The rise of the modern welfare state, ideology, institutions and income security: analysis and evidence

In the 25-year period between 1960 and 1985, there was a great expansion of welfare state programs throughout the West. The fraction of GDP accounted for by social expenditures doubled in much of Europe and grew by 40–50% in many other OECD nations. After 1985, growth in social insurance programs slowed relative to other parts of the economy. This paper explores the extent to which institutions and ideological shifts may have accounted for the period of rapid growth, for differences in the extent of that growth, and for the subsequent reduction in the growth rates of social insurance programs.     

Deregulating broadcasting: the West European experience

Abstract. This article is concerned with the relationship between systemic and ideological changes affecting West European broadcasting and the nature of the regulatory responses. In theoretical terms the research interest Lies in the question of the extent to which changes in the nature of West European broadcasting regulation are determined by technological factors and forces in the international political economy. Particular attention is given to the factors impeding or constraining deregulation and to the argument that national institutional structures and traditions are mediating the impacts of technology, markets and ideology. Whilst the ultimate effects on future broadcasting regulation remain controversial, certain broad trends can be identified.     

Spillovers of state policy innovations: New York's hazardous waste regulatory initiatives

States are often seen as policy laboratories where innovations are tried that may later be adopted by other states or the federal government. Engendering such experiments may, however, promote spillovers on other states. We analyze several of New York State's policy initiatives from the 1980s that were intended to influence the selection of waste management technologies by hazardous waste generators. Time series analysis of hazardous waste manifest data reveals that constraints on land disposal of certain wastes and a tax on hazardous waste generation and disposal were associated with shifts to lower-risk technologies for waste management. The policies also constrained imports to in-state land disposal facilities and may have led to increased exports for incineration and recycling, thus shifting some of the risks of hazardous waste to other jurisdictions with less stringent regulations or lower taxes on waste generation and management.     

Productivity growth and funding of public service broadcasting

In this paper we demonstrate how standard techniques for measuring productivity growth can be applied to the broadcasting sector to provide a benchmark for reasonable efficiency savings which public finance officials might expect public service broadcasting (PSB) to achieve. Using establishment level data from the UK, we produce estimates of productivity growth amongst commercial broadcasters between 1999 and 2003, which provide some evidence that improvements to PSB can reasonably be expected to be funded by efficiency savings rather than solely by increases in public funding.     

Financial derivatives and the rise of circulation

The analysis argues that the outsourcing of production from the metropole generated problems of monetary connectivity that motivated the banking sector to develop and market a new species of derivative: the financial derivative. Virtually non-existent until 1973, such derivatives would soon become a 100 trillion dollar market. Making a market for these derivatives opened the door for speculative capital just as the attempt by this market to capture the risks embodied in local monetized relations led to emergence of a notion of abstract risk. The notion of abstract risk, embodied in the derivative and propelled by a self-expanding speculative capital, is globally significant because abstract risk functions as a social mediation, creating a new form of interdependence in the sphere of circulation even as circulation itself grows increasingly autonomous from production. We show that what makes the emergent culture of financial circulation historically new is that it is defined and determined through the objectification of abstract risk.     

“大同梦”与《少年中国说》——梁启超对社会主义与中华崛起的阐释

在中国社会变革空前深刻、中西文化撞击激烈的背景下,梁启超在对时势的判断中形成了自己的理想,提出《少年中国说》,对中国当代青年人格培育的意义在于以下几点:以爱国主义为核心,树立"少年中国梦"的理想;践行社会主义荣辱观,提升广大青年的历史责任感;以改革创新为途径,实现自我价值和国家富强的统一。     

The creation of neo-liberal corporate bias in transnational medicines control: The industrial shaping and interest dynamics of the European regulatory state

Abstract. Drawing on the political theories of corporatism, neo–liberalism and pluralism, and on comparative empirical research in Brussels, Germany, Sweden and the UK, this article conceptualises the nature of Europeanised medicines regulation. It argues that a marketisation of regulation has been established in the European Union as a result of competition between national regulatory agencies for 'regulatory business' from the pharmaceutical industry. In the pharmaceuticals sector the Europeanised regulatory state is a product of three key factors: (a) the European Commission's commitment to an 'efficiency' regime which would meet the political objectives of a single European market and the commercial agendas of transnational pharmaceutical companies, (b) the endemic corporate bias associated with medicines regulation in the most influential member states, and (c) the considerable success of neo–liberal politics across a number of major member states, including Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom.     

Institutions,governmental performance and the rise of political newcomers

This article analyses the institutional and contextual factors that facilitate the election of political newcomers as heads of government in democratic regimes. Using data from 870 democratic elections between 1945 and 2015, it is found that political newcomers are more likely to be successful in presidential systems, in new democracies and when party systems are weakly institutionalised. The election of politically inexperienced candidates is also related to governmental performance. Political newcomers are more successful when the economic performance of the government is bad and when the government engages in high‐level corruption.     

人才开发是中国崛起的关键

人才之争是古今中外的一项国际性战略之争。任何一个国家、一个地区或一个民族的发展与衰亡,除了众多的客观条件之外,对人才的培养与科学地开发利用,则是关键。中华民族五千年的灿烂文化,是一大批仁人志士和广大劳动者为之奋斗的成果。新中国的诞生和六十年来所取得的举世瞩目的成就,都是靠社会主义制度的优越和改革开放战略的实施,靠一系列适应我国社会发展政策的制定,靠广大干部群众的积极性和创造性的充分调动。这当中,有经验,也有教训。在世界一体化日益发展的今天,中国要屹立于世界民族之林,并为世界发展做出更大的贡献,必须建立更加完善的社会主义市场经济体制和政治体制,抓住世界金融危机这个历史机遇,引进急需的复合型顶尖人才,并从体制上和用人机制上为人才的产生和开发利用提供支撑,大力发展特色技术教育和高等教育,并逐步形成良性循环,从根本上为增强我国的综合国力创造人才条件。     

Volunteering and the state

Volunteering participation rates vary greatly across countries even when the potential volunteers’ individual characteristics are controlled. We therefore analyze the volunteers’ motives against the backdrop of the predominant political and economic environment in different countries, focusing on the state’s role in influencing an individual’s decision to volunteer. Combining individual-level data from the European and World Values Survey with macroeconomic and political variables for OECD countries, we identify three channels through which governmental activities influence voluntary labor: size of the state (i.e., amount of public social expenditure), political consensus between voters and the government, and government support for democratization.