The central argument of this dissertation is that the early modern English state and its dependent empire were significantly shaped by contemporary science. It identifies a particular mode of natural knowledge production, rooted in the centralized management of empirical information, that was commonly practiced by elite medical practitioners and other men of science in the later seventeenth century. It then examines the ways in which those practices of information management became the foundation of other projects pursued by the same personnel—projects that have not heretofore been considered by historians to have much to do with medicine, or even science generally, and which were central to the formation of the modern English state: the Royal Society’s program to reform the practices of artisans, Samuel Pepys’s reorganization of the Royal Navy, and the establishment of new organs of state to centrally manage colonial development and coordinate the conduct of commerce in the English Atlantic empire.
Archive for the ‘Social Sciences’ Category:
Essays on Learning with Bounded Memory
I study single-agent learning problems under memory constraints. The first chapter studies time consistency issues in a general class of stationary dynamic environments called Markov Decision Processes with Partial Observation. The agent is restricted to use plans with a fixed memory size, that is, strategies that can be implemented by a finite automaton of fixed size. As this induces a game with absent-mindedness, the ex-ante optimal strategy may not be time-consistent. I find that any ex-ante optimal bounded memory strategy satisfies a weaker form of time consistency, multi-self consistency, a la Piccione & Rubinstein 1997). This means that the agent would not want to deviate from the ex-ante optimal strategy for the current period, assuming he will follow the original strategy from tomorrow on. In the second chapter, I analyze the effects of memory limitations on the endogenous learning behavior of an agent in a standard two-armed bandit problem. I find that under memory constraints, the inclination to choose the currently better alternative does not constrain learning: there is no exploitation/exploration trade-off. Optimally, the memory states reflect the magnitude of the relative ranking of alternatives. After a high payoff from one of the alternatives, the agent optimally moves to a memory state with more pessimistic beliefs on the other, even though no information about the latter alternative is received. For the case where one alternative is substantially more informative than the other, he chooses the latter only for myopic exploitation purposes, and ignores any information about it, suggesting specialization in learning. For the special case with one known safe) alternative, a sufficiently patient agent never ceases experimentation and tries the unknown alternative at least occasionally after any history； this is counter to what theory predicts with unbounded memory, but in agreement with experimental findings. Furthermore, he chooses the safe alternative with more optimistic beliefs than the optimal unbounded memory) cutoff belief, again in conformity with experimental evidence.
Resurrecting the past, constructing the future: A historical investigation on the formation of a Greek national identity in schools, 1834–1913
This dissertation research combines archival data and historical methods and analyzes how schooling and education in Greece between 1834 and 1913 sought to shape a Greek national identity. The goal of this project is to present a historical analysis, that has thus far been absent from scholarship on the subject, and to convey how the adoption of a common national history in Greece, with roots to ancient Greece, assisted in the shaping of a Greek national identity. The timeframe this project examines is significant because it covers an important portion of Modern Greek history. The beginning of the modern state of Greece and the opening of the first Greek schools occurred in 1834, while 1913 represents the end of the Balkan Wars and the expansion of Greek schools and a Greek identity into newly claimed parts of Greece. The years between 1834 and 1913 were a time of major social, political, and cultural changes in the state of Greece that helped to facilitate the formation of a Modern Greek national identity. Greek government legislation, textbooks, teachers manuals, curriculum guidelines, opinions, and other writings from and about this time period, provide the historical, social and cultural contexts analyzed in this dissertation. By focusing on these archival materials, this project contributes to the history of education, cultural and educational policy studies, comparative and international education, national identity formation, Modern Greek history and more broadly, European history.
Three essays on the economics of child health
The first chapter of this dissertation examines the effect of insurance mandates on infant immunization rates. Immunizations are one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. While US infant immunization rates have been increasing in the last 20 years, the cost of fully immunizing a child with all recommended vaccines has almost tripled. This is partly due to new additions in the list of recommended vaccines, but also due to the use of new, safer, but more expensive technologies in vaccine production and distribution. In recent years, many states have mandated that recommended childhood vaccines be covered by private health insurance companies. Currently, there are 33 states with such a mandate. In this paper, I examine whether the introduction of mandates on private insurers affected immunization rates. Using state and time variation, I find that mandates increased the immunization rate for three vaccines — the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, polio and measles vaccines — by about 1.8 percentage points. I also find evidence that the mandates shifted some vaccinations from public to private sources. The second chapter of this dissertation studies the issue of whether concerns about autism affected vaccine takeup. In the wake of strong claims that there existed a link between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella MMR) vaccine, which was refuted by later research, I examine whether fewer parents immunized their children. This task becomes difficult as the timing of the controversy in the US coincided with expansions in medical access for children and other programs that affect childhood immunizations, as well as another controversy regarding mercury containing preservatives in childhood vaccines. Using a time trends analysis and a few differencing strategies that compare the take up of MMR to other vaccines, I find that the MMR-autism controversy led to a decline of about 2 percentage points in the take up of MMR and a negative spillover on other vaccines. I find some evidence that more educated mothers responded more to the controversy, which is consistent with more educated individuals absorbing health information more quickly. However, this disparity persisted even after new research and information about the lack of such link became widespread in the media. The third chapter of this dissertation analyzes the effectiveness of a peer counseling breastfeeding support program for low income women in Michigan who participate in the Women, Infants and Children WIC) program. Because there was excess demand for services provided by the program, many women who requested to participate were not subsequently contacted by the peer counselors. We compare the breastfeeding outcomes between the two groups and identify the effectiveness of the program based on the differences between the women who requested to participate and were enrolled relative to those who requested participation, but were not contacted due to lack of capacity. Our analysis uses survey data from the program as well as administrative data from Vital Records, Medicaid, and WIC from the state of Michigan. After providing evidence that our key assumption in identifying the effect if program is consistent with the data, we estimate that the program caused the breastfeeding initiation to increase by about 27 percentage points and the mean duration of breastfeeding to increase by more than 3 weeks. The support program we evaluated was very effective at increasing breastfeeding among low income women who participate in WIC, a population that nationally breastfeeds at rates well below the national average and below what is recommended by public health professionals.
Technology and Social Process: Oscillations in Iron Age Copper Production and Power in Southern Jordan
Records of technological practice provide an important lens for studying societies and cultures across time and space. This dissertation takes a diachronic view of the role of ancient copper production in the formation and oscillations of power when historical ‘state’ level societies emerged during the late 2nd — 1st millennium BCE in the southern Levant. The primary study area is Jordan’s Faynan district that contains the richest copper ore deposits in the southern Levant and constitutes one of the best preserved records of ancient copper extraction in the world. As demonstrated here, ancient metallurgy played a major role in socio-political processes for south Levantine complex societies during the Iron Age (12th — 6th centuries BCE). The core of this study is the identification of detailed chaines operatoires of changing Iron Age copper production systems. Based on newly excavated archaeometallurgy material culture, surveys, analyses of large technology-related assemblages, and previously published data, the basic components of the changing production systems are defined, and social meanings are extracted.
Human-environment interactions and sustainable urban development: Spatial modeling and landscape prediction the case of Nang Rong town, Thailand
It is now well-recognized that, at local, regional, and global scales, land use changes are significantly altering land cover, perhaps at an accelerating pace. Further, the worlds scientific community is increasingly recognizing what, in retrospect, should have been obvious, that human behavior and agency is a critical driver of Land Cover and Land Use Change. In this research, using recently developed computer modeling procedures and a rich case study, I develop spatially-explicit model-based simulations of LULCC scenarios within the rubric of sustainability science for Nang Rong town, Thailand. The research draws heavily on recent work in geography and complexity theory. A series of scenarios were built to explore different development trajectories based upon empirically observed relationships. The development models incorporate a) history and spatial pattern of village settlement； b) road development and changing geographic accessibility； c) population； d) biophysical characteristics and e) social drivers. This research uses multi-temporal and spatially-explicit data, analytic results, and dynamic modeling approaches combined with to describe, explain, and explore LULCC as the consequences of different production theories for rural, small town urbanization in the South East Asian context. Two Agent Based models were built: 1) Settlement model and 2) Land-use model. The Settlement model suggests that new development will emerge along the existing road network especially along the major highway and in close proximity to the urban center. If the population doubles in 2021, the settlement process may inhibit development along some corridors creating low density sprawl. The Land-use model under the urban expansion scenario suggests that new settlements will occur in close proximity to the town center and roads； even though, the area is suitable for rice farming or located on a flood plain. The Land-use model under the cash-crop expansion scenario captures that new agriculture will occur on the flood plain and other areas suitable for rice farming. The Land-use model under the Kings Theory scenario suggests that agriculture agents occupied more disperse lands than the cash-crops scenario. In addition, the Kings Theory scenario provided more access to water surface than other scenarios and was the most sustainable development plan. These products offer a better understanding of the urban growth and LULCC at a regional scale and will potentially guide more systematic and effective resource management and policy decisions. Although this research focuses on a specific site, the methods employed are applicable to other rural regions with similar characteristics.
Essays in health economics
This dissertation consists of three essays on empirical issues in health economics. The first essay considers the selection-efficiency trade-off in competitive health insurance markets, where insurers face incentives to exploit unpriced heterogeneity by selecting low-risk individuals “cream-skimming”). The German Social Health Insurance does not adjust payments to sickness funds for geographic differences in costs, thereby generating incentives for funds to select against relatively more expensive areas, such as West Germany. In an audit study I present funds with fictive applicants from different locations and infer recruitment efforts by measuring callback for letters, emails and phone calls. The findings suggest that sickness funds are less responsive to requests from West German applicants, a result consistent with cream-skimming in this market. The second essay evaluates the impacts of two school nutrition policies, Californias state-wide beverage policy and Los Angeles Unified School Districts food-and-beverage standards of 2004, on adolescent dietary behavior and obesity. Two large datasets on physical measures and food intake facilitate the construction of reliable control groups, including a “synthetic” control unit consisting of unaffected districts that are reweighted to closely resemble Los Angeles in the pre-intervention period. Both policies are found ineffective at reducing the prevalence of overweight or obesity. However, the district policy decreased consumption of its key targets, soda and fried foods. The third essay examines the reliability of self-reported data in empirical analysis. Self-reported data is prone to systematic measurement error that may be constant or change in response to external events. The essay illustrates these issues with data on self-reported and measured overweight/obesity status, and BMI, height and weight z-scores of public school students in California from 2004 to 2006. In the cross-section, the prevalence of overweight/obesity is significantly lower in self-reported data relative to measured data. A district nutrition policy changed the reporting bias differentially in the treatment and control districts, so that program evaluations could find spurious positive or mill impacts of the intervention.
The ‘eternal return’ of the Byzantine icon: Sacred and secular in the art of Photis Kontoglou
This dissertation focuses on the secular painting of Photis Kontoglou (1895-1965). Although Kontoglou is best known for leading a revival of Byzantine religious painting, he also produced a number of secular paintings which were rendered in the style of religious icons. In the course of my study, I suggest that these “secular icons” can only be understood by exploring his conception of the sacred. I show that the sacred for Kontoglou was not limited to the life of the Greek Orthodox Church but included a Romantic conception of Greek nationalism grounded in folk culture. I argue that Kontoglou’s view of the sacred was broad enough to encompass numerous instances of pre-modern life and society, many of which were not confined to the Greek nation. The dissertation is organized in the following way. In Chapter 1, I explore the meaning of the term ‘icon’ within the theoretical framework of discussions about the categories of ‘sacred’ and ‘secular,’ especially those of Mircea Eliade. In the next section, I examine the wider context out of which Kontoglou’s artistic views took shape. Chapter 3 explores Kontoglou’s theory of Greek national continuity. Chapter 4 focuses on Kontoglou’s conception of icon painting. Finally, Chapter 5 includes an analysis of five of Kontoglou’s so-called ‘secular icons’ and seeks to account for the resemblance of these works to conventional religious icons.
Aid and comfort to the enemy? International news media, cost sensitivity, and interstate war
This dissertation examines the question: To what extent does the international news media influence the outcome of interstate wars? It considers the longstanding charge that media reports of public debates about foreign policy provide aid and comfort to the enemy. New theory is proposed that addresses this policy problem facing democracies, and also addresses gaps in the theoretical literature on the causes of war. The theory advanced in this dissertation is that the presence of the international news media influences the outcome of wars by providing an additional channel through which information about leaders cost sensitivity is revealed and by reciprocally influencing the beliefs and behavior of leaders and their foreign adversaries in the conduct of wars. Novel variables representing major phases in the emergence of the international news media are defined. Original research is conducted using primary and secondary sources to characterize the media by year in individual states. The novel media variables are combined with variables from other studies to create a dataset spanning 90 interstate wars involving 51 different states from 1823 through 1990. Hypotheses based on the theory are tested using a multinomial logistic regression model. The results of this study partially support the theory in that the type of media in a war initiator state is strongly and significantly associated with a higher probability of winning. Unexpected findings regarding the influence of media speed on the probability of winning, and a failure to find a relationship between media and the probability of losing require further investigation. Overall, however, the presence of the international news media appears to influence the outcome of interstate wars. The results have important implications for future theoretical research as well as for policy choices regarding the proper role of domestic debates and media reporting thereof. Additional research is required to confirm the findings, examine the unexpected findings, and to examine the relevance of the findings in other eras and other phases of war. Deeply rooted assumptions within society that media reporting on wars conflicts with national security interests must be revisited as part of an examination of policy implications of the findings.
Power for a price: Office purchase, elite families, and status maintenance in Qing China
This dissertation revises prevalent conceptions of social hierarchy and political access in Qing China 1644-1911) through an analysis of the officially sanctioned office purchase Ch. juanna) system that was in effect for most of the Qing dynasty after 1665. Synthesizing evidence from a wide range of materials, including central government policy files, sales data records, and private documents, this work argues that the presence of a significant group of officials who did not hold degrees from the civil service examination system requires historians to revisit long-held assumptions about the nature of political access and elite status in Qing China. Specifically, this dissertation argues that, contrary to assumptions that social mobility was predicated mainly upon scholarly achievement, possession of liquid wealth was a critical prerequisite for attaining as well as maintaining social status and prestige, even for those who succeeded in the examinations. Office purchase also influenced the Qing bureaucracy and society at large by simultaneously expanding and homogenizing the pool of candidates for official service. The results after surveying personnel files from the central government of over 1,600 officials reveal that upwards of 50% of those sampled in the nineteenth century used office purchase to enter the bureaucracy without direct certification through the civil service examinations, which undermines the conventional supposition that only degree holders could become officials. Also, an analysis of national and regional data on over 10,000 buyers shows that the socioeconomic backgrounds of individuals purchasing offices in the Qing was similar to persons who were likely successful participants in the examinations. Office purchase was therefore a guaranteed means for access to government positions, mitigating previous studies claims that a family was subject to downward social mobility through failure in examinations. In this context, material wealth was more than simply a resource that facilitated other means and markers. Rather, it was an important tool in itself for status preservation. Although it was widely criticized as an unethical way of bureaucratic recruitment, throughout the Qing office purchase not only increased state revenue but also permitted individuals to parlay their economic assets into instruments of securing political and social status.
