Theoretical Framework

Pirate Lands ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 47-74
Author(s):  
Ursula Daxecker ◽  
Brandon Prins

This chapter presents the theoretical argument. It argues that national capacity is important in establishing the equilibrium level of piracy acceptable to the state. In weak or failed states, national governments are either unable or unwilling to counter piracy effectively, while more capable states have sufficient capacity to counter pirates on land and in coastal waters. Yet despite the importance of overall capacity in creating permissive conditions for piracy, it is argued that local governance determines the incidence and organization of piracy. In particular, organized piracy needs access to infrastructure and markets, suggesting that areas with some economic governance will be most attractive to pirates. Furthermore, pirates look for weakly governed areas where opportunities for collusion are plentiful. These expectations should hold most strongly for more organized forms of maritime piracy, since spontaneous, short-term opportunistic attacks could still occur in weak or strong areas.

Author(s):  
Xue Jin ◽  
Ussif Rashid Sumaila ◽  
Kedong Yin ◽  
Zhichao Qi

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China formally proposed an environmental interview system in May 2014, which applies pressure on local governments to fulfill their responsibility toward environmental protection by conducting face-to-face public interviews with their officials. In this paper, 48 cities that were publicly interviewed from 2014–2020 were considered the experimental group and 48 cities surrounding them were the control group. First, the dynamic panel model is applied to initially determine the effect of the policy. Then, a regression discontinuity method (Sharp RD) is used to analyze the short-term and long-term effects and compare the reasons for the differences observed among the estimates of various types of samples. Finally, a series of robustness tests were also conducted. The results show that the environmental interview system can improve air quality. However, because an emergency short-term local governance system exists at present, the governance effect is not long-term and, therefore, not sustainable. Therefore, it suggests that the government should continue to improve the environmental interview system, establish an optimal environmental protection incentive mechanism, and encourage local governments to implement environmental protection policies effectively in the long term. The results of the research are of great significance to the environmental impact assessment system of the world, especially in countries with similar economic systems, which are facing a trade-off between economic growth and environmental sustainability.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Ceron ◽  
Luigi Curini

The article explores the relationship between the incentives of parties to campaign on valence issues and the ideological proximity between one party and its competitors. Building from the existing literature, we provide a novel theoretical model that investigates this relationship in a two-dimensional multiparty system. Our theoretical argument is then tested focusing on the 2014 European electoral campaign in the five largest European countries, through an analysis of the messages posted by parties in their official Twitter accounts. Our results highlight an inverse relationship between a party’s distance from its neighbors and its likelihood to emphasize valence issues. However, as suggested in our theoretical framework, this effect is statistically significant only with respect to valence positive campaigning. Our findings have implications for the literature on valence competition, electoral campaigns, and social media.


Pirate Lands ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 98-118
Author(s):  
Ursula Daxecker ◽  
Brandon Prins

This chapter models and empirically tests the cross-national correlates of contemporary commerce raiding. The chapter theoretically examines how state capacity at the center influences the rate of pirate attacks in the territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zones of states. But it also recognizes that several other conditions help drive ship attacks, including privation, target opportunity, armed conflict, and the labor supply. The empirical models control for these factors when assessing cross-national and over-time variation in maritime piracy. Using multiple measures of state capacity, the chapter shows that pirates gravitate toward states that are weak at the center. It also finds that countries with larger populations, longer coastlines, proximity to maritime choke points, and poor economic conditions witness more pirate attacks. The last section discusses how to move from national capacity in the analyses presented in this chapter to subnational capacity in the next two chapters.


2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Vorster

Theodicy is the attempt to justify God’s righteousness and goodness amidst the experience of evil and suffering in the world. This article discusses Karl Barth’s Christological and Jürgen Moltmann’s eschatological approach to the problem of theodicy. The central theoretical argument is that the problem of theodicy poses a major hermeneutical challenge to Christianity that needs to be addressed, since it has implications for the way in which theology defines itself. Questions that arise are: What are the boundaries of theology? What are the grounds on which the question of theodicy must be asked? Is the Christian understanding of God’s omnipotence truly Scriptural? The modern formulation of theodicy finds its origin in the Enlighten- ment that approaches the problem from a theoretical framework based on human experience. This theoretical approach leads, however, to further logical inconsistencies. Theology must rather approach the problem in the same way as Scripture does, by taking the cross, resurrection and parousia of Christ as point of departure. The cross and resurrection are a sign that suffering is not part of God’s plan and at the same time an affirmation of God’s victory over suffering and evil.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 1793-1811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Murdoch ◽  
Benny Geys

This article examines how organizational designs develop by proposing a novel theoretical framework that views organizational change as resulting from a dialectic process between interpretive agents. The key claim is that existing formal procedures (such as recruitment processes, our empirical focal point) are subject to involved actors’ interpretive efforts. This results in a bargaining situation based on the interpretations of the principal actors, which may induce a feedback loop whereby the original procedures are amended. The empirical relevance of the theoretical argument is illustrated via a case study of the hiring procedures in the European External Action Service.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun-Cheol Ko ◽  
Bo-Yeon Kim ◽  
Myoung-Ho Sonh ◽  
Woon-Chan Jo ◽  
Kwan-Cheol Lee

Subject Telecoms sector reform. Significance Ministers responsible for the telecoms sector have watered down the European Commission's proposals to reform the industry. Their moves coincide with a wave of consolidation among mobile operators at the national and regional levels, raising questions of whether the balance of EU policy towards the sector has swung against consumers or if these changes are necessary for the sector's long-term competitiveness. Impacts Consolidation will facilitate future investment, leaving the mobile telecoms sector better placed to develop next generation infrastructure. However, if recent mergers are any guide, most consumers can expect price increases in the short term. This may raise fears of a strengthening of incumbents' market power. National consolidation should be followed by European consolidation. However, this will only make sense if national governments agree to greater convergence of regulatory frameworks -- which looks unlikely.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Sattler ◽  
Stefanie Walter

This article assesses the popular view that currency crises represent a prime example of the constraints that globalization imposes on government room to maneuver. We show that governments in fact have the possibility to respond to speculative pressure in different ways. Whether or not policymakers succumb to this pressure is not solely determined by economic factors but also a question of political considerations. Political preferences, institutions, and events significantly affect policy responses to currency crises. Our results suggest that national governments retain substantial short-run policy autonomy even in highly internationalized policy areas such as monetary and exchange rate policy.


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