MARS Community: etd @ Mason (Electronic Theses and Dissertations)

Type of Diversity and Subgroup Formation: Implications for Team Composition

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:15:29 GMT

Title: Type of Diversity and Subgroup Formation: Implications for Team Composition

Authors: Wiggins, Bryan K.

Abstract: The group faultline model (Lau & Murnighan, 1998, 2005) suggests that strong faultline groups, in which individuals within a group share several diversity characteristics with one another and not with other members, will lead to greater ingroup/outgroup perceptions than weaker faultline groups, in which all group members share some diversity characteristics and differ on others. Recent research has supported this model at the group level (Lau & Murnighan, 2005; Sawyer et al., 2006; Thatcher et al., 2003). In order to advance this line of research, it is necessary to understand why these differences occur. Discovering where ingroup/outgroup relationships exist within the group is the first step in understanding why faultlines may disrupt group processes. Dyadic level measures of subgroup perceptions (trust and conflict) between individuals differing on nationality and functionality in strong and weaker faultline conditions werecollected. Dyadic differences were found based on the demographic context of the group, the number of shared characteristics, and a combination of the two. However, not all dyads exhibited the expected relationships. Differences due to the demographic context of the group, the number of shared diversity characteristics, and the types of diversity characteristics shared are explored as possible reasons why some dyadic relationships, but not others, exhibited the expected ingroup/outgroup relationships.

Institutional Aspects and Fiscal Outcomes of U.S. Municipal Governance

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:53:13 GMT

Title: Institutional Aspects and Fiscal Outcomes of U.S. Municipal Governance

Authors: Rundle, Jonathan

Abstract: A large body of literature suggests that institutional arrangements for collective politicaldecisions are not simply “veils”, but exert a real influence on the particular policies thatemerge. This thesis is a compilation of three essays exploring various institutionalaspects of governance at the municipal level in the United States. Each essay empiricallytests whether those institutions have implications for public fiscal outcomes.The first essay attempts to investigate whether, and if so how, financial markets assessinstitutional arrangements where the policy outcomes will bear directly on the valuationof financial securities. A model of interest rate determination for municipal bond issuesis presented and tested using market data from bond issues to assess whether formal debtlimitations, tax limitations, and expenditure limitations affect municipal marketparticipants’ credit evaluations of the issuing governments. The empirical results suggestthat tax limits in particular increase borrowing costs to local governments byapproximately 5 to 8 basis points.The second essay tests whether increased jurisdictional competition in the local provisionof publicly financed goods results in lower per capita debt levels. The empirical resultsfind evidence that in U.S. metropolitan counties, increased jurisdictional fragmentationlowers all non-school related local government debt burdens, particularly non-guaranteeddebt.The final essay considers political institutions in large U.S. cities, and whetherpartisanship at the local level can impact fiscal outcomes. Specifically, the essay testswhether local politicians engage in the strategic use of debt. Two different models of thestrategic use of debt are tested by considering mayoral election prospects andcorresponding city per capita debt levels. The results do not support the hypothesis thatthis type of political behavior is a significant determinant of large U.S. city debt levels.The essay conjectures that other institutions such as strong Tiebout competition ormajoritarian electoral systems may mute or prevent partisanship behavior such as thestrategic use of debt.

Sequencing Training Interventions to Promote Self-Regulation, Knowledge, and Adaptive Transfer

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:30:56 GMT

Title: Sequencing Training Interventions to Promote Self-Regulation, Knowledge, and Adaptive Transfer

Authors: Ely, Katherine

Abstract: Changes in the nature of work, such as the shift away from repetitive and well-definedtasks toward increasingly novel and ambiguous tasks, require training programs toprepare trainees to be adaptable. As a result, researchers have examined a variety oftraining interventions designed to encourage different self-regulatory processes thattheory suggests are important for promoting knowledge acquisition and adaptive transfer(e.g., Bell & Kozlowski, 2008). The current study focused on two of these approaches:error management training and prompting strategy regulation. These interventions arebased on active learning principles and are theorized to increase adaptive transfer viaself-regulation and task knowledge. Despite the growing body of research in this area,this line of research has developed independently from the literature on the nature ofknowledge acquisition—despite evidence that self-regulatory processes are differentiallybeneficial at different stages of knowledge acquisition. As such, the present study wasdesigned to integrate research on adaptability training interventions with the literature onthe nature of knowledge acquisition. The results highlight the importance of consideringthe timing of implementing training interventions. Specifically, receiving errormanagement training in the first half of training led to higher levels of mid-trainingemotion control and basic knowledge, while receiving strategy regulation prompts in thesecond half of training led to higher levels of post-training motivation and strategicknowledge. Additionally, results from mediation analyses suggested that self-regulationprocesses and knowledge levels fully mediated the relationship between trainingconditions (early and late training) and adaptive transfer.

From Tariffs to the Income Tax: Trade Protection and Revenue in the United States Tax System

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:11:12 GMT

Title: From Tariffs to the Income Tax: Trade Protection and Revenue in the United States Tax System

Authors: Magness, Phillip W.

Abstract: Utilizing historical and statistical data, it is argued that the federal income tax amendmentof 1913 drastically, and somewhat inadvertently, altered the constitutional politicaleconomy of congressional trade politics by decoupling the import tariff from itstraditional role as a revenue device. Prior to this change, the revenue attributes of thetariff system acted as a mild constraint upon the extreme protectionist interest grouppolitics that characterized the early 20th century. The removal of this constraint and itsensuing policy effects are illustrative of the complex and often overlooked role thatrevenue may play in trade and tariff politics. By treating the 16th amendment as a tradepolicy measure gone awry, this study challenges the prevailing historical consensus onthe original purposes and intent of federal income taxation.

A Survey of Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) Communities’ Attitudes Toward Human-Lion Conflict and Lion Conservation

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:58:31 GMT

Title: A Survey of Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) Communities’ Attitudes Toward Human-Lion Conflict and Lion Conservation

Authors: Moghari, Nick M.

Abstract: Local human communities within Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) were surveyed to determine prevalent attitudes toward lion conservation efforts and Uganda Wildlife Authority’s (UWA’s) Revenue Sharing Program. Other objectives of the surveys were to obtain information about the frequency and conditions where the human-lion conflict occurred in QENP communities, the nature and extent of the consequences, and the communities’ perception of the main causes of human-lion conflict and their proposed conflict mitigation solutions. A further aim was to determine the effects of the UWA’s Revenue Sharing Program and the economic development projects funded by this program in terms of improving local communities’ attitudes toward lion conservation and the prevalent attitudes toward the Park itself.The majority of the survey respondents had frequently seen and heard lions in their communities and was aware of human-lion conflict in their own community or in a nearby village. Their support for lion conservation was mainly due to the respondents’perceived economic benefits from QENP’s foreign currency revenue and UWA’s Revenue Sharing Program. Despite community support for lion conservation, under the current noncompensated lion predation scenario, the majority of the surveyed community members would consider a lethal retaliatory action against the lions as “justified” or “acceptable.”Prevalent attitudes of the respondents toward the Park officials and their general activities were positive. In terms of Park officials’ responsiveness to human-lion conflict, most survey respondents considered Park officials as mostly slow in responding to their call for emergency help and generally unresponsive to the community demand for the compensation of damages caused by Park lions.Survey respondents were aware of the Park’s Community Conservation (CC) program. Among various CC policies, they particularly favored the Revenue Sharing Program whereby 20% of the Park revenue is shared among the communities within or neighboring the Park buffer villages. Such projects as adding two to three classrooms to overcrowded schools, building small health units, or supplying freshwater were very popular among the surveyed communities. The cost and execution of these projects were, however, disappointing to many respondents. The majority of the communities surveyed described these projects to be incomplete and generally of substandard quality. Many community leaders faulted their district and subcounty administrations for the inadequacy and mismanagement of these projects. Communities did not hold either UWA or the Park officials responsible for the low quality or the incomplete status ofthese projects. But when they were asked to select the beneficial effects of the Park, many responded that the Park benefits were not fully visible in their communities.Human Subjects Review Board (HSRB) NoteThis work was approved by the UWA and conducted under the supervision of the QENP Office of Research and Monitoring. Before conducting the community surveys, questionnaires were reviewed and approved by Dr. Margaret Driciru, the QENP Warden of Research and Monitoring. They were also reviewed and commented on by Mr. Benm Mugerwh, Warden of Community Conservation, and reviewed and discussed with the local LC1 and LC2 (community Local Council chairpersons). At the start of each survey/interview, survey respondents were informed about the purely academic nature of the work and were given the option to skip any or all questions to which they did not wish to respond. A more detailed description of the survey methodology is given in Sections 4 and 5 of this report. The application for George Mason University Human Subjects Review Board (HSRB) approval was submitted only after the completion of the QENP surveys.