Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-200).

Thesis (M. Log.)--Universiteit van Pretoria, 2000. / Summary in English and Afrikaans.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, November, 2008. / Release of full electronic text on OhioLINK has been delayed until December 1, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-221)

This thesis consists of three self-contained chapters. Chapter 1 develops a two-sector, bivariate matching model, in which each sector uses a different dimension of skill in the production process. I show there exists a unique assignment of agents to sectors and derive comparative statics. The main result is that if jobs are scarce, both an increase in sector one skills' spread and a technological improvement increase the supply of talent in sector one, but decrease it in sector two. In sector two, this raises wages and wage inequality. In sector one, the effects are ambiguous in general, but wages increase for the most and decrease for the least talented agents. Chapter 2 studies the impact of social status on occupational sorting in a two-sector matching framework. Talent is two-dimensional and thus status is not a zero-sum game; it depends both on occupational prestige and within-sector rank (local status). I show that the weights with which these two components enter - the structure of status - crucially influence the way in which agents self-select into sectors and argue that it is likely that these weights differ across occupations. The more important are the individual components of status in a sector, or the less important the collective component, the better the agents who join that industry, which has important implications for total payoffs, wage levels and inequality, and profits. I also show that the stable assignment is typically inefficient, which is driven by the distortion of relative status rewards, not status concerns per se. Chapter 3 investigates whether directors of companies should have limited liability. I develop a three-player model in which: (a) debtholders and equityholders are defined by their control rights and (b) the project is run by the directors. The main result is that increased liability for directors forces them to internalise more of the downside risk of the project and hence reduces their risk-taking. This is optimal if over-investment was a problem initially. I show that the extent to which over-investment is a problem depends on how well debtholders are protected compared to equityholders. If debtholders are strong, increased liability can cause under-investment.

xviii, 264 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This dissertation examines the role of stone tool production as a strategic resource in the development of chiefly authority in prehistoric Samoa. The evolution of Polynesia's complex chiefly systems is a long standing issue in anthropology, and prior archaeological research has identified that specialized goods were a significant factor in the elevation of elite status in many Polynesian contexts. Before Western contact, Samoa was a stratified chiefdom with leaders claiming exclusive privileges and participating in an extensive trade network within the Fiji-West Polynesian region during the Traditional Samoan period (c. A.D. 300-1700). However, Samoa's political structure was quite different in the earlier Polynesian Plainware period (c. 500 B.C.-A.D. 300). Archaeologists, with the aid of historical linguistics, have documented a simple hereditary system operating among small horticultural communities. To address this political transformation, I investigate coeval changes occurring in stone adze production recovered on Tutuila Island. Based firmly in the theoretical perspective of political economy, I ask three inter-related questions in my dissertation: were adze specialists present in ancient Samoa; if so, what was their connection to chiefly prerogatives; and what further relationship did these adze producers have with Samoa's emerging elite? To answer these questions, I utilize mass flake analysis and typological classifications to document technological and spatial changes in stone tool production. I also employ settlement studies and geochemical characterization to chart how leaders managed and controlled raw materials, as well as the distribution of basalt adzes in exchange networks. From my research, I record numerous nucleated workshops of adze specialization on Tutuila dating as far back as 800 years ago. As a new form of economic organization, these adze specialists acted as catalysts for increased political complexity and stratified authority. In addition, I trace how Samoan elites used their bourgeoning authority in restricting access to basalt sources and the distribution of the finished products during this same time period. In the larger Samoan political economy, I conclude that Tutuilan chiefs, located in an otherwise economically-impoverished island, utilized these newly-developed adze specialists and high-quality basalt as strategic resources for accumulating material surplus in prestige competition. / Adviser: William S. Ayres

abstract: Aggression is inherently social. Evolutionary theories, for instance, suggest that the peer group within which an aggressor is embedded is of central importance to the use of aggression. However, there is disagreement in the field with regard to understanding precisely how aggression and peer relationships should relate. As such, in a series of three empirical studies, my dissertation takes a relational approach and addresses some of the inconsistencies present in the extant literature. In Study 1, I examined how qualities of youth's close friendships contributed to the use of aggression, both concurrently and over time. I found that youth with large friendship networks were more aggressive, whereas those with highly interconnected friendship network decreased in aggression over time. Using a dyadic mediation model, the second study considered the precursors to aggressors' friendships with peers. Specifically, I explored aggressive youth's interactions with unfamiliar peers and assessed how the interactions that unfold affected the quality of the relationship. I found that dyads who were highly discrepant in their tendencies toward aggression failed to collaborate well with one another, and this led to less positive perceptions of one another. Whereas the first two studies concerned aggressors' relationships with their friends (Study 1) and acquaintances (Study 2), Study 3 focused on a different type of relationship – the relationship between an aggressor and his or her victim(s). In the third study, I explored how power dynamics operate within an aggressor-victim dyad and assessed whether differences in the balance of power between the aggressor and victim affected the strength of their relationship. I found that more aggressor-victim dyads were characterized by a relative balance than imbalance in power, and that power balanced dyads had stronger and more sustained aggressor-victim relationships. By taking a relational approach to the study of aggression, this dissertation has advanced extant work in the field. That is, these findings move away from the simplification and aggregation of relational constructs (e.g., relationships, friendships), and instead consider the nuances of specific types of relationships or interactions with specific peers, allowing for a better understanding of the relational nature of aggression. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2016

abstract: By matching a CEO's place of residence in his or her formative years with U.S. Census survey data, I obtain an estimate of the CEO's family wealth and study the link between the CEO's endowed social status and firm performance. I find that, on average, CEOs born into poor families outperform those born into wealthy families, as measured by a variety of proxies for firm performance. There is no evidence of higher risk-taking by the CEOs from low social status backgrounds. Further, CEOs from less privileged families perform better in firms with high R&D spending but they underperform CEOs from wealthy families when firms operate in a more uncertain environment. Taken together, my results show that endowed family wealth of a CEO is useful in identifying his or her managerial ability. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2018

abstract: Although aggression is sometimes thought to be maladaptive, evolutionary theories of resource control and dominance posit that aggression may be used to gain and maintain high social prominence within the peer group. The success of using aggression to increase social prominence may depend on the form of aggression used (relational versus physical), the gender of the aggressor, and the prominence of the victim. Thus, the current study examined the associations between aggression and victimization and social prominence. In addition, the current study extended previous research by examining multiple forms of aggression and victimization and conceptualizing and measuring social prominence using social network analysis. Participants were 339 6th grade students from ethnically diverse backgrounds (50.4% girls). Participants completed a peer nomination measure assessing relational and physical aggression and victimization. They also nominated friends within their grade, which were used to calculate three indices of social prominence, using social network analysis. As expected, results indicated that relational aggression was associated with higher social prominence, particularly for girls, whereas physical aggression was less robustly associated with social prominence. Results for victimization were less clear, but suggested that, for girls, those at mid-levels of social prominence were most highly victimized. For boys, results indicated that those both high and low in prominence were most highly relationally victimized, and those at mid-levels of prominence were most highly physically victimized. These findings help inform intervention work focused on decreasing overall levels of aggressive behavior. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Family and Human Development 2013

This thesis is based on the premise that questions about human affairs, including questions about art, need to be considered in the context of our deep history as a species. Darwinian theories of human existence have given scholars in evolutionary psychology the chance to analyze human cognition, emotions, and behaviour by considering the trajectory of our evolution and how that has shaped our current situation. Taking a Darwinian literary approach, this thesis tries to answer one of the main questions about James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses: What is the purpose behind a style that many find so difficult in this novel? In order to answer this question, I explore the adaptive purposes of literature (in general) and stylistic experimentation (in particular). I argue that art can be seen as a form of sexual display where stylistic difficulty and originality are ways of indicating fitness for survival. In this way, both the author and readers of Ulysses spend their time and energy to produce and consume the difficult style of Ulysses because they find pleasure in an activity that is adaptively useful. Furthermore, I suggest that earning social status could have been an evolutionary motive for both the authors and readers of difficult modernist texts, including Ulysses. To support this, I show how gaining social status is part of other sexual ornamentation that handicap the displayer by imposing excessive difficulty in terms of the time and energy needed to put on those displays of fitness. / Graduate / 2018-10-23

This dissertation looks at slavery in early Mesopotamia (ca. 3200-1595 BC) in the longue durée and establishes theoretical foundations for interpreting the data preserved in the extant sources. Rather than attempting to define slavery, the forms the social institution took from proto-history into the historical era of early Mesopotamia are contextualised, while identifying the broader social changes which might explain the non-linear evolution of the practice. After considering the difficulty of defining the term ‘slave’ in relation to early Mesopotamia in general and numerous attempts to approach the problem, this work moves beyond definition, attempting to historicise slavery. To achieve this, slavery in early Mesopotamia is considered in the high points of the record in relation to key diagnostic features. The acquisition of slaves is studied alongside the release of slaves, demonstrating the numerous ways people in early Mesopotamia could be reduced to some form of bondage or slavery, while there remained relatively few means by which a person could experience upward movement out of slavery, opportunities which were reduced further for foreign and houseborn slaves. The following discussion of the economics of slavery seeks to place the question in an historical context of modern scholarship before assessing the motivations, benefits, and risks of owning slaves in early Mesopotamia. After this chapter which looks at slavery from the perspectives of the elite, the subsequent chapter attempts to move beyond the elite bias of the documentation to understand history from the bottom, by studying flight and the related means of coercion. By considering the ways in which runaways were pursued and the risks members of the lower stratum community were willing to take for a change in status, the discussion presents a way forward to understanding slavery in early Mesopotamia. These diagnostic features of slavery reveal a traceable non-linear evolution of slavery in early Mesopotamia.