This study focuses on the wage gap between Mexican American men and Mexican American women, and factors contributing to this disparity. People of Mexican descent make up 67% of the U.S. Hispanic population. Previous research tends to lump Hispanics together, masking differences between groups. Even more, studies considering Hispanic subgroups rarely examine gender differences on income. Using secondary data analysis of the March 2005 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, this study examines a neglected subgroup, Mexican Americans, and the income gap within this group. The sample size is 3,408 with Mexican American men comprising 55.2% of the sample and Mexican American women 44.8%. This study employs an income determination model composed of three model segments. Theoretical models include an individual component (comprised of variables such as age and education), a structural component (comprised of variables such as occupation and skill-level), and a gender component (comprised of variables such as sex and occupational sex segregation). Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses are used to examine the independent effects of variables on income. Based on mean annual earnings, analysis shows that net of other factors, an 81% wage gap exists between groups with Mexican American men earning $30,337 and Mexican American women earning $24,548. When examining different elements of the theoretical model, structural model components account for the most variance explained on income between groups. This suggests that gendered discrimination within institutions may affect inequality in pay between men and women. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 45-49).

Private Environmental Preference (PEP), measured by the willingness to spend on pollution reduction and its casual factors. A PEP model is constructed for Canada, China, India, and USA using data from the World Value Survey and Structural Equation Models. The results revealed that the most important factors are: environmental organization membership, acknowledgement of global environmental problems, Machiavellian attitudes towards money, and confidence in governing bodies. Other significant factors include: the acknowledgement of local environmental problems, income level, occupational characteristics, and work ethic. The acknowledgement of global problems and confidence in governing bodies increase PEP, while Machiavellian attitudes towards money reduce PEP across all four countries. Environmental organizational membership on PEP increase PEP in Canada and USA, but decrease PEP in India. White-collar occupational characteristics have a positive effect on PEP in Canada, but negative in China and India. Policy recommendations are provided given these observations.

This thesis contains six papers closely related to current research topics in the field of economic evaluation in health care. The thesis discusses methodological features of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and cost-benefit analysis (CBA). It further relates to issues of modelling and how to account for uncertainty in economic evaluations. The thesis contributes both with an analysis of the costs and benefits of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and new approaches for analysing uncertainty in economic evaluations. The first part of the thesis (Papers 1-4) analyses the costs and benefits of HRT in the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal women’s health problems. The second part of the thesis (Papers 5-6) analyses issues of uncertainty in economic evaluations. Contents: Paper 1: Willingness to Pay for Hormone Replacement Therapy. (A revised version of this paper has been published in Health Economics, Vol. 7 No. 1, 1998, pp 31-38.) Paper 2: The Impact of Hormone Replacement Therapy on Quality of Life and willingness to Pay. (Co-authored with Magnus Johannesson, Peter Henriksson and Roland T. Strand.) (This paper was published in British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Vol. 104, 1997, pp 1191-1195.) Paper 3: Estimating Hip Fracture Costs and Potential Savings. (Co-authored with Ulf-G Gerdtham.) (This paper was published in International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, Vol. 14, 1998, pp 255-267.) Paper 4: A Computer Model to Analyse the Cost-Effectiveness of Hormone Replacement Therapy (Co-authored with Magnus Johannesson and Bengt Jönsson.) (A revised version of this paper has been published in International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, Vol. 15, No. 2, Spring 1999, pp 352-365.) Paper 5: Bootstrap Confidence Intervals for Cost-Effectiveness Ratios: Some Simulation Results. (Co-authored with Magnus Tambour.) (A revised version of this paper has been published in Health Economics, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp 143-147.) Paper 6: Non-Parametric Willingness to Pay Measures and Confidence Statements. (Co-authored with Magnus Tambour.) / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.</p>

The bison industry has limited resources for increasing market share. Exploring how consumers react to information about bison and discovering what people know about bison is important to determine the most efficient way to increase market share and ensure the sustainability of the bison industry. <p> This thesis examines the impact of three different information treatments on willingness-to-pay for bison. The three treatments are a nutritional comparison chart of negatively-perceived nutrients, a bison taste testimonial from a chef and a statement concerning the absence of growth hormones and antibiotics in the processed bison product used in the research. The hypothesis tested is that nutritional information about bison would elicit the greatest increase in willingness-to-pay for the processed bison product. <p> A random nth-price auction was conducted in December 2002 in Guelph, Ontario with 57 participants to elicit willingness-to-pay values for the processed bison product. Participants initial bids for the processed bison product were elicited without being given any information and a second round of bidding was conducted once participants had reviewed an information treatment. The mean difference in the bids between round two and round one are $0.221 for the nutritional comparison treatment, $0.210 for the taste testimonial treatment and $0.185 for the natural aspects treatment. ANOVA results indicate no statistically significant difference between the mean difference in bids between the three treatments. Further analysis with a regression model using the difference in bids as the dependent variable, dummy variables representing treatment types and survey data for the other relevant independent variables, shows that the coefficient for the nutritional comparison treatment is not significantly different from zero. Therefore, the hypothesis that nutritional information about bison would elicit the greatest increase in willingness-to-pay for the processed bison product has been rejected. The other independent variables examined in the regression are not significant. <p> This thesis does not clearly indicate which information treatment would be the most effective for the bison industry to utilize in a bison information campaign. However, each information treatment did increase the group mean willingness-to-pay so any information relevant to consumers about bison may be beneficial in increasing market share for bison products. Industry participants may need to work together to simultaneously increase awareness, distribution and consumption of bison products to ensure the sustainability of the bison industry.

The Say on Pay vote, part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act signed into law by Barack Obama in July 2010, is a non-binding vote that either approves or disapproves of the compensation given to Named Executive Officers. As of June 21, 2012, there have been 103 companies that have failed to reach 50% approval in this vote. For this paper I analyze the 103 companies over event windows of two, four, and ten days around the date of the failure to test for statistically significant abnormal stock market returns. None of the average cumulative abnormal returns for the three event windows are significant at any level, and I find no evidence that failing the Say on Pay vote corresponds to an increase or decrease in stock market returns.

Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about their foods and more particularly, the origin of their foods and the ingredients they contain. In light of the demand for additional origin information, the 100% Canadian milk branding initiative was launched in 2009 as a means of informing consumers about the origin of milk in their dairy products. The information is indicated by the presence of the 100% Canadian milk symbol on dairy products and can be characterized a form of co-branding. The literature on co-branding stipulates that co-branding can result in changed product perceptions either negatively or positively. In addition, the willingness to pay (WTP) literature stipulates that WTP is determined by product attributes and individuals’ characteristics. This thesis therefore seeks to ascertain the factors affecting consumers’ preferences and WTP for products with the 100% Canadian milk symbol. Specifically, the effects of individual characteristics such as health consciousness, patriotic values and risk perceptions on preferences for dairy products with the symbol are evaluated. Concurrently, the study explores the relationship between respondents’ knowledge of the Canadian dairy industry and WTP for the symbol. Data were gathered from a total of 1012 milk and ice cream consumers using two nationwide internet surveys. Estimations are carried out using the Multinomial Logit (MNL) and the Random Parameter Logit models (RPL). The results suggest that consumers in general have positive perceptions of milk and ice cream with the 100% Canadian milk symbol but negatively perceive store brand and organic labels. However, in some cases, combining a store brand label or organic label with the 100% Canadian milk symbol, are shown to alter consumers’ perceptions of the product. Some socio-demographic variables and individual characteristics were also found to be influential in intended purchase behaviours and WTP for milk and ice cream. The findings from this study provide information on consumers’ perceptions and attribute preferences and are expected therefore to contribute to the marketing strategies of the Canadian dairy industry as a whole.

Ecosystem services and goods are non-market values that are increasingly being accounted through contingent valuation methods and more specifically by studying people’s willingness-to-pay for them. Large ecosystem restoration is an area that benefits from economic valuation because placing a monetary value proves that restoration efforts are justified to preserve resources for future generations, wanted by a community, and even a profitable investment of public funds. However, what determines that a community supports and understands restoration efforts is linked to their social, economic, cultural, and geographic reality. In this study I adopted the idea of willingness-to-pay to examine people’s attitudes towards river flow restoration efforts in the Colorado River Delta. The Colorado River Delta is a resilient ecosystem that has endured severe river flow depravation for more than 70 years now; yet, this ecosystem still provides many environmental services and goods and its restoration is well justified for that. This research mainly reveals that the Colorado River Delta is still an undervalued ecosystem despite its resiliency and the many regional benefits it still provides. This study has two research questions. Fist, I determined what factors influence Mexicali’s willingness-to-pay. Second, I compared willingness-to-pay attitudes between the cities of Mexicali and San Luis Rio Colorado (SLRC); two neighboring Mexican cities of different size and economic structure but of similar social, ecologic and geographical conditions. The instrument to collect field data was a survey that posed a realistic river flow restoration scenario at a range of prices from 10 to 90 pesos in order to test people’s willingness-to-pay; a total of 564 surveys were delivered face to face in Mexicali. Subsequently, I compared Mexicali survey results with a previous SLRC survey. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric analysis, and qualitative analysis were the main instruments to arrive to my conclusions. Within Mexicali, I found that parenthood and the perception of received benefits from the river were the most significant factors that determined people’s willingness-to-pay. Migration was also a salient socio-demographic factor that probably has an influence on people’s attitudes towards river flow restoration. When making comparisons between cities I found that SLRC is more willing to pay than Mexicali, which confirmed my hypothesis that environmental awareness influences willingness-to-pay in each city given that SLRC is a true river city while Mexicali is 64 km away from the river. Pricing was also influential in both cities. People’s exposure to the river varied from one city to the other –SLRC people have more interactions with the river than people from Mexicali do, thus matching again the difference in willingness-to-pay attitudes of each city. Although income, education, frequency of visits, and awareness of dry river conditions were expected to have a clear connection to willingness-to-pay within Mexicali, I found only a marginal statistical relationship that was very close to be significant. This was due to the fact that I analyzed the dependency of those variables for all prices and not at a specific price range where the actual average willingness-to-pay resides. Finding that average and then analyzing the relationships again should clarify this issue. What motivates people to pay was related to resource conservation and the recognition of the river’s ecological importance. What motivates people to not pay relates to negative attitudes such as incredulity and lack of trust in Mexican institutions. My main recommendations are to raise local environmental awareness of river issues with environmental education, to address local negative attitudes towards river restoration, and to explore the analysis of these data with other approaches such as socio-psychological models.

This study assessed the desirability for High-Occupancy/Toll (HOT) lanes in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) through stated preference and revealed traffic volume data gathering and analysis techniques. 4,000 surveys, distributed in five sample areas, asked respondents how much they would be willing to pay to escape congestion in eight unique trip conditions. Stated preference results found considerable public support for HOT-lanes in the GTA. In six out of eight trip conditions, a majority of respondents preferred to pay to travel in express lanes rather than endure congestion. Respondent willingness to pay (WTP) mean values varied considerably by trip condition. Willingness to pay to escape congestion was influenced by trip characteristics and driver factors. Trip urgency, traffic speed, and freeway trip distance were found to be statistically significant trip characteristic indicators of WTP. Previous exposure to electronic tolling and annual household income were found to be significant driver factor indicators of WTP in most trip conditions. Respondent gender and freeway travel frequency were found to be statistically significant driver factor indicators of WTP in some trip conditions. The presence of Hwy 407-ETR, an electronically tolled by-pass to Hwy 401, allowed for an examination of the effects of Hwy 401 volume and trip urgency on driver choice to use the tolled alternative. Results indicated that trip urgency and Hwy 401 volume were correlated with Hwy 407 throughput share. During periods of high trip urgency and high Hwy 401 volume, a substantial proportion of Hwy 401/407 corridor drivers chose to pay approximately $0.20/km to escape congestion.

Can pay-for-performance increase the motivation of public employees? By providing a basis for personnel decisions, particularly linking rewards to performance, performance appraisals aim to increase employees' work motivation and ultimately to improve their work performance and organizational productivity. With the emphasis on results-oriented management, performance appraisals have become a key managerial tool in the public sector. Critics charge, however, that pay-for-performance is ineffective in the public sector, largely because the link between performance and rewards is weak. However, no one has empirically measured the strength of the linkage. If performance ratings do have an impact on career success in the federal service, they might contribute to race and gender inequality. Although many studies have examined factors affecting gender and racial differences in career success, studies that try to connect gender and racial inequalities to managerial tools are scarce. Using a one percent sample of federal personnel records, the first essay examines the impact of performance ratings on salary increases and promotion probabilities, and the second essay explores whether women and minorities receive lower ratings than comparable white males, and women and minorities receive lower returns on the same level of performance ratings than comparable white males. The first essay finds that performance ratings have only limited impact on salary increases, but that they significantly affect promotion probability. Thus, the argument that performance-rewards link is weak could be partially correct, if it considers only pay-performance relationships. The second essay finds that women receive equal or higher performance ratings than comparable white men, but some minority male groups, particularly black men, tend to receive lower ratings than comparable white men. On the other hand, the returns on outstanding ratings do not differ between women and minority male groups and white men, though women groups seem to have disadvantages in promotion with the same higher ratings as comparable men in highly male-dominant occupations.

Ecosystem services and goods are non-market values that are increasingly being accounted through contingent valuation methods and more specifically by studying people’s willingness-to-pay for them. Large ecosystem restoration is an area that benefits from economic valuation because placing a monetary value proves that restoration efforts are justified to preserve resources for future generations, wanted by a community, and even a profitable investment of public funds. However, what determines that a community supports and understands restoration efforts is linked to their social, economic, cultural, and geographic reality. In this study I adopted the idea of willingness-to-pay to examine people’s attitudes towards river flow restoration efforts in the Colorado River Delta. The Colorado River Delta is a resilient ecosystem that has endured severe river flow depravation for more than 70 years now; yet, this ecosystem still provides many environmental services and goods and its restoration is well justified for that. This research mainly reveals that the Colorado River Delta is still an undervalued ecosystem despite its resiliency and the many regional benefits it still provides. This study has two research questions. Fist, I determined what factors influence Mexicali’s willingness-to-pay. Second, I compared willingness-to-pay attitudes between the cities of Mexicali and San Luis Rio Colorado (SLRC); two neighboring Mexican cities of different size and economic structure but of similar social, ecologic and geographical conditions. The instrument to collect field data was a survey that posed a realistic river flow restoration scenario at a range of prices from 10 to 90 pesos in order to test people’s willingness-to-pay; a total of 564 surveys were delivered face to face in Mexicali. Subsequently, I compared Mexicali survey results with a previous SLRC survey. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric analysis, and qualitative analysis were the main instruments to arrive to my conclusions. Within Mexicali, I found that parenthood and the perception of received benefits from the river were the most significant factors that determined people’s willingness-to-pay. Migration was also a salient socio-demographic factor that probably has an influence on people’s attitudes towards river flow restoration. When making comparisons between cities I found that SLRC is more willing to pay than Mexicali, which confirmed my hypothesis that environmental awareness influences willingness-to-pay in each city given that SLRC is a true river city while Mexicali is 64 km away from the river. Pricing was also influential in both cities. People’s exposure to the river varied from one city to the other –SLRC people have more interactions with the river than people from Mexicali do, thus matching again the difference in willingness-to-pay attitudes of each city. Although income, education, frequency of visits, and awareness of dry river conditions were expected to have a clear connection to willingness-to-pay within Mexicali, I found only a marginal statistical relationship that was very close to be significant. This was due to the fact that I analyzed the dependency of those variables for all prices and not at a specific price range where the actual average willingness-to-pay resides. Finding that average and then analyzing the relationships again should clarify this issue. What motivates people to pay was related to resource conservation and the recognition of the river’s ecological importance. What motivates people to not pay relates to negative attitudes such as incredulity and lack of trust in Mexican institutions. My main recommendations are to raise local environmental awareness of river issues with environmental education, to address local negative attitudes towards river restoration, and to explore the analysis of these data with other approaches such as socio-psychological models.