Thesis Defense Announcement

College of Arts and Sciences announces the Final Thesis Defense of

Dontarious Cowans

for the Degree of Master of Arts

March 29, 2019 at 2:00 PM in Clement Hall, Room 203 

Advisor: Joseph Lariscy

Resource Allocation Across Urban and Rural Counties: A Tennessee Case Study

ABSTRACT: This study addresses how resource allocation of mobility-promoting organizations vary by characteristics of Tennessee counties. More specially the variation of resources provided across urban and rural counties. Building on previous studies of mobility-promoting organizations, this study moves away from neighborhood analysis and updates to larger spatial units to a county level analysis. Including county-level data provides an opportunity to explore potential explanations for the observed regional variation in rates of poverty. Furthermore, this study analyzes aspects of disadvantage and organizational density. I utilize the Social Vulnerability Index in combination with U.S. Census and U.S. Business Patterns data to describe Tennessee county deprivation characteristics. I categorize organizations into three service types: hardship, employment and education; all of which are related to an individual's well-being and prospects for mobility. My analyses will use Poisson regression models to examine the association between counties' characteristics and the number of mobility-promoting organizations, accounting for counties' population sizes.