理性选择、比较方法与国际政治经济学

国际政治经济学从国际关系中分离之后,汲取了经济学和比较政治学等诸多学科的研究方法,研究方法成为国际政治经济学区别于国际关系其他领域的重要特征,也是区分国际政治经济学国际组织学派和英国学派的重要标准。在国际政治经济学发展过程中常用的两种研究方法是理性选择和比较方法,后者通常可以划分为大样本统计和小样本案例分析。是否采用源自经济学的理性选择和使用大样本统计还是小样本案例分析成为目前国际政治经济学方法论争议的核心问题。国际政治经济学研究应当充分重视研究方法的掌握,作为西方国际政治经济学理论的消费者,要实现同西方学者的对话,我们必须掌握相应的研究方法;研究方法服务于议题设定,任何方法都有其优势和局限性,应当根据自己议题需要谨慎地使用某种或者多种研究方法;应当关注经济学和比较政治学发展的新动向和新发展,这两个学科对国际政治经济学及其研究方法的影响还将继续。     

Outsourcing and Vertical Integration in a Competitive Industry

We develop a partial equilibrium, perfectly competitive framework of a (potentially) vertically integrated industry. There are three types of firms: upstream firms that use primary factors to produce an intermediate good; downstream firms that use primary factors and intermediate goods to produce a final good; and vertically integrated firms that do both. We establish conditions under which vertically integrated firms exist and outsource (part of) the production of the intermediate input. We study the changes in industry configurations resulting from changes in costs and demand.     

Consumer acceptability and perceptions of maize meal in Giyani,South Africa

This study examined the acceptability and perceptions of traditionally prepared maize meal porridge, cooked from commercial roller-mill white maize meal and hammer-mill white and yellow maize meal (with and without fibre), among female Tsonga consumers in Giyani in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study used sensory evaluation tests, followed by focus group discussions to gather supportive information about consumer attitudes, perceptions and practices regarding the consumption of maize meal porridge prepared from these maize meal types. Giyani consumers preferred commercial roller-mill white sifted fortified and white super-fortified maize meal, but, contrary to popular belief, were also willing to accept hammer-mill yellow maize meal, mainly for its nutritional value.     

Riding the Ever-Rolling Stream: Time and the Ontology of Violent Conflict

In this paper, we examine the ways in which the passage of time is dealt with in econometric studies of violent conflict and civil war with empirical attention to the dynamics of ethnic conflict. We argue that the mainstream approach to econometric studies of civil war is based on a time-invariant ontology and that this is not an appropriate or adequate way of capturing the causal patterns of violent conflict. Based analysis of replication datasets using structural break analysis and rolling windows, we show how careful attention to the passage of time reveals important macro-historical changes in the coefficients on ethnic diversity in explaining conflict incidence. We conclude that econometric studies of civil war need to pay more careful attention to the limitations on the generalizations that they draw through attention to the passage of time and better iteration with qualitative and historical studies.     

Book Reviews

Idris F. Sulaiman, G. Hanafi Sofyan and Shannon Luke Smith (eds) (1998), Bridging the Arafura Sea: Australia-Indonesia Relations in Prosperity and Adversity, Asia Pacific Press, Asia Pacific School of Economics and Management, The Australian National University, pp. xxi + 325.

David C. Cole and Betty F. Slade (1996), Building a Modern Financial System: The Indonesian Experience, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. xxvii + 379. Cloth: US$59.95; paper, US$25.

Chris Manning (1998), Indonesian Labour in Transition: An Indonesian Success Story?, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. xxii + 323.

Hal Hill and Thee Kian Wie (eds) (1998), Indonesia's Technological Challenge, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, paper, pp. xxv + 414.

Steven J. Keuning (1996), Accounting for Economic Development and Social Change, IOS Press, Amsterdam, Oxford, Tokyo, Washington DC, pp. x + 233. NLG100; £39; DM90;US$58.

Thomas Brandt (1996; English trans. 1997), Kunci Budaya. Business in Indonesia: The Cultural Key to Success, goasia Verlag, Bad Oldesloe, Germany.