Why should trade between Central Asia and China continue to expand?

Trade volume between Central Asia and China has tripled since 2002. This study, which is based on Chinese sources, explains the reasons for this expansion in trade. Even if numerous obstacles remain, Government development policy in China’s western regions has induced trade growth between Xinjiang and Central Asia. Trade flows mainly consist of three blocks: economic activities of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, commerce conducted by traders of the coastal province of Zhejiang, based in Xinjiang, and petty trade notably between Kazakhstan and Xinjiang.     

Economics and politics of cross-border oil pipelines—the case of the Caspian basin

The construction of cross-border pipelines requires large upfront investment and, because of transit through third countries, is subject to increased risk. We demonstrate that the decision to build cross-border pipelines in landlocked regions is influenced more by economics than by politics. Governments use transportation constraints to discriminate among foreign oil companies and to promote low-efficiency routes for political purposes. This paper describes strategies used by importers and oil majors to address this limitation, using the Caspian basin as a reference. Based on data obtained from oil professionals operating in the region, and professional journals, we highlight that, on average, transportation costs in the Caspian basin are up to six times higher than in the other oil-producing regions of the world.     

Theoretical Integration and Unification: A Focus on Justice

A commonly shared goal among scientists is to reach the ‘holy grail’ of theoretical integration or unification. We list several examples of such attempts within sociology and psychology in general and, more specifically, within the subarea of social justice. A distinction is made between the seemingly interchangeable terms integration and unification. We note the scarcity of work concerned with untangling the meaning of theoretical integration, with differentiating among forms of integration, and with mapping the variety of ways in which integration might be accomplished. The five articles published in this issue of Social Justice Research, and here briefly reviewed, address these and related questions and/or exemplify theoretical integration with a focus on justice.     

The Informal Sector in Developed and Less Developed Countries: A Literature Survey

The main goal of this study is two-fold: (1) to provide ageneral overview of the contributions to the literature on theinformal sector, with a special focus on the public choiceapproach; and (2) to compare these contributions across twoinstitutionally different types of countries: developed andless developed (developing and transition) countries. Thepaper focuses on the criteria used to define the informalsector, the relationship between the formal and informaleconomy, tax evasion, and public choice analysis. It isstressed throughout this paper that the distinction betweenthe two types of countries is of key importance.     

The effects of unfair procedure on negative affect and protest

The present study extends earlier research on procedural unfairness by assessing subjects' reactions to a procedural change before they learn about the outcome of the changed procedure. Subjects performed a series of four tests. After three tests, the procedure to calculate the test scores was changed into a procedure that was very inaccurate or slightly inaccurate compared to what subjects had experienced until then. The very inaccurate procedure was judged as more unfair as the slightly inaccurate procedure. As predicted, the unfair procedure raised negative affect and motivated subjects to protest. Implications of the results for procedural justice theory are discussed.     

Causality and causation in tort law

This paper considers alternative approaches to dealing with causal uncertainty in strict liability tort regimes. Beginning from the philosophical literature on causing, a distinction is made between the scientific idea of causality and the legal idea of causation. This distinction is generalized to a context of causal uncertainty and associated probabilities are constructed. It is shown that a rule of proportional liability whereby the tortfeasor pays damages in proportion to the probability in causation of them having caused the damage would be socially efficient. This contrasts with the implied use of the probability in causality by the courts and in the law and economics literature on causal uncertainty.     

Youth organizations as a Battlefield in the Cold War

In the late 1960s it was revealed that ever since 1952 the CIA had financed and was still financing, by way of a whole series of ‘screen’ foundations, the overwhelming majority of youth and student organizations, not only in the United States, but throughout the free world. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as respectable as the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), Pax Romana and the World Assembly of Youth (WAY) had benefited, at various times in their history, from the generosity and ‘liberalism’ of the CIA. The key to understanding this paradoxical American involvement in leftist organizations lies in the Soviet Union's policy of systematically infiltrating Western civil society and international organizations. Its constant aim, relentlessly pursued and never openly avowed, was to control Western opinion and further the goals of Soviet foreign policy. By 1950 the communists had succeeded in effectively controlling all the international mass organizations. This study deals with the crucial Berlin Youth Festival of 1951 and the East-West struggle for dominance in the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students (IUS).