Wage dispersion is one of the social and economic issues arousing public concern in Hong Kong. There are many studies exploring the possible causes and changes in wage dispersion. They often focus on the study of summary measures such as Gini and Theil indexes, or adopt OLS-based regression approach. In foreign studies on wage dispersion, Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, originated from Oaxaca (1974) and Blinder (1973), is a common method of decomposing changes or differences in mean wages between two groups into wage structure effect and composition effect, and then further decomposing the two effects into contributions of each control variable. Nevertheless, focusing on summary measures or decomposing mean wages can just give people an insight into the causes and changes in general wage dispersion but not the entire wage distribution. As pointed out by Chi, Li and Yu (2007), the estimation of the entire wage distribution and decomposition of the distributional changes in wage dispersion has been attracting the attention of labour economists. This thesis adopts a distributional approach proposed by Firpo, Fortin and Lemieux (2007) to study the changes in wage dispersion of Hong Kong since 1980s. The FFL approach comprises a two-stage procedure. Firstly, changes in dispersion are divided into wage structure effect and composition effect without directly estimating a wage-setting model. This is done by doing a proper reweighting to obtain counterfactual wage vectors. Kernel density estimation is used for visualizing the wage distribution in different years and the counterfactuals; secondly, novel recentered influence function (RIF) regressions across quantiles are performed to further decompose the two effects into contributions of each control variable. The findings are outlined as follows: first, there was an increase in wage dispersion over the whole wage distribution from 1980s but a decrease from 2001 to 2006; second, the composition effect dominates the wage structure effect over years; third, changes in the distribution of characteristics and the returns to these characteristics are highly responsive to each other, suggesting that our labour market is highly responsive to structural changes; fourth, The common wage-determining factors may not be able to explain the earnings-profile of low wage earners well. In brief, the development of the economy since 1980s increased the wage dispersion over years. Nevertheless, the economic downturn due to external shocks and internal unfavourable events and general skill-upgrading in labour-intensive industries decreased the wage dispersion since 2000s.

Everywhere around the world, whether in developing or developed countries, women earn less than men. This phenomenon is in no way new and it has been investigated for many years. Still, in today’s modern society, the wage gap does not appear to be closing. In times of economic instability, such as the economic crisis, the progress towards equality may be pushed back, since specific groups, sectors, and occupations may be affected differently. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the Italian gender wage gap with a closer look at the fluctuations during the period of the financial crisis. In order to analyse and understand the fluctuations of the pay gap, the three main theories used in the research are the human capital theory, occupational segregation, and theories regarding the labour market structure. By applying the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method, this study analyses to what extent the gap could be explained by differences in observable characteristics, such as level of education or age, and how much remains unexplained. The empirical model is applied to the Italian Survey of Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) microdata between the period of 2002 and 2016. The main findings show that the Italian gender wage gap, for the most part, remains unexplained. This indicates that the differentials in pay cannot be accounted for by differences in observable characteristics, such as education, age, contract type. The results of this research show that the Italian wage gap was, to some extent, negatively affected by the financial crisis. Furthermore, implemented austerity measures were found not to have significant negative impacts on the gap, which only increased in the initial phase of the crisis.

Analysis was performed on a 31-artifact sample of Late Terminal Formative obsidian excavated in 2003 from the archaeological site of Yugüe in the Lower Verde Valley of Oaxaca. This analysis was performed to determine the geochemical sources of the individual obsidian artifacts and replicate a prior study of Yugüe obsidian performed by David T. Williams for his thesis at the University of Colorado. This earlier analysis determined that five obsidian sources were present. Sourcing was accomplished using a handheld X-Ray fluorescence instrument and bivariate plotting of relevant trace elements. Five sources of obsidian were found during analysis: Pachuca, Otumba, Paredon, Guadalupe Victoria, and Zaragoza. Williams identified additional sources that were not identified in this study, but he also may have sampled artifacts from the site from other excavations. This previous analysis by Williams also did not attribute sources to individual artifacts, making it impossible for archaeological conclusions to be drawn about the life histories of particular artifacts. By attributing sources to individual artifacts during analysis, this project provides valuable context about both the site of Yugüe during the Terminal Formative period and the lower Rio Verde Valley.

This thesis reconstructs and analyzes a Classic period (AD 250-800) burial collection from the archaeological site of Loma Don Genaro in Oaxaca, Mexico. This research aims to address two main questions: 1.) What information about the burial collection is available through the archaeological archives? 2.) What does this information tell us about social organization during the Classic period at Loma Don Genaro? In order to address these questions, the following objectives were explored: to reconstruct ancient burials using archival material; to describe the burial demography across the site; to describe variation in grave goods; to relatively date and order the burials chronologically; to draw conclusions about social organization through patterns visible in the burial record. This project included bringing together existing archival records such as field drawings, burial record forms, lot forms, field maps, photographs, and field notes in order to reconstruct detailed burial records for 25 individuals. This recontextualization of the burial collection has made the data concerning each burial easily accessible, enabling further data to be gleaned from the remains. After creating a usable data management system for the burial collection and its associated records, the burials were analyzed. Analysis included: providing relative dates for the burials and chronologically ordering the burials using stratigraphic information; demographic analysis in order to identify the number adults, juveniles, males, and females in the collection, as well as the ages of each individual; analysis of burial position and orientation; analysis of the diversity of both the amount and type of grave goods (such as ceramic vessels, jade beads, figurines, and lithics) present in each burial. Several patterns relating to sex, age, and social status across the site were identified: there is an emphasis on adult burials with minimal children in the burial collection; the more elaborate burials reflecting a higher social status for the buried individuals were those with greater than ten ceramic vessels, had slab-lined burials, or were slab-lined and contained greater than ten vessels, and contained both male and female individuals. The data from this thesis provide an important snapshot of life during a key period of social change in ancient Mexico.

When a society experiences a collapse, political authority becomes decentralized, large settlements often become abandoned, economic specialization decreases; and monumental building projects, artistic, and literary achievements slow drastically. The Rio Verde Valley, a coastal floodplain located in the region of Oaxaca in Southwest Mexico, experienced such a collapse at the end of the Terminal Formative period (150 BC to 250 AD). A period of decentralization followed, with regional centers becoming the main seats of authority throughout the region. My aim is to understand how this collapse affected residential population mobility in the lower Rio Verde Valley between the pre-collapse Terminal Formative and post-collapse Early Classic periods. I seek to answer the question: could this political collapse have caused intra-regional migration amongst the people of Ancient Oaxaca? To answer this, I analyzed the stable 18O and 13O isotopes in a set of 21 samples of human long bone excavated from the Terminal Formative archaeological site of Yugüe and the Early Classic site of Charco Redondo. Oxygen isotope analysis is based on the principle that bone apatite and tooth enamel hold traces of oxygen isotopes found in the water that people drink, and that varying values of those isotopes reflect that the water was obtained from different sources. Based on literature surrounding the process of political collapse in ancient Mesoamerica and beyond, I expected to find evidence that intra-regional population mobility increased after the Terminal Formative period collapse. Instead, I found evidence of little to no mobility in both the Terminal Formative period site and the Early Classic period site, showing that the political collapse likely did not affect intra-regional mobility. These findings provide valuable insight into how human migration patterns correspond with political changes, both in the archaeological record of past civilizations and in modern societies.

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This dissertation examines the process of transition to democratic governance in developing nations. In particular, it explores the role of civil society and of the progressive Catholic Church as a significant part of it in the democratization process at a sub-national level. The regional-temporal focus of this study is southern Mexico from the 1970s to the present, more specifically the predominantly indigenous state of Oaxaca. This dissertation fills a gap in the literature on the application of a concept, that of civil society, that arose in the context of the modernizing West to the democratization process of a Latin American and largely indigenous society. The choice of Oaxaca as an area for study allows for two main perspectives of analysis: first, it highlights the differences in state-society relationships that take place at a sub-national as compared to a national level, and the types of regimes resulting from these differences. Second, it emphasizes the way in which the highly indigenous character of Oaxaca's population shapes the nature and goals of this state's civil society. The central point of this dissertation is that civil society has been a significant factor in inducing democratization in Oaxaca by transforming the state-society relationship from co-optation to contestation, as well as in conveying the culturally determined political demands of the indigenous peoples to liberal political institutions. The success of civil society on this endeavor, however, depends not only on the composition of civil society itself but also on the complex array of rights, leaders, political opportunity for reform, and cultural environment in which civil society develops. More specifically, the processes of democratization and de-democratization in Oaxaca depend in large measure on the ways in which national and sub-national actors shape the balance between cooperative, confrontational, and radical forms of civil society. Where political opportunities for reform allow confrontational forces to gain great capacity to challenge categorical inequalities, the processes of democratization have greater chances of succeeding. Where national and sub-national elites are able to use cooperative and radical spaces in civil society to restrict contestation, de-democratization should be expected. / Political Science

The afterlife is an important concept in many societies whether they are contemporary or ancient. Egypt and Oaxaca, Mexico are just two of the many cultures that took the time to find ways to ensure a successful transition into the afterlife. Each culture in the world has their own unique way of ensuring this transition. Tomb art is the common element that links the unique cultures of New Kingdom Egypt and Classic Period Oaxaca, Mexico. Each culture's tomb art has its own way of guiding the deceased into the world beyond this one. There are other common elements of the art, such as the idea of appeasement, that link the two civilizations that are thousands of miles apart as well as thousands of years apart. These commonalities can give researchers more insight on what is most important to gain access to the afterlife.

本研究主旨是從人力資本理論以及勞動市場條件的觀點，來探討原、漢族群的工資不平等之現象根源。長久以來，原住民從成長、學校教育，到進入職場，莫不受各種條件的不足所制，以至於與主流社會的社經處境有難以克服的落差。本研究採用2007年「社會變遷基本調查第五期第三次」階層組以及休閒組調查，和2007年「臺灣原住民社會變遷與政策評估調查研究」，三筆具代表性且規模相近的面訪資料、共2393位私部門受雇者來加以比較。透過群體加權校正，本研究首先透過多元迴歸與交互作用分析，來探討兩族群的人力資本和勞動市場條件與工資取得高低之間的關係。接著，再以經Heckman校正Blinder-Oaxaca差異分解，來分析兩族群工資落差中的結構與現象差異。 研究結果顯示，人力資本和勞動市場條件能說明原住民族與漢人之間，確有工資上的族群歧視現象。原住民教育的工資報酬率在義務教育階段後即無顯著效果，而不同於漢人能持續成長；不論是年資、職業聲望或是工作型態，原住民的工資報酬率都顯著也比漢人低落，且影響更勝教育差異。這些現象即使是在差異分解校正結構差異後依舊存在。是故，既有量化研究除了從教育面向來探討原、漢族群社經不平等之外，實應持續重視原住民族進入職場後，所面對的勞動市場問題。 / The aim of this research is to study the wage gap between aborigines and Han Chinese in Taiwan. The research explores the impacts of human capital and labor market conditions on the wage gap. Throughuot the life course trajectories of schooling and labor market participation, aborigines in Taiwan persistently face dire straits, resulting in insurmountable soci-economic gaps with Han Chinese. The data sources of the research are from Taiwan Social Changy Survey (TSCS) 2007, Phase 5, Wave 3: The Social Stratification module and The Leisure Time module, and Social Change and Policy of Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples Survey (TIPS) 2007, which are representative to the adult population in Taiwan. The total sample sizes are 2393 employees in private sector and roughly equal in size between two ethnics. With weighting, regression interaction effects were estimated to analyze the impacts of human capital and labor market conditions on wage differences between aborigines and Han Chinese. Moreover, the research uses two-steps Heckman selection model to correct selection bias of labor marke participation as well as Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition to analyze the ethnic disparities in wage. The finding of interaction models show that human capital and labor market conditions can explain the wage gap and reveal the negative effects of discrimination against aborigines. While only the compulsory education has positive effects on aborigines’ wage, Han Chinese could benefit from all stage of education. Job tenures, occupational prestiage, and employment types are more benefitical to Han Chinese than to aborigines, and the impacts of these factors on wage are greater than education. These results are also consistent with decomposition analysis. Other than education inequality, the finding of this research suggests that future studies of ethnic disparities in soci-economic inequality should concern more about ethnic differences in labor market conditons.