From Smart Borders to Perimeter Security: The Expansion of Digital Surveillance at the Canadian Borders

Since 2001, border security policy between Canada and the US has morphed from “smart borders” to the present “beyond the border” (perimeter security) agreement resulting in the expansion of new techniques of border surveillance including pre-emptive profiling of travellers and biometric data sharing. In this paper, we argue that these border agreements have increasingly resulted in a changing experience of sovereign power for those crossing the border. This is demonstrated through a discussion of: the major border policies between Canada and the US since 11 September 2001, developed under the influence of US hegemony; how these policies perpetrate a generalised state of exception; and how these policies affect refugees, migrants, and citizens. Reading Agamben’s insights from a sociological perspective, we argue that the presumption of security-through-surveillance erodes border crossers’ human rights, and that some people – those from disadvantaged race/class backgrounds – are more affected than others by the implementation of the evolving border regime. We also emphasise the contingencies and unintended consequences of the ongoing projects. The conclusion offers brief comments on the consequences of these developments on Canadian identity and points out the directions for future research in this domain.     

From Geo to Neo: A Speculative Inquiry into the Unusual “Geo-Ethnic” Roots of Neoconservatism in US Foreign Policy

There has been much controversy over the role that ethnic diasporas (sometimes called “lobbies”) do or should play in shaping American foreign policy. This article looks at one particular ethnic group, American Jews, with a view to assessing the claim made by some authors, to the effect that “neoconservatism” has been influenced considerably by Judaism. The article mostly debunks that claim, at least if the suggestion is that something about Judaism as a religion can help account for the policy agendas espoused by neoconservatives in recent years. However, the authors do argue that a “geo-ethnic” link can be established between a Jewish diaspora in America and the evolution of neoconservatism. Their claim is that a “borderlands” tradition emanating originally on the Russian frontier in the latter part of the nineteenth century was exported to America, through the migration of peoples they refer to as “new borderers.” This folk community, the authors argue, coalesced with another, well-established, folk community of “borderers” (the Scotch-Irish), resulting in the formation of the coalition known in recent years as neoconservatism – a coalition representing a fusion of Jacksonianism and Wilsonianism.     

When is a “wait and see” approach to invasive species justified?

Predictions of damages and damages that might be avoided from invasive species control policies are marred by uncertainty that has both economic and ecological roots. Public policies directed at invasive species typically lag their detection. One possible explanation is the coupling of uncertainty with political and economic commitments creates an incentive to delay a policy response in order to gain more information on how damaging the invasion will be – a “wait and see” approach. We investigate whether this rationale is justified by identifying invasion characteristics that require the wait and see approach often adopted by lawmakers and government agencies. The model shows that the source of uncertainty and degree of policy irreversibility matter and allows the classification of invasive species with a low rate of spread and low levels of uncertainty as those where policies can be optimally timed in the future.     

The wage effects of ethnicity in Estonia

Using the retrospective (1989-94) Estonian Labour Force Survey (ELFS), we attempt to examine potential wage discrimination based on ethnicity (Estonian and Russian). Using standard wage decomposition methodology, we look at male full-time workers in the years 1989 and 1994. There is no evidence of discrimination against either ethnic group in 1989. However, the available data provide substantial evidence of discrimination against ethnic Russians in 1994. The evidence also suggests that Estonian language ability does not significantly affect wages. Surprisingly, Estonian-born ethnic Russians appear to fare worse than immigrant ethnic Russians in terms of wages.
JEL classification: J71, P23.     

Poverty,inequality and ethnic minorities in Vietnam

The present study examines how and why ethnic minorities are poorer than ethnic majorities in Vietnam using the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey data for 2002 and 2004. First, the analysis confirms that households belonging to the ethnic minority groups are not only poorer but also more vulnerable to various shocks than those in the ethnic majority groups, namely the Kinh and the Chinese. Second, household composition (e.g., dependency burden), education, land holding and location are important determinants of expenditure and poverty, whilst there is some diversity among different ethnic groups. Finally, the decomposition analyses reveal that the ethnic minorities are poorer not necessarily because they have more disadvantaged household characteristics (e.g., educational attainment or location), but, more importantly, because the returns to the characteristics are much lower for ethnic minorities than for the majorities. Government policies to reduce structural differences between ethnic majorities and minorities are imperative to address the disparities in returns to endowments between them.     

Getting the better of Becker

This paper identifies three ways in which feminist economists can reclaim the economic discourse on the family from the new home economics and, in so doing, “get the better of Becker”: first, take what is useful from Becker's analysis, use it to advocate policies to improve the status of women, and discard the rest; second, develop alternatives – preferably feminist alternatives – to Becker's analysis; third, discover the features of the economics profession which have led to acceptance of Becker's more dubious analyses, and try to change those features.     

The National State and Identity Politics: State Institutionalisation and “Markers” of National Identity

Nationality has been a key identity in international relations for much of the modern period, and the marriage of “nation” and “state” produced a powerful polity – the national state – that dominated global politics. This article investigates the forces that “pushed” and “pulled” nations and states together and explores the factors associated with violent identity politics. It argues that while recent decades have witnessed increasing instances of divorce between “nation” and “state” and a simultaneous proliferation of identity conflicts, the likelihood that identity conflicts will be expressed violently depends both on the character of the state (the timing of state institutionalisation relative to the construction of national consciousness, the democratic or non-democratic nature of the state, and the national or non-national basis for the legitimation of state authority) and on the principal “marker” used to construct national identity (blood, language, culture, religion, or citizenship).     

经济政策不确定性、产业政策与中国企业海外并购

本文通过融入偏向性产业政策特征,拓展了在经济政策不确定下企业并购时机选择的实物期权模型。本文使用2002—2018年中国上市企业海外并购数据,从微观层面检验了经济政策不确定性对企业海外并购时机选择的影响以及产业政策对上述影响的调节作用。理论研究发现不确定性升高会导致企业最优并购时机延后,产业政策会缓解上述影响从而使得并购呈现“逆势”特征。实证检验证实了中国企业海外并购存在“逆势”特征,且“五年规划”产业政策是中国企业呈现“逆势”并购特征的重要推动力。机制分析显示,“五年规划”产业政策通过缓解融资约束和增加政府补贴两个渠道影响企业海外并购时机选择。相对于未实施海外并购的企业,在上一期实施了并购的企业获得贷款资金和国家补贴资金显著提高。企业对上述“政策收益”的预期进一步助推了其海外并购决策。     

The Russian–Ukrainian earnings divide1

Ethnic differences are often considered to be powerful sources of diverse economic behaviour. In this article, we investigate to what extent ethnicity affects Ukrainian labour market outcomes. Using microdata from the Ukrainian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey and the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition of earnings, we find a persistent and increasing labour market divide between ethnic Russians and Ukrainians throughout Ukraine’s transition era. We establish that language, rather than nationality, is the key factor behind this ethnic premium favouring Russians. Our findings further document that this premium is larger amongst males than females.     

Marx's critique of “eternal” political economy: how Mill is alien to Marx's attacks

Marx deplored political economy's claims to establish “eternal” – or “natural” – laws. This paper seeks to defend John Stuart Mill from his critique. It argues that, contrary to what Marx alleged, these two economists have a great deal more in common on this topic than is frequently realised. Both on the theoretical level and on the political one, Mill's views about the relativity of capitalism seem very close to Marx's. This paper also suggests that Marx may have ignored Mill's insistence on the relativity of economic theories because it may have challenged his own “scientific socialism”.     

Representing Mountains: From Local and National to Global Common Good

Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, mountains have acquired global recognition as a specific issue in the promotion of sustainable development policies. Starting from the traditional roles of mountains for local societies and in modern geopolitics, this paper analyses the status that mountains have been acquiring though globalisation, and the modes of global mobilisation and recognition that have taken shape since 1992. Particular attention is given to the role of scientists, international organisations, some mountainous states, and “mountain people”. The specific characteristics of this process are discussed and compared to those pertinent to other goods, especially ‘geographical’ or ‘ecological’ goods such as tropical forests and Antarctica. Though the globalisation of mountain issues is part of a wider process of the recognition of environmental and cultural goods at a global level, it may be seen as the first example of a new category of global common good: “global common regions” or “glocal common good”.     

The Politics of Capital Flight in the Global Economic Crisis

This paper studies the effects of economic governance and political institutions on portfolio investment during the Global Economic Crisis of 2008–2009. Leveraging a unique cross‐national dataset on portfolio flows immediately following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, it shows that countries with “better institutions” – those with more (or less) democratic, more (or less) constrained or more accountable political systems – were no less vulnerable to portfolio outflows than countries with “worse institutions.” However, countries with better governance prior to the crisis – those with better regulatory apparatuses, rule of law, property rights, and those considered less politically risky – experienced lower net portfolio capital outflows after Lehman. Governance is in fact the strongest predictor of portfolio capital flows during the global flight to liquidity, while political institutions perform poorly. The findings shed light onto the political factors that mediated how the collapse of Lehman affected national financial markets the world over, and have implications for literatures on the political economy of foreign investment, as well as for broader topics of institutions, governance, and economic performance.     

Marx and Kalecki on aggregate instability and class struggle

Abstract

Michal Kalecki developed his original model of the business cycle in the early 1930s. Several versions referred as versions I, II and III have been developed until the late 1960s from which Kalecki draw three central propositions on instability and class struggle: (1) the capitalist system “cannot break the impasse of fluctuations around a static position” unless it is shocked by “semi-exogenous factors”, (2) the dynamics of the profit rate and investment – as in version I and II – may be disconnected from “class struggle” and (3) when class struggle impacts the dynamics of the economy – as in version III – this is happening in a context in which expected profitability of new investment projects is negatively related to the profit share. In this article, we want to show that each of these three proposals represents key differences with Marx.     

Coping with deflation and the liquidity trap in the eurozone: A post Keynesian approach

The ghost of deflation is once again one of the main worries of policymakers. Recently deflation is indeed characterizing the eurozone. The renewed concern about deflation is due in part to the historical association of deflationary episodes with financial crises, recession, stagnation, and even depression. In deflationary conditions, nominal interest rates are more volatile because uncertainty increases and they may come close to their lower limit of zero: If a “liquidity trap” is at work, monetary policy is incapable of stimulating aggregate demand. This article seeks to show that to avoid a “Japanization” of the eurozone it is urgent to implement adequate economic policies in accordance with the post Keynesian approach. The European Central Bank in recent times has tried to do its best to save the situation through espansive monetary policies adopting both quantitative and qualitative easing. Unfortunately, these kinds of policies have tended more to prevent the recession from becoming far worse than enabling a significant fight against deflation and promoting economic recovery. Conventional and unconventional approaches in economic policy are investigated with a critical eye and contrasted with the theoretical insights suggested by post Keynesians.     

Existence of a Condorcet Winner When Voters Have Other‐Regarding Preferences

In standard political economy models, voters are “self‐interested” that is, care only about “own” utility. However, the emerging evidence indicates that voters often have “other‐regarding preferences” (ORP), that is, in deciding among alternative policies voters care about their payoffs relative to others. We extend a widely used general equilibrium framework in political economy to allow for voters with ORP, as in Fehr and Schmidt (1999) . In line with the evidence, these preferences allow voters to exhibit “envy” and “altruism,” in addition to the standard concern for “own utility.” We give sufficient conditions for the existence of a Condorcet winner when voters have ORP. This could open the way for an incorporation of ORP in a variety of political economy models. Furthermore, as a corollary, we give more general conditions for the existence of a Condorcet winner when voters have purely selfish preferences.     

Dutertenomics: Populism,Progress, and Prospects

In 2016, when Rodrigo Duterte was elected Philippine President the economy was growing robustly. Despite the record growth, his election is considered a populist revolt of the middle‐ and upper‐class Filipinos. Yet, his economic policies – from his initial 10‐point agenda to the laws he approved – are liberal. This paper distinguishes and relates Duterte's authoritarian‐populist political style (“Dutertismo”) and his economic agenda (“Dutertenomics”). The distinction follows from his lack of interest in economic affairs, which he delegated to his team of economic managers. This team ably pushes important economic reforms because of the president's style, which so far has earned him wide public approval. After slowing down during the first half of Duterte's term, growth has recently picked up. To keep the momentum and public attention off human rights violations, Duterte needs to accomplish his economic agenda by mid‐2022. Drawing on his powers and popularity, he may yet be able to elicit the full support of Congress.     

Index Volume XIII – 1979

Abstract:

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 has been typically viewed as being the Republican Party’s policy response to weak farm prices which – via political logrolling – snowballed into a full-fledged, across-the-board tariff bill, wreaking havoc at home and abroad (Irwin 2011; Shattschneider 1935; Taussig 1930). Empirical evidence, however, has failed to confirm this hypothesis (Callahan, McDonald and O’Brien 1994; Destler 1986; Pastor 1980). Rather, voting patterns in the Senate have been consistent with the “party platform” hypothesis. This paper presents an alternative account of the origins of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which is in keeping with the “party platform” hypothesis, and whose results are consistent with the “log-rolling” hypothesis. Specifically, I argue that the demand for protection on the part of U.S. farmers and manufacturers in the late 1920s, and the subsequent supply of protection by the Republican Party, were the direct result of a general-purpose technology shock – namely, electrification whose diffusion throughout the 1920s led to significant excess capacity in manufacturing and agriculture. In manufacturing, more productive firms became increasingly constrained on product markets. The resulting tractorization of U.S. agriculture and the motorization (trucks and automobiles) of transportation throughout the 1920s wreaked havoc on an already weakened agricultural sector (owing to lower post-war exports) by decreasing the demand by 48,294,887 grain- and hayequivalent acres. The proposed tariff bill sought to increase domestic firms’ market share in these industries by reducing imports.     

Income Tax, Property Tax, and Tariff in a Small Open Economy

Why do some countries enjoy high economic growth rates while some suffer in “low-growth traps”? Why are tax policies in different countries so different? Some suggest that it is exactly these differences in government policies which contribute to the difference in economic growth rates. This paper considers a small open economy which sustains its economic growth by adopting new technologies. When the value of initial wealth is “relatively small,” policies which promote growth most result in the highest welfare. In other cases, policies that discourage growth most may be welfare-maximizing.     

Housing and unemployment: The search for the “American Dream”

This paper constructs a model of search and bargaining across two different markets: the labor market and the housing market. Interestingly, the model highlights that housing prices and frictions in the housing market have a profound impact on labor market activity through the desire of workers to eventually purchase a home, the “American Dream.” In particular, higher housing prices adversely affect workers’ incentives in the labor market as employment can eventually lead to access to housing through the ability to purchase a home. Similarly, labor market frictions can impact housing market activity. Notably, tighter housing markets are associated with higher unemployment rates and less job creation. Consequently, our work suggests that policymakers should be very careful in implementing policies targeted towards housing – housing markets are likely to generate significant external effects to other sectors of the economy, especially the labor market.     

Ethnic discrimination: Evidence from China

We study the role of ethnicity in experimental labor markets where “employers” determine wages of “workers” who perform a real effort task. This task requires a true skill which we show is not affected by minority status. In some treatments, we provide subtle priming to employers about minority status of workers as commonly depicted on Chinese “Hukou” identification system. We conduct our experiments at two sites located in provinces that differ by their historical shares of ethnic groups in the population. We find that: (1) Han and minority workers are equally productive in both provinces; (2) in the diverse province, there is no difference in the wages between Han and minority workers; (3) in the non-diverse province, minority workers receive 4–7% lower wages than Han workers.