Financial and world economic crisis: What did economists contribute?

In this paper we deal with two questions, (1) what are the origins of the current financial crisis, and (2) what did economists contribute, or why did economists fail to provide a convincing answer for the origins of the crisis, and possible solutions to overcome it? The economics profession apparently was unaware of the looming worldwide financial and economic crisis, and significantly underestimated its global dimensions and consequences. A first and preliminary analysis is undertaken to explore reasons for these failures. We conclude by pointing to some consequences for economics as well as for economic policy.     

Immigration,redistribution, and universal suffrage

The effect of immigration on redistribution has been widely debated. This paper contributes to this debate by testing two explanations, which are that (i) immigration tends to reduce redistribution due to people’s higher levels of xenophobia, and that (ii) immigration affects redistribution because immigrants do not have the right to vote. Since the demand for redistribution depends on the (expected) gap between median voter income and mean income, immigrants affect the demand for redistribution because, as non-citizens, they do not change the median voter’s income, but, as economic stakeholders, they do affect the mean income. Four empirical consequences of (i) and (ii) are tested at the individual level. Evidence from the European Values Survey in 45 countries confirms (ii), showing that immigrants’ expected competitiveness on the labor market affects preferences for redistribution and that it is amplified when the perceived number of immigrants is high. In contrast, (i) is globally rejected since the impact of the citizens’ declared level of solidarity with immigrants tends to be weak and depends on the type of measurement or specification used.     

Mononationals,hyphenationals, and shadow-nationals: multiple citizenship as practice

Multiple citizenship has in recent decades moved from an unwanted phenomenon in international relations to a fairly common transnational status. Multiple citizenship has nevertheless so far been studied mainly as a political and juridical status by comparing national legislations. Much less notice has been given to actual dual citizens' citizen participation and construction of citizens' identities. Only when citizenship is studied as these kinds of practices do the hypothetic possibilities and problems associated with the status get their meanings and contents. This paper concentrates on examining dual citizens' identifications to their respective citizenships and how these affiliations transfer into possible citizen participation. Results are based on extensive analysis of survey (n = 335) and interviews (n = 48) carried out among dual citizens living in Finland. Contents and forms of dual citizens' national identification and citizen participation were reviewed through ideal types: resident-mononationals, expatriate-mononationals, hyphenationals, and shadow-nationals.     

Regulation,the Regulatory State and European Politics

For the past 15 years or so, the claim of a rise of the regulatory state in Europe has been a dominant theme in public policy research. This paper critically reflects on this claim and the associated scholarship by considering four key questions. First, what is the significance of the supposed rise of the regulatory state for the state in Europe and how can this trend be explained? Second, what insights have been gained from the study of phenomena associated with the regulatory state, both in terms of EU and national levels of government as well as in terms of process and organisational understandings of policy analysis? Third, does the regulatory state represent a stable arrangement or does it suffer from its own peculiar dilemmas that fundamentally affect the nature of European states? Fourth, and finally, this article develops three scenarios – those of withering away, plodding along, and rejuvenation – for the future of the (study of the) regulatory state in Europe.     

Political Mobilisation,Political Participation and the Power of the Vote

This article proposes a framework to recast our thinking about political participation. The approach adopted insists on the role of collective actors and their agents – the political elites – in the democratic process and, by implication, in determining the amount and forms of individual political participation. The proposed framework builds on a simple model of representative government and introduces some major changes in the political context which have become ever more conspicuous in the course of the last 30 years, and which are substantially modifying the conditions for conventional (electoral) and unconventional political participation. Prominent among these changes are the increasing role of the media in politics, and the decline of party control over the voters. These changes tend to enhance both electoral and non-electoral forms of participation. Another set of contemporary institutional changes reduces the electoral accountability of political decision-makers, with expected consequences that are more ambiguous for both electoral and non-electoral participation.     

Decentralisation,Citizenship and Mobility: Residency Restrictions and Skilled Migration in Moscow

This study explores the effects of political restructuring on citizenship in contemporary Russia by examining the impact of decentralisation on freedom of movement in Moscow. It seeks to explain why, in spite of the change of regime and delegation of authority from federal to regional government, there has been a marked continuity in the practice of residency controls that restrict freedom of movement. It investigates the conditions for skilled migrants who wish to settle in Moscow and examines how the deconcentration of authority over residency policy has produced new inequalities such as access to essential services, employment, and the property market which have effectively created new classes of citizenship based on differentiated options for mobility. The range of options is determined by geographical location, place of residence, occupational status, and political engagement, and is illustrated by three types of citizenship: (1) full Muscovite status; (2) conditional subjects; and (3) resident participants. The empirical basis for this study draws upon data gathered during field visits to Moscow in January 2005 and winter 2006 when interviews (n = 36) and focus groups (four) were conducted with migrants from other regions and employers.     

Too Little,Too Late: The CIA and US Counteraction of the Soviet Initiative in the Six-Day War, 1967

The authors' previous research has established that the 1967 Arab–Israeli Six-Day War resulted from a deliberate Soviet plan to provoke Israel into a pre-emptive strike, which would legitimize and trigger a massive Soviet military intervention to aid an Egyptian–Syrian counteroffensive. However, US documents released until recently provided no evidence that the American intelligence community, and particularly the CIA, detected this threat or informed the political leadership about it – even though some indications were picked up at the field level. A newly declassified, retrospective report appears for the first time to show that there was awareness of major components of the Soviet operation (preparations for a naval landing and parachute drop). But closer scrutiny finds that this report reflects Soviet propaganda more than factual intelligence – thus further tarnishing what has hitherto been held as an outstanding achievement for the Agency and its chief.     

Three Philosophical Lessons for the Analysis of Criminal and Military Intelligence

It has recently been suggested that philosophy – in particular, epistemology – has a contribution to make to the analysis of criminal and military intelligence. The present article pursues this suggestion, taking three phenomena that have recently been studied by philosophers, and showing that they have important implications for the gathering and sharing of intelligence, and for the use of intelligence in the determining ofstrategy. The phenomena discussed are: (1) Simpson's Paradox, (2) the distinction between resiliency and reliability of data, and (3) the Causal Markov Condition.     

Economic knowledge and the scientization of policy advice

The growing role of economic expertise in contemporary policy-making has received increasing scholarly attention. Yet, so far, this discussion has only been tenuously linked to relevant debates in public policy and administration, such as the work on policy advisory systems. The article attempts to bridge this gap by examining the changing reliance on academic economic knowledge within policy advisory bodies. It does so by analysing appointments and citation patterns in Norwegian advisory commissions in economic policy over the last 45 years. The analysis shows a marked increase in the number of academic economists appointed to commissions and in citations to economic literature. Moreover, it reveals an orientation towards the most prestigious outlets of the international economics discipline. This development can be interpreted as a scientization of policy advice in the economic field, that is, a growing reliance on academic expertise for analysis and arguments about public policy.     

The Cost of Good Intentions: Thermal Discomfort in Traditional Public Housing Units With Preset Thermostats

Cold and hot housing environments are known correlates of physical and psychological health conditions, decreased productivity, and issues with quality of life. The purpose of this study is to establish whether the use of preset thermostats creates disproportionate thermal discomfort (a housing unit feeling hot or cold) for people in older housing (n = 296). In-depth qualitative interviews (n = 25) elaborate on resident experiences. Implications for evaluation, practice, and policy are discussed.     

Policy analysis,welfare economics,and the greenhouse effect

Welfare economics is evaluated as a framework for setting policy with respect to the greenhouse effect. It is found to be unpromising for three reasons: (1) The concept of discounting leads to the view that events in the further future have no value, (2) the baselines necessary to use welfare-economic decision rules cannot be established, and (3) no nonparadoxical answer can be given to the question: How should we value the welfare of future persons? As analysts begin the task of formulating policy with respect to the greenhouse effect they will need tools other than thoser provided by welfare economics.     

The ‘informal sector’ and the political economy of development

This paper takes an initial step in integrating insights from two sets of literature which have focused on central aspects of development with unfortunate independence. It highlights politically valuable resources, which are identified in the political economy literature, and shows that the informal sector literature provides ample evidence that these resources in general are (i) scarcely available to informal entities, (ii) poorly valued in their possession, and (iii) more often collectively unexploited by them. Overall, there seems to be an important though neglected bias in how the political system in less developed countries formulates, crafts, and implements policy.     

Alternative Interpretations of Economic Theory and its Limits

Three recent books offer a sample of what is at stake in the current soul-searching and debates on economics and its future. The books illustrate three major possible positions on the nature and function of economic theorizing: the regressive, the status-quo and the reconstructive. At the same time they offer broader insights regarding the nature and limits of social sciences in general.     

Eberstadt,Dulles and NSC 50: The Impetus for CIA Evolution through 1953

Despite outward appearances, the CIA's evolution between 1945 and 1953 was influenced by two objective investigations – the Eberstadt Task Force and Dulles Commission – and was accelerated, but not instigated, by the shock of the Korean War. The role of these two investigations, which ultimately resulted in NSC 50 and the establishment of the CIA as a viable member of the US intelligence community, has been overlooked in recent literature. While these panels played a critical role in shaping the CIA's organization during this period, the Truman administration never achieved its goal of establishing a truly ‘central’ intelligence organization. This article examines the formation of the CIA, discusses both reports, national policy changes enacted in response, and relevance to the US intelligence community's current operations.     

Democracy,Economic Wealth and Social Capital: Sorting Out the Causal Connections

There is widespread agreement that democracy, economic wealth and culture are causally linked, but there is sharp disagreement about the degree to which each of the factors influences the others. We contend that a society's culture, in the form of social capital, remains largely unchanged for long periods of time and that it leaves an indelible mark on the society's politics and economics. Using the 1990 World Values Surveys (WVS), we develop national-level social capital scores for the populations of 11 countries. We also use the cumulative General Social Surveys (GSS) to develop social capital scores for Americans who claim to have ancestral ties to these 11 nations. The WVS and GSS scores are strongly correlated, suggesting that social capital is durable and portable. Moreover, the GSS scores, which serve, in effect, as instrumental measures of 19th-century social capital, prove to be better predictors of contemporary politics and economics in the 11 WVS nations than commonly used 19th-century measures of politics and economics.     

What Sort of Semi-presidentialism do Finns Want? An Intra-systemic Comparative Analysis

Against the backdrop of moves by the political establishment, endorsed by political scientists, to shift towards a purely ceremonial presidency, this paper uses recent survey data to assess levels of popular support – and the socio-demographic structure of support – for two different types of semi-presidentialism in Finland. It represents an exercise in intra-country comparison – comparing public support for a return to the significant powers the head of state possessed under the 1919 constitution (Duverger-style semi-presidentialism) with backing for the more limited presidential prerogatives enshrined in the 2000 constitution (status quo semi-presidentialism). Correlation and multiple regression analysis of complementary data-sets led to two main findings. The vast majority of Finns seem content with the current limited powers of the president – status quo presidentialism – whilst among the minority that would apparently prefer a return to Duverger-style semi-presidentialism, there is a disproportionate number of persons with relatively low levels of formal education, low social status and predominantly left-wing party political persuasion.     

Challenge Funds in International Development: Definitions,Variations and Research Directions

The use of challenge funds to promote economic and social development continues to grow but has been the subject of relatively little research. This article draws on institutional economics (particularly principal‐agent theory) to define challenge funds and review how they differ from other development funding mechanisms, taking into account their purpose, financial terms, interagency relationships, screening processes, selection mechanisms, implementation and risk sharing characteristics. It then draws on web‐based data for 50 challenge funds to analyse variation in some of these characteristics. The paper identifies evaluability as an important influence, including the relative importance attached to promoting the financial performance of grantees relative to the indirect social benefits of their activities. We conclude with suggestions for further research into the design and performance of challenge funds. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Contracting in local public organizations: the institutional economics perspective

The institutional economics is one of the approaches to explain the utility of contracting of local public service provision. This paper described and critiqued the assumptions underlying institutional economics as it is used in organization theories. It also explains whether and why these assumptions hold in public sector organizations. Finally, it discusses implications from the institutional economics approach for the local agency. Local agencies taking new institutional economics perspective as the basis for its contracting decisions should take transaction risks and information asymmetry into account. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Beyond Neighborhood Quality: The Role of Residential Instability,Employment Access,and Location Affordability in Shaping Work Outcomes for HOPE VI Participants

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between neighborhood quality, residential instability, employment access, location affordability, and work outcomes among individuals relocated as part of the Boulevard Homes HOPE VI redevelopment in Charlotte, North Carolina. We found that, contrary to expectations, relocation to private-market units with vouchers, as compared with public housing, did not always result in better neighborhood outcomes. Whereas voucher holders relocated to better quality neighborhoods, relocatees who moved to other public housing lived in neighborhoods with better employment access and lower costs. We also found a positive correlation between locational affordability (housing + transportation costs) and work outcomes.