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Publication Assessing The Viability Of Investment: An In-Depth Analysis Of The Brazilian Renewable Energy Sector(2024-05-01) Figueroa, FatimaOver the past decade, the renewable energy landscape globally has undergone significant transformations. Driven by the need for energy security, national goals, and a push toward net-zero emissions by 2050, the sector has seen substantial shifts. Geopolitical conflicts, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, and rising tensions in the Middle East have intensified concerns about energy security in a world where energy demand continues to grow. This research seeks to identify the factors that have transformed the Brazilian renewable energy sector and to explore potential areas for future investment.Publication The Neurodegenerative Effects of Occupational Blasts On Military and Law Enforcement Personnel(2024-05-01) Lemus, RobertoThis paper gives a thorough analysis of current and past research on the neurodegenerative effects of blast overpressure on military and law enforcement personnel. Chronic neurodegenerative disease has historically been studied among sports such as football and boxing, leading to both pathological and symptomatological findings that have been used as diagnosis tools. The start of war in the Middle East led to a discovery in the same pathological and symptomatological discoveries in military settings. Blast overpressure waves are suspected to be the catalyst attributing to these findings, produced through occupational factors such as weapons. The research analyzed in this paper is used to give a concluding set of general guidelines for prevention practices that can be applied to military and law enforcement training settings. The use of brain proteins as a diagnostic tool for chronic neurodegenerative diseases like CTE is discussed.Publication Exploring the Use of Modern Supply Chain Techniques in Managing Natural Disaster Relief in the United States(2024-03-01) McLaughlin, LilyThis research looks at the intersection of two fields: modern supply chain logistics and technologies and natural disaster relief. This research aims to examine the application of blockchain and different technologies used in last-mile logistics in the relief of natural disasters. We conducted a robust literature review to understand modern supply chain technologies and advancements and current humanitarian organization operations, in addition to interviews and data collection to understand the feasibility of incorporation. Our findings recommend that individual humanitarian organizations could benefit from the adoption of blockchain and further uses of last-mile logistics to aid in the relief of natural disasters, but should be examined on a case-by-case basis. Through expert interviews, data collection, and a robust literature review, it was understood that the costs for adopting blockchain and different last mile logistics may outweigh the benefits, but it was found that there are numerous advantages to adopting the techniques. This study contributes to an essential field of research because natural disasters are becoming more frequent in the United States.Publication Media in the Machine Age: Analyzing Capital Market Dynamics through Natural Language Processing of Media Reports(2024-05-01) Byers, EdwardFirst and foremost, I extend my deepest gratitude to Professor David Erickson, my faculty advisor, whose insights and guidance were indispensable throughout this research. His expertise and patience not only shaped this work but also inspired me to explore my interests in the intersection of technology and finance with rigor and enthusiasm. I am also immensely grateful to Joseph Wharton Scholars Director, Utsav Schurman, and Professor Catherine Schrand for their invaluable support and educational leadership. Their dedication to fostering a learning environment that challenges and nurtures inquisitive minds has profoundly enriched my academic journey at Wharton. A special thanks to my family—Karen, Harrison, and Daisy. Your unwavering support and belief in my capabilities have been my anchor and motivation. Thank you for your endless love, encouragement, and the countless sacrifices you have made to see me succeed. This thesis could not have been accomplished without the contributions and support of the individuals mentioned above, along with many others in the Wharton community and beyond. Thank you all for your part in this journey.Publication Driving Change: An Analysis of Government Intervention in Brazil's Auto Industry(2024-05-01) Andrade, Carlos Philippe Luchesi de OliveiraThis thesis assesses the role of government intervention in Brazil’s automotive sector, focusing on its ability to foster industrial growth, innovation, and global prominence. The study examines historical context, economic impacts, and alignment of government policies with industry needs. The research advocates for a balanced policy approach that promotes innovation and domestic protection. It provides a rationale and strategic policy recommendations to enhance global competitiveness and export expansion by establishing a domestic auto company. Suggestions for future research include exploring the integration of emerging technologies.Publication Perceptions of Authorship of Artificial Intelligence-Generated Content(2024-05-01) Bertran, AlexanderAs generative artificial intelligence technologies advance, they increasingly challenge existing norms of content ownership. This thesis explores how AI-generated creative content intersects with copyright protocols, examining public perceptions to guide potential copyright policy adjustments. Utilizing corpuses of Reddit posts and US Copyright Office publications as proxies for public and official sentiments respectively, the study identifies four key attributes that should be considered when determining human authorship over AI-generated works. The research suggests that the US Copyright Office lacks adequate messaging regarding under which circumstances someone is legally recognized as the author of such content, and indicates that a clearer, more comprehensive policy framework could better align with public opinions of authorship over AI-generated creative content.Publication Crocodile Teeth: Dancehall Music and its Association with Crime(2024-04-01) Salmon, TahleaDancehall serves as the most popular music genre among youth in Jamaica. Despite dancehall’s popularity, the Jamaican government has enacted policies to censor dancehall songs that include violent content amidst high crime rates in Jamaica. This research explores the popularity of violent dancehall music and its relationship with homicide levels. The analysis of a sample of 1626 dancehall songs from 2013-2022 shows that there is a lack of evidence to support that violent dancehall is extremely popular with listeners, and a lack of evidence to support the claim that dancehall music is a driver of violence in Jamaican society. In conclusion, it is more important to view violence in Jamaica through a historical and economical lens rather than through a musical lens.Publication Why Disclose ARR?(2023-05-01) Bag, RitwikOver the last 25 years, two of the three major market sell-offs in the American stock market have followed large bull markets in the technology industry. Technology firms thrive on innovation, which has led to distinct operating models relative to firms in other industries. These operating models are not well covered by traditional valuation models, leading to the use of non-GAAP metrics in industry and a gap in academic literature. This paper aims to better understand ARR, a proxy for revenue commonly used in industry. To investigate when and why managers disclose ARR, this paper looks at ARR disclosure frequency based on the firm’s rank on various performance variables. Firms with low return on assets, accruals, and revenues were found to mention ARR more often in their annual reports, potentially indicating that managers strategically disclose when operational performance is poor. To investigate ARR’s use as a tool in valuation, this paper examines the relationships between current ARR, current revenue, and future revenue and finds that future revenue is best predicted by a combination of ARR and revenue.Publication Is the Stable Preference-Based Utility Maximization a Good Account of Rationality?(2023) Shirai, AyanaIt is commonplace for economists to use the model of utility maximization to describe consumer behaviors. It is a big part of economic modeling, included in most undergraduate economics courses. The model is constructed by making a certain set of assumptions about preferences, assigning ordinal utility to the preferences with such assumptions, and thereby modeling agents mathematically as maximizing utility. I call the constructed model a stable preference-based utility maximization. Economists often call the agents described under stable preference-based utility maximization rational because they take the assumptions about preferences to be assumptions of rationality. Calling the model, a model of rational agents, leads to implicit normative claims in economics about what a good society is. For example, it allows them to claim that the maximization of welfare, calculable using the individual utility maximization model, captures what is important to do as a society. In other words, by assuming that agents are rational, they could insist that we have reasons to support markets if they help rational agents. This makes economics at least partially normative, despite the claimed descriptive nature of the field.Publication The Inflation Reduction Act: Short-Term Market Effects for Renewable Energy(2023-04-01) Roces, EnriqueThe Inflation Reduction Act [IRA] is the largest climate legislation in US history. It includes billions of dollars in subsidies and incentives geared towards accelerating the energy transition in the United States and increasing domestic manufacturing of clean technology. This thesis conducts studies to gauge the impact of this monumental policy on US renewable energy investment markets, especially in the short-term time window designed around the dates when the IRA passed in US Congress. The results show that there are abnormally positive renewable energy stock returns and a significantly large proportion of clean energy M&A deals in the United States during the proposed time frames. These outcomes mean to show the impact of large-scale government subsidy policies on the financial markets of the industry it targets, as well as on the corporate decision-making that the legislation incentivizes. The thesis concludes that policies should heavily consider financial markets in order to achieve longer-lasting impact.