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Economic Inequality and its Roots: A Comparative Analysis of the United States and Canada

Description

In the United States, the past thirty years have brought with them a substantial rise in income and wealth inequality rates. Inequality in the U.S. has risen to levels not seen for nearly a century and shows no signs of decreasing in the near future. Conversely, Canada has experienced lower…

In the United States, the past thirty years have brought with them a substantial rise in income and wealth inequality rates. Inequality in the U.S. has risen to levels not seen for nearly a century and shows no signs of decreasing in the near future. Conversely, Canada has experienced lower levels of inequality during this same period despite many similarities and ties to the U.S. Therefore, the purpose of this paper will be to examine the extent to which these two countries differ in this area and identify some of the more salient factors that have contributed to this divergence, including tax policies, unionization rates, and financial industry regulation, as well as the deeper, more fundamental elements of each nation's identity.

ContributorsPetrusek, Nicholas Anthony (Author) / Puleo, Thomas (Thesis director) / Sivak, Henry (Committee member) / Thomas, George (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)

Created2015-05

Sustainability and Identity: The Case of Costa Rica

Description

This study examines sustainable development concerns as an essential part of the Costa Rican national identity. Interviews with ecotourism industry workers and an analysis of pertinent news articles shine light on the Costa Rican citizen's perspective of sustainable development, showing that in spite of current initiatives industry workers still have…

This study examines sustainable development concerns as an essential part of the Costa Rican national identity. Interviews with ecotourism industry workers and an analysis of pertinent news articles shine light on the Costa Rican citizen's perspective of sustainable development, showing that in spite of current initiatives industry workers still have unmet environmental and economic concerns, and that the general public is both passionately interested and personally invested in the topic.

ContributorsHoward, Kalyn Marie (Author) / Puleo, Thomas (Thesis director) / Larson, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Hunter, Joel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)

Created2013-05

Trade Liberalization and Economic Degradation

Description

This thesis looks at the theory and empirical evidence that surrounds the debate between environmentalists and economists regarding the link between trade liberalization and environmental degradation. The main points of the theory are the scale, composition, and technique effects which, when aggregated, are ambiguous as the harm or benefit of…

This thesis looks at the theory and empirical evidence that surrounds the debate between environmentalists and economists regarding the link between trade liberalization and environmental degradation. The main points of the theory are the scale, composition, and technique effects which, when aggregated, are ambiguous as the harm or benefit of trade's effect on the environment. The empirical evidence studied ranges in time periods from the early 1990s to 2011 and mainly focuses on the existence or absence of an environmental Kuznets curve for certain pollutant. However, the data still proves to be inconclusive. The debate about the possible link between trade and the environment is as important as ever, especially in regards to carbon dioxide emissions. Going forward, it is extremely important that international cooperation regarding emissions targets and abatement goals increases. Trade will prove to be an invaluable tool in this endeavor as it provides a mechanism for the spread of green technology as well as can be used as a method of environmental policy enforcement.

ContributorsCotterell, Emily Claire (Author) / Mendez, Jose (Thesis director) / McDaniel, Cara (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2016-05

Founder's Lab- Auto Bench

Description

When you are sitting at the terminal waiting for your flight or taking the bus to get to work, have you ever thought about who used your seat last? More importantly, have you ever thought about the last time that seat was cleaned? Sadly, it is uncertain to see if…

When you are sitting at the terminal waiting for your flight or taking the bus to get to work, have you ever thought about who used your seat last? More importantly, have you ever thought about the last time that seat was cleaned? Sadly, it is uncertain to see if it was properly sanitized in the last hour, yesterday, in the last week, or even last month. Especially during these tough times, everyone wants to be assured that they are always in a safe and healthy environment. Through the Founders Lab, our team is collaborating with an engineering capstone team to bring automated seat cleaning technology into the market. This product is a custom-designed seat cover that is tear-resistant and provides a sanitary surface for anyone to sit on. When someone leaves the seat, a pressure sensor is triggered, and the cover is replaced with a secondary cover that was stored in a UV radiated container. The waterproof fabric and internal filters prevent spills and food crumbs from remaining when the user changes. The reason for bringing this product into the market is due to the unsanitary conditions in many high traffic areas. This technology can be implemented in public transportation, restaurants, sports stadiums, and much more. It will instantly improve the efficiency of sanitation for many businesses and keep a promise to its users that they will never bring something they sat on back home. #Safeseating

ContributorsJawahar, Nandita (Co-author) / Yang, Tiger (Co-author) / Nimmagadda, Viraj (Co-author) / Byrne, Jared (Thesis director) / Sebold, Brent (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2021-05

A Stakeholder Analysis of Creating Sustainable Change in the Single-use Beverage Plastic Supply Chain

Description

Single-use plastic has rapidly increased pollution in the United States, and the urgency to address its growing consequences is a complex undertaking. Significantly contributing to plastic pollution is the waste of single-use beverage plastics like cups and straws. In order to make impactful changes in the supply chain of single-use…

Single-use plastic has rapidly increased pollution in the United States, and the urgency to address its growing consequences is a complex undertaking. Significantly contributing to plastic pollution is the waste of single-use beverage plastics like cups and straws. In order to make impactful changes in the supply chain of single-use beverage plastics, we must first understand the stakeholders involved and the current extent of their actions. Therefore, this paper will investigate how stakeholders elicit sustainable changes to improve supply chain practices in this particular situation. We will use principles of sustainable supply chain management including corporate social responsibility and the triple bottom line model as the theoretical framework. Methodology consists of a stakeholder analysis where we conduct literature review, a consumer survey analysis, and interviews with industry experts to examine how various stakeholders elicit sustainably focused change. Essential insights made will be to understand different stakeholder actions and perspectives in relation to single-use beverage plastics, and how they contribute to creating sustainable changes in the larger context of plastic pollution control.

ContributorsGalaviz, Christopher (Author) / Wiedmer, Robert (Thesis director) / Oke, Adegoke (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2019-05