Yes / Set in the context of the recent unprecedented upsurge of in-work poverty (IWP) in the UK – which currently exceeds out of work poverty – this article presents an account of the realities of experiencing poverty and being employed. Central issues of low-pay, limited working hours, underemployment and constrained employment opportunities combine to generate severe financial complexities and challenges. This testimony, taken comparatively over a year, reveals the experiences of, not only IWP, but of deep poverty, and having insufficient wages to fulfil the basic essentials of nourishing food and adequate clothing. This article contributes to current academic and social policy debates around low-paid work, IWP, the use of foodbanks and underemployment. New dimensions are offered regarding worker vulnerabilities, given the recent growth of the IWP phenomenon.

This exploratory research is a case study of a public university in Thailand. The research examines whether gender inequality exists in the pay raise process at Khon Kaen University over a two-fiscal year period (FY2002 and 2003). It also considers what factors might account for differences between male and female faculty in pay raises at this university, looking at factors such as productivity and family responsibilities. The research develops and tests measures of the Southeast Asian concepts of kinship, patronage, turn-taking and seniority systems. Three data sources are used, university personnel records, self-administered surveys and the annual evaluation report. Results show that raises tend to be equitable and faculty are equally productive, regardless of gender, discipline, academic rank, or position cluster. When significant differences are identified in this study, female faculty frequently reported that they received higher pay raises than their male colleagues. The well-established rules and regulations regarding pay raises (minimum requirements for productivity and pay raise steps) at this university prohibit any kind of systematic bias in pay raises. One of the other goals of this research was to test the Southeast Asian concepts of kinship, patronage, turn taking and seniority, and the extent to which each may be a factor in performance and pay raises. The research indicates these four may play a role, but their actual influence is not entirely clear and will require additional study. To address some of these issues, future research would explore the same public university with a longer time frame and then compare the result at KKU with other universities in Thailand and other universities in Southeast Asia. Interviewing both male and female faculty members in terms of their actual workloads, productivity, assigned tasks, and their perceptions of the impact of age and administrative position is recommended. Interviewing only female faculty members in different disciplines (female-dominated, male-dominated and balanced disciplines) concerning their experiences of inequality and how they deal with family responsibilities that affect productivity is also important for future research. / Ph. D.

This dissertation is comprised of three essays that investigate consumer behavior and health outcomes. The first essay uses experimental economic techniques to explore consumers' preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for nutritionally differentiated grass-fed beef. Our findings suggest that consumers' nutrition knowledge about the functions of Vitamin A, Vitamin E, CLA, and Omega 3 could positively affect their WTP for grass-fed beef while the knowledge about the main food sources of these nutrients negatively affects their WTP for grass-fed beef. Furthermore, a higher sensory evaluation score of grass-fed beef compared to conventional beef will lead to a higher probability for a consumer to choose grass-fed beef and a higher monetary value she/he is willing to pay for grass-fed beef. Using the same experimental data collected in the first study, the second essay investigates the impacts of consumers' nutrition knowledge on their WTP by accommodating the potential endogeneity problem using an instrumental variable approach and a non-instrumental variable approach. Our results suggest the existence of the endogeneity of nutrition knowledge and indicate that ignoring the endogeneity problem in econometric modeling will downwardly bias the estimates of the true effects of nutrition knowledge. The estimates obtained from different estimation strategies in the study indicate the robustness of our findings about the effects of nutrition knowledge on consumers' food purchasing behavior. The third essay investigates the impacts of primary care giver (PCG)'s time allocation patterns and household food expenditure choices on childhood obesity using the national panel study of income dynamics data. Our results do not suggest significant impacts of PCG's labor force participation, involvement in children's outdoor activity, and household food expenditures on children's Body Mass Index (BMI). However, the estimates from iterated seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) and semi-parametric polynomial estimation indicate that parents' BMI significantly influence children's BMI. Interestingly, physical activity appears to have weak correlation with children's BMI. / Ph. D.

Yes / Personalised nutrition (PN) may promote public health. PN involves dietary advice based on individual characteristics of end users and can for example be based on lifestyle, blood and/or DNA profiling. Currently, PN is not refunded by most health insurance or health care plans. Improved public health is contingent on individual consumers being willing to pay for the service. Methods: A survey with a representative sample from the general population was conducted in eight European countries (N = 8233). Participants reported their will- 25 ingness to pay (WTP) for PN based on lifestyle information, lifestyle and blood information, and lifestyle and DNA information. WTP was elicited by contingent valuation with the price of a standard, non-PN advice used as reference. Results: About 30% of participants reported being willing to pay more for PN than for non-PN advice. They were on average prepared to pay about 150% of the reference price of a standard, non-personalised advice, with some differences related to socio-demographic factors. Conclusion: There is a potential market for PN 30 compared to non-PN advice, particularly among men on higher incomes. These findings raise questions to what extent personalized nutrition can be left to the market or should be incorporated into public health programs / EC (FW7) funded Food4me project

Farmland preservation has long been viewed by the public as a worthwhile endeavor. A public program can be set up to bring willing buyers and sellers together to facilitate the transfer of development rights. The farmer is paid for the opportunity cost of forfeiting the development rights to the land, while the general public is taxed the amount of their total benefit created by the existence of farmland. Through the data from an attribute-based choice survey (conducted in four geographic areas) the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of the public to preserve farmland that exhibited certain attributes, was estimated. The attributes included different use (grain, hay, vegetable, pasture, forest), location (near urban), quality (prime), size (varied acreage relative to geographic area sampled), and cost (varied costs from $3 to $50) components. Selection bias was tested for in order to confirm that the respondents are an unbiased representation of the geographic areas sampled. If selection bias was present, it would need to be corrected for in order to aggregate the survey results to the population of the geographic areas. Selection bias was tested for using a bivariate probit model with sample selection, a variation on the Heckman correction model. Selection bias was not significant, so the choice model was estimated using a probit model. The response was dependent on the use, location, quality, size, and cost components. Based on the parameter estimates, the geographic areas were compared using the scale parameter. A variation of the Swait and Louviere method was used to find the optimal scale parameter ratios between pair-wise geographic areas. Heterogeneity of the parameter estimates as well as heterogeneity of variances was tested. Prime farmland was significant and positive in all geographic areas, suggesting it should be included in the national ranking criteria for a farmland preservation program. WTP by household for each attribute was reported. Additionally, the WTP was aggregated to provide a hypothetical range of the monetary benefit farmland provides for the residents of each geographic area. / Master of Science

Voluntary disclosure theory suggests a firm increasing its disclosures should lower the information asymmetry component of its cost of capital. Empirical results on specific disclosures are mixed though, as individual disclosures may not provide enough value to investors in disclosure rich environments. Salary expense disclosures, unlike some other cost disclosures, may provide insight into increasing firm risk leading to an increased cost of capital, as employee pay has been shown to increase in response to leverage increases. I examine whether salary expense disclosures provide valuable information to investors, as measured through a disclosing firm's cost of capital, and I examine the channels through which the disclosure provides the information. I find that firms that disclose salary expense receive a lowered cost of capital if they are disclosing more stable cost structures, and the value of this disclosed information relates to the relative risk associated with the disclosed cost structures. I also find the propensity for firms to initiate disclosure increases as more analysts follow the firm and these initiating firms receive a lower cost of capital in exchange for their initial disclosure. Additionally, this lower cost of capital for initial disclosers is not based on the relative stability of the disclosed cost structure. / Doctor of Philosophy / Theory suggests when a company voluntarily discloses information that is useful to investors, the investors will pay more for that company's stock which equates to a lower cost of capital for the company. Empirical results on individual disclosures are mixed though, as each disclosure may not provide enough value to investors in environments where companies disclose a large amount of information. Salary expense disclosures, unlike some other cost disclosures, may provide insight into increasing firm risk leading to an increased cost of capital for the disclosing companies, as employee pay has been shown to increase in response to leverage increases. I examine whether salary expense disclosures provide valuable information to investors, as measured through a disclosing firm's cost of capital, and I examine the channels through which the disclosure provides the information. I find that firms that disclose salary expense receive a lowered cost of capital if they are disclosing more stable cost structures, and the value of this disclosed information relates to the relative risk associated with the disclosed cost structures. I also find the propensity for firms to initiate disclosure increases as more analysts follow the firm and these initiating firms receive a lower cost of capital in exchange for their initial disclosure. Additionally, this lower cost of capital for initial disclosers is not based on the relative stability of the disclosed cost structure.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers and administrators in a rural southeast school district regarding the impact of strategic compensation as a motivating factor on teacher quality, recruitment, and retention. As a result of increased demands on K12 education and the limited pool of teaching candidates, public school districts continue to search for ways to motivate, recruit and retain teachers (Muranto and Shuls, 2012). Since many view the traditional teacher salary scale as an outdated and ineffective practice, school districts continue to search for new ways to provide additional financial bonuses. (Springer, 2009). At the time of the study, the rural southeast school district studied was the only district within its state that used a strategic compensation model as a part of its employee benefits package. The locally funded plan awarded bonuses to teachers who qualify according to the parameters set by their school board. The initial rationale behind the implementation of the plan was to acknowledge exemplary teachers within the district. In this study, the history of the traditional salary scale, teacher quality, teacher retention, teacher recruitment, proponents and opponents of strategic compensation and recent studies on merit pay were examined. In this mixed methods study, a survey was sent to all 237 candidates eligible for strategic compensation, and a focus group interview with 7 administrators responsible for the summative evaluations of teachers was conducted. After the data were collected, descriptive statistics were examined to determine if additional ANOVA analyses were required to determine if demographic differences could be identified. The findings from this study may assist school districts develop and maintain a strategic compensation plan as a part of its overall teacher compensation package. After the data were disaggregated and analyzed, the findings from this study indicated mixed reviews regarding teacher perceptions of strategic compensation. Survey results indicate that the ideal bonus lies between $1,000-$3,000. In addition, teachers and administrators did not perceive that strategic compensation assisted with teacher recruitment or retention. Additional findings indicated differences in perceptions of strategic compensation based on gender and level of teaching assignment. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers and administrators in a rural southeast school district regarding the impact of a pay for performance plan as a motivating factor on teacher quality, recruitment, and retention. As a result of the teacher shortage in America, public school districts continue to search for ways to motivate, recruit and retain teachers. Since many view the salaries of teachers low, school districts continue to search for new ways to provide additional end of year bonuses as a motivating factor to improve teacher quality, recruitment and retention. To date, the rural southeast school district studied is the only district within its state that uses a strategic compensation model as a part of its employee benefits package. The plan awards bonuses to teachers who qualify according to their end of year rating. In this study, the history of the traditional salary scale, teacher quality, teacher retention, teacher recruitment, proponents and opponents of strategic compensation and recent studies on merit pay will be examined. A survey was sent to all 237 candidates eligible for strategic compensation, and a focus group interview with 8 administrators responsible for the summative evaluations of teachers was conducted. After the data were collected, they were sorted by demographic identifiers to determine if there were differences in responses between different groups. The findings from this study may assist school districts develop and maintain a strategic compensation plan as a part of its overall teacher compensation plan. The findings from this study include: $1,000-$3,000 is the ideal amount of money that would motivate a teacher to improve, strategic compensation did not assist with teacher recruitment, and school administrators did not believe strategic compensation led to greater teacher retention within the rural southeast school district. In addition, teachers and administrators believed that participation in the strategic compensation plan should be voluntary. Findings based on demographic identifiers indicated that male teachers responded more positively than female teachers, and there were differences among elementary, middle school and high school teacher responses with regard to their perceptions of the strategic compensation plan.

This dissertation consists of three essays studying two aspects of the interactions between agriculture and the environment: agricultural technology adoption and its environmental impacts (in the first essay), and weather shocks and their impacts on rural households in developing countries (in the second and third essays). The first essay proposes a multimarket equilibrium approach to estimating the consumer surplus for environmentally-friendly technologies adopted by farmers. Compared to conventional non-market valuation techniques based on single-market equilibrium, this new method allows for farmers' price feedback effects on consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for those technologies. Results from an application indicate that consumers are willing to pay a premium for environmentally-friendly technologies adopted by farmers, and that the multimarket equilibrium WTP is smaller in magnitude than its single-market equilibrium counterpart. In the second essay, I develop a unitary agricultural household model to examine the impacts of rainfall variability on migration, off-farm employment and transfers in rural Ethiopia. Empirical results show that the share of out-migrated household members and per capita off-farm labor supply decrease with average rainfall in the main growing seasons, and increase with the standard deviation of average rainfall in the five main growing seasons prior to the survey. The level and standard deviation of rainfall are found to have indeterminate effects on the amount of transfers that households receive from the extended family or informal social safety nets. The third essay evaluates the effectiveness of different diversification strategies in smoothing consumption. Results suggest that adverse rainfall shock (below average rainfall) and temperature shock (above average extreme heat degree days) both negatively impact consumption. Receiving public transfers is effective in smoothing consumption against adverse rainfall shock, and participating in off-farm employment is effective against adverse temperature shock. Sending migrants to urban areas and receiving transfers from former household members or informal social safety nets are not effective against any weather shock. / Ph. D.

No / The English school sector has been transformed over recent decades through wide-ranging education policies. One far-reaching change has been the dramatic rise in academy schools driven by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition (2010-2015) (Stevenson 2016), with 64.7% of secondary state-funded schools now holding academy status (Department for Education 2018). A central issue emerging from this context is the changes to school teachers’ pay and working conditions, given that autonomy over employment terms and conditions transfer from local authorities to operating education trusts under the academy model (see Academies Act 2010). Stevenson (2011) importantly argued that rather than establishing new directions in education policy, recent changes – such as the academy expansion enterprise – solidify the long-standing trajectory of restructuring to public education, underpinned by neoliberal ideologies. Such projects seek to fragment a public service accountable to local authorities, superseding it with a state-subsidised system buttressed by predominantly private investors (Stevenson 2011); pressing schools into competition for students and resources (Connell 2009). Dovetailed in this setting, a significant study by Carter and Stevenson (2012:491), exploring workforce remodelling in teaching, found strong evidence for “an accelerated form of creeping managerialism,” with middle-grade teachers carrying increasing responsibility for the monitoring of colleagues. The combined effects of markets and managerialism, that bolster the grander-scale neoliberal project, have worked in unison to fundamentally recast teachers’ experiences of work (Stevenson and Wood 2013). Currently in its analytical phase, this PhD study, informed by a labour process theoretical (LPT) perspective, set out to explore (1) the various formal and informal structures and processes (control strategies) that impact on school teachers’ work, (2) how teachers experience those control strategies, (3) teachers’ orientations to work and (4) how teachers’ orientations to work interrelate with their experiences of control strategies. Several scholars employ an LPT perspective to facilitate critical studies of teachers’ work (for examples see Carter and Stevenson 2012; Stevenson and Wood 2013). Yet there remains a paucity of research that takes an LPT approach to the in-depth interpretive analysis of teachers’ work. Inspired by a call from Reid (2003) for research that combines LPT with detailed single-site ethnographic accounts, a qualitative ethnography of one academy school in Northern England was conducted over a four-month period. This comprised interviews with 26 teachers, senior managers, HR and trade union representatives; a six-week shadowing period; non-participant observations and document collection. This article focuses on two key issues relating to the impact of academies and widespread managerialism on teachers’ work experiences: working time and teaching preparation. In particular, it highlights the erosion of autonomy previously given to teachers to manage their own time, lessons and resources; with accounts of increased frustration at the rising mechanisation of teaching. The central contribution of this paper, therefore, is the application of LPT to the context of contemporary teachers’ work in England, to gain an in-depth understanding of the impact of academies and widespread managerialism on school teachers’ working lives.

Comparable worth is a compensation strategy which goes beyond the equal pay standard. It uses job evaluation to measure job worth across occupations in the same organization. Rather than relying solely on prevailing market rates, the employer identifies compensable factors. Salary ranges are determined by how much each factor is present in the job. Washington is an appropriate case because it coined the term comparable worth, led the nation in conducting pay equity studies of its workforce, and is the only state to implement a negotiated agreement. The dissertation examines the implementation process and suggests how others can benefit from the state’s experience. The case is reported in two phases, with the lawsuit as pivotal point. During the ten-year policy development period, interest groups, the union, and personnel staffs gathered data. However, the various study recommendations did not culminate in statutory action, so the union filed suit. The second phase begins with negotiations and the plan itself. Analysis of this period focuses on the problems encountered since the plan went into effect. Six driving forces explain the actions and activities which moved the idea from concept to practice: (a) awareness of inequity, (b) actions of key political actors, (c) economic pressures, (d) the lawsuit, (e) time constraints, and (f) personnel capabilities. Several implications suggest how the dissertation can help other employers who are contemplating this new pay standard. When pay equity studies are conducted, some follow-up action should be forthcoming. Second, a comparable worth plan requires extensive preparation, not only in the agenda-building stage, but in program development. Third, all job classes should be evaluated to avoid problems of class distortion and disruption. All implementing officials should be included in the planning process. Fourth, comparable worth does not require new methodologies. Most employers are familiar with job evaluation techniques, hence the tools are available already. Finally, comparable worth does not need to be implemented as a woman's issue. It is a compensation strategy which addresses all undervalued occupations. For these reasons, it is a significant mechanism for evaluating dissimilar jobs and correcting wage inequities. / Ph. D.