Political Economy Commons^™

Slides: “Human Sustainability” In Natural Resources Industries: The New Frontier In Compliance, Social Responsibility, Disclosure, And Transparency, T. Markus Funk

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: T. Markus Funk, Partner, Perkins Coie

21 slides

Single Point Of Entry And The Bankruptcy Alternative, David A. Skeel Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

This Essay, which will appear in Across the Great Divide: New Perspectives on the Financial Crisis, a Brookings Institution and Hoover Institution book, begins with a brief overview of concerns raised by the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy about the adequacy of our existing architecture for resolving the financial distress of systemically important financial institutions. The principal takeaway of the first section is that Title II as enacted left most of these issues unanswered. By contrast, the FDIC’s new single point of entry strategy, which is introduced in the second section, can be seen as addressing nearly all of them. The …

Limited Trade And The Cites Ivory Trade Ban: Sustainable Use As A Viable Means Of Conservation, Nina Forbes

International Political Economy Theses

The over-exploitation of African elephants for their ivory has led to a dangerous decline in their overall population. As a result, they were granted protection under the CITES international trade agreement and given an Appendix I listing, which completely bans their international trade. I investigate the following question: under what circumstances is the limited trade allowed under the CITES ivory trade ban an effective strategy to stall the illicit trafficking of elephant ivory? Using Kenya and Zimbabwe as case studies, the feasibility of the preservationist and utilitarian viewpoints on elephant conservation are explored. This paper argues that the CITES ban …

Budget 2014 Is About Doing The Right Thing, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law and NMP Eugene Tan opined that the Budget’s move for the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP) was important and the right thing to do, as it mattered politically, and provided benefits and assurance to the pioneers. He said it was wise to set aside the $8b cost of the package, so future generations would not bear the cost of financing it. The Budget had acknowledged its role in caring for the elderly as well as preparing for the future and promoting social mobility through education assistance schemes for the children of lower earners, …

The Makings Of A Social Investment State, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law and NMP Eugene Tan opined that the Budget was an economic, political and social instrument, and not just a fiscal policy instrument. He said that key economic themes persisted in Budget 2014: productivity, restructuring, reducing reliance on foreign labour and long-term planning. He highlighted that the Budget was dominated by social themes, as it exuded inclusiveness, equity and gratitude. The Government’s expansion of schemes to reduce the income gap and improve social mobility was actually a move to make up for its lack of investments in the social sector in past years, …

Response To Questions In The First White Paper, 'Modernizing The Communications Act', Randolph J. May, Richard A. Epstein, Justin (Gus) Hurwitz, Daniel Lyons, James B. Speeta, Christopher S. Yoo

All Faculty Scholarship

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has begun a process to review and update the Communications Act of 1934, last revised in any material way in 1996. As the Committee begins the review process, this paper responds to questions posed by the Committee that all relate, in fundamental ways, to the question: "What should a modern Communications Act look like?"

The Response advocates a "clean slate" approach under which the regulatory silos that characterize the current statute would be eliminated, along with almost all of the ubiquitous 'public interest' delegation of authority found throughout the Communications Act. The replacement regime …

The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2013: What Follows The Housing Recovery?, Barry Bluestone, Eleanor White, Noah Hodgetts, Michael Gleba, Nancy Lee, Monika Kondura, Tim Davis

Nancy S. Lee

No abstract provided.

Life Sciences Innovation As A Catalyst For Economic Development: The Role Of The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Barry Bluestone, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Alan Clayton-Matthews

No abstract provided.

The Persistence Of The Drug Trade In Colombia: The Political, Social, And Economic Dimensions Of New Illicit Business Paradigms In Colombia, Tess Davis

International Political Economy Theses

With the demise of the Colombian cartels in the late 1980s, a new business paradigm has emerged in Colombia and other Latin American countries. Throughout the last several decades, numerous political, social, and economic factors have aided in the emergence and growth of this new illicit venture. Internally, illicit ventures are shaped by the state’s increased dependence on the illicit drug trade, a shift in societal acceptance of the ventures, the nature of Colombian culture, and a lack of opportunity in the legal economy. Externally, these ventures are shaped by increased foreign political pressure from the United States as well …

Compatibility Between Business And The Environment: Examples From A Case Study Of Patagonia, Ellesha Gasperini

International Political Economy Theses

A relatively new concept, corporate environmentalism refers to the action corporations are taking to become more conscience of their environmental impacts. Using a case study of the company Patagonia, the dual motivations that exist for it and other companies to adopt more environmentally friendly policies are used to argue that environmental responsibility in business is possible. These motivations are values and beliefs held by those inside a company and financial gains found in corporate sustainability. Although there still exist many barriers, such as financial markets, lacking consumer education, and global complexity, businesses are taking steps to overcome these obstacles. The …

Food Imports Under Foreign Exchange Constraints In The Cfa’S Franc Zone Of Sub-Saharan Africa (Ssa), Seydina Ousmane Sene

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

To respond to the high imported food prices in their domestic markets, net food importing countries in the Communauté Financière Africaine (CFA) zone^[1] are adjusting their import tariffs and homologate domestic prices of imported commodities such as rice, wheat, maize, and sugar. This research uses a multivariate specification of error correction model (VECM) of estimation to investigate the link between food imports, world price index of rice, wheat, maize and sugar, real effective exchange rates, domestic food production, GDP, and trade openness in the short and long run. The data are on each homogenous commodity from 1969 to 2012. …

History, External Influence And Political Volatility In The Central African Republic (Car), Henry Kam Kah

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

This paper examines the complex involvement of neighbours and other states in the leadership or political crisis in the CAR through a content analysis. It further discusses the repercussions of this on the unity and leadership of the country. The CAR has, for a long time, been embroiled in a crisis that has impeded the unity of the country. It is a failed state in Africa to say the least, and the involvement of neighbouring and other states in the crisis in one way or the other has compounded the multifarious problems of this country. Some of these states have …

2014 American Incentive System Almanac, Don P. Diffine Ph.D.

Belden Center Monographs

No abstract provided.

Money, Religion, And Tyranny: God And The Demonic In Luther's Antifragile Theology, Guillermo C. Hansen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Moving Beyond Boycotts: Strategies For Shared Responsibility In The Collegiate Apparel Industry, Scott Kelley

Mission and Ministry Publications

the factory collapse at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh is a painful reminder that labor issues in the apparel industry are abundant and troubling. Catholic Colleges and Universities (CCUs) are confronted with the reality that many apparel manufacturers can operate in stark contrast to the vision of economic justice found in Catholic social thought (CST). In response, activists on CCU campuses have demanded that CCUs boycott apparel manufacturers that they believe to be in violation of their school’s values. While activism can draw much needed attention to problems in the industry, it can be a problematic response. While CST offers principles …

Commons At The Intersection Of Peer Production, Citizen Science, And Big Data: Galaxy Zoo, Michael J. Madison

Book Chapters

The knowledge commons research framework is applied to a case of commons governance grounded in research in modern astronomy. The case, Galaxy Zoo, is a leading example of at least three different contemporary phenomena. In the first place Galaxy Zoo is a global citizen science project, in which volunteer non-scientists have been recruited to participate in large-scale data analysis via the Internet. In the second place Galaxy Zoo is a highly successful example of peer production, sometimes known colloquially as crowdsourcing, by which data are gathered, supplied, and/or analyzed by very large numbers of anonymous and pseudonymous contributors to an …

Governing Knowledge Commons -- Introduction & Chapter 1, Brett M. Frischmann, Michael J. Madison, Katherine J. Strandburg

Book Chapters

“Knowledge commons” describes the institutionalized community governance of the sharing and, in some cases, creation, of information, science, knowledge, data, and other types of intellectual and cultural resources. It is the subject of enormous recent interest and enthusiasm with respect to policymaking about innovation, creative production, and intellectual property. Taking that enthusiasm as its starting point, Governing Knowledge Commons argues that policymaking should be based on evidence and a deeper understanding of what makes commons institutions work. It offers a systematic way to study knowledge commons, borrowing and building on Elinor Ostrom’s Nobel Prize-winning research on natural resource commons. It …

Sociobiophysicality And The Necessity Of Critical Theory: Moving Beyond Prevailing Conceptions Of Environmental Sociology In The Usa, Alex Stoner

Journal Articles

Today, to perceive the link between society and environment does not require that we engage in an effort of great abstraction. What remains paradoxical is that the intensity and scale of societally induced environmental degradation, which rose to historically unprecedented levels during the latter half of the 20th century, is synchronous with an equally impressive increase in public concern for and attention to the biophysical world. This article examines values-based and traditional Marxist-oriented approaches to environmental sociology in the USA in order to assess whether or not – and if so, how exactly – these approaches help us make sense …

European Integration And The Evolution Of Economic State Capacities In The Southern And Eastern Peripheries Of Europe, Laszlo Bruszt, Visnja Vukov

laszlo bruszt

No abstract provided.

Independent Agencies, Political Interference And Firm Investment Evidence From The European Union, Carlo Cambini, Laura Rondi

Carlo Cambini

This paper studies the impact of the inception of Independent Regulatory Agencies (IRAs) on the investment decisions of a sample of European publicly traded regulated firms. We investigate the impact of governments’ political influence on corporate investment and control for residual state ownership. We account for the measurement error in formal independence of IRAs by exploiting cross-country heterogeneity in the quality of political, financial and social institutions. Our results show that regulatory independence has a positive impact on firm investment, but, notwithstanding the presence of IRAs, political interference in the regulatory functions persists and is detrimental to firms’ investment.