Matching Items (14)
Description
The jobless recovery of the Great Recession has led policymakers and citizens alike to ask what can be done to better protect regions from the cascading effects of an economic downturn. Economic growth strategies that aim to redevelop a waterfront for tourism or attract high growth companies to the area, for example, have left regions vulnerable by consolidating resources in just a few industry sectors or parts of town. A promising answer that coincided with growing interest in regional innovation policy has been to promote entrepreneurship for bottom-up, individual-led regional development. However, these policies have also failed to maximize the potential for bottom-up development by focusing on high skill entrepreneurs and high tech industry sectors, such as green energy and nanotechnology. This dissertation uses the extended case method to determine whether industry cluster theory can be usefully extended from networks of high skill innovators to entrepreneurs in traditional trades. It uses U.S. Census data and in-person interviews in cluster and non-cluster neighborhoods in Dayton, Ohio to assess whether traditional entrepreneurs cluster and whether social networks explain high rates of neighborhood self-employment. Entrepreneur interviews are also conducted in Raleigh, North Carolina to explore regional resilience by comparing the behavior of traditional entrepreneurs in the ascendant tech-hub region of Raleigh and stagnant Rustbelt region of Dayton. The quantitative analysis documents, for the first time, a minor degree of neighborhood-level entrepreneur clustering. In interviews, entrepreneurs offered clear examples of social networks that resemble those shown to make regional clusters successful, and they helped clarify that a slightly larger geography may reveal more clustering. Comparing Raleigh and Dayton entrepreneurs, the study found few differences in their behavior to explain the regions' differing long-term economic trends. However, charitable profit-seeking and trial and error learning are consistent behaviors that may distinguish traditional, small scale entrepreneurs from larger export-oriented business owners and contribute to a region's ability to withstand recessions and other shocks. The research informs growing policy interest in bottom-up urban development by offering qualitative evidence for how local mechanics, seamstresses, lawn care businesses and many others can be regional assets. Future research should use larger entrepreneur samples to systematically test the relationship between entrepreneur resilience behaviors to regional economic outcomes.
ContributorsAuer, Jennifer Claire (Author) / Chapman, Jeffrey (Thesis advisor) / Johnston, Erik W., 1977- (Committee member) / Jurik, Nancy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Hotel amenities and their influence on consumer choice have been extensively studied by academics. These have largely focused on consumer preferences vacation modes and the psychographic characteristics of travelers. Revenue managers make practical use of this information by attempting to match available hotel rooms with traveler demands for accommodations, setting prices that maximize profits for the hospitality company. The experienced revenue manger is able to determine the most profitable price schedule for a room types across many distribution channels. This study was conducted to test the use of choice modeling for objectively assessing dollar values of three basic amenities for consumers (room type, kitchen availability and price). Researcher used paired comparisons modeled as a conditional logit. This study used market segmentation and choice modeling to determine the value of amenities for an aggregate group and 16 more homogenous groups. Market segmentation and choice modeling allowed this study to segment markets into more homogenous groups, and by doing that allowed for calculation of customer willingness to pay for additional amenities. Results from this study confirm that customers are willing to pay for kitchen $65.43 on top of their room value. All responders generally agree to liking an extra bedroom in their hotel room and they are willing to pay $37.39 more than for a studio room. A surprising result is that it seems based on the results that responders generally do not like to have a second bedroom and they are not willing to pay for it. By knowing customer willingness to pay, it can be assured that customers always feel they are getting a high value out of the transaction and increase the likelihood of future transactions. The significance of this research is the concrete numbers that can be, and already have been, applied immediately in the hospitality industry, and is positively impacting business revenue and customer experience.
ContributorsJohnston, Adriana (Author) / Lacher, Richard (Thesis advisor) / Chapman, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Tyrrell, Timothy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This dissertation focused on the links among micro-enterprise development (MD), social capital building, and the accompanying social lives of Chinese female entrepreneurs in two China's urban areas—Nanjing and Haikou. It engaged with a few important discussions concerning China’s liberal politics during the reform era, the global trend of neo-liberal capitalism, and the social construction of a new worker-subject—the Chinese urban female entrepreneur shaped by the hybrid marriage of state politics and global capital. The research findings from this research project contributed to the tradition of feminist theories, which endeavors to explore the relationship between neo-liberalism and gender. In particular, gender was found to concretize the ways in which neo-liberal ideological forces have attempted to capture and exploit the productivity of women’s labor
Drawing upon the data from in-depth interviews, participatory observations, and secondary data gathering, I examined the diffusion of the Western-centric concept and phenomena of social capital building in order to answer the question how Chinese women's life was inscribed in the larger context of China's relationship to global capitalism. My research findings manifested that the respondents considered affections (e.g., inter-dependence, obligation, and mutual trust) to be the foundation of establishing and maintaining their social networks regardless of the government's emphasis on market principles and the utility-based social capital conception. This opened up a new way of re-theorizing social capital. This dissertation also focused on how China’s integration with the global economy has affected women’s social identity construction. It emphasized the interaction between gender and class as one of the most salient sites where ideal citizens of China are imagined. Drawing from the perspectives of the respondents, I found that femininity has never been eliminated by the Chinese government. It has existed in China’s MD to challenge the government’s attempt of promoting the agendered (gender-neutral), universal model of women’s participation in self-employment. Moreover, I asserted that class was individualized while penetrating into other dimensions of identity (especially gender). The transformed dimensions of identity constituted a set of stratification schemes that constantly reshuffled social stratifications for maximizing the state’s profits from the control of citizens.
Drawing upon the data from in-depth interviews, participatory observations, and secondary data gathering, I examined the diffusion of the Western-centric concept and phenomena of social capital building in order to answer the question how Chinese women's life was inscribed in the larger context of China's relationship to global capitalism. My research findings manifested that the respondents considered affections (e.g., inter-dependence, obligation, and mutual trust) to be the foundation of establishing and maintaining their social networks regardless of the government's emphasis on market principles and the utility-based social capital conception. This opened up a new way of re-theorizing social capital. This dissertation also focused on how China’s integration with the global economy has affected women’s social identity construction. It emphasized the interaction between gender and class as one of the most salient sites where ideal citizens of China are imagined. Drawing from the perspectives of the respondents, I found that femininity has never been eliminated by the Chinese government. It has existed in China’s MD to challenge the government’s attempt of promoting the agendered (gender-neutral), universal model of women’s participation in self-employment. Moreover, I asserted that class was individualized while penetrating into other dimensions of identity (especially gender). The transformed dimensions of identity constituted a set of stratification schemes that constantly reshuffled social stratifications for maximizing the state’s profits from the control of citizens.
ContributorsZhang, Dongling (Author) / Jurik, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Quan, H.L.T. (Thesis advisor) / Mackinnon, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The boom in publicly-funded sports facility construction since the 1980s resulted in studies that generally found the economic benefits accruing from facility construction do not justify the costs. However, focusing narrowly on economic costs in large cities leaves out an important part of the story. The author is interested in the possible non-economic benefits to a city from having a sports team and stadium, and focuses on determining any relationship between minor league teams and stadiums and community self-image. The methodology for this review is an assessment of the websites – primarily the website's front page – for 42 cities with minor league baseball teams. In addition, a survey of local government officials provides a layer of corroboration for the website review results. Through this assessment, the author brings together elements that contribute to three different fields – facility financing, e-government, and small and mid-sized cities. The website reviews have two elements. First, the author assesses the extent to which the website provides information about the team and stadium on the front page or a website page within two links from the front page. The result is that a relatively low amount of information about teams and stadiums is available on the 42 city websites. Second, the author assesses all the active links on the website front page and categorize the links regarding whether they are primarily directed toward residents, businesses, or tourists. On average 67 percent of the links on the 42 city websites' front pages are directed toward residents. In addition to the website reviews, the author reports on a survey of local government executives and managers regarding the city websites. The key findings from the survey are that residents are the group of most interest to the website creators; the websites' content and appearance generally are intended to reflect the communities' self-image, and; in general, the low amount of information about the teams and stadiums on the website front page accurately represents the importance of the teams and stadiums to communities' self-image. The survey results generally corroborate the website reviews.
ContributorsHorton, Christopher N (Author) / Yoshioka, Carlton (Thesis advisor) / Chapman, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Danzig, Arnold (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Assessment practices in U.S. schools have become a greatly debated topic since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. In response to these new guidelines, schools and teachers have made adjustments in the ways they implement assessment practice and utilize assessment data -- ultimately impacting the lives of students and their educational outcomes. Using elements of Bourdieu's Theory of Practice as a lens to consider both context and implications of assessment practices within this new legislative era, a case study is focused on the lives of teachers and students within a single U.S. middle school. This study synthesizes secondary data in the form of standardized test scores, teacher grades in math and reading, a student grit survey, along with student narratives and teacher observations to reveal the ways in which assessment practice structures the classroom field. Findings reveal the conflicting ways in which teachers and students navigate a system framed by bureaucratic legitimacy. For teachers, issues of assessment rules and time constraints lead to frustrations and bureaucratic slippage. Conversely, students implement strategies to resist and manage the routine assessment practices of teachers.
ContributorsBroberg, Gregory B (Author) / Jurik, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Cavender, Gray (Committee member) / Schneider, Anne L (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This research examines the experiences and perceptions of immigrant and refugee women social entrepreneurs located within a context of economic instability, as well as the strategies that they develop to cope with such crises and volatility. To conduct this research I used a mixed-method, qualitative approach to data collection, including semi-structured, open-ended interviews and a focus group. I used feminist theory and a grounded theory approach to inform the design of my study; as such I acknowledge the participants as knowledge producers and allow for them to add in questions to the interviews and focus group and to comment on drafts of the written portion of the dissertation. The findings have indicated that these women are surviving the economic crisis by combining different income streams, including social entrepreneurship, traditional jobs and state and non-profit-aid. Moreover, the participants have found that besides monetary value, social entrepreneurship also provides alternative benefits such as personal sovereignty in their work environment, work-life balance and well-being. Also, personal history, and family and community embeddedness contribute to women's decisions to pursue social entrepreneurship. This research contributes to the growing body of research on gender and work and fills the gaps in literature currently existing in social entrepreneurship.
ContributorsBauer, Carrie (Author) / Jurik, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Leong, Karen (Committee member) / Kerlin, Janelle (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This study examines the representation of Asian online brides by studying the images and profiles that are advertised on Asianonlinebrides.com. To do so, I combined the history and growth of the Human Trafficking industry, the idea of the Asian “exotic OTHER,” the power and structured/constrained agency, and social construction of gender theories. In particular, I utilized a mixed methods approach for data collection. The content and visual analysis in this study provided the two sides of the analytic coin: the written and the visual. I am particularly interested in the narrative comments offered by the prospective brides, e.g., what they state to be their preferences in their dream man/husband, and the personality traits, and characteristics that they write about themselves. The following were examined: the gender displays, picture frames, feminine touch, and the ritualization of subordination. For example, body language, clothing, skin, hair color, and texture, bone structure, posture, etc. I argue that this data alerts us to the whole host of ideas, assumptions, social, cultural, and gender constructions. The power relations that exceeds the text and inform us of these online brides. The findings have indicated that these women are vulnerable and caught within oppressive social structures. They have nevertheless utilized those structures to their advantage. By doing so, the brides have acted as assertive agents in that they have looked out for the interests of both themselves and their families. Moreover, a significant body of data was provided first hand through the written and visual narratives of the online brides. These brides have offered valuable insight into the field of Asian online brides. Their stories have presented a unique perspective to the online brides’ process that can only be captured through the narratives provided in this research.
ContributorsDai, Linh K (Author) / Cavender, Gray (Thesis advisor) / Jurik, Nancy (Committee member) / Swadener, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Tibbs, Donald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Despite equal opportunity legislation, female firefighters (3.4 percent) remain underrepresented compared to their male counter parts (97 percent) in the United States (NPFA, 2012). I question why there are so few women pursuing a firefighting career and if there are any organizational, cultural, or structural barriers which affect the retention and recruitment of women. My research entails observations and interviews with staff at three firefighting stations in my community; my data spanned both individual background and organizational dynamics. Across the firefighting occupation, my analysis focuses on understanding the recruitment process and early phases of firefighting careers to understand the ways in which women might be encouraged and discouraged into the occupation. In this paper, I begin with a literature review about the history and status of women in the field, comparisons with barriers faced by women in other traditionally male fields such as policing since there is limited literature on women in firefighting, efforts undertaken to increase the percentages of women in firefighting, and the organizational dynamics of firefighting highlighted in prior research. From this review I develop an analytic framework for my analysis. After a review of my research methodology, I turn to my analysis of recruitment and probationary stages in firefighting and how these stages affect recruitment and retention of women. First, I review how social networks facilitate pre-employment socialization which enhances candidate work opportunities in firefighting. Second, I examine the recruitment process and criteria for hiring and the ways in which the same social networks facilitate success in the probationary phases of employment. Third, I highlight issues of stereotypical masculine images associated with becoming a good firefighter. By focusing on the recruitment and hiring processes, training and probationary periods, and inherent masculinities prevalent in the fire organization, I am able to identify some key issues and apply them to the fire organization.
ContributorsMoser, Sarah Elizabeth (Author) / Jurik, Nancy (Thesis director) / Cavender, Gray (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The purpose of this study is to examine media representations of police violence. The scholarly literature suggests that issues of race, class, and gender within policing organizations contribute to police violence. Such works argue that mainstream media coverage tends to focus on the faults of individual police officers. This study uses a systematic sample and content analysis of sixty-one (61) New York Times articles to retrieve dominant analytical themes in media coverage of police violence. The New York Times articles are analyzed to look for the presence of themes of Individualization, Organizational Issues, Societal Level and Regional Problems of Race and Class, and Structures of Media Reporting that have been identified in scholarly literature. The most significant finding reveals that media coverage of police violence in the New York Times no longer centers only on individual police officers as "bad apples" in an otherwise solid "barrel/organization". The New York Times discussions include examination of organizational issues that contribute to police violence. However, police violence continues to be a societal issue that is in need of a long-term solution. It is recommended that Community Policing be implemented to help reduce police violence against African-American men.
ContributorsNiro, Brianna Nicole (Author) / Jurik, Nancy (Thesis director) / Holman, Christine (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This qualitative study examines how fathers, who stay home with their children and identify as the main care-giver within their family, construct their role as the primary caregiver. I analyze the narratives of stay-at-home fathers focusing on the thematic areas of isolation, resistance and the division of household labor. Unlike previous research, I examine the ways in which fathers construct their position as a stay-at-home father separate from the traditional stay-at-home mother role. Consequently, I focus on the constructions of masculinities by stay-at-home fathers that allows for the construction of the stay-at-home role to be uniquely tied to fatherhood rather than motherhood.
In this research, I explore three questions: 1) how do stay-at-home fathers construct their masculinity, specifically in relation to their social roles as fathers, partners, peers, etc.? 2) Is the negotiation of household labor, including care work and household tasks, in these families a reflection of shifting gender roles in the home where the primary caregiver is the father? 3) In what ways does social location and intersecting identities influence the ways in which fathers construct this stay-at-home identity?
My research emphasizes how these fathers understand their role as a stay-at-home father while challenging some traditionally dominant expectations of fatherhood. Specifically, I use themes of isolation, resistance, and the division of household labor in order to understand the multiple ways fathers experience their roles as stay-at-home parents.
In this research, I explore three questions: 1) how do stay-at-home fathers construct their masculinity, specifically in relation to their social roles as fathers, partners, peers, etc.? 2) Is the negotiation of household labor, including care work and household tasks, in these families a reflection of shifting gender roles in the home where the primary caregiver is the father? 3) In what ways does social location and intersecting identities influence the ways in which fathers construct this stay-at-home identity?
My research emphasizes how these fathers understand their role as a stay-at-home father while challenging some traditionally dominant expectations of fatherhood. Specifically, I use themes of isolation, resistance, and the division of household labor in order to understand the multiple ways fathers experience their roles as stay-at-home parents.
ContributorsSnitker, Aundrea Janae (Author) / Durfee, Alesha (Thesis advisor) / Jurik, Nancy (Committee member) / Menjivar, Cecilia (Committee member) / Leong, Karen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016