Factors Influencing Voting Results of Local Transportation Funding Initiatives with a Substantial Transit Component: Case Studies of Ballot Measures in Eleven Communities, MTI Report 01-17

This publication is a follow-up study to MTI publication 00-01, Why Campaigns for Local Transportation Funding Initiatives Succeed or Fail: An Analysis of Four Communities and National Data. The earlier publication was case studies of four local ballot tax measures for transportation packages. The current study, Factors Influencing Voting Results of Local Transportation Funding Initiatives with a Substantial Rail Transit Component: Case Studies of Ballot Measures in Eleven communities, uses the same case study methodology as the prior study, and is expanded to 11 communities from the past four years. Some of the important conclusions identified by the study are as follows: 1) The combination of an energetic and credible opposition and a questionable reputation of the transit agency or transit system make it extremely difficult for a ballot measure to be successful; 2) When a community has no prior rail transit system, a comprehensive rail-only package is unlikely to be successful; 3)Without $1 million or more to spend on a combination of direct mail and television advertising it is difficult for proponents to be successful; 4) Developing a consensus transportation package depends on the specific details of the package and it is very difficult to generalize about the needed details; and 5) Under certain circumstances, voters do not appear to place significant importance on the existence or length of the expiration date of the tax used to fund the transportation package

Lessons Learned in Attempting to Survey Hard-to-Reach Ethnic Segments Along with the Presentation of a Comprehensive Questionnaire, Research Report WP-10-02

A survey questionnaire was developed and administered to transit users in the Sacramento Metropolitan Area to analyze the degree to which global satisfaction with transit is impacted by ethnicity and other relevant independent variables. Although the data collected was not analyzed because the sample size was substantially smaller than required, the questionnaire used, which is included in its entirety in an appendix, has some uncommon variables and measurement approaches that can be used in a number of other survey questionnaires used in transit studies. Options involving sampling methodology and methods of administering the questionnaire that would have generated an acceptable sample size also are discussed

Why Campaigns for Local Transportation Initiatives Succeed or Fail: An Analysis of Four Communities and National Data, MTI Report 00-01

As funding from state and national sources has dwindled and demands for relief from traffic and congestion have grown, local governments and transportation agencies are increasingly left to develop their own sources of enhanced revenues. Frequently the bid to increase available revenues comprises a local ballot measure, enabling the citizens served by these governments and agencies to express their preferences for or against increased taxation in support of an improved transportation system. What determines the success of campaigns in support of such ballot measures? To answer this question, this report includes the use of two different approaches and data sources. 1) A statistical analysis of community-level characteristics. Data from localities across the nation, as well those within the state of California, that have conducted elections for transportation tax increase are analyzed to determine what factors seem to affect the outcome of such elections. 2) Case studies of four communities that recently conducted elections for transportation tax increases (Santa Clara and Sonoma Counties in California, and the Denver and Seattle metropolitan areas). The case studies allow for in-depth, qualitative understanding of what election strategies and other campaign elements comprise successful or unsuccessful efforts to raise local revenues. Among the most significant findings from the statistical analysis of local elections were the following: Efforts to fund transportation with taxes where the proportion of elderly is greater than 9 percent are more likely to succeed In communities where the percentage of elderly is greater than 9 percent, the analysis indicates that voters may be more willing to accept local transportation taxes. However, in communities where the percentage of elderly is less than 9 percent, transportation measures may require significantly more determined marketing to enhance the probability of passage. Efforts to increase sales taxes for transportation programs will be less successful in communities with higher sales taxes. A relatively strong and negative relationship between sales tax and support for transportation tax initiatives was identified in the national election data. This suggests that communities with relatively higher sales taxes will be hard pressed to convince citizens to support additional increases

Examining the Link between Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Company Performance: An Analysis of the Best Corporate Citizens

Using KLD data on the performance of 188 companies over a three‐year period in seven areas of corporate social responsibility (CSR) – environment, community, corporate governance, diversity, employee relations, human rights, and product quality – this study examines whether CSR initiatives have a greater impact on company performance (CP) if the company prioritizes the CSR issues that matter most to it and approaches CSR initiatives in a strategic way, than if it approaches them based on generic rationale unrelated to the company's strategy. The results show that when a company pursues CSR initiatives that are linked to stakeholder preferences and allocates resources to these initiatives in a strategic way, the positive effect of its CSR initiatives on CP strengthens in terms of both market‐based and accounting‐based measures of performance. However, this relationship was not observed across the board for all of the seven areas of CSR. The main conclusion of this study is that companies need to link their CSR initiatives to the likely preferences of their stakeholders and undertake the corporate social actions that are relevant to the company's strategy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96696/1/csr1278.pd

Hormonal crises following receptor radionuclide therapy with the radiolabeled somatostatin analogue [177Lu-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotate

textabstractIntroduction: Receptor radionuclide therapy is a promising treatment modality for patients with neuroendocrine tumors for whom alternative treatments are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of hormonal crises after therapy with the radiolabeled somatostatin analogue [177Lu-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotate (177Lu-octreotate). Materials and methods: All177Lu- octreotate treatments between January 2000 and January 2007 were investigated. Four hundred seventy-six patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and three patients with metastatic pheochromocytoma were included for analysis. Results: Four hundred seventy-nine patients received a total of 1,693 administrations of177Lu-octreotate. Six of 479 patients (1%) developed severe symptoms because of massive release of bioactive substances after the first cycle of177Lu-octreotate. One patient had a metastatic hormone-producing small intestinal carcinoid; two patients had metastatic, hormone-producing bronchial carcinoids; two patients had vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-producing pancreatic endocrine tumors (VIPomas); and one patient had a metastatic pheochromocytoma. With adequate treatment, all patients eventually recovered. Conclusion: Hormonal crises after177Lu- octreotate therapy occur in 1% of patients. Generally,177Lu- octreotate therapy is well tolerated

A Multivariate Analysis Of Brand Loyalty For Purchasers Of New Cars And Major Household Appliances.

PhDBusiness communityUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/190405/2/7311295.pd