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• 1. [Article] Getting Squeezed: Urban Growth Boundaries, Changes in Housing Affordability, and Affordable Housing Barriers in Oregon and California

  92 Pages

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Getting Squeezed: Urban Growth Boundaries, Changes in Housing Affordability, and Affordable Housing Barriers in Oregon and California Author: Perdomo, Evelyn Year: 2015 92 Pages Title: Getting Squeezed: Urban Growth Boundaries, Changes in Housing Affordability, and Affordable Housing Barriers in Oregon and California Author: Perdomo, Evelyn Year: 2015 92 Pages Close

• 2. [Article] Housing Needs Assessment Survey for Coos Bay/North Bend

  29 pages

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Housing Needs Assessment Survey for Coos Bay/North Bend Author: University of Oregon. Dept. of Planning, Public Policy and Management. Community Planning Workshop, Stevens, Mark Year: 2014, 2000 29 pages Title: Housing Needs Assessment Survey for Coos Bay/North Bend Author: University of Oregon. Dept. of Planning, Public Policy and Management. Community Planning Workshop, Stevens, Mark Year: 2014, 2000 29 pages Close

• 3. [Article] Hunger and Food Insecurity of Low-Income Households in Oregon

  114 pages

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Hunger and Food Insecurity of Low-Income Households in Oregon Author: University of Oregon. Dept. of Planning, Public Policy and Management. Community Planning Workshop, Alabarca, Adam, Chung, Doo Joon, Gahagan, Jennifer, Hanson, Kim, Pitt, Damian Year: 2014, 2000 114 pages Title: Hunger and Food Insecurity of Low-Income Households in Oregon Author: University of Oregon. Dept. of Planning, Public Policy and Management. Community Planning Workshop, Alabarca, Adam, Chung, Doo Joon, Gahagan, Jennifer, Hanson, Kim, Pitt, Damian Year: 2014, 2000 114 pages Close

• 4. [Article] Essays on Economic Development and Climate Change

  The first essay considers the relative effectiveness of government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as channels to allocate resources. I use a catastrophic climate-related shock--Hurricane Mitch--to ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Essays on Economic Development and Climate Change Author: Fitch-Fleischmann, Benjamin Year: 2015 The first essay considers the relative effectiveness of government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as channels to allocate resources. I use a catastrophic climate-related shock--Hurricane Mitch--to examine the political economy of these channels of aid distribution at the micro level. I combine extensive data on aid received by Nicaraguan households with data on municipal election outcomes and an exogenous, precipitation-based measure of hurricane impact. I find that the hurricane had long-lasting effects on the aid received by households from both NGOs and the government. In the short term, however, the government did not provide aid according to the objective measure of hurricane damage but instead provided aid along political lines. The second essay presents estimates of a relationship between extreme hot temperatures during gestation and a child's subsequent physical well-being in a sample of children in Peru, thus extending existing evidence constructed from U.S. data. Estimates are constructed using high-resolution gridded climate data and geo-coded household surveys. The results suggest that a period of extreme heat (a month whose average temperature is more than 2 standard deviations above the local average) in the period 1 to 3 months before birth is associated with lower weight at birth and a reduction in height (measured 1 to 59 months after birth) that cannot be fully explained by birth weight. There is no evidence of differential maternal investment, as measured by duration of breastfeeding, according to a child's exposure to extreme heat during gestation. The third essay asks whether improved treatment of HIV/AIDS in Africa can be achieved simply by paying health workers to do more. I present estimates of the impact of financial incentives paid to individual workers at public health facilities in Mozambique. The results suggest that piece-rate incentives increased the delivery of five out of fourteen health services for which treatment effects can be identified, with estimated increases ranging from 34 to 157 percent, depending on the particular service. I find no evidence of a corresponding decrease in the delivery of services that are not financially incentivized, suggesting that there is no "crowding out" of intrinsic motivation. Title: Essays on Economic Development and Climate Change Author: Fitch-Fleischmann, Benjamin Year: 2015 The first essay considers the relative effectiveness of government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as channels to allocate resources. I use a catastrophic climate-related shock--Hurricane Mitch--to examine the political economy of these channels of aid distribution at the micro level. I combine extensive data on aid received by Nicaraguan households with data on municipal election outcomes and an exogenous, precipitation-based measure of hurricane impact. I find that the hurricane had long-lasting effects on the aid received by households from both NGOs and the government. In the short term, however, the government did not provide aid according to the objective measure of hurricane damage but instead provided aid along political lines. The second essay presents estimates of a relationship between extreme hot temperatures during gestation and a child's subsequent physical well-being in a sample of children in Peru, thus extending existing evidence constructed from U.S. data. Estimates are constructed using high-resolution gridded climate data and geo-coded household surveys. The results suggest that a period of extreme heat (a month whose average temperature is more than 2 standard deviations above the local average) in the period 1 to 3 months before birth is associated with lower weight at birth and a reduction in height (measured 1 to 59 months after birth) that cannot be fully explained by birth weight. There is no evidence of differential maternal investment, as measured by duration of breastfeeding, according to a child's exposure to extreme heat during gestation. The third essay asks whether improved treatment of HIV/AIDS in Africa can be achieved simply by paying health workers to do more. I present estimates of the impact of financial incentives paid to individual workers at public health facilities in Mozambique. The results suggest that piece-rate incentives increased the delivery of five out of fourteen health services for which treatment effects can be identified, with estimated increases ranging from 34 to 157 percent, depending on the particular service. I find no evidence of a corresponding decrease in the delivery of services that are not financially incentivized, suggesting that there is no "crowding out" of intrinsic motivation. Close

• 5. [Article] Identifying Spatial Data Needs for Chagas Disease Mitigation

  The objective of this thesis is to analyze how existing data can address Chagas disease transmission risk in South America given data availability. A literature review was conducted to determine prominent ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Identifying Spatial Data Needs for Chagas Disease Mitigation Author: Morris, Emily Year: 2015 The objective of this thesis is to analyze how existing data can address Chagas disease transmission risk in South America given data availability. A literature review was conducted to determine prominent variables that models use to assist with Chagas disease mitigation efforts, followed by a Web search to collect publicly available spatial data pertaining to these variables. The data were then used to create maps of data availability and in an agent-based model to identify which variables are most associated with disease transmission risk. Data availability varied widely across South America, and model results indicate that datasets related to household size and spatial housing arrangement are most important to Chagas disease infection in urban areas. Governments can use this information to better direct their resources to collect data and control the spread of triatomine vectors and Chagas disease more effectively, and potentially identify more cost-effective strategies for vector elimination. Title: Identifying Spatial Data Needs for Chagas Disease Mitigation Author: Morris, Emily Year: 2015 The objective of this thesis is to analyze how existing data can address Chagas disease transmission risk in South America given data availability. A literature review was conducted to determine prominent variables that models use to assist with Chagas disease mitigation efforts, followed by a Web search to collect publicly available spatial data pertaining to these variables. The data were then used to create maps of data availability and in an agent-based model to identify which variables are most associated with disease transmission risk. Data availability varied widely across South America, and model results indicate that datasets related to household size and spatial housing arrangement are most important to Chagas disease infection in urban areas. Governments can use this information to better direct their resources to collect data and control the spread of triatomine vectors and Chagas disease more effectively, and potentially identify more cost-effective strategies for vector elimination. Close

• 6. [Article] The Effects of News Shocks and Bounded Rationality on Macroeconomic Volatility

  This dissertation studies the impact embedding boundedly rational agents in real business cycle-type news-shock models may have on a variety of model predictions, from simulated moments to structural parameter ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: The Effects of News Shocks and Bounded Rationality on Macroeconomic Volatility Author: Dombeck, Brian Year: 2017 This dissertation studies the impact embedding boundedly rational agents in real business cycle-type news-shock models may have on a variety of model predictions, from simulated moments to structural parameter estimates. In particular, I analyze the qualitative and quantitative effects of assuming agents are boundedly rational in a class of DSGE models which attempt to explain the observed volatility and comovements in key aggregate measures of U.S. economic performance as the result of endogenous responses to information in the form of ``news shocks''. The first chapter explores the theoretical feasibility of relaxing the rational expectations hypothesis in a three-sector real business cycle (RBC) model which generates boom-bust cycles as a result of periods of optimism and pessimism on the part of households. The second chapter determines whether agents forming linear forecasts of shadow prices in a nonlinear framework can lead to behavior approximately consistent with fully informed individuals in a one-sector real business cycle model. The third chapter analyzes whether empirical estimates of the relative importance of anticipated shocks may be biased by assuming rational expectations. By merging the two hitherto separate but complementary strands of literature related to bounded rationality and news shocks I am able to conduct in-depth analysis of the importance of both the information agents have and what they choose to do with it. At its core, the study of news in macroeconomics is a study of the specific role alternative information sets play in generating macroeconomic volatility. Adaptive learning on the other hand is concerned with the behavior of agents given an information set. Taken together, these fields jointly describe the input and the ``black box'' which produce model predictions from DSGE models. While previous research has been conducted on the effects of bounded rationality or news shocks in isolation, this dissertation marks the first set of research explicitly focused on the interaction of these two model features. Title: The Effects of News Shocks and Bounded Rationality on Macroeconomic Volatility Author: Dombeck, Brian Year: 2017 This dissertation studies the impact embedding boundedly rational agents in real business cycle-type news-shock models may have on a variety of model predictions, from simulated moments to structural parameter estimates. In particular, I analyze the qualitative and quantitative effects of assuming agents are boundedly rational in a class of DSGE models which attempt to explain the observed volatility and comovements in key aggregate measures of U.S. economic performance as the result of endogenous responses to information in the form of ``news shocks''. The first chapter explores the theoretical feasibility of relaxing the rational expectations hypothesis in a three-sector real business cycle (RBC) model which generates boom-bust cycles as a result of periods of optimism and pessimism on the part of households. The second chapter determines whether agents forming linear forecasts of shadow prices in a nonlinear framework can lead to behavior approximately consistent with fully informed individuals in a one-sector real business cycle model. The third chapter analyzes whether empirical estimates of the relative importance of anticipated shocks may be biased by assuming rational expectations. By merging the two hitherto separate but complementary strands of literature related to bounded rationality and news shocks I am able to conduct in-depth analysis of the importance of both the information agents have and what they choose to do with it. At its core, the study of news in macroeconomics is a study of the specific role alternative information sets play in generating macroeconomic volatility. Adaptive learning on the other hand is concerned with the behavior of agents given an information set. Taken together, these fields jointly describe the input and the ``black box'' which produce model predictions from DSGE models. While previous research has been conducted on the effects of bounded rationality or news shocks in isolation, this dissertation marks the first set of research explicitly focused on the interaction of these two model features. Close

• 7. [Article] Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health under Marketization and Community Context: Evidence from China

  This dissertation examines China’s market reforms over the last few decades, and their implications for (re)shaping socioeconomic inequalities in health. Specifically, I study the effect of marketization ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health under Marketization and Community Context: Evidence from China Author: Lin, Shih-Chi Year: 2017 This dissertation examines China’s market reforms over the last few decades, and their implications for (re)shaping socioeconomic inequalities in health. Specifically, I study the effect of marketization and related structural changes at community level on individual health outcomes. The first part of this dissertation revisits the market transition theory of Nee (1989), using individual health status as the outcome variable to assess Nee’s theory. Using multiple waves of a longitudinal survey from 1991 to 2006, I compare temporal changes in the role of human capital, political capital, and state policy in determining health under marketization. In partial support of the market transition theory, the empirical results show that the significance of human capital for health increases with marketization, while the return to political capital and one’s household registration status diminishes with a growing market. Additionally, I distinguish between marketization effects on community level, and different aspects of community context in shaping the SES-health link. I find that the level of urbanization and available resources within each community exert influences on self-rated health and change the relative importance of individual socioeconomic conditions in shaping health. Overall, this study provides new longitudinal evidence from China to support the notion that health is influenced by dynamic processes moderated by the structural changes as well as the social stratification system. I discuss the findings in the context of China’s market reform, fundamental causes theory, and socio-ecological perspectives, highlighting that health is determined by a nexus of life experiences and social environment that impact individuals at different levels. Title: Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health under Marketization and Community Context: Evidence from China Author: Lin, Shih-Chi Year: 2017 This dissertation examines China’s market reforms over the last few decades, and their implications for (re)shaping socioeconomic inequalities in health. Specifically, I study the effect of marketization and related structural changes at community level on individual health outcomes. The first part of this dissertation revisits the market transition theory of Nee (1989), using individual health status as the outcome variable to assess Nee’s theory. Using multiple waves of a longitudinal survey from 1991 to 2006, I compare temporal changes in the role of human capital, political capital, and state policy in determining health under marketization. In partial support of the market transition theory, the empirical results show that the significance of human capital for health increases with marketization, while the return to political capital and one’s household registration status diminishes with a growing market. Additionally, I distinguish between marketization effects on community level, and different aspects of community context in shaping the SES-health link. I find that the level of urbanization and available resources within each community exert influences on self-rated health and change the relative importance of individual socioeconomic conditions in shaping health. Overall, this study provides new longitudinal evidence from China to support the notion that health is influenced by dynamic processes moderated by the structural changes as well as the social stratification system. I discuss the findings in the context of China’s market reform, fundamental causes theory, and socio-ecological perspectives, highlighting that health is determined by a nexus of life experiences and social environment that impact individuals at different levels. Close

• 8. [Article] 1 + 1 Is Not Always 2: Variation in the Relations Between Mathematics Self-Efficacy Development and Longitudinal Mathematics Achievement Growth

  Creating an educational program that results in positive post-secondary and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)-oriented outcomes for all students is a national goal and federal policy directive. ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: 1 + 1 Is Not Always 2: Variation in the Relations Between Mathematics Self-Efficacy Development and Longitudinal Mathematics Achievement Growth Author: Shanley, Caroline Year: 2015 Creating an educational program that results in positive post-secondary and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)-oriented outcomes for all students is a national goal and federal policy directive. Recent research has shown that in addition to measures of academic proficiency, intra- and interpersonal skills are important factors in college and career readiness. Likewise, mathematics proficiency is an important skill for successful STEM outcomes and post-secondary success, but these achievements and outcomes frequently vary based on demographic characteristics. This study utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 to examine the relationships between mathematics achievement growth in Grades K-1 and Grades 3-8, mathematics self-efficacy development in Grades 3-8, and demographic factors including sex, socioeconomic status (SES), and race/ethnicity. Various models of mathematics achievement growth were tested, and the relationships between both early and middle grades mathematics achievement growth and self-efficacy development were also explored. Sex, SES, and race/ethnicity differences in both mathematics achievement growth and self-efficacy development were discovered, and findings were consistent with familiar achievement gaps favoring white and Asian males from above median SES households. In particular, SES was found to be a ubiquitous factor in both mathematics achievement and self-efficacy development, and sex moderated some of the relationships between mathematics achievement and self-efficacy. Implications for future research, instructional design, and intervention development are discussed. Title: 1 + 1 Is Not Always 2: Variation in the Relations Between Mathematics Self-Efficacy Development and Longitudinal Mathematics Achievement Growth Author: Shanley, Caroline Year: 2015 Creating an educational program that results in positive post-secondary and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)-oriented outcomes for all students is a national goal and federal policy directive. Recent research has shown that in addition to measures of academic proficiency, intra- and interpersonal skills are important factors in college and career readiness. Likewise, mathematics proficiency is an important skill for successful STEM outcomes and post-secondary success, but these achievements and outcomes frequently vary based on demographic characteristics. This study utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 to examine the relationships between mathematics achievement growth in Grades K-1 and Grades 3-8, mathematics self-efficacy development in Grades 3-8, and demographic factors including sex, socioeconomic status (SES), and race/ethnicity. Various models of mathematics achievement growth were tested, and the relationships between both early and middle grades mathematics achievement growth and self-efficacy development were also explored. Sex, SES, and race/ethnicity differences in both mathematics achievement growth and self-efficacy development were discovered, and findings were consistent with familiar achievement gaps favoring white and Asian males from above median SES households. In particular, SES was found to be a ubiquitous factor in both mathematics achievement and self-efficacy development, and sex moderated some of the relationships between mathematics achievement and self-efficacy. Implications for future research, instructional design, and intervention development are discussed. Close

• 9. [Article] Harrisburg Notice of Adopted Amendment (2010-01-15)

  70 pp. Adopted 2010-01-15. Department of Land Conservation and Development Notice of Adopted Amendment

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Harrisburg Notice of Adopted Amendment (2010-01-15) Author: Harrisburg Year: 2014, 2010 70 pp. Adopted 2010-01-15. Department of Land Conservation and Development Notice of Adopted Amendment Title: Harrisburg Notice of Adopted Amendment (2010-01-15) Author: Harrisburg Year: 2014, 2010 70 pp. Adopted 2010-01-15. Department of Land Conservation and Development Notice of Adopted Amendment Close

• 10. [Article] Oregon DEQ: Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Area Outreach and Survey

  Examining Committee: Benjamin Clark and Mark Nystrom

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Oregon DEQ: Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Area Outreach and Survey Author: Dales, Sam, Fiorelli, Thomas, Gil, Ryan Year: 2017 Examining Committee: Benjamin Clark and Mark Nystrom Title: Oregon DEQ: Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Area Outreach and Survey Author: Dales, Sam, Fiorelli, Thomas, Gil, Ryan Year: 2017 Examining Committee: Benjamin Clark and Mark Nystrom Close