UCLA

Sustainability disclosures are more common than ever. Yet whether they are actually useful remains an open question. This dissertation examines that question across three studies spanning different audiences, methods, and sustainability domains.The first study systematically reviews how business journal articles engage with third-party sustainability measures in sustainability-financial performance linking research. The review identifies two sources of uncertainty that limit confidence in these measures: the quality of underlying data and how data is aggregated. Methodological rigor is bimodal; researchers either scrutinize multiple dimensions of measurement quality or none at all, and choices about data quality and aggregation are shown to be related to reported financial performance relationships. The study offers practical recommendations for improving rigor and transparency in corporate sustainability research. The second study examines how job applicants price corporate sustainability signals as part of their compensation using a choice-based conjoint experiment (N = 249) analyzed via Hierarchical Bayes. Drawing on Herzberg's hygiene-motivator distinction, the study finds two distinct asymmetries. Within domains, penalties for withdrawal exceed rewards for proactive investment. Across domains, climate commitments tied to managerial incentives generate a reliable compensation discount while equivalently structured diversity commitments do not. These patterns are consistent with diversity functioning as hygiene factor and climate functioning as prestige motivators. The third study employs a randomized between-subjects survey experiment with 516 retail investors to examine whether financial or impact framing of corporate sustainability strategies shifts investor sustainability judgments. Despite perceiving financial framing, retail investors showed no meaningful differences in perceived importance ratings or investor materiality assessments across framing conditions. Political ideology emerged as the dominant predictor of sustainability importance judgments and the strongest covariate predictor of investor materiality assessments, replicating across three independent samples. The findings challenge the assumption embedded in global disclosure frameworks that strategic framing shapes how retail investors receive sustainability information. Across three audiences and three methods, the dissertation finds that sustainability information does not operate uniformly. Its usefulness depends on who receives it, how it is disaggregated, and what psychological register it activates. These findings carry direct implications for how sustainability measures are constructed, disclosed, and regulated.

When OpenAI launched ChatGPT, it did not immediately ship a mobile app. In the intervening months, dozens of third-party "wrapper" applications resold ChatGPT through OpenAI's public API, sharing its branding and competing for its App Store keywords—and by the official launch, imitators accounted for the vast majority of category downloads. The conventional view treats such imitation as a threat to the innovator. This dissertation argues the opposite: in a market where the imitated firm also sells the imitated technology as an API, imitators can function as contributors to the incumbent's long-run market power. I develop this thesis in three building blocks. Chapter 2 documents, with a daily panel of AI chatbot apps and keyword-level advertising data, that wrappers expand the total market, monetize underserved segments through flexible pricing, and coincide with a search-based entry barrier against independent rivals. Chapter 3 estimates a random-coefficients nested-logit demand system and finds that demand lost by a GPT-ecosystem product diverts to other GPT-ecosystem products and to the outside option, and essentially none of it—zero to four decimal places—to rivals running their own foundation models, which return only 0.13 percent of their own lost demand to the GPT ecosystem; removing the wrapper fringe would shrink the category by a third while raising the official app's profit one percent. Only a small share of that disadvantage is the wrappers' contemporaneous presence; most of it is habit accumulated during the fourteen months before any independent app established a presence in these markets—which moves the mechanism out of the static product space and into a stock, and is why the third chapter is followed by a dynamic one. Chapter 4 builds a dynamic model in which the platform's posted API price clears two markets at once—an enterprise token market where it competes with rival APIs, and the downstream wrapper channel that builds its consumer brand-habit stock—and shows that the observed 200x API price decline is competition rather than generosity, that the wrapper-to-brand spillover is point-identified in the awareness channel and set-identified above it, and that tolerating imitators was worth $21–86M to the platform while raising total welfare, though the consumer share of that gain is an order of magnitude smaller than the producer share. Together the chapters complicate the premise that open API access is inherently procompetitive: open access can entrench an incumbent by outsourcing brand proliferation to imitators the platform simultaneously supplies.

Conjugated polymers are organic semiconductors with extended π-electron systems that enable charge transport in these lightweight, flexible, and solution-processable materials. Their low thermal conductivity and relatively high Seebeck coefficients make them promising candidates for soft thermoelectric devices. However, pristine conjugated polymers possess low electrical conductivity due to their wide bandgaps and limited free carrier density at room temperature. Improving their performance therefore requires strategies that increase carrier density while supporting efficient charge delocalization.This dissertation investigates chemical doping as a route to enhance the electrical and thermoelectric properties of semiconducting polymer films, with a focus on understanding how the dielectric environment, environmental stability, dopant identity, doping method, and pristine microstructure shape charge transport. A combination of four-point probe conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, Hall effect, temperature-dependent conductivity, and X-ray scattering measurements, as well as steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopies, is used to develop a multiscale picture of transport in doped semiconducting polymer systems.The first half of this dissertation focuses on understanding anion-exchange doping, a doping method that has been shown to boost the doping levels achieved with relatively weak molecular dopants while allowing precise control over the counterion that intercalates into the polymer film. Chapter 2 examines the origin of the enhanced carrier generation observed during anion-exchange doping. By separating the initial molecular doping step from subsequent electrolyte exposure, we show that the high-dielectric electrolyte environment can increase the effective oxidizing power of an already-reduced dopant anion, enabling a second electron-transfer event with the polymer backbone. This double-doping process nearly doubles the carrier density, demonstrating that the dielectric environment plays a central role in the enhanced doping efficiency associated with anion-exchange doping.Chapter 3 builds on this mechanistic understanding by examining how the choice of counterion affects electrical conductivity and environmental stability under ambient conditions. Although anion-exchange doping enables control over the choice of counterion, many electrolyte salts used for this process are hygroscopic and can introduce counterion-dependent ambient stability limitations. We demonstrate that hygroscopic counterions incorporated during anion exchange can draw ambient water into the polymer, leading to strong reductions in electrical conductivity. Hall effect and optical measurements reveal that humidity primarily suppresses carrier mobility rather than carrier density, indicating that absorbed water introduces additional trapping sites that localize polarons.Chapter 4 investigates how dopant identity and doping method influence the Seebeck–conductivity relationship and charge transport in doped poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT). By comparing the classic dopant 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4TCNQ), two large (~2-nm diameter) dodecaborane-based dopants, and anion-exchange doping, we show that different dopants modulate carrier transport through distinct mechanisms. Large counterions reduce Coulomb trapping and lower hopping barriers, while anion-exchange doping enhances mesoscale connectivity by enabling doping of amorphous regions. Using temperature-dependent conductivity and the Semi-Localized Transport (SLoT) model, we show that both routes can improve the thermoelectric performance depending on how they reshape the energetic and structural landscape of the doped film.Chapter 5 explores how the microstructure of pristine P3HT governs carrier transport after doping. By systematically varying the polymer regioregularity, we can tune crystallinity and domain connectivity before introducing carriers through anion-exchange doping. UV–vis–NIR and transient absorption spectroscopy show that higher-crystallinity polymers support greater intradomain delocalization. Surprisingly, Hall effect and temperature-dependent conductivity measurements reveal that at low doping levels, less crystalline P3HT samples exhibit higher macroscopic carrier mobility due to superior mesoscale connectivity. At higher doping levels, these mesoscale-connectivity-driven mobility differences become less dominant, and the higher-regioregularity, more crystalline P3HT films exhibit more favorable charge transport. These results highlight the interplay between local order and long-range domain connectivity in determining charge transport.Collectively, this dissertation establishes how the carrier environment—whether altered by the dielectric constant of a doping solution, relative humidity, dopant–counterion interactions, or the intrinsic polymer structure—governs carrier delocalization and mobility in doped conjugated polymers. Understanding these multiscale relationships provides a foundation for designing higher-performance thermoelectric materials and, more broadly, for controlling charge transport in soft electronic systems.

Trauma exposure is prevalent among children and adolescents and is associated with broad and lasting consequences for mental health, development, and functioning. Despite the critical importance of early identification and treatment, many trauma-exposed youth do not receive timely or appropriate care. This dissertation examined the pathways through which trauma-exposed youth move from documentation and assessment to engagement in trauma-focused treatment, with particular attention to the provider factors that shape access and equity across the care continuum. Study 1 used medical record data from a large healthcare system to examine how provider characteristics were associated with mental health documentation, screening, and referrals among trauma-exposed youth. Administration of the Patient Health Questionnaire was associated with greater odds of documenting trauma exposure and psychosocial adversity but was not associated with the documentation of a formal trauma- and stressor-related diagnosis. Among youth with documented trauma, mental health needs, screening, and referral practices varied by provider gender, provider type, caseload composition, and departmental context, indicating that access to trauma-informed care within a single healthcare system is not uniformly distributed. These patterns may also reflect structural factors, including differences in insurance coverage, authorization requirements, and access to available behavioral health services. Study 2 extended these findings through in-depth qualitative interviews with providers delivering trauma-focused treatment to Latiné youth and Spanish-speaking families. Providers described a complex, non-linear care pathway involving four stages: trauma recognition and referral routing, evaluation of trauma and contextual factors, treatment selection and planning, and treatment delivery and closure. Three major bottlenecks repeatedly disrupted progress. The first occurred at the point of referral, where language barriers, limited bilingual provider availability, and immigration- and insurance-related constraints often prevented families from reaching intake. The second occurred during mandated reporting, which represented an acute risk for family disengagement following disclosure. The third involved sustaining caregiver engagement during treatment, where logistical barriers, unresolved caregiver trauma, and doubts about treatment effectiveness repeatedly interrupted trauma-focused work. Together, these studies demonstrate that disparities in trauma-focused care emerge through cumulative provider- and system-level barriers across the care continuum, from documentation and assessment through referral, intake, and sustained treatment engagement. Building more equitable, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed pathways to care for historically underserved youth and families will require strengthening each stage of this pathway rather than relying on any single point of intervention.

Early-life adversity (ELA) is hypothesized to shape adult phenotypes and fitness outcomes through developmental effects on physiological and behavioral systems, yet evidence from wild, long-lived primates remains limited. This dissertation investigates the relationships among ELA, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation, behavioral phenotypes, and life-history outcomes in white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator) at Lomas Barbudal Biological Reserve in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, using over three decades of longitudinal data from the Lomas Barbudal Monkey Project.Chapter 1 examines ELA effects on female mortality and reproductive trajectories across three developmental windows. Prenatal exposure to alpha male replacement increased mortality risk by 75%, while psychosocial adversity (alpha male replacements, maternal loss) accelerated reproductive timing among females who survived to the core reproductive period. Chapter 2 evaluates whether boldness and aggression covary into the integrated behavioral syndrome theory proposed as the mediator linking early developmental conditions to adult life-history strategy. Boldness showed very low repeatability, aggression was target-specific rather than trait-like, and no population-level behavioral syndrome emerged, though individual-level heterogeneity in trait covariance was detected, with bolder individuals showing greater behavioral flexibility. Chapter 3 develops a rolling-window methodology for extracting biologically meaningful HPA axis phenotypes from field-collected fecal glucocorticoid samples. Tonic and reactive HPA axis phenotypes were uncorrelated, demonstrating that tonic glucocorticoid activity and acute stress responsiveness represent independent dimensions of endocrine function. Chapter 4 integrates these components to test whether ELA programs adult HPA axis function, which in turn shapes behavior and male life-history outcomes. Evidence for developmental programming of the HPA axis was limited; however, proactive aggression was associated with a higher probability of alpha male attainment, though this finding should be interpreted cautiously given the small number of attainment events. The hypothesized ELA-to-HPA axis-to-behavior-to-fitness mediation chain was not supported.Collectively, these findings demonstrate that theoretical predictions derived from laboratory and human studies do not straightforwardly translate to wild, long-lived primates. The results highlight the importance of direct ecological constraints over predictive developmental programming and reveal that behavioral and physiological phenotypes operate as largely independent dimensions in shaping fitness outcomes. Se ha planteado la hipótesis de que la adversidad en las primeras etapas de la vida (ELA, por sus siglas en inglés) moldea los fenotipos adultos y los resultados relacionados con la aptitud biológica mediante sus efectos durante el desarrollo sobre los sistemas fisiológicos y conductuales. Sin embargo, la evidencia procedente de primates silvestres y longevos sigue siendo limitada. Esta tesis doctoral investiga las relaciones entre la ELA, la regulación del eje hipotálamo-hipófisis-adrenal (HPA), los fenotipos conductuales y los resultados de historia de vida en monos capuchinos de cara blanca (Cebus imitator) de la Reserva Biológica Lomas Barbudal, en Guanacaste, Costa Rica, utilizando más de tres décadas de datos longitudinales del Proyecto de Monos de Lomas Barbudal. El Capítulo 1 examina los efectos de la ELA sobre la mortalidad de las hembras y sus trayectorias reproductivas a lo largo de tres ventanas del desarrollo. La exposición prenatal al reemplazo del macho alfa aumentó el riesgo de mortalidad en un 75 %, mientras que la adversidad psicosocial (reemplazos del macho alfa y pérdida materna) adelantó el inicio de la reproducción entre las hembras que sobrevivieron hasta el período reproductivo principal. El Capítulo 2 evalúa si la audacia y la agresividad covarían conformando el síndrome conductual integrado propuesto teóricamente como mediador entre las condiciones tempranas del desarrollo y la estrategia de historia de vida en la edad adulta. La audacia mostró una repetibilidad muy baja, la agresividad fue específica según el blanco de la conducta en lugar de constituir un rasgo general, y no se observó un síndrome conductual a nivel poblacional. No obstante, se detectó heterogeneidad a nivel individual en la covariación entre rasgos, y los individuos más audaces mostraron una mayor flexibilidad conductual. El Capítulo 3 desarrolla una metodología de ventanas móviles para extraer fenotipos biológicamente significativos del eje HPA a partir de muestras fecales de glucocorticoides recolectadas en condiciones de campo. Los fenotipos tónicos y reactivos del eje HPA no estuvieron correlacionados, lo que demuestra que la actividad tónica de los glucocorticoides y la respuesta aguda al estrés representan dimensiones independientes de la función endocrina. El Capítulo 4 integra estos componentes para evaluar si la ELA programa la función del eje HPA en la edad adulta y si esta, a su vez, influye en la conducta y en los resultados de historia de vida de los machos. La evidencia de programación del desarrollo del eje HPA fue limitada; sin embargo, la agresividad proactiva se asoció con una mayor probabilidad de alcanzar la condición de macho alfa, aunque este hallazgo debe interpretarse con cautela dado el reducido número de eventos de adquisición de dicha condición. No se encontró respaldo para la cadena de mediación hipotetizada ELA → eje HPA → conducta → aptitud biológica. En conjunto, estos hallazgos demuestran que las predicciones teóricas derivadas de estudios de laboratorio y en seres humanos no se trasladan de manera directa a primates silvestres y longevos. Los resultados resaltan la importancia de las restricciones ecológicas directas frente a la programación predictiva del desarrollo y revelan que los fenotipos conductuales y fisiológicos operan como dimensiones en gran medida independientes en la determinación de los resultados relacionados con la aptitud biológica.

This dissertation defends a moral solution, specifically a solution about fairness, to a puzzle regarding the use of statistical evidence in legal proceedings.To illustrate the puzzle, consider a popular toy case: the mere fact that the majority of attendees in the stadium gatecrashed does not, by itself, seem sufficient to find any one attendee liable. This seems so even if the statistic raises the probability of the disputed fact to a level seemingly high enough to meet the burden of proof (i.e. more likely than not). It is said that all there is, in this case, is “bare” statistical evidence (BSE), and we need "individualized" evidence (IE) for the defendant’s liability. But what differentiates IE from BSE which makes the former but not the latter appropriate for findings of liability (or guilt)?Numerous attempts are made to answer this puzzle. This dissertation critically discusses some influential proposals alongside more recent proposals.One influential proposal makes use of the notion of causation arguing that whereas the factfinder believes IE has a causal connection to the purported fact (of the defendant’s guilt or liability), the factfinder does not believe BSE bears this causal connection.Another influential proposal makes use of the notion of Truth-Sensitivity from the philosophical literature on knowledge arguing that while BSE fails to produce verdicts which are Truth-Sensitive, IE successfully produces Truth-Sensitive verdicts such that: had the defendant not been the perpetrator, the factfinder would not have found them guilty or liable.These proposals are intuitively appealing. However, they are mercilessly objected to. Recent scholarship attempts to refine earlier proposals, clarifying causation and Truth-Sensitivity. However, they still face problems. The primary problem is that the notions of causation and Truth-Sensitivity still lack clarity.In response to the problems, I propose a diagnosis which makes use of fairness: finding on the basis of BSE is unfair because if we made a policy of it, there would be unjust outcomes—innocent people being arbitrarily punished. Whereas a policy of finding on IE does not guarantee unjust outcomes.

Fast charging of Ni-rich layered oxide cathodes is limited by slow Li⁺ transport and large structural changes at high states of charge. This thesis investigated nanostructuring and multi-element doping as a combined strategy for developing cobalt-free Ni-rich cathodes. NM-MgNbMo, NM-MgAlMo, and NM-MgTiNbMo were synthesized using a polymer-assisted micelle-templated sol–gel method and compared with bulk and less porous NMC-811. X-ray diffraction confirmed the layered α-NaFeO₂-type structure and distinct interlayer spacings; NM-MgNbMo had the least apparent cation mixing and largest spacing, supporting easier Li⁺ transport and faster kinetics, while partial disorder may provide a stabilizing pillaring effect. NM-MgNbMo exhibited the best high-rate performance among the doped samples, maintaining approximately 36 mAh/g at 32C when the capacity of bulk NMC-811 approached zero. CV and GITT measurements were also consistent with comparatively low apparent polarization for NM-MgNbMo. After 1000 cycles at 8C, NM-MgNbMo retained the highest absolute capacity, whereas NM-MgTiNbMo showed the highest fractional retention from a lower initial capacity. Operando X-ray diffraction showed substantially smaller c-lattice changes in the doped samples than in the NMC-811 references. Overall, NM-MgNbMo provided the best balance between high-rate capacity and structural stability, while NM-MgTiNbMo favored structural stability at the cost of accessible capacity.

Over the past decade, a significant number of higher education institutions across the US have sought to expand education access by establishing tuition waivers for Native American students. A tuition waiver commonly provides free or reduced tuition for Native American students who can meet the eligibility criteria set by an institution. As support for Native students through the form of tuition waivers continues to expand, there is a critical need for institutions to understand both the positive and negative impacts of tuition waivers beyond the benefits of financial assistance. In this thesis, I explore the impact of Native American tuition waivers by focusing on the University of California’s Native American Opportunity Plan (NAOP) and Native student experiences with the NAOP at UCLA. Through interviews with Native students from diverse tribal community connections and racial identities, this study highlights the importance of recognizing the complexity of contemporary Native identities and addressing barriers for Native students beyond financial access. The findings suggest that tuition waivers can be most effective when paired with intentional learning about Native communities on behalf of institutions, and sustained support systems that promote Native student retention and pathways toward graduation. In addition, I offer recommendations based on Native student’s experiences for expanding tuition waiver eligibility to include the highest number of eligible students.

Metal-halide perovskite solar cells have attracted tremendous interest because of their compatibility with low-temperature processing, strong optical absorption, defect tolerance, and tunable electronic structures. Despite rapid improvements in power conversion efficiency, their practical deployment remains limited by insufficient operational stability. Interfaces are particularly important because they simultaneously govern charge extraction, non-radiative recombination, ionic redistribution, chemical reactions, and, at buried interfaces, the formation of the perovskite absorber itself. This dissertation investigates how molecularly engineered polymeric interfaces can regulate these coupled electronic, ionic, and structural processes to improve both the efficiency and long-term stability of perovskite solar cells.Chapter One introduces the fundamental properties and stability challenges of metal-halide perovskites, with particular emphasis on the multifunctional roles of interfaces. Electronic defect passivation, ionic and chemical stabilization, and buried-interface regulation of nucleation and crystal growth are established as complementary strategies for interface engineering. Chapter Two focuses on defect passivation at the exposed perovskite surface. hree polymeric modifiers, including poly(vinyl acetate), polyethylene glycol, and poly(9-vinylcarbazole), are systematically compared to establish a molecular design principle linking electronic structure and steric accessibility with defect-interaction strength. Stronger Lewis-base interactions with undercoordinated Pb species suppress non-radiative recombination, improve charge transport, and substantially enhance device efficiency and operational stability. Chapter Three extends the discussion from the exposed surface to the buried interface, highlighting its dual role as a dynamic ionic boundary during operation and as a template for perovskite formation during fabrication. Chapter Four identifies cross-interface Sn redistribution from SnO2 into the perovskite absorber as an important degradation pathway during prolonged operation. Sn migration is accompanied by chemical-state evolution, while ultrathin polymeric interlayers increase the energetic barrier for ionic transport and suppress Sn redistribution, leading to markedly improved long-term stability. Chapter Five demonstrates that the same buried interlayers also regulate perovskite formation by modifying wettability, interfacial contact, crystallization, phase quality, and defect formation. These changes reduce non-radiative recombination and enable high-efficiency small-area devices and modules. Together, these studies establish polymeric interface engineering as a strategy for simultaneously controlling defect chemistry, ionic transport, buried-interface evolution, and perovskite formation, providing design principles for efficient and durable perovskite photovoltaics.

This dissertation reconceptualizes Modern Japanese Literature (Nihon kindai bungaku) as a metanarrative that advances by repeatedly looping back onto its own conditions of (im)possibility. I argue that this recursive structure arises from modern Japan’s oscillation between the residual past of the Sinographic Cosmopolis, the premodern East Asian republic of letters linked by Literary Sinitic (i.e. Classical Chinese), and the perpetually deferred future of Western modernity, mediated through the emergent universal language of English and marked by racialized forms of exclusion. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Sinographic Cosmopolis, within which Japan had been able to negotiate a workable relationship vis-à-vis the idea of “civilization,” lingered on as a historical memory, while Japan’s full assimilation into Western civilization was foreclosed by racial difference. During Japan’s imperial expansion, Japanese briefly assumed the status of a cosmopolitan language, yet the Japanese Empire’s defeat in the Second World War reprovincialized its language, which became increasingly overshadowed by English. By the end of the century, the tradition of Modern Japanese Literature itself became retroactively constituted as a lost universal, uneasily occupying the structural position once held by Literary Sinitic. The first two chapters examine the recursive structures underlying the works of Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916) and Tanizaki Jun’ichirō (1886–1965), two foundational figures of kindai bungaku. The next two chapters evince how this recursivity unfolded across the translational space of the Japanese Empire by juxtaposing Yu Dafu (1896–1945), a Chinese writer who spent nearly a decade in Japan and whose early fiction reflects the affective and stylistic contours of kindai bungaku, with Nakajima Atsushi (1909–1942), a Japanese writer who reimagined classical Chinese literature (kanbungaku) through the idiom of modern Japanese. The coda investigates the ways in which the specter of the Sinographic Cosmopolis haunts the work of Mizumura Minae (1951–) as kindai bungaku confronts its looming end in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.