Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection

As the need for data intelligence becomes more pervasive, companies are facing a shortage of professionals with sufficient analytical skills. It is more important than ever for students in traditional business management programs to understand relevant issues in data analytics. The paper, a teaching case, is split into two parts: the business case and the teaching note. The case addresses the challenges of an electric battery company, Capsule Inc., in adopting new analytics technology. The teaching note provides relevant management concepts and technology adoption framework to analyze the case in a class setting. The case can be used to introduce students to the challenges of implementing automation software in an office, as it focuses on key issues such as process improvement, technology adoption, and cost-reduction.

Water markets are a promising method for adapting to water scarcity in the western United States, and the Colorado-Big Thompson Project (CBT) market is often held up as a prime example of their potential. While much has been written about the CBT market, the current academic literature tends to eschew structural modeling of supply and demand in favor of fitting hedonic price equations, which ignore many of the market’s unique characteristics. This paper proposes a model of supply and demand for CBT water which accounts for these unique features, including transaction supply, municipality stockpiling, and differences in behavior across different types of water users. The estimation of this model is made possible by novel administrative records data on both transfers and ownership of CBT water, the processing and features of which are described in detail. While the voluminous and messy nature of the data has prevented complete estimation of the model at this point, some preliminary results are presented along with a plan for future work.

Using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this paper seeks to determine the impact of juvenile delinquency on labor market outcomes and educational attainment. Overall, this paper found that having a juvenile conviction leads to decreases in the probability of both full time and regular employment. Men with juvenile adjudications were found to have greater decreases in employment in comparison to women. Regarding educational attainment, this study found that having a juvenile conviction increases the likelihood of dropping out of high school and decreases the likelihood of having a four-year degree or higher. This emphasizes the importance of creating more support and reducing barriers for individuals who have been convicted as juveniles to allow them to succeed in the world post incarceration.

Poor medication adherence is a widespread healthcare issue that directly impacts the effectiveness of the medication and the overall health of the patient. Wellth is a smartphone application offered to users challenged with managing chronic conditions to improve medication adherence through daily reminders and monthly financial incentives to help members form healthy habits. The study examined the effects of financial incentives on the medication adherence of members according to their characteristics including their age, gender, and location of residence in addition to the health conditions they were battling during a 5-month Wellth program. In this study, adherence was defined as the percent of days the users checked in all their medications within a ±3-hour task window while timely adherence was when check-ins were submitted in a narrower window of ±1-hour. Wellth demonstrated both positive and negative relationships between specific patients and adherence. By comparing the findings with the existing literature, patterns were evaluated, and hypotheses were made. The severity of the member’s illness and vulnerability to consequences seemed to go be joint factors. The complexities of medication regimens, side effects, and symptoms associated with their health condition affected patient motivation. Economic factors including financial status, healthcare access, and level of knowledge could also be used as an explanation. This study is important because it helps develop and implement effective adherence programs for different kinds of patients by examining what type of patients for whom incentives work best using a mobile app. Essentially, this helps target features and design new programs for those who did not respond well to financial incentives.

This thesis investigates the performance of publicly traded equity real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the United States (U.S.) and their sensitivity to underlying macroeconomic factors. Specifically, this study employs a quantitative research analysis that utilizes technical, correlation, and regression analyses to identify how different REIT sectors react to changes in economic conditions. Data for the study was collected from publicly available and reliable sources, including the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit) and the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED). Four areas of research guide the study. First, the study explores the relationship between different REIT property sectors and the underlying causes of similarities and differences in sector performance. Second, the study examines how macroeconomic variables, such as GDP, inflation, and interest rates, affect the performance of publicly traded equity REITs. Third, the study investigates the significance of the relationship between macroeconomic factors and REIT sector performance to assess the varying impact on different property types. Finally, the study explores whether a model can be developed to predict the performance of REIT sectors based on macroeconomic variables. Overall, the findings in this study will provide valuable insights into how REITs across and within property types perform and react to changes in the macroeconomic environment. Furthermore, because real estate represents a significant component of the economy, it can offer investors valuable insights into broader economic trends and conditions, contributing to a better understanding of economic cycles and identifying potential opportunities and risks.

I have designed a college-level course to help college-aged students build and maintain healthy friendships. Every week, students will engage in collaborative activities and learn a variety of topics related to friendship, including the benefits of friendship, barriers to friendship, and friendship maintenance mechanisms. As part of their final project, students will demonstrate their knowledge of making and maintaining healthy friendships by completing a case study in which students will be expected to apply their learnings from class to a chosen friendship and observe how the friendship changes as a result. In order to establish the need for the course I made, I first conducted a literature review on friendship, loneliness, and factors that may contribute to young adults having difficulties making friends.