American students are graduating from college averaging tens of thousands of dollars in debt, leading to substantial repayment burdens and potentially inefficient shifts in spending patterns and career choices. A political trend towards austerity coupled with the rising student debt make effective allocation of federal higher education resources a high...
The Afghan public higher education (HE) system absorbs less than one-fifth of government education spending and per student spending declines, while the student annual enrollment is rising. This contrast may trigger challenges and inevitable tradeoffs for the public universities to
encounter. Policies concerning the diversification of financing stream need attention;...
Policies in Europe over the last half a century have steadily dismantled the inequality-easing processes of the welfare state. Current conditions coupled with concerns related to the recent economic downturn have heightened focus on the issue of income distribution. Education has been identified as a resource to combat such ills....
The 2010 U.S. health reforms expanded health insurance access to millions of Americans, mainly through an unprecedented expansion of Medicaid eligibility to those with low incomes. Not all states chose to expand their programs, resulting in disparate health-benefit access nationally. This study uses quantitative and qualitative analyses to explore the...
Union density in the United States has declined to historic lows over the past four decades. In 1954, nearly 35 percent of workers were union members while only 11 percent of workers were members of unions in 2015. Simultaneously, economic inequality widened, with one-third to one-fifth of this increase attributed...
Deforestation and loss of soil fertility are two forms of environmental degradation with global importance. Theories of environmental degradation commonly cited in public and academic discourse have historically emphasized the role of human populations and national economic development as being the primary drivers of environmental damage. This thesis utilizes quantitative...
Corruption has important implications for the proper implementation and success of public policies. A vast literature in the social sciences has highlighted important national attributes that propagate corruption within the public sector. Despite these vast literatures, less attention has focused on individual characteristics, outside of more basic cost/benefit analysis, that...
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness in Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is a federal program that aims to significantly increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. Oregon has been receiving GEAR UP funding since 2002. In 2008-2014, Oregon received its second round...
Though research on EU law compliance is extensive, the question as to why some policy entrepreneurs are more successful than others, and why some countries comply better than others, remains largely disputed. Using a case study design of France, this thesis focuses on the type of domestic institutions that make...
Liberalization of electricity markets has become a dominant energy sector reform for most of the European Union (EU) countries since 1990s. Despite initial expectations that liberalization will reduce electricity prices and strengthen overall energy security, outcomes of the deregulation reforms proved to be unclear and even contradictory. This study seeks...