Matching Items (16)
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- All Subjects: Agriculture
- Creators: School of International Letters and Cultures
- Creators: Department of Economics
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
Arizona State University experienced some of its most explosive growth in the 1960s—doubling its enrollment in just seven years, expanding many programs and adding a college of law, and significantly augmenting its physical plant. This work examines the architectural and planning development of ASU in this decade and the surrounding years, coinciding with the presidency of Dr. G. Homer Durham, in various facets. Topics covered include the pedestrianization of the university campus, land acquisition and street realignment; the construction of newer and taller buildings to accommodate and expanded student population and educational program; and efforts to improve the university’s prestige through the use of modern architecture. ASU’s physical and human growth is compared to selected peer institutions. The legacy of the 1960s at ASU is also discussed within a historic preservation context.
ContributorsHumbert, Raymond Eugene (Author) / Zygas, K. Paul (Thesis director) / Spindler, Robert (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This thesis details our experience assisting BASE Equity Partners, a private equity firm based in New York City, on three prospective agricultural dealership deals over the course of this past academic year. The firm is currently structured as a Fundless Sponsor. This distinct structural trait is common for a type of private equity firm known among practitioners as pledge funds. This creates an interesting element for our experience as there is very limited academic research on these types of firms, which, since the Great Recession, have become popular players in middle-market private equity deals. We, first, provide some historical context on pledge funds and identify their primary differences with traditional private equity. The remainder of the paper documents our experience working on the agricultural dealership deals. We have organized this portion after the manner in which we received assignments. We go into detail on the specific projects with which we were tasked, our interactions with the partners and the major takeaways we had from this learning experience. This thesis paper will enrich the academic knowledge regarding pledge funds—and private equity generally—by documenting a real experience of what it is like performing analyst-level tasks at a real firm. Additionally, we were privy to information that is highly confidential, and though we have protected the confidentiality of the companies through pseudonyms and redaction of confidential material, all of the financial data shown, models provided and qualitative discussion is real.
ContributorsTang, Ivan (Co-author) / Johnson, Bradley (Co-author) / Panosian, Tro (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Bonadurer, Werner (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
A new class of entrepreneurs is emerging in China, who are using a business model approach to solve societal problems. A small but growing niche of these so called "social entrepreneurs" is attempting to address long standing problems in the agricultural sector stemming from the three agricultural issues of farmers, agriculture and rural areas. In order to understand what social entrepreneurship means in the Chinese context, the motivations behind it, and the opportunities and problems related specifically to agricultural sector, interviews were conducted with social entrepreneurs, research institutes, and social fostering organizations in multiple tier-one cities in mainland China. Results show that the concept of social enterprise is comprehended in a very different way in the Chinese context relative to the general usage of the term in the literature. Social enterprises in the agricultural sector are divided into categories of Community Supported Agriculture-based organic farms, farmers' markets, food educators and city farmers. This is a growing group of entrepreneurs who could be better supported on the basis of resources and protection by the government, law and policy, universities, and a united producer and consumer front.
ContributorsGray, Christopher Stephan (Author) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Thesis director) / Ostrom, Amy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2013-12
Description
Current farming demographics in the United States indicate an aging and overwhelmingly white group of farmers, stimulating the need for engaging a younger and more diverse population. There is an opportunity to engage these populations through farm-based internship and apprenticeship programs, which are immersive programs on small-scale, sustainable farms. These programs are unique in providing hands-on training, housing, meals, and a stipend in return for labor, presenting a pathway to social empowerment. The potential outcomes of increasing diversity and inclusion in farm programs are absent from the research on the benefits of diversity and inclusion in other work environments, such as the corporate setting. This paper presents the results of a study aimed at determining levels of diversity and inclusion in United States farm-based internship programs, and the viability of these programs as an effective opportunity to engage marginalized young people in farming. The study of 13 farm owners and managers across the U.S. found that the participants are focused on fostering education and training, environmental benefits, and a sense of community in their respective programs. All participants either want to establish, or believe they currently have, an inclusive workplace on their farm, but also indicated a barrier to inclusivity in the lack of a diverse applicant pool. Future recommendations for removing that barrier and involving more young, diverse interns include increased outreach and access to these programs, the use of inclusive language, and further research.
ContributorsLascola, Dania (Co-author) / Biel, Braden (Co-author) / Cloutier, Scott (Thesis director) / MacFadyen, Joshua (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The outlying cities of Phoenix's West Metropolitan experienced rapid growth in the past ten years. This trend is only going to continue with an average expected growth of 449-891% between 2000 and 2035 (ADOT, 2012). Phoenix is not new to growth and has consistently seen swaths of people added to its population. This raises the question of what happened to the people who lived in Phoenix's West Valley during this period of rapid change and growth in their communities? What are their stories and what do their stories reveal about the broader public history of change in Phoenix's West Valley? In consideration of these questions, the community oral histories of eight residents from the West Valley were collected to add historical nuance to the limited archival records available on the area. From this collection, the previous notion of "post-war boomtowns” describing Phoenix’s West Valley was revealed to be highly inaccurate and dismissive of the residents' experiences who lived and formed their lives there.
ContributorsCampanile, Isabella (Author) / Geiser, Samantha (Co-author) / Martinez Orozco, Rafael (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
Animal agriculture is a growing industry worldwide as the global demand for animal products increases. This has resulted in many harmful unintended consequences for human health, the environment, and animal welfare. This paper aims to uncover the hidden costs of negative externalities by answering the question: What types of subsidies is the US government distributing to the animal agriculture industry and in what amount? This paper will begin with some background on a few of the externalities created by the animal agriculture industry focusing specifically on environmental issues of water, air, and deforestation. Once this background is established, this will show that animal agriculture is in fact a negative-externality-generating industry. Next, subsidies will be defined and the principal findings of the research will reveal the different forms of support that the US government provides to animal agriculture. Lastly, these subsidies, both direct and indirect, will be quantified.
ContributorsEpel, Erin (Author) / Barca, Lisa (Thesis director) / Rao, Sailesh (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
Agriculture is the second largest water consumer in the Phoenix Metropolitan region, after the municipal sector. A significant portion of the cultivated land and agricultural water demand is from the production of animal feed, including alfalfa (~69% of total cropland area), corn (~8), and sorghum (-3%), which are both exported and needed to support local dairy industry. The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the impacts on water demand and crop production of four different crop portfolios using alfalfa, corn, sorghum, and feed barley. For this aim, the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) platform and the embedded MABIA agronomic module are applied to the Phoenix Active Management Area (AMA), a political/hydrological region including most of Phoenix Metro. The simulations indicate that the most efficient solution is a portfolio where all study crop production is made up by sorghum, with an increase of 153% in crop yield and a reduction of 60% of water consumption compared to current conditions. In contrast, a portfolio where all study crop production is made up by alfalfa, which is primary crop grown in current conditions, decreased crop yield by 77% and increases water demand by 105%. Solutions where all study crop production is achieved with corn or feed barley lead to a reduction of 77% and 65% of each respective water demand, with a portfolio of all corn for study crop production increasing crop yield by 245% and a portfolio of all feed barley for study crop production reducing crop yield by 29%.
ContributorsRees, Kendall Marcella (Author) / Mascaro, Giuseppe (Thesis director) / Muenich, Rebecca (Committee member) / Chhetri, Netra (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The past decades have seen major changes with globalization, increased trade, digital technologies, and the increased threat of climate change consequences. These changes in trends have changed how the world communicates, travels, produces, manufactures, and develops. Yet despite having the most advanced technologies and the most connected world to date, other aspects of development and quality of life have not kept up the pace in adapting and changing based on these trends. Specifically in developing countries, while the outside environment may be changing, the systems, structures, and societal values in place have not fully adapted. These aspects of society are naturally slower to change which can be dangerous when dealing with the current issues the world faces, for example the proven increase in climate change consequences. The consequences of slow or no changes at all in systems, structures, and societal values fall disproportionately on women who are often now bearing more responsibility without the benefits due to outdated structures that were developed based on other environments and priorities. This gap between the formal structures and the rapidly changing environments and its effect on women can be seen through analyzing specific common trends in developing countries, such as the feminization of agriculture and climate change. Analyzing this gap from these specific trends can give insight into possible solutions to both speed up the closing of the gap and lessen the burdens for women in the meantime. The role of informal or community networks should be considered as a possible way to do this. The case of St. Lucia and its experience with both the feminization of agriculture and the threat of climate change will be analyzed to understand how informal or community networks could serve to help close the gap and lessen the burdens for women.
ContributorsDooley, Hanna Mary (Author) / Augustin-Behravesh, Shirley-Ann (Thesis director) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
In this moment, as I find myself on the brink of transition from my undergraduate studies into my postgraduate endeavors, I find my conscious drift back and forth between reflection on my experience to date, and contemplation of what awaits. As I reach this milestone, I am challenged with the task of creating a thesis that not only projects what I have learned and how I have grown in my time at Barrett, the Honors College, but how I will continue to grow and impact the world into which I set out. This growth, subtle yet constant permeates my collegiate experience. I have grown in knowledge, experience, and maturity. I am more self-aware yet working to become less self-conscious, and more selfless. I have made lasting memories I wish I could relive and reckless mistakes I wish I could forget, but both wishes are unavailable, and would be unproductive if granted. I have only grown by being open to new experiences that I may one day cherish and avoiding the pitfalls that have brought forth instances of destruction and despair. I hope to represent this growth in this thesis so that it may serve as a launching pad for me and for those who read it, so that together we can begin to solve the problem I address, a problem that has grown but which we must not allow to grown out of control.
ContributorsRapier, Matthew Owen (Author) / Duerden, Sarah (Thesis director) / Foster, William J. (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This paper seeks to explore connections between the industries and sociopolitical environment in Costa Rica and human capital. Human capital for the purpose of this paper is an individual or a population’s ability to produce goods and services concerning human factors of productivity namely their health, education, or technical skillset. This question is interesting because improving human capital, in general, allows for more goods and services to be produced, and therefore higher welfare. This means recognizing conditions that improve human capital may provide a guide to enhanced prosperity. The paper identifies the characteristic industries in Costa Rica as tropical agriculture and small electronics manufacturing, provides insight as to how on the job training and externalities of these industries might affect human capital, and compares other similar nations’ data to world data provided by the world bank. The other central aim is to draw insight on how a nation having a standing military might impact human capital, which is relevant because Costa Rica abolished its military over fifty years ago.
ContributorsOttenheimer, William (Author) / Datta, Manjira (Thesis director) / Hanson, Margaret (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05