Comparative Political Economy

Comparative strategies: dialectics of the gift

by Rena Lederman

The Impact of Regime-Type on Health: Does Redistribution Explain Everything?

by Simon Wigley

Co-authored with Arzu Akkoyunlu

Many scholars claim that democracy improves population health. The prevailing explanation for this is that democratic... more Many scholars claim that democracy improves population health. The prevailing explanation for this is that democratic regimes distribute health-promoting resources more widely than autocratic regimes. The central contention of this article is that democracies also have a significant pro-health effect independently of public redistributive policies. After establishing the theoretical plausibility of the non-distributive effect a panel of 153 countries for the years 1972 to 2000 is used to examine the relationship between extent of democratic experience and life expectancy. We find that democratic governance continues to have a salutary effect on population health even when controls are introduced for the distribution of health-enhancing resources. Data for 50 autocratic countries for the years 1994 to 2007 is then used to examine whether that press freedom has a positive impact on life expectancy independently of government responsiveness.

Do Electoral Institutions Have an Impact on Population Health?

by Simon Wigley

Co-authored with Arzu Akkoyunlu

There is an emerging political economics literature which purports to show that legislatures elected based on... more There is an emerging political economics literature which purports to show that legislatures elected based on proportional electoral rules spend more and redistribute more than legislatures elected based on majoritarian electoral rules. Going a step further the authors of this paper consider whether degree of electoral proportionality has an impact on population health and, in particular, the health of the least advantaged members of society. A panel of 24 parliamentary democracies for the years 1960–2004 is used to examine the relationship between electoral institutions and health. The authors find that greater electoral proportionality is positively associated with overall population health (as indicated by life expectancy) and with the health of the poorest (as indicated by a reduction in infant mortality). A panel of 17 countries for the years 1970–2004 is then used to show to that electoral permissiveness modifies the impact of health spending on infant mortality.

Slow and steady wins the race? An appraisal of ten years of economic transition

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Alina Verashchagina.
Economia Politica, 21(3): 437-458.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race? An Appraisal of Ten Years of Economic Transition Historically unprecedented transition... more Slow and Steady Wins the Race? An Appraisal of Ten Years of Economic Transition Historically unprecedented transition from a central planned to a market economy during the last decade took different forms and produced different outcomes across former socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Optimal Speed of Transition (OST) models elaborated over the 1990s to explain the process of transition provide a fruitful frame of mind. However, they leave unanswered important features of the reform process, such as the persistent output fall of some former Soviet Union countries. In fact, the OST literature adheres to the emphasis of the Washington Consensus on neglecting initial conditions across countries and the role of institutions in the well functioning of market economies.

Archaeology and Political Economy: Setting the Stage (2004)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 2004)

Social Capital, Democracy, and Trade Liberalization

by Constantine Boussalis

Co-authored with Hal T. Nelson and Peter Noordijk. Preliminary draft copy, please do not cite without authors' permission.

While ample research has dealt with the effects of democracy on trade, the literature has yielded conflicting outcomes... more While ample research has dealt with the effects of democracy on trade, the literature has yielded conflicting outcomes ranging from positive (Milner & Kubota, 2005) to mixed effects (Eichengreen and Leblang, 2008). While this variance in findings is expected, it also implies that existing methodological approaches could suffer from omitted variable bias, namely the exclusion of social capital from the analysis. Classical trade theory suggests that trade barriers benefit uncompetitive domestic producers at the expense of consumers and society at large. We argue that policymakers in high-trust societies will be less likely to enact trade policies which harm diffuse interests (consumers). Social capital helps consumers achieve greater potential for collective action which, in turn, can translate into pressuring government to pursue welfare maximizing policies such as liberalized international trade. Using Boy and Girl Scout membership data as a proxy of social capital, we systematically explore the hypothesis that higher levels of generalized trust and reciprocity are associated with more trade openness. Combining data for a cross-section of 132 countries over the period 1960-2004, we find strong evidence suggesting a moderating effect of social capital on the relationship between democracy and trade liberalization, especially for high-income countries.

Authoritarianism: A Political Governance Structure for Implementing Economic and Social reforms to reduce Poverty and Inequality in Latin America?

by Charles Laffiteau

In his book, Political Order in Changing Societies, Samuel Huntington argues that because authoritarian regimes can... more In his book, Political Order in Changing Societies, Samuel Huntington argues that because authoritarian regimes can impose unpopular economic and or social reforms within their countries without fear of being voted out of office, they have a political governance advantage over democratic regimes. So if Huntington’s observations about authoritarian governance are accurate, could one conclude that authoritarianism can provide the foundation for the market reforms and economic growth that will lead to a reduction in poverty and income inequality? To answer this question this paper will utilize a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis. The World Bank’s economic growth data for 18 developing countries in Latin America is used in a quantitative analysis to compare the economic growth from 1960 to 2000 that was experienced by Latin American nations that were governed by authoritarian regimes for at least 10 years, against other Latin American democracies which did not have authoritarian governments in power for at least a decade. The empirical analysis will then compare and contrast changes in economic growth and their cause in Argentina, Peru and Chile. Authoritarianism (as demonstrated in Chile) can provide the necessary foundations upon which enduring democratic institutions can be built provided it is used to implement free market economic reforms and to build an institutional infrastructure (judiciary and regulatory) that will sustain and protect them.

Limits of the competition state? The cultural political economy of European labour migration policies

by Regine Paul

to be published in 'Critical Policy Studies' in autumn 2012

Labour migration has been revitalised as part of economic competition and growth strategies across Europe over the... more Labour migration has been revitalised as part of economic competition and growth strategies across Europe over the last decade. Scholars have framed policy changes towards more liberal recruitment as a turn towards ‘competition state’ and Schumpeterian innovation goals. This article evaluates the extent to which British, French and German labour admission policies are dominated by competition state logics. I apply a cultural political economy perspective, thereby substantiating this relatively new approach analytically and testing its usefulness in capturing the economic governance of labour migration. I argue that the political ordering of admissions with regard to skill level target, and causal, spatial, and operational focuses of recruitment indicates a fragmented cultural political economy of labour migration: while competition state logics shape the economic imaginary of ‘high-skilled global labour competiveness’, other logics dominate the imaginaries of ‘skilled national labour shortages’, and ‘lower skilled EU labour self-sufficiency’. Findings indicate limits to competition state theory in explaining labour migration policy, demonstrate the weight of competing state projects, and highlight the powerful role of semiotic political ordering processes in coping with policy tensions.

Yet another 'tool for growth'? Labour migration policy and varieties of capitalism in France and Germany

by Regine Paul

presented at the 'Migration, Economic Change and Social Challenge' conference at University College London, 6-9 April 2011

currently revised for submission to Socio-Economic Review (including the British case)

The saliency of international labour migration in the ‘competition state’ and a return to active recruitment across... more The saliency of international labour migration in the ‘competition state’ and a return to active recruitment across the rich world challenges our understanding of national economic coordination processes. Departing from the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) literature, this paper argues that labour reproduction cannot fully be captured in terms of national vocational education and training systems. Instead, we need to better understand to what extent policy forges foreign labour recruitment as yet another complement in a wider macro-economic competitiveness strategy. Evidence from document and interview analyses in France and Germany provokes ambivalent answers to this exploration. With regard to the beneficial treatment of high and specific skills entries, selection mechanisms for extra-EU migrant workers are clearly shaped by nationally distinct competitiveness strategies and narratives. They epitomise the aspirations of the ‘competition state’ bearing distinct characteristics of state-enhanced French and enabling German capitalism par excellence. The sectoral locus of foreign recruitment decisions in both countries and the specific German fixation on VET qualifications in admissions further follow well-studied economic coordination patterns. However, limits to non-EU labour entries for lower skills enforce a highly differential rights regime compared to high skilled entries. We observe a strong political demarcation of the ‘competition state’ logics in skilled and lower skilled segments, noticeably departing from orthodox economic coordination claims. This rests on a political imagination of a self-sufficient resident pool of labour, contained by domestic activation policy targets, EU free movement of labour, and, very distinctly in France, the management of a post-colonial resident population.

Preferências domésticas e instituições do processo decisório em política econômica externa

by Raphael Cunha

Dados, 52(4), 2009.

This article discusses the determinants of the participation of societal actors in the decision-making process of... more This article discusses the determinants of the participation of societal actors in the decision-making process of foreign economic policy. The article addresses four questions: (1) Do societal actors influence decisions on foreign economic policy?; (2) What determines their preferences for given policies?; (3) What institutional characteristics of the decision-making process offer greater or lesser permeability to societal demands?; (4) Which institutional variables affect the interaction between societal and governmental interests? I discuss the answers to these questions offered by the literature in economics and political science. The argument is that the existing theoretical perspectives offer only partial explanations to the dynamics at hand and need to be better integrated in order to adequately account for them.

Do German employers support board-level codetermination? The paradox of individual support and collective opposition

by Thomas Paster

Existing studies on employers’ preferences towards institutions of class
cooperation suggest that certain types... more Existing studies on employers’ preferences towards institutions of class
cooperation suggest that certain types of employers support these institutions
because they provide economic benefits. To test this thesis, this paper examines
attitudes of German employers towards board-level codetermination. It compares
firms’ attitudes at the individual and the collective level: individual firms’ attitudes
are analysed using survey data and media statements from individual executives;
collective attitudes are analysed using policy statements from the national
business federations. The paper finds considerable support for board-level codetermination
among individual firms but continued opposition from the federations.
The paper suggests that this difference arises from the federations
strategically over-representing dissatisfied members. The promotion of voluntary
arrangements allows the federations to campaign against board-level codetermination
without alienating the satisfied members. The paper highlights the need to
complement a micro-foundational analysis of preference formation with an
analysis of intra-associational processes of preference aggregation.

A Comparative Study-The Role of Economic Policies in Destruction of the USSR and Yugoslavia

by onurhan pehlivanoglu

Class Struggle and Class Compromise in the Netherlands and Switzerland (1914-1950)

by Adrian Zimmermann

Abstract of the paper to be presented at the ESSHC-confernce, Glasgow 11-14 April 2012

The Archaeology of Ancient State Economies

by Michael E. Smith

Smith, Michael E.  (2004)  The Archaeology of Ancient State Economies. Annual Review of Anthropology 33:73-102.

This review addresses methods and theories for the archaeological study of ancient state economies, from the earliest... more This review addresses methods and theories for the archaeological study of ancient state economies, from the earliest states through the Classical period
and beyond. Research on this topic within anthropological archaeology has been held back by reliance on simple concepts and an impoverished notion of the extent
of variation in ancient state economies. First I review a long-standing debate between scholars who see similarities with modern capitalist economies (modernists and formalists) and those who see ancient economies as radically different from their modern counterparts (primitivists and substantivists). I suggest that the concept of the level
of commercialization provides an avenue for transcending this debate and moving research in more productive directions. Next I review work on the traditional archaeological topics of production and exchange. A discussion of the scale of the economy (households, temple and palace institutions, state finance, cities and regional systems, and international economies) reveals considerable variation between and within ancient states. I review key topics in current archaeological political economy, including commercial exchange, money, property, labor, and the nature of economic change, and
close with suggestions for future research.

The nonillusory effects of neoliberalisation: linking geographies of poverty, inequality, and violence

by Simon Springer

Springer, S. 2008. The nonillusory effects of neoliberalisation: linking geographies of poverty, inequality, and violence. Geoforum. 39 (4), 1520-1525.

This paper steps into recent debates concerning the (f)utility of neoliberalism as an ‘actually existing’ concept by... more This paper steps into recent debates concerning the (f)utility of neoliberalism as an ‘actually existing’ concept by reminding the reader that without a Marxian political economy approach, one that specifically includes neoliberalisation as part of its theoretical edifice, we run the risk of obfuscating the reality of capitalism’s festering poverty, rising inequality, and ongoing geographies of violence as something unknowable and ‘out there’. By failing to acknowledge such nonillusory effects of neoliberalisation and refusing the explanatory power neoliberalism holds in relating similar constellations of experiences across space as a potential basis for emancipation, we precipitously ensure the prospect of a violent future.

Articulated neoliberalism: the specificity of patronage, kleptocracy, and violence in Cambodia's neoliberalization

by Simon Springer

Springer, S. 2011. Articulated neoliberalism: the specificity of patronage, kleptocracy, and violence in Cambodia's neoliberalization. Environment and Planning A. 43 (11) 2554-2570.

Focusing exclusively on external forces risks producing an over-generalized account of a ubiquitous neoliberalism,... more Focusing exclusively on external forces risks producing an over-generalized account of a ubiquitous neoliberalism, which insufficiently accounts for the profusion of local variegations that currently comprise the neoliberal project as a series of articulations with existing political economic circumstances. Although neoliberal economics were initially promoted in the global south through the auspices of structural adjustment programs designed by the International Financial Institutions, powerful global south elites were only too happy to oblige. Neoliberalism frequently reveals opportunities for well-connected government officials to informally control market and material rewards, allowing them to easily line their own pockets. It is in this sense of the local appropriation of neoliberal ideas that scholars must go beyond conceiving of ‘neoliberalism-in-general’ as a singular and fully realized policy regime, ideological form, or regulatory framework, and work towards conceiving a plurality of ‘actually existing neoliberalisms’ with particular characteristics arising from mutable geohistorical outcomes that are embedded within national, regional, and local process of market-driven socio-spatial transformation. What constitutes ‘actually existing’ neoliberalism in Cambodia as distinctly Cambodian is the ways in which the patronage system has allowed local elites to co-opt, transform, and (re)articulate neoliberal reforms through a framework that ‘asset strips’ public resources, thereby increasing peoples’ exposure to corruption, coercion, and violence. It is to such an 'articulation agenda' that this article attends, as in seeking to provide a more nuanced reading to recent work on neoliberalism in Cambodia by outlining some of its salient characteristics, I reveal a more empirical basis to theorizations of ‘articulated neoliberalism’.

Unemployment Polices and Programs: A Study of French and Texas Systems

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Bates, Tommie, "Unemployment Polices and Programs: A Study of French and Texas Systems" (2001). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 67.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/67

The enormous consequences of unemployment are imposed on societies. This study examines the world unemployment problem... more The enormous consequences of unemployment are imposed on societies. This study examines the world unemployment problem by looking at the policies and programs of the country of France and the state of Texas. The research will review the institutional structure of French and Texas labor markets in order to analyze their influence on job creation for small companies. A second area of study will be to assess the French and Texas taxation policies in order to determine their contribution to the infant mortality of small companies. An additional research purpose is to evaluate the capacity the French and Texas unemployment compensation programs in order to judge their ability to provide a uniform amount of assistance for unemployed people. Working hypothesis will guide the course of this study. The report asserts that the French unemployment compensation system, provides a more uniform amount of assistance to unemployed people. Additionally, it is hypothesized that the French system provides better protection for the hardest to employ. Because of the cost of this assistance, it is theorized that the French social tax system and labor market influence contributes to the infant mortality of small businesses. Interviews and document analysis are used to validate these assumptions. Results from the data, reject the hypotheses that focus on uniformity of assistance for the unemployed, and the contributing influence of labor market regulation on small company mortality. The study supports the hypotheses that emphasize bottom-tier protection for the unemployed, and the detrimental contribution of the French social tax system on small company mortality.

How does market making affect industrial relations? Evidence from eight German hospitals

by Ian Greer

Co-authored with Thorsten Schulten and Nils Böhlke, forthcoming in the British Journal of Industrial Relations

The introduction of market mechanisms matters for industrial relations. In the German hospital sector, national... more The introduction of market mechanisms matters for industrial relations. In the German hospital sector, national liberalization policies have put immense pressure on local management and worker representatives and led to the growth of a low-wage sector. In case studies of eight hospitals, we find some locales where market making has led to union revitalization and mobilization, but this effect varies. Using an eight-way comparison, we infer a configuration of three aspects of the local political economy – labour markets, politics, and codetermination rules – that together provide a well fitting explanation for both variation and change.

Education, income, and political attitudes in Muslim countries: Evidence from the Pew Global Attitudes Survey

by M. Najeeb Shafiq

Macroeconomic Policy, Strategic Leadership, and Voter Behaviour: The Disparate Tales of Socialist Reformism in Greece and Spain during the 1980s

by Takis Pappas

West European Politics 33:6 (2010), 1241-1260

This article is a comparative study of the socialist governments in Greece and Spain during the 1980s and is motivated... more This article is a comparative study of the socialist governments in Greece and Spain during the 1980s and is motivated by two interrelated puzzles: First, the sharp policy divergence in these countries despite their previously common political trajectories, comparable socioeconomic conditions, and the similar ideological profiles of their respective parties in office; and, second, the fact that both governments won reelection in the mid-1980s although only the Spanish, but not the Greek socialists, had applied a successful reformist agenda. Using a methodology based on the strategic role of political leaderships, this article challenges the general validity of both the partisan theory of macroeconomic policy and the theory of economic voting (the VP-function). Instead, it is shown that strong and undisputed leaders may choose to promote political polarization and social mobilization thus creating the conditions for ideological, rather than economic, voting. To be sure, each strategy is expected to produce different long-term outcomes for both the governments and the countries involved.