investigates which of the attributes of project campaigns (including the language style of project de- scriptions) have a significant impact on successful funding. Empirical analysis combines results of Bayesian Model Averaging and logistic regression. Results reveal that firstly, language style of project descriptions does not possess any significant predictive power. Secondly, that utilization of a video, size of pledging goal, or the number of contributors have a significant effect on the campaign's success, which is in line with current literature. Thirdly, it has proven to be true that project categorization plays an important role as well. On the contrary, the findings do not imply any causal claims, such as whether those factors persuade contributors to donate money. JEL Classification G23 Keywords crowdfunding, rewards, success determinants, natural language processing Author's e-mail t.hudcova@gmail.com Supervisor's e-mail polakpet@gmail.com

The purpose of this research is to provide an understanding of the relationship that may exist between the institutional determinants and the inward flow of FDI in France. Indeed, the French government and various decisions-makers have attributed the unique growth of the inward flow of FDI to the institutional quality of the country. Moreover, to support this assumption, scholars and experts describe France as an institutionally powerful country. Therefore, in order to test this assumption, we have designed an explanatory analysis of the institutional determinants’ indexes from the WGIs over the period from 2005 to 2018 to test their likely relationship with the FDI inflows in France using descriptive, correlation and regression analyses. This study is based on the rich and furnished literature addressing the role of institutional characteristics in attracting FDI. Although our research has been impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic in terms of data collection and analyses, the corroborating evidences from the empirical findings do not validate the raised hypotheses and bring out many practical implications beneficial for national and local policymakers as well as companies’ managers in the worldwide FDI location competition.

No description available.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The emergence and development of electronic health records have contributed to an abundance of patient data that can greatly be used and analyzed to promote health outcomes and even eliminate health disparities. However, challenges exist in the data received with factors such as data inconsistencies, accuracy issues, and unstructured formatting being evident. Furthermore, the current electronic health records and clinical information systems that are present do not contain the social determinants of health that may enhance our understanding of the characteristics and mechanisms of disease risk and transmission as well as health disparities research. Linkage to external population health databases to incorporate these social determinants of health is often necessary. This study provides an opportunity to identify and analyze health disparities using geographical information systems on two important sexually transmitted diseases in chlamydia and gonorrhea using Marion County, Indiana as the geographical location of interest. Population health data from the Social Assets and Vulnerabilities Indicators community information system and electronic health record data from the Indiana Network for Patient Care will be merged to measure the distribution and variability of greatest chlamydia and gonorrhea risk and to determine where the greatest areas of health disparities exist. A series of both statistical and spatial statistical methods such as a longitudinal measurement of health disparity through the Gini index, a hot-spot and cluster analysis, and a geographically weighted regression will be conducted in this study. The outcome and broader impact of this research will contribute to enhanced surveillance and increased effective strategies in identifying the level of health disparities for sexually transmitted diseases in vulnerable localities and high-risk communities. Additionally, the findings from this study will lead to improved standardization and accuracy in data collection to facilitate subsequent studies involving multiple disparate data sources. Finally, this study will likely introduce ideas for potential social determinants of health to be incorporated into electronic health records and clinical information systems.