No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

<p>The purpose of this dissertation is to determine the influence of spatial and industrial structure on the volume and composition of trade among Canadian and American regions. In so doing, it is intended to provide a better understanding of the causes and effects of trade on regions, the potential\ for further economic integration and the policy implications thereof.</p> <p>Both empirical and analytical modelling methods are used to analyze regional trade. Empirically, it is found that Canada-U.S. trade is heavily influenced by the spatial configuration of regions as well as their i1dustrial composition. It is also established that after controlling for distance and the industrial composition, there is a strong potential for further economic integration among Canadian and American regions. However, this potential is less than other studies have suggested.</p> <p>Using an analytical model, it is demonstrates that the welfare implications of i economic integration depends on the relative size of the trading regions, their I respective national markets and the tradeability of intermediate goods.</p> <p>Finally, the analysis shows that the potential for public policy to influence the I degree of integration and what form those policies might take depends crucially on the characteristics (geographic and industrial) of the trading regions.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In this dissertation I investigate and compare the impairments of long-lived operating assets under US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from different perspective, including the informativeness, determinants, and market valuation of asset impairments. A firm invests in long-lived operating assets with the expectation of generating future benefit. The decision or recognition of asset impairments implies such future benefit is expected to be lower than originally estimated. US GAAP and IFRS both require the recognition of impairment losses but their standards and accounting approaches are different in several ways. These distinctions raise the question whether the reported long-lived asset impairments under US GAAP and IFRS are comparable and motivate this dissertation. I investigate the predictive ability of reported asset write-offs for firms' future performance and find negative associations suggesting the informativeness of impairment losses. But such informativeness depends on the type of assets impaired, the accounting standards adopted, and the institutional characteristics. In general, aggregate impairments are persistently associated with future performance under IFRS but not US GAAP. The impairments of tangible assets have more predictive ability than those of intangibles. For IFRS adopters, enforcement takes a more important role in determining the informativeness of asset impairments than legal origins. I also examine the determinants and attributes of asset impairments under US GAAP and IFRS. I find both of them reflect certain economic factors and reporting incentives. Under US GAAP asset impairments strongly reflect GDP growth, unemployment rate, industry-trend and reporting incentives, including taking a big bath and income smoothing. Under IFRS the impairments reflect most economic factors but less reporting incentives. However, when enforcement is low in IFRS countries, firms tend to manage earnings through asset write-offs. I further address the market valuation of asset write-offs under US GAAP and IFRS. The reporting of asset impairments improves the explanatory power of accounting information for equity prices under IFRS but not US GAAP, especially when enforcement is high. The associations between asset write-offs and equity prices under IFRS in high enforcement countries are significantly different from those under US GAAP, implying investors weigh reported impairments under IFRS. I also use stock returns as an alternative metric of market valuation. Under US GAAP, asset write-offs are negatively associated with past, current, and future stock returns. Under IFRS in high enforcement countries the effects of impairment loss concentrate on past and current stock returns. The results of comparisons suggest asset write-offs under US GAAP and IFRS are not totally comparable from a market perspective. This dissertation contributes to literature on special items, impairment accounting, and reporting under IFRS. It is also related to the comparability of financial reporting under US GAAP and IFRS. While studies have compared overall properties of the two standards, examining the differences in a specific accounting area is also important as U.S. SEC express concern about the convergence of different accounting standards and whether U.S. should incorporate IFRS into its financial reporting systems. / Business Administration/Accounting

The overarching objective of this study is to examine the nexus of relationships that emerged between university students and Latino families paired through a university service-learning course. The relationships crossed socially constructed boundaries of ethnic groups, language, educational levels, and socioeconomic status, exploring the intersection of community service, scholarship, and teaching-and-learning. The research questions necessitated the use of qualitative research methods. The narrative attempts to capture the essence of the setting, the actors, and the resultant relationships by describing and examining the spontaneous relationships that occurred. The researcher spent 1½ years as an interpreter/participatory member in the Latino community prior to beginning the research study. She collected data collected for this case study over 2½ years, examining the backgrounds of the participants, their perspectives toward their partners, and the role of service-learning in the development of relationships between two disparate groups. She conducted 46 interviews with students and community members while collecting over 2500 reflection papers, 100 transformation papers, and 25 PowerPoint presentations from students. The participants developed relationships at different levels, some resulting in friendships that will probably continue for some time; others sharing respect and concern for each other only during the placement. A few unsuccessful partnerships had to be changed. Student and community voices presented an appreciation for the partner's language and culture. The data illustrated satisfying reciprocal relationships in which students and families emerged united in solidarity against a society they deemed unjust. This study seeks to provide information for educators considering service-learning programs, examining a course that provides opportunities for interaction between university students and community members. Through the participants' voices, the reader can explore the integration of academic learning with learning lived in the community. Finally, this study submits general proposals for the inclusion of service-learning programs in Foreign Language and Teacher Education programs as a means of nurturing paradigm shifts in student attitudes toward members of other cultures as well as paradigm shifts in the Latinos' attitudes toward their new culture, suggesting possible deeper societal transformation as the academy and the community become agents of change through service-learning in the Latino community. / Ph. D.

This study proposes a stratified approach of drought severity assessment using multi-layer simulated soil moisture. SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) models are calibrated for 50 watersheds in the South-Atlantic Gulf region of the Southeastern US and a high-resolution daily soil moisture dataset is obtained at Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC-12) resolution for a period of January 1982 through December 2013. A near real-time hydrologic simulation framework by coupling the calibrated SWAT models with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) coupled forecast system model version 2 (CFSv2) weather data is developed to forecast various water balance components including soil moisture (SM), actual evapotranspiration (ET), potential evapotranspiration ET (PET), and runoff (SURQ) for near-real time drought severity assessment, and drought forecasting for a lead of 9-months. A combination of the surface and total rooting depth soil moisture percentiles proves to be an effective increment over conventional drought assessment approaches in capturing both, transient and long-term drought impacts. The proposed real-time drought monitoring approach shows high accuracy in capturing drought onset and propagation and shows a high degree of similarity with the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), the long-term (PDSI, PHDI, SPI-9 and SPI-12), and the short-term (Palmer Z index, SPI-1 and SPI-6) drought indices. / Master of Science

Using a comparative trend analysis for fifteen states in the Middle East during President George W. Bush's eight year administration, this paper provides one method for answering the research question, "What was the priority/focus of U.S. Middle East policy during the W. Bush Administration?" Within the context of international relations theories neorealism, neoliberalism, and neoconservatism, U.S. policy is broken down into three policy priorities: stability, security, and democracy promotion and measured for each state for each year of the administration. Line graphs illustrate the changes from year to year and linear trend lines indicate the direction of change as positive, negative, or neutral. The results are used to validate the three working hypotheses: 1) if the U.S. views stability as paramount, then its foreign policy will be to support the status quo regimes, 2) if the U.S. wants to maintain security, then its foreign policy will be to demonstrate power projection via its military, and 3) if the U.S. aims at democracy promotion, the its foreign policy will be to implement economic aid and assistance programs to reform non-democratic governments and strengthen existing democratic institutions. Eleven states confirmed the stability hypothesis, nine states confirmed the security hypothesis, and twelve states confirmed the democracy promotion hypothesis. There was no discernable pattern between the trends across states indicating that the U.S. consistently pursued one policy priority over the others. There were only two complete cases in which a state had only one positive trending policy priority. / Master of Arts

China and the South China Sea region will play an important role in global and US strategic policy for the foreseeable future. Because China is an upcoming global economic power, the US and other nations must become cognizant of China's motivations in the South China Sea in order to avoid conflict, which seems inevitable. The purpose of this thesis is to examine China's conflicts/tensions in the South China Sea, specifically the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Taiwan, ASEAN, and US Navy. Discussions on the evolution of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will also provide additional insight to China's actions in the region. Understanding China's history, role, and claims in the region begins to paint a picture that the PLAN are operating under a principle very similar to the Monroe Doctrine, which allowed the US unfettered access to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Lastly, the thesis will demonstrate that the Chinese version of the Monroe Doctrine as well the country's desire to establish dominance in the South China Sea, which she sees as her "lost territory", is derived from the fear of an encirclement strategy implemented by the US and a nascent US-backed collective security regime, ASEAN. / Master of Arts

This thesis explores the reform of intellectual property regulation policies with respect to computer software within two advanced industrial nations after 1980. A comparative case analysis of the United States and Japan will provide insight as to how advanced industrial nations have responded to market forces, competing private interests, and international pressure for policy harmonization in the construction and implementation of intellectual property regulation reforms. This study will show that ideological and structural arrangements of state institutions have influenced the extent of liberalization in intellectual property policy, and the preservation of equilibrium between individual rights and public interests in the establishment of intellectual property. / Master of Arts