The extent of youth unemployment in the UK in the years following the 2008 economic crisis, as well as the backdrop of longer-term concern regarding the rise of precarious work (Beck 2000, Standing 2011) prompted discussions of a 'lost generation' of young people set to feel the economic scars from embarking on their careers at a time of economic turmoil. The 2008-2009 recession was also (dubiously) labelled a 'mancession' and the first 'middle class recession'. Despite this, comparatively few sociology studies have adopted a quantitative approach to compare the class and gender dimensions of inequality in young people's employment trajectories prior to and following the 2008-2009 recession. This research makes an original contribution to the field by using longitudinal sequence analysis methods to contrast the employment trajectories of two cohorts of 16 to 24 year olds in the UK: a pre-recession and a recession cohort. In doing so, it establishes the extent to which the patterns of class and gender inequality amongst young people, not only in unemployment, but also in the movement in and out of 'precarious work', differed prior to and following the 2008-2009 recession. It finds that precarious employment was not as widespread as 'end of work' theorists suggested but that the recession brought an increased minority of young people who experienced employment difficulty. Furthermore, it argues that the recession did not advantage or disadvantage class or gender groups in a uniform way. Rather, changing trends in the recession highlighted a number of complex and shifting patterns of inequality amongst young people of different genders and from differing class backgrounds.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / Nathan P. Hendricks / Price changes affect the profitability of agricultural land use at the intensive margin (i.e. crop choice) and the extensive margin (i.e. land devoted to crop production). Understanding how prices impact localized land use decisions is important for predicting how production and its allocation across producers change with prices. Due to its wide expanse and diverse geography, the productivity US land differs across space and uses. Understanding the drivers of land use decisions while accounting for such diversity is essential for accurately modeling supply response at the regional and national level. This dissertation contains two studies that provide insight into how price changes impact land use decisions at the extensive and intensive margins. In the first chapter examine the corn supply-price relationship in the United States. I perform this analysis using field-level data across the contiguous US (CONUS). This study is unique in that it incorporates micro-level data from over 3 million fields to estimate region-specific supply response and then aggregates results to the national level. The dataset used in this study is nearly comprehensive, representing field-level decisions across fields that accounted for over 88% of national corn production between 2009 and 2016. The findings from this study illustrate the importance of incorporating heterogeneity in supply response models. Supply response to price differed substantially across regions with high supply sensitivity in the north-central US and Mississippi River Delta, moderate sensitivity in Corn Belt states, andlow sensitivity in the western and Gulf Coast states. The relative importance of corn production in the in the Corn Belt states of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Nebraska meant that it was far less sensitive and, in the long-run, more stable to price changes than national corn supply as a whole. Including heterogeneity in supply response also provided policy relevant context to supply response studies. Overall supply response was negatively correlated with area yields. This meant that price changes have a larger effect on planted corn acres and a smaller effect quantity of corn itself. In the last chapter I examine the impact that ethanol plant capacity has on local land use at the extensive margin. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has been one of the most influential agricultural policies in the past 20 years, increasing general US crop prices by over 20% and inducing a substantial in US ethanol production capacity (Carter et al., 2016; Roberts and Schlenker, 2013). Its effect on cropland extensification was a concern before it was passed since the policy includes a stipulation forbidding ethanol production on cropland converted after 2007. Lands at the extensive margin tend to be less productive and more environmentally sensitive. Extensive transitions also tend to be less frequent than transitory breaks in crop rotations making their impacts longer-lasting. The goal of this final analysis is to isolate the impact of ethanol expansion on cropland transitions from the general price changes. The concurrent increase in general crop prices and ethanol construction from the RFS complicates the estimation of plants’ effects. I isolate these effects using difference- in-differences (DID) which removes impact from common price trends between the treatment and control group. The standard DID approach results show significant pre-treatment effects stemming from non-random ethanol plant construction. Treatment is likely non-random since ethanol plants lo- cate in areas that provide better returns. Factors that impact the returns to plants confound the analysis since they likely also impact cropland transition decisions. To address this, I use propensity score matching to ensure these confounding factors are identically distributed between the treatment and control groups. Under the matched DID models, the expansion of ethanol plants tended to increase cropland retainment and reduce lands transitioning from non-cropland to cropland. While these results seem contradictory, they are consistent with the findings in recent literature. These impacts are thought to arise due to higher program retention in the major US cropland retirement program CRP due to changes that disproportionately impacted major ethanol production areas.

This thesis explores the idea of the ‘railway family’ in the British railwayindustry between 1900 and 1948. The ‘railway family’ was borne out of a desire tocreate an ‘imagined community’ of railway workers across the wide geographicalboundaries of individual railway companies and the local branches of national tradeunions. The thesis seeks to understand how railway companies and trade unionsmanaged and extended the idea, particularly through their magazines and newspapers,in order to cultivate loyalty and support amongst their employees or members andtheir families. Despite being a male-dominated industry, the idea of the ‘railway family’opened up avenues of participation for women within the railway industry, mostespecially through the women’s trade union auxiliaries. These auxiliaries were open tothe wives and daughters of railway trade unionists and created a space for theseindividuals to cultivate their own identity as part of the railway industry and as women,wives and mothers through fundraising for trade union causes, supporting the unionduring labour unrest and campaigning on political issues that affected the ‘railwayfamily’. The idea of the ‘railway family’ was not just a theoretical model but was livedin practice by railwaymen and their families within their local communities. Thecreation of occupational communities and the ways in which the ‘railway family’supported one another without the interference of railway companies and tradeunions will be explored through a case study of Gloucester. This thesis is the firstoccasion that the idea of the ‘railway family’ has been studied, both in theory and in practice, in order to understand how railway companies and trade unions interactedwith railway workers and their families and how these individuals utilised the idea tocreate a lasting support network for all those involved with the railway industry.

Yes

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1984. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves [439]-460.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-83). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (doctoral)--Harvard University, 2002. / Adviser: Peter G. Rowe. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-100)

The effect transit investments can have on surrounding land uses has been studied in planning literature. Often it is argued that high-density, more sustainable development occurs around stations on newly constructed transit lines. This study examines the impacts of the Yonge-University-Spadina line on development in the north ends of the city of Toronto. This study is guided by three objectives. First, the research aims to determine the extent of the differences in built form and densities between the two study sites. Second, the thesis explains why these differences have emerged and what factors have shaped the evolution of the two sites. Based on the first two analyses, the research provides recommendations to encourage intensified, transit-oriented development in areas that currently do not reflect these principles. A variety of methods are used to achieve these objectives including: an analysis of empirical census data, a comparison of land uses and built form through archive and current photographs, a property value comparison, a transit ridership analysis, a review of archive newspaper articles, an examination of previous and existing policy documents, and a review of previously conducted interviews with Toronto area developers and municipal officials. This study concludes that the Yonge line has experienced significantly more growth over time than the Spadina line. It finds that the policy provisions that dictate development along the Yonge line are much more conducive to intensified growth. As a result, recommendations are made that the city establishes a similar policy framework for land around the Spadina line so that obstacles to potential for intensified growth may be eliminated. More specifically, the thesis identifies contemporary monetary and policy incentives to developers to encourage sustainable development.

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