I have created a three-part project to (1) examine the returns structure and behavior of gold-panning participants using lottery theory as a contrast, (2) predict time allocation among men and women using the empirical return structure and SES applied to standard foraging and prey choice models, and (3) produce a revised theoretical model that incorporates the return structure, ethnographic context, and other latent factors that likely determine time allocation patterns.  

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Jess Burns observing a participant of Artisanal Gold Mining in Arang Dak, Nicaragua, 2017.