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| 1 |
ID:
127871
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
In order to meet its 2050 target of 80% carbon emissions reduction, the UK is facing a challenge of restructuring its energy system, possibly by introducing more decentralised energy (DE) systems.Following semi-structured interviews, four exemplar international cases have been critiqued in order to investigate the variety and interrelationship of the drivers and barriers involved during their implementation, and then compared with the barriers and drivers that can potentially affect the implementation of similar projects in the UK context. The impacts of the barriers on the outcomes of these projects were evaluated, and recommendations were presented on overcoming these barriers if replicating similar projects in the UK context. Governance drivers play the most significant role, whereas financial drivers (commonly believed to be crucial), are deemed to play a lesser role. Social, governance and financial barriers rather than technological barriers constitute the central problem areas for the increased adoption of DE. The drivers and barriers experienced in the international cases were similar to those anticipated in the UK. The case studies present a high potential for replication and scaling up in the UK context and demonstrate that the increased implementation of DE systems could also enhance social and governance benefits.
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| 2 |
ID:
171019
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During the past decade, China’s defence industry has experienced significant reforms, with increasing numbers of defence companies being listed on the stock market. Meanwhile, China’s stock market has suffered from dramatic fluctuations. This article, therefore, attempts to break new ground on an empirical research agenda to detect bubbles in the defence sector of China’s stock market and how these bubbles can be impacted by the entire stock market and defence industry. To explain this issue, sequential unit root tests are introduced to investigate the existence of bubbles in the defence sector using monthly frequency data from China’s stock market from January 2005 to June 2016. The empirical results show strong evidence of explosive behaviours in the defence sector during the past decade. Moreover, the number of bubbles has changed greatly when accounting for the entire stock market. The empirical results indicate that bubbles in the middle of 2006 and at the end of 2014 were driven by the defence industry because of the sharp increase of military expenditure and the release of innovative defence reforms. Finally, we suggest that the government could control the annual budget increase at a steady pace and implement defence reforms by carrying out experimental units gradually.
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| 3 |
ID:
158290
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article provides a comparative analysis of two types of power-sharing: Lebanon's corporate version and Northern Ireland's relatively liberal arrangements. Our aim is to explore whether these power-sharing institutions augment or stymie gender and LGBTQ equality, while also illuminating the complex ways in which LGBTQ movements conceptualize power-sharing. We argue that while Northern Ireland's liberal arrangements, predicated on a minority rights regime, theoretically offer opportunities for gender and LGBTQ mobilization and equality, these rights claims are frustrated as they become embroiled in the wider ethnonational conflict for group rights. In Lebanon's corporate system, alternatively, where gender and LGBTQ rights are absent, feminist and LGBTQ movements identify power-sharing as institutionalizing patriarchy and homophobia and thus engage in a radical campaign of opposition to consociationalism.
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| 4 |
ID:
111552
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2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
In a changing world ridden with crises and characterised by a general redistribution of power, regional organisations need to reinvent themselves. Equally, the study of regionalism has to reject its traditional Eurocentrism to embrace new conceptual categories in order to describe more effectively the variety of regional processes across the world. Against this background, this article looks at the European project and its current crisis before discussing other regional 'experiments' in Africa, Asia and Latin America, which rest on different principles but also manifest considerable shortcomings. The analysis points to the need to look at regionalism with a critical eye, emphasizing the undeniably important achievements but also the hidden threats that a certain model of regional integration (for instance, the classical top-down elite-driven process adopted by the EU founding fathers) can pose to the sustainability of regional cohesion and the adaptability of this model to other areas of the world.
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| 5 |
ID:
064621
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Jul-Aug 2005.
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| 6 |
ID:
131646
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article uses survey data collected in 2010 and conducts a systematic comparative analysis of the perceptions of the EU by the Chinese general public and the elite. Most ordinary Chinese citizens do not understand the EU very well, but their impressions of the EU are very positive and they also hold good expectations for the future of China-EU relations. The Chinese elites and ordinary citizens differ significantly in terms of 'favoring the EU' or 'favoring Russia'. The multivariate model indicates that EU travel experience, annual income level and Internet dependence have significant positive effects on 'favoring-EU' feelings. Those who have EU travel experience, higher levels of annual income and greater opportunities to obtain information via the Internet are more likely to be 'favoring-EU'.
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| 7 |
ID:
158419
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This article provides a reflection on the communication phase in a narrative’s cycle. It explores and compares NATO narratives communicated by influential press in NATO’s five Asia-Pacific strategic partners (16 media outlets observed on a daily basis between February–July 2015). The analysis traces NATO narratives communicated to broader society on the system, identity, and policy-issue levels. Innovatively linking strategic narrative theory by Miskimmon, O’Loughlin, and Roselle and the cascading activation framing theory by Entman, the article explores a range of narratives and assesses what narratives enjoyed higher visibility, stronger local resonance, and more pronounced emotive charge while communicating NATO as a capable IR actor. The article operationalizes and modifies elements of Entman’s theory (visibility, local resonance, and emotive charge, adding a category of capability), and then tests hypotheses based on this, using the inferential statistics Rasch Measurement Model. The article ends with a set of policy recommendations to NATO’s public diplomacy on how to capitalize on opportunities these narratives present and how to tackle challenges (specifically low local resonance and limited media visibility of the narratives).
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| 8 |
ID:
176817
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An analysis to assess the influence of country-dependent variables and incentives on the feasibility of natural gas cogeneration projects in Latin America is presented in this work. The analysis is performed using a hypothetical industrial plant, where the cogeneration solution consists in the recovery of waste heat from the power generation for steam production. The feasibility is evaluated by calculating the Return of Investment (ROI) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the project. Eight Latin American countries are studied considering their specific natural gas markets, regulation, and macroeconomic variables. Two scenarios, electricity production for self-consumption and electricity production with power surplus sale, are independently analyzed considering the effects of available incentives. In the countries where the project is feasible, the application of incentives leads to a significant reduction in the ROI and, consequently, to an increment in the IRR. The effect of the interest rate and environmental impact were also analyzed. In general terms, along the region, the regulation for cogeneration is incipient while incentives are very standard and similar respect to lowering of import, Value-Added Tax (VAT), and income taxes, which seems to be designed purely to promote capital investment. Following the results from this study, it is of paramount importance to create new policy instruments in the future to advance the regulatory framework for cogeneration in Latin America.
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| 9 |
ID:
146344
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This study explores the relationship between ethnic, sectarian, and religious identities and soft power in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the immediate aftermath of the Arab Uprisings. Utilizing original public opinion surveys conducted in Egypt and Iraq in 2012, we find that identity-based allegiances play a major role in groups’ choices regarding which countries’ increasing involvement in the region are seen favorably and which countries are seen as an ideal model for the region. Sunnis are likely to view Turkey and Saudi Arabia positively in both regards, whereas Shiites are more supportive of Iran. But our results also suggest that crosscutting cleavages should not be overlooked: Sunni Kurds are less likely to hold positive attitudes toward Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Our findings also show that Copts, a religious minority in Egypt, hold positive attitudes toward the United States and negative ones toward Saudi Arabia and Iran. These findings contribute to both the theoretical literature on soft power and the debates on international competition for influence in the MENA region by emphasizing the role of ethnic and religious identities in shaping attitudes toward international actors.
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| 10 |
ID:
191933
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After many years in which Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994) were the only Arab countries to have peace treaties with Israel, in 2020 the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco joined the group. If news reports are to be believed, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is considering expanding its unofficial dialogue with Israel into the economic realm and perhaps to the domain of science, technology, and innovation (STI) as well.Footnote1 Since 2017, several events have attested to a strengthening of the informal political relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.Footnote2 The most conspicuous of these was a declaration by Muhamad bin Salman (MBS), the Saudi crown prince, that Israel is entitled to its territory.Footnote3 Another factor contributing to the improvement of relations was Israel’s forceful objections to Iran’s nuclear programme, views that were shared by the Saudi regime.Footnote4 The two countries have strong interests in restraining Iran’s influence in the Middle East.Footnote5 This current study is based on the premise that the two countries also have weighty common economic interests that could lead them towards normalization. This article examines the potential economic benefits of such an arrangement.
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| 11 |
ID:
178126
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Cooperation in regional international organizations (RIOs) can help member states to work toward and perhaps achieve policy goals that would not be feasible unilaterally. Thus, RIOs might be used as a means of states to compensate for domestic shortcomings in output performance. Do states equip RIOs with policy competencies in order to compensate corresponding domestic performance shortcomings? The analysis of a novel database on policy competencies of 76 RIOs between 1945 and 2015 reveals that usually RIOs are not usually used as window-dressing devices by which states disguise limited domestic output performance. Instead, governments tend to equip RIOs with policy competencies in order to further strengthen their already good output performance in most policy areas. However, in the policy area, ‘energy’ states tend to confer more competencies to their respective RIOs, the worse they perform domestically, indicating that output-related compensation dynamics might be at play in this field.
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| 12 |
ID:
155841
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Whether military spending is capable of promoting social welfare is currently a controversial issue. The aim of this paper is to investigate how military spending affects the input and output of social welfare (i.e. social welfare expenditures and social welfare index). A panel cointegration analysis and an impulse response function are conducted with multi-country panel data, over two time periods, 1998–2011 and 1993–2007. In addition, to extend a comparative analysis over different economies, BRICS (i.e. Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and G7 (i.e. the US, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Canada) countries are selected as representatives of emerging economies and developed countries, respectively. The empirical results show that military spending enhances social welfare expenditures in developed countries, while the effect is ambiguous in emerging economies. Also, military spending is capable of promoting the social welfare index based on the FMOLS estimation. The comparative analyses indicate that unlike in the G7, the effect of the growth of military spending on the growth of social welfare expenditures is negative and shorter in the BRICS.
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| 13 |
ID:
133266
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
China's state-owned banks have undergone radical changes over the past two decades, including partial privatization and listing in both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. This paper evaluates the effects of these changes by analyzing the efficiency of Chinese banks over the period 1998-2012 using two frontier techniques and comparative analysis. The findings suggest that the performance and technical efficiency of the Big Four banks improved considerably after property rights reform, but this improvement is not sufficient to keep the banks at the production frontier. Tobit regressions confirm that static ownership effects are negative but that the property rights reform has had significant and positive effects on the technical efficiency of state-owned commercial banks. GDP growth and the financial crisis have had positive effects on the efficiency of Chinese banks, which is more significant for joint stock commercial banks than state-owned commercial banks. The results indicate the value of ownership reforms of state-owned asset management companies and insurance companies and the establishment of a countercyclical capital buffer.
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| 14 |
ID:
096636
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2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Within various renewable energy technologies, photovoltaics (PV) today attracts considerable attention due to its potential to contribute a major share of renewable energy in the future. However, PV market development is, undoubtedly, dependent on the political support of any given country.
In this paper, after a brief analysis of national support policies in PV technology in western European Union (EU) countries, the authors perform an economic analysis of the main support mechanisms as implemented in the same countries, based on the calculation of the cash flow, the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) indices. The analysis shows that in some situations support policies can be inconvenient for the owner of the PV-based generation system and that, in many cases, the differences between the implementation of the same support policy in different countries, can give rise to significantly different results.
The analysis carried out in this work could help:
• to assess the impact of PV energy policies in different western European member states;
• renewable energy companies to identify potential PV markets and investigate the policy landscape across western EU countries.
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| 15 |
ID:
097474
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2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Within various renewable energy technologies, photovoltaics (PV) today attracts considerable attention due to its potential to contribute a major share of renewable energy in the future. However, PV market development is, undoubtedly, dependent on the political support of any given country.
In this paper, after a brief analysis of national support policies in PV technology in western European Union (EU) countries, the authors perform an economic analysis of the main support mechanisms as implemented in the same countries, based on the calculation of the cash flow, the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) indices. The analysis shows that in some situations support policies can be inconvenient for the owner of the PV-based generation system and that, in many cases, the differences between the implementation of the same support policy in different countries, can give rise to significantly different results.
The analysis carried out in this work could help: • to assess the impact of PV energy policies in different western European member states;
• renewable energy companies to identify potential PV markets and investigate the policy landscape across western EU countries.
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| 16 |
ID:
098632
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2010.
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The Energy Performance Building Directive (Directive 2002/91/EC) introduced the compulsory energy certification of buildings in the EU from 2006 and it has played a key role in the common policy to monitor and reduce energy consumption. In order to assess the experience gained in this field in Europe overall, and in particular against the highly diverse settings of the different European nations, this paper examines the extent to which the Directive has been implemented by the 27 EU Member States. This is done via a comparative analysis assisted by two different indicators: of uniformity and of excellence. The measure of uniformity makes it possible to assess the degree of harmony of the individual Member States with regard to the parameters laid down by the European Commission, while the measure of excellence allows the Member States to be appraised and the "best" performers to be identified, i.e. the leaders as regards energy certification of buildings. The analysis conducted reveals how varied the situation regarding energy certification in each country is in terms of implementation and scope of application and it also reveals that most countries are still at a halfway stage towards achieving excellence.
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| 17 |
ID:
104087
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| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This concluding epilogue places the individual studies presented in the special volume in wider perspective. The importance of studying reserve forces centers on (1) their centrality in missions carried out by the militaries of the contemporary industrial democracies and (2) their unique cultural and organizational characteristics. Concretely, reserve components are a foundation for the legitimacy of the military, yet are often a source for criticism of missions; they provide a ready pool of manpower but one that is sometimes expensive; their skills are sometimes needed but their military abilities do not always meet the perceived standards of standing forces' professionals. Research into this military group that is situated between the military and civil society clarifies not only the interlinkages between these spheres but also their dynamic and contextual nature.
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| 18 |
ID:
107438
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2011.
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For more than four decades the analysis of party organizations in the European democracies has been completely separated from analyses of American party structures. The first part of this article examines how and why such a separation was to emerge in the aftermath of Duverger's and Epstein's path-breaking original work. It then goes on to outline how an analytic framework might be developed so that more wide-ranging comparative studies of party organizations in democratic regimes can be undertaken in future. Only with such research can the limitations of 'exceptionalist' and 'regionalist' explanations of party structure development and change be overcome.
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| 19 |
ID:
093239
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2009.
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Over the past decades income inequality has been sharply increasing in both mainland China and Hong Kong, two Chinese societies that have distinct paths of institutional development. While previous studies on income inequality have attempted to document the trend and investigate its causes, this article focuses on people's perceptions of legitimate income inequality and how these perceptions are related to their attitude towards inequality. Analyses of data collected in separate population surveys in China (2005) and Hong Kong (2007) reveal a higher degree of tolerance of income inequality and a higher degree of perceived fairness of income distribution in Hong Kong than in the mainland. In both societies, such normative support for income inequality is positively associated with people's perceptions of opportunities.
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| 20 |
ID:
105899
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2011.
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In 2006, the European Union (EU) Services Directive entered into force. Member states were required to give effect to its provisions before 28 December 2009. According to its preamble, the directive sets out a general legal framwork dealing with a range of services. The aim of the directive is to remove barriers to the free movement of services and service providers. This serves the further aim of creating, by 2010, an internal market in services. The EU internal market consists of just under 500 million people in 27 member states. On the other side of the world, the EU Services Directive has been considered by some as offering a blueprint for better integrating the services market in Australia. However, the Australian 'internal market' consists of not quite 22 million people in six states and two territories. Its legal system belongs to the common law family, whereas the EU legal system, although a sui generis one, is nevertheless unavoidably influenced by the civil law tradition of the majority of its member states. Using the functional approach towards comparative law, this article examines the Australian and EU experiences of integrating the services market, taking the recent EU Services Directive as the focal point for discussion. The article begins with an overview of this directive before exploring the similarities and differences in the two legal systems. The purpose of this comparative analysis is to test whether the EU does hold any lessons for Australia in liberalising services markets or whether, instead, there might be lessons for the EU from Australia.
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