Browsing by Subject "Public Policy"
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Item Three Essays In Applied Microeconometrics(2014-06-02) Cheng, ChengThis dissertation analyzes the effects of three public policies using quasi-experimental methods. These policies include U.S. cell phone bans that prevent drivers from using cell phones while driving, U.S. castle doctrine laws that justify using lethal force in self-defense situations, and China?s marriage registration reform that simplifies the marriage and divorce process. I first examine if cell phone bans change driver behavior. Using data on observed driver cell phone usage combined with a difference-in-differences approach that exploits the within-state variation in the adoption of bans, I find prohibiting drivers from texting and talking on handheld cell phones reduces each by 60 and 50 percent, respectively. This suggests the policy is effective at reducing the targeted behavior. Combined with findings that show cell phone bans do not reduce traffic accidents and casualties, I further discuss other factors and behavioral responses that may counteract the reduction in observed usage. Next, I investigate if castle doctrine laws deter crime or escalate violence by lowering the expected cost of using lethal force and increasing the expected cost of committing violent crime. Using a similar difference-in-differences strategy, I find the laws do not deter burglary, robbery, or aggravated assault. In contrast, they lead to a statistically significant 8 percent net increase in the number of reported murders and non-negligent manslaughters. Finally, I evaluate the marital consequences of easier access to divorce and marriage by exploiting a major policy change in China that simplify both. To distinguish the causal effect from the effect of other confounding factors, I use a regression discontinuity design to compare annual changes in divorce and marriage rates just before and just after the adoption of the 2003 Regulations on Marriage Registration. Results indicate that lower cost of divorce and marriage immediately triggered faster growth in divorce and marriage rates.Item Violence in public organizations: adapting contemporary theory to the case of schools(Texas A&M University, 2007-09-17) Eller, Warren StevensViolence in American schools has declined significantly over the last two decades but still remains an important topic on the public agenda. This unusual dialectic, driven by the recent increase in extreme cases of violence, has fostered a renewed interest and scholarship in school violence and public policy focused on reducing this phenomenon. At present, schools across the nation are adopting and implementing policies based on past research to combat this new wave of school violence; however, the majority of the research in this area is limited to evaluations of the immediate problem in a localized region, or are a theoretic government reports that focus on correlates over causes and offer little guidance for understanding the policy environment. This dissertation takes a first pass at large-scale quantitative evaluation of violence in schools. I begin by adapting contemporary policy theory and blending it with contextually applicable causal models. I then test three separate aspects of this policy area. First I examine if institutions do have control over extreme behavior within their purview. Second, I examine the organizational covariates with violence. Finally, I examine the policy system including outputs, effects and actor influence within the subsystem. I find that schools are not simply victims of the external environment, but victims of the political environment. There are no substantive reductions in violence associated with any specific prevention measure; however, there are dramatic consequences when school administration or programs focus on this event.