No exit from the euro-rescuing trap?

This paper attempts a normative assessment of the input and output-oriented legitimacy of the present euro-rescuing regime on the basis of policy analyses examining the causes of present crises, the available policy options, and the impact of the policies actually chosen. Concluding that the regime lacks input-oriented legitimacy and that its claim to output-oriented legitimacy is ambivalent at best, the paper explores potential – majoritarian or unilateral – exits from the present institutional constellation that is characterized by the synthesis of a non-democratic expertocracy and an extremely asymmetric intergovernmental bargaining system.Die hier präsentierte normative Bewertung der input- und outputorientierten Legitimität des gegenwärtigen Euro-Rettungs-Regimes stützt sich auf empirisch fundierte Aussagen zu den Ursachen der Eurokrise, den prinzipiell verfügbaren Politik-Optionen und den Wirkungen der gewählten Politik. Im Ergebnis wird eine inputorientierte Legitimation verneint, während die outputorientierte Bewertung höchst ambivalent erscheint. Im Schlussteil untersucht der Text mögliche – majoritäre oder einseitige – Auswege aus einer institutionellen Konstellation, die ein nicht demokratisches Expertenregime mit inem extrem asymmetrischen intergouvernementalen Verhandlungsregime verbindet

Pathways of transnational activism : a conceptual framework

This paper presents a novel analytical framework to study transnational activism in the context of today\u27s international governance architecture. While there is a considerable amount of literature on the emergence, development, and effects of transnational activism in specific transnational governance arrangements or within a specific local context, an integrated framework that analyzes the dynamic interplay between activism, transnational institutions, and domestic contexts is still lacking. The framework of transnational pathways of influence intends to help close this gap. It integrates insights from social movement research on transnational collective action and insights from institutional theorists on institutional interactions. The framework consists of three major concepts: the concept of intra-pathway dynamics captures the relationship of mobilization and institutional chance within one path; the concept of inter-pathway dynamics encompasses institutional interactions and interdependencies between activism across paths; and the concept of the global–local link characterizes the relationship of activism within each path to local actors, the domestic context, and the political regime. The paper outlines this framework and exemplifies it by taking the case of transnational labor-rights activism targeting labor-rights violations in a strong and nondemocratic state: the People\u27s Republic of China. It shows that the study of activism across different transnational pathways over time is necessary to understand the combined effects of activist interventions, institutional co-evolution and interaction as an explanation of the process of selective convergence between global norms and local practices.Der Beitrag präsentiert einen neuen Ansatz zur Analyse transnationalen Mehrebenenaktivismus in der globalen Governance-Architektur. Der besondere Fokus liegt auf dem Zusammenspiel zwischen Aktivisten, multiplen transnationalen Institutionen und dem lokalen Kontext. Kern des Analyserahmens bilden drei Konzepte: Intra-Pfad-Entwicklungen beschreiben die Interaktion zwischen Mobilisierung und institutionellem Wandel innerhalb eines Pfades; Inter-Pfad-Dynamiken umfassen institutionelle Interaktionen und Interdependenzen zwischen Aktivismus in verschiedenen Pfaden; und der global- lokale Link erklärt das Verhältnis von Aktivisten in den einzelnen Pfaden zu lokalen Akteuren, dem lokalen Kontext und dem politischen Regime. Der Analyserahmen wird anhand des Beispiels von transnationalem Arbeitsrechtsaktivismus, der gegen schlechte Arbeitsbedingungen in chinesischen Lieferbetrieben mobilisiert, erörtert. Es zeigt sich, dass die Analyse von transnationalem Aktivismus entlang verschiedener Pfade und im Zeitverlauf nötig ist, um die Wirkung des Zusammenspiels verschiedener Effekte – transnationale Interventionen, institutionelle Ko-Evolution und Interaktion – zu verstehen: Nur in ihrem Wechselspiel führen diese Prozesse zu einer selektiven Konvergenz zwischen globalen Normen, nationalen Rechten und lokalen Praktiken

Margins, gravity, and causality : export diversification and income levels reconsidered

The paper shows that the relationship between GDP per capita and levels of specialization can be predicted differently depending on whether the intensive or the extensive margin is considered. It shows that at the extensive margin countries continuously diversify their exports and that cross‐sectional patterns can be captured well by a gravity equation. Prior studies documenting nonmonotone patterns with respecialization appear to have obtained their results from sample‐selection bias, the omitted log‐transformation of the income variable, and the neglect of control variables. Furthermore, results from dynamic panel analyses (system GMM) suggest that causality goes in both directions, with income having a contemporaneous impact on diversification, while the feedback effect of diversification on GDP per capita may be delayed. This pattern fits into theoretical rationales that view diversification as driven by technology or efficiency and where diversification generates additional revenues as it proves to be persistent