Increased economic salience or blurring of responsibility? Economic voting during the Great Recession

There is a puzzle which emerged following the Eurozone crisis: whereas the salience of the economy suggests an increase in economic voting, the realization that economic policies have become Europeanised may blur the responsibility of national governments, thus decreasing economic perceptions' weight on electoral choices. Do these mechanisms exclude each other? Do they refer to different groups of the electorate? We first examine the longitudinal trends of economic voting from 2002 to 2015 in three bailed out countries, namely Ireland, Portugal and Spain, to see if the economy's salience during the Great Recession increased the relevance of the economic perceptions in these countries. Secondly, making use of a unique media dataset of the last 16 years we test whether exposure to major mainstream newspapers that focus on the EU mitigates economic voting. On average, economic voting increased following the crisis. However, individuals who are more informed about the EU tend to use economic voting to a lesser extent, given they are more aware of the national government's limited room for manoeuvre.     

Canadian Concerns of a Different Kind of Brexit: Britain’s First Application to the EEC and Canada’s Commonwealth Appeal

Recent debates on Brexit have made several attempts to connect the current situation with Britain’s first attempt to gain entry to the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1961. In both 2016 and 1961, questions were raised about what role the Commonwealth would take and how the relationship with Britain would adapt to their then-entry and current exit of a union with Europe. This article seeks to examine how Canada reacted to Britain’s decision to enter the EEC and sheds light on the vociferous opposition it raised within the Commonwealth. Using both British and Canadian cabinet minutes and Commonwealth memoranda, the article follows the Canadian campaign against British entry to the EEC and its fervent defence of the Commonwealth as an economic-focused community. Ultimately, the Canadian-led protest against British entry into the EEC derived from a fear that Britain would drift from the Commonwealth towards Europe, leading to the complete dissolution of the economic bonds that tie the community together.     

Economic crisis, party system change, and the dynamics of class voting in Venezuela, 1973–2003

The breakdown of the old catch-all party system in Venezuela, and the sudden rise to power of leftist former coup leader Hugo Chávez provides an instructive case study to examine the sources of party system change, the rise of populism and the politicisation of class. Using nationally representative survey data this paper analyses different models of voting behaviour over time, and examines the extent to which the determinants of electoral choice have changed. It argues that although economic crises during the 1990s undermined support for the existing parties, it did not create a politically salient class-based response. Rather, it created the electoral space for new actors to enter the political stage and articulate new populist issue dimensions. Explanations for the politicisation of social cleavages in Venezuela can therefore best be understood in terms of ‘top-down’ approaches which emphasises the role of political agency in reshaping and re-crafting political identities, rather than more ‘bottom-up’ factors which emphasise the demands that originate within the electorate.     

Environmental Stressors and Food Security in China

This article considers the immediate forces influencing China’s food system and food security. By immediate is meant events of the reform period, from the late 1970s to 2008. It begins by asking the question that has preoccupied specialists since the publication of Lester Brown’s Who Will Feed China? in 1995: How much arable land does China have? Is that land area sufficient to insure grain sufficiency? To insure food security? The article focuses on the human pressures on the food production environment, and then treats the effects of socioeconomic change: land, air, and water degradation. The core of the article examines six responses of the state to both perceived and actual environmental stressors: policy restricting arable land conversion, China’s one-child policy, investment in irrigation systems, the South–North Water Diversion Project, large-scale afforestation and reforestation campaigns, and the program to convert marginal agricultural lands to forests and grasslands.     

Five Challenges to Legalizing Economic and Social Rights

In recent years, dozens of human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across the globe have begun to advocate for economic and social rights, which represents a significant expansion of the human rights movement. This article investigates a central strategy that NGOs have pursued to realize these rights: legalization. Legalization involves specifying rights as valid legal rules and enforcing them through judicial or quasi-judicial processes. After documenting some of the progress made toward legalization, the article analyzes five unique challenges involved in legalizing economic and social rights. It is important to identify these challenges because they must be overcome if the human rights movement wishes to refute the notion that economic and social rights are inherently non-justiciable (and therefore, to some, invalid as rights). These challenges also point to the possibility that legalization is not the only, or even the best, strategic pathway to realize economic and social rights effectively.

闽台农民经济合作组织对接途径与模式研究

农民经济合作组织对接是两岸农业合作的创新模式,“海峡西岸经济区”的定位给闽台农民经济合作组织的有效对接创造了良好的条件。本文以福建与台湾农民经济合作组织的类型和特点作为研究的基础,分析新形势下拓展闽台农民经济合作组织对接的重要意义与可行性,提出闽台农民经济合作组织对接的可行途径和模式选择。     

广域组织RCEP下我国货物贸易流量的影响因素——基于静态面板数据的贸易引力模型

在广域一体化组织RCEP的区域范围内,运用基于静态面板数据的贸易引力模型分析方法,对我国货物贸易流量影响因素的问题进行了研究。首先探讨了什么是RCEP及其发展历程,其次对我国与其他RCEP成员国间的货物贸易流量进行描述性统计,接着对货物出口流量与GDP等诸多影响因素间的关系进行实证研究,再通过对描述性统计和计量研究进行总结,认为我国与其他RCEP成员国间的货物贸易增长较快但增长率并不稳定,GDP和距离因素是影响相互间贸易的主要因素,人口数量、TPP及FTA是次要因素。     

经济增长的因素分析——基于中国的经验研究

实证分析表明,现阶段影响中国经济增长的各要素中,物质资本的贡献率仍然最大,而R&D投入、人力资本和外商直接投资对中国经济增长的贡献率相对较小.因此,努力提升人力资本、市场化改革等非物质资本对经济增长的贡献份额是下一阶段我国经济增长要竭力解决的难题.     

从波兰尼到格兰诺维特:“社会人”对“经济人”假设的反拨与超越——兼议新经济社会学的最新进展

作为西方经济学理论体系的硬核,“经济人”假设从形成起就不断受到“社会人”假设的反拨与挑战,促使经济学理论体系不断调整自己的保护带,推动整个经济学学科理论的发展。波兰尼的“嵌入”理论对“经济人”假设的批判是颠覆性的。为后来的学者建构以“社会人”假设为基础的经济社会学理论做好了铺垫。格兰诺维特等建立的新经济社会学首先把人视为“社会人”,再考察其置身其内的社会关系和制度空间。进而分析其经济行为的激励因素,对传统的理性选择、效用驱动的经济模型所提出的那些理论进行补充解释甚至是替代解释。这种基于相同研究对象而引起的学科交流和对话已势在必行。     

论经济危机下竞争政策和产业政策的协调——兼评我国十大产业调整和振兴规划

2008年8月,《中华人民共和国反垄断法》（以下简称“反垄断法”）开始实施,我国竞争法体系初步形成,此时正是竞争政策发展的重要时机。经济危机全面爆发后,我国先是宣布四万亿救市计划,又先后颁布了各重点产业振兴规划。竞争政策与产业政策如何协调本就是一热点话题,如今在经济危机的背景之下,更是难以作出决断。竞争政策与产业政策既存在共同的最终价值目标,相互影响,又存在不同的具体目标和作用机制。以美国和日本在经济危机时的对策为借鉴,我国目前应实施积极的产业政策,竞争政策应适当放松,但其优先地位不可动摇。