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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    Expanding the Role of Maryland Community Colleges in K-12 Teacher Preparation: Benefits and Costs of Implementing the Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) Degree
    (2012) Frank, Jennifer Vest; Fries-Britt, Sharon; Perna, Laura; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study uses benefit-cost analysis to compare three alternative scenarios for implementing the Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) degree in Maryland community colleges. The first policy scenario is that community colleges retain their traditional role in K-12 teacher preparation by providing lower-division transfer courses and programs for undergraduate students who are seeking to transfer into teacher education programs at four-year institutions (historical role for Maryland community colleges). The second policy scenario is that community colleges expand their traditional role in K-12 teacher preparation by offering the AAT degree in addition to providing lower-division transfer courses and programs (current role for Maryland community colleges). The third policy scenario is that community colleges offer the AAT degree as the exclusive lower-division requirement for students seeking admission into teacher preparation programs at four-year colleges and universities (hypothetical future role for Maryland community colleges). Drawing on the seminal work of Schultz (1963) and Becker (1964; 1975; 1993), human capital theory serves as the guiding theoretical framework for this study. The three policy scenarios under consideration in this benefit-cost analysis were designed to increase a particular type of human capital investment by providing opportunities for community college students to enter the teacher preparation pipeline in higher education. This study examines the benefits and costs that are associated with each of these three alternatives to explore which policy provides the greatest net benefit to the State of Maryland.
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    The Value of Mortality Risk Reductions in Delhi, India
    (2006-11-27) Bhattacharya, Soma; Alberini, Anna; Cropper, Maureen L; Agricultural and Resource Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Road accidents kill nearly 1.2 million people each year worldwide, two-thirds of whom live in developing countries. Traffic crashes may indeed become the third leading cause of death in developing countries by the year 2020 (Murray and Lopez, 1996). For governments in developing countries to make informed decisions about investments in traffic safety, it is imperative that the benefits of road traffic improvements be monetized and compared with costs. This, however, requires estimates of the value of reductions in risk of death. The goal of the dissertation is to provide estimates of the value of mortality risk reductions in a traffic safety context in Delhi, India. To estimate the value of road safety improvements in Delhi requires understanding the nature of developing country traffic risks. Methods of valuing traffic fatalities used in high-income countries based on seatbelt use or purchase of safer cars are not applicable here. In my survey I asked 1200 commuters what they would pay to reduce their own risk of dying as a (a) pedestrian, (b) driver of a two-wheeler, and (c) commuter, regardless of travel mode. These scenarios mirror the bulk of fatal accidents in Delhi. I find that mean WTP for mortality risk reduction increases with the size of risk reduction, as predicted by economic theory. WTP for a given risk change increases with income and education. The estimation results broadly confirm the Bayesian updating assumption, in that WTP increases with baseline exposure to risk, measured by commute time, whether the respondent travels as part of his job and whether he drives a two-wheeler. Mean WTP is three times larger for a respondent who drives a two-wheeler and travels on the job than for one who does not. The results of my survey indicate that the VSL is individuated, i.e., it varies across groups of potential beneficiaries of traffic safety programs (two-wheeler drivers, persons with bachelors degree, etc.). For the most highly exposed individuals--the VSL is about $150,000 (PPP, 2005). Transferred estimates adjusted for income from other developed and developing countries indicate a VSL that is much larger than my estimate. These findings underscore the importance of conducting original valuation studies.