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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 February 2022

James Caporaso

The purpose of the paper “Commerce, jobs and politics: the impact of the USA–China trade on USA domestic politics” is to examine the impact of Chinese trade with the USA to…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper “Commerce, jobs and politics: the impact of the USA–China trade on USA domestic politics” is to examine the impact of Chinese trade with the USA to determine the consequences of the trade on manufacturing employment. The geographic and sectoral impacts of this trade are assessed. The conclusion is that the USA–China trade has affected political polarization in such a way as to affect electoral outcomes. Implications for policy are discussed in the paper.

Design/methodology/approach

The overall design is a focused case study in terms of its focus on the USA–China trade relations. There is also a statistical component due to the breakdown of the USA in economic commuting zones.

Findings

The major finding is that Chinese import penetration created substantial political polarization in the USA and that polarization affected electoral outcomes. Chinese import penetration also resulted in a shift of jobs from the eastern heartland to the coasts. Much of the transition was aided by the restructuring of jobs within firms from manufacturing to high-end services.

Research limitations/implications

Perhaps, the biggest limitation concerns how general and durable the findings are. The authors establish that the first decade after Chinese entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) (2001) was characterized by economic disruption in the USA labor market. Whether the economic effects will have a longer duration is not known.

Practical implications

One practical limitation is that it is difficult to know what policy actions to take on the basis of the research: trade policy, human capital (education) policy or place-based policies which aid particular regions.

Social implications

The social implications in this paper are jobs and employment policy.

Originality/value

The author thinks this is very original work, though based on the work of several economists. But outside of a few articles, the author does not think much has appeared in political science journals.

Details

International Trade, Politics and Development, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2586-3932

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 March 2024

James Caporaso

Trade relations between China and the USA have been marked by conflict, especially since China’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). These conflicts have been…

Abstract

Purpose

Trade relations between China and the USA have been marked by conflict, especially since China’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). These conflicts have been analyzed from a variety of perspectives, including the loss of jobs in the USA due to Chinese imports, competition in high technology sectors and the balance of trade. Conceptual frameworks have employed models of domestic differences as well as models of international power distribution. Among domestic differences examined are the existence of state-owned enterprises in China compared to the domination of the USA economy by private firms, the large role of the Communist Party in China and the influence of labor and environmental and labor groups in the USA. Power distribution theories focus on the systemic effects of the distribution of power on trade openness and on the pattern of intra-bloc versus between-bloc trade. This paper aims to examine the role of macroeconomic policy factors in China and the USA, in particular, the role of national patterns of savings, investment and consumption (both private and government). The paper concludes that insofar as the balance of trade is an important component of the trade conflict, domestic macroeconomic factors continue to be important. The resolution of the conflict will have to take into account the respective macroeconomic policies of China and the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

The design is an analytic case study of US–China trade relations with a particular focus on the balance of trade. The conceptual framework employed involves an analysis of macroeconomic policy categories, especially the overall pattern of savings (household, firm and government), investment and consumption. Process tracing over time since China's membership in the WTO is carried out with an eye toward the relationship between the balance of trade and macroeconomic policy.

Findings

The main findings are that there is a strong relation between the respective macroeconomic policies of the USA and China and their trade relations. The domestic political economy of the USA encourages consumption and a low rate of savings. The opposite is true of China where household income is low by design and national savings are high. China depends on the USA to consume what is not consumed domestically. The USA depends on Chinese imports for additional consumption encouraged by its low rate of savings. The two economies are locked in a mutual dependence.

Research limitations/implications

Key research implications are that there should be more focus on domestic macroeconomic policies since these are the root causes of the trade imbalance. This is not to say that trade frictions centering on jobs, subsidies and competition in high technology are unimportant. However, without the resolution of differences in the management of macroeconomic policies, trade conflicts between the USA and China will continue.

Practical implications

Practical implications are huge, in some ways much more important than the academic implications. Macroeconomic policy differences in savings, investment, government spending, taxation and infrastructure are important. Furthermore, there are available tools in both China and the USA to manage the macroeconomy, particularly, monetary and fiscal policy.

Social implications

One implication of this paper is that satisfaction or dissatisfaction of workers is dependent on income distribution which in turn affects trade. Treatment of people in different socioeconomic categories, such as the elderly, the young, and those at working age are a function of macroeconomic policies.

Originality/value

Many people have written about macroeconomics. It is a conventional subfield of economics. The originality of this paper lies in its advocacy of a shift of focus and attention and in the argument that traditional macroeconomics is related to trade. Despite its importance, macroeconomics has not been the center of attention for most political scientists, though economists have made it more central.

Details

International Trade, Politics and Development, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2586-3932

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 December 2006

Ferrel Heady

Public administration as an aspect of governmental activity has existed as long as political systems have been functioning and trying to achieve program objectives set by the…

Abstract

Public administration as an aspect of governmental activity has existed as long as political systems have been functioning and trying to achieve program objectives set by the political decision-makers. Public administration as a field of systematic study is much more recent. Advisers to rulers and commentators on the workings of government have recorded their observations from time to time in sources as varied as Kautilya's Arthasastra in ancient India, the Bible, Aristotle's Politics, and Machiavelli's The Prince, but it was not until the eighteenth century that cameralism, concerned with the systematic management of governmental affairs, became a specialty of German scholars in Western Europe. In the United States, such a development did not take place until the latter part of the nineteenth century, with the publication in 1887 of Woodrow Wilson's famous essay, “The Study of Administration,” generally considered the starting point. Since that time, public administration has become a well-recognized area of specialized interest, either as a subfield of political science or as an academic discipline in its own right.

Details

Comparative Public Administration
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-453-9

Article
Publication date: 8 October 2019

Shafiqul Islam, Cordia Chu, Leong Liew and James C.R. Smart

The purpose of this paper is to inspect disaster risk reduction (DRR) challenges from a political economy (PE) perspective and to explore how PE determinants facilitate or hinder…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to inspect disaster risk reduction (DRR) challenges from a political economy (PE) perspective and to explore how PE determinants facilitate or hinder effective DRR in Bangladesh.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative case study, using semi-structured in-depth interviews, official documents and literature review has been conducted to explore the current process and practices of DRR in Bangladesh. The specific focus is on the distribution of public spending on flood shelters implemented by the Department of Disaster Management.

Findings

The study revealed a number of findings, including that the interest and incentives of influencing decision makers matter; formal and informal institutions have influence; and the values and ideas of dominating stakeholders’ impact on decisions regarding public spending of DRR in Bangladesh. These PE factors often hinder efficiency by leading to overlapping efforts and inefficient use of scarce resources. DRR planners and practitioners need to take steps to mitigate potential risks from PE processes in the allocations of DRR funding by implementing improved distribution arrangements.

Originality/value

Despite many successes in dealing with disasters, Bangladesh faces several challenges, including better governance of funds. DRR challenges can be considered as a problem of PE, which concerns the distribution of resources, and includes how powerful decision makers affect economic choices. Prior research examining the challenges in DRR-related funding distribution from a PE perspective is limited. Therefore, this study attempts to fill this gap in the literature by focusing on the situation in Bangladesh from this perspective. The authors elaborate how PE determinants can function as both barrier and opportunities on the ground in DRR-related fund distribution and in the selection of project locations and beneficiaries.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2006

J. Robert Daleiden

The purpose of this paper is to incorporate historical theories of political economy as means better to clarify and classify contemporary state police and private policing…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to incorporate historical theories of political economy as means better to clarify and classify contemporary state police and private policing practices.

Design/methodology/approach

A diverse historical investigation of largely, non‐traditional public police history was conducted by utilizing a selective variety of social, political, and economic sources.

Findings

The paper finds that several theoretical features of eighteenth and nineteenth century Marxian, classical, and neoclassical political economy have contributed in defining the origins of contemporary American public police and private policing practices. Born from these perspectives, public goods theories frameworks, in conjunction with Wilson's police officer job function typologies in Varieties of Police Behavior, more clearly illustrate the current political and economically defined state supported police relative to private market arrangements.

Research limitations/implications

This research describes the positioning of this mixed economy in theoretical fashion, but does not provide contemporary private sector market growths or publicly supplied police trends that are a suitable next step for further research.

Practical implications

The public “monopoly” of state supported police is largely rejected. More interdisciplinary research approaches should be pursued in the twenty‐first century that better reflect the American political and economic realities of public and private forms of policing.

Originality/value

This paper is highly original when considering the paucity of theory utilized in describing simultaneous state and private policing scenarios.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 29 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 March 2010

Karen D.W. Patterson, Marvin Washington, David Cavazos and Keith Brigham

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the issue of market redefinition through an examination of a unique industry that has met with multiple obstacles: online gambling. The…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the issue of market redefinition through an examination of a unique industry that has met with multiple obstacles: online gambling. The main research question is how markets get redefined when quantum technological change occurs, despite the lack of formal support and a highly fragmented industry structure, typical in online industries.

Design/methodology/approach

This industry lends itself to the analysis because of the intense competition for reconstruction of the field among state powers, professional associations, and global forces. The paper provides an archival and qualitative overview of the industry and identify the various forces competing for dominance in the market. It examines the competing logics in this industry and identify the sources and implications of such competition for emerging markets.

Findings

Both broad and specific contributions of this paper are discussed, namely the important role of professional and interest associations in industries without clear geographical boundaries, as well as the growing role for global moderating agencies.

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides a timely example of the ways in which firms organize in the modern business environment. In addition, it discusses the volatile and complex power structure in a global economy. While the research is necessarily processual and does not provide for multiple settings, the extent of legal implications here can be generalized to much smaller differences in global markets.

Originality/value

This paper provides support for the idea that, contrary to many concepts of industry acceptance and growth, legitimacy is not a requisite condition for an industry to prosper.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

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