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MPA Major Research Papers

From 1990 until 2023, all Western Master of Public Administration students completed a faculty-supervised Major Research Paper. Starting in 2024, students complete a Research Report that is not individually supervised.

At the time of submission, students may opt to publicly release their papers. This series contains all publicly available papers completed since 1990.

The program does not endorse the content of these papers which are the independent research of the students. The papers are owned by the authors and posted here with their permission.

If you are the author of an MPA research paper and would like to have that paper removed from this database please contact .

Major Research Papers from 2018 2018

Levelling the Urban Playing Field: How Municipalities can Increase Leverage from Sports Franchises during Sports Venue Public-Private-Partnerships Negotiations, Bipin Dhillon

Career Paths and Leadership Skills of Public Library CEOs, Simona Dinu

Factors Influencing Collective Co-production of Services at the Municipal Level: A Case Study of the City of Hamilton’s Neighbourhood Action Strategy, Brian Kreps

Job Recruitment & Retention in Rural Ontario: A Model of Physician Recruitment, Applied to the Recruitment of Local Government Professionals in Bruce County, Mollie Kuchma

The City of London and the Syrian Resettlement Initiative: Lessons Learned, Victoria Parada

The Leadership Role of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in Smaller Municipalities: Two Profiles, Robert H.A. Tremblay

Hidden Hurdles: An Exploration of Possible Barriers Women Encounter When Pursuing a Career as an Operational Firefighter in Ontario, Lydia Wilcox

Ontario Municipal Voters’ List Reform Project, Paul Wilton

Major Research Papers from 2017 2017

The Socioeconomic implications of Ontario's Joint and Several Liability Arrangement: Insights from Municipal Political Elites in Perth County, Josh Brick

The Applicability of British Columbia's Regional Districts as a model of Regional Governance for Newfoundland and Labrador, Jennifer Crowe

Measuring the Fiscal Impact of At-Large Versus Ward-Based Political Representation in Ontario Municipalities, Alysha Faria

Does the Province have enough financial and statistical data available to execute a needs-based grant allocation to target municipal infrastructure investment instead of utilizing an application process to allocate funds?, Brenda Garrett

The Rural Effect on School Closures and the Limitations Within the Provincial Policy Framework, Shannon Geraghty

Enumeration of the Homeless Population in Rural Communities, Barbara Hall

Indigenous-Municipal Intergovernmental Agreements: A Case Study Examining Substantive Collaboration, Gwendolyn Lowrie-Dennis

Pluralism in Regional Health Planning: An Analysis of Public Engagement in Ontario’s Local Health Integration Networks, Paul Sandor

WaterRight: An Examination of Drinking Water, Tax Policy, and Water Affordability in Southwestern Ontario, Robert Sharon

The Future of CAOs in Small Ontario Municipalities: A Study of What Small Ontario Municipalities Are Doingto Recruit and Retain ‘Top Talent’, Michael Szarka

Major Research Papers from 2016 2016

The Effectiveness of Using a Public-Private-Partnership Model for Urban Rail Transit: The Vancouver Case, Jie Bian

The Effects of Income Inequality on Social Assistance Services Caseload: A Local Perspective of London, Ontario Using Multiple Linear Regression Statistical Model, Juan Cardona

Digital Strategies in Local Government: Private Sector and Early Adopters Lessons Learned, Robert Delorme

Should the Niagara Region Chair Be Directly Elected?, Michael Genova

Identification of Factors for Successful Implementation of the Incident Management System in Ontario Health Unit Emergency Management Programs, Dimitra Kasimos

The Role of Local Government in China’s Urbanization: The Relationship Between Local Land Finance and Government-Led Urbanization, Ying Qiu

Municipal and Developer Success Rates at the Ontario Municipal Board: A London, Ontario Case Study, Dan Scheid