bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Policy Preferences and Party Choice
Authors: van der Eijk Cees , Franklin Mark N. , van der Brug Wouter 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis chapter is the third of six on the question of political representation in the EU, and the third of four that put the five requirements of the Responsible Party Model (outlined in Ch. 6) to an empirical test. The questions investigated here are whether voters have preferences on the issues at stake, and whether those preferences motivate their electoral choices; the analysis is carried out using data from the European Election Study 1994. The data are found largely to support the condition that voters hold policy preferences. They also allow two contrasts to be made while studying determinants of party choice—nation‐specific issues can be contrasted with common issues, and position issues (as exemplified by the common European currency, border control, and unemployment) with valence issues; it can then be seen which of these types of issues are most important in explaining party preferences. In addition, degrees of policy voting can be contrasted in each of the political systems. The results are hardly supportive of the Responsible Party Model in that hardly any motivational basis is found in terms of specific issues and policies for voters’ party preferences; however, the model becomes more persuasive when the focus is not only on specific policy and issue concerns but more generally on substantive political concerns and voter orientations relating to the left–right ideological position of parties.
Whom to Represent? Role Orientations of Legislators in Europe
Authors: Wessels Bernhard 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis chapter is the fifth of six on the question of political representation in the EU. It analyses to what extent institutional differences between the member‐states of the EU are constraining the attitudes of representatives in respect of one major aspect—whom to represent; this is done by exploring the role orientations of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and comparing them with those of members of 11 national parliaments (MNPs). The first section of the chapter presents a brief conceptualization of representational roles by looking at general conclusions from previous research, and defining 5 representational foci in two dimensions: group specificity (party voters; specific (interest) groups) and regional scope (constituency; all people in the nation concerned; all people in Europe). The next section looks at the distributions of these five foci of representation across parliamentary levels (MEPs or MNPs) over the 15 member‐states of the EU; data are from the 1996 European Parliamentarians Study, and indicate striking differences between countries. The last (and largest) section of the chapter looks for explanations for these differences in foci of representation. These include personal factors (social background; political experience), institutional settings (the regional dimension—the relationship between role orientation, competitiveness and electoral systems; the group dimension—the relationship between role orientation and the encompassiveness and inclusiveness of interest group systems; and the European focus of representation in relation to the size and experience of a member‐state).
Wishful Thinking Among European Parliamentarians
Authors: Holmberg Sören 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis chapter is the last of six on the question of political representation in the EU. It examines the extent to which European parliamentarians have the correct view of voters’ preferences, and the extent to which ‘wishful thinking’—the tendency to see what one wants to see—is a problem in this context. Previous research on this subject is first briefly summarized, and then an analysis is made of data from the European Representation Study on elite perceptions (perceptions of members of the European Parliament, MEPs, and of national parliaments, MNPs) of voter attitudes to four issues: a common European currency; a massive employment policy within the EU; the removal of national borders; and the left–right dimension. The elite perception data are used to test three hypotheses derived from perceptual theory and previous research on elite perception of mass attitudes. Three models of perceptual accuracy, designated assimilation ordering, contrast ordering, and wrong direction ordering, are also advanced. Overall, it is found that a largely irrational tendency towards wishful thinking is more significant for members’ knowledge of voter opinion than other more rational processes of knowledge acquisition; however, the parties that made this analysis possible (i.e. those with opinions differing from those of their voters) constituted a minority among both MNPs (30%) and MEPs (28%), which is precisely the situation in which information channels need to be functioning better rather than worse.
The United Kingdom
Authors: Kassim Hussein 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
This chapter on the national co-ordination of European Union (EU) policy in the United Kingdom has four sections. The first considers the UK’s interpretation of the co-ordination need generated by EC/EU membership; the co-ordination ambition is outlined in relation to the UK political system and explanatory factors are discussed. The organization, structure, and procedural operation of the co-ordination system are discussed in the second section of the chapter, which examines in detail the relationship between central actors and the line ministries, the division of labour and responsibility, and the formal and informal channels of communication. The third section assesses the effectiveness of UK co-ordination within the wider context of the relationship between administrative efficiency and policy success. The final part concludes that the UK’s system for co-ordinating EU policy has been shaped more profoundly by pre-existing institutional structures and values that characterize the domestic polity than by the demands generated by membership of the EU, but that the influence of both imperatives is apparent.
France
Authors: Menon Anand 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
This chapter on the national co-ordination of European Union (EU) policy in France starts by pointing out that the French objectives are ambitious, and argues that a profound tension exists between the declared ambitions and the intrinsic difficulties faced in achieving effective co-ordination. Would-be co-ordinators need to confront several elements of fragmentation within the core executive itself, most notably: a bicephalous and sporadically politically divided executive; a strong sense of departmentalism, frequently associated with entrenched interests and manifested in interministerial squabbles; and ‘vertical’ divisions between the political and administrative levels, often characterized by tensions between senior officials and political appointees in ministerial cabinets. At one level, the system put into place in France has succeeded in resolving these problems and resulted in effective co-ordination, but at another, co-ordinators in Paris face significant problems as they strive to ensure the coherence of French policy positions in Brussels. The two main sections of the chapter look at routine policy matters of European Community (EC) legislation (for which a formal institutionalized system of co-ordination has been created both intraministerially and interministerially, and in which the role of parliament is weak), and non-routine co-ordination (comprising more set-piece decision-making involving political leaders, and including the preparation of and participation in European Councils, the organization of the French presidency of the Council of Ministers, and intergovernmental conferences). The conclusion outlines the two main hurdles to co-ordination that have limited the effectiveness of the system. The relative autonomy of certain powerful ministries, and the significant gap between the administrative and political levels.
Italy
Authors: della Cananea Giacinto 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
This chapter on the national co-ordination of European Union (EU) policy in Italy discusses the frequent failures of Italian policies concerning the EU, which, in some cases, have become a European problem. Although other member states frequently face similar problems, there is a twofold difference between Italy and the other countries: first, of scale, and second of the nature of the interests concerned, since many of the complaints about Italy concern EU policies that provide Italy with financial benefits; a double contradiction thus arises between the interests of the EU and national interests. These problems raise two main questions: are the policy failures a consequence of treating European integration as a relatively minor issue in spite of the diffuse pro-integration attitude constantly shown by public opinion; or are they the result of the lack of co-ordination tools and processes at the institutional and political level in Italy? The chapter considers these questions in five main sections: The Failures of EU Policy-making in Italy (an identification and measurement of the problem); The Importance of the EU in Law and Policy-making in Italy; Inadequate Co-ordination as the Source of Italy’s ‘Failures’ in Europe; and European Policy Co-ordination: The Past, and The Present. The conclusion suggests that despite that centrality of concern for the EU in Italy, the country has been slow to create effective and efficient mechanisms for co-ordinating the formulation and implementation of EU law; although there have been some advances, fragmentation and duplication still appear to dominate.
Portugal
Authors: Magone José M. 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
This chapter on the national co-ordination of European Union (EU) policy in Portugal is divided into three main sections. The first deals with the development of the country’s EU policy co-ordination machinery. In the second, the structure and culture of the present EU policy co-ordination machinery is thoroughly examined. The last section focuses on the interaction of the EU policy co-ordination machinery and the political and administrative opportunity structures.
Belgium
Authors: Kerremans Bart 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis chapter on the national co-ordination of European Union (EU) policy in Belgium discusses the theory and practice of consensus building and how it affects Belgium’s European policy. It examines the principles that inform the system of EU policy co-ordination in Belgium, and assesses the impact of Belgian state reforms. The chapter has two main sections. The first, ‘Political Culture and Co-ordination’, looks at the political culture of co-ordination and the impact of culture on co-ordination. The second, ‘EU Policy Co-ordination in Belgium’, discusses the ‘horizontal’ dimensions of this co-ordination at the political and ambassadorial level, and the ‘vertical’ dimensions of the co-ordination at the technical level, with reference to the P.11 process (P.11 refers to the Directorate of European Affairs inside the federal Foreign Ministry, which organizes the P.11 meetings; these are weekly meetings, which discuss the co-ordination of Belgian EU policy).
Adam Smith and the Classics
Authors: Vivenza Gloria 
Published: October 2003

AbstractAdam Smith's thought was indebted to the classical training prevailing in the educational system of his day. A careful reading of all his writings can prove the extent of this debt. Classical influences are obviously more numerous and easily discernible in the philosophical works, but are not absent from the economic masterpiece. They have been described by the author without having recourse to conjectures or implications, rather by analysing the topics whose classical origin can be ascertained. The book has been divided into chapters devoted to the traditional branches of knowledge treated by Adam Smith: natural philosophy, ethics, jurisprudence, economics, literature; plus a postscript.Smith was not only influenced by classical doctrines but he also selected from them argumentssuited to support his own ideas.
Prelude to Political Economy
Authors: Basu Kaushik 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis book seeks to provide a better understanding of the state, the law, social norms, and the role of policy advise. It subscribes to the discipline of positive political economy, but also looks at the social situations that lie beyond economics and politics. It is divided into the five parts. Part I presents a primer on game theory. Part II raises the argument than an economy or market is embedded in a social setting, with all its attendant norms, institutions, and beliefs. Part III explores the idea of “the state” and laws. Part IV discusses selected topics on welfare economics. Part V argues that human beings do not use their rationality calculus over all available actions but only over a subset of them.
Introduction
Authors: Basu Kaushik 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
This introductory chapter opens with an anecdote from the author about a road tax collection incident in Grand Trunk Road in eastern India, to illustrate the need for a better understanding of the state, law, social norms, and the role of policy advise. It then discusses the emergence of the “positive political economy”. It presents the rationale behind this volume followed by an overview of the chapters in the book.
Individual Rationality
Authors: Basu Kaushik 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis chapter analyses the concept of individual rationality. It covers internal consistency, procrastination and addiction, the Traveler’s Dilemma, the simplified E-Mail Game, the paradox of cognition. It discusses the rejection of the so-called “axiom of transparency”, which states that if a person knows something, then the person knows that he know it.
Myopic Portfolio Choice
Authors: Campbell John Y. , Viceira Luis M. 
Published: October 2003

AbstractReviews the theory of portfolio choice for short‐term investors, and explains the special cases in which long‐term investors should make the same choices as short‐term investors. When investors’ relative risk aversion does not depend on their wealth, investment horizon is irrelevant for investors who have only financial wealth and who face constant investment opportunities. Even if investment opportunities are time‐varying, the investment horizon is still irrelevant for investors whose relative risk aversion equals one. However, there is strong empirical evidence that these conditions fail in various ways, thus allowing for legitimate arguments for horizon effects on portfolio choice.
Who Should Buy Long‐Term Bonds?
Authors: Campbell John Y. , Viceira Luis M. 
Published: October 2003

AbstractDevelops a theory of long‐term portfolio choice when the real interest rate changes over time, but risk premia and variances and covariances of returns are constant. Conventional short‐term mean‐variance analysis tends to relegate bonds to a minor supporting role in the recommended portfolio, since excess bond returns have historically been fairly low and bond returns have been highly variable in the short run. A long‐horizon analysis treats bonds very differently, and assigns them a much more important role in the optimal portfolio. The riskless asset for a long‐term investor is not a Treasury bill, which must be rolled over at uncertain future real interest rates, but a long‐term inflation‐indexed bond, which delivers a predictable stream of real income and thus supports a stable standard of living in the long term. Conservative long‐term investors should tilt their portfolios towards inflation‐indexed bonds, or nominal bonds if inflation risk is low, rather than towards cash as predicted by the standard short‐term analysis.
Is the Stock Market Safer for Long‐Term Investors?
Authors: Campbell John Y. , Viceira Luis M. 
Published: October 2003

AbstractExplores optimal investment strategies when both riskless interest rates and risk premia change over time in ways that can be described by a vector autoregressive (VAR) model. In this situation, a long‐term investor with constant risk aversion should both exploit and hedge against variations in investment opportunities. As in Ch. 3, a conservative long‐term investor should hedge real interest rate risk by holding long‐term inflation‐indexed bonds, or nominal bonds if inflation risk is low. In addition, the investor should respond to mean‐reverting stock returns by increasing the average allocation to equities. The strategic equity allocation also involves gradual changes in asset allocation over time, since the state variables that predict excess returns are generally slow‐moving.
Strategic Asset Allocation in Continuous Time
Authors: Campbell John Y. , Viceira Luis M. 
Published: October 2003

AbstractDiscusses solution methods for dynamic asset allocation problems in a continuous‐time framework, and uses them to explore optimal portfolio choice with time‐varying volatility and with parameter uncertainty. When stock market volatility is time‐varying, short‐term investors should reduce the allocation to equities in response to volatility increases. Long‐term investors should go further and hedge volatility risk by reducing their average allocation to equities when the correlation of volatility shocks and realized excess stock returns is negative, but empirically this effect is small in the US stock market. Uncertainty about mean asset returns and the use of updating rules based on realized returns generate a negative inter‐temporal hedging demand that dampens the demand for stocks by conservative investors, contrary to the mean‐reversion effect discussed in Chapter 4.
Human Wealth and Financial Wealth
Authors: Campbell John Y. , Viceira Luis M. 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis chapter explores financial asset allocation strategies when human wealth, the expected present discounted value of future labour earnings, is not tradable. Investors should adjust explicit asset holdings to compensate for their implicit holding of human capital and reach the desired allocation of total wealth. Riskless labour income makes human capital equivalent to an implicit holding of safe assets, thereby creating a strong tilt in the financial portfolio towards risky financial assets. Idiosyncratic labour income risk, uncorrelated with financial asset returns, can reduce this tilt but not reverse it; positive correlation between labour income and financial asset returns can reverse the tilt, increasing the demand for safe financial assets. The ability to adjust labour supply makes investors more tolerant of financial risk, because they can respond to poor investment results by increasing work effort, while subsistence needs to act like negative labour income and reduce tolerance for financial risk.
The Process of Economic Growth
Authors: Bramall Chris 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThe pace and pattern of post‐1978 Chinese economic growth is described in this chapter. It notes that the official data somewhat overstate the rate of growth but even revisions leave us with the conclusion that it was unparalleled by Chinese historical standards and on a par with the post‐war growth rates achieved by Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. In the early years of transition, growth depended upon rising agricultural output (though the surge in farm production was rather less dramatic than many have claimed), but as the 1980s wore on, Chinese industry assumed centre stage, especially those industries set up in rural areas by local government. The fourth characteristic of Chinese growth was that it occurred across the People's Republic. By looking at growth rates in four very different Chinese regions, the chapter shows that growth was faster in the eastern provinces, but also that even poor parts of western China enjoyed growth rates that allowed a sharp fall in the incidence of absolute poverty.
The Sectoral Contributions of Industry and Agriculture
Authors: Bramall Chris 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis chapter analyses the relative contributions made to growth by agriculture and industry. It shows that industry was the engine of growth in China during throughout the entire post‐1978 period; not a single one of China's provinces experienced industrial growth of less than 5% per annum. Furthermore, China's industrial sector experienced extensive structure change as traditional consumer‐oriented sub‐sectors revived and modern sub‐sectors such as pharmaceuticals and electronics emerged. Nevertheless, agriculture made an important contribution, especially in the early years of transition and in the poorest provinces.
The Rates of Saving and Investment
Authors: Bramall Chris 
Published: October 2003

AbstractA prime mover in post‐1978 Chinese growth was the high rate of investment. As this chapter shows, the late Maoist investment rate was exceptionally high in the late 1970s by the standards of developing countries. The bulk of this investment was funded from domestic savings; foreign direct investment, the contributions of the overseas Chinese, and foreign borrowing contributed almost nothing to Maoist investment.
Capital Accumulation After 1978
Authors: Bramall Chris 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThe share of investment rose after 1978 to a figure not seen since the heady days of the Great Leap Forward. There is no doubt that this higher rate of accumulation helped accelerate the growth rate (especially that of rural industry) but, as this chapter shows, it is hard to argue that investment was the prime mover. The investment rate was already very high at the close of the Maoist era and its increase thereafter was quantitative rather than qualitative. Furthermore, investment was not directed as well as it might have been. Transport infrastructure, education, and irrigation were all neglected, and this meant that growth was slower than it might otherwise have been.
Aggregate Demand and Relative Prices
Authors: Bramall Chris 
Published: October 2003

AbstractOne of the key reasons for China's success in mobilizing resources and raising productivity since 1978 has been the regulation of aggregate demand by central government. More precisely, as this chapter shows, the increase in demand that occurred at the start of the 1980s caused an acceleration in the growth rate. This macroeconomic policy was supplemented by a dramatic increase in the relative price of agricultural products in 1979. This altered the intersectoral terms of trade, thereby creating a surplus within the agricultural sector for re‐investment and––because farm production became profitable for the first time in almost a decade––provided a direct incentive for farmers to maximize output.
The Chinese State and Agriculture
Authors: Bramall Chris 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThe literature on the sources of Chinese agricultural growth after 1978 has emphasized the role played in the process by the decollectivization of the early 1980s. However, as this chapter shows, agricultural growth owed much to the agency of the Chinese state. The shift in the internal terms of trade towards agriculture played a big part. So too did good weather, the completion of a large number of irrigation projects launched by the Maoist state, the availability of high‐yield crop varieties (HYVs) for the first time, growing production of chemical fertilizer, and the relaxation of procurement quotas. So potent, indeed, were these factors that the growth rate of Chinese agriculture began to accelerate in the mid‐1970s––well before decollectivization.