Corporate governance research suggests that boards of directors play key roles in governing company strategy. Although qualitative research has examined board-management relationships to describe board involvement in strategy, we lack detailed insights into how directors engage with organizational members for governing a complex and long-term issue such as product innovation. Our multiple-case study of four listed pharmaceutical firms reveals a sequential process of board involvement: Directors with deep expertise govern scientific innovation, followed by the full board's involvement in its strategic aspects. The nature of director involvement varies across board levels in terms of the direction (proactive or reactive), timing (regular or spontaneous), and the extent of formality of exchanges between directors and organizational members. Our study contributes to corporate governance research by introducing the concept of board behavioral diversity and by theorizing about the multilevel, structural, and temporal dimensions of board behavior and its relational characteristics.

This essay studies the earnings, human and ethnic capital of immigrants in Sweden and how its transmitted across generations. it focuses on the first-, second-, and third-generation immigrants, were the results indicates that there are differences regarding earnings relative to natives between the generations and how the ethnic-, and human-capital is transmitted across generations. First-generation immigrants had an earning advantage relative to natives, meanwhile the second-, and third-generation faced a disadvantage. One conclusion is that the ethnic capital from the first-generation has a negative impact on the earnings of second-, and third-generation immigrants in Sweden. When measuring the ethnic capital from the second-generation immigrants, the results shows a positive influence on the earnings of the third-generation.

Thesis advisor: Claudia Olivetti / This dissertation tracks a particular public health program and examines the economic causes and consequences of the institution of public health. I follow the United States rollout of county-level health departments (CHDs) over 1908 to 1933 and track the short-run benefits, the long-run benefits, and the factors that led to adoption. At the turn of the twentieth century, rural areas lagged behind urban centers in access to public health services, despite the fact that there had been convergence in urban-rural mortality. With 60 percent of the US population living in rural areas, this lack of public health was a population-wide problem. By 1908 the rural health problem drew national attention from the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) and health-interested private organizations. These organizations targeted rural health conditions by opening local public health departments that were operated by the existing county government. This revolutionary approach initiated the first nationwide rural public health program in United States history. The rollout of health infrastructure improved sanitation and provided access to child health services in under-served areas throughout the US. The sanitation improvements included inspections, hygiene training, and installation of toilets, wells, and drainage. Health services appeared in the form of exams, nutritional consults, immunizations, and midwife hygiene training. Local tax dollars provided the majority of funding for this program, although supplemental support arrived from outside organizations including the USPHS, state governments, the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission (RSC), and the Sheppard-Towner Act. In the first chapter, Taxation, Inequality, and the Provision of Local Public Health, I consider the factors that shaped the appropriation of rural public health. Using digitized county-level records on property values and taxation, I argue that adopting regions had local governments centered around the county as compared to the town or township. Within state, specific counties that adopted this program had more active local governments, as measured by county taxation, county debt, and measured property values. Next, because CHDs provided a bridge between the rural and urban areas of the county, I consider whether the CHDs were redistributive in nature. I find that CHDs operated in areas with higher levels of land and income inequality, which is distinct from what related literature has established with education spending. These results suggest that public programs based on local revenue may help to mitigate disparities within the region of jurisdiction but may exacerbate inequalities between adopting and non-adopting areas. External funding from higher levels of government as well as private donors helped to randomize the effort and spread the health services more evenly between counties. In the second chapter, Explaining Declines in US Rural Mortality, 1910-1933: The Role of County Health Departments, I assess the short-run impact of CHDs in terms of aggregate county-level mortality. Using two novel datasets--CHD administrative records and US county-level rural mortality--I track the rollout of CHDs throughout the United States and use variation in when and where CHDs operated to identify the mortality benefits. With an event study design, I establish that CHD entry led to a decline in infant mortality, but provided little advantage to overall population health. For infants, CHDs prevented two deaths per 1,000 births, which accounts for 8-10% of the period-specific mortality decline. The effect is most substantial in rural-only counties, as well as in the Midwestern region of the United States. In these areas, infant mortality declined by three to four deaths per 1,000 births. In the final chapter, The Long-term Impact of Public Health Measures Targeting Children, I examine whether the public health initiative was effective at improving adult human capital. While previous studies have established the lasting detrimental effect of poor child health, fewer studies have evaluated whether public health programs can mitigate these adverse effects. To address this question, I estimate whether childhood exposure to a public health intervention affects adult income, education, and health. The historical vantage point of the CHD program allows me to follow exposed children through adulthood and observe the life-cycle benefits, including the total lifespan. To estimate the long-term benefits, I use linked census data, World War II enlistment records, and Social Security death records and exploit variation in the timing, location, and age of CHD exposure. Based on this methodology, I find that children treated under the age of five show later-life earnings improvements of three to four percent. I investigate the mechanisms underlying the effect and demonstrate that higher earnings emerge from better adult health, measured by cognition, body mass index, and the probability of living past age 80. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

Este trabalho tem o objetivo de examinar sentidos atribuídos à aprendizagem da Língua Inglesa na contemporaneidade. Para isso, foram analisadas enunciações sobre a aprendizagem da Língua Inglesa presentes em redações de professores dessa área do conhecimento. O material de pesquisa é formado por um conjunto de 70 redações de candidatos à vaga de docente de inglês em uma instituição de ensino profissionalizante no Rio Grande do Sul, no período de 2016 a 2018. Como aportes teóricos, a investigação sustentou-se, basicamente, na produção de autores como Michel Foucault (2008a, 2008b), Sylvio Gadelha (2009a, 2009b), López-Ruiz (2004, 2009) e Zygmunt Bauman (1999; 2001; 2005), operando com conceitos como empreendedorismo de si, Capital Humano e Globalização. Os resultados encontrados pela pesquisa foram agrupados em três eixos principais, os quais apontaram que 1) os professores percebem a aprendizagem da língua inglesa como forma de transformarem seus futuros, serem melhores pessoas e tornarem-se partícipes de uma nação desenvolvida; 2) a língua inglesa não é vista como uma habilidade de capital humano qualquer, ela completa o sujeito aprendiz com aquilo que ele necessita para ser, estar e agir em uma sociedade notoriamente marcada pelos impactos da globalização e do fenômeno da revolução tecnológica; 3) em um contexto que não aceita outras formas de sobrevivência a não ser a inclusão no mundo dos “negócios”, saber inglês é considerado indispensável para a obtenção de um emprego nos moldes das “grandes empresas” e dos “melhores” e “mais altos” cargos. Assim, a pesquisa concluiu que a aprendizagem da língua inglesa é posicionada em um lugar privilegiado em nossa sociedade e vista como elemento primordial para o sucesso do indivíduo contemporâneo. Ao mesmo tempo em que serve como ferramenta para legitimar o emprego dos sujeitos falantes de inglês, marcando-os como úteis e produtivos, a falta dessa habilidade resulta na exclusão em um mundo que se mostra repleto de oportunidades. Nesse sentido, o trabalho demonstrou que a Língua Inglesa é uma ferramenta que se alinha ao sucesso profissional, sendo, ao mesmo tempo, uma forma de governamento da população. / This work aims to examine the meanings attributed to the learning of the English Language in contemporary times. In order to do so, we have analyzed statements about English language learning written by teachers of this area of knowledge. The research material is formed by a set of 70 essays from candidates for the position of English teacher in a vocational education institution in Rio Grande do Sul, from 2016 to 2018. As theoretical contributions, the research was basically based on the production of authors such as Michel Foucault (2008a, 2008b), Sylvio Gadelha (2009a, 2009b), López-Ruiz (2004, 2009) and Zygmunt Bauman (1999, 2001, 2005), working with concepts such as entrepreneurship, Human Capital and Globalization. The results found by the research were grouped into three main axes, which pointed out that 1) teachers perceive English language learning as a way to transform their futures, become better people and become participants in a developed nation; 2) the English language is not seen as a skill of any human capital, it completes the learner with what he needs to be and act in a society strongly characterized by the impacts of globalization and the phenomenon of technological revolution; 3) in a context that does not accept other forms of survival other than inclusion in the world of "business", knowing English is considered indispensable for obtaining a job in the standard of the "big companies" and "the best" and "the highest " positions. Thus, the research concluded that the learning of the English language is positioned in a privileged place in our society and seen as a primordial element for the success of the contemporary individual. While serving as a tool to legitimize the employment of English-speaking subjects, marking them as useful and productive, the lack of this ability results in exclusion in a world that is full of opportunities. In this sense, the work demonstrated that the English Language is a tool that aligns with professional success, being, at the same time, a tool for the government of the population.

A Teoria do Capital Humano estabelece que o conjunto de conhecimentos, habilidades, aptidões e outras características adquiridas que contribuem para a produção e proporcionam impacto na economia são afetadas diretamente pelo nível de escolaridade do indivíduo. Em conseqüência, uma maior escolaridade leva a um aumento no nível de renda, melhor qualidade de vida e maiores oportunidades profissionais e sociais. A partir desta base conceitual, este trabalho pesquisou a relação entre os perfis demográficos e profissiográficos dos mestres em Ciências Contábeis e os indicadores de avaliação dos programas de pósgraduação destes egressos. A população de pesquisa envolveu 2.007 mestres titulados por 14 Programas de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Contábeis reconhecidos pela Capes. Para a coleta de dados foi utilizado um questionário por meio eletrônico hospedado no website Formsite.com. Foram obtidas 671 respostas válidas, representativas de todos os programas de pós-graduação. Para análise dos dados foram utilizadas técnicas de análise multivariada, incluindo a estatística descritiva, testes de hipóteses não paramétricas, análise fatorial, regressão logística e regressão linear múltipla, com o uso do SPSS, versão 13.0. A materialização desta pesquisa resultou em um significativo volume de dados sobre os Mestres em Ciências Contábeis do Brasil que permitiram o mapeamento e conhecimento dos perfis desses egressos. Dentre as análises destacam-se que, 50,1% possuiam o mercado como a principal atividade remunerada sendo que a docência faz parte de 55,6% dos mestres em Ciências Contábeis. Atualmente, 41,1% desenvolvem atividades como empregados do setor público e 36,5% como empregados do setor privado, 10,1% são autônomos e 8,8% são proprietários de empresas. As regiões Sul e Sudeste concentram 78,8% dos mestres, sendo 34,9% deles no Estado de São Paulo. A análise das faixas salariais antes e após o mestrado mostra uma migração de uma faixa salarial mais baixa para uma faixa salarial mais alta tanto para os que exercem atividades no mercado ou na academia. O mesmo ocorre entre homens e mulheres. A maior remuneração bruta mensal é verificada entre os mestres do sexo masculino que atuam no mercado e a menor remuneração bruta mensal é verificada entre os mestres do sexo feminino que atuam na academia. Com relação a avaliação dos programas não foram encontrados elementos que permitissem o aceite da hipótese inicial de que os mestres em Ciências Contábeis titulados por programas com melhor conceito avaliam mais positivamente o programa que lhe conferiu o título do que aqueles que se titularam em programas que apresentaram menores conceitos Capes. A análise fatorial reduziu a avaliação em quatro dimensões e a regressão linear múltipla, com os escores fatoriais, validou as seguintes variáveis que mais impactam na avaliação: Produção Científica, Conteúdo Programático e Docentes, Infraestrutura do programa e Avaliação discente. Na percepção dos egressos, todos os fatores identificados com a Teoria do Capital Humano foram significativamente alterados pelo fato de obterem o título de mestre, corroborando a tese estabelecida neste trabalho. O fator mais bem avaliado foi o espírito acadêmico e o fator com menor avaliação foi a remuneração. A percepção sobre a influência nos seus desenvolvimentos provocada pelo título de mestre difere entre os egressos de um programa para outro. Entre os fatores que podem explicar essa discriminação incluem os diferentes estágios de evolução e o processo de amadurecimento dos Programas de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Contábeis no Brasil. O conhecimento dos perfis poderá contribuir com os diferentes setores sociais na elaboração de políticas, planos e metas que visem o aprimoramento e desenvolvimento da profissão, permitindo a contribuição para o aumento do Capital Humano individual e sua contribuição para o desenvolvimento da sociedade. / The Human Capital theory states that the combination of knowledge, abilities, aptitudes and other acquired characteristics contribute to production, have an impact on the economy and are directly affected by the educational level of the individual. Consequently, a higher level of education leads to an increase in the level of income, a better quality of life, and greater professional and social opportunities. Using this theory as a conceptual basis, this study examines the relationship between the demographic and professional profiles of graduated Masters students of Accounting Sciences and evaluation indices of their post-graduate programs. The study was carried out with a population of 2,007 Masters from 14 postgraduate programs in Accounting Sciences recognized by Capes. An electronic questionnaire hosted on the website Formsite.com was used to collect data. A total of 671 valid responses were obtained, representing all of the post-graduate programs. Multivariate analysis techniques were used to analyze the data, including descriptive statistics, non-parametric hypothesis tests, factor analysis, logistic regression and multiple linear regression, using SPSS, version 13.0. The study produced a significant volume of data about Masters of Accounting Sciences in Brazil, which enabled the charting and understanding of the profile of these graduates. From the analyses, it was found that 50.1% of the Masters held the market as their main paid activity, with 55.6% of them working in the area of teaching accountancy. Currently, 41.1% are working as public sector employees, 36.5% are working in the private sector, 10.1% are self-employed and 8.8% are company owners. The south and southeast regions of the country account for 78.8% of the Masters, with 34.9% of them being in the state of São Paulo. An analysis of their salary ranges before and after the Masters course shows a migration from a lower to a higher salary range for both those that work in business and in academia. This occurs for both males and females. The highest gross monthly income was found among the male Masters working in business, and the lowest gross monthly income was found among the female Masters working in academia. With regard to evaluation of the programs, no data was found that permitted the acceptance of the initial hypothesis that Masters in Accounting Sciences from programs with better Capes reputations evaluated their courses more positively than those that graduated from programs with lesser reputations. Factor analysis reduced the evaluations down to four dimensions and multiple linear regression, with factorial scores, validated the following variables, which had the greatest impact on evaluation: Scientific Production, Program Contents and Professors, Program Infrastructure, and Student Evaluation. According to the perceptions of the Masters, all the factors identified with the Human Capital Theory were significantly altered by the act of obtaining the title of Master, corroborating the thesis established in this study. The most valued factor was academic spirit, and the least valued was remuneration. Perceptions about the influence of gaining the title of Master on their development differed among the graduates from one program to another. Among the factors that could explain these differences are the different stages of evolution of the individuals and the degrees of maturation of the different Post-Graduate Programs in Accounting Sciences in Brazil. Knowledge of the profiles could contribute to different social sectors through the proposal of policies, plans and goals which aim at the improvement and development of the profession, enabling an enhancement of individual Human Capital and its contribution to the development of society.

O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar empiricamente a relação entre indicadores de qualidade da educação e o crescimento econômico no Brasil, com ênfase em medidas de qualidade da educação, representadas pelos resultados de provas em proficiência escolar ao nível dos estados brasileiros. A análise empírica, seguindo os conceitos de Hanushek e Kimko (2000) sobre a qualidade da educação, utilizou como referência metodológica dois modelos macroeconômicos tradicionais da análise do crescimento com capital humano: (i) o modelo de crescimento baseado na equação de Mincer; (ii) modelo de Solow estendido sugerido por Mankiw, Romer e Weil (1992). Utilizando a metodologia de dados em painel, os resultados sugerem que a quantidade de capital humano teve uma contribuição maior para o crescimento do produto por trabalhador do que a qualidade da força de trabalho. Alguns fatores que podem explicar a baixa contribuição da qualidade do capital humano para o crescimento são: o curto período de análise, a dificuldade em se obter medidas mais precisas de qualidade do capital humano, e na média, a qualidade do capital humano no país é comparativamente baixa (em relação a outros países), como resultado das muitas e reconhecidas deficiências do sistema educacional brasileiro. / This research aims analyze empirically the relationship between indicators of education quality and economic growth in Brazil, emphasizing the measures of education quality represented by the results on school proficiency tests at the Brazilians states level. The empirical analysis, following the concepts of Hanushek e Kimko (2000) about quality education, was based on two traditional macroeconomic growth models with human capital: (i) the growth model based on the Mincer equation, (ii) extended Solow model suggested by Mankiw, Romer and Weil (1992). Using the panel data methodology, the results suggest the quantity of human capital had a greater contribution to the output per worker growth than the labor force quality. Some factors that may explain the low contribution of human capital quality to growth is the short period of analysis, the difficulty to define quality measures of human capital, and, on average, the quality of human capital in the country which is relatively low (compared with other countries), as a result of the many and recognized deficiencies of the Brazilian educational system.

by Yau Oi-Man. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references. / ABSTRACT / ACKNOWLEDGE / Chapter CHAPTER I --- --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.1-16 / Chapter CHAPTER II --- --- TOURNAMENT AND SPECIFIC HUMAN CAPITAL --- p.17-55 / Chapter CHAPTER III --- --- THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF EXPERIMENTS --- p.56-70 / Chapter CHAPTER IV --- --- EXPERIMENTS --- p.71-111 / SUMMARY --- p.112 / BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lee Chun Sing. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-68). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i-ii / Acknowledgment --- p.iii / Contents --- p.iv / Lists of Tables --- p.vi / Lists of Figures --- p.vii / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter Two --- The Basic Model with Exogeneous Real Interest Rate --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.6 / Chapter 2.2 --- Benchmark Model --- p.9 / Chapter 2.3 --- Discussion of Results --- p.18 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Agent Behaviour --- p.19 / Chapter 2.4 --- Numerical Examples --- p.23 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Base Results --- p.25 / Chapter Chapter Three --- The Basic Model with Endogeneous Real Interest Rate --- p.28 / Chapter 3.1 --- Numerical Examples --- p.30 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Base Results --- p.30 / Chapter 3.2 --- Government Policy Evaluation --- p.33 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Education Subsidies --- p.35 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Wage Subsidy --- p.35 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Base Case Outcome --- p.36 / Chapter Chapter Four --- Conclusions --- p.40 / Appendix A --- p.41 / Appendix B --- p.42 / Appendix C --- p.42 / Tables --- p.47 / Figures --- p.58 / References --- p.64

Human capital is an important predictor of economic growth. A higher initial stock of human capital boosts productivity and encourages knowledge diffusion, thereby generating higher levels of growth. Given its importance in determining growth, it is imperative to study the mechanisms through which human capital accumulation is affected. This is particularly important in the context of low-income countries that perform poorly on indicators relating to the quality and quantity of human capital accumulation. What follows are three essays that explore the topic of human capital accumulation for developing countries. The chapters explore the implications of income shocks for human capital accumulation both at the household level as well as at the school level. The first chapter surveys the literature on income shocks and its impact on human capital. The second and third chapters explore the impact of income shocks, such as aggregate income shocks and idiosyncratic income shocks, on human capital accumulation at the school and household levels in selected low-income countries. These shocks impact human capital accumulation through two main effects: the purchasing power of households and the opportunity cost of schooling. The total impact on human capital investment therefore depends on which effect dominates. In the first chapter, I find that the regional context as well as the nature of the shock can be important in determining outcomes. While in Latin America, robust analysis points towards the substitution effect dominating, in the case of Asia and Africa the evidence largely points towards the dominance of the income effect. In this chapter, the various studies reviewed are summarized, and the methodologies are critically examined. In the second chapter, I use negative rainfall shocks as a proxy for agricultural income shocks in Pakistan where negative rainfall shocks are defined as rainfall that is lower than average. I study the impact of negative rainfall shocks on enrollment in public schools across the province of Punjab. Punjab proves to be an interesting setting given its high reliance on agriculture as well as the possibility to test the heterogeneity of the impact of rainfall due to its vast irrigation network. I find that, while crop yields and enrollment are, in general, adversely affected by negative rainfall shocks, the heterogeneity of the impact indicates that income may not be the only channel at play. In the third chapter, I use panel household survey data for Uganda to explore concerns regarding human capital accumulation in the context of idiosyncratic income shocks which can impact education expenditure allocation at the household level. I find some evidence suggesting that shocks impact total consumption as well as education expenditure. While some forms of financial instruments play a role in mitigating the negative impact of shocks, others do not. Furthermore, I explore the heterogeneity of the impact of shocks by certain selected characteristics of the household. In conclusion, income shocks have important implications for low-income countries’ human capital accumulation, which in turn is a cornerstone for their development and growth prospects. Negative income shocks can have adverse effects on human capital accumulation in the long-run, where their impact in the short-term can translate into long-term negative outcomes for human capital accumulation. Therefore, if developing economies want to improve their growth prospects, they need to invest in education and provide buffers so that income shocks do not hinder the accumulation of human capital.

Capital humain et santé : une analyse de la formation et de la transmission des inégalités Mon projet de recherche s’articule autour de la question de la mobilité sociale. Les économistes s’accordent à penser que le capital humain est une dimension cruciale des trajectoires individuelles. L’objet de mon projet de recherche est d’évaluer l’impact de la santé des enfants sur leurs trajectoires futures en matière de niveaux d’éducation, de santé à l'âge adulte, d’offre de travail, de mobilité et de pauvreté. / Human capital and health : analysis of the formation and transmission of inequality