Economic & Social Development of Regions Program

To complete the master’s program, students in Economic and Social Development of Regions undertake either:

  • a professional project, which is an experience in professional practice completed in conjunction with an outside partner organization
  • a master’s thesis, in which students carry out original research resulting in a scholarly analysis.

Below is a list of all theses completed by ESDR students since our first graduating class in 2000.

The theses are available in hard copy in the ESDR suite (O’Leary Library, 500). They may also be accessed electronically from an on-campus computer or remotely from the UMass Lowell Library's Proquest database with a valid UMass Lowell log-in.

Class of 2010

  • Impact of Jamaica's Export-led Development Model on Its Indigenous Garment Assembly Sector

Brunet Pierri Bia    

  • Wind Energy: Developing Energy, Wealth, and Change

Matt Hopkins     

  • Beyond "Made in China": A Study of the Special Model of Software Industry in Dalian, China

Xiaoxu Jin     

  • Sustainable Development of an Innovative Enterprise in the U.S. Biopharmaceutical Industry: A Case Study of Myriad Genetics, Inc.

Shuwen Liu     

  • Assessing the Role of Market and Non-market Forces in the Promotion of Consumer Protection in Viet Nam

Minh B. Pham     

  • Obstacles and Barriers to Parent Involvement in Lowell Public Schools: Obstacles to Involvement, Strategies for Change

Jennifer Marie Russell     

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Class of 2009

  • An Oral History of General Electric's Involvement and Legacy in Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Jonathan Arambula   

  • The Western Avenue Studios as a Model for Regional Development: Can A Remnant of an Industrial Past Provide a Beacon for a Sustainable Future?

Conor Baldwin  

  • The Impact of Trichloroethylene Alternatives in Metal Cleaning Applications on the Worker Experience

Melissa Coffin   

  • Export-led Growth as a Route to Poverty Reduction: Panama's Strategic Vision

Karen B. Haron     

  • Designing Transportation Policy to Meet New England’s Developmental Needs

Marc Horne     

  • Exploring the Potential Relationship Between Skill Biased Technological Change Theory and Outcomes of Workforce Development Programs

Jonathan Latner     

  • African-American Railroad Workers, 1890-1960: A Critical Reinterpretation

Josh McCabe     

  • Emerging Technologies: Nanotechnology in the Cosmetic and Personal Care Products Industry

Farooqh Khan Mohammed      

  • A Case Study of the Social Security Administration’s Disability Services Improvement Initiative

Thnam Kanha Net      

  • Tourism Policy and Micro-small Tourism Forms in the Island of Skiathos, Greece

Demetra Paparounas    

  • A Study on the Economic and Social Effects of Burmese Migration Focusing on Burmese Migration to the United States

Amy Provencal      

  • Maybe Our Children Can See Better Days: A Brief History of Farmers' Cooperative Organizations in Turkey

Mustafa Erdem Sakinc     

  • The Julian D. Steele Housing Complex in Lowell, MA: Tenant Outcomes from 1995 - 2009.

Craig Thomas     

  • The Experiences of Immigrant Nurses in Lowell, MA: A Case Study

Yingchan Zhang     

  • The Changing Experiences and Challenges of Internal Migrants in China: Female Migrant Workers in Beijing Hotel Industry

Lei Zhao      

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Class of 2008

  • Jamaica and the Development of a Sustainable Organic Argriculture Sub-Sector: Challenges and Opportunities for a Small Island Developing State

Heather M. Derby

  • An Exploratory Case Study of Selected Education Reform Agendas and Their Potential to Increase Educational Attainment Rates for the 21st Century Workforce

Sarah White 

  • A Potential Role for UMass Lowell in Solving Lowell’s Housing Affordability Crisis

Robert John Moreau

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Class of 2007

  • The Effect of Forced Displacement On the Social Life: The Case of Darb Es Sin In Lebanon

Della Ata 

  • Workers’ Control and Social Economy in Argentina’s Recuperated Enterprise Movement

Brian Michael Zbriger

  • The North American Free Trade Agreement: Implications for Workers in Massachusetts

John Reynolds

  • Firestone and Liberia: A Case Study in the One-Sidedness

Henrique Boye Wilson

  • A Study of Human Resource- Frame As An Organizational Dynamic and Applied As A Case Study: Nypro Inc.

James Porter Elliott

  • The Impact of Environmental Accounting on the Profit Growth, Development & Sustainability of the Organization: A Case Study on Nypro. Inc

May M. Elewa 

  • A Study of the Impact of Small Urban Centers on Economic and Social Development: A Uganda Case Study

Gerald Byaruhanga 

  • Paraquat: For the Heart of the Vulnerable Man

Iraida Elena Blanco

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Class of 2006

  • Lebanon and Hezbollah: From Militia to Political Party?

Reine El-Achkar

  • Sustaining the Paper Industry of Massachusetts: 21st Century Challenges and the Prospects for Manufacturing Survival

Michael Ammendola

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Class of 2005

  • The Expansion of the Concept of Fair Trade to Increase the Economic Welfare of Rural Farmers in Ghana : A Case Study of the Kuapa Kookoo Farmers’ Cooperative

Charles Addae

  • The Establishment of the Ministry of Gender and Development: A Case Study of the Changing Role of Women in Liberia

Jeannie B. Morris

  • The Dynamics of the Coalitions in the Anti-Corporate Globalization Movement: A Massachusetts Case Study, 2000-2001

Jennifer l. Gaudet

  • Universal Primary Education in Uganda: The Case for Community Involvement

Patrick Kimera

  • Offshoring and the Financial Services Industry in Massachusetts

Taner Osman

  • The Massachusetts Software Industry: A Special Focus on the Financial Management Software Sector

Dongsheng Li

  • The Development of Wenzhou Industry Clusters: Quality Improvement and Innovation Capabilities

Yue Zhang 

  • Women and Conflict: Lessons Learned and Applications for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Barbara Rocha

  • Building Inclusive Micro-Lending Programs to Support Social and Economic Development in Cameroon

Placide Dingue

  • Four Companies: FDI Effects on Mexican Retail

Jose Luis Alvarez Galvan

  • A Study of Worker Burnout in Massachusetts High Technology Sector

Kathleen J. Bailey

  • Comparative Air Pollution Policy and Enforcement in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dalian

Robert Andrew Macauslan

  • Designing the Tax Structure of Massachusetts to Promote Economic and Social Development

John Edward

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Class of 2004

  • The Role of Conflict/Compromise and Moderation in The Family and Medical Leave Act

Marianne S. Pelletier

  • Educational Attainment and Economic Development in Southwestern Indiana

China Layne

  • The Stories Behind the Statistics: A Study of Brazilians Working in Eastern Massachusetts

Sharon Driscoll

  • Planning for Transportation Equity in a Diverse Community: The Barriers to and Benefits of Public Involvement in the Planning Process

Darcie Boyer

  • Wealth Extraction, Not Economy Development: A Case Study of Liberia

Joseph Natanael Varnie

  • How Can Aid Dependent Countries Take Possession of Their Development Trajectory -- The Case of Liberia

Henrique Nea Urey

  • The Quest for Food Security: Policies and Issues Facing the Country of Zambia

Lisa M. Chandonnet

  • Industrialization, Globalization and Women Workers in South Korea, 1960-2003

Youngju Seo

  • A Lifeline? Is the Massachusetts Nurses Association Able to Shield Massachusetts RNs from the Impact of Health Care Industry Restructuring?

Beth Wilson

  • The Massachusetts' Travel and Tourism Industry after September 11, 2001: Behavior, Perception and Policy

Richard Scott

  • Barriers to Union Organizing in the Massachusetts Service Sector

Joseph F. Meagher

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Class of 2003

  • New Form Creation in Telecommunications and the Internet Sector after 1996 in Massachusetts

Hao Xie 

  • Community Values, Education and Work: Child Labor In Indonesia - The Case of the Household Footwear Sector in Cibaduyut and Cangkuang Kulon, Bandung

Elisabeth Satya Dewi 

  • The Fair Trade Movement and Globalization: No One Need Die Marching from Matagalpa to Managua

Paul Morse

  • Unemployment, Layoffs and Reemployment Programs in China --- A Case Study of Shanghai Reemployment Service Center Program and its Adaptation

Guang Bi

  • Regional Integration and Development: A Study of the European Union, the Transformation of Spain, and the Pursuit of Regional Development

Don Leonard

  • The Development of Nigeria's Local/Traditional Fabric Industry as a Strategy for Poverty Reduction

Mana Wambebe

  • China's National Innovation System (NIS) in the Making: Case Studies of Three Indigenous Chinese Companies

Yingying Deng

  • A Study of Taiwan's Foreign Worker Policy Compared to South Korea's Foreign Worker Policy

Hsiao-Ling Lin

  • Faugh A Ballagh Loss and Leverage in Ballykilcline and Rutland

Mary Lee Dunn

  • The Impact of Rapid Industrialization on Work and Family Structures in Indonesia 1970-2000

George Martin Sirait

  • Organics Separation and Composting in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Confronting Challenges in Policy Formation and Program Implementation

Julie Villareal

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Class of 2002

  • A Study of Sustainable Development of Zhongguancun, Beijing, China

Chen Liu

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Class of 2001

  • Hyderabad - Technopolis in the Making? A Study of the Software Industry in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India and the Andhra Pradesh Information Technology Policy

Radha Roy Biswas

  • Prince Pasta unravels in Spaghettiville 1939-1997

Francine Corbin

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Class of 2000

  • A Study of the Availability of Jobs for Welfare Recipients Who Have Completed an Occupational Training Program Provided by Publicly Funded Job Training Organizations in Lowell, Massachusetts

Susan Dempsey

  • The Geography of Industrial Districts: Why does the Biotechnology Industry in Massachusetts Cluster in Cambridge?

Shiri Marom Breznitz

  • An Unequal Burden?: A study of the Association Between Socioeconomic Status, Dangerous Working Conditions and Occupational Injuries Among Adolescents

Kimberly Rauscher

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Economic & Social Development of Regions Program - O'Leary Library, 61 Wilder St., Lowell, MA 01854
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