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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Relationship Between Future Goals And Achievement Goal Orientations: An Intrinsic-Extrinsic Motivation Perspective, Jie Qi Lee, Dennis M. Mcinerney, Gregory Arief D. Liem, Yasmin Y. Ortiga Dec 2018

The Relationship Between Future Goals And Achievement Goal Orientations: An Intrinsic-Extrinsic Motivation Perspective, Jie Qi Lee, Dennis M. Mcinerney, Gregory Arief D. Liem, Yasmin Y. Ortiga

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This research aimed to study the relationships between students’ future goals (FGs) and their immediate achievement goal orientations (AGOs) among 5733 Singaporean secondary school students (M age = 14.18, SD = 1.26; 53% boys). To this end, we hypothesized that the relationships between like valenced FGs and AGOs (both intrinsic or both extrinsic) will be stronger than those of opposite valenced FGs and AGOs (intrinsic–extrinsic) and tested two alternative models: Model A positing the prediction of AGOs by FGs and Model B positing the prediction of FGs by AGOs. Structural equation modeling showed the heuristic superiority of Model B in …


Multiculturalism On Its Head: Unexpected Social Boundaries And New Migration In Singapore, Yasmin Y. Ortiga Dec 2018

Multiculturalism On Its Head: Unexpected Social Boundaries And New Migration In Singapore, Yasmin Y. Ortiga

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study investigates how discourses of multiculturalism shape publicdebates surrounding new migration in Singapore. Singapore’s immigration policiesled to the influx of Chinese and Indian professionals, many of whom share race andclass identities with local Singaporeans. However, Singaporeans of Chinese and Indianbackgrounds rejected these presumed similarities, using discourses of multiculturalismto differentiate themselves from co-ethnic migrants. Based on a content analysis ofnews reports and online forums, this study shows how local actors portrayed newmigrants as too prejudiced or bigoted to adapt to Singapore’s multiracial society,thereby creating a paradoxical application of multicultural ideals. This example high-lights how contemporary immigration is creating diverse forms …


Parenting And Inequality In Insecure Times. A Comment To The Symposium, Aliya Hamid Rao Dec 2018

Parenting And Inequality In Insecure Times. A Comment To The Symposium, Aliya Hamid Rao

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This comment highlights how high income inequality and economic uncertainty produce new dimensions to intensive parenting amongst the middle-class. Parenting practices encourage children’sdevelopment of behaviors and values which are coveted in élite professions. Amongst the advantaged,these parenting practices encourage neo-traditional family structures as a means of coping with economic uncertainty.


Book Review: Becoming Better Muslims: Religious Authority And Ethical Improvement In Aceh, Indonesia (By David Kloos) & Chinese Ways Of Being Muslim: Negotiating Ethnicity And Religiosity In Indonesia (By Hew Wai Weng), Charlotte Setijadi Dec 2018

Book Review: Becoming Better Muslims: Religious Authority And Ethical Improvement In Aceh, Indonesia (By David Kloos) & Chinese Ways Of Being Muslim: Negotiating Ethnicity And Religiosity In Indonesia (By Hew Wai Weng), Charlotte Setijadi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Indonesian Islam has earned something of a bad reputation in recent times. Amid reports of rising intolerance against religious minorities, terrorism attacks, high-profile blasphemy cases and the growing political influence of hard-line Muslim groups, it is easy to take an alarmist stance and assume that Indonesia’s approximately 225 million Muslims are heading down the path of puritanism. Indeed, even seasoned analysts of Indonesia often forget that Indonesian Islam is heterogeneous, and that the everyday experiences of Muslims from different socio-cultural backgrounds are extremely diverse. This is why Hew Wai Weng’s and David Kloos’ respective books are much-needed additions to contemporary …


Looking Beyond The Obvious: Power, Epistemic Culture And Student Migration In The Knowledge-Based Economy, Yasmin Y. Ortiga Dec 2018

Looking Beyond The Obvious: Power, Epistemic Culture And Student Migration In The Knowledge-Based Economy, Yasmin Y. Ortiga

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The emergence of the knowledge-based economy revived the brain drain debate of the1970s, calling for the recruitment of scientists and researchers in the interest of national development.International students find themselves in the middle of this debate, as developing countries struggle toaddress the growing number of those choosing not to return home after graduation. While mostresearchers explain student migration in terms of economic opportunity and incentives, this articleargues that this approach ignores the epistemic culture of graduate training and the differential powerof academic institutions in developed and developing nations. Based on a sample of Filipino PhDstudents in science, technology, engineering or …


The Flexible University: Neoliberal Education And The Global Production Of Migrant Labor, Yasmin Y. Ortiga Dec 2018

The Flexible University: Neoliberal Education And The Global Production Of Migrant Labor, Yasmin Y. Ortiga

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article demonstrates how neoliberal higher education has come to play a distinct role in the global market for migrant labor, where a growing number of developing nations educate its citizens for overseas work in order to maximize future monetary remittances. Located in the Philippines, this study shows how local colleges and universities attempt to impose an ideal notion of flexibility, quickly shifting academic manpower and resources to programs that would produce the ‘right’ types of workers to address foreign labor demands. Based on qualitative interviews with Filipino college educators and students, the article then discusses how such ‘flexible’ strategies …


Smart Eldercare In Singapore: Negotiating Agency And Apathy At The Margins, Lily Kong, Orlando Woods Dec 2018

Smart Eldercare In Singapore: Negotiating Agency And Apathy At The Margins, Lily Kong, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Around the world, smart technologies are being embraced as a cost-efficient means of enabling the elderly to be cared for in new, more non-proximate ways. They can facilitate ageing-in-place, and have the potential to relieve pressure on the providers of care. Yet, the fact is that the interface of technology and society is a negotiated one. These negotiations are most acutely felt when technology is used to supplement the hitherto human-centred process of caregiving, especially amongst “marginalised” societal cohorts, like the elderly. With this, there is a need to better understand the ways in which smart eldercare technologies are used, …


Caring For Thai Older Persons With Long-Term Care Needs, John Knodel, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Wiraporn Pothisiri Dec 2018

Caring For Thai Older Persons With Long-Term Care Needs, John Knodel, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Wiraporn Pothisiri

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Objective: To provide a situation analysis of recent long-term care (LTC) needs among older persons in Thailand. Method: The 2014 Survey of Older Persons in Thailand (SOPT) provides data to assess patterns of caregiving,whether care needs are met, and who are main caregivers for older Thais. We examine how types of familial and non-familial caregivers are associated with the wellbeing of older persons. Results:The need for LTC increases sharply with age and is more common among women than men. Spouses and children constitute approximately 90% of main caregivers. The association of a family member as the main caregiver and education …


Inducing Development: Social Remittances And The Expansion Of Oil Palm In The Philippines, Marvin Joseph F. Montefrio, Yasmin Y. Ortiga, Ma. Rose Cristy B. Josol Dec 2018

Inducing Development: Social Remittances And The Expansion Of Oil Palm In The Philippines, Marvin Joseph F. Montefrio, Yasmin Y. Ortiga, Ma. Rose Cristy B. Josol

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper investigates the relationship between social remittances andland-use change in the context of South–South migration. Focusingon the cyclical movement of Filipino oil palm workers between thePhilippine province of Palawan and the Malaysian State of Sabah, weshow how migrants transmit social remittances, such as ideas of pros-perity associated with oil palm development and knowledge of pro-duction practices and land impacts of oil palm plantations. Thesesocial remittances affect farmers’ decisions to engage in oil palmdevelopment within the migrants’ home province, possibly transform-ing subsistence agricultural systems into large-scale, monocrop planta-tions. We argue that such land development outcomes are anunderstudied aspect of how …


Professional Problems: The Burden Of Producing The ‘Global’ Filipino Nurse, Yasmin Y. Ortiga Dec 2018

Professional Problems: The Burden Of Producing The ‘Global’ Filipino Nurse, Yasmin Y. Ortiga

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper investigates the challenges faced by nursing schools within migrant-sending nations, where teachers and school administrators face the task of producing nurse labor, not only for domestic health needs but employers beyond national borders. I situate my research in the Philippines, one of the leading sources of migrant nurse labor in the world. Based on 58 interviews with nursing school instructors and administrators, conducted from 2010 to 2013, I argue that Philippine nursing schools are embedded within a global nursing care chain, where nations lower down the chain must supply nurse labor to wealthier countries higher up the chain. …


Thirty Years Of Instrument Research: What Have We Learned And Where Are We Going?, Michael Howlett, Ishani Mukherjee, J.J. Woo Dec 2018

Thirty Years Of Instrument Research: What Have We Learned And Where Are We Going?, Michael Howlett, Ishani Mukherjee, J.J. Woo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Anyone interested in policy studies, policy analysis, policy evaluation and policymanagement should be aware of, and knowledgeable about, the origins, nature andcapabilities of different policy tools. They are a critical part of policy-making, providingthe ‘means’ by which to achieve policy ‘ends’ but also often becoming ends-inthemselves. Policy instruments are and have been the subject of inquiry in many policyrelated fields, including public administration and ‘governance’ studies, but also variousbroader disciplines such as political science and economics. Additionally, they have beena research topic in various policy-specific areas of study such as policy analysis andpolicy studies, as well as in sector-specific areas …


Producing The Self-Regulating Subject: Liberal Protection In Indonesia’S Migration Infrastructure, Andy Scott Chang Dec 2018

Producing The Self-Regulating Subject: Liberal Protection In Indonesia’S Migration Infrastructure, Andy Scott Chang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Labour protection has become a dominant agenda in global migration governance, particularly for sending countries whose diasporic citizens are denied political rights in host states. Despite having limited authority to arbitrate extraterritorial disputes, sending countries like Indonesia have deployed novel techniques of statecraft to improve migrant protection. Through the prism of the professional competence exam and pre-departure orientation seminar, this article investigates the Indonesian state's regulatory practices that focus on migrant conduct. Although outbound domestic workers are subject to a prolonged process of skill formation, other Indonesian contract workers pursue emigration upon acquiring basic legal knowledge without undergoing accreditation. While …


An Integrative Approach To Investigating Bilingual Advantages In Cognitive Decline: The Australian Longitudinal Study Of Ageing, Wei Xing Toh, Andree Hartanto, Joanne Qin Ying Tan, Hwajin Yang Nov 2018

An Integrative Approach To Investigating Bilingual Advantages In Cognitive Decline: The Australian Longitudinal Study Of Ageing, Wei Xing Toh, Andree Hartanto, Joanne Qin Ying Tan, Hwajin Yang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A commentary on “The relationship of bilingualism to cognitive decline: The Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing” by Mukadam N, Jichi F, Green D, Livingston G (2018). International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 33(2), e249‐e256, .


Effects Of Cultural Tightness-Looseness And Social Network Density On Expression Of Positive And Negative Emotions: A Large-Scale Study Of Impression Management By Facebook Users, Pan Liu, David Chan, Lin Qiu, William Tov, Victor Joo Chuan Tong Nov 2018

Effects Of Cultural Tightness-Looseness And Social Network Density On Expression Of Positive And Negative Emotions: A Large-Scale Study Of Impression Management By Facebook Users, Pan Liu, David Chan, Lin Qiu, William Tov, Victor Joo Chuan Tong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Using data from 13,789 Facebook users across U.S. states, this study examined the main effects of societal-level cultural tightness–looseness and its interaction effects with individuals’ social network density on impression management (IM) in terms of online emotional expression. Results showed that individuals from culturally tight (vs. loose) states were more likely to express positive emotions and less likely to express negative emotions. Meanwhile, for positive emotional expression, there was a tightness–looseness by social network density interaction effect. In culturally tight states, individuals with dense (vs. sparse) networks were more likely to express positive emotions, while in culturally loose states this …


Blaunet: An R-Based Graphical User Interface Package To Analyze Blau Space, Michael Genkin, Cheng Wang, George Berry, Matthew E. Brashears Oct 2018

Blaunet: An R-Based Graphical User Interface Package To Analyze Blau Space, Michael Genkin, Cheng Wang, George Berry, Matthew E. Brashears

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

McPherson’s Blau space and affiliation ecology model is a powerful tool for analyzing the ecological competition among social entities, such as organizations, along a combination of sociodemographic characteristics of their members. In this paper we introduce the R-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) package Blaunet, an integrated set of tools to calculate, visualize, and analyze the statuses of individuals and social entities in Blau space, parameterized by multiple sociodemographic traits as dimensions. The package is able to calculate the Blau statuses at the nodal, dyadic, and meso levels based on three types of information: sociodemographic characteristics, group affiliations (e.g., membership in …


Build Your Own Nest: Singapore's First Study On Matched Savings Schemes For Lower Income, Older Women, David Chan, Benedict S. K. Koh Oct 2018

Build Your Own Nest: Singapore's First Study On Matched Savings Schemes For Lower Income, Older Women, David Chan, Benedict S. K. Koh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Matched Savings Scheme is a research study, commissioned by the International Longevity Centre – Singapore (ILC – Singapore) of the Tsao Foundation and funded by the Tote Board, found that a monthly matched savings scheme is effective in sustaining the retirement savings behaviour among a group of 377 elderly women from low-income households over the study period of 18 months. The research, conducted by principal investigator psychology professor David Chan and co-investigator finance professor Benedict Koh, used an experimental design and longitudinal tracking to examine the effects that different factors of a matched savings scheme have on the participants’ decision …


Constructing The Global Education Hub: The Unlikely Case Of Manila, Yasmin Y. Ortiga Sep 2018

Constructing The Global Education Hub: The Unlikely Case Of Manila, Yasmin Y. Ortiga

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper investigates the creation of an unlikely education hub in Manila, Philippines, where local institutions have seen a growing number of international students from Korea, India, and the Middle East. These students seek qualifications in professions where Filipino migrants are highly represented, either to gain an advantage within their home countries or as a steppingstone towards jobs elsewhere. Drawing from current debates on ‘global cities’, this paper discusses how different actors promote Manila as an ideal destination for students by using the country’s unique position within the global market for migrant labor and its American colonial history. Here, Filipino …


Academic “Centres,” Epistemic Differences And Brain Circulation, Yasmin Y. Ortiga, Meng‐Hsuan Chou, Gunjan Sondhi, Jue Wang Sep 2018

Academic “Centres,” Epistemic Differences And Brain Circulation, Yasmin Y. Ortiga, Meng‐Hsuan Chou, Gunjan Sondhi, Jue Wang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article investigates the factors that shape how migrant academics engage with fellow scholars within their countries of origin. We focus specifically on the mobility of Asian‐born faculty between Singapore, a fast‐developing education hub in Southeast Asia, and their “home” countries within the region. Based on qualitative interviews with 45 migrant academics, this article argues that while education hubs like Singapore increase the possibility of brain circulation within Asia, epistemic differences between migrant academics and home country counterparts make it difficult to establish long‐term collaboration for research. Singapore institutions also look to the West in determining how research work is …


Conceptualizing And Measuring Women’S Political Leadership: From Presence To Balance, Devin K. Joshi, Ryan Goehrung Sep 2018

Conceptualizing And Measuring Women’S Political Leadership: From Presence To Balance, Devin K. Joshi, Ryan Goehrung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article conceptualizes an innovative understanding and measurement of women's political leadership, theoretically justifies its application, and analyzes contemporary variation in its patterns through comparative case studies. In recent years, scholars of comparative government have studied with great interest the election of female prime ministers and presidents (e.g., Derichs and Thompson 2013; Jalalzai 2013) and cross-national variation in female members of parliaments (MPs) and cabinets (e.g., Bauer and Tremblay 2011; Paxton and Hughes 2017; Suraj, Scherpereel, and Adams 2014). Yet, when it comes to regions beyond Europe and the Americas, comparative empirical analysis of women's political leadership (WPL) across national-level …


Productive Aging In Developing Southeast Asia: Comparative Analyses Between Myanmar, Vietnam And Thailand, Bussarawan Puk Teerawichitchainan, Vipan Prachuabmoh, John E. Knodel Sep 2018

Productive Aging In Developing Southeast Asia: Comparative Analyses Between Myanmar, Vietnam And Thailand, Bussarawan Puk Teerawichitchainan, Vipan Prachuabmoh, John E. Knodel

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Alarmist views regarding the burden that older persons pose for family and society are prevalent; yet, such views are not necessarily warranted. To fill the research gap, this study examines prevalence and differentials in later-life productive engagement in developing Southeast Asia with a focus on the roles of educational attainment and gender. Based on analyses of recent aging surveys in Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, we assess three major dimensions of productive engagement among persons aged 60 and above, i.e. their economic activity, assistance to family members, and caregiving. Results suggest that elders in all three countries make important contributions to …


Conceptualizing And Measuring Women’S Political Leadership: From Presence To Balance, Devin K. Joshi, Ryan Goehrung Sep 2018

Conceptualizing And Measuring Women’S Political Leadership: From Presence To Balance, Devin K. Joshi, Ryan Goehrung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article conceptualizes an innovative understanding and measurement of women's political leadership, theoretically justifies its application, and analyzes contemporary variation in its patterns through comparative case studies. In recent years, scholars of comparative government have studied with great interest the election of female prime ministers and presidents (e.g., Derichs and Thompson 2013; Jalalzai 2013) and cross-national variation in female members of parliaments (MPs) and cabinets (e.g., Bauer and Tremblay 2011; Paxton and Hughes 2017; Suraj, Scherpereel, and Adams 2014). Yet, when it comes to regions beyond Europe and the Americas, comparative empirical analysis of women's political leadership (WPL) across national-level …


Collating Historic Weather Observations For The East Asian Region: Challenges, Solutions, And Reanalyses, Fiona Williamson, Rob Allan, Guoyu Ren, Tsz-Cheung Lee, Wing-Hong Lui, Hisayuki Kubota, Jun Matsumoto, Jurg Luterbacher, Clive Wilkinson, Kevin Wood Aug 2018

Collating Historic Weather Observations For The East Asian Region: Challenges, Solutions, And Reanalyses, Fiona Williamson, Rob Allan, Guoyu Ren, Tsz-Cheung Lee, Wing-Hong Lui, Hisayuki Kubota, Jun Matsumoto, Jurg Luterbacher, Clive Wilkinson, Kevin Wood

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Historic instrumental weather observations, made on land or at sea from as early as the 17th century (e.g., Camuffo etal., 2010), are integral to extending our understanding of the decadal and centennial variations of Earth’s climate and forcomparison with paleo-proxy data. The potential of such data is shown to best effect when used in dynamical 4D globalreanalyses to reconstruct climate patterns and fluctuations over more than 250 years, improving climate projections and con-tributing to climate change detection and attribution studies. This longer temporal dimension permits the resolution of morerealizations of decadal to multi-decadal climate variations (Bengtsson et al., 2007). The …


Spaces Of The Religious Economy: Negotiating The Regulation Of Religious Space In Singapore, Orlando Woods Aug 2018

Spaces Of The Religious Economy: Negotiating The Regulation Of Religious Space In Singapore, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Over the past three decades, the theory of religious economy has been established, applied, debated, developed, and rejected. It has proven to be as divisive as any "general theory" of religion should be, and yet its core tenets continue to engage and unite scholars around the world. In response to broader shifts within the sociology of religion, this article reframes religious economy by advancing a spatial approach to its theorization. A spatial approach can help develop new perspectives on the regulation of religion, and the resistant agency of religious groups. With a focus on the "secular monopoly" of Singapore, it …


Using Multiple Methods To More Fully Understand Causal Relations: Positive Affect Enhances Social Relationships, Shannon Moore, Ed Diener, Kenneth Tan Aug 2018

Using Multiple Methods To More Fully Understand Causal Relations: Positive Affect Enhances Social Relationships, Shannon Moore, Ed Diener, Kenneth Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We review research indicating that higher levels of positive affect help produce better social relationships for that person and those around him or her. By better relationships we mean those that are experienced as more pleasant and less aversive, are closer and more supportive, and are long-lasting. We review longitudinal, experimental, experience-sampling, cross-cultural, and other types of evidence that suggest that not only do good relationships produce positive affect, but that positive affect can lead to them as well. We also focus on the mediators that create the association going from positive affect to sociability and high-quality relationships. Finally, we …


Beware Of Geeks With Good Intentions, Ijlal Naqvi Aug 2018

Beware Of Geeks With Good Intentions, Ijlal Naqvi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Using sci-fi’s metaphors, ideal types, and counterfactuals to consider our real-world problems, old and new. Isaac Asimov’s Foundation, a science fiction novel much beloved of geeks, has special resonance among those who imagine themselves as visionaries using advanced knowledge to transform society for the better. When the SpaceX rocket launched in early 2018, its unusual payload even included a copy of the Foundation series as a symbolic gesture.


Women's Education, Intergenerational Coresidence, And Household Decision-Making In China, Cheng Cheng Aug 2018

Women's Education, Intergenerational Coresidence, And Household Decision-Making In China, Cheng Cheng

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

ObjectiveThis study examines how intergenerational coresidence modifies the association between women's education and their household decision‐making power in China.BackgroundPast research on how married women's education increases their decision‐making power at home has focused primarily on nuclear families. This article extends prior research by examining how this association varies by household structure. It compares women living with their husbands with those living with both their husbands and parents‐in‐law.MethodThis article used data from the China Family Panel Studies in 2010 and 2014. It employed marginal structural models to address the concern that certain characteristics selecting women of less power into coresidence with …


Social Class, Control, And Action: Socioeconomic Status Differences In Antecedents Of Support For Pro-Environmental Action, Kimin Eom, Heejung S. Kim, David K. Sherman Jul 2018

Social Class, Control, And Action: Socioeconomic Status Differences In Antecedents Of Support For Pro-Environmental Action, Kimin Eom, Heejung S. Kim, David K. Sherman

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Addressing social issues such as climate change requires significant support and engagement of citizens with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The present research examines whether individuals who vary in their socioeconomic status significantly differ in their psychological antecedents of support for pro-environmental action. Study 1, using U.S. nationally representative data, showed that personal beliefs about climate change predicted support for pro-environmental policies more strongly among individuals with a higher, relative to lower, SES background. Studies 2 and 3, by employing correlational and experimental approaches respectively, found that general sense of control over life outcomes underlies the extent to which support for pro-environmental …


Long-Term Care Needs In The Context Of Poverty And Population Aging: The Case Of Older Persons In Myanmar, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, John Knodel Jun 2018

Long-Term Care Needs In The Context Of Poverty And Population Aging: The Case Of Older Persons In Myanmar, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, John Knodel

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Myanmar is one of the poorest and least healthy countries in Southeast Asia. As elsewhere in the region, population aging is occurring. Yet the government welfare and health systems have done little to address the long-term care (LTC) needs of the increasing number of older persons thus leaving families to cope on their own. Our study, based on the 2012 Myanmar Aging Survey, documents the LTC needs of persons aged 60 and older and how they are met within the context of the family. Nearly 40% of persons in their early 60s and 90% of those 80 and older reported …


Mobile Bodies, (Im)Mobile Beliefs? Religious Accord And Discord As Migratory Outcomes, Lily Kong, Orlando Woods Jun 2018

Mobile Bodies, (Im)Mobile Beliefs? Religious Accord And Discord As Migratory Outcomes, Lily Kong, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article advances a new understanding of the outcomes that arise from the movement and settlement of religion. These outcomes can range from religious accord to discord; or, from the full integration of migrant religions to inter-religious conflict. It identifies two axes that determine such outcomes. The first relates to the interplay between transnational religious agency and the strength of local religious structures. Harder structures are more likely to require migrant religious groups to make greater compromises to bring about situations of religious accord, while softer structures are less likely to do so. The second relates to the interplay between …


Politics And The Price Of Rice In Thailand: Public Choice, Institutional Change And Rural Subsidies, Jacob Ricks May 2018

Politics And The Price Of Rice In Thailand: Public Choice, Institutional Change And Rural Subsidies, Jacob Ricks

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Despite the Thai state’s long record of rice market interventions, historically politicians failed to leverage rice subsidies in their pursuit of political support, notwithstanding the large number of farmers in the country. Since Thaksin Shinawatra’s election in 2001, though, each government has subsidised rice producers, although at varying degrees. What explains this change? This article traces the four-decade history of rice price support programmes. It is proposed that these policies be interpreted through the dual lens of institutionalism and public choice theory, demonstrating how political institutions have shaped incentives for politicians to cater to different constituencies. During the pre-1980 period, …