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6051. State-Sponsored Homophobia (2014)

Author:
Lucas Paoli Itaborahy and Jingsu Zhu
Publication Date:
05-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
ILGA World (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association)
Abstract:
Every year, ILGA World publishes its State-Sponsored Homophobia report, a world survey of sexual orientation laws. Since its first edition, back in 2006, ILGA World’s State-Sponsored Homophobia has been a fundamental resource for those interested in accessing the core information on legislation affecting people on the basis of their sexual orientation. Not only human rights defenders, but also civil society organisations, governmental and United Nations agencies, allies and media worldwide value the publication as one of the main sources of information on the issue. The publication is accompanied by a series of maps and charts illustrating where criminalisation, protection and recognition laws exist.
Topic:
Human Rights, Law, LGBT+, and Homophobia
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6052. 2014-2015 Guide to Women Leaders in International Affairs

Author:
Women's Foreign Policy Group (WFPG)
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Women's Foreign Policy Group (WFPG)
Abstract:
WFPG's Guide to Women Leaders in International Affairs highlights women shaping foreign policy around the world and the role that they play as leaders, diplomats, and policymakers. The Guide provides an index of prominent women from across the international community, including heads of state and government, government ministers and diplomats, and leaders of international organizations and corporations.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Government, United Nations, Women, Leadership, and NGOs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6053. Looking for the Gaze: The Case of Humiliation in the Digital Era

Author:
Julie Dilmaç
Publication Date:
07-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Academic Inquiries
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
The internet constitutes a virtual “place” for sociability. It is a platform for interactions based on reciprocal and dialectic exchange between “being seen by others” and “seeing others”. As new technologies emerge, ways of viewing are revised: The main innovation of the internet has been, in ordinary life as in the media, seeing, hearing and showing everything with the individual at the center of permanent interactions established in a virtual world that makes it unseen by the naked eye. But visibility is a trap: In attempting to a part of the virtual world through self-exposition, individuals expose themselves to potential sources of humiliation. This article will explore how the internet has redefined individuals’ representations of self, while exposing them to the misappropriation of their image.
Topic:
Internet, Social Media, Cyberbullying, and Humiliation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6054. On Identity Treatises as a Subject of Sociology of Knowledge with Historic and Social Origins of Identity Problem

Author:
Binnur Özkeçeci-Taner and Halil Parladir
Publication Date:
07-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Academic Inquiries
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
For the emergence of a community or a nation, it has always been necessary to bring local identities and different ethnic groups around one common cultural center. However, the process of integrating individuals into a dominant ethnicity or cultural centercertainly causes several social, cultural and political problems. During theprogress of communication systems from the newspapers to the television and the social media, the issue has gained momentum with the expression of reactions to the ethnical cultures which were formed centrally. It is interestingthat social studies highlights identity studies which focuses on diverse issues ranging from the question of how administrative authoritiescan manage counterweights other than the center to the question of what is the legitimacy of giving privileges to the members of minority groups. This situation arises as a natural result of social, cultural and political centralization, and from the increasing concern in social sciences about gathering data as it needs to give an immediate answer to the question of how to restructure the social positions and the roles of minority groups which realize that they are different from the center. This study focuses on the historical and social origins of the growing popularity of identity studies in social sciences. In this regard, the development and the growing popularity of identity studies and the types of data it provides community and their problems are examined in this study.
Topic:
Diaspora, Community, Identity, Centralization, and Modernity
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6055. Exploring the Possible Influence of Postmodernism on Adult Education

Author:
Anindya Sen
Publication Date:
07-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Academic Inquiries
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
In this paper, I look at the possible influences of postmodernism on the field of Adult Education (AE). In order to do that, I discuss the basic tenets of postmodernism (along with its origins as a reaction to modernity). I then look at various aspects of current AE theory and praxis and analyze how they have similarities to the basic ideas that underlie postmodern thought. The main conclusion of the paper is that there is strong evidence to believe that postmodernism has had a significant influence on current AE theory and praxis.
Topic:
Education, Postmodernism, and Adult Education
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6056. The Chance of Influence: A Natural Experiment on the Role of Social Capital in Academic Hiring?

Author:
Olivier Godechot
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo)
Abstract:
The effect of social capital is often overrated because contacts and centrality can be a consequence of success rather than its cause. Randomized or natural experiments are an excellent way to assess the real causal effect of social capital, but these are rare. This paper relies on data from one such experiment: recruitment at the EHESS, a leading social science institution in France, between 1960 and 2005. The EHESS recruitment process uses an electoral commission to produce a first-stage ranking of applicants, which is then provided to the faculty assembly for final voting. The commission is partly composed of faculty members drawn at random, a feature that this article exploits in order to compare the chances for success of applicants whose contacts have been drawn to sit on the commission (treated) versus those whose contacts have not been drawn (control). It shows that a contact such as a PhD advisor has a causal impact, especially for assistant professor hiring exams: it doubles the chance of being ranked and increases the share of votes by 10 percent. This phenomenon may explain part of the classic “academic inbreeding” issue.
Topic:
Academia, Social Capital, and Mentorship
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6057. Beyond the (Non) Definition of Minority

Author:
Jennifer Jackson-Preece
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
This Issue Brief aims to analyse past and present definitions of 'minority' in order to evaluate current trends and future opportunities regarding the identification of minority rights holders. In so doing, it assumes that minority identity is part of the broader socio-cultural context. Accordingly, the identity of a minority right holder refers to the attributes and opportunities associated with being a minority, including relationships between individuals and groups, as well as relations between groups. Crucially, it regards these attributes, opportunities and relationships as socially constructed and therefore context / time specific and changeable. The intention here is not to endorse a preferred definition of 'minority', but rather to reflect on how scholars and practitioners should understand use such definitions.
Topic:
Minorities, Ethnicity, Intellectual History, and Identity
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6058. Inference Based on SVARs Identified with Sign and Zero Restrictions: Theory and Applications

Author:
Jonas E. Arias, Juan F. Rubio-Ramirez, and Daniel F. Waggoner
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
Are optimism shocks an important source of business cycle fluctuations? Are deficit-financed tax cuts better than deficit-financed spending to increase output? These questions have been previously studied using SVARs identified with sign and zero restrictions and the answers have been positive and definite in both cases. While the identification of SVARs with sign and zero restrictions is theoretically attractive because it allows the researcher to remain agnostic with respect to the responses of the key variables of interest, we show that current implementation of these techniques does not respect the agnosticism of the theory. These algorithms impose additional sign restrictions on variables that are seemingly unrestricted that bias the results and produce misleading confidence intervals. We provide an alternative and efficient algorithm that does not introduce any additional sign restriction, hence preserving the agnosticism of the theory. Without the additional restrictions, it is hard to support the claim that either optimism shocks are an important source of business cycle fluctuations or deficit-financed tax cuts work best at improving output. Our algorithm is not only correct but also faster than current ones.
Topic:
Economics, Business, Tax Systems, Economic Theory, and Deficit
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6059. Sovereign Debt Crises

Author:
Ricardo Correa and Horacio Sapriza
Publication Date:
05-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
Sovereign debt crises have been recurrent events over the past two centuries. In recent years, the timing of sovereign crises has coincided or has directly followed banking crises. The link between sovereigns and banks tightened as the contingent liability that the banking sector represents for the sovereign grew, as financial "safety nets" became more common. This chapter analyzes the transmission channels between sovereigns and banks, with a focus on the effect of sovereign distress on bank solvency and financing. It then highlights the notable cost to the real economy of the close connection between sovereigns and banks. Breaking the "feedback loop" between these two sectors should be an important policy priority.
Topic:
Debt, Sovereignty, Banking, and Economic Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6060. The Decline of Drudgery and the Paradox of Hard Work

Author:
Brendan Epstein and Miles S. Kimball
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
We develop a theory that focuses on the general equilibrium and long-run macroeconomic consequences of trends in job utility. Given secular increases in job utility, work hours per capita can remain approximately constant over time even if the income effect of higher wages on labor supply exceeds the substitution effect. In addition, secular improvements in job utility can be substantial relative to welfare gains from ordinary technological progress. These two implications are connected by an equation flowing from optimal hours choices: improvements in job utility that have a significant effect on labor supply tend to have large welfare effects.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Economic Theory, Welfare, Social Services, and Wage Growth
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6061. Understanding the Great Recession

Author:
Lawrence J. Christiano, Martin Eichenbaum, and Mathias Trabandt
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
We argue that the vast bulk of movements in aggregate real economic activity during the Great Recession were due to financial frictions. We reach this conclusion by looking through the lens of an estimated New Keynesian model in which firms face moderate degrees of price rigidities, no nominal rigidities in the wages and a binding zero lower bound constraint on the nominal interest rate. Our model does a good job of accounting for the joint behavior of labor and goods markets, as well as inflation, during the Great Recession. According to the model the observed fall in total factor productivity and the rise in the cost of working capital played critical roles in accounting for the small size of the drop in inflation that occurred during the Great Recession.
Topic:
Global Recession, Financial Crisis, Economic Theory, Interest Rates, Models, and Economic Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6062. Taxes and International Risk Sharing

Author:
Brendan Epstein, Rahul Mukherjee, and Shanthi Ramnath
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
We examine the extent to which differences in international tax rates may account for the small correlations of per capita consumption fluctuations across countries. Theory implies a close relationship between relative consumption growth, and consumption and capital income tax rate differentials. We find strong empirical evidence for this relationship. Idiosyncratic output fluctuations account for the majority of cross country consumption growth variability, but trends in tax differentials are informative about the dynamic evolution of international risk sharing. In particular, adjusting for capital taxes reveals an intuitive positive relationship between financial connectedness and risk sharing that is absent in baseline measures.
Topic:
Tax Systems, Risk, Capital, and Consumerism
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6063. Estimating U.S. Cross-Border Securities Positions: New Data and New Methods

Author:
Carol C. Bertaut
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
The role of capital flows in the buildup to the global financial crisis and the potential vulnerabilities posed by capital flows to emerging market economies highlight the importance of reliable and timely measures of cross-border investment activity to better monitor developments as they unfold. We present new monthly estimates of U.S. cross-border securities investment, combining information from detailed annual Treasury International Capital (TIC) surveys with new information from the TIC form SLT. We also show how changes in the new monthly data can be decomposed into flows, estimated valuation changes, and a residual "gap". These decompositions can provide a richer and timelier view of developments in both foreign portfolio investment in the U.S. and U.S. portfolio investment abroad than available from transactions data or survey data alone. Data on cross-border holdings through December 2013, by country, are available for download; we also provide advice on how to construct estimates going forward. These data can be combined with the existing Bertaut-Tryon monthly estimates of securities holdings (now updated through 2011) to generate consistent monthly time series of positions.
Topic:
Emerging Markets, Markets, Global Financial Crisis, Capital Flows, and Investment
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6064. Financial Business Cycles

Author:
Matteo Iacoviello
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
Using Bayesian methods, I estimate a DSGE model where a recession is initiated by losses suffered by banks and exacerbated by their inability to extend credit to the real sector. The event triggering the recession has the workings of a redistribution shock: a small sector of the economy--borrowers who use their home as collateral--defaults on their loans. When banks hold little equity in excess of regulatory requirements, the losses require them to react immediately, either by recapitalizing or by deleveraging. By deleveraging, banks transform the initial shock into a credit crunch, and, to the extent that some firms depend on bank credit, amplify and propagate the shock to the real economy. I find that redistribution and other financial shocks that affect leveraged sectors accounts for two-thirds of output collapse during the Great Recession.
Topic:
Economics, Global Recession, GDP, Economic Theory, Fiscal Policy, and Banking
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6065. Offshoring, Mismatch, and Labor Market Outcomes

Author:
David M. Arseneau and Brendan Epstein
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
We study the role of labor market mismatch in the adjustment to a trade liberalization that results in the offshoring of high-tech production. Our model features two-sided heterogeneity in the labor market: high- and low-skilled workers are matched in a frictional labor market with high- and low-tech firms. Mismatch employment occurs when high-skilled workers choose to accept a less desirable job in the low-tech industry. The main result is that--perhaps counter-intuitively--this type of job displacement is actually beneficial for the labor market in the country doing the offshoring. Mismatch allows the economy to reallocate domestic high-skilled labor across both high- and low-tech industries. In doing so, mismatch dampens both the increase in the aggregate unemployment rate and the decline in aggregate wages that come as a consequence of shifting domestic production abroad.
Topic:
Globalization, Industrial Policy, International Trade and Finance, Labor Issues, Work Culture, and Labor Market
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6066. Financial Frictions and Macroeconomic Fluctuations in Emerging Economies

Author:
Ozge Akinci
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
Estimated dynamic models of business cycles in emerging markets deliver counterfactual predictions for the country risk premium. In particular, the country interest rate predicted by these models is acyclical or procyclical, whereas it is countercyclical in the data. This paper proposes and estimates a small open economy model of the emerging-market business cycle in which a time-varying country risk premium emerges endogenously. In the proposed model, a firm's borrowing rate adjusts countercyclically as the default threshold of the firm depends on the state of the macroeconomy. I econometrically estimate the proposed model and find that it can account for the volatility and the countercyclicality of country risk premium as well as for other key emerging market business cycle moments. Time varying uncertainty in firm specific productivity contributes to delivering a countercyclical default rate and explains 70 percent of the variances in the trade balance and in the country risk premium. Finally, I find the predicted contribution of nonstationary productivity shocks in explaining output variations falls between the extremely high and extremely low values reported in the literature.
Topic:
Economics, Business, Economic Theory, Risk, and Trade
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6067. Banks, Capital Flows and Financial Crises

Author:
Ozge Akinci and Albert Queralto
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
This paper proposes a macroeconomic model with financial intermediaries (banks), in which banks face occasionally binding leverage constraints and may endogenously affect the strength of their balance sheets by issuing new equity. The model can account for occasional financial crises as a result of the nonlinearity induced by the constraint. Banks' precautionary equity issuance makes financial crises infrequent events occurring along with "regular" business cycle fluctuations. We show that an episode of capital infl ows and rapid credit expansion, triggered by low country interest rates, leads banks to endogenously decrease the rate of equity issuance, contributing to an increase in the likelihood of a crisis. Macroprudential policies directed at strengthening banks' balance sheets, such as capital requirements, are shown to lower the probability of financial crises and to enhance welfare.
Topic:
Financial Crisis, Capital Flows, Banks, Economic Theory, and Interest Rates
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6068. Generating Options-Implied Probability Densities to Understand Oil Market Events

Author:
Deepa Dhume Datta, Juan M. Londono, and Landon J. Ross
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
We investigate the informational content of options-implied probability density functions (PDFs) for the future price of oil. Using a semiparametric variant of the methodology in Breeden and Litzenberger (1978), we investigate the fit and smoothness of distributions derived from alternative PDF estimation methods, and develop a set of robust summary statistics. Using PDFs estimated around episodes of high geopolitical tensions, oil supply disruptions, and macroeconomic data releases, we explore the extent to which oil price movements are expected or unexpected, and whether agents believe these movements to be persistent or temporary.
Topic:
Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Oil, Economic Theory, and Models
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6069. Cyclically Adjusted Current Account Balances

Author:
Jane Haltmaier
Publication Date:
12-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:
The Great Financial Crisis coincided with a sizable reduction in global external imbalances, defined as the absolute value of the sum of individual country current account surpluses and deficits relative to global GDP. Although current account balances should not respond to a downturn that is uniform across countries, one that hits countries with current account deficits harder than those with surpluses might result in a decline in the global balance. This paper quantifies the cyclical portion of the current account balance for 35 countries using estimates of the severity of the cycle in each country relative to that of its trading partners in conjunction with three estimates of the sensitivity of the current account balance to changes in the output gap. Two of the estimates are derived from equations linking trade to income and the third is derived from the relationship between changes in current account balances and changes in output gap differentials. The main result is that the bulk of the reduction in the global current account imbalance since 2006 appears to have been structural. Cyclical forces are estimated to account for between 10 and 30 percent of the decline. In the aggregate, the cyclical effect is estimated to be currently holding down the global current account balance by about 1/2 percentage point. However, the size of the cyclical effect is more substantial for some countries. Both surplus and deficit countries have contributed to the decline in the absolute value of the global current account imbalance, but the contribution of the deficit countries is about twice as large as that of the surplus countries. Changes in oil prices have had largely offsetting effects on the global current account balance, but changes in real exchange rates in recent years have contributed to the reduction.
Topic:
Economics, Energy Policy, Oil, Natural Resources, Financial Crisis, GDP, Exchange Rate Policy, and Trade
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6070. Two Principles of Debt and national Income Dynamics in a Pure Credit Economy

Author:
Jan Toporowski
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
The paper puts forward two principles of national income dynamics in a pure credit economy. The first is the commonly known principle of Keynesian/Kaleckian economics according to which total output and employment in a capitalist economy is determined by the level of business investment. In turn that investment has to be financed, so that debt is inherent in such and economy. The second principle is a principle of the conservation of debt , which argues that, while new debt creates deposits in the economy, attempts to reduce debt generate deflationary processes that off-set debt reductions by creating ‘enforced’ debt in other parts of the economy. The analysis reinforces Minsky’s view that debt structures require corresponding investment to manage them, and that debt problems arise when such investment is insufficient.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Investment, Economic Theory, Keynes, and Credit
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6071. Inextricability of Autonomy and Confluence in Econometrics

Author:
Duo Qin
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
This paper examines how ‘confluence’ and ‘autonomy’, two key concepts introduced by Frisch around 1930, have disappeared in econometrics textbooks and why only some fragments of the two have survived mainstream econometrics. It relates the disappearance to the defect in the textbook position of equating a priori theoretical models as correct structural models unequivocally. It shows how the confluence-autonomy pair in unity reflects the complexity of econometricians’ goal to find and verify robust and economically meaningful models out of numerous interdependent variables observable from the real and open world. The complexity deems it essential for applied research to have a set of model design rules combining both a priori substantive reasoning and a posteriori statistical testing. Such a need also puts the task of ensuring an adequately minimum model closure to top priority for applied modellers, a task much more important than the textbook task of parameter estimation.
Topic:
Economics, Intellectual History, Economic Theory, and Models
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6072. What Happens to Wage Elasticities When We Strip Playometrics? Revisiting Married Women Labour Supply Model

Author:
Duo Qin, Sophie van Huellen, and Qing-Chao Wang
Publication Date:
12-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
This paper sheds new light on the well-known phenomenon of dwindling wage elasticities for married women in the US over the recent decades. Results of a novel model experiment approach via sample data ordering unveil considerable heterogeneity across different wage groups. Yet surprisingly constant wage elasticity estimates are revealed within certain wage groups over time as well as across two widely used US data sources, the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). These findings refute the assumed presence of a single-valued aggregate wage elasticity for working wives. Although women’s responsiveness to wages remains largely unchanged over time, we find that the composition of working women into different wage groups has changed considerably, resulting in decreasing wage elasticity estimates at the aggregate level. All these findings were methodologically impossible to acquire had we not dismantled and discarded the stereotyped endogeneity-backed instrumental variable route, which hitherto blocked the way towards sample data ordering.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Inequality, Discrimination, and Wage Growth
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6073. Elsewhere, Ideally Nowhere: Shadow Banking and Offshore Finance

Author:
Ronen Palan and Anastasia Nesvetailova
Publication Date:
01-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
City Political Economy Research Centre (CITYPERC), University of London
Abstract:
If we were to identify one common thread across the financial system’s stages of evolution, it is the quest for being located for tax and regulatory purposes elsewhere or, ideally, nowhere. Recognising the limits of mainstream economic models in providing a comprehensive explanation of this phenomenon, we draw on the ideas of oThorstein Veblen and his theory of business civilisation. A Veblenian analysis suggests that dynamics and behaviour in finance that are commonly associated with human failure (greed, exuberance, fraud, incompetence), and which appear to have become widespread practice, should best be understood as sabotage. Finance is awash with techniques designed to sabotage both clients and the governments who enacted regulations that were supposed to protect clients. ese techniques are legal mechanisms, albeit as Veblen writes, not in the spirit of the law.
Topic:
Political Economy, Banking, Sabotage, Shadow Banking, and Offshore Finance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6074. Wage Differentials: Trade Openness and Wage Bargaining

Author:
Gustavo Gonzaga, Beatriz Muriel, and Cristina Terra
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
We build a theoretical model that incorporates unionization in the labor market into a Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (HOS) framework to investigate the impact of unionization on the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem. To capture the American economy case, we assume that unskilled labor in the manufactured goods sector is unionized, and that sector is intensive in skilled labor, and that trade liberalization increases the relative price of manufactured goods. In the HOS model, trade liberalization induces a reallocation of production towards the sector that uses intensively the country’s most abundant factor. The resulting change in relative labor demand impacts wage bargaining in the unionized sector, which, in turn, has a dampening effect on the Stolper-Samuelson effect. Moreover, wages of unionized workers are even less responsive to trade liberalization. Through traditional mandated-wages regressions, we show that skilled-wage differentials changes were less pronounced among more unionized sectors in the U.S. economy for the 1979-1990 period.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Economy, Manufacturing, Trade, and Wages
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6075. Globalization, Peace & Stability, Governance, and Knowledge Economy

Author:
Voxi Amavilah, Simplice A. Asongu, and Antonio Rodríguez Andrés
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
A previous analysis of the impact of formal institutions on the knowledge economy of 22 MiddleEastern and Sub-Sahara African countries during the 1996-2010 time period concluded that formal institutions were necessary, but inadequate, determinants of the knowledge economy. To extend that study, this paper claims that globalization induces peace and stability, which affects governance and through governance the knowledge economy. The claim addresses one weakness of previous research that did not consider the effects on the knowledge economy of globalization. We model the proposition as a three-stage process in four hypotheses, and estimate each hypothesis using robust estimators that are capable of dealing with the usual statistical problems without sacrificing economic relevance and significance. The results indicate that globalization has varying effects on peace and stability, and peace and stability affect governance differently depending on what kind of globalization induces it. For instance, the effects on governance induced by globalization defined as trade are stronger than those resulting from globalization taken to be foreign direct investment. Hence, we conclude that foreign direct investment is not a powerful mechanism for stimulating and sustaining the knowledge economy in our sample of countries. However, since globalization-induced peace and stability have both positive and negative effects on governance simultaneously, we also conclude that while the prospect for knowledge economy in African countries is dim, it is still realistic and attainable as long as these countries continue to engage in the kind of globalization that does indeed induce peace and stability. We further conclude that there is a need for a sharper focus on economic and institutional governance than on general governance as one possible extension of this paper.
Topic:
Globalization, Governance, Political stability, Peace, and Knowledge Economy
Political Geography:
Middle East, Global Focus, and Sub-Saharan Africa

6076. Multinational Firms and the Internationalization of Green R&D: A Review of the Evidence and Policy Implications

Author:
Joëlle Noailly and David Ryfisch
Publication Date:
12-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
This paper presents novel empirical evidence on the internationalization of green R&D by multinational firms (MNCs), as measured by patents data. Using data on inventors’ addresses for the set of 1,200 MNCs firms patenting in green technologies over the 2004-2009 period, we find that about 17% of green patents result from MNCs R&D investments conducted outside their home countries. MNCs tend to locate their foreign green R&D activities in other OECD markets and in China, in particular in lightings and solar technologies. The empirical analysis reveals that the probability of conducting green R&D abroad increases with the host country’s stringency of environmental regulation, market size and (green) R&D intensity. Also, relatively lower wages for scientists and engineers, and stronger protection for intellectual property rights in the host country increase the likelihood for MNCs to offshore green R&D. The paper concludes by discussing the policy implications of this changing global innovation landscape.
Topic:
Green Technology, Multinational Corporations, and Research and Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6077. Estimating the demand for tap water quality: Avertive expenditures on substitutes for hardness and aesthetic quality

Author:
Bruno Lanz and Allan Provins
Publication Date:
01-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
This paper uses avertive expenditures to estimate the demand for qualitative aspects of tap water supply. We focus on two characteristics that are of importance for water consumers: water hardness and aesthetic quality in terms of taste, smell and appearance. To elicit expenditures on substitute products, we survey more than 4,500 households in England and Wales. For water hardness, around 14% of households employ at least one water softener device, with mean and median yearly expenditure around £95 and £50 respectively. Substitutes for the aesthetic quality of tap water mainly include bottled water, water filter devices, or adding squash or cordial before drinking. Overall 39% of respondents report at least one such behaviour, with mean and median yearly expenditure around £92 and £60 respectively. These are substantial amounts given a yearly average household bill of £186 for water services. Matching household data to highly disaggregated records on regional water hardness, our econometric analysis suggests that a 10% reduction in water hardness is associated with a £1.50 reduction in avertive expenditures. We also exploit geographic variation in the aesthetic characteristics of tap water, and correlate self-reported quality ratings to expenditures. We find that a one-fifth increase in the rating of water taste is associated with a £19 reduction in yearly expenditures.
Topic:
Water, Economy, Demand, and Spending
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6078. Directing Technical Change from Fossil-Fuel to Renewable Energy Innovation: An Application Using Firm-Level Patent Data

Author:
Joëlle Noailly and Roger Smeets
Publication Date:
01-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
This paper investigates the determinants of directed technical change at the firm level in the electricity generation sector. We use firm-level data on patents filed in renewable (REN) and fossil fuel (FF) technologies by 5,261 European firms over the period 1978-2006. We investigate how energy prices, market size and knowledge stocks affect firms’ incentives to innovate in one technology relative to another and how these factors may thereby induce a shift from FF to REN technology in the electricity generation sector. We separately study small specialized firms, which innovate in only one type of technology during our sample period, and large mixed firms, which innovate in both technologies. We also separate the extensive margin innovation decision (i.e. whether to conduct innovation) from the intensive margin decision (i.e. how much to innovate). Overall, we find that all three factors - energy prices, market sizes and past knowledge stocks - matter to redirect innovation towards REN and away from FF technologies. Yet, we find that these factors have a larger impact on closing the technology gap through the entry (and exit) of small specialized firms, rather than through large mixed firms’ innovation. An implication of our results is that firm dynamics are of direct policy interest to induce the replacement of FF by REN technologies in the electricity generation sector.
Topic:
Innovation, Renewable Energy, Fossil Fuels, Patents, and Firm Dynamics
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6079. Clean substitutes and the effectiveness of carbon footprint labels vs. Pigovian subsidies: Evidence from a field experiment

Author:
Bruno Lanz, Jules-Daniel Wurlod, Luca Panzone, and Timothy Swanson
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
We study how substitutability between clean and dirty alternatives affects the effectiveness of environmental regulation in a field experiment that controls for the choice set of respondents. We consider four product categories with clean and dirty alternatives: (i) cola products in plastic bottles vs. in aluminum cans; (ii) skimmed vs. whole milk; (iii) chicken meat vs. beef meat; and (iv) margarine vs. butter. We employ two neutrally framed treatments to quantify the willingness to substitute between clean and dirty alternatives in each product market, namely a change in relative prices and the removal of the dirty alternative, leaving respondents the option of buying one of the remaining clean alternatives or nothing. We then compare the impact of a carbon footprint label and a Pigovian subsidy to the clean alternatives. While both instruments increase the market share of the clean products, their impact is higher when clean and dirty alternatives are close substitutes. We also find evidence that motivation crowding is present and increases with substitutability. Our results highlight the importance of product markets in the design of consumer-orientated policies.
Topic:
Environment, Economy, Consumer Behavior, Market-Based Instruments, and Carbon Footprint
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6080. 2014 Global Terrorism Index

Author:
Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)
Publication Date:
11-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
This is the second edition of the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) report which provides a comprehensive summary of the key global trends and patterns in terrorism over the last 14 years beginning in 2000 and ending in 2013. Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the GTI is based on data from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) which is collected and collated by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). The GTD is considered to be the most comprehensive dataset on terrorist activity globally and has codified over 125,000 terrorist incidents. The report summarises trends in terrorism over time and analyses its changing patterns in terms of geographic activity, methods of attack, organisations involved and the national economic and political context. The index has also been compared to a range of socio-economic indicators to determine the key factors most closely associated with terrorism. In 2013 terrorist activity increased substantially with the total number of deaths rising from 11,133 in 2012 to 17,958 in 2013, a 61 per cent increase. Over the same period, the number of countries that experienced more than 50 deaths rose from 15 to 24. This highlights that not only is the intensity of terrorism increasing, its breadth is increasing as well. Terrorism is both highly concentrated as well as a globally distributed phenomenon. Over 80 per cent of the lives lost to terrorist activity in 2013 occurred in only five countries - Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria. However, another 55 countries recorded one or more deaths from terrorist activity.
Topic:
Economics, Terrorism, Taliban, Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Conflict, Risk, Boko Haram, and Foreign Fighters
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, and Global Focus

6081. Peace and Religion

Author:
Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
This report presents empirical research conducted by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in conjunction with the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation1 that aims to get beyond ideology to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how religion interacts with peace. Quantitative analysis has revealed that many of the commonly made statements surrounding the relationship between peace and religion are not supported by the analysis contained in this study. This report answers five common questions relating to religion and violence. To determine the list of questions the most common themes of discussion and opinions expressed in the media were identified. The scope of the research highlights key relationships between peace and religion and provides a platform and opportunities for further research. The five questions addressed in this report are: Question 1 — Is religion the main cause of conflict today? Question 2 — Does the proportion of religious belief or atheism in a country determine the peace of the country? Question 3 — In Muslim countries, does the demographic spread of Sunni and Shia determine peace? Question 4 — Is religion key to understanding what drives peace? Question 5 — Can religion play a positive role in peacebuilding?
Topic:
Islam, Religion, Conflict, Peace, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6082. The Economic Cost of Violence Containment

Author:
Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
One of the major challenges in developing policies aimed at increasing peace is the difficulty of being able to accurately gauge the benefits that result from peace. Recognising this, the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) has developed a new and ground breaking methodology to estimate the cost of violence to the global economy, including calculations for 152 countries that detail the costs of thirteen different types of violence. This deeper insight into the breakdown of national costs of violence allows for better targeting of development assistance and also enables national governments to more accurately assess the costs associated with violence and the likely benefits that would flow from improvements in peace.
Topic:
Economics, Economy, Violence, Peace, and Containment
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6083. Measuring Goal 16

Author:
Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
This short paper identifies existing indicators that can be applied to measuring progress in targets for goal 16 for the SDG/post-2015 development agenda. It uses existing sources of information from previous expert meetings and consultations which identified mostly current available data sources. It assesses these existing data sources based criteria of practicality, if they are input, output or outcome oriented, and whether they meet statistical and normative criteria. This is intended to provide input into broader efforts to prioritize indicators and targets for goal 16 and to identify data gaps and overlaps. It is a draft paper that can be further developed in consultation with other key stakeholders providing input into the SDG/ Post-2015 development agenda. Goal 16 aims to ‘promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels’. There are twelve key targets ranging from measures to reduce violence, strengthen institutions and increase the inclusiveness and accountability of institutions. The inclusion of goal 16 in the SDG/Post-2015 framework is a large step forward in recognizing the importance of peace, conflict and violence to the traditional development agenda of poverty alleviation. By analyzing each target and indicator area of goal 16 against a set of basic criteria including; practicality, orientation to preventative aims, objectivity and accountability, and on basic technical and normative principles, it may be possible to better prioritize particular indicators in the agenda.
Topic:
Development, United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, Conflict, Accountability, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6084. 2014 Global Peace Index

Author:
Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
This is the eighth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks nations according to their level of peace. The Index is composed of 22 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources and ranks 162 independent states, covering 99.6 percent of the world’s population. The index gauges global peace using three broad themes: the level of safety and security in society; the extent of domestic or international conflict; and the degree of militarisation. In addition to presenting the findings from the 2014 GPI and its seven-year trend analysis, this year’s report includes an updated analysis of the economic impact of violence as well as a detailed assessment of country risk using risk models developed by IEP based on its unique datasets.
Topic:
Security, Violence, Risk, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6085. Direct Social Expenditures: A Monitoring Guide for Civil Society Organizations

Author:
Rocio Lopez
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
This paper provides civil society organizations with different strategies to obtain and analyze detailed information on direct social expenditures (DSE) by companies. It also provides civil society with useful lessons on advancing the transparency agenda in this area. The World Bank defines corporate social responsibility (CSR) as “companies’ commitment to contribute to sustainable economic development by working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life in a way that is beneficial for business and also for development.” Extractive industries engage in CSR because their activities are considered among the most environmentally and socially disruptive and it is critically important for them to secure their “social licenses to operate.” As part of their CSR extractive companies invest significant amounts of resources to undertake social development programs; in 2001, oil, gas and mining companies disbursed more than $500 million in community development programs. These expenditures can have a large impact on small local economies. When poorly conceived and implemented, they can lead to corruption and undermine government authorities and institutions. In addition, these resources are obtained on the basis of concessions of oil, gas and minerals that belong to citizens. Companies receive fiscal concessions or incentives from the social activities undertaken in the countries where they operate. All these reasons make it imperative that civil society organizations monitor DSE to ensure they are spent effectively. Companies can employ different mechanisms to disburse DSE. These could be a function of program objectives and other contextual factors. A company might implement different mechanisms in different countries. It could use public or private disbursement channels, or a combination of both. CSOs need to understand these mechanisms and their pros and cons in order to monitor them. The paper studies the experience of two CSOs—Grupo Propuesta Ciudadana (GPC) in Peru and Instituto Brasileiro de Análises Sociais e Econômicas (IBASE) in Brazil—that successfully made extractive companies disclose information on their expenditures and have since monitored and evaluated the impact of these expenditures. Both CSOs created transparency indices and performed social audits to rigorously assess and rank company performance and undertake evidence-based policy advocacy. GPC successfully obtained information from more than 30 companies on $900 billion worth of social expenditures, and IBASE convinced over 300 private companies to disclose their social audits. The paper also explores experiences of countries that have negotiated including direct social expenditures in the disclosure requirements of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Despite progress in companies disclosing relevant data in recent years, transparency of direct social expenditures is more the exception than the norm. Companies should improve their reporting by providing detailed information about the types of projects funded, the objective of such projects, the amounts disbursed, and the persons responsible for allocating these resources. Contracts that include social expenditure obligations should be available for public consumption.
Topic:
Civil Society, Governance, Business, Extractive Industries, and Social Responsibility
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6086. Subnational Oil, Gas and Mineral Revenue Management

Author:
Andrew Bauer
Publication Date:
07-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
This paper discusses challenges and approaches in managing resource revenues at the subnational level. Subnational resource-rich governments face distinct challenges in managing revenues from volatile, exhaustible resources. These include: unpredictable and discretionary resource revenue transfers between national and subnational governments, which can undermine development planning; resource revenue volatility which can lead to wasteful spending, poor quality investments; over the longer term, the finite nature of oil, gas and mineral revenues can lead to a long period of economic growth followed by a depression; and difficulty in scaling up public investment efficiently when experiencing a revenue windfall. To address revenue volatility, subnational governments can “smooth” expenditures by delinking revenues from expenditures. When revenues are unexpectedly high, governments can run a surplus, to be saved or used to pay down public debt. When revenues are unexpectedly low, they can draw on those savings or borrow. To prevent long-term booms and busts, governments can also save a portion of resource revenues for future generations, as well as invest in the local economy to generate future growth. Fiscal rules can underpin these policies, constraining government spending decisions and compelling government bodies to adopt a long-term perspective on public finances. Development planning can help prepare resource-rich regions for life after their oil, gas or minerals have been depleted. Planning helps prevent shortsighted reactions to temporary ebbs and flows in oil or mineral revenues, helps define the role of the resource sector in development, and lays the groundwork for a thriving post-extractive economy.
Topic:
Oil, Governance, Gas, Tax Systems, Diversification, Revenue Management, and Minerals
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6087. Local Content Initiatives: Enhancing the Subnational Benefits of the Oil, Gas and Mining Sectors

Author:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Publication Date:
07-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Resource-rich regions usually expect and strive for local economies to benefit from oil, gas and mineral projects. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. These regions do not always know how to take advantage of extractive activities to create sustainable economic development, be it creating jobs and developing local businesses or building skills and improving technologies. Local content is the processes of building such economic capital at the national and subnational level, and meeting set public policy objectives. This paper offers guidance on designing and implementing local content initiatives in the oil, gas and mining sectors to ensure economic sustainability within producing regions. It aims to answer the question of how national and subnational governments, industry and civil society can maximize local benefits through partnerships among governments, companies and civil society organizations (CSOs). Governments should set clear targets based on which companies should make commitments and publish transparent reports on results. CSOs can then analyze the results and monitor progress of local content initiatives.
Topic:
Oil, Natural Resources, Governance, Gas, Mining, and Extractive Industries
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6088. Shutting the Backdoor: The Perils of National Security and Digital Surveillance Programs

Author:
Ronald J. Deibert
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Abstract:
As governments have sought to monitor digital communications for security purposes, the “backdoor” paradigm has become the predominant approach. Strictly speaking, backdoors refer to special methods of bypassing normal authentication procedures to secretly access computing systems. But here the concept is used in a broader sense to describe a range of policies and practices whereby governments compel, or otherwise get the cooperation of, private sector companies to provide access to data they control. The backdoor paradigm is not only a concern for political reasons, particularly for civil liberties, it is also bad for digital security and foreign policy. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies should instead seek to work within the information-rich world of Big Data that surrounds us with any access to private communications made exceptional and strictly controlled by lawful procedures and oversight mechanisms.
Topic:
Intelligence, National Security, Cybersecurity, Surveillance, and Digital Policy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6089. The principles of mediation and the role of third parties in peace processes

Author:
Vicenç Fisas
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
This report focuses on the roles that third parties should play during a dialogue facilitation process. The high number of negotiations launched and peace agreements reached during 2012 confirms the trend observed during the last decades that the most common form of conflict termination is through negotiated settlements. However, according to the 2012 figures, about 40% of the negotiation process faced serious difficulties or did not achieve any results. Considering that the literature has shown a high correlation between the participation of third parties and peace talks’ success rates, one obvious explanation for the high percentage of peace negotiations that are unable to properly move forward could be the absence of third parties. Another factor could be linked to the performance of third parties when they do participate in dialogue processes. Some of the most frequent causes of crisis in negotiations are the warring parties’ lack of confidence in the facilitating third party. Therefore this report addresses the functions that third parties can perform in a peace process. It defines key concepts, summarises the most important features of peace negotiations in 2012 and addresses the roles of third parties in dialogues to end violence.
Topic:
Negotiation, Mediation, Dialogue, and Peace Process
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6090. Conflict trade: regulating illicit flows to and from war

Author:
Mark B. Taylor
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
This expert analysis note describes an emerging approach to regulating illicit flows of goods to and from conflict zones. The approach, based on norms of national and international law defining business due diligence, is well suited for dilemmas posed by war economies. Due diligence offers the possibility of excluding goods from global flows if they are produced through human rights abuse or used for conflict financing, while at the same time it can limit harm to livelihoods and avoid the wholesale criminalisation of informal economies. To that end, further inter-governmental policy coordination is needed to define conflict financing under international law and to elaborate an effective regulatory strategy.
Topic:
International Law, Law, Regulation, Trade, Armed Conflict, Supply Chains, and Illicit Financial Flows
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6091. Distinguishing between exploitative and non-exploitative sex involving UN peacekeepers: the wrongs of “zero tolerance”

Author:
Olivera Simić
Publication Date:
11-2013
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
The links between the presence of peacekeepers and the sexual exploitation and abuse of women have been documented across peace support operations (PSOs). This expert analysis critically analyses the United Nations secretary general’s Bulletin on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, which was promulgated in 2003 to address the problem of sexual exploitation and abuse in the context of PSOs. The expert analysis is concerned with the broad definition of sexual exploitation provided by the bulletin, which includes most sexual relationships and prostitution. It concludes that the bulletin’s definition of sexual exploitation is over inclusive in its “strong discouragement” of sexual relationships and prohibition of prostitution regardless of consent, age and fair remuneration. It argues that, as currently formulated, the bulletin undermines women’s agency and sexual autonomy, and blurs important distinctions between consensual sex and sexual offences. The bulletin thus relies on and perpetuates negative gender stereotypes and imperial hierarchies and, consequently, encourages stigma and discrimination. It casts women as victims and peacekeepers as sexual predators who cannot treat women as equals.
Topic:
United Nations, Peacekeeping, and Sexual Exploitation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6092. Material Determinism and Beyond: Spatial Categories in the Study of Violent Conflict

Author:
Sven Chojnacki and Bettina Engels
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
This paper reviews recent debates in peace and conflict studies on the theoretical and empiri- cal integration of spatial categories. We examine three notable strands of research. The first consists of studies that analyze the influence of topography, borders, and resource availability on the occurrence of international and intra-state war. The second strand comprises recent studies in civil war research focusing on territory and territorial control. The third strand is the debate on so-called environmental conflicts. We argue that most studies in all three fields are limited to the analysis of allegedly external material influences on violent conflict, failing to take into account the social and political meaning of physical materiality. We examine how recent research methodologically deals with interrelated scales (local, national, global). We argue that an analysis of the relationship between space and conflict should encompass both the materiality of space and its social meaning, and that these two aspects find themselves in a mutually constitutive relationship. Spatial theory therefore provides a useful approach.
Topic:
Conflict, Political Science, and Spatial Theory
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6093. On the Social Conditions of Governance: Social Capital and Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood

Author:
Johannes Kode
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
Unlike what Hobbesian theories argue, the provision of governance is not necessarily undermined by a lack of statehood. Empirical findings show that – contrary to many voices in current debates on weak, failing, or failed states – various (non-state) actors provide governance even when statehood is limited. This paper addresses the puzzle of how to account for cases where governance exists although the state cannot or does not provide it. Transferring insights from political sociology to the analysis of such “gov- ernance without the state,” the paper holds that the way societies manage their affairs critically depends on social conditions, which are captured here following social capital theory. Working toward a political sociology of “governance without a state,” this paper links social capital, resulting in interpersonal trust, to social coordination underlying the provision of governance. In this context, governance is interpreted as a collective action game (“governance game”), in which socially embedded (collective) actors are seen as players whose behavior (in particular their decisions to cooperate) depends critically on their social capital endowments. The main argument is that specific types of social capital endowments facilitate – and, thus, explain – specific modes of social coordination in areas of limited statehood. Explorative in nature, con- ceptual and theoretical arguments will be developed that offer new perspectives to explain the variance and mechanisms of governance outside the OECD world.
Topic:
Non State Actors, Governance, Social Capital, and Statehood
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6094. Iran’s Enriched Uranium Stocks Can Produce Enough HEU for 3 to 5 Nuclear Weapons The World’s Commitment to Nonproliferation is in Doubt Centrifuge Enrichment and the IAEA August 28, 2013 Safeguards Update

Author:
Gregory S Jones
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Nonproliferation Policy Education Center
Abstract:
In various papers since 2008, this author has outlined how Iran’s growing centrifuge enrichment program could provide it with the ability to produce Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) and thereby the ability to manufacture nuclear weapons.2 On August 28, 2013, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published its latest safeguards update which shows that Iran is continuing to expand its enrichment program.
Topic:
Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Iran and Global Focus

6095. Security Matters

Author:
Centre for European Security Studies
Publication Date:
02-2013
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Centre for European Security Studies
Abstract:
In 2012 CESS conducted a range of activities in Turkey in the framework of the “Good Governance of the Security Sector in Turkey” programme: In March we organised a conference and a follow-up training course in Ankara on Financial Accountability and Budgetary Transparency of the Security Sector. During these events we discussed the main procedures in reviewing defence budgets and particular attention was dedicated to the role of the Court of Accounts. It became clear during the proceedings of both events that despite the fact that changes have been made for the better in Turkey with regard to financial oversight of the security sector, most of these changes unfortunately are only made on paper and are still not put into practice. The auditing process clearly lacks key mechanisms that would make the military more accountable. Therefore the Court of Accounts still has no real leverage over the military in terms of auditing defence spending.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6096. Gendering Global Conflict: Toward a Feminist Theory of War

Author:
Laura Sjoberg
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Columbia University Press
Abstract:
Laura Sjoberg positions gender and gender subordination as key factors in the making and fighting of global conflict. Through the lens of gender, she examines the meaning, causes, practices, and experiences of war, building a more inclusive approach to the analysis of violent conflict between states. Considering war at the international, state, substate, and individual levels, Sjoberg's feminist perspective elevates a number of causal variables in war decision-making. These include structural gender inequality, cycles of gendered violence, state masculine posturing, the often overlooked role of emotion in political interactions, gendered understandings of power, and states' mistaken perception of their own autonomy and unitary nature. Gendering Global Conflict also calls attention to understudied spaces that can be sites of war, such as the workplace, the household, and even the bedroom. Her findings show gender to be a linchpin of even the most tedious and seemingly bland tactical and logistical decisions in violent conflict. Armed with that information, Sjoberg undertakes the task of redefining and reintroducing critical readings of war's political, economic, and humanitarian dimensions, developing the beginnings of a feminist theory of war.
Topic:
International Relations, Gender Issues, War, International Security, and Political Theory
Political Geography:
Global Focus
Publication Identifier:
9780231520003
Publication Identifier Type:
ISBN

6097. Bridging the PAYE gap

Author:
ZIPAR
Publication Date:
01-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR)
Abstract:
Zambia’s tax revenue-to-GDP ratio dropped to a record low of 13% in the early 1990s from a peak of 30% in the 1970s. To address the problem, Government embarked on a wide range of tax reforms that included the formation of the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) in order to increase revenue collection through efficient tax administration. Despite these reforms, tax revenues have remained low, averaging only 17% of GDP. The low tax revenues can be partly attributed to tax evasion. The current legal and administrative measures to address this problem are inadequate. This is evidenced by the underperformance of taxes such as PAYE with a significant proportion remaining uncollected. The estimated PAYE tax gap as a percent of GDP is 6.7% or 40.3% of total tax revenues in 2010. Government should embark on comprehensive legal and administrative tax reforms in order to minimise the tax gap, thereby combating tax evasion.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6098. The Negative Impact of the War on Drugs on Public Health: The Hidden Hepatitis C Epidemic

Author:
Global Commission On Drug Policy
Publication Date:
05-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Commission On Drug Policy
Abstract:
The hepatitis C epidemic fueled by the “war on drugs” is sweeping amongst injecting drug users around the world, yet continues to be largely ignored. Access to preventive services is far too low and diagnosis and treatment are too expensive and inaccessible for most people in need. The report provides an overview of the hepatitis C virus, while exploring how the ‘war on drugs’ and repressive drug policies are failing to drive transmission down. Hepatitis C is one of the harms caused by repressive drug policies, yet it s both preventable and curable when public health is the focus.
Topic:
Health, War on Drugs, Infectious Diseases, Drugs, and Public Health
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6099. Promoting the Rule of Law Abroad: Towards a Multi-Dimensional Approach

Author:
Manuel Balán
Publication Date:
01-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University (ISID)
Abstract:
Few if any issues are as crucial in ensuring sustainable development as the promotion and consolidation of the Rule of Law (henceforth RoL). In fact, RoL has become a major ingredient in analyses of what is missing in countries struggling for political and economic development. Yet, this objective remains elusive, as there is limited knowledge of what policies work in promoting the Rule of Law. With this in mind, this paper analyzes CIDA’s approach to RoL promotion, tracking how different programs promoted by CIDA addressed RoL concerns. Overall, and despite the term having been left out of CIDA’s priorities for some time, the organization shows interest and investment in RoL related projects. Yet, CIDA’s approach has lacked a clear and explicit direction, and has emphasized projects dealing with capacity building.
Topic:
Corruption, Development, Governance, Rule of Law, and Political Science
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6100. A Tripartite Analysis of Sustainable Development: Environmental, Social, and Political Forms of Sustainability

Author:
Erik Martinez Kuhonta, Amy R. Poteete, and David Rothwell
Publication Date:
01-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University (ISID)
Abstract:
This policy paper examines the question of sustainable development from three distinct angles: environmental, social, and political. Its ambit is broad in order to provide a wide-angle lens on the question of sustainability. The three forms of sustainability are linked through three common themes. These include: the importance of equality, the necessity of institutionalization, and the relationship between states and markets. All three forms of sustainability stress equality as a crucial outcome, pinpoint the need for institutionalization as a structure through which policies can become more effective, and address the relationship between states and markets in engaging with sustainable development.
Topic:
Environment, Politics, Sustainable Development Goals, and Equality
Political Geography:
Global Focus