Microfinance, incentives to repay, and overindebtedness: Evidence from a household survey in Bolivia

Gonzalez, Adrian The Ohio State University 2008 해외박사(DDOD)

The superior repayment performance of the clients of microfinance institutions---when contrasted with banks---and the robustness of this repayment behavior during periods of severe systemic shocks have attracted much speculation. This dissertation formally addresses these issues, by exploring the relationships between overindebtedness and alternative lending technologies and contract designs. Data for 1997-2001, from a household survey taken during the overindebtedness episode of the Bolivian financial sector, are used to test the hypotheses. Overindebtedness is an outcome of a loan contract that does not correspond to the original expectations of the borrower, the lender, or both. Repayment difficulties may result from unwillingness to repay, inability to repay, or actual repayment only after extraordinary capacity is generated through costly actions. Costly actions reflect efforts or outcomes beyond what the borrower had planned at the time of contract. Any credit relationship characterized by willingness and ability to repay without exceptional cost implies the absence of overindebtedness. Overindebtedness may result from the opportunistic behavior of lenders, the opportunistic behavior of borrowers, unexpected adverse systemic shocks, or limitations of the lending technologies in forecasting ordinary repayment capacity. The dissertation builds a conceptual framework for the analysis of overindebtedness among microfinance borrowers. The model considers the intertemporal choices of different types of borrowers---when faced with unexpected adverse shocks and the need to reassess their repayment options---guided by the value of relationships characterized by different contract terms and the opportunity costs of the extra efforts required. The dissertation establishes a previously unidentified link between a high degree of extraordinary repayment capacity (both extraordinary willingness and extraordinary ability to repay) and the high repayment rates observed among MFIs. These rates are explained both by the ability to elicit strong incentives to repay and the opportunities these households have to generate extraordinary ability to repay. Thus, given similar ability across lenders to induce ordinary repayment capacity, the strength of microfinance lending technologies comes from their ability to create incentives for the borrower to engage in extraordinary costly actions and their capacity to identify households with a high probability of success at generating extraordinary ability to repay.

Minimum-length corridors: Complexity and approximations

Gonzalez-Gutierrez, Arturo University of California, Santa Barbara 2007 해외박사(DDOD)

The Minimum-Length Corridor (MLC) problem and some of its variants are studied. Given a rectangular boundary partitioned into rectilinear polygons (rooms), the MLC problem is to find a corridor of least total length. A corridor is a set of connected line segments, each of which must lie along the line segments that form the rectangular boundary and/or the boundary of the rooms, and must include at least one point from every room and from the rectangular boundary. The NP-completeness of the decision version of the MLC problem even when it is restricted to a rectangular boundary partitioned into rectangles is established. We call this restricted version the MLC-R problem. In virtue of these results, we present a parameterized algorithm Alg(S) for the MLC-R problem, where S is a selector function. For certain selector functions, Alg( S) results in the first provably polynomial time approximation algorithm for the MLC-R problem with a constant approximation ratio. Algorithm Alg(S) restricts the solution space by limiting in each room the possible vertices, from which at least one must be part of the corridor. The resulting problem, which remains NP-complete, is solved by relaxing the set of feasible solutions. Then the solution is rounded and solves the original problem instance. This approach is adapted to the rectangular group-TSP, resulting in a constant ratio approximation algorithm. The approximation scheme can also be applied to the MLCk problem, i.e., the MLC problem when every room is a rectilinear c-gon, for c ≥ k, but the approximation ratio depends on k. A polynomial time constant ratio approximation algorithm for the group-TSP for a rectangular boundary partitioned into rectilinear c-gons, as in the MLCk problem when k is a constant, is presented. An application for the MLC problem is when laying optical fiber in metropolitan areas and every block (or set of blocks) is connected through its own gateway. The objective is to find a minimum-length corridor connecting all the gateways in the area. Corridor problems also have applications in VLSI and floorplanning when laying wires for clock signals or power, and wires for electrical networks, or optical fibers for data communications.

The nature of managing multiple activities in the workplace

Gonzalez y Gonzalez, Victor Manuel University of California, Irvine 2006 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation is a report of an empirical observational study conducted in order to broaden the understanding of the nature of managing multiple activities in the workplace. The aim was to analyze the phenomenon as it was experienced in situ with the object of deriving and consolidating a set of insights and findings, that can be used to fundament the design of computer tools which aim to support the management of multiple activities. The study was conducted at two different companies where I observed the practices of 36 information workers. Among these workers were financial analysts, project leaders, software developers, support engineers and managers. As a result of the analysis, the notion of working sphere is proposed for representing the practical units in which individuals conceptualize their work, and that thematically connect chains of actions towards the achievement of a purpose. The dissertation describes and analyzes the dynamics involved in the enactment of working spheres, as well as the extent of work fragmentation experienced by individuals in practice. It was found that informants managed an average of 12 working spheres per day, but they were fragmented by internal and external interruptions, which resulted in sustained engagements of just 12 minutes for a given sphere before switching to another. Informants averaged about 23 minutes before resuming an interrupted working sphere, but during this time they engaged in an average of two other spheres. The study identifies a set of fundamental processes and strategies used by information workers for managing multiple activities, and coping with the fragmentation of their work. These processes involve a consolidation, and continuous renewal of overviews of the working spheres in which one is engaged, the adequate maintenance of a flexible window of focus over working spheres demanding attention, and the management of transitions leading to switching among working spheres. The study identifies a set of core capabilities provided by physical and digital tools that play a central role in facilitating the consolidation of overviews and the management of activities. It is argued that those capabilities should be seen as fundamental requirements for new information technologies aiming to support personal activity management.

Exploring longitudinal data of a reading tutoring program: Issues and answers for intervention

Gonzalez Gonzalez, Salvadora The University of New Mexico 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this exploratory study was twofold: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of an Extended Day Reading Program (tutoring), and (2) to examine the reliability of the assessment instruments used by the school. The study analyzes three consecutive school years of academic achievement data for approximately 150 third- through fifth-grade students. Students were classified into three categories at the beginning of the school year: (a) students who read below grade level and were involved in the tutoring program (tutored, less-skilled readers group), (b) students who read below grade level but were not receiving additional reading instruction (non-tutored, less-skilled readers group), and (c) students who read at or above grade level at the beginning of the school year (non-tutored, highly-skilled readers group). One-way Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) are employed to explore the effects of tutoring on reading performance. Further, paired-sample t-test procedures are used to analyze significant differences by comparing the means of each of the pre- and post-test measurements. This study also evaluates the construct of reliability within measurement instruments as it relates to these particular students using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of reliability. Messick's (1975; 1989; 1996) model for construct validity is used in this examination. The study concludes that although there is no statistical difference between the yearly pre- and post-test reading scores of the participants, the tutored students achieved higher mean and smaller standard errors than the non-tutored, less-skilled readers. Results also show that measurement instruments gauge student improvement in reading differently. The DRA showed the strongest item-test correlation. ARI and TerraNova showed moderate collation and A2L showed the lowest correlations. Performance of students with differing primary home languages, ethnicities, and English proficiency is gauged differently by the different assessment instruments. The study finds that gender played no part in reading performance of the tutored students. Also, under the conditions of this research, the relative reading improvement for tutored students, particularly tutored students whose primary home language was other than English, was significantly greater than for non-tutored students, indicating that tutoring has the desired positive impact.

Spatial Modeling of Rainfed Bean Production in the Semiarid Central Mexico: Climate Surface and Vegetation Remote Sensing Determinants

Gonzalez-Gonzalez, Miguel Angel ProQuest Dissertations & Theses The University of 2018 해외박사(DDOD)

The goal of this study is to develop a method to estimate dry bean crop production from non-irrigated farmlands in central Mexico to improve crop forecasts. The proposed method has two components, estimating the dry bean cropland area (ha) and p.

The archaeology of Sycorax: The Sycorax syndrome and the implosive imaginary (William Shakespeare, Myriam Warner-Vieyra, Jamaica Kincaid, Edwidge Danticat, Ana Lydia Vega, Jose Luis Gonzalez, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Haiti, Puerto Rico)

Chiclana y Gonzalez, Arleen The University of Rochester 2001 해외박사(DDOD)

Diverse attempts have been made to probe the male characters in Shakespeare's <italic> The Tempest</italic>; these figures have been ascribed a highly political depictional value. However, the possibilities of exploring and transforming the female figures have been largely ignored. My project inscribes the female characters, Sycorax and Miranda, in order to reveal how poignantly their absence-presence accents the play. Through the characters, I secure a theory that is inclusive of Africanness and of women. I argue that these characters are the embodiment of the silences that irrupt through the narrative, and that theirs are silences that also serve to frame, to mold, to contain, and to ejaculate an utterance that asserts itself by vocalizing desire and denouncing an oppressive colonial experience. Both characters emit a cry that describes a different history and prescribes a different vision: Sycorax as a <italic>forgotten</italic> history and a repressed origin, Miranda, as her offspring, the Caribbean writer who is seeking her own voice. Arguing against current psychoanalytical methodologies, I contend that in colonial identificatory processes the visual space that relies upon <italic> reflection</italic> and which is created by language is superseded by a third space that is created by <italic>refraction</italic> and one that Sycorax rules. I denominate as <bolditalic>Sycorax's syndrome</bolditalic> the particular identificatory phenomenon that occurs in, and affects, colonial subjectivity and sexual identity. The <italic>Sycorax syndrome</italic> challenges the Lacanian concept of the “mirror” phase. The <italic>Sycorax syndrome</italic> will help explore the themes of madness and exile in Miriam Warner-Vieyrals novel, <italic>Juletane</italic>, and it will help elucidate woman's desire for the Mother in Jamaica Kincaid's <italic> Annie John</italic>. Sycorax and Miranda will help explore the themes of madness, forlornness and virginity in Edwidge Danticat's <italic>Breath, Eyes, Memory </italic>. In addition, I offer an analysis of Ana Lydia Vega's “La otra maldad de Pateco,” and José Luis González' “En el fondo del caño hay un negrito,” as perfect examples of the marginal space the colonial subject occupies in current psychoanalytical theory. Shakespeare's characters will prove to be ideal icons with which to represent the silences found in Caribbean literary production and the Canon that resists their penetration.

Morphologische und Morphometrische Untersuchungen zur Entwicklung der primitive Nase bei der maus

Gonzalez, Carlos E. de la Garza Universitat Hamburg 1983 국내박사

Re-Evaluating U.S. anti-drug policy : (the) war on drugs and the emergence of narcoterrorism

Gonzalez, Daisy 서울대학교 국제대학원 2011 국내석사

DYNAMICS OF BIODIVERSITY AND HUMAN CARRYING CAPACITY IN THE SENEGAL SAHEL (FORESTRY, FIREWOOD, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT)

GONZALEZ, PATRICK J UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY 1997 해외박사

CAPITALISM AND THE ENVIRONMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY VIA COMPETING THEORIES OF THE STATE (RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL PARKS, WILDERNESS PRESERVATION, CLEAN AIR POLICIES, POLICY-MAKING)

GONZALEZ, GEORGE AHMED UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 1997 해외박사