Arts (Faculty of)

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 1862

1,2,3,4
(University of Waterloo, 2018-05-22) Martens, Tess
My thesis exhibition, 1,2,3,4, consists of four performances: Announce It!, A Second Hand Emotion, Slow Change and Portrait-Self-Portrait. The performances will take place on scheduled days at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery throughout the duration of the exhibition. 1,2,3,4, is also a multidisciplinary project, as each performance produces leftovers that will remain installed in the gallery. In addition, the title, 1,2,3,4, references the counting and chanting used in various sporting practice sessions. The installation evolved through the use of remnants of the props, materials and detritus from each performance. The act of preserving the leftovers of each performance serves as both a reminder of each action, as well as a form of documentation. I invite the audience to become witness to, and in some cases also actively participate in my performances. I ask audience members to be a witness to a juxtaposition of empowerment and vulnerabilities within the framework of how I use my body as a tool to produce works. I think of my performances as empowering, comedic, and, at times even tragic. Although these acts are intensely personal, they are open enough to allow witnesses to bring their own experiences to the performances.
1b, black legs, 52"
(University of Waterloo, 2021-04-30) Mitchell, Karice
1b, black legs, 52” is an effort to reconcile with history. Through the recontextualization of black pornographic images, this exhibition serves as a re-imagining of what black women’s futures could be. By creating images that are hyper visible in presentation, yet ambiguous in their representation, these works seek to foster images of the black female body that demand to be seen and understood removed from the historical construction of blackness that has been upheld and perpetuated through white supremacy. Giving the black female body a new meaning, we can begin to cultivate new possibilities for it to be understood differently, and for it to exist in its multiplicity. This show creates space for black women and their sexuality to be unapologetically represented, while also allowing ourselves the grace to acknowledge the historical legacy of racism in an effort to subvert it––ultimately, striving towards reclaiming our agency.
The 2006 Russia-Ukraine Natural Gas Dispute: A mechanisms based approach
(University of Waterloo, 2009-08-26T18:57:05Z) Daley, Stephen
This thesis addresses the factors which lead the Russian government to increase natural gas prices for Ukraine in 2006. Through the use of methodological individualism, an explanation which links system, state, and individual levels of analysis is constructed. The system level variables concerned include global energy prices and the increasing importance of Turkmen natural gas to Russia and other regional gas consumers. State level variables, include changes in Russia’s patrimonial society (changing source of rents, increased authoritarianism); and increasing state control over Russia’s natural gas industry. Changes in these conditioning factors influence individuals’ beliefs about their preferred source of rents, and the nature of their rent seeking and distributing. The resulting actions bring about variations in Russia’s natural gas price for Ukraine. This framework is tested over three time periods (1995-1999, 2000-2004, 2004-2008) selected based on the nature of the conditioning variables over those years. Evidence from these case studies suggests that the above mentioned factors played a large role in the Russian government’s decision. Further, it is concluded that methodological individualism offers a way to bring together system, state, and individual levels of analysis when explaining this event, and perhaps other events in international politics.
4150 Cousins: What 7 DNA Ancestry Tests Can Tell You About Your Kin
(University of Waterloo, 2016-01-12) Nadeau, Danielle
This thesis presents the results of seven commercialized DNA ancestry tests that are all available to the public, for under $400 Canadian dollars each. This research is conducted to explore the use of commercialized DNA ancestry tests. The results from each test are compared in order to determine what they are able to tell a customer. The tests used are not the only tests available, but are chosen because of their popularity, price, and what they claim to be able to report to their customer. I find the databases that the tests include online to ‘find relatives’, who are other customers having the same Haplogroup or another matching genetic identifier, to be the most troublesome aspect of the results. Specifically, it is important for the public to clearly understand that these tests are not as conclusive as they are advertised to be, so that they are not misled in thinking that the tests have the potential to show things with certainty that they cannot.
9 Sum Sorcery
(University of Waterloo, 2017-04-25) Hildreth, Alexis
9 Sum Sorcery is a multimedia exhibition comprised of video and sculpture. Nine screens depict 'The Player' performing with an assortment of augmented found materials within the framework of a board game. The Player continually re-organizes the components of the game-space (a social, political, psychological, and spiritual body) in an attempt to come to terms with their place in it. In addition to appearing in the videos, the game's components are present physically in the gallery, enclosed in a vitrine. Each video offers a first-person perspective of The Player in various states of communion with the game system. This system complicates itself through The Player's desire to simultaneously project narrative onto, and remove narrative from, the components of the game. 9 Sum Sorcery encourages engagement in a spiritual ordeal, where the potential for transformative power can become an ossifying psychosis in the absence of The Player's and the visitors' capacity to de-code and re-code meaning.
A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Should Canada Allow Mental Illness as the Sole Underlying Medical Condition for Accessing Medical Assistance in Dying?
(University of Waterloo, 2024-09-10) Rossi, Michael
Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) regime was set to expand its eligibility criteria on March 17, 2024, to allow mental illness as an acceptable sole underlying condition (MAID MI-SUMC) until Bill C-62 rapidly received Royal Assent in late February 2024, delaying this expansion until March 17, 2027. Those who oppose allowing mental illness as a sole condition for MAID often cite fears of what would happen in Canada should MAID MI-SUMC become legal. However, proponents counter these claims with relevant facts, statistics, and information to demonstrate that MAID MI-SUMC can be effectively incorporated in Canada. This study uses evidence from countries with MAID but that do not allow MI-SUMC (Australia, New Zealand, and the United States), and countries with MAID MI-SUMC (the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg) to examine why these countries oppose and allow this legislation, respectively. Using this evidence, this Thesis then focuses on the Canadian context to address the concerns of opponents on why they are adamant that MAID MI-SUMC should not become an acceptable part of Canada’s MAID regime. Incorporating studies conducted by proponents and evidence from permissive jurisdictions helps to find that opponents’ fears are unsubstantiated. Using a rights-based approach, this Thesis observes that the rights of individuals who solely suffer from a mental illness and wish to access MAID are infringed upon, resulting in a call for legislative changes to occur.
A network-based study of ideological conflict in public policy and global governance
(University of Waterloo, 2024-09-25) Piereder, Jinelle
Humanity's ability to deal with its vast array of challenges depends on its capacity to understand how ideologies and worldviews inform and interact with decision-making processes. Once relegated to dusty library shelves, and declared “dead” at least twice, ideology seems to be more relevant to global politics then ever. Ideology plays a crucial role in how societies understand, frame, and attempt to solve collective problems; but when viewed as just a unidimensional phenomenon comprised of a few “big isms,” much of ideology’s causal influence/impact gets obscured. Further, existing scholarship tends to study ideology as primarily an individual-level or society-level phenomenon, setting aside questions about social context in the first instance and questions about the inner workings of the mind in the second instance. This paper-based dissertation contributes to the existing scholarship on ideology by (1) synthesizing over a decade’s worth of efforts to map the multidisciplinary field of ideology studies, and (2) by developing a novel framework—grounded in a complexity ontology—to analyze the interconnections between ideologies, discourses, and social networks. Together, the three articles in this dissertation deepen our understanding of how ideologies shape and are shaped by the social and discourse networks in which they are embedded. By studying the role of these interacting elements in multiple governance contexts, the dissertation further shows how and why ideology matters across policymaking scales and spheres of influence. The main goal of Article #1 is to provide a comprehensive look at the many different ways that ideology is conceptualized, understood, and studied. Building on several major mapping efforts, this chapter synthesizes the field of ideology studies using an Ideology Research Matrix comprised of three dimensions: the methodological approaches used, the underlying ontological commitments of scholars, and the typical research goals and designs that accompany those methods and commitments. After engaging systematically with the literature via the Matrix, the paper discusses the problems with current approaches to ideology, especially around the particularly difficult challenge of studying ideological change. The paper calls for a more integrated approach and makes the case for a complex reflexive systems approach to conceptualizing and studying ideology. It fleshes out the details and benefits of a complexity ontology in this context, particularly around linking causation and social context through identifying feedback loops across social and discursive scales. Grounded in this much-needed complex systems shift, this article presents a new conceptual framework of trans-scalar ideological networks—and a proposed methodology that uses networks as both metaphor and modelling tool—that integrates the perspectives of existing ideology scholarship and moves forward our understanding of ideological change. In Article #2, my co-authors and I operationalize the framework developed in Article #1 using a case study of energy transition discourse in Canadian Parliamentary proceedings. Skepticism about Canada's ability to meet its Paris Agreement targets, anxieties over economic and energy security, and major concerns about the impact of an energy transition on key vulnerable or marginalized communities have all led to a wide range of ideologically charged priorities for addressing the climate crisis and distributing the costs/benefits of energy transition. This chapter presents the first operationalization of the trans-scalar ideological networks framework, focusing on the energy transition discourse. The article first examines existing literature related to ideology and climate change, identifying gaps where it can contribute. It then argues that tracing "how and why ideological discourses have the influence they do" is both more difficult and more important in non-polarized contexts, as ideological conflict and influence are still at play in more subtle ways that are not well-captured by existing methods. As the ideological differences between groups advancing different goals, priorities, and policies become less pronounced (e.g., between climate change "believers" and "deniers"), the task of tracing or measuring "how and why ideological discourses have the influence they do" becomes more nuanced and difficult, but just as important. Using my framework, the chapter demonstrates a multi-directional approach to studying ideology: first outside-in (using Discourse Network Analysis), then inside-out (using Cognitive-Affective Mapping). The chapter identifies several emergent ideological “camps” and dives deeper into “representative actors” from each camp and examines their ideologies from the inside-out, using CAM. Overall, the paper supports my claim that ideological heterogeneity—just as much as ideological polarization—matters for how ideology influences decision-making. Article #3 examines a second case study, civil society advocacy efforts leading to the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The chapter operationalizes the trans-scalar ideological networks framework to study the ATT, making the case that multi-scale approaches are especially useful in studying these complex international advocacy spaces where ideology helps shape governance outcomes. In the more narrative-based section, the chapter describes the post-Cold War background of arms control advocacy, as well as the key actors and events that led to the ATT being proposed and eventually passed. It demonstrates and explores the ideologies of four key organizations using CAM and compares insights across the four CAMs generated. It also maps the broader issue network using social network analysis (the outside-in approach) and analyzes how the CAM insights inform/explain some aspects of the network structure. Compared to Article #2, this article offers another way to operationalize the trans-scalar ideological networks framework, showing that the framework is well-suited to more "established" cases in addition to more "active" ones (like the energy transition discourse case). Finally, the chapter argues that new developments in ideology studies—including my trans-scalar ideological networks framework—can help address many of the challenges that other ideationally-focused sub-disciplines face, especially around the supposed "belief vs. strategy" dichotomy.
A. Schopenhauer and F. Dostoevsky: Some Philosophical and Literary Parallels
(University of Waterloo, 2016-09-29) Minin, Oleg
This thesis juxtaposes the philosophical theories of Arthur Schopenhauer with themes and characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's major fictional works of the middle post-Siberian period (1863-1871). Of particular interest is the theme of will, which is prominent in both Schopenhauer's philosophy and Dostoevsky's fiction. The theme of will is discussed firstly, with relation to the notions of will as a thing-in-itself and with relation to the notion of will-to-live. Particular attention is rendered as to how Schopenhauer explains the relationship between will and reason. Then, a portrayal of this relationship, which is similar to Schopenhauer's, is _inferred from an examination of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground. The philosophical argument expressed by the Underground Man, is viewed in the context of the socio-literary debate with Chemyshevsky and in the context of Schopenhauer's explanation of the will-reason relationship. As well, the Schopenhauerian notion of the will-to-live is applied to the analysis of some of the main characters of Dostoevsky's fiction, such as Raskolnikov, Svidrigailov, Ippolit and Stavrogin. Chapter I of this thesis, is devoted to exploration in the area of literary history. The purpose of this is to establish the hypothesis that Dostoevsky was acquainted with the philosophy of Schopenhauer. Following this brief survey, Chapters II and Ill, are devoted to reflections on and explanations of the concepts of will in Schopenhauer's philosophical works and its presence in Dostoevsky's fiction. The emphasis is on the relationship between will and reason, and the notion of the will-to-live. Chapter N contains an inquiry into the theme of suicide in both Schopenhauer and Dostoevsky. Such an inquiry reveals another example of thematic affinities between the two. Chapters V, VI and VII, are devoted to an analysis of Dostoevsky's characters with relation to suicide and Schopenhauer's notion of the will-to-live. The final chapter attempts to draw general conclusions from the evidence which emerges from this examination, as well as to further the thematic parallels between Schopenhauer and Dostoevsky regarding the theme of suffering.
Abandoning Private Femininity: Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, the 1784 Westminster Election, and Its Implications for the History of Women in Politics
(University of Waterloo, 2022-04-26) McManus, Madison Summer
My thesis argues that women had a powerful influence on politics long before the fight for suffrage in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and that the focus in political history on “high politics” has not allowed for women’s less formal involvement in politics to be recognized as it should be. I discuss the socio-political culture of eighteenth-century England, including the nature of the role of women in politics and how it aligns with the social expectations of women during the eighteenth century. I analyze the impact of Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, on the 1784 Westminster election, as well as her prominent role within the Whig party. Finally, I discuss the rise of the newspaper press’s influence on politics in the eighteenth century and how its harsh criticisms of Georgiana played a role in not only causing Georgiana to take a step back from politics, but also reduced the visible activity of women in politics for the next hundred years.
ABOVE WATER: An Educational Game for Anxiety
(Association for Computing Machinery, 2016-10-16) Wehbe, Rina Renee; Watson, Diane K.; Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Ganaba, Marim; Stocco, Melissa; Lee, Alvin; Nacke, Lennart
We present Above Water - a digital/physical hybrid game to inform people about the available strategies to cope with two types of Anxiety Disorders - Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder. The game teaches players about existing treatments. This hybrid game is designed to inspire players to share their experiences and develop their own personal narrative. The document also outlines an assessment strategy to study the game and determine its effectiveness as a game for health. The game is designed to educate non-institutionalized individuals with clinical anxiety and panic disorder. Potential players may be diagnosed, seeking intervention information, or a supportive friend.
ABOVE WATER: Extending the Play Space for Health
(Association for Computing Machinery, 2016-11-06) Wehbe, Rina Renee; Watson, Diane K.; Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Nacke, Lennart
ABOVE WATER is a game that disseminates information about Clinical Anxiety Disorders, particularly Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder. This game focuses on teaching players about treatments as well as providing a safe space for discussion of personal experiences. This game focuses on using the physical world (physical space, physical and tangible cards) and the digital world (accessible by any phone or tablet with a modern web browser) as part of its gameplay.
ABOVE WATER: Extending the Play Space for Health
(Association for Computing Machinery, 2016-11-06) Wehbe, Rina Renee; Watson, Diane K.; Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Nacke, Lennart
ABOVE WATER is a game that disseminates information about Clinical Anxiety Disorders, particularly Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder. This game focuses on teaching players about treatments as well as providing a safe space for discussion of personal experiences. This game focuses on using the physical world (physical space, physical and tangible cards) and the digital world (accessible by any phone or tablet with a modern web browser) as part of its gameplay.
Absurd America: Immigration and Meaninglessness in Werner Herzog‘s Stroszek and Franz Kafka‘s Der Verschollene
(University of Waterloo, 2018-09-11) Heintz, Jonas
In this thesis I compare Franz Kafka‘s novel Der Verschollene with Werner Herzog‘s movie Stroszek by utilizing Albert Camus‘ philosophy of the absurd as a literary theory. The absurd ad dresses the problem of meaninglessness with the resulting feeling of disconnect, and the break down of connections with society, and transforms it into a live-affirming outlook. I will identify elements of the absurd in the two works and show how much the protagonists are conscious of it, as well as show their reactions to the absurd. I am doing this by analyzing the authors’ portrayal of immigration to the USA in regards to the absurd. America is used by the authors as a play ground to explore the idea of finding meaning and a sense of belonging somewhere through im migration. But the dream of becoming oneself turns into a nightmare of losing oneself. America turns out to be a dreadful place where antonomy and chaos reigns. Consequently, the protago nists fail in every regard, both professionally and in their personal relationships; they are alien ated from American society and cannot stake out a meaningful existence. The authors show this mainly through the use of circle motives of repetitions in continuously worsening strorylines. In the end, Bruno in Stroszek becomes conscious of the absurd, but he is unable to solve it and chooses suicide to escape his suffering. Karl in Der Verschollene is unable to recognize the ab surdity of his existence and he does not have to experience Bruno’s pain, yet he also has no chance of redemption.
Abusive Supervision and Organizational Deviance: A Mediated Moderation Model
(University of Waterloo, 2011-08-02T18:15:59Z) Lian, Huiwen
In the current dissertation I investigated how abusive supervision promoted subordinate organizational deviance, by integrating and extending past work on mixed relationships (relationships characterized by both conflict and support) and self-determination theory. Past work on mixed relationships has suggested that positive and negative characteristics can co-exist within the same supervisor-subordinate relationship. Based on this, I argued that abusive supervisory behaviors would occur within high quality supervisor-subordinate relationships (i.e., high leader-member exchange, or LMX). Moreover, as mistreatment within a high quality relationship is likely to violate expectations and thus be experienced more intensely, I hypothesized that the effects of abusive supervision were more pronounced within a high quality supervisor-subordinate context. Beyond testing this interaction, I also examined the underlying psychological mechanisms through which abusive supervision and its interaction with LMX affected subordinate organizational deviance. Applying self-determination theory, I hypothesized that subordinate basic need satisfaction mediated the effects of abusive supervision and its interaction with LMX on subordinate organizational deviance. These hypotheses were tested in three multi-wave studies. In Study 1, data from 268 full-time employees were collected across two waves. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that abusive supervision and LMX were two independent constructs. In addition, hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that LMX moderated the relation between abusive supervision and subordinate organizational deviance, such that the relationship was exacerbated when LMX was high rather than low. To replicate these findings and investigate the mediating role of needs, I conducted a follow up study. Data from 256 full-time employees were collected across three waves. Using Edwards and Lambert’s approach to test mediated moderation models, I demonstrated that: 1) LMX moderated the relation between abusive supervision and subordinate basic need satisfaction, such that high LMX exacerbated the negative relation; and 2) basic need satisfaction mediated the moderating effect of LMX on the abusive supervision and organizational deviance relation, such that the mediating effects of basic need satisfaction was stronger when LMX was high rather than low. One limitation of Study 2 was that commonly investigated mediators of the relation between abusive supervision and organizational deviance were not controlled. To address this issue, I conducted a constructive replication of Study 2, including two alternative mediating mechanisms: justice perceptions and organizational social exchange. In Study 3, data from 260 full-time employees were collected across three waves. The results replicated Study 2 and demonstrated that when alternative mediators were included, basic need satisfaction remained the only significant mediating mechanism. The results from these three studies were discussed in terms of their theoretical implications to the abusive supervision and mixed supervisor-subordinate relationship literature. As well, the practical implications of the mediated moderation model tested in the current dissertation were discussed.
"The Academy Award of Protest": Media, Cooptation, and Radical Identity in the Sixties
(University of Waterloo, 2015-08-31) Arnold-Levene, Arielle
Through the 1960s and into the early 1970s, radicals in the New Left and the counterculture struggled with how to remain relevant and authentic in the face of skewed and selective mainstream media representation. They often referred to this kind of media representation of their politics and their culture as “cooptation” or “neutralization,” as mainstream society adopted the most attractive, salable aspects of dissident style, while leaving behind its most radical or threatening elements. This thesis examines how dissidents struggled with cooptation, but also how they themselves coopted “establishment” institutions for their own radical purposes. It then examines how dissident culture attempted to define radical authenticity and radical purity amongst themselves and amongst mainstream society, as they confronted the pressures of the radical lifestyle.
Acceptability of Female Smoking and Smokeless Tobacco Use in Bangladesh and India
(University of Waterloo, 2014-11-10) Sansone, Genevieve
Background: Smokeless tobacco has a long history in Bangladesh and India, where it has become normalized as a socially acceptable behaviour, but the same level of social acceptance does not apply to smoking, especially among females. As a result, there is a large gender gap in smoking rates but the gender difference in smokeless tobacco use is much narrower or even in the opposite direction. Explanations for the higher prevalence and social acceptability of female smokeless tobacco use in this region range from cultural factors to tobacco industry practices and tobacco control policies. Objectives: This study aims to examine acceptability of female smoking and smokeless tobacco use in Bangladesh and India, and to identify factors that might distinguish female tobacco use from male tobacco use and influence behavior such as quitting, including different types of social norms (descriptive and injunctive), beliefs about tobacco, and awareness of tobacco control policies. Methods: Data are from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Project in India and Bangladesh, longitudinal cohort surveys of tobacco users and non users conducted using face-to-face interviews. This dissertation uses data from Wave 1 of the TCP India Project (2010-2011; N=10,585) and Waves 2-3 of the ITC Bangladesh Project (2010, N=4,379; and 2011-2012, N=4,225). Respondents were categorized as either smokers (of cigarettes and/or bidis), smokeless tobacco users, mixed users (currently smoke and use smokeless tobacco), or non users of tobacco. The primary measures of interest for this study were behaviours relevant to quitting (quit intentions and quit attempts), perceived social acceptability of tobacco use in general and of female tobacco use in particular, awareness of selected tobacco control policies, and sociodemographics. Results: While rates of female tobacco use were low in each country, females were much more likely to use smokeless tobacco than to smoke, compared to males. In both countries, smokeless tobacco was perceived to be more acceptable than smoking, especially for females. Social acceptability measures were predicted by a few of the measures of awareness of tobacco control policies, including warning labels and smoke-free laws. The majority of respondents were aware that any form of tobacco use is harmful and is not an acceptable behaviour overall, indicating a negative injunctive norm; however, people who use either smoked or smokeless tobacco were more likely to say that their own product is socially acceptable, a sign of justification effects. This effect was strongest for female smokers – only 75-83% said it is not acceptable for females to smoke, compared to 93-97% of male smokers. The influence of descriptive norms on behaviour was seen from the finding that tobacco users were more likely to have friends and parents who shared the same habit. However, most tobacco users also said close others disapproved of their habit, creating a negative subjective norm that may be stronger for females. Very few tobacco users expressed a desire to quit, and a minority had made a quit attempt by Wave 3 in Bangladesh. Social acceptability predicted quit intentions only for smokers in Bangladesh: smokers who perceived greater society disapproval of smoking were more likely to intend to quit. Conclusions: Most research on smoking has focused on men and specifically on the harms of cigarettes; less attention has been paid to other tobacco products or the factors explaining their use, specifically for female tobacco users. It is important to study patterns of tobacco use among females in countries such as Bangladesh and India in order to reduce health risks and improve cessation rates for women who currently use smokeless tobacco, while at the same time preventing more women in these countries from taking up smoking. A better understanding of the ways that social norms influence tobacco use behaviour and quitting can have a valuable impact on designing and implementing more effective tobacco control strategies and health interventions in these countries and other LMICS.
Accessibility in Bioarchaeology: Methods of 3D Imaging of Entheses
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-19) Homerski, Nathan
This thesis examines accessibility within the field of bioarchaeology in two methods of generating 3D models of human remains, laser scanning and photogrammetry. These were analyzed for the following attributes: cost, time to perform method, ease of use, accuracy, and the utility of these methods in visual grading of entheses. The accuracy category measured such aspects as colouration and texture of the 3D image in comparison to the remains it was modelled after. The entheses on the 3D models were also visually graded to measure how accurately the 3D models could be evaluated using an ordinal method, such as Villotte’s (2006) method of entheseal analysis, in comparison to the same analysis performed with the physical remains. It was found that photogrammetric models were highly accurate at representing the qualitative attributes of the remains (colour, texture, etc.) while being both cost effective and easy to create. The laser scanned models were likewise easy to create, though they were far more expensive, and not qualitatively accurate. However, neither method was sufficiently accurate at entheseal grading. Overall, the aspects of photogrammetry made for a far more accessible method for researchers due to its low costs, ease to implement, and the little time needed for data collection, but it must be done with equipment that can produce higher resolution 3D models.
Accounting Conservatism and Risk Disclosures
(University of Waterloo, 2021-07-22) Wang, Xiaoqi
This thesis adopts a broad view of conservative financial reporting—managers can use two ways to communicate business uncertainties to outsiders, namely, conservative accounting via timely loss recognition and narrative risk disclosures about a firm’s downside risk. I posit that managers trade off conservative accounting and risk disclosures because they both can alleviate information asymmetry about downside risk and reduce shareholder litigation, and they both impose significant costs on firms. Using a sample of U.S. industrial firms from 1995 to 2018, I find support for this substitutive (trade-off) relation when narrative risk disclosures were voluntary but not when they were mandatory in annual reports. Moreover, I hypothesize and find evidence that firms have stronger incentives to make such trade-offs in order to reduce overall reporting cost, when they are planning seasoned equity offerings, are closer to debt covenant violations, face higher proprietary costs, or have greater needs for debt financing. Additional tests show that external monitoring, by financial analysts or by shareholders through litigation threats, constrains firms’ flexibility in making such trade-offs. For the period after 2005 when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has mandated risk factor disclosures in annual reports, I find firms with lower analyst following or lower litigation risk exhibit a significant substitutive relation between these two accounting choices. Stock return tests show that, while investors fully anticipated managers to make such trade-offs when risk disclosures were voluntary, they reacted negatively to firms that appear to have made trade-offs between these two choices in the period after the SEC has mandated risk disclosures. Collectively, my research suggests that firms trade off conservative accounting recognition and risk disclosures, especially in the period when qualitative risk disclosures were voluntary, even though investors appear to prefer consistent information between quantitative accounting numbers and qualitative risk disclosures.
Accounting Conservatism and the Consequences of Covenant Violations
(University of Waterloo, 2011-12-20T17:14:07Z) Li, Yutao
Recent studies document that covenant violations intensify the conflicts of interest between lenders and borrowers, and lead to greater restrictions on borrowing firms’ financing and investment activities (Chava and Roberts, 2008; Roberts and Sufi, 2009b). Motivated by this literature, I investigate whether accounting conservatism, specifically conditional conservatism, mitigates the adverse consequences of debt covenant violations. I argue that conservative reporting can potentially ameliorate the conflicts of interest between lenders and borrowers. Therefore, I predict that accounting conservatism reduces the adverse impact of covenant violations on borrowers’ financing and investing activities and exhibits a positive association with operating and stock market performance after covenant violations. I obtain a sample of 312 violating and 5,327 non-violating firm-quarters observations from U.S. non-financial public firms during the period of 1998 – 2007 to test my hypotheses. Using three measures of conditional conservatism and a composite measure of the three individual measures, I find that the degree of increase in borrowing firms’ conservative reporting between loan initiation and covenant violation is associated with smaller reductions in firms’ financing and investing activities in the post-violation period. Furthermore, my analyses provide some evidence that firms that increase conservative reporting exhibit better stock market performance, implying that conservative reporting is beneficial for shareholders after covenant violations. I find no evidence that increased accounting conservatism affects operating performance after covenant violations. My results continue to hold after controlling for pre-contracting unconditional and conditional conservatism. Overall, my dissertation provides evidence that conservative accounting practices followed by borrowing firms ease the adverse consequences of debt covenant violations. My dissertation contributes to the emerging literature on the effects of accounting quality on re-contracting outcomes after covenant violations.
Active and Marginal Religious Affiliates in Canada: Describing the Difference and the Difference it Makes
(University of Waterloo, 2011-01-19T20:35:55Z) Thiessen, Joel
In 2002, Reginald Bibby surprisingly asserted that a renaissance of religion is, or soon will be taking place in Canada. However, the assertion clashes with the dominant belief based largely on Bibby’s accumulated data about Canadians’ religious beliefs and practices, that Canada is becoming an increasingly secularized society. Based on forty-two in-depth interviews, this dissertation tests the “renaissance thesis” and improves our grasp of how Canadians subjectively understand their religious involvements by comparing the views of active religious affiliates (those who identify with a religious group and attend religious services nearly every week) and marginal religious affiliates (those who identify with a religious group and attend religious services primarily on Christmas or Easter, or for rites of passage such as weddings and funerals). What explains their higher and lower levels of religious involvement, what is the likelihood that marginal affiliates could eventually become active affiliates, and how does this understanding help us to assess the degree of religiosity or secularity in Canada? I argue that active and marginal affiliates are distinct mainly because of their different experiences with the supernatural or their local congregation, and the social influences that either encourage or discourage involvement in a religious group. These conclusions emerge from a close examination and testing of fundamental principles in Rational Choice Theory, a theory currently popular in the sociology of religion and in Bibby’s ongoing analysis of religion in Canada. Contrary to Bibby’s prediction, there is little reason to believe that marginal affiliates will eventually become active affiliates, regardless of changes to the supply of religion in Canada. In general, marginal affiliates appear content with their current levels of religiosity. As a result, I think it is likely that we will witness continued secularization at the individual level in Canada, which if proven correct, could strain Canada’s civic fabric in the future.

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