Cassandra Dirienzo
Biographic Data
| ID | 104072 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Cassandra Dirienzo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Cassandra |
| FAMILY NAME | Dirienzo |
| SIGNATURE | DIRIENZO C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Elon University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4401-993X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 10 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Gendered Patterns in Suicide Rates in Japan: The Role of Economic and Sociological Factors
This study examines gendered patterns in suicide rates in Japan in relation to economic hardship, defined by a recessionary economy for six months or more, and sociological stressors, or disruptions in family and social ties. Using macro-level data from 1960 to 2020, the analysis explores how economic conditions and social factors—particularly divorce, marriage, and employment—are associated with female and male suicide rates. The findings indica…
Human Trafficking Tier Rankings: The Effects of Women in Government
Human trafficking is the fastest growing international criminal industry, which disproportionately affects women and children. To monitor the crime, the U.S. Department of State places each country into one of four tiers based on governmental anti-trafficking efforts. This study explores how women in government can influence these efforts. It is hypothesised that women serving in government have two effects—a direct and indirect effect—on a count…
Country Trafficking Protocol Compliance and the Empowerment of Girls and Women
Human trafficking is a gender-based crime of violence. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Protocol) is one of the most important international means to counter human trafficking; however, the ability of the United Nations to enforce the Protocol is considerably limited. The primary purpose of this study is to theoretically and empirically explore the underlying societal factors that…
Sexual Violence First Experienced as Childhood or Adolescent: The Effects on U.S. Female Education and Occupation
Previous research generally considers sexual violence as binary, meaning it has been experienced or not, and has yet to identify if the age at which a survivor was first assaulted has differing long-term effects. The primary purpose of this study is to empirically explore the effect of age, specifically the two age ranges of childhood or adolescence, at which sexual violence is first experienced on female survivors’ educational attainment and occ…
Human Trafficking: What the New IOM Dataset Reveals
In 2017, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) released its global, de-identified database of human trafficking victims, the largest database of its kind, containing over 50,000 individual cases from 2002 to 2018. This study analyzes this new database with two objectives. First, it provides an overview and descriptive statistics of the entire database, including a year by year analysis. Acknowledging that at most 17 annual data point…
Shadow economies: The role of corruption and economic development
The COVID-19 global pandemic has had a devastating impact on economies and could lead to a surge in shadow or informal economic activity. Perhaps more than ever it is imperative to understand the nature and drivers of shadow economies. The primary focus of this analysis is to reexamine the relationship between corruption and shadow economies by extending previous research to consider a possible moderating effect between economic development and c…
Culture, corruption, and women in government
Previous studies have posited that women are less tolerant of unethical behaviors than men and have found that countries with a greater percentage of women in government are associated with lower levels of corruption. Nonetheless, recent studies have hypothesized that the effect of women on corruption is dependent on institutional and cultural environments in which they work. The aim of this study is to empirically test if the effect of women in …
Income Distribution and Human Trafficking Outflows
This study seeks to close the gap between the theoretical rationale for the role of income inequality in human trafficking and lack of empirical evidence supporting this relationship. It is argued that differences in income, especially the income of the poorest in the population, is a significant push factor encouraging individuals to undertake risky migration. Nonetheless, the Gini coefficient, which is typically used in human trafficking resear…
The effect of women in government on country-level peace
The global community continues to endure violent attacks that seem to continuously morph in nature. The complexities of violence in today's world make it imperative to examine factors that can counter these acts of terror. The primary focus of this paper is to explore the relationship between the number of women in government on levels of corruption and country-level peace. It is argued that the percentage of women in government has a causal effe…
Innovation and role of corruption and diversity: A cross-country study
Research has established that various socioeconomic and institutional factors affect the rate of country-level innovation. However, little attention has been given to the effects of corruption and cultural diversity on innovation in cross-country analyses. It is widely accepted that innovation is a major engine of national economic growth, and policy makers and business leaders have recognized the need to create environments that foster innovativ…
Diversity and the economy: A Cross-Country, Comprehensive Study
Using Alesina et al.'s (2003) fractionalization indices that separately measure ethnic (E), linguistic (L) and religious (R) diversity for 180 countries, a cluster analysis is performed to group the countries into three distinct clusters based on their similarities in the three diversity measures. Given these country clusters, this study examines how these different clusters perform, on average, in regard to thirteen different economic and politi…
Global peace and repression: A cross-country analysis
Past research and historical events suggest that the relationship between the peacefulness of a country and the degree of political and civil liberties afforded to its citizens has an inverted U-shape relationship such that the greatest unrest is observed at an intermediate level of freedom. Using the Global Peace Index (GPI), developed by the Institute for Economics and Peace (2010) in collaboration with the Economist Intelligence Unit, this stu…
Terrorist risk and income revisited
Using the five sub-indices of the World Markets Research Centre's Global Terrorism Index (GTI), this study finds that national income has a significant relationship with terrorist risk, even after accounting for the other terrorist risk determinants. This finding extends past research that has used the aggregated GTI data to explore the relationship between income and terrorist risk. Specifically, national income is found to be significantly corr…
Innovation and role of corruption and diversity: A cross-country study
Research has established that various socioeconomic and institutional factors affect the rate of country-level innovation. However, little attention has been given to the effects of corruption and cultural diversity on innovation in cross-country analyses. It is widely accepted that innovation is a major engine of national economic growth, and policy makers and business leaders have recognized the need to create environments that foster innovativ…
The effect of women in government on country-level peace
The global community continues to endure violent attacks that seem to continuously morph in nature. The complexities of violence in today's world make it imperative to examine factors that can counter these acts of terror. The primary focus of this paper is to explore the relationship between the number of women in government on levels of corruption and country-level peace. It is argued that the percentage of women in government has a causal effe…
Culture, corruption, and women in government
Previous studies have posited that women are less tolerant of unethical behaviors than men and have found that countries with a greater percentage of women in government are associated with lower levels of corruption. Nonetheless, recent studies have hypothesized that the effect of women on corruption is dependent on institutional and cultural environments in which they work. The aim of this study is to empirically test if the effect of women in …
Diversity and the economy: A Cross-Country, Comprehensive Study
Using Alesina et al.'s (2003) fractionalization indices that separately measure ethnic (E), linguistic (L) and religious (R) diversity for 180 countries, a cluster analysis is performed to group the countries into three distinct clusters based on their similarities in the three diversity measures. Given these country clusters, this study examines how these different clusters perform, on average, in regard to thirteen different economic and politi…
Global peace and repression: A cross-country analysis
Past research and historical events suggest that the relationship between the peacefulness of a country and the degree of political and civil liberties afforded to its citizens has an inverted U-shape relationship such that the greatest unrest is observed at an intermediate level of freedom. Using the Global Peace Index (GPI), developed by the Institute for Economics and Peace (2010) in collaboration with the Economist Intelligence Unit, this stu…
Terrorist risk and income revisited
Using the five sub-indices of the World Markets Research Centre's Global Terrorism Index (GTI), this study finds that national income has a significant relationship with terrorist risk, even after accounting for the other terrorist risk determinants. This finding extends past research that has used the aggregated GTI data to explore the relationship between income and terrorist risk. Specifically, national income is found to be significantly corr…
Terrorist risk and income revisited
Using the five sub-indices of the World Markets Research Centre's Global Terrorism Index (GTI), this study finds that national income has a significant relationship with terrorist risk, even after accounting for the other terrorist risk determinants. This finding extends past research that has used the aggregated GTI data to explore the relationship between income and terrorist risk. Specifically, national income is found to be significantly corr…
Global peace and repression: A cross-country analysis
Past research and historical events suggest that the relationship between the peacefulness of a country and the degree of political and civil liberties afforded to its citizens has an inverted U-shape relationship such that the greatest unrest is observed at an intermediate level of freedom. Using the Global Peace Index (GPI), developed by the Institute for Economics and Peace (2010) in collaboration with the Economist Intelligence Unit, this stu…
Innovation and role of corruption and diversity: A cross-country study
Research has established that various socioeconomic and institutional factors affect the rate of country-level innovation. However, little attention has been given to the effects of corruption and cultural diversity on innovation in cross-country analyses. It is widely accepted that innovation is a major engine of national economic growth, and policy makers and business leaders have recognized the need to create environments that foster innovativ…
Diversity and the economy: A Cross-Country, Comprehensive Study
Using Alesina et al.'s (2003) fractionalization indices that separately measure ethnic (E), linguistic (L) and religious (R) diversity for 180 countries, a cluster analysis is performed to group the countries into three distinct clusters based on their similarities in the three diversity measures. Given these country clusters, this study examines how these different clusters perform, on average, in regard to thirteen different economic and politi…
Income Distribution and Human Trafficking Outflows
This study seeks to close the gap between the theoretical rationale for the role of income inequality in human trafficking and lack of empirical evidence supporting this relationship. It is argued that differences in income, especially the income of the poorest in the population, is a significant push factor encouraging individuals to undertake risky migration. Nonetheless, the Gini coefficient, which is typically used in human trafficking resear…
The effect of women in government on country-level peace
The global community continues to endure violent attacks that seem to continuously morph in nature. The complexities of violence in today's world make it imperative to examine factors that can counter these acts of terror. The primary focus of this paper is to explore the relationship between the number of women in government on levels of corruption and country-level peace. It is argued that the percentage of women in government has a causal effe…
Culture, corruption, and women in government
Previous studies have posited that women are less tolerant of unethical behaviors than men and have found that countries with a greater percentage of women in government are associated with lower levels of corruption. Nonetheless, recent studies have hypothesized that the effect of women on corruption is dependent on institutional and cultural environments in which they work. The aim of this study is to empirically test if the effect of women in …
Human Trafficking: What the New IOM Dataset Reveals
In 2017, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) released its global, de-identified database of human trafficking victims, the largest database of its kind, containing over 50,000 individual cases from 2002 to 2018. This study analyzes this new database with two objectives. First, it provides an overview and descriptive statistics of the entire database, including a year by year analysis. Acknowledging that at most 17 annual data point…
Shadow economies: The role of corruption and economic development
The COVID-19 global pandemic has had a devastating impact on economies and could lead to a surge in shadow or informal economic activity. Perhaps more than ever it is imperative to understand the nature and drivers of shadow economies. The primary focus of this analysis is to reexamine the relationship between corruption and shadow economies by extending previous research to consider a possible moderating effect between economic development and c…
Sexual Violence First Experienced as Childhood or Adolescent: The Effects on U.S. Female Education and Occupation
Previous research generally considers sexual violence as binary, meaning it has been experienced or not, and has yet to identify if the age at which a survivor was first assaulted has differing long-term effects. The primary purpose of this study is to empirically explore the effect of age, specifically the two age ranges of childhood or adolescence, at which sexual violence is first experienced on female survivors’ educational attainment and occ…
Country Trafficking Protocol Compliance and the Empowerment of Girls and Women
Human trafficking is a gender-based crime of violence. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Protocol) is one of the most important international means to counter human trafficking; however, the ability of the United Nations to enforce the Protocol is considerably limited. The primary purpose of this study is to theoretically and empirically explore the underlying societal factors that…
Human Trafficking Tier Rankings: The Effects of Women in Government
Human trafficking is the fastest growing international criminal industry, which disproportionately affects women and children. To monitor the crime, the U.S. Department of State places each country into one of four tiers based on governmental anti-trafficking efforts. This study explores how women in government can influence these efforts. It is hypothesised that women serving in government have two effects—a direct and indirect effect—on a count…
Gendered Patterns in Suicide Rates in Japan: The Role of Economic and Sociological Factors
This study examines gendered patterns in suicide rates in Japan in relation to economic hardship, defined by a recessionary economy for six months or more, and sociological stressors, or disruptions in family and social ties. Using macro-level data from 1960 to 2020, the analysis explores how economic conditions and social factors—particularly divorce, marriage, and employment—are associated with female and male suicide rates. The findings indica…
Political science (9 works) · Economics (7 works) · Development economics (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Criminology (4 works) · Demographic economics (4 works) · Human trafficking (4 works) · Sex work and related issues (4 works) · Business (3 works)