Can Hiring Quotas Work? The Effect Of The Nitaqat Program On The Saudi Private Sector

This paper studies the effects of quota-based labor regulations on firms in the context of Saudi Arabia\u27s Nitaqat program, which imposed quotas for Saudi hiring at private firms. I use a comprehensive firm-level administrative dataset and exploit kinks in hiring incentives generated by the quotas to estimate the effects of this policy. I find that the program increased native employment at substantial cost to firms, as demonstrated by increasing exit rates and decreasing total employment at surviving firms. Firms without any Saudi employees at the onset of the program appear to bear most of these costs

The effect of competition and opponent gender on the performance of a graded exercise test

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of competition and opponent gender on the physiological responses during a treadmill graded exercise test (GXT). [This is an excerpt from the abstract. For the complete abstract, please see the document.

Music Education At The Troy Female Seminary: 1817-1904

When examining the historical origins of music education in the United States there exists a gap in the research concerning female music educators. There have been many calls to action by researchers with the aim of focusing research on the contribution of women to music education. This project sought to document details about musical studies and female music educators at one institution of higher learning. The Troy Female Seminary was founded by Emma Hart Willard in 1817 and exists today as an independent secondary school for females (renamed the Emma Willard School in 1895). Relevant books, journal articles, master’s theses, and dissertations were reviewed. Although there have been volumes written about Willard, and her writings are available to read, little published material exists as to the musical studies of her students and the teachers that guided their learning. After reviewing related literature in early American music education and female music educators (ca. 1850–1920), two names of female music educators at the school, Miss Angelica Gilbert and Faustina Hasse Hodge (1820–1895), emerged. More information was needed to adequately answer the research questions of the project. Two investigations at the school archives in Troy, New York, produced information about female and male music educators, how music was explored as a discipline in early female education, and music examinations given each year for graduating students. Piano study and group study have been a part of the curriculum of the school since its opening in 1820, however musical study quickly expanded to include harp, voice, and guitar lessons. The school was host to The Seminary Conservatory, a program led by Miss Marion Sim from 1894–1905. With the addition of the conservatory faculty to the staff at Tory Female Seminary, music education grew to include harmony, counterpoint, vocal sight-reading, composition, and other courses. An investigation of an alumnae publication documented that sixty-four alumnae of the Troy Female Seminary (from 1824 through 1872) were music educators for some part of their lives. Information about other influential music educators at the school and conservatory is presented

Simulating COVID-19 In A University Environment

Residential colleges and universities face unique challenges in providing in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Administrators are currently faced with decisions about whether to open during the pandemic and what modifications of their normal operations might be necessary to protect students, faculty and staff. There is little information, however, on what measures are likely to be most effective and whether existing interventions could contain the spread of an outbreak on campus. We develop a full-scale stochastic agent-based model to determine whether in-person instruction could safely continue during the pandemic and evaluate the necessity of various interventions. Simulation results indicate that large scale randomized testing, contact-tracing, and quarantining are important components of a successful strategy for containing campus outbreaks. High test specificity is critical for keeping the size of the quarantine population manageable. Moving the largest classes online is also crucial for controlling both the size of outbreaks and the number of students in quarantine. Increased residential exposure can significantly impact the size of an outbreak, but it is likely more important to control non-residential social exposure among students. Finally, necessarily high quarantine rates even in controlled outbreaks imply significant absenteeism, indicating a need to plan for remote instruction of quarantined students

Near Infrared Fluorescent Imaging of Brain Tumor With IR780 Dye Incorporated Phospholipid Nanoparticles

Background: Near-IR fluorescence (NIRF) imaging is becoming a promising approach in preclinical tumor detection and clinical image-guided oncological surgery. While heptamethine cyanine dye IR780 has excellent tumor targeting and imaging potential, its hydrophobic property limits its clinical use. In this study, we developed nanoparticle formulations to facilitate the use of IR780 for fluorescent imaging of malignant brain tumor. Methods: Self-assembled IR780-liposomes and IR780-phospholipid micelles were prepared and their NIRF properties were characterized. The intracellular accumulation of IR780-nanoparticles in glioma cells were determined using confocal microscopy. The in vivo brain tumor targeting and NIRF imaging capacity of IR780-nanoparticles were evaluated using U87MG glioma ectopic and orthotopic xenograft models and a spontaneous glioma mouse model driven by RAS/RTK activation. Results: The loading of IR780 into liposomes or phospholipid micelles was efficient. The particle diameter of IR780-liposomes and IR780-phospholipid micelles were 95 and 26nm, respectively. While stock solutions of each preparation were maintained at ready-to-use condition, the IR780-phospholipid micelles were more stable. In tissue culture cells, IR780-nanoparticles prepared by either method accumulated in mitochondria, however, in animals the IR780-phospholipid micelles showed enhanced intra-tumoral accumulation in U87MG ectopic tumors. Moreover, IR780-phospholipid micelles also showed preferred intracranial tumor accumulation and potent NIRF signal intensity in glioma orthotopic models at a real-time, non-invasive manner. Conclusion: The IR780-phospholipid micelles demonstrated tumor-specific NIRF imaging capacity in glioma preclinical mouse models, providing great potential for clinical imaging and image-guided surgery of brain tumors

Essays in oil, conflict, and the development of resource-rich countries

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 141-145).This thesis examines three topics in the political economy of global oil markets and the development of resource-rich countries. The first chapter examines the effect of Saudi Arabia's crude pricing policies on the political behavior of U.S. firms. Between 1991 and 2003, Saudi Aramco sold its crude to U.S. refineries at a substantial discount relative to Asian refineries at a total cost of approximately 8.5 billion dollars. Using variation in discount receipts across refineries over time, I find that the discount rents were entirely captured by refiners as profits and were not passed through to consumers in the form of lower retail gasoline prices. There is also evidence that the discount policy affected refiners' political action. In particular, I find that discount receipts are associated with an increase in refiners' overall political donations, and that other types of profit shocks were not associated with changes in political giving. This suggests that the effect of the discount was not simply a consequence of the increase in refining profits. Finally, I show that the discount resulted in a reallocation of contributions toward members of congressional committees that reviewed bills of interest to Saudi Arabia and away from those who received donations from pro-Israel interest groups. In the second chapter, I assess the impact of a nationalization quota policy in Saudi Arabia on workers and private-sector firms. In the past two years, Saudi Arabia has dramatically extended its active labor market policies in order to address the issue of growing youth unemployment and low Saudi participation in the private sector workforce. This paper studies the 2011 introduction of the Nitaqat program, which imposed a quota system for Saudi hiring at private firms. The analysis uses a unique dataset from the Saudi Ministry of Labor on the full universe of Saudi private-sector firms and exploits kinks in firm incentives generated by the program to examine the effects of this quota policy on nationalization, firm size, and firm exit. I complement the regression kink results with a differences-in-differences approach to estimate the overall effects of the program. The analysis finds that the program succeeded in increasing native employment but also had significant negative effects on firms. Program compliance rates were high, with firms increasing their Saudization rate by 0.2 percentage points on average for every percentage point increase required by the quota. Quota compliance was primarily accomplished by hiring Saudis, and Nitaqat was responsible for the addition of an estimated 52,000 Saudi workers to the private sector workforce over the 16 month period. There were also significant costs, however, and the program caused approximately 11,000 firms to shut down, raising exit rates by nearly 50%. Among surviving firms, the program decreased total employment by 198,000 workers. The third chapter investigates the direct effect of conflict-related supply disruptions on the downstream U.S. oil industry. The security of petroleum supplies is a major issue in U.S. domestic and foreign policy. Although conflict in oil-exporting countries affects the entire global downstream industry, supply disruptions may also have an additional effect on refiners who are dependent on these crude streams. This study uses variation in the sources of oil supplies across refineries to estimate the effect of conflict-related supply disruptions on refiner profits and local retail gasoline prices. The analysis shows that while conflicts do cause supply interruptions, these shortfalls have little effect on the refiners and markets exposed to these disruptions. On average, then, refineries appear to adjust quickly to unexpected changes in their supplies without significant increases in their input costs.by Jennifer Randolph Peck.Ph.D

UNLOCKING THE AFFECTIONS IN J.S. BACH’S FLUTE SONATA IN E MINOR, BWV 1034

This document explores the affects of—or the use of emotions in—J. S. Bach’s Sonata for Flute in E minor, BWV 1034, by examining for potential connections Bach’s cantatas that were written contemporaneously. In the fall of 1724, Bach suddenly began writing extensive flute obbligato parts in the arias of many of his cantatas. It is believed that a visiting flutist of some skill and proficiency resided in Leipzig during this period and may have inspired these cantata parts as well as the Sonata for Flute in E minor, BWV 1034. Each movement of the Sonata is compared to the flute parts in the arias of the cantatas— as well as other movements from the cantatas— for similarities in key, tempo, meter, style, and motive. The author discovers associations between these characteristics in the Sonata and Cantatas BWV 94, 114, 130, and 46. The musical relationships and the affects they portray are determined between the cantatas and the Sonata, the cantata librettos, as well as the additional liturgical readings that support the themes of these cantatas. These passages provide textual imagery and inspiration for interpreting the emotions of the individual movements of the Sonata

Do Race and Ethnicity Matter? An Examination of Racial/Ethnic Differences in Perceptions of Procedural Justice and Recidivism Among Problem-Solving Court Clients

Over the years, a distinct body of research has emerged that examines procedural justice in problem-solving courts. However, there is virtually no research to date on racial and ethnic differences in perceptions of procedural justice among problem-solving court clients. The present study seeks to understand the complexities of judicial procedural justice and race/ethnicity within problem-solving courts. Using a convenience sample of 132 clients from two problem-solving courts in a southern state, this study addresses a void in the literature by examining the influence of race/ethnicity on perceptions of procedural justice as well as the impact of race/ethnicity and procedural justice on clients’ likelihood of recidivism. Results suggest that Black problem-solving court clients’ have significantly lower perceptions of procedural justice, while also having a lower likelihood of recidivism. Perceptions of procedural justice did not influence recidivism outcomes. Policy implications and recommendations for future research are discussed