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Cambodia is a country rich in biodiversity and cultural heritage, yet between 1970 and 1993 the country experienced civil war and genocide, with long-lasting implications for the country's environment, politics, and people. Cambodia's post-conflict economic recovery has been remarkably successful; reducing poverty rates, expanding agriculture, and improving the socioeconomic status of many in the country, making it an excellent case study for other countries that have experienced rapid political, socioeconomic, and environmental change. Yet, there has been little research into the effects of Cambodia's economic recovery on forests, nor into the effects of current policies and funding regimes on the country's protected area network. In this thesis, I address these research gaps by focussing on two themes: 1) economic development and forest loss; 2) protected area, wildlife, and landscape management. First, I reveal that metrics of economic development and agricultural commodities do not predict forest loss but do predict the expansion of commercial agriculture. I then demonstrate that there are complex relationships between socioeconomic, human, and geographical predictors of forest cover at different scales across the country. Second, I present evidence that in contrast to arboreal species, anthropogenic threats are having serious negative effects on ground-based wildlife within a flagship protected area. I then identify the potential consequences of different funding regimes for conservation management within a social-ecological landscape. I demonstrate that short-term grant cycles, which are the dominant conservation funding mechanisms around the world, are not optimal for maximising long-term conservation outcomes. My thesis provides novel and policy-relevant research into the effects of Cambodia's post-conflict recovery on forest conservation and landscape management. I reveal the implications of policies that prioritise economic development and agricultural expansion over natural resource management and biodiversity conservation, and I recommend the development of agricultural policies and schemes that embrace modern innovation and promote socioeconomic development yet embody environmental sustainability. Finally, I recommend the urgent reduction in wildlife hunting, action to reduce reliance on wild meat, and the prioritisation of sustainable long-term funding for protected areas.

Technological change and labour market institutions (LMI) exert a major influence on the labour markets of developed economies. Routine-biased technological change (RBTC) has been linked to employment polarisation in numerous countries, while institutions such as unions and employment protections have been found to reduce inequalities between workers. However, much is still unknown about the labour market impact of technological change across countries and the interplay between technology and institutions. In this thesis, I integrate insights from labour economics and sociology to address some of the gaps in this literature. I investigate three closely linked research questions: how is routine intensity best measured and how does it vary between countries and over time? Under which conditions does RBTC lead to employment polarisation? And do robotisation and LMI contribute to the patterns that enable polarisation? Using data from the European Working Conditions Survey, the Luxembourg Income Study, and the International Federation of Robotics, I pursue these questions in a sample of OECD countries during the period from 1993 until 2016. First, I develop improved indices of occupational task content which show meaningful differences with established measures as well as across countries and over time. Secondly, I demonstrate that RBTC is associated with employment polarisation only in countries where routine occupations are concentrated in the middle of the wage hierarchy. Finally, my analyses suggest that robotisation has reduced the relative wages of routine manufacturing occupations and thus made employment polarisation less likely, particularly in countries with strong employment protections for temporary workers. The findings of this thesis advance the study of employment and wage changes in both economics and sociology, and illustrate the benefits of jointly analysing technological and institutional explanations for differences and changes in employment, wages, and inequality.

Libor is a financial benchmark - a daily published number incorporated into financial contracts of all kinds for the purposes of establishing financial valuations. It has played a vital role in global finance for decades, with an influence that extends beyond the markets in which it is created and serves its primary purposes, and into everyday economic life. The global financial crisis of 2007/8 sparked a set of debates that has seen Libor's reform, and ultimately replacement, top the financial regulatory agenda. But while these issues have attracted interest from social scientists and legal scholars alike, existing scholarship tends to take for granted the ruling conception of a benchmark as a calculative device. Libor's effects on the distribution of wealth and power in society are seen as having to do with 'underlying' market realities or else sociological factors such as status, networks, or social norms. The benchmark itself is often analytically invisible. In contrast, this thesis asks how Libor has been made into an object of critique since the financial crisis - that is, how has Libor been made into a 'problem' in need of reform? The thesis uses an in-depth, qualitative case study of the UK aspects of Libor reform to analyse the nature and effects of this problematisation and thereby to illuminate the configuration of power relations entailed in contemporary financial governance. I show that a benchmark such as Libor is a legal artefact whose role is to obviate debate about what things are 'really' worth by providing a measure that allows transactions to take place as if that debate was resolved. I refer to this as the benchmark form. I argue that, as a modern-day benchmark form, Libor has its analogue and historical template in the institution of money as a technical means of commensurating values in economic exchange.