The three essays cover the economic, political and institutional aspects of the impact drug smuggling activities have had on the Colombian economy. In the first essay, I examine drug smuggling activities as factors of institutional change forcing Colombia to adopt an export-led growth model of...

This dissertation explores the role of efficiency of redistributive institutions (ERI)on redistribution. The first substantive essay proposes a theoretical model to explain thelack of strong empirical evidence in favor of a positive relationship between incomeinequality and redistribution. This...

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 60-01, Section: A, page: 0177.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-04, Section: A, page: 1425.

Using the dynamic social world of tournament bass fishing as a backdrop, this research combined qualitative and quantitative research methods in a grounded theory approach for the study of commodification, serious leisure and the relationship between these two important social phenomena....

Many products consumed on college campuses such as coffee and chocolate come from developing countries where producers are often paid insufficiently and exploited. Fair Trade certification of products guarantees producers a fair price and other social benefits. The objective of my CE/T project...