This dissertation contains three chapters related to the study of how business cycles create real and persistent effects on economic agents. Chapter 1 focuses on young individuals' careers and college decisions; Chapter 2 on firms' firing and hiring asymmetric decisions and Chapter 3 on firms' sourcing strategies. In Chapter 1 "Strategic or…

Building principals are more than the face of the school. School administrators spend their time guiding teachers and students, collaborating with parents, establishing a responsive culture, and navigating accountability measures brought about by legislative policies enacted to provide equity to all students and ensure they are competitive in the…

This thesis collects three essays on applied microeconomics. The first essay proposes an econometric framework to study the role played by course-assignment mechanisms in shaping the learning outcomes observed in higher-education institutions. Particular emphasis is placed on the existence of student-professor match effects in the production of…

This qualitative, phenomenological study explored the attitudes of civilian (non-military) U.S. Air Force supply chain managers regarding the use of the five elements of the ADKAR Model ("awareness," "desire," "knowledge," "ability," and "reinforcement") as critical success factors (CSFs) to…

This dissertation presents evidence about implementing a free college policy on higher education's demand and supply. This analysis includes descriptive evidence about the impact of the policy on students and programs' behavior. It also develops and estimates a demand and supply model of higher education that provides a framework to analyze the…

Major choice matters for both individuals' welfare and the overall economy. A large body of studies in various countries has documented the determinants of college major choices, such as individual background characteristics, expected earnings and ability sorting, structural barriers in K-12 education, peer and family influences and expectations,…

The underlining purpose of all career and technical education (CTE) strives to prepare students for the world of work. Schools throughout the country offer CTE programs, yet manufacturing, healthcare, and STEM industries struggle to fill entry-level employment vacancies. This exploratory narrative qualitative study aimed to explore the stories of…

The demand for university education exceeds the supply in Nigeria, as more than 70% of eligible applicants cannot get admission into Nigerian universities annually. With a current population of 206 million, the World Bank predicts the Nigerian population will surpass the United States to become the third-largest country in the world by 2050. If…

The global challenge of rising healthcare demand, coupled with an acute shortage of physicians, has become a pressing concern, particularly in Egypt. To address this issue, this dissertation comprises three essays that aim to tackle the shortage and maldistribution of physicians in Egypt. The first paper investigates the factors that make general…

This dissertation contains three essays discussing government policy in higher education, the effects of online social networks during college on students after graduating, and how to use search data as a tool to recover characteristics of both products and customers to estimate demand. In the first chapter, co-authored with Shengmao Cao, we study…

This dissertation is a collection of three essays in Public Economics. The first chapter studies the optimal design of student loans as a lever to foster the inclusion of poor students in private colleges in Brazil. The second chapter delves into understanding the consequences of affirmative action as a tool to increase the participation of…

Teaching Supply chain management: A qualitative and quantitative approach to developing a supply chain management education framework Supply chain management is a new but ever evolving field, which results in an ongoing gap between what the field requires and those possessing the skills necessary to meet the field's requirements. While academic…

The nursing shortage is expected to peak in the United States in the next few years, further necessitating the need for increased capacity at the nation's schools of nursing. However, the shortage in nurses is also reflected in nursing academia, where faculty vacancies are prevalent nationwide. This study examines the correlation between…

Nurse shortages and nurse turnover are major issues in the health care industry. As 4 generations of nurses are working side-by-side for the first time in history in the health care industry, nurse leaders need to understand the generational differences in order to bridge the gap on retaining the nurses in the workforce. The primary focus of this…

The world of education is filled with policies which aim to improve student outcomes. While there are many factors which may potentially contribute to the academic success of a student, there are similarly a wide variety of measures which can be used to determine student success. This dissertation examines some specific policies and environments…