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Strategic concessions : elites, redistribution, and social stability in Latin America
No full textConventional wisdom is that redistribution in Latin America is state-driven and increases with electoral competition or left-wing governments. Contrary to this established understanding, I develop a theory and provide evidence that business elites and right-wing governments also redistribute as a strategy to thwart social unrest or dampen support for left-wing parties, respectively. My research lies at the intersection of comparative politics and political economy, offering insights into unconventional responses to redistributive threats in Latin America. My work relies on a mixed-method approach, incorporating observational and experimental empirical strategies, qualitative interviews, natural language processing techniques, and using administrative and original data sources.
The first part of my dissertation argues that business elites respond to redistributive claims when expressed via violent social unrest by coordinating through business associations and creating jobs because they fear future destruction and economic losses. They are likely to do so when the state is too slow or incapable of addressing popular demands. I connect research on the political economy of development, which sees economic elites as pivotal actors in guaranteeing social stability, and those on contentious politics in developing democracies, which see violent unrest as an expression of low state capacity. In contrast to extensive work on state-led redistribution, this part of my theory spotlights the role of business elites as non-state actors who can use employment as a form of redistribution and who respond more directly to violent protests as opposed to electoral dynamics.
My empirical findings show that redistribution might happen through non-state actors. Yet, in the second part of my dissertation, I also examine the conditions under which political elites are likely to provide state-led redistribution. I argue that conservative parties have strong incentives to pursue redistribution when confronted with a credible leftist threat–namely, an electorally strong left-wing party with credible redistributive promises. Furthermore, I contend, and provide empirical evidence, that the wealthy are more likely to support redistributive policies when they are advanced by right-wing governments rather than by left-wing ones because they perceive it as less uncertain, more efficient, and less prone to create macroeconomic instability.Arts, Faculty ofPolitical Science, Department ofGraduat
Essays on firms and workers
No full textChapter 2 examines the incidence of R&D tax credits on workers’ wages and the underlying mechanisms. Leveraging a regression kink design with matched employer–employee tax records, I show that R&D tax credits substantially increase firms’ R&D expenditures. Responses are concentrated among R&D-intensive firms, where higher spending leads to gains in profitability, productivity, and wages. These benefits accrue primarily to incumbent workers, with high-skill, long-tenured, and older employees experiencing the largest earnings increases: a 10 percent rise in expenditure limit raises their annual wages by 1.2–1.9 percent. In contrast, entrants and less-skilled, younger, or short-tenured workers experience no significant wage effects. The results are consistent with a rent-sharing framework and highlight the role of R&D policy in shaping within-firm wage inequality. Chapter 3 connects changes in employer characteristics through job transitions to employee earnings following mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Using firm balance sheet data linked to individual earnings data in Canada and a matched difference-in-differences design, we find that workers at target firms experience a post-M&A earnings decline, driven largely by those who leave. Although movers transition to larger and more profitable firms, they face wage losses, likely reflecting the erosion of firm-specific human capital or backloaded contracts. The evidence suggests that the loss of match-specific premiums is the primary mechanism behind post-M&A wage declines. Chapter 4 examines the impact of corporate M&As on firm profitability and markups. Using financial data (2010 - 2018) for 10 European countries and a matched difference-in-differences design, we find that acquirers’ and targets’ markups remain unchanged, while their profitability declines substantially. Heterogeneity analyses across sectors and deal types confirm that these patterns are inconsistent with a market power channel. Instead, the evidence indicates that acquisitions are associated with weaker medium-run performance rather than increasing market power.Arts, Faculty ofVancouver School of EconomicsGraduat
Integrating molecular approaches to advance the diagnostic and therapeutic framework of aggressive B-cell lymphomas
No full textAggressive B-cell lymphomas encompass a heterogeneous group of neoplasms unified by their rapid clinical course and potential for cure with appropriate therapy. Traditional classification systems, grounded in morphology, often fail to capture the molecular diversity that shapes prognosis and therapeutic response. While molecular profiling has refined classification in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), other entities remain poorly defined. Among these, high-grade B-cell lymphoma with MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements (HGBCL-DH/TH) and high-grade B-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (HGBCL-NOS), represent challenging diagnostic groups with uncertain biological underpinnings. This thesis aimed to define the molecular landscape of HGBCL-DH/TH and HGBCL-NOS to refine their classification and support a biologically informed taxonomy of aggressive B-cell lymphomas. To achieve this, we assembled large study cohorts with detailed clinicopathological data and performed extensive molecular profiling. In HGBCL-DH/TH, tumors with MYC and BCL6 rearrangements exhibited marked heterogeneity, indicating that they do not constitute a single diagnostic group. In contrast, tumors with MYC and BCL2 rearrangements (HGBCL-DH-BCL2) were biologically uniform and exhibited a characteristic gene expression signature. Molecular profiling demonstrated that in HGBCL-DH-BCL2, cooperative genetic alterations converge to dysregulate pathways active in dark zone germinal center B-cells, and that its characteristic gene expression signature closely aligns with transcriptomic profiles of dark zone B-cells. Expression of this signature, termed the dark zone signature (DZsig), extends beyond HGBCL-DH-BCL2 to identify a broader group of lymphomas unified by a dark zone phenotype, providing a biologically informed framework for classification and highlighting potential therapeutic vulnerabilities. Analysis of HGBCL-NOS confirmed that this category is not biologically cohesive but instead comprises tumors with features aligning with established molecular subgroups. The DZsig resolves a substantial fraction of HGBCL-NOS as dark zone lymphomas, while additional cases can be reclassified through genetics-based subtyping of DLBCL, underscoring the limited utility of HGBCL-NOS as a standalone category. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that morphology-based systems alone obscure meaningful biological distinctions. The addition of molecular profiling clarifies the taxonomy of aggressive B-cell lymphomas, enabling refinement of HGBCL-DH/TH and resolution of HGBCL-NOS into molecularly defined subgroups. This framework provides greater diagnostic precision and lays the foundation for developing targeted therapeutic strategies.Medicine, Faculty ofPathology and Laboratory Medicine, Department ofGraduat
Conceptualizing a sexual health information serious game for post-secondary students in British Columbia
No full textSerious games is a field that uses gamification and game design to engage users in learning and other non-entertainment purposes. This study aimed to conceptualize and test the potential of a serious game resource that would disseminate sexual health information to post-secondary students aged 18-29. The study comprised the development of a survey based on a review of the literature and the operationalization of game dimensions that could be used in the resource. The survey was distributed through convenience and snowball sampling. A total of 114 responses were included in the survey dataset. Findings indicated that sexual health education at the secondary school level varied greatly and was inconsistently delivered, with an emphasis on negative framing of prevention topics such as STIs, contraception, and abstinence. Sexual health topics both encountered and wanted in the post-secondary setting were discerned by respondents, with gaps identified between these which the proposed resource may address. Respondents’ post-secondary information seeking behaviours focused on digital methods and a desire for connection with medical experts and social resources. Based on respondents’ preferences for various game mechanics, mobile platforms, and interest in using a serious game to explore sexual health, several next steps for the design of a serious game resource are proposed - including critical areas of knowledge for the resource to address and further research needed to inform future design choices.Arts, Faculty ofInformation, School ofGraduat
Replacing antibiotics in poultry : the potential of antimicrobial peptides
No full textThe use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) in poultry began in the mid-20th century and
became widespread. However, concerns over the emergence of antibiotic resistance have led to
increasingly strict regulations in the EU, US, and Canada, and have driven a search for alternative
solutions. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are short and mostly cationic biomolecules. Some AMPs show antimicrobial activity and are promising alternatives to conventional antibiotics in the poultry industry. Yet their safety, delivery, and efficacy under commercial production environments remain underexplored. In this study, I aimed to evaluate the safety, growth promoting effects, delivery feasibility, stability, and selective antimicrobial activity of several AMPs through in vivo and in vitro experiments. Selected AMPs (TeRu4, TeBi1, PeNi4, and CLIB_denovo6) were administered via in ovo injection at 10 or 20 µg/egg and tested in pen trials, assessing hatchability, survival probability, and production parameters. Moreover, I assessed the stability of these AMPs in drinking water conditions of farms and assessed their antimicrobial spectra. All AMPs were well-tolerated, with hatchability, survival, and production parameters for most AMPs comparable to controls. There were some AMP- and sex-specific effects, suggesting context-dependent responses. Notably, TeRu4 and CLIB_denovo6, both at 20 µg/egg, significantly increased the survival probability of female birds compared to the controls by approximately 4.9 and 5.7%, respectively, by day 35. Moreover, TeBi1 at 20 µg/egg significantly increased the survival probability of male birds compared to the control by approximately 6.6% by day 35. All AMPs demonstrated high stability in tap water and TeRu4 had selective activity against Gram-negative pathogens, supporting its potential for targeted use. These findings support the feasibility of AMP-based interventions in poultry but highlight the need for standardized protocols and mechanistic studies. Next steps should focus on validating these outcomes in larger, production-scale settings.Science, Faculty ofGraduat
Property rights and women’s earnings : evidence from British Columbia’s Family Law Act
No full textIn March 2013, British Columbia’s Family Law Act extended equal-division property rights to common-law partners after two years of cohabitation. Using Statistics Canada’s Longitudinal Administrative Databank (2006–2019) and event-study difference-in-differences with Ontario and a propensity-score–matched control, I focus on couples already positioned to be covered (“Pre-CLPs”). Women in Pre-CLPs experience short-run declines in employment income after 2013, with minimal pre-trends in the benchmark specification; men’s estimates are small and rarely significant. Effects are not stronger for mothers of young children, consistent with large pre-existing childcare-related earnings penalties. On relationship margins, entries into CLP and marriage show short-lived post-2013 bulges amid upward pre-trends—consistent with awareness/reclassification rather than durable formation changes. I find no systematic evidence of strategic avoidance of the two-year threshold. Overall, aligning CLP and marital property rights appears to reallocate women’s time away from market work within ongoing unions, with muted effects on men and relationship survival.Arts, Faculty ofVancouver School of EconomicsGraduat
The geometric memory of quantum wave functions
No full textQuantum geometry – including both the quantum metric and Berry curvature – arises from the non-zero overlap of well-defined eigenstates and their adiabatic evolution across the Brillouin zone. It has revolutionized condensed matter physics and material science by explaining quantum Hall effects, establishing the modern theory of polarization, and enabling a systematic search for topological materials on a large scale. Yet, despite these advances, we lack a framework for leveraging quantum geometry in the strongly interacting regime. Bridging this gap is critical: if we can harness geometric responses in correlated metals, we stand to engineer desirable transport and
optical properties using existing material platforms, thus bypassing the complex task of designing materials with tailored quantum geometry from scratch. In this thesis, we take steps toward such a framework. First, we analyze the resilience of topological boundary modes in the presence of electronic correlations, identifying when interactions preserve, diminish, or destroy boundary modes. Second, we reveal geometric fingerprints of fluctuations in magnetically ordered systems, tying the
electric quantum metric to the formation of instabilities and chiral quasi-particle excitations. Third, we generalize quantum geometry to describe families of many-body wave functions, providing a new algorithm to compute state-manifold curvatures suited to interacting phases. Our approach combines analytical theory with numerical methods, including density functional theory and tensor-network simulations, and is supported by open-source software developed during the PhD. Together, these results advance the topological classification of interacting phases and extend quantum geometry from single-particle bands to correlation functions, providing tools to design materials and devices with targeted geometric responses.Science, Faculty ofPhysics and Astronomy, Department ofGraduat
And Scene...
No full textWhenever I’ve been asked about my abstract paintings, I’ve always found myself beginning with the process rather than the work itself. It is within the process—its tangibility, its motion—that the best clues emerge. Now I wonder: if these clues help others connect, could they also help me? Are they pieces of a larger puzzle I’m still solving? Am I chasing the painting—or the painter? My aim in this thesis is not to simply show my personal feelings, but to share feelings that are shared broadly between human nature and histories. This is not about me. This is about us. My paintings are not about Negar and what she has experienced as an individual, rather the work is about being a human carrying shared experiences. I use multidisciplinary practice to explore memory, displacement, and the layered process of healing. This body of work explores recurring themes related to fragmentations of the body, emotion, experience of trauma and healing and relates these to material expressions in painting, printmaking and assemblage that draws on ideas of destruction, through fire, tearing, decay, burning, fragility and fragmentation as traces of collapse amidst the process of construction. Together within a narrative of poetic documentation of studio process or of ‘prose-cess’ an overall feeling takes shape, characters are created and a scene is formed. And Scene…Creative and Critical Studies, Faculty of (Okanagan)Graduat
Beware the undulation : failure mode prediction and rock mass classification in rock mechanics using deep neural networks and synthetic rock mass models
No full textRock mass classification systems (RMCS) remain prominent within the rock engineering field. Although many of these systems have become ubiquitous, they are predicated upon a series of empirical case studies tailored to particular geographic locations and stress regimes. While each classification system may be valid for the project type and location for which it was created, modern applications extend the use of these systems beyond their initial raison d’être. Furthermore, the case studies which form the basis of these classification systems are scarcely representative of the conditions to which these systems are applied which poses a risk to safety, design stability, and reliability. Rock mass characterisation deals with assigning values to individual components that dictate rock mass behaviour. Rock mass classification attempts to characterise rock mass behaviour or strength based on observed characteristics. This research focuses on the effects of rock mass classification systems.
Machine learning models may be trained on images from various locations, thus eliminating a key limitation of current classification systems: location relevance. This thesis examines the application of computer vision (artificial intelligence) techniques for joint mapping and investigates the impact of joint geometry on rock mass strength in synthetic rock mass (SRM) models. Current SRM models depict joint fractures as planar surfaces which risks oversimplifying the interactions observed in geometrically complex, undulated rock masses. Experiments conducted and explored as part of this thesis investigate the effects of large-scale undulation versus conventional flat joint representations on simulated rock mass strength. Multiple discrete fracture networks (DFNs) with flat, geometrically simplified, planar fractures were contrasted against geometrically complex surfaces. Results from this experiment reveal inconsistent patterns between explicit undulated surfaces and rock mass strength across various DFN realisations. These results challenge the prevalent assumption that the ramifications of geometric simplification may be mitigated by parametric adjustments. In fact, it re-enforces the notion that network topology and general fracture connectivity govern rock mass behaviour and strength.Applied Science, Faculty ofMining Engineering, Keevil Institute ofGraduat
A framework for non-pharmacological interventions for adolescent sickle cell crisis pain management in Nigeria
No full textThe full abstract for this thesis is available in the body of the thesis, and will be available when the embargo expires.Applied Science, Faculty ofNursing, School ofGraduat