MPM / Oliver Reginald Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

This dissertation consists of three essays that explore the interplay between economic shocks and local context. The first chapter studies the role of Korea's unique social fractionalization in explaining a 60% growth in agricultural productivity during the 1970s. Social fractionalization along dimensions like ethnicity or class can stunt economic development. This paper investigates how fractionalization affects a group's ability to respond to economic shocks by studying rural South Korea in the 1970s. Social groups in rural Korea were defined by one dominant characteristic: extended kin network identified by family name. Some villages displayed high homogeneity, with up to 90% of households sharing the same family name. This unique social context offers a reliable measure of social fractionalization that is otherwise difficult to measure. I combine this cross-sectional variation with the time variation in market access created by the construction of a new bridge, the Namhae bridge, in 1973. I find that homogeneous villages displayed higher agricultural investments and productivity growth than heterogeneous villages following the bridge construction. Homogeneous villages capitalized on the opportunities created by the bridge by providing complementary local public goods more effectively than heterogeneous villages. This paper highlights the critical role of social homogeneity in enhancing a community's ability to capitalize on new opportunities in the face of external shocks, such as improved market access. In the second chapter, I investigate the impact of expanding access to education on the quality of pre-existing schools, using India's Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) national secondary school construction program as a case study. I use a difference-in-differences strategy to assess the effects of new school construction on existing schools' enrollment, facilities, and the number of students taking and passing the nationally administered exam at grade ten and twelve. The analysis utilizes school-level data from the Secondary Education Management Information System (SEMIS) database, which tracks all secondary schools in India between 2009 and 2020. I find that while opening new schools increases the number of students taking and passing exams, it does not necessarily lead to improvements in the quality of education, as measured by the proportions of students taking and passing exams. This suggests that constructing new schools alone may not be enough to enhance educational quality through increased competition, and other factors or interventions may be necessary. This paper highlights the potential trade-off between expanding access to education and maintaining the quality of education provided by pre-existing schools. In the third chapter, I empirically test ``learning-by-exporting'' by examining the long-term performance of Indian IT firms after their exposure to the temporary export shock created by the Y2K bug. The Y2K bug was a computer software glitch that misinterpreted the year 2000 as 1900 due to the widespread use of two-digit date representations in computer systems at the time. As the new millennium approached, concerns grew that this programming oversight would lead to widespread system failures and potential global disruptions. This uncertainty prompted extensive efforts to identify and fix potential issues before 2000, resulting in a surge in outsourcing to Indian IT companies. However, by the year 2000, concerns proved to be largely overstated as few major problems materialized. This event represented an unexpected yet short-lived export boom for Indian IT firms. I use two exposure measures: IT firms with a history of exporting before 2000 and the Bartik instrument, which leverages regional variation in IT sector employment share. Overall, I find that exposure to the Y2K export shock had a positive and statistically significant effect on the long-term performance of Indian IT firms, supporting the concept of ``learning-by-exporting.'' Event study analysis shows that firms exposed to the Y2K shock experienced improvements in sales, export share, and total compensation paid to employees. However, the 2SLS results using the Bartik instrument reveal statistically insignificant findings, suggesting a potential weak instrument problem. This highlights the need for more accurate measures of Y2K shock exposure and further exploration of alternative estimation strategies.

Diploma thesis was to design a complex of school buildings near the historic city center of Ostrava, which includes three levels of education, from preschool age to high school students. The main goal is to find a suitable form of functional and operational design of the building in relation to the modern forms of education with regards to the different mental and physical development of these three age groups of children.

Assigment of the Diplom Project was to design complex of school buildings in the Ostrava city, on Black Maddow. Design should be based on the winning project from Maxwan architectural studio. They won the urbanistic competition in this area. I decides to devide funktions to the 3 different buildings – Kindergarten, Primary school and Lyceé in a one builging and the multifunktional sport hall. Kindergarten ist placed in the park, on the riverbank. Primary school and Lyceé are connected in one building, which is situated in the ring of buildings arround the Black Maddow. Parter under the building is public and building is situated on the most frekvent place, where the footpath are crossing. Near the school building is designed a sport hall, which is not just for school use but also for public.

In this study the public-school buildings of Denton are examined for evidences of modern architectural design. Chapter I serves as an introduction. Chapter II presents a history of the Denton Public Schools. Chapter III presents standards for evaluating modern school architecture. Features of existing school buildings, built earlier than 1964, which, in character, exemplify modern architectural design are described in Chapter IV. The three school buildings built since 1946 and the one under construction are described in detail and evaluated according to the standards given. Representative photostatic reproduction and photographs illustrate the text. In Chapter V a summary of the study is given and conclusions are presented.

This project is a school for dance located in the Northwest of Washington, D.C. It functions mainly as a professional educational center for dance, but also offers classes to the community at night and on weekends. The school will accommodate up to 250 professional students and as many from the community. The community classes help support the school as well as provide students with the opportunity to obtain teaching experience. Opera, previously the main draw for musical performances, has, in recent years, become increasingly expensive to produce. As a result it has become unavailable to many. This has resulted in a rise in the popularity of dance. The decision to design a school for dance was inspired partially by my love for dance and partially by the increased need for such a school. A pinwheel circulation was chosen as an indication of perpetual movement and the school evolved around this idea. Honest, but modest materials were used as is befitting a public school with limited financial resources. The tactile qualities of the materials are important. Materials are rough and informal, as are the students in the initial execution of their art; moving towards refinement and, subsequently, moving on. The accumulation of many small individual units all working together to make a whole is similar to the relationship of the students to the school. Brick is too formal for this school and for this site, so block was chosen. The building takes advantage of every opportunity to interact with the site by providing natural gardens and outdoor places to dance. The paths formed by each leg of the pinwheel are interwoven with the site so that each path is part site, part building. It is important to provide students with informal meeting places in order to increase the possibility of contact with others. This is an important aspect of any school, therefore every opportunity was taken to provide them where possible. The intent was to provide a well composed, well choreographed space that was rich in its sensory offerings and amenable to the study of dance. / Master of Architecture

The possible development of a private school/community recreation complex on a specific site in Christiansburg, Virginia was proposed. Thorough architectural programming (including interaction with the school’s administration) and site analysis preceded the generation of design proposals for the project. A phased structure built of concrete masonry with aluminum-framed atria was proposed, responding primarily to the administration’s desire for a low cost, low maintenance structure which provided a maximum of natural illumination. Although the building would have a distinct presence within the existing neighborhood, care was taken not to cause the new complex to overpower the surrounding residential and commercial buildings. A description of the complete design process is presented in addition to graphic representations of the proposed facility. / Master of Architecture

Leung Sze Han Candy. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2000-2001, design report." / Includes bibliographical references. / Prologue --- p.01 / the Boundaries --- p.03 / Autism a Sensation Boundary --- p.11 / Autism in Hong Kong --- p.15 / Beyond Boundary --- p.23 / The realm of Social Sustainability --- p.25 / Inception of the Children Centre --- p.31 / Site Selection --- p.52 / Selection Criteria --- p.53 / Site Analysis: Kowloon Park --- p.59 / Design Process --- p.65 / Design Principles --- p.67 / Design Development --- p.71 / Final Design --- p.87 / Special Study --- p.93 / Appendix / Interviews / Precedent Study / Feedback from reviewers / Bibliography

"The purpose of this study is to determine the present status of the McKinney school system in regard to the financial ability, the school plant, the teaching staff, and the pupils by making a profound comparison with general practices and statndards set up by accepted authorities and offering constructive criticism and recommendations that are needed, as obviously shown by comparison."--leaf 2