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121. Inequality in Energy Consumption: Statistical Equilibrium or a Question of Accounting Conventions?

Author:
Gregor Semieniuk and Isabella M. Weber
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
Mitigating climate change requires information about the inequality in energy consumption. Recent contributions (Banerjee and Yakovenko, 2010; Lawrence et al., 2013; Yakovenko, 2010, 2013) have studied energy inequality through the lens of maximum entropy. They claim a weighted international distribution of total primary energy demand should approach a Boltzmann-Gibbs maximum entropy equilibrium distribution in the form of an exponential distribution, implying convergence to a Gini coefficient of 0.5 from above. The present paper challenges the validity of this claim and critically discusses the applicability of statistical equilibrium reasoning to economics from the viewpoint of social accounting. It is shown that the exponential distribution is only a robust candidate for a statistical equilibrium of energy inequality when employing one particular accounting convention for energy flows, the substitution method. But this method has become problematic with a higher renewable share in the international energy mix, and no other accounting method supports the claim of a convergence to a 0.5 Gini. We conclude that the findings based on maximum entropy reasoning are sensitive to accounting conventions and critically discuss the epistemological implications of this sensitivity for the use of maximum entropy approaches in social sciences.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, and Inequality
Political Geography:
Global Focus

122. Tourism as a Mechanism in Reducing Income Inequality in Developing Economies

Author:
D. Tan and Risa Morimoto
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
Although numerous studies have investigated the contribution of tourism to economic growth and development, much less attention has been paid to assessing whether tourism-induced growth and development contribute to the poverty alleviation and income inequality (Kinyondo & Pelizzo, 2015). This study emamines the statistical relationship between tourism activities and a suite of income inequality measures. Using a dynamic fixed country-level effects panel model and bootstrapped standard errors, we find strong evidence showing both tourism dollars and inbound tourism numbers have an adverse effect ion income equality. These findings are supported by the results of the fixed-effects panel and dynamic pooled OLS regressions. The results of this study suggest that more effort should be exerted to develop pro-poor tourism initiatives in order to mitigate the inequitable distribution of the benefits of tourism as well as to reduce possible environmental degradation caused by rural poverty.
Topic:
Development, Tourism, Inequality, Income Inequality, Economic Theory, and Models
Political Geography:
Global Focus

123. Is global inequality rising or falling?

Author:
Tony Addison, Jukka Pirttilä, and Finn Tarp
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
When measured in relative terms, global inequality has been decreasing. However, in absolute terms it has been increasing. What does this mean for analysing and addressing inequality? While it remains vital to continue reducing the global incidence of poverty, inequality has risen both in international and national agendas. Inequalities — in incomes, assets, and human development — matter for citizens as ethical and political issues. Large inequalities matter for economic development as they and can slow economic growth, generate economic crises, and destabilize political systems.
Topic:
Development, Poverty, Inequality, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:
Global Focus

124. Discourse Analysis: Strengths and Shortcomings

Author:
Senem Aydın-Düzgit
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:
Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:
Discourse analysis is a much-favoured textual analysis method among constructivist and critically minded International Relations scholars interested in the impact of identity, meaning, and discourse on world politics. The aim of this article is to guide students of Turkish IR in their choice and use of this method. Written by two Turkish IR scholars who have employed discourse analysis in their past and present research, this article also includes a personal reflection on its strengths and shortcomings. The first section of the article presents an overview of the conceptual and epistemological underpinnings of discourse analysis, while charting the evolution of discourse analysis in IR since the late 1980s in three phases. The second section offers insight into the personal history of the researchers in employing discourse analysis in their previous and ongoing research, while the third section provides a how-to manual by performing discourse analysis of an actual text. The concluding section focuses on the challenges faced in the conduct of discourse analysis and the potential ways to overcome them, also drawing from the researchers’ own experiences in the field.
Topic:
International Relations, Inequality, Constructivism, Methods, Discourse, and Political Analysis
Political Geography:
Turkey and Global Focus

125. Unpaid Care – Why and How to Invest: Policy Briefing for National Governments

Author:
Man-Kwun Chan
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Investments which support households to better meet their unpaid care responsibilities – such as childcare, food preparation and laundry – can yield substantial returns in terms of macro-economic growth, job creation and other key government priorities. This briefing looks at selected evidence and examples and argues that governments should: include commitments to support households’ unpaid care work in relevant policies and programmes, and collect data on unpaid care to support policy making; increase households’ access to care-supporting infrastructure and services; encourage men and boys to share care work; and step up efforts to give women a real voice in policy making, and a real opportunity to speak out about unpaid care.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Health Care Policy, and Inequality
Political Geography:
Global Focus

126. Influencing Behaviours and Practices to Tackle Poverty and Injustice

Author:
Melanie Kesmaecker-Wissing, Lucy Knight, Ruth Mayne, and Jola Miziniak
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Effective behaviour change strategies can play a vital role in combating poverty, injustice and environmental degradation. They can help prevent violence against women and girls; enable better health, hygiene and environmental behaviours; motivate and empower people to participate in campaigns or to become change makers; or influence people to make more equitable, ethical or sustainable purchasing and investment decisions. There is growing understanding among civil society organizations, governments and others about how to enable behaviour change, but many interventions still rely too much on information provision and awareness raising. This discussion paper draws on learning from theory and practice to provide practitioners with an understanding of the range of influences that shape different behaviours at individual, group, societal and system levels. It suggests a menu of possible interventions to address them, and highlights the need for resources and skill-building. It will be relevant for practitioners involved in programming, humanitarian, influencing and campaigning work, as well as for government officials and donors.
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, Inequality, Gender Based Violence, and Behavior
Political Geography:
Global Focus

127. Reward Work, Not Wealth: To end the Inequality Crisis, We Must Build an Economy for Ordinary Working People, not the Rich and Powerful.

Author:
Diego Alejo Vazquez Pimentel, Max Lawson, and Inigo Macias Aymar
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Last year saw the biggest increase in billionaires in history, one more every two days. This huge increase could have ended global extreme poverty seven times over. 82% of all wealth created in the last year went to the top 1%, and nothing went to the bottom 50%. Dangerous, poorly paid work for the many is supporting extreme wealth for the few. Women are in the worst work, and almost all the super-rich are men. Governments must create a more equal society by prioritizing ordinary workers and small-scale food producers instead of the rich and powerful.
Topic:
Gender Issues, International Trade and Finance, Food, Health Care Policy, Inequality, Economic Growth, Tax Systems, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:
Global Focus

128. Facing Risk: Options and Challenges in Ensuring that Climate/Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance Deliver for Poor People

Author:
Debbie Hillier
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Reducing the impacts of disasters on poor people is absolutely vital. Climate/disaster risk financing could play a useful role if it is part of an approach that includes risk reduction, if it strengthens social protection, and if it has real participation from civil society. Insurance, as one component of risk financing, could play a supportive role if carefully designed – keeping in mind the limitations, including the risk of worsening income and gender inequality. The InsuResilience Global Partnership should build more evidence of what works for poor people, invest in pro-poor business models, and ensure the insurance schemes developed are part of a broader approach to reduce risks and the inequalities that make people vulnerable to disasters.
Topic:
Civil Society, Climate Change, Disaster Relief, and Inequality
Political Geography:
Global Focus

129. Destabilizing Orders: Understanding the Consequences of Neoliberalism

Author:
Jenny Andersson and Olivier Godechot
Publication Date:
06-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo)
Abstract:
Throughout the long postwar period, crisis was a conjectural phenomenon and the exception in a normalcy of growth and social progress. Many key concepts of the social sciences – indeed, our understanding of democracy, embedded markets, enlightened electorates, benevolent political elites, and problem-solving progressive alliances – seem inapt for understanding today’s societal upheaval. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, we have witnessed the breakdown of majority alliances, the return of populism on a grand scale both in the Western world and globally, and the eruption into chaotic and sometimes violent social protests. The forces that underpinned the framework of welfare capitalism seem obsolete in the face of financial and political elites who are paradoxically both disconnected from national territory and sometimes in direct alliance with nationalist and populist movements. Politics of resentment, politics of place, and new politics of class interact in ways that we do not yet understand. Perhaps the greatest paradox of all is that neoliberalism has spawned authoritarianism. At the same time, these processes are not at all new, but must be put in the context of the socioeconomic and cultural cleavages produced by the shift to neoliberalism since the 1970s. The paper presents arguments by leading scholars in economic history, economic sociology, and political economy in brief thinknotes that were prepared for the MaxPo Fifth-Anniversary Conference on January 12 and 13, 2018, in Paris.
Topic:
Economics, International Political Economy, Financial Crisis, Inequality, Neoliberalism, and Free Market
Political Geography:
Global Focus

130. Will International Institutions Fail Again? International power shifts and the future of global cooperation

Author:
Matthew D. Stephen
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
Abstract:
International institutions thrive when they are utilized, their rules are respected, and they are important in shaping international outcomes. They fail when they fall into disuse, their rules are violated, or they otherwise become peripheral to the events of world politics. In order to function effectively, international institutions require a minimum level of agreement amongst their most powerful members. In many institutions today, the level of agreement is shrinking. While geopolitical tensions are real, the biggest risk to international institutions comes from the unravelling of domestic and transnational social coalitions in favour of economic openness and ideals of internationalism. To rescue international institutions, it will be necessary to take action at the national level. This means using the policy tools available to national governments to create economic security, reduce inequality, and foster inclusive community identities. This may come at the expense of deeper international integration, but it will be better for international cooperation in the long run.
Topic:
Security, Inequality, Institutionalism, Community, and International Institutions
Political Geography:
Global Focus