Political Economy Commons^™

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 …

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.

A Note On Monitoring Costs And Voter Fraud, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton, Gary Galles

PHILIP E GRAVES

Election fraud can threaten democracy if many ineligible people are allowed to vote. The usual policy prescription is to increase monitoring cost. However, this is very costly. This paper proposes a more cost effective strategy: substitute tougher and consistent statutes across states against voter fraud.

The Critical Difference Between Republicans/Conservatives And Democrats/Liberals, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

There are, of course, a great many specific differences between the political positions of the two dominant political parties in America. After an introductory section characterizing those, section two suggests that the demarcation of critical importance between the parties relates to how they view the income distribution. Those self-identifying as Republican/Conservative tend to view the income distribution as an artifact of a host of individual work/leisure decisions with little policy relevance; those characterizing themselves as Democrat/Liberal tend to view the income distribution as a pure public good—in this view, private sector outcomes are expected to provide a non-optimally small amount …

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 …

Determinants Of Non-Oil Export And Economic Growth In Nigeria: An Application Of The Bound Test Approach, Samson Adeniyi Aladejare, Abdulwahab Saidi

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

The effects of the recent global economic crises on Nigeria’s economy have reaffirmed the urgent need for economic diversification in the country. Although no country is immune to such global crises, the over reliance on oil export revenue by Nigeria expose her economy excessively to external shocks. Therefore, this research examines the impact of aggregate non-oil sector and its determinant on economic growth. The bound test approach was explored to examine the long and short run effects of the non-oil export and its ensuing determinants. The result reveals a significant effect of non-oil export on economic growth in both the …

Ubiquitous Consumer-Centric System To Combating Product Counterfeiting And Boosting Entrepreneurship In Developing Economies, Kingsley C. Nwosu

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Counterfeiting has been a menacing problem to global economies; however, it has been more devastating to developing and under-developed countries as a result of its impacts on various aspects of the economic development and health conditions of those countries. The consequences are abundantly documented, evidential and troubling. In addition to the fact that counterfeiting results in distribution of fake, cheap, and substandard products, it has very dissuasive effects on the entrepreneurial fabrics of a society. As various governments and agencies attempt to combat the menace and mitigate the consequences, the perpetuators are becoming even more sophisticated and resolute – encouraged …

Assessment Of Land Use Dynamics And The Status Of Biodiversity Exploitation And Preservation In Nigeria, Abiodun Elijah Obayelu

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Land is the most important natural resource that affects every aspect of human life, while biodiversity constitutes the most important working component of a natural ecosystem. Land use and biodiversity are agricultural and ecological challenges presently facing Nigeria in her efforts at addressing the issue of agro-ecosystem transformation and sustainable land productivity. This study employed secondary sources of information to assess land reform act in Nigeria, the methodological framework to analyze the linkages between land use change and biodiversity, effects of land use on biodiversity, status of biodiversity and suggests ways to solving land use problems and biodiversity loss. Findings …

European Union And African Union: A Study Of Regionalism For Global Integration And Development, Soji Oyeranmi

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Scholars of international political economy have made remarkable inroad into the study of comparative integration endeavors across the globe. For examples, over the last few years, comparative studies of the North Atlantic Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and the European Union (EU) had been undertaken to reveal the factors that facilitated the success of each organization in their integration efforts at the regional level. Also a comparative study of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the European Union has also been undertaken. However, very little effort has been made to reveal the impact or power of regionalism on African development. …

When Should Bankruptcy Be An Option (For People, Places Or Things)?, David A. Skeel Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

When many people think about bankruptcy, they have a simple left-to-right spectrum of possibilities in mind. The spectrum starts with personal bankruptcy, moves next to corporations and other businesses, and then to municipalities, states, and finally countries. We assume that bankruptcy makes the most sense for individuals; that it makes a great deal of sense for corporations; that it is plausible but a little more suspect for cities; that it would be quite odd for states; and that bankruptcy is unimaginable for a country.

In this Article, I argue that the left-to-right spectrum is sensible but mistaken. After defining “bankruptcy,” …