Measure of distance between two probability distributions plays a fundamental role in statistics and machine learning. Optimal Transport (OT) theory provides such distance. Recent advance in OT theory is a generalization of classical OT with entropy regularized, called entropic OT. Despite its convenience in computation, it still lacks theoretical support. In this thesis, we study the connection between entropic OT and Entropy Power Inequality (EPI). First, we prove an HWI-type inequality making use of the infinitesimal displacement convexity of OT map. Second, we derive two Talagrand-type inequalities using the saturation of EPI that corresponds to a numerical term in our expression. We evaluate for a wide variety of distributions this term whereas for Gaussian and i.i.d. Cauchy distributions this term is found in explicit form. We show that our results extend previous results of Gaussian Talagrand inequality for Sinkhorn distance to the strongly log-concave case. Furthermore, we observe a dimensional measure concentration phenomenon using the new Talagrand-type inequality. / Mått på avstånd mellan två sannolikhetsfördelningar spelar en grundläggande roll i statistik och maskininlärning. Optimal transport (OT) teori ger ett sådant avstånd. Nyligen framsteg inom OT-teorin är en generalisering av klassisk OT med entropi-reglerad, kallad entropisk OT. Trots dess bekvämlighet i beräkning saknar det fortfarande teoretiskt stöd. I denna avhandling studerar vi sambandet mellan entropisk OT och Entropy Power Inequality (EPI). Först bevisar vi en ojämlikhet av HWI-typ med användning av OT-kartans oändliga förskjutningskonvexitet. För det andra härleder vi två Talagrand-typkvaliteter med mättnaden av EPI som motsvarar ett numeriskt uttryck vårt uttryck. Vi utvärderar för ett brett utbud av distributioner den här termen för Gauss och i.i.d. Cauchy-distributioner denna term finns oförklarlig form. Vi visar att våra resultat utökar tidigare resultat av GaussianTalagrand-ojämlikhet för Sinkhorn-avstånd till det starkt log-konkava fallet. Dessutom observerar vi ett dimensionellt mått koncentrationsfenomen mot den nya Talagrand-typen ojämlikhet.

<p>This dissertation uses the case of the fashion industry to explore gender inequality in creative cultural work. Data come from 63 in-depth interviews, media texts, labor market statistics, and observation at Toronto's fashion week. The three articles comprising this sandwich thesis address: (1) processes through which femininity and feminized labor are devalued; (2) the gendered distribution of symbolic capital among fashion designers; and (3) the gendered organization of the fashion industry and the “ideal creative worker.”</p> <p>In chapter two, I apply devaluation theory to the fashion industry in Canada. This chapter makes two contributions to literature on the devaluation of femininity and “women's work.” First, while devaluation is typically used to explain the gender wage gap, I also address symbolic aspects of devaluation related to respect, prestige, and interpretations of worth. Second, this paper shows that processes of devaluation vary and are heavily shaped by the context in which work is performed. I address five processes of devaluation in fashion: (1) trivialization, (2) the privileging of men and masculinity, (3) the production of a smokescreen of glamour, (4) the use of free labor and “free stuff,” and (5) the construction of symbolic boundaries between “work horses” and “show ponies.”</p> <p>In chapter three, I use media analysis to investigate male advantage in the predominantly female field of fashion design. I find that the “glass escalator” concept typically used to explain male advantage in feminized work, is insufficient when applied to a cultural field. The glass escalator illustrates movement upward in well-defined organizational hierarchies where success is measured by pay and promotion. But success in cultural fields is also measured by symbolic capital (celebrity, cultural consecration, prestige). I find that male designers are attributed more symbolic capital by prestigious industry sources and the fashion media. In order to illustrate these advantages I make use of the concept of a “glass runway,” whereby designers are pushed forward into the spotlight, rather than upward within a single workplace or organization. I also take note of how these advantages are structured by the intersection of gender and sexuality.</p> <p>In chapter four I investigate the gendered organization of creative cultural work in the fashion industry. Literature suggests that these types of work are characterized by: (1) the need to mitigate risk through entrepreneurial labor and (2) an ideology of passion. I find that these organizing logics create a gendered conception of the “ideal creative worker.” Men more easily conform to this ideal since they have lower family responsibilities, are offered more flexible working arrangements, and since it is more culturally acceptable for men to put work before intimate life. Findings also suggest that gender intersects with age and class. The gendered organization of fashion not only reinforces inequalities between women and men, but also different groups of women. Women who are younger, childless, and have independent financial support can more easily conform to the “ideal creative worker.” Still, even women who closely match this ideal are questioned and criticized in ways that men are not.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In the U.S., wealth is unequally distributed across racial and income groups. Scholars have promoted numerous strategies to address inequalities in wealth, but evidence about their effectiveness is limited. This dissertation examines whether community-based organizations can help low-income individuals improve their credit usage and credit scores as part of a strategy to help them build their wealth. Credit histories and scores influence access to affordable loans and other forms of credit as well as employment and housing opportunities, insurance rates, and utility and rental deposits. As a result, credit plays an important role in individuals’ ability to weather financial crises, increase savings, and build wealth. Specifically, I assess the impacts and implementation of a program model that integrates financial education and counseling into employment services for low-income job seekers. The study uses a comparison group design to assess program impacts, comparing the outcomes of program participants to those of a matched group of low-income individuals who were seeking assistance from public employment agencies that did not offer financial or credit counseling. I use multivariate regression analysis to assess differences in the outcomes of program participants and comparison group members and to examine whether some organizations were more effective than others in helping participants achieve the outcomes. I also conduct a qualitative assessment of the organizational, programmatic, and contextual factors that influenced program implementation and outcomes across the five organizations in the study. I found that community-based organizations can help low-income individuals make progress in building positive credit histories. By combining financial education and counseling with employment services, the programs increased job seekers’ receipt of financial counseling relative to the comparison group, and program participants were more likely than comparison group members to have an increase in positive activity on their credit reports two years after entering the program. However, overall the program did not increase the likelihood that participants had a credit score or that they had a prime score after two years. Only program participants who had substantial recent credit activity when they entered the program were more likely than their counterparts in the comparison group to have a prime credit score after two years. Some organizations were more effective than others in helping low-income individuals achieve the targeted credit outcomes. Four of the five had impacts on whether participants had positive activity on their credit reports. One organization also had positive impacts on the likelihood of having a credit score and of having a prime score among all individuals who received financial counseling while two others had positive impacts on scores for subgroups of participants. One organization had no positive effects. The implementation analysis revealed that environmental, organizational, and programmatic factors interacted to produce differences in outcomes across organizations. Organizational and managerial experience with and commitment to the model and goals and integration of the model into the organizations’ core services were critical to effective implementation. The three organizations whose financial coaches embraced the model’s credit-building approach, which counsels individuals to use credit responsibly, had more positive impacts on credit outcomes than those that did not. The results also provide evidence that the characteristics of the communities the organizations served influenced outcomes. Communities’ racial composition was correlated with indicators of economic health, the presence of financial institutions, and credit availability, and the findings indicate that individuals in mixed race and majority-Hispanic communities were better able to access credit than those in majority-Black communities. This dissertation contributes to the policy and research literature in a number of ways. It uses a rigorous methodology to assess program effects, examines change in credit behavior and outcomes, assesses how implementation processes influence outcomes, and includes a broader segment of the low-income population than past studies, including those who lack credit histories. The findings provide evidence that low-income people of color face significant barriers to accessing mainstream forms of credit and suggest that policies are needed to increase consumers’ understanding of credit and access to credit at affordable rates and terms. The findings contribute to research and theory on the wealth accumulation process and can inform the work of policymakers and practitioners seeking to increase the financial well-being of low-income people of color. / Sociology

Education is a crucial factor for nations to advance their social, cultural and economic well being. Gender equality in education is in direct proportion to gender equality in the labor force, in equal power in household and decision making. Educating females lower mother and baby mortality rates, generates higher educational attainment and achievement for next generations, and improves economic conditions of nations. Gender inequality in educational attainment and dropout rates is an agelong problem for Turkey since it was established in 1923. Girls are still have lower enrollment rates and higher drop out rates than their male counterparts in Turkey, even though education is free at all levels, there is a compulsory education law, financial aid is provided by government for parents to send their daughters to school, and there are boarding schools and free school services for girls living in rural areas. This thesis reviews a diverse literature on female education and the barriers to female education in the Turkish education system. In this thesis the background of the Turkish education system and the place of female education in that system are explored and the main barriers to female education in Turkey are analyzed through a review of the literature on gender gap, female education, and education policies. Some social and political strategies are suggested for Turkish policy makers, teacher educators, social workers, and teachers in order to promote female education and gender equity in the Turkish education system. / Urban Education

This thesis explores lobbying as an important political economy dimension of policymaking. It exploits theoretical, empirical, and numerical approaches and methods to investigate the possibilities of engaging in costly lobbying and how lobbying by special interests affects the setting of minimum wage and small business tax rates. The theoretical modeling relies on the common agency framework - a situation with multiple principals who are simultaneously and non-cooperatively interacting with a single agent - of public policy lobbying and a simpler principal agent model. Empirical analysis employs panel data regression methods in the context of Canadian provinces to identify causal relationship. Both minimum wage and small business taxation invite a considerable amount of activity from various special interest groups in Canada, which engage in lobbying for a policy stance more favorable to their members. After providing a brief overview of lobbying issues and literature in the first chapter, in the second one I show that initial lobbying cost can be a clear entry barrier, that lobbying competition can have properties of a high-stakes game and that lobbying can take place simply to preserve the status quo and not lose ground. In the pure rivalry sense, to not allow the opponent to gain ground in the policy arena. In the third chapter, I formulate a model of minimum wage determination based on the common agency lobbying framework to evaluate how the competition for political influence between unionized workers and firm owners affects the minimum wage determination. A binding minimum wage is a function of the policymaker's political ideology, the labor demand elasticity and the skill composition of union members. Specifically, when the elasticity of labor demand is large, the benefit of lobbying against (for) an increase in the minimum wage is greater since a potential minimum wage increase has a larger negative (positive) effect on firms' (unionized workers') income. Lobbying is successful in inducing the policymaker to set the minimum wage in accordance with her political preference; a more business (labor) friendly policymaker reduces (increases) the minimum wage. However, lobbying can also induce the policymaker to go against its ideological preference. Empirical analysis on a panel data for ten Canadian provinces over the 1965-2013 period gives considerable support for theoretical predictions. Preferred panel data regression specifications, controlling for unobserved province and year effects, and various province specific, time varying factors, indicate that real minimum wage decreases in skill-adjusted union density and a measure of political ideology, and increases with technological progress. Greater labor demand elasticity reinforces the influence of political ideology in the presence of lobbying. In the fourth chapter, I focus on the issue of small business tax determination and the effect of lowering its rate on income inequality. In Canada, where the small business income tax rate is considerably lower than the top individual rate, higher income individuals are able to reduce their personal taxes by retaining and shifting income via privately owned small businesses. Therefore, because the small business owners benefit from an increasing difference between the small business and top individual tax rates, I show using a principal-agent model that by lobbying as a special interest group they can always `buy' a lower corporate tax rate from the government. However, a lower business income tax, relative to a given personal income tax rate, is not income inequality neutral and unambiguously increases the income share of the highest earning individuals in the economy, specifically those who own small corporations. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This paper aims to explain how new technology impacts the labor market and to what extent it substitutes for labor. In addition, the relationship between new technology and income distribution will be examined. The analysis is based on an extensive literature survey and an empirical analysis covering 10 OECD countries over an eight year period. Advanced economies were chosen because according to recent research, they are likely to be most affected by rapid technological development. By implementing panel data and a fixed effect estimation technique, it is shown that ICT-investments are positively correlated with unemployment while no effect was found with regard to inequality.

No / This paper draws on ethnographic research in Tanzania to question ideas inherent to mainstream development policy that building social capital can be readily created, used, or substituted for other missing assets, and thereby overcome poverty. The poorest experience clusters of interlocking disadvantage that make it highly unlikely that they can draw on social capital to ameliorate their poverty, or that increased association and participation at community level is necessarily beneficial to them. Moreover, social relationships, collective action, and local institutions may structurally reproduce the exclusion of the poorest. As such, a politically neutral and undersocialized policy focus on strengthening associational life and public participation of the poor is unlikely to lead to their greater inclusion, nor to significant poverty alleviation.

Yes / In this study using standard measures of inequality such as Gini coefficient, Kakwani Index, coefficient of variation and Theil Index we examine inequality in carbon emissions for the years 2000-09 at the sub-national level covering 17 major states of India. At the outset, in order to estimate sub-national inequality in carbon emissions we also estimated total carbon emissions for each state for the above years using IPCC Reference Approach. Our findings showed that per capita carbon emissions were highest in the low income resource rich states and lower in the high income more developed states. The inequality in carbon emissions as demonstrated by Gini coefficients has increased over the years indicating that it is the poorer states which have to bear the burden.

This exploratory research is a case study of a public university in Thailand. The research examines whether gender inequality exists in the pay raise process at Khon Kaen University over a two-fiscal year period (FY2002 and 2003). It also considers what factors might account for differences between male and female faculty in pay raises at this university, looking at factors such as productivity and family responsibilities. The research develops and tests measures of the Southeast Asian concepts of kinship, patronage, turn-taking and seniority systems. Three data sources are used, university personnel records, self-administered surveys and the annual evaluation report. Results show that raises tend to be equitable and faculty are equally productive, regardless of gender, discipline, academic rank, or position cluster. When significant differences are identified in this study, female faculty frequently reported that they received higher pay raises than their male colleagues. The well-established rules and regulations regarding pay raises (minimum requirements for productivity and pay raise steps) at this university prohibit any kind of systematic bias in pay raises. One of the other goals of this research was to test the Southeast Asian concepts of kinship, patronage, turn taking and seniority, and the extent to which each may be a factor in performance and pay raises. The research indicates these four may play a role, but their actual influence is not entirely clear and will require additional study. To address some of these issues, future research would explore the same public university with a longer time frame and then compare the result at KKU with other universities in Thailand and other universities in Southeast Asia. Interviewing both male and female faculty members in terms of their actual workloads, productivity, assigned tasks, and their perceptions of the impact of age and administrative position is recommended. Interviewing only female faculty members in different disciplines (female-dominated, male-dominated and balanced disciplines) concerning their experiences of inequality and how they deal with family responsibilities that affect productivity is also important for future research. / Ph. D.

Sociological theory and literature in the study of disparities in health and access to care in old age has, with few exceptions, not considered important political contexts for the aging AI/AN community. Political histories have unique implications for this population, and particularly those in old age. Native Peoples are affected by federal old age and health policies as well as AI/AN specific policies, which creates a unique intersection of inequality for this group. This project engages with three distinct areas of sociological scholarship in this area and works to highlight the strengths and gaps of existing frameworks to work towards more inclusive scholarship for Native Peoples in sociological scholarship. The first article uses a quantitative analysis using secondary data from the National Health Interview survey to explore how helpful sociological frameworks are in explaining health disparities in old age for the AI/AN population. The second article, using the same dataset, engages with Andersen's behavioral model of care utilization and its developments and couples it with important scholarship emerging about policy, AI/AN healthcare organization, and funding. The third article offers a qualitative analysis of reports and policy recommendations from Native organizations focused on increasing well-being for Native elders to further understand how healthcare, old age, and AI/AN specific polices work to create intersections of inequality for this group. This analysis further informs future directions for sociological theory and application to promote a more inclusive field in the sociology of aging and inequality. / Doctor of Philosophy / How policy impacts aging American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) has been largely overlooked in the field of sociology. Through three distinct studies, this dissertation project seeks to connect policy to disparities in health outcomes, issues in access to care, and the provisioning of health resources for this group. Native Peoples, through treaty agreements, have a right to healthcare, which has been poorly fulfilled by the US government. Because of this, Native Tribes and organizations have increasingly relied on other healthcare policies and social welfare programs to meet the needs of AI/AN elders. Policies like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Older Americans Act are all important policies in generating health resources for Native elders, but they also overlap in ways that can also create barriers to health equity. This project, in three articles, explores 1.) how policy-based resources affect health outcomes in old age across racial groups, 2.) how equitable healthcare access for the aging AI/AN population, and 3.) how organizations understand and navigate policy landscapes in order to promote health and well-being for Native elders. These three studies work together to inform theories of aging and health disparities in order to work towards scholarship that is more inclusive of Native Peoples.