Previous research indicates that students in engineering self-report cheating in college at higher rates than those in most other disciplines. Prior work also suggests that participation in one deviant behavior is a reasonable predictor of future deviant behavior. This combination of factors leads to a situation where engineering students who frequently participate in academic dishonesty are mo...

For the last twenty years, Massachusetts has been dealing with transportation control measures as part of the State Implementation Plan under the Clean Air Act. This thesis looks at the way in which transportation control measures are selected and implemented and asks whether the statute provides a workable process for achieving desired outcomes. To answer this question I conduct a case study o...

In this paper I outline and explore some problems in the way that the Nuffield Council of Bioethics' report Public Health: Ethical Issues (2007) presents its 'Intervention Ladder'. They see the metaphor of a ladder both as capturing key normative priorities and as making a real and important contribution to ethical policymaking in public health. In this paper I argue that the intervention ladde...

In order to influence global policy effectively, conservation scientists need to be able to provide robust predictions of the impact of alternative policies on biodiversity and measure progress towards goals using reliable indicators. We present a framework for using biodiversity indicators predictively to inform policy choices at a global level. The approach is illustrated with two case studie...

This paper offers an explanation for why policy makers stick to inefficient policy decisions. I argue that repealing a policy is a bad signal to voters about the policy maker’s competence if voters do not have complete knowledge about the effects of implemented policies. I derive the optimal policy maker’s decision on continuation of a policy, assuming that voters’ beliefs about the policy make...

“Bill Eadington’s efforts to build a sound foundation for public policy decisions on commercial gaming have been pioneering, tireless, and immensely fruitful. His datadriven approach to the study of casinos’ effects on communities and economies has contributed immeasurably to its growth and standing, and his penetrating analyses of the business of casino gaming have significantly improved how w...

This paper empirically investigates the determinants of supermarkets’ assortments at U.S. supermarkets. We first observe that, across several product categories, the top selling items which cumulatively make up 50% of sales are viewed as core products which are sold at nearly every store. However, once the product is not a top seller, stores start to view stocking the products as optional. We t...

Background Despite the significant role “values” play in decision-making no definition or attributes regarding the concept have been provided in health policy-making. This study aimed to clarify the defining attributes of a concept of value and its irrelevant structures in health policy-making. We anticipate our findings will help reduce the semantic ambiguities associated with the use of “valu...

Medical travel has expanded rapidly in recent years, resulting in new markets and increased access to medical care. Whereas several studies investigated the motives of individuals seeking healthcare abroad, the conventional analytical approach is limited by substantial caveats. Classical techniques as found in the literature cannot provide sufficient insight due to the nested nature of data gen...

The structure, conduct, and performance of Chinese telecommunications are analyzed to determine reform's impact on policy objectives. Recent performance suggests that a more comprehensive reform is needed. However, China's fragmented policy environment makes large-scale reform difficult. Further deregulation of the telecommunication industry requires several related initiatives: reduction of en...