International Economics Commons^™

China-Based Industrial Espionage, Joel Savary

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

On Oct 8, 2014 China has surpassed the United States as the world’s largest economy in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)” (IMF). My paper explores one of the instances of unlawful business practices that have contributed to China’s new world position. China based espionage undercuts American businesses and U.S. foreign policy directly, causing catastrophic economic implications for America, its businesses, and its allies. The U.S. government is grappling with the means and methods China uses to disseminate information stolen from U.S. businesses to support China based industries. Due to the lack of transparency in China, it has been difficult …

Eu-China Economic Relations: Interactions And Barriers, Zheng Lu

Zheng Lu (Chinese: 路征)

EU-China economic interactions became more and more frequent in the past decades, nowadays EU and China are main trade partner for each other. This paper analyzed EU-China economic interactions from three dimensions: bilateral governmental interactions, trade and investment flows as well as barriers to trade and investment. Findings show that EU-China close relationship is particularly based on goods trade especially on intra-industrial trade of manufacturing industrial products, and trade imbalance is arising from trade in Machinery and Transport Equipment and Other Manufactured Goods (e.g., Clothing and clothing accessories); This paper also found that there exist a myriad of trade and …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Unrecognized States: A Theory Of Self-Determination And Foreign Influence, Kristina Buzard, Benjamin A.T. Graham, Ben Horne

Economics - All Scholarship

Unrecognized states are characterized by stagnant or crumbling economies and political instability, often serve as havens for illicit trade, and challenge the territorial sovereignty of recognized states. Their persistence is both intellectually puzzling and normatively problematic, but unrecognized statehood can be a remarkably stable outcome, persisting for decades. Our four-player model reveals that unrecognized statehood emerges as an equilibrium outcome when a patron state is willing and able to persistently invest resources to sustain it. We assess options available to actors in the international community who seek to impose their preferred outcomes in these disputes and find that, although sanctions …

Trade, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides a historical overview of analysis of U.S. foreign trade policy during the early decades of the country's history. Examines bilateral U.S. trade relations with France and Great Britain, provides import and export statistics, details on commodities and products imports and exported, trade statistics, and information on the political and economic factors shaping U.S. trade during this period.

Argentina's 2001 Default: Foreign Policy Considerations And Consequences, Joshua K. Alley

Celebration

Argentina’s 2001 default was at the time the largest in history, with the Peronist government of Adolfo Rodriguez Saa declaring a cessation of payments on over 80 billion dollars in government bonds. Historically, the political science and economics literatures have emphasized the economic considerations surrounding the decision to default. Recent literature has explored the political motivations for default, but there has been little scholarship on the possible political consequences of default. Some authors have emphasized that default can have important audience costs for leaders, but other issues have been left unexplored. However, it is clear that Argentina’s 2001 default had …

Transnational Organized Crime And The Illegal Wildlife Trade Global Ties And Global Crime, Zachariah Edward Long

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

World biodiversity is faced with many different threats in today's globalized world. One such threat is the emergence of transnational organized crime in the illegal wildlife trade. But why would transnational organized crime which is traditionally associated with such crimes like illegal drugs, weapons, and human trafficking be interested in the illegal wildlife trade? This thesis seeks to explore why transnational organized crime as a rational business actor would it be interested in participating in the illegal wildlife trade. To explore this relationship, this thesis will look at several different variables. First the economic conditions oflocals living with wildlife and …

Predicting Social Change: Transforming Victims Of Child Sex Trafficking In India And The United States, Kristie A. Weisert

Global Honors Theses

Human trafficking is a huge global issue that is highly linked to issues of poverty, physical abuse, and psychological control, culminating in the buying and selling of human beings, or what we call “modern day slavery.” For my Global Honors thesis, I applied a fairly optimistic philosophical human rights theory to an unimaginable human rights issue that is taking place all over the world. This paper focuses on domestic child sex trafficking in the U.S. and India along with the unique socioeconomic, political, and cultural factors that contributes to trafficking in these countries. I found that the international community, non-profits, …

The Globalization Of Human Rights In Post-Genocide Rwanda, Sadara Shine

Bridges: A Journal of Student Research

In the past two decades, Rwanda has been through major changes, from a conflict-ridden society with deep divisions between the two main ethnic groups–Hutus and Tutsis–to a case of impressive economic growth. Despite the progress, deep divisions and human rights issues exist. To avoid the recurrence of any conflict, both state and non-state actors are playing varied roles in a post-genocide Rwanda. Based on both primary and secondary sources, this article argues that in an era of globalization and postgenocide in Rwanda, non-state actors like international non-governmental organizations have the most impact in the preservation of human rights. So, in …

European Integration And Anti-Money Laundering Cooperation, Allison Blauvelt

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This paper compares European Union anti-money laundering (AML) efforts with international efforts in scope and intensity through an analysis of the timeline of AML cooperation in Europe from 1980 to 2012, showing the creation or adoption date for relevant organizations and legislation, referred to as actions. The actors include United Nations bodies, the Financial Action Task Force, the Council of Europe, and European Union bodies. This paper also comments on the utility of different European Union (EU) integration theories in explaining the patterns in cooperation. The key finding of this paper is that international AML cooperation operates in waves, with …

Delayed Complementarity: How Schengen Area Membership Influenced German And Austrian Investment In Central And Eastern Europe, Romy L. Franks

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This paper considers the mutually beneficial relationship of German and Austrian foreign direct investment (FDI) in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) between 2004 and 2007, and the impact that the CEE states' belated membership in the Schengen Area had on further economic integration. It analyzes how excluding CEE member states from immediate membership in the Schengen Area upon their accession to the EU in 2004 and 2007 affected the economies of Germany, Austria, and the CEE member states. The paper argues that, in reviewing actual FDI and migration numbers following EU enlargements, fears over the potentially negative effects of labor …

The Political Hindrances In Solving The European Sovereign Debt Crisis, C. Cole Fairbanks

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Once revered as a progressive supranational success story, the European Union now faces excessive public debt, unemployment, and stagnation partly due to its flawed institutional design. This has become apparent in southern Eurozone countries like Portugal and Greece, which continue to suffer from strict austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund, European Commission, and European Central Bank (Troika). This report examines the politics behind the European Sovereign Debt Crisis, including the rise of Eurosceptic populist parties. Furthermore, it analyzes austerity in southern Europe, the ‘moral hazard’ argument, and the German government’s reluctance to lead Europe out the crisis. This …

No Light At The End Of The Tunnel: Ideological And Systematic Causes Of Spain's Economic Paralysis, Taylor S. Shippen

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Since 2008, Spain’s economy has suffered from an unemployment crisis. In response, voters elevated the Partido Popular (PP) to power in 2011 after becoming frustrated with the Partido Socialista Obrero Español’s (PSOE) lack of effective action. However, since the election of 2011, very little has changed in Spain’s stagnant economy. Unemployment remains high despite initially promising reforms in Spain’s labor market and a bailout for Spain’s larger banks in 2012 has done little to bring foreign investment back into the country. In this paper, I contend that the PP’s timid response to the unemployment crisis is the result of a …

Great Powers, The Persian Gulf, And Global Oil: A Comparative Analysis, Katerina Oskarsson

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Using original data, this study explores the changing capabilities of the United States, China, and Russia in the conflict-ridden Persian Gulf since 1980. It reveals what such shifts mean for American hegemony, the international distribution of capabilities in the region, relations among the great powers, and global oil security.

What Constitutes The Success Or Failure Of Multinational Corporations (Mncs) In Foreign Markets? A Case Study Of Chinese And American Mncs, Shiwei Jiang

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Scholars have identified multinational corporations (MNCs) as increasingly important and influential actors in international politics. However, mainstream international studies scholarship has failed to explain why MNCs succeed or fail in entering foreign markets. Market entry is a particularly vexing question for U.S. and Chinese firms seeking to compete for each other's consumers. As this study shows, surprising differences in success among U.S. firms in China, as well as Chinese firms in the U.S., suggest that statist and market factors interact with corporate strategies in confounding ways. Through case studies in the internet, automobile and fast food industries, this dissertation builds …

Transnational Marriage: Modern Imaginings, Relational Realignments, And Persistent Inequalities, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

In the context of shifting cultural anchors as well as unstable global economic conditions, new practices of intimacy and sexuality may become tactics in an individual’s negotiation of conflicting desires and potentials. This article offers reflection on the interface between global forces, powerful transcultural narratives, and state policies, on the one hand, and local, even individual, constructions and tactics in regard to sexuality, marriage, migration, and work, on the other. The article focuses on the life trajectory of Gudiya, an ambitious young Hindu woman who started out life with little social capital and few economic resources in a dusty corner …

The Rise Of Private Equity In China: A Case Study Of Successful And Failed Foreign Private Equity Investments, June Kim

CMC Senior Theses

China's transition from a planned economy to a market economy has brought about remarkably rapid economic growth. Year after year, China boasted of double-digit growth rates since the early 1990s. Attracted by China's so-called "economic miracle," foreign investors began entering the Chinese market hoping to benefit from the country's vast array of financial opportunities. Private equity, particularly a leveraged buyout, was an unfamiliar concept in China until late 1990s. Now China has become the most attractive destination among emerging markets for private equity investment. Global private equity firms are currently raising billions of dollars for funds focusing on China because …

International Political Economy: How Does Freedom Correlate With Economic Success?, Trevis Harrold

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

It is thought by many that the size of a nation's economy determines the amount and kind of services that any individual in that nation can access. This paper explores how freedom affects a country's economic success in terms of GDP per capita. The conclusions are that the amount of freedom a country has, as determined by Freedom house measures, does have an effect on Gross Domestic Product per Capita.

Generally, the more freedom a country has the higher the GDP per capita is. Countries should promote and establish free regimes in order to have the best economic output. In …

Reversing The Flood Of Forced Displacement: Shedding Light On Important Determinants Of Return Migration, Prakash Adhikari Ph.D., Wendy L. Hansen Ph.D.

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Most current research on forced migration focuses on explaining patterns of displacement during armed conflicts and the role that social networks play in pulling people away from conflict torn areas. But what happens to displaced persons after a conflict ends? While many of these individuals are able to resettle in the place to which they fled during conflict, some individuals return to their places of origin while others remain in limbo. This research seeks to better understand behavior after flight. Using a rational choice framework, we theorize that people are strategic in their calculations of the costs and benefits of …

The Bankruptcy Code’S Safe Harbors For Settlement Payments And Securities Contracts: When Is Safe Too Safe?, Charles W. Mooney Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article addresses insolvency law-related issues in connection with certain financial-markets contracts, such as securities contracts, commodity contracts, forward contracts, repurchase agreements (repos), swaps and other derivatives, and master netting agreements. The Bankruptcy Code provides special treatment—safe harbors—for these contracts (collectively, qualified financial contracts or QFCs). This special treatment is considerably more favorable for nondebtor parties to QFCs than the rules applicable to nondebtor parties to other contracts with a debtor. Yet even some strong critics of the safe harbors concede that some special treatment may be warranted. This Article offers a critique of the safe harbor for settlement payments, …

Microfoundations Of The Rule Of Law, Gillian K. Hadfield, Barry R. Weingast

Gillian K Hadfield

Many social scientists rely on the rule of law in their accounts of political or economic development. Many however simply equate law with a stable government capable of enforcing the rules generated by a political authority. As two decades of largely failed efforts to build the rule of law in poor and transition countries and continuing struggles to build international legal order demonstrate, we still do not understand how legal order is produced, especially in places where it does not already exist. We here canvas literature in the social sciences to identify the themes and gaps in the existing accounts. …