Does Compliance Pay? Social Standards and Firm‐Level Trade

What is the relationship between trade and social institutions in the developing world? The research literature is conflicted: Importing firms may demand that trading partners observe higher labor and environmental standards, or they may penalize higher standards that raise costs. This study uses new data on retailers and manufacturers to analyze how firm‐level trade responds to information about social standards. Contrary to the “race to the bottom” hypothesis, it finds that retail importers reward exporters for complying with social standards. In difference‐in‐differences estimates from over 2,000 manufacturing establishments in 36 countries, achieving compliance is associated with a 4% [1%, 7%] average increase in annual purchasing. The effect is driven largely by the apparel industry—a long‐term target of anti‐sweatshop social movements—suggesting that activist campaigns can shape patterns of global trade.     

A preferential attachment model of campaign contributions in state legislative elections

In state legislative elections some candidates attract contributions from many donors whereas other candidates have much smaller donor pools. Why? What are the origins of these disparities? This paper conceptualizes contributions as a type of attachment between the donor and the state legislative candidate. To model the formation of these attachments, this paper proposes a variant of the Barabasi-Albert preferential attachment model. The theoretical model is tested with data on over one million contributions to state legislative candidates in 2008. The paper also derives implications for macro-level inequities across candidates which are tested by comparing the observed inequities to simulations of the preferential attachment model. The results provide strong support for the hypotheses and show that the preferential attachment model provides a parsimonious representation of contributions to state legislative candidates.     

Africa and the war on terror

An analysis of the links between weak states and terrorism; strategies to combat the spread of terrorism in countries where populations may be vulnerable; and a look at Africa's situation in the US's war against terror.     

‘We are Scared to Say No’: Facing Foreign Timber Companies in Sierra Leone's Community Woodlands

In recent years, ‘decentralisation’ has become an increasingly prominent theme in Sub-Saharan African development theory and practice, particularly around woodland management. Although much research has illuminated challenges arising in project design and implementation, ‘external’ threats to decentralised resource management initiatives have received little attention. At the same time, however, there has been a massive increase in foreign, particularly Chinese, corporate investment in the extraction of African resources. This paper examines the importance of the interaction between these two trends to local livelihoods and resource management through a case study of illegal logging by Chinese companies in Sierra Leone.     

An open letter/review

Abstract

I first read about you and your book, The Woman Warrior, in the book review sections of several magazines and Sunday newspapers. I read Susan Brownmiller's interview with you in “Mademoiselle” magazine, Jane Kramer's review of your book in the New York Times, and Nan Robertson's interview with you, also in the Times. In addition, several white feminist friends were telling me I should read your book “because it is a powerful, feminist story by a Chinese American woman.” So I read your book.