ix, 88 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This dissertation addresses the high disease burden in developing countries today by examining the role of disease in economic development through its impact on productivity, fertility and human capital investment. In the second chapter of this dissertation, I model the impact on labor productivity of a change in disease susceptibility that results from intellectual property rights (IPR) reform. I develop a North-South model in which the disease environments differ between the rich and poor countries, and individuals consume innovated health goods to avoid the cost (labor time lost) of getting a disease. Southern welfare is shown to increase with the imposition of IPR protection when health needs in the South differ sufficiently from those in the North, and when health goods are accessible (in terms of adequate health care infrastructure) and effective (in counteracting disease). In the third chapter of this dissertation, I model the impact of child disease burden on fertility and human capital investment. The fertility response to a decline in child mortality depends on the morbidity effect of the disease, the level of disease burden, and whether prevalence rates or case fatalities decline. Fertility rates follow mortality and morbidity, but since mortality and morbidity do not always move in the same direction, the fertility response may be dampened or non-monotonic. Using a 20-year panel data set on malaria prevalence for 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, I find empirical support for the cases defined by the model; changes in malaria prevalence affect fertility more in non-endemic areas, where cases are more severe and more fatal relative to endemic areas. Historical and biological evidence suggest a link between (infectious) diseases early in life and (non-infectious) diseases later in life. In Chapter IV I model this link using a three-period overlapping generations model in which childhood disease outcomes affect longevity. Simulations in a general equilibrium framework duplicate the defining characteristics of the epidemiological-demographic transition as it occurred in many industrialized countries: as disease declines parents engage in a quantity-quality tradeoff for children, longevity rises and population declines after an initial jump. This dissertation includes unpublished co-authored material. / Committee in charge: Shankha Chakraborty, Chairperson, Economics; Bruce Blonigen, Member, Economics; Peter Lambert, Member, Economics; Laura Leete, Member, Planriing Public Policy & Mgmt; Jean Stockard, Outside Member, Planning Public Policy & Mgmt

The purpose of this study is to gauge the influence of local/regional labor market conditions on educational outcomes, using human capital and dual labor markets as guiding theories. To gain an understanding of how growth in multiple labor market tiers and various occupation types influence local human capital development as well as students’ decisions to invest in their own human capital; two modeling approaches are utilized. First, the association between local employment growth by labor market tier and aggregate human capital development is evaluated. Second, occupations found to significantly influence local human capital development are transferred to models gauging the educational attainment of individual respondents. Results indicate primary market employment growth has a positive impact on the number of county residents with a high school, Associate’s, and Bachelor’s degree. At the individual-level, primary market growth increased the likelihood of earning a high school and Associate’s degree but did not influence the odds of earning a Bachelor’s degree.

Cette thèse étudie les causes de l’essoufflement de la croissance des pays Sud méditerranéens en les comparants aux pays asiatiques. Cette comparaison a été faite à travers l’analyse des politiques industrielles et éducatives menées, ainsi qu’à travers la dimension institutionnelle. On a également essayé d’analyser les facteurs économiques et sociaux qui ont probablement contribué à déclencher les révoltes dans ces pays. Nos résultats empiriques ont montré que la qualité des institutions est un déterminant pertinent des différences de croissance. Ils ont également montré que c’est la Tunisie qui a réuni les facteurs nécessaires pour que cette révolution soit réalisée. Le degré de développement de la société civile- mesuré par les taux de participation de la femme à la vie active et d’utilisation d’Internet- semble jouer un rôle important dans le déclenchement de ces révoltes, et ceci dans un contexte de taux de chômage élevé, d’inégalités de revenus et de faible niveau de démocratie. / The thesis investigates the causes of growth weakening in southern Mediterranean countries in comparison with Asian countries through industrial and educational policies analysis, as well as through the institutional dimension. It also attempts to analyze the economic and social factors that may have contributed to triggering the revolts experienced by these countries. The main results of this research are: First, the quality of institutions is a relevant determinant of growth differences between countries. Second, Tunisia is the country that gathered together the most necessary elements for this revolution to be achieved. Third, it is found out that the degree of development of civil society as measured by the participation rate of women in the workforce as well as the rate of Internet use played an important role in triggering these revolts. This result is achieved in an environment featured by high levels of unemployment, income inequality, and low levels of democracy.

It is generally acknowledged that human capital intangibles are major value drivers in the new economy characterised by information and technology. The main purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange disclose information on human capital related issues. The study combined both qualitative (literature reviews and content analysis) and quantitative (survey questionnaire) methods to collect data of 60 corporate annual reports (CARs) of listed companies in South Africa from survey questionnaires administered on various categories of preparers and users of these CARs. The study made use of 91 human capital disclosure checklists developed from literature reviews for the purpose of data collection. The data analysis was done with the aid of Atlasti-a qualitative data analysis software and SPSS- a quantitative data analysis software. The findings show that majority of the items on the disclosure checklist are not yet disclosed in the CARs even though most of the items on the checklist are adjudged to be useful for organisational value creation. In view of the initial findings of this study, a human capital disclosure framework is recommended. / Business Management / D. Accounting Science

[pt] Essa tese é composta de três ensaios. O primeiro ensaio estuda a relação entre renda e número de filhos no Brasi da primeira metade do século XX. Ao contrário do que os modelos econômicos sobre regimes demográficos preveriam, os dados em cross-section por coorte mostram uma relação consistentemente negativa entre renda e número de filhos ao longo de todo o período analisado. O segundo ensaio mostra que a tecnologia doméstica de saúde desempenha um papel crucial nas escolhas reprodutivas das famílias e, ao alterar o entendimento usual sobre o regime demográfico malthusiano, o modelo é capaz de explicar o resultado empírico do primeiro ensaio. Finalmente, o terceiro ensaio avalia os determinantes das correlação entre a escolaridade da mulher e a condição de saúde dela própria e de seus filhos. / [en] This thesis presents three essays in economic demography. The first essay studies the relationship between socioeconomic status and fertility in Brazil. Cross-section data shows a negative income-fertility relationship in cohorts of the first half of the twentieth century, an unexpected result according to the usual economic models of demographic transitions. In order to explain the empirical puzzle of the first essay, a model which explores the effects of the household health technology on fertility choices is presented in the second essay. This model changes in important ways the usual agreement on the Malthusian demographic regime. Finally, the last essay analysis the determinants of the correlation between education of women and health conditions of both her own and her children.

The goal of this Diploma thesis is to provide the basic overview of current economic aspects of education of the Czech Republic. At the same time this Diploma thesis mapped out the basic concept of labor as a factor of production, or more precisely human capital (T. W Schultz, G. S Becker) and their application in the sector of education. The educational system in the Czech Republic will be assessed on the basis of a criterion that handles the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The methods used for this purpose are qualified heuristics, comparison and analysis, because some of the data and the results should be confronted with other results that are processed by some representative international and national statistical research organizations (CSO, Eurostat, CCERGE-EI). This Diploma thesis includes only selected economic aspects of education. The theoretical part introduces human capital, its conception by W. T. Schultz and G. S. Becker, his measurements and the importance of education for czech society. The theoretical part defines the main economic aspects of education and PISA and PIAAC Survey. The practical part is devoted to the results of selected indicators and PISA and PIAAC Survey.

In the context of the globalization of human capital, this thesis examines the role of CEOs with international experience, known as returnee CEOs. The first essay argues that that CEOs’ international expertise is acquired at the opportunity cost of local social capital, such as political and business ties, which is more critical than expertise in transition economies with weak legal institutions. Based on the sample of 2847 CEOs appointments in China, I find that returnee CEOs are associated with inferior performance, lower market reactions to appointment announcements and an adverse regulatory environment. The negative relation disappears when social capital is acquired, regional legal institutions are strong or returnees’ international expertise is in demand. Exploiting an exogenous increase in the supply of returnee talent as a result of new provincial policies, I find the results consistent. The second essay examines the returnee CEOs in newly public entrepreneurial firms that are in transition period. I propose that returnee CEOs possess the tacit knowledge of foreign advanced legal institutions, which can help entrepreneurial firms overcome the formalization challenges they face in getting listed. The results based on 355 newly public Chinese entrepreneurial firms indicate that returnee CEOs, especially those who have returned from countries with advanced legal institutions are associated with superior post-IPO performance. In addition, foreign venture capitals (VCs) are found to strengthen the positive impact of returnee CEOs, especially when both VCs and CEOs are from countries with advanced institutions. In the third essay, I examine returnee CEOs’ managerial decision of listing location. Based on the sample of IPOs of Chinese entrepreneurial firms, I find that returnee CEOs are more likely to undertake foreign IPOs, especially for entrepreneurial firms operating in high-tech industries, until the credibility crisis of US-listed Chinese firms was triggered by Muddy Water Research in 2011. Overall, this thesis provides original evidence on the impact of international experience of CEOs and makes important implication on the benefits realization of brain gains in countries with weak legal institutions.

This thesis presents an examination of the importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for economic growth and examines how sensitive employment in SMEs is to business cycle fluctuations in Brazil. The thesis uses different empirical techniques to investigate the role of SMEs in the Brazilian regional economic growth, using a panel dataset from 1980 to 2004 for 508 Brazilian micro-regions. It first uses standard panel data estimators (OLS, LSDV, system and first differenced GMM) to analyse the (augmented) Solow growth model encompassing the importance of the relative size of the SME sector measured by the share of the SME employment in total formal employment and the level of human capital in SMEs measured by the average years of schooling of SME employees. The results show that the size of the SME sector is not significantly important for regional economic growth, but that human capital embodied in SMEs is more important in this process.

Este trabalho visa analisar a relação de causalidade existente entre ensino superior e crescimento econômico no período de 1954 a 1999. Para isso abordar-se-á a economia da educação, com ênfase na abordagem do capital humano e o papel do Estado na economia, com destaque para área da educação. Além disso, analisar-se-á através de estudo empírico a relação entre a educação em nível superior e o PIB brasileiro. / The objective of this dissertation is to analyze the causality relationship between higher education and economic growth. It will be broached the education economy with emphasis in the human capital theory and the Estate in economy bring out to the education area. Moreover it will be analyzed through empirical methodology the relationship between higher education and economic growth.

abstract: An asset-based approach to vulnerability, as presented in Voices of the Poor: Can Anyone Hear Us? and World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty, provides a possible theoretical framework for understanding vulnerability to human trafficking. Case studies, field studies and narratives of human trafficking provide evidence that the assets of victims of trafficking play a significant role in human trafficking. This appears to be true both with regard to how traffickers exploit victim assets and with regard to how successful human trafficking prevention efforts are implemented. By exploring and further establishing this connection, I hope to provide evidence that a model of human trafficking acquisition incorporating elements of victim assets and the assets of communities deserves field-testing. Such field-testing will hopefully confirm the deep connection between assets and human trafficking activity and establish the necessary connections anti-trafficking activists will need to create a predictive version of the model with regard to individual vulnerability to human trafficking. Lastly, I argue that, provided the connection between human trafficking vulnerability and victim asset levels holds, an asset-based approach provides a rhetorical framework to resist policies that compromise asset levels of particularly vulnerable populations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Social Justice and Human Rights 2015