This dissertation represents the first historical, descriptive, and spatial analysis of higher education in the United States. The principal contribution of the dissertation is a database which allows for multiple ways to visualize and investigate spatial patterns of institutions of higher education (hereafter, IHE). The lack of a geo-referenced database of the nation’s IHE previously inhibited the spatial analysis of the U.S. higher education system as a whole. The secondary contribution of the dissertation is identifying a series of factors that influenced the spatial patterns of IHE. Educational, federal, state, and demographic factors have shaped the geography of IHE and enrollment in the U.S. Literature reviews trace the history of U.S. higher education from the founding of Harvard in 1636 through to the twenty-first century. Maps of the historical spread of IHE set the review of literatures within a spatial context. Periods of structural change in U.S. higher education between 1939 and 2007 are identified. Traditional and spatial statistical analyses for IHE and their enrollments were conducted using the dissertation database. Results are presented across multiple spatial scales, including the nation, state, and ZIP Code™ levels. A notable finding of the dissertation is that the spatial core of “traditional” IHE has remained in the Northeast. Western and southern states could not “catch up” with the Northeast in terms of the concentration of either four-year or private, non-profit IHE relative to the college-aged population. However, western states compensated for the lack of private, non-profit IHE by establishing public and two-year IHE. Scholars have examined the post-WWII expansion of U.S. higher education in great detail, yet the analysis of higher education change from a geographic perspective previously has been limited. This dissertation fills a recognized research void with two contributions: the creation of a spatial database of IHE and the preliminary interpretation of spatial patterns of IHE in light of educational, federal, state, and demographic factors. A third contribution, in the longer run, will be making the database available to other researchers and policy makers.

This study assesses macro, state-centered structural influences on the foreign host market performance of transnational firms, highlighting sanctioning and monitoring. We hypothesize that transnational firms from home countries that have more structural links to a focal host country through (1) common membership in inter-governmental organizations, (2) the host's export dependence, and (3) immigration will be better able to allay concerns about value appropriation vis--vis both public and private actors in that host country. Those transnational firms will have more incentive to create value in that host country and should experience greater success in economic exchange there. Regression results, based on the 20002001 relative sales performance of foreign transnationals from a variety of home countries operating in six large host countries across more than 35 industries, confirm that our three indicators of structure have positive, direct, and independent effects on transnationals' foreign market performance. Dependence and immigration enable sanctioning and monitoring and, beyond capabilities and trust, are additional mechanisms in explaining transnationals' foreign market performance.

In 1957 the state of Mississippi amended its marriage law. Changes included raising theminimum age for men and women, parental consent requirements, compulsory blood tests and proofof age. As a result, the number of marriages performed in Mississippi fell by more than 60 percentin 2 years. This paper examines the causal impact of the change in marriage law on marriage rates,fertility and educational attainment of women who were affected by the change in law. After thepassage of the law, marriage rates declined sharply, and as a result, fertility declined and educationalattainment increased. The results are much stronger for blacks than for whites. The black marriagerate among 19-23 year old women in the affected states declined by around 14% over that of thedecline in the unaffected states. Black women in this age group also had 0.3 fewer children, and hada 9% higher probability of being enrolled in school. In addition, black women affected by the lawchange obtained nearly an extra year of schooling as compared to black women not affected by thislaw change. Among whites, the results are qualitatively similar, though weaker in magnitude andstatistical significance. Hence, barriers to marriage can have significant implications for reducingfertility and increasing educational attainment of women.

Research generally focuses on how immigration affects native workers, while the impact of immigration on domestic firms is often overlooked. This paper addresses this important omission by examining whether firms respond to immigration by adjusting the location of their production activities. Consistent with the predictions of the model, the results indicate that low skilled immigration decreases and high skilled immigration increases the relocation of production activities at both the extensive and intensive margins. These results explain why the impact of immigration on the wages of native workers is often found to be quite small.

The literature on the economic assimilation of immigrants generally treats them as atomistic individuals assimilating in a largely anonymous labour market. Here, we argue that immigrants assimilate as communities, not only as individuals. The longer the immigrant community has been established, the better adjusted it becomes, and the more the host society comes to accept that ethnic group. Using data from a 5% sample of the 1980, 1990 and 2000 US censuses, we find that the stronger is the tradition of immigration from a given source region, the better are the economic outcomes for subsequent immigrants from that source.

The literature on schooling externalities in U. S. cities and states is rather mixed: positive external effects of average education levels are hardly found while positive externalities from the share of college graduates are more often identified. We propose a simple model to reconcile this mixed evidence. Our model predicts positive externalities from increased college education and negligible external effects from high school education. Using compulsory attendance/child labor laws, push-driven immigration of highly educated workers, and the location of land-grant colleges as instruments for schooling attainments, we test and confirm the model predictions with data on U. S. states for the period 1960-2000.

How many people have had a chronic disease for longer than 5-years in Scotland? How has this impacted upon their employment? Are there any geographical clusters in Scotland where a high- incidence of patients with such long-term illness can be found? How does the life expectancy of such individuals compare with the national averages? Such questions are important to understand the health of nations and the best ways in which health care should be delivered and measured for their impact and success. In tackling such research questions, e-Infrastructures need to provide tailored, secure access to an extensible range of distributed resources including, amongst others, primary and secondary e-Health clinical data; social science data; and geospatial data. In this paper we describe the security models underlying these e-Infrastructures and demonstrate their implementation in supporting secure, federated access to a variety of distributed and heterogeneous data sets, exploiting the results of a variety of projects at the National e-Science Centre (NeSC) at the University of Glasgow.

This study is the first systematic attempt to trace the demographic trajectory of professional nurses in the United States in the early 20th century. It also demonstrates the possibilities of using digital technologies to restructure the asking and answering of historical questions. The use of quantitative methods of social history has trans-national applications which can facilitate global investigations into the demographic composition of the nursing occupation.

Identifying the effects of political endorsements has historically been difficult. Before the2008 Democratic Presidential Primary, Barack Obama was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey. Wedevelop a model of celebrity endorsements and assess this endorsement's impact using, as measuresof Winfreys influence, subscriptions to her magazine and sales of books she recommends. We findher endorsement increased Obamas votes and financial contributions, and also increased overallvoter turnout. No connection is found between the measures of Oprah's influence and previouselections, nor with underlying political preferences. Our results suggest Winfrey's endorsement wasresponsible for approximately one million additional votes for Obama.

School quality is considered a key factor affecting homebuyers location choices and willingness to pay. Previously, many studies found that school quality plays a critical role in determining housing prices and location choice. School quality is positively capitalized into housing prices. Households are willing to pay for school quality, in particular, school outcomes such as test scores and performance index. However, there is a view that willingness to pay for school quality is different based on household demographics and socioeconomic status (SES).The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate heterogeneous preference for school quality, school district choice, and willingness to pay for school quality according to a households demographic background and SES, including the presence of school-age children, marital status, income, education, race/ethnicity, and occupation. This dissertation takes occupational variables into account in the model as a proxy for human capital. This dissertation was also developed to find whether or not a households preference for school quality leads to their school quality consumption regarding school district choice and willingness to pay.

Background: Eastern Michigan University (EMU) is a regional comprehensive university established as a teacher training school in 1849. This case study analyzed the politics of change and persistence as the organization evolved from a normal schools that trained teachers to a regional comprehensive university. Purpose: This study was pursued to inform higher education leadership; satisfy the personal interests of the researcher and to contribute knowledge to comprehensive university organizational studies. Research Design: An interpretive longitudal historical case study design was pursed for this research. This case study reviewed the political cultural environment that occurred prior to the organization’s formation and through its transition to a multipurpose university. The study describes the cultural environment, the Michigan Higher Education System and the organization as they evolved over time. Data Collection and Analysis: data were collected from non-obtrusive sources including: EMU archives, historical publications, Ypsilanti Historical Society, newspapers, catalogues, and brochures. As data was collected, categories were identified based on the presence of critical historical events. The categories included; demographics, economics, conflict and governance. Each of the categories was examined at national, state and local environmental levels. The data was organized into socially constructed eras that included three historical eras that occurred prior to the formation of the . . .

After discussing some widening employment inequality between Black and White women, as well as large and in some cases growing health disparities, the final installment of this miniseries turns to news on racial discrimination and its repercussions for Black women, especially those who are poor. Much of the economic and health inequality we find could be the result of discrimination. Here I show some discrimination and its impact in other realms. Discrimination takes many forms and has many consequences. But, like heavy metals in fish, it appears that is effects cumulate over the lives of its victims. New research on the mental health effects of discrimination – as crudely as this can be measured – is telling.

This study makes a first systematic attempt at tracing the development of Latin Americannumeracy over the long run. In order to approximate basic numeracy we use age heapingtechniques. We find that Latin America was on a convergence path relative to WesternEurope during the early 18th century. During the early 19th century, numeracy developmentstagnated in some countries. Moreover, differences among Latin American countriesincreased. While Argentina, Uruguay, and Lima experienced a solid late 19th centurydevelopment, Mexico and Colombia diverged from them, and from Europe. Brazil hadstagnating numeracy until the 1860s, but it progressed afterwards.

One literature documents a significant, black-white gap in average test scores, while another finds a substantial narrowing of the gap during the 1980's, and stagnation in convergence after. We use two data sources -- the Long Term Trends NAEP and AFQT scores for the universe of applicants to the U.S. military between 1976 and 1991 -- to show: 1) the 1980's convergence is due to relative improvements across successive cohorts of blacks born between 1963 and the early 1970's and not a secular narrowing in the gap over time; and 2) the across-cohort gains were concentrated among blacks in the South. We then demonstrate that the timing and variation across states in the AFQT convergence closely tracks racial convergence in measures of health and hospital access in the years immediately following birth. We show that the AFQT convergence is highly correlated with post-neonatal mortality rates and not with neonatal mortality and low birth weight rates, and that this result cannot be explained by schooling desegregation and changes in family background. We conclude that investments in health through increased access at very early ages have large, long-term effects on achievement, and that the integration of hospitals during the 1960's affected the test performance of black teenagers in the 1980's.

Globally, 9 per cent of total gross national income is spent in the health sector. Donor agencies transfer US$16 billion for health programmes in developing countries each year.1 These figures represent an unprecedented increase in funding for health, and as a result, the global health landscape is unrecognizable from a decade ago. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have revitalized interest in global health issues, and the influx of new money and multiple stakeholders has opened the way to innovative structures, networks, partnerships, and alliances beyond traditional health and development models. This attention is accompanied by greater demand for more and better information to track performance and ensure accountability. There is growing global interest in health information, particularly in metrics and evaluation, as exemplified by the MDGs and major global health initiatives (such as performance-based financing). This unprecedented interest has increased the pressure on countries and agencies to generate high-quality and timely data.2;3 As one of the most influential entities in the global health arena, the G8 has an important role in tackling the deficiencies in the systems that are expected to generate this information. At the Toyako G8 Summit, the Report of the G8 Health Experts Group recognised the need for action to create appropriate monitoring and assessment of health systems so that . . .

Health impacts on neighborhood residents from transportation systems can be an environmental justice issue. To assess the effects of transportation planning decisions, including the construction of an intraurban freeway, on residents of the Excelsior neighborhood in southeast San Francisco, PODER (People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights), a local grassroots environmental justice organization; the San Francisco Department of Public Health; and the University of California, Berkeley, collaborated on participatory research. We used our findings regarding traffic-related exposures and health hazards in the area to facilitate community education and action to address transportation-related health burdens on neighborhood residents

Why do voters publicly fund education? I examine two explanations: publicfunds may be a means for decisive voters to transfer wealth to themselves orvoters may subsidize the education of others to raise social education levelsand realize external benefits. I test these theories in the 1800s, when full taxsupport of primary schools emerged. States where median and mean wealthwas closer together had higher fractions of education revenue from publicsources. Attendance rates rose when the public share of education fundingrose, especially for poor children. These facts are consistent with a model withexternal benefits of education.

Many young people in the District of Columbia are failing to make a successful transition to adulthood. Their challenges include poor preparation for the high-skills labor market and long-standing health problems. Recent District government efforts have centered around school reform and early childhood, but these areas are not sufficient to improve the well-being of older youth. This report provides comprehensive data indicators and analysis on the state of older youth (age 12-24) in the District and examines the role of area nonprofits that work with young people, their families, and neighborhoods. The data presented here include the following: (1) Indicators showing current conditions and trends for District of Columbia older youth in economic well-being, health, education, risky behavior, and positive extracurricular activities; (2) District youth perspectives and experiences gathered from focus groups that help illustrate the data indicators and inform when quantitative data are lacking; and (3) Profiles from local community-based youth development organizations about their activities and scope. The data in this report are loosely organized based on the District's Interagency Collaboration and Services Integration Commission's (ICSIC's) six citywide goals for children and youth. The databook begins with the demographics of teenagers and young adults in the District. Whenever possible, teenagers, age 12 to 17, and young adults, age 18 to 24, are analyzed separately. Next, four sections based on the ICSIC goals are presented: (1) Teenagers and Young Adults Live in Healthy, Stable, and Supportive Families; (2) Teenagers and Young Adults Succeed in School; (3) Teenagers and Young Adults Are Healthy and Practice Healthy Behaviors; and (4) Teenagers and Young Adults Are Engaged in Meaningful Activities. The first ICSIC goal, Children Are Ready for School, pertains to early education and does not apply to teenagers and young adults, so it is not included in this databook. The sixth goal, Youth Make a Successful Transition to Adulthood, is not treated as a separate goal in this databook as we weave information about young adults age 18 to 24 throughout the report. Appended to this report are 14 organization profiles. (Contains 8 maps, 27 figures, and 1 figure.) [This report was prepared for the World Bank Group by the Urban Institute and DC Alliance of Youth Advocates.]

The existing solutions to privacy preserving publication can beclassified into the theoretical and heuristic categories. The formerguarantees provably low information loss, whereas the latterincurs gigantic loss in the worst case, but is shown empirically toperform well on many real inputs. While numerous heuristic algorithmshave been developed to satisfy advanced privacy principlessuch as l-diversity, t-closeness, etc., the theoretical category is currentlylimited to k-anonymity which is the earliest principle knownto have severe vulnerability to privacy attacks. Motivated by this,we present the first theoretical study on l-diversity, a popular principlethat is widely adopted in the literature. First, we show thatoptimal l-diverse generalization is NP-hard even when there areonly 3 distinct sensitive values in the microdata. Then, an (l d)-approximation algorithm is developed, where d is the dimensionalityof the underlying dataset. This is the first known algorithmwith a non-trivial bound on information loss. Extensive experimentswith real datasets validate the effectiveness and efficiency ofproposed solution.