published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

This dissertation clarifies ethnoarchaeology's role in post-positivist epistemology through both a critical re-examination of ethnoarchaeology's position within archaeology and a study of household vessel exchange and consumption in the Inland Niger Delta of Mali. I argue that ethnoarchaeology meets its epistemic raison d'etre by achieving theoretical independence from archaeology's general theories. Independence is "built-in" to ethnoarchaeological study by focusing explicitly on the way material culture is used in daily practice; in particular, by re-embedding material culture in the "modern" contexts where it is used. Ceramic exchange in the Inland Niger Delta can not be understood apart from either the exchange and consumption of other industrial household vessels or the political economies women experience within patrilineal households. Household vessels are distinctly women's tools in the Delta and their consumption is an intimate part of the way women resist exploitation and the appropriation of their wealth within household political economies. The different roles vessels play are manifest in the distances these objects travel during consumption and are also materialized by their location within house compounds. Enamel vessels are used in displays of social and economic capital related to marriage that insulate women from exploitation; aluminum vessels are expensive items bought as part of marriage trousseaus; and plastics are relatively low value items given as small gifts or bought in local markets to insulate small amounts of wealth from appropriation. Pottery is relatively marginal within household economies; yet, potters rely on the income ceramic production creates. Thus, potters use extensive marketing strategies to sell their wares to a relatively disinterested clientele in order to meet their own obligations within patrilineal households and to buy the other types of household vessels that they desire. The findings of thi

The thesis attempts to find the determinants of unemployment rates for a geographical area, the Inland Empire. San Bernardino and Riverside County, located east of Los Angeles, are home to over 4 million people. After reviewing the literature on the determinants of unemployment and the relevance of human capital theories, I develop a human capital index and apply it to the 36 cities in Inland Empire. While some of the control variables are found to be important determinants of unemployment, the human capital index appears to dominate as an explanatory factor. The study concludes with a policy implications.

Originally presented as author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Michigan. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Engr.)--University of California, Davis, 2008. / Adviser: Yueyue Fan. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC, 1999. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 211-212).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC, 1999. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 211-212).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Bern, 1946. / Bibliography: p. 112-115.

Inaug.-diss.--Strassburg. / Vita.

Thesis (doctoral)--Åbo akademi, 1772. / At head of title: M.G.H. Reproduction of original from Kress Library of Business and Economics, Harvard University. Goldsmiths'-Kress no. 10865.3-0.