Universal Love or One True Religion? Experimental Evidence of the Ambivalent Effect of Religious Ideas on Altruism and Discrimination

Contrary to the expectations of secularization theory, religion remains socially important and affects politics in multiple ways—especially regarding conflict between religious communities. Theoretically, religion can increase altruism, but belief in the superiority of one's faith may facilitate intergroup discrimination and related conflict. Previous findings remain inconclusive, however, as specific religious ideas have hardly been tested. In this article, we argue that the content of religious ideas has causal effects on intergroup discrimination. We hence test the impact of two opposing, prominent religious ideas on altruism and discrimination: universal love and the notion of one true religion. Conducting dictator games with Christians and Muslims in Ghana and Tanzania, we find causal effects: Whereas the idea of one true religion increases intergroup discrimination, that of universal love fosters equal treatment. The policy implications hereof are obvious—promoting tolerant religious ideas seems crucial to avoiding conflict.     

The Complexity of Marriage in Rural Ethiopia: Parental Transfers and Post-marital Residence Choices

This paper examines the relationship between parental transfers and post-marital residence of children in rural Ethiopia. We investigate whether asset transfers to children are an avenue which parents use to secure old age. We model post-marital residence and transfers simultaneously in a two-stage probit least squares estimation framework. We find a positive relationship between transfers and post-marital residence, a proxy for old age support. Children who receive more assets are more likely to stay at birth place after marriage and vice versa. In conditions of scarce or lacking social security mechanisms, parents make strategic transfers to ensure better old age.     

Clearing the muddy waters of shared watercourses governance: conceptualizing international River Basin Organizations

Institutions that have been set up by riparian states to internationally govern shared water resources—international River Basin Organizations (RBOs)—play a key role in river basin governance. Despite an increased attention paid to RBOs in international relations and water scholarship, there has been little focus on defining and conceptualizing RBOs and, subsequently, on comprehensively identifying the RBOs that exist around the world. This has challenged research around RBOs in both methodological and theoretical ways. This paper aims to meet this challenge by offering a theoretically grounded definition of an international RBO and crafting a comprehensive list of international RBOs. We do so deductively, building from the larger neo-institutionalist research and international water resources governance literature. Our definition identifies three broad categories of constitutive elements: internationalization, institutionalization and governance. We apply this definition to potential cases to better identify the extent of RBOs around the world today and outline which cases qualify as RBOs and which cases fail to meet our constitutive criteria. This allows us to compile a comprehensive list of all existing international RBOs, including the identification of RBOs with specific characteristics. The article concludes by crafting an agenda for future research around RBOs that builds on this more complete understanding of RBOs.     

Assessing police treatment in Ecuador: the view of satisfied and disaffected female serious offenders

This empirical study examines procedural justice perceptions among 51 female serious offenders in Ecuador, with the aim of identifying differences between those women who were satisfied with law enforcement and those who were not. The results demonstrate that when women were treated with courtesy and respect, and their rights were acknowledged, they felt satisfied with the police, in a way that they did not give importance to the irregularities they observed while arrested and in custody. On the other hand, the majority of women participants were dissatisfied with the police. Their dissatisfaction with, and lack of trust in, the authorities affected their desire to cooperate with police activities. The study also demonstrates that, although the Ecuadorian police force has made considerable efforts in promoting citizens’ trust during the last 7 years, corruption and illegal police conduct when dealing with offenders are far from uncommon.     

The New Offshore Frontiers of EU Energy Security in the Mediterranean: The Politics of Hydrocarbon Development in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas

Many EU Mediterranean countries are developing national plans for offshore hydrocarbon exploration and production. The transformation of the Mediterranean Sea into a new frontier for EU energy security has raised important concerns about the protection of the fragile marine ecosystem of this semi-enclosed sea. Additional issues have emerged where states’ boundaries at sea are not yet defined. This article analyses the emerging international and transnational politics of hydrocarbon development in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas by highlighting the main drivers and effects of the recent relaunch of offshore activities in this region.     

The performance of private companies in China before and during the global financial crisis: firms’ characteristics and entrepreneurs’ attributes

Economic Change and Restructuring - This work sheds light on how firm- and entrepreneur-specific attributes covariate with Chinese private firms’ growth rates before and during the global...