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- Title
- THE SYNERGIES BETWEEN TOURISM EXPANSION AND DEVELOPMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH, POVERTY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN ECUADOR.
- Creator
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Rivera, Manuel, Croes, Robertico, Hara, Tadayuki, Pizam, Abraham, Robinson, Edward, Maunez-Cuadra, Jose, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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ABSTRACTThis dissertation attempts to answer the question of what has been the effect of tourism expansion and development in Ecuador. We attempt to analyze, both theoretically and empirically, the relationship between tourism and development. There have been an enormous number of studies explaining how tourism can affect the various dimensions of development. However, no research has been undertaken to simultaneously empirically examine the impact that changes in tourism expansion has on...
Show moreABSTRACTThis dissertation attempts to answer the question of what has been the effect of tourism expansion and development in Ecuador. We attempt to analyze, both theoretically and empirically, the relationship between tourism and development. There have been an enormous number of studies explaining how tourism can affect the various dimensions of development. However, no research has been undertaken to simultaneously empirically examine the impact that changes in tourism expansion has on poverty, human development, and economic growth.To this end, we propose a cointergation methodology with an error correction model to estimate the impact of tourism expansion on poverty, human development, and economic growth. This study employs time series data from 1988 to 2008 as well as a Granger causality test to examine the hypothesized relationships. The five most important results are, first, that tourism seems to have distinguishable effects on reducing poverty. In the case of Ecuador, a tourism poverty nexus exists and it helps fight poverty in terms of intensity, inequality, and the proportion of poor. Secondly, economic growth is Ecuador is (")pro-poor("). Increases in economic growth have both short and long term effects on poverty reduction. Thirdly, tourism does not yet promotes human development but the other way around. Therefore a virtuous cycle between tourism and human development does not exist yet. Therefore, opportunities exist to further promote tourism in an attempt to support human development programs. Fourthly, economic growth promotes human development but human development does not yet promotes growth. These results suggest that Ecuador is in HD lopsided situation when it comes to economic growth and human development. Finally, the relationship between tourism and economic growth is bi-directional; the expansion of either sector promotes the growth of the other.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFE0004161, ucf:49052
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004161
- Title
- Conditions Associated with Increased Risk of Fraud: A Model for Publicly Traded Restaurant Companies.
- Creator
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Yost, Elizabeth, Croes, Robertico, Severt, Denver, Robinson, Edward, Murphy, Kevin, Semrad, Kelly, Jackson, Leonard, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The central focus of this dissertation study is to understand the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the factors that contribute to increased risk of fraud in order to determine why fraud may occur despite the imposed regulation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The main premise of the study tests the application of the fraud triangle framework constructs to publicly traded restaurant companies during the time period of 2002-2014, using proxy variables defined through literature. Essentially, the...
Show moreThe central focus of this dissertation study is to understand the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the factors that contribute to increased risk of fraud in order to determine why fraud may occur despite the imposed regulation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The main premise of the study tests the application of the fraud triangle framework constructs to publicly traded restaurant companies during the time period of 2002-2014, using proxy variables defined through literature. Essentially, the study seeks to identify the factors that may provide the optimal criteria to engage in fraudulent or opportunistic behavior. The fraud triangle theoretical framework is comprised of the constructs of pressure, opportunity and rationalization, and has mostly been utilized by external auditors to assess the fraud risk of various companies. It has never been applied to the restaurant industry, and the proxy variables selected have never before been tested in a comprehensive model. Thus, a major contribution of this study may enable executive managers to assess the fraud triangle conditions according to the model in order to afford conclusions regarding increased risk of fraud. The study first hypothesized that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has had a significant impact on detecting increased risk of fraud for publicly traded restaurant companies. Additionally, the study controlled for and tested the proxy variables of the fraud triangle constructs to determine if any of the variables had a significant impact on detecting increased risk of fraud for publicly traded restaurant companies. The variables tested included company size, debt, employee turnover, organizational structure, international sales growth, executive stock compensation, return on assets, the Recession, and macro-economic factors of interest, inflation, and unemployment rates. The research study adopted an exploratory research design using the case of publicly traded United States restaurant companies in order to provide a better understanding of the characteristics that may contribute to increased fraud risk. The study assumed a binary distribution of the dependent variable, increased fraud risk, measured by the incidence of a reported internal control deficiency over the testable time period. Specifically, the study employed a probit model to estimate the probability that an entity or company will be at an increased risk of fraud based on the independent variables that support and are linked to the fraud triangle framework. Additionally, the model assumes equal weight to the variables of the fraud triangle framework. Through use of the probit model, the major findings of the study were as follows: First, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act does have a significant impact on highlighting areas of increased fraud risk for publicly traded restaurant companies. Second, for the total population of restaurant companies, only the Recession, interest rates, inflation rates and unemployment rates are significant indicators of increased fraud risk. None of the internal variables were significant. However, once the data was segmented by type of restaurant, the results revealed significance of both internal and external variables. These results imply a couple of theoretical notions: first, that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is an effective means for detecting risk of fraud for publicly traded restaurant companies when considering variables that support the fraud triangle; second, that the fraud triangle is contextual when applied to the restaurant industry because only the variables that are outside of managements control were significant. Finally, from a managerial perspective, the study provides evidence that macro-economic conditions that might affect consumer demand may increase the risk of fraud for publicly traded restaurant companies.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005745, ucf:50101
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005745
- Title
- The Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training and 28 days of [Beta]-Hydroxy-[Beta]-Methybutyrate Supplementation on Measures of Aerobic Power and Metabolic Thresholds.
- Creator
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Robinson, Edward, Stout, Jeffrey, Hoffman, Jay, Fragala, Maren, Fukuda, David, Ferguson, Matthew, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Purpose: To examine the effects of 28 days of ?-hydroxy-?-methylbutyrate free acid (HMB) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on maximal oxygen consumption (VO2peak), ventilatory threshold (VT), respiratory compensation point (RCP) and time to exhaustion (Tmax) in college-aged men and women. Methods: Healthy men and women (n=34, age and V ?O2peak= 22.7+3.1yr and 39.3+5.0 mL.kg-1.min-1, respectively) participated in this study. All participants completed a series of tests prior and...
Show morePurpose: To examine the effects of 28 days of ?-hydroxy-?-methylbutyrate free acid (HMB) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on maximal oxygen consumption (VO2peak), ventilatory threshold (VT), respiratory compensation point (RCP) and time to exhaustion (Tmax) in college-aged men and women. Methods: Healthy men and women (n=34, age and V ?O2peak= 22.7+3.1yr and 39.3+5.0 mL.kg-1.min-1, respectively) participated in this study. All participants completed a series of tests prior and subsequent to treatment. A maximal oxygen consumption test was performed on a cycle ergometer to assess VO2peak, Tmax, VT, and RCP. The peak power output (Ppeak), power at VT (PVT) and power at RCP (PRCP) were also recorded from this test. Twenty-six subjects completed 12 HIIT (80-120% maximal workload) exercise sessions consisting of 5-6 bouts of a 2:1 minute cycling work to rest ratio protocol over a four-week period, while eight served as controls (CTL). In double-blind fashion, the HIIT groups were assigned into either a placebo (HIIT) or 3g per day of HMB (HMB-HIIT). Body composition was measured with dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Outcomes were assessed by ANCOVA with posttest means adjusted for pretest differences. Results: The HMB-HIIT intervention showed significant (p(<)0.05) gains in VO2peak, VT, and PVT versus the CTL and HIIT group. Both HIIT and HMB-HIIT treatment groups demonstrated significant (p(<)0.05) improvement over CTL for Ppeak, Tmax, RCP, and PRCP with no significant difference between the treatment groups. There were no significant differences observed for any measures of body composition. An independent-samples t-test confirmed that there were no significant differences between the training volumes for the HIIT and HMB-HIIT groups. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the addition of HMB supplementation may result in greater changes in VO2peak and VT than HIIT alone. Therefore, in college-aged men and women, the use of HMB supplementation may enhance the benefits of HIIT on aerobic performance measures.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005240, ucf:50604
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005240
