Theses and Dissertations from UMD

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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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2010 - 20113

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Economic History

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    How Cadillac Became Cadillac
    (2010) Benson, Edwin John Mortimer; Sicilia, David B; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This thesis examines the process by which General Motors' Cadillac brand of automobiles came to dominate the U.S. luxury car market between 1927 and 1960. In 1927, Cadillac was only one among a crowded field of U.S. and European automobiles priced above $3000, the threshold of the luxury car market at the time. Through a skillful process of marketing, the corporate strength of General Motors, and the mistakes and ill-fortune of its competitors; Cadillac came to hold at least 50% of the U.S. luxury car market throughout the 1950s, and in some years accounted for nearly 70% of that market. It also briefly examines the reasons for Cadillac's decline in the market during the years since 1960.
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    AFRICA'S RECENT ECONOMIC REVIVAL: ROLE OF POLICIES, POLITICS AND INSTITUTIONS
    (2011) Hobdari, Niko; Drazen, Allan; Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has made significant progress in democracy and economic performance since mid-1990s, but the continent remains by far the poorest region in the world. This dissertation consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 reviews SSA's history of democracy and economic policy since independence, including a literature review. It argues that while SSA's disappointing economic performance is, in part, due to its difficult geography, high incidence of disease, and colonial legacy, the main reason for Africa's woes until mid-1990s seem to be the failure of economic policies adopted by most SSA governments after independence. Chapter 2 examines SSA's recent economic growth acceleration, and finds that such acceleration is mainly due to better institutions and policies adopted by most SSA governments (as a result of more open and democratic societies), as well as lower incidence of armed conflicts, whereas the role of aid and terms of trade is relatively limited. Chapter 3 reviews the impact on fiscal policy of competitive presidential elections in SSA during 1980-2005, and finds that (i) the magnitude of political budget cycles has declined over time as a result of stronger checks and balances and more experienced electorates; and (ii) that looser fiscal policies do not help reelect incumbents.
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    Four Essays in the Measurement of Governance Institutions
    (2010) Givens, David Michael; Murrell, Peter; Chao, John; Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This dissertation produces a new set of orthogonal governance measures based on expert assessment data. Chapter 1 constructs the measures using a factor model. Chapter 2 applies the measures to study comparative economic development. Chapter 3 conducts a number of robustness checks on results from the first two chapters. Chapter 4 uses Monte Carlo experiments to assess potential inaccuracy in my governance measures caused by the application of the maximum-likelihood estimator to polytomous data.