The Travel Behavior and Needs of the Poor: A Study of Welfare Recipients in Fresno County, California, MTI Report 01-23

The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 fundamentally transformed the provision of social assistance in the United States. Gone is Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), a program that entitled needy families with children to an array of benefits and public services. In its place is Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), a program that abolishes federal entitlements, provides flexible block grants to the states, mandates tough new work requirements, and imposes a five-year lifetime limit on the receipt of public assistance. Current welfare programs mandate employment for most recipients and offer temporary financial aid and short-term employment assistance to help recipients transition into the labor market. As a result of this fundamental restructuring of the U.S. welfare system, millions of welfare recipients are required to enter the paid labor market. Public agencies must establish programs to transition recipients into the labor market or risk dramatic increases in poverty rates. A growing number of studies suggest that reliable transportation-whether automobiles or public transit-is essential to linking welfare participants to employment opportunities. The purpose of this study is to: Understand the travel behavior of welfare participants; Examine strategies by which welfare participants overcome their transportation barriers; Identify the transportation needs of welfare participants living in the Central Valley; Examine the relationship between access to reliable transportation and employment status; and Develop a set of policy and planning recommendations to improve the transportation options of welfare recipients and other low-wage workers living in smaller, more rural, metropolitan areas

The Kretschmann Effect: Personalisation and the March 2016 Länder Elections

This paper examines the influences of candidate perceptions on Germany's spring 2016 Länder election results. It takes a comparative approach, using a modified Michigan model on the data collected simultaneously in three Länder (Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saxony-Anhalt). It explains why the Green party was successful in Baden-Württemberg but not in the other Länder, the impact of the major candidates, and what distinguishes the influences of the current prime ministers running for these elections. Whereas Winfried Kretschmann’s (Green party, Baden-Württemberg) high impact on the election results was driven mainly by a warmth dimension (sympathy), Malu Dreyer (SPD, Rhineland-Palatinate) was viewed as being competent. Both candidates were assets to their parties and co-responsible for the results. In comparison, in Saxony-Anhalt, none of the candidates were as important to the outcomes of the electoral success

Consumer Preferences for Lab Grown Meat: The Effect of Information on Consumer Choice

Global population growth and increased meat demand present challenges for the agricultural industry to produce meat sustainably. In-vitro meat (IVM) is an alternative that could reduce negative impacts associated with livestock production. The goal of this study was to examine consumers’ preferences for IVM. A choice experiment was created with twelve choice tasks that varied across five attributes: production method (IVM or conventional), carbon trust label, organic label, animal welfare label, and price. 1,120 US consumers were randomly assigned to one of four information treatments, differing by information presented regarding IVM: 1) neutral (baseline), 2) positive, 3) negative, and 4) combined. To test our hypotheses, differences in mean willingness to pay between treatments were estimated using a combinatorial approach. Results show that consumers prefer traditionally produced ground beef over IVM. In order to select IVM, subjects required large discounts ranging from $1.17 to$1.84 per lb. Negative information framing appears to be a more powerful tool, resulting in the largest required discount. However, positive information significantly reduced the discount required. Food retailers should expect to offer steep discounts to attract customers; however, presenting positive information about the benefits of IVM can reduce the discount substantially

IT Outsourcing Relationship Quality Dimensions and Drivers: Empirical Evidence from the Financial Industry

This work contributes to outsourcing research by shedding some light on IT outsourcing relationships. A theoretical model is developed that shows the influence of determinants on relationship quality. Relationship quality is captured by a set of five dimensions from previous literature and enhanced by two new dimensions (communication quality, forbearance). Determinants from the literature are extended by two new elements (interaction structure, service quality). By using a case study approach from the German financial industry, we show the applicability of interaction structures and service quality as relationship quality determinants. Interaction structures like employee trainings or transfer of staff have a strong positive impact on communication quality and mutual business understanding, whereas service quality mainly influences the level of conflict in a relationship. The results regarding the two proposed relationship quality dimensions are mixed. Communication quality is a good measure for capturing relationship quality and shows strong connections to interaction intensity and interactions structures. The applicability of forbearance as a relationship quality dimension is ambiguous. Some banks see forbearance as dimension of relationship quality, while others use forbearance as a strategic element to force the provider into delivering additional or better services

WiFi Gate Guard: A Captive Portal Implementation for Home Networks

WiFi Gate Guard aims to improve the user experience for authentication on home wireless networks, by alleviating some of the hardships causes by passwords and by offering a platform on which further security enhancements could be built. It accomplishes this by using captive portal technology, making it extremely easy for guests to authenticate without needing to ask for a password. Home network administrators can approve or deny access using a simple iOS app. WiFi Gate Guard is built to run on basic home routers, with minimal other hardware requirements. Once it’s up and running, passwords never need to be used again