Academics : Sample Theses

Completing a thesis is the capstone experience of the QMSS program. Students take this opportunity to apply the tools and methodologies developed through their coursework to questions of particular interest to them. The list of theses below demonstrates the broad array of substantive subject areas to which our graduates have applied their expertise.

The list is organized by the year in which it was completed, and by the departmental affiliation of the faculty member who advised the thesis if it was not advised solely by the QMSS program director. Though our program director has progressively advised more students we always encourage students to find additional advisors in our affiliate departments.

Business School

Empirical Analysis of Value Investing Strategy in Times of Subprime Mortgage Crisis 2007-08 (2009)
Can Borrower Characteristics Explain US Sub-Prime Mortgage Closure Rates? (2009)
The Association Between Corporate Responsibility and Financial Performance (2008)
Two Engines of Monetary Policy: The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank: Different Approaches. Different Results? (2008)
Searching for the "Sweet Spot": The Optimal Mix of Executive Compensation to Maximize Firm Performance (2005)
Empirical Appraisal of Capital Asset Pricing (2005)
Differentials in Firm-Level Productivity and Corporate Governance: Evidence from Japanese Firm Data in 1998-2001 (2004) PDF
Underpricing of Convertible Bonds in Asia (2004)
Where's the Brand Equity: Further Investigations Into the Role of Brand Equity in Experiential, Luxury, and Other Products (2003)
An Account of Worth Through Corporate Communication (2002)
Analysis of the Performance of Initial Public Offerings (2001)

Economics

Why has the Savings Rate Declined? Searching for Macroeconomic Explanations (2009)
Is Microlending Sustainable? Discerning the Relationship Between Microfinancial Participation, Measures of Acute Morbidity and Expectations of the Characteristics of Village Organizations (2009)
Application of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory to Consumers' Choices About Environmentally Responsible Decisions (2009)
Trade Openness and Poverty Reduction-What is the Evidence? (2009)
Regulation and Economic Growth (2009)
The United States Army Recruiting and the Impact of Changing Economic Conditions (2009)
The Social Consequences of Debt: Debt Accumulation and Retirement Decisions (2009)
Crude Oil Prices: Mean Reversion in the Spot? Futures Know the Future? (2008)
Evaluating the Impact of Supply-side Factors on Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: The Case of Nicaragua (2008)
The Effect of Momentum Stock Negative Earnings Surprises on the US Treasury Market (2008)
Females: Less likely to be Entrepreneurs? A Multi-level Analysis of the Effect of Gender on Entrepreneurial Activity (2008)
On Redistributive Effects of Monetary Shocks: Considerations for Developing Countries (2008)
Banking the Mexican Immigrant Population: Analysis of Profiling Variables (2008)
Currency Denomination in International Trade: Optimal Invoicing Strategy (2007)
Applying Bayes' Theorem to Predict Forcasts (2006)
Cluster Patterns of Age and Racial/Ethnic Groups Within Privately Developed Section 8 HUD Rent Subsidy Properties in New York City (2004)
The Impact of Decimalization on Market Volatility and Liquidity (2004)
Strategic Delegation With Unobservable Incentive Contracts/An Experiment (2002)
An Updated Look at the Static Effects of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (2001)
Exchange Rate Market Pressure and The Quality of Governance (2001)

Mailman School of Public Health

Junk Food and BMI? A Look at Schools Banning Candy, Snacks and Soft Drinks and their Effect on Fifth Graders' BMI (2009)
Delivering Maternal Health: An Examination of Maternal Mortality on a National Scale (2008)
Is Tourism Allowing Entrepreneurs to have a Higher Likelihood of Evading Poverty in St. Lucia? (2008)
Public Health and the Conrad Visa Waiver Program (2007)
Alzheimer's Disease, Migration, and Social Environment: A Study of Caribbean Hispanics (2005)
Obese Adults in New York City (2005)
The Influence of Physician Attributes on Cesarean Likelihood (2004)
A Summative Evaluation of a Disease Management Program (2004)
Healthy Life Choices Project: Efficacy of Nutritional Intervention with Normal Foods and Cognitive/Behavioral Skill Building on HIV/AIDS Associated Diarrhea and Quality of Life (2002)

Political Science

A Quantitative Study on the Nature of Roll-off Voting and the Attributes of Roll-off Voters (2008)
Hispanic Voting Behavior in the 2006 Congressional Elections (2008)
An Area Sampling Design for Telephone Surveys (2007)
Attitudes and Ambivalence toward Presidential Candidates: An Asymmetric Nonlinear Approach (2006)
Public Opinion on the Environment: The Role of Perceived Efficacy, Environmental Concern, and Self-Interest in Environmentally Responsible Consumer Behavior (2005) PDF
The Influence of Civic Morality on the Size of the Shadow Economy: A Cross-Country Analysis (2005)
Population Demographics, Institutional Factors and Educational Spending: The INfluence of the proportion of elderly voters on public per pupil spending on education (2005)
Computer Simulation of the Electoral College (2004)
Corruption, the Composition of Capital Flows and Policy Implications (2004)
Public Confidence in Education: Why Should We Care? (2004)
Stadium Subsidies and the Referendum Effect (2004)
Employee Attitudes Toward Work and Employers in South Korea (2003)
Is Color Another C of Credit? Analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data in NYC (2003)
The Impact of Graduate Level Education on the Wage Gap (2003)
State Lottery Adoptions: Examining the Contemporary Politics of Lottery Adoptions in United States (2002)
The Capital Asset Pricing Model: A Quantitative Assessment and Empirical Analysis of the Model During Times of High Market Volatility (1997-2002) (2002)
The Impact of Turkish Foreign Trade on Exports Between 1980-1990 (2002)
Comparing Data From Telephone and Online Surveys: Are Responses Different? (2001)
Population, Diversity and Voter Turout (2001)
Representation, Ethnic Diversity and Civic Participation: A Look at the 1992 and 1996 Elections (2001)
Who Cares About Protecting the Environment? (2001)

Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences

The Impact of Changing Economic Conditions on United States Army Recruiting Trends (2009) PDF
Experimental Test of the Accuracy of Proxy Reports with External Validation (2009) PDF
Income Diversification:Determinants and Welfare Effects in Rural and Urban Ghana (2008)
Does Non-Resident Father's Financial Contribution Matter for the Well-being of His Children? An Instrumental Variable Estimation (2008)
A Comparison of Higher Education between the U.S. and the EU: Through Trend Analysis for Universalization, Commercialization and Privitization (2008)
Another Look at the Fall (and Rise) of Stolen Bases in Major League Baseball, 1982-2007 (2008)
Assessing the Cost of Providing Care to Orphans and Volunerable Children (OVC) by Home Based Care (HBC) Programs in South Africa (2008) PDF
Entrepreneurship versus MicroFranchising: A Baseline Study of Small Business Owners and Fanmilk (2008) PDF
Measuring and Explaining "Good" Management: A First Step Toward Improved Performance (2008) PDF
Social Capital in South Africa: Can Social Networks Help Fight HIV/AIDS? (2008)
Stock Market Returns Predictibility? Does Volatility Really Matter? (2008) PDF
The Financial Implications of Post-Acquisition Brand Strategy (2008)
Anatomy of Corruption: A Quantitative Analysis of 298 Firms in Lebanon (2007)
A Rational Choice Perspective on Genocides: Fearon and Laitin's Model of Insurgency and Implications for Genocide Studies (2007)
Children's Habitual Disposition: A Comparison of Career Mother Families Vs. Non-Career Mother Families (2007)
Consumer Confidence and Electoral Results (2007)
Currency Denomination in Internation Trade: Optimal Invoicing Strategy (2007)
Do Changes in the Federal Funds Rate Impact the Variation in the Prime Lending Rate? (2007)
Education and the Gender Gap in the Chilean Labor Force (2007)
Factor Analysis of Increasing NEET: Effects on Choice of Employment-UnEmployment (2007)
Homogeneity in Political Discussion Networks and Its Factors (2007) PDF
Impact of the radio exposure on the family planning programs in Uganda (2007)
Institutions and Ephemera in Urban Reform: The Municipal Expenditure Effects of Council-Manager Government (2007) PDF
International Reserves: Have the Motives in Stockpiling in China Changed? An Econometric Approach (2007)
Measuring Public Policy by Treatment Dummy Variables: Gun-Control and "Shall Issue" by TDV on the aggregatve National Data . . . (2007)
Mostly Working with Giraffes: The Importance of Peers and Role Models for Adolescent Girls (2007) PDF
Multiple Perspectives to Analyzing the Prevalence of ADHD (2007) PDF
On Stage: how Organizational and Cultural Forces Shaped American Musical Theatre (2007)
Party Effects on the Distribution of Federal Outlays in the 102nd and 105th Congress: A Regression Discontinuity Approach (2007)
Proposing the Sino-African Trade Initiative and Other Ways to Improve Trade
Public Purchases of Essential Drugs An observational case study (2007)
Sociodemographic Status, Somatic Complaints, and Economic Expectations (2007) PDF
Spatial Models for Predicting Deforestation in Costa Rica with implications of genralizability (2007)
The Effects of Migration on Household Poverty: A Disaggregated Migrant Network Approach (2007) PDF
The Factors to Decide the Winner in the Computer Game Market (2007)
Will a Nation Be Happier With a More Even Income Distribution?
(2007) PDF
Adam and Eve: A Non-Random Walk up Corporate Lane (2006)
An Analysis of Parental Predictors in Determining the Academic Achievement of and Engagement in Problem Behavior by a Child Using the Philadelphia Educational Study (2006)
An Exploration of the Predictors of Relationship Status with a Caveat on Interpretation (2006)
Attractiveness of Popular Muslim First Names after September 2001: Analysis of a Short Interrupted Time Series Quasi-Experimental Design (2006)
Charter School Innovation: Fact or Fiction? (2006)
Differences in Fresh v. Processed Fruit and Vegetable Intake and CVD Risk Factors: A Cross-Sectional Analysis from the NHANES 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 Surveys (2006)
Does Immigration Lead to Increases in Crime, or is it One Big Illusion? (2006)
Homosexual Behavior in the United States, 1988-2004: Empirical Support for the Social Construction Theory of Sexuality (2006) PDF
Is Love Blind? An Examination of Accuracy and Bias in Romantic Relationships (2006)
Kicking around Behavioral Finance and the Efficient Market Hypothesis: An Event Study of Professional European Soccer Clubs (2006)
Psychotropic Drug Prevalence Among Children and Adolescents in Iceland (2006)
Residential Segregation in Southern California: Is the Real Estate Boom to Blame? (2006)
The Impact of Family Structure on Children's Access to Health Care: An Exploratory Analysis (2006)
Trends in Intermarriage Among Armenian-Americans in New York City and Northern New Jersey (2006)
Can Ethical Behavior Be Regulated? Sarbanes-Oxley's Effects on Social Welfare and Company Performance (2005)
Differences in Mechanisms Influencing African-American and Non-Hispaic White Suicide (2005)
Effect of Gentrification on the Residents of Public Housing (2005)
Exchange Rate Regimes and Inflation Performance: Evidence from Latin America (2005)
Re-examining Asian Americans as a "Model Minority" (2005)
Temperament Among Offspring at High and Low Risk for Depression (2005)
The Intergenerational Effects of Non-Traditional Pathways to the High School Diploma (2005)
The Intergenerational Transmission of Social Inequality Through Education: An Exploratory Study (2005)
The Obesity Lifestyle: The Association of Obesity with Television Viewing and Physical Activity (2005)
What Are the Factors Which Decrease the Number of Children Women Have in Their Lifetime? (2005)
Academic Rankings: A Trivial Contest? (2004) PDF
Are Middle Schools Harmful for Adolescents? An Evidence-Based Study (2004)
Capital Budgeting in the Mexican Oil Industry: A Risk Management Approach (2004)
Seniors in Japan: Their Lives and Happiness (2004)
The Effects of Teenage Parenthood and Experience with the Criminal Justice System on the Transition to Adulthood (2004)
Analysis of Columbia University's Coursework Implementation (2003)
Psychological Control and Preschoolers' Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviors in China (2003)
Standardized Testing and Accountability in United States Public Schools (2003)
The Effect of After School Program on the Prevention of Problem Behavior: An Analysis of Maryland After School Programs (2003)

School of International and Public Affairs

Civilizations and Social Tolerance; A Multi-Level Analysis of 58 Countries (2008)
Gaining Perspective: A High-Level Econometric Model to Gauge the Valuation of the S&P 500 Index (2008)
Non-Linear Estimation of the Impacts of Climate Change: The Case of Corn and Soybean Crop Yields in Brazil (2008)
How Does the 1965 Immigration Act Matter? (2006)
7200 Revolutions per Minute: An Economic Analysis of the Struggle between the
Recording Industry and Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Networks (2005) PDF
A Study on Mortgage-Backed Securities - Focusing on the Present State of Korean MBS Market (2004)
Choosing from the Menu: Allocation Behavior in Investment Funds (2004)
Income-Based Measures of Poverty Compared to Indicator-Based Measures: Who Gets Excluded? (2003)
Arsenic Contamination of Drinking Water in Bangladesh from Socio-Economic Perspective (2002)

Sociology

Performance Surveys, Citizen Respondants, and Satisfaction of Public Services: An Analysis of NYC Feedback Citywide Customer Survey (2009)
Analysis of Job Retention Programs of the Center for Employment Opportunities of the Formerly Incarcerated (2009)
Contextual Variations in Individual AttitudesToward Same-Sex Marriage: An Exploratory Analysis (2009)
The Intergenerational Transfer of Human Capital: The Role of Grandparents' Education in Grandchildren's Cognitive Abilities (2009)
The Relationship Between Social Factors and Attitudes Towards Premarital Sex: A Statistical Analysis (2008)
Rejection Sensitivity and the Contagious Effect of Mood Regulation in Romantic Couples (2008) part 2
Women and the Homeostasis of the Inmate Population (2008)
An Examination of the Relationship between Government Funding Allocation and Services Provided by Nonprofit Organizations in Brooklyn and the Bronx, 1997-2000 (2007) PDF
The Effect of Housing Program on the Economic Outcomes: Utilizing Observation Study Results from Minnesota Family Investment Program (2005)
The Influences of Physician Attributes on Cesarean Likelihood (2004)
An Account of Worth Through Corporate Communication
An Experimental Study of the Small World Problem (2002)
The Relationship Between Welfare Participation and Social Support (2002)
Sound and Silence: A Structural Analysis of Conversation Topics
A Reexamination of the Police and Crime Relationship: The New Role Community Policing Plays in Crime Prevention (2001)
Female Representation at the Top of the Corporate Ladder in New York State (2001)
The Role of Race in Education: An Analysis of Children in Brazil (2001)
A Reexamination of the Police and Crime Relationship: The New Role Community Policing Plays in Crime Prevention (2001)

Statistics

Homogeneity in Political Discussion Networks and its Factors (2007)
Why Shift Policy? (2006)
Point Detection for Poisson Disorder - Application in Earthquake Occurrence in Northern California, 1910 - 1999 (2004)
Stock Volatility and Economic Activity: A Causal Analysis (2004)
Strategic Information Transmission in Lobbying (2003)
Economic Theory and Happiness in Mexico: An Extension (2001)
Sales Forecasting Methods: A Consumer Products Company's Perspective (2001)
Soccer Teams Need to Win at Home: The Fans That Increase Those Chances (2001)

Teachers College

Exploring the Relationship Between Video Games and Academic Achievement via Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Analyses (2009)
Racial Disparities in Collegiate Cognitive Gains: A Multi-Level Analysis of Institutional Influences on Learning and its Equitable Distribution (2009)
Hoping for Higher Ed: The Differential Effects of Parental Expectations of Education Attainment (2009)
The Impact of Family Communication on Risk Behavior Among Boston Public High School Students (2009)
Path Towards an Attainable Future: The Effect of College Access Programs on High School Dropout (2009)
Traditional vs. Non-Traditional College Students and Future Job Satisfaction: A Statistical Approach (2008)
A Multi-Level Analysis of Student Assignment to Out-of-Field and Uncertified High School Math Teachers: Implications for Educational Equity and Access (2008) PDF
The Impact of Obesity on Education (2005)
The Gender Gap in Standardized Math Tests: Do the Gender Gaps in Math Self-Concept and Other Affective Variables Contribute to the Gender Gap in Scores? (2004)
An Alternative Approach to Selection Bias in School Choice: Using Propensity Score Matching to Examine School Sector and Teacher Quality Impact on Educational Outcomes (2003)

Academics : Sample Theses

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