The impossible dream : France and the Austrian Netherlands during the Régence (1715-1723)

This article examines how after the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, in spite of the official French peace policy, the desire to incorporate sooner or later the Southern Netherlands into France remained quite strong in Paris. Although during the Regency of the Duke of Orleans (1715-1723) France officially and publicly distanced itself from any form of annexionism, the analysis of French diplomatic correspondence and memoranda circulating in government circles shows that France was by no means a "satisfied nation" and that the ambition to one day annex the Southern Netherlands to France remained as strong as ever. The desire for peace shown by Paris during la Regence was only motivated by a lack of resources, the fear of a new anti-French coalition and pragmatic considerations of international politics

Citations and herding: why one article makes it and another doesn't

The purpose of this paper is to draw a link between citations and the choice overload paradigm and show that herding plays a role in citing behavior. In addition, parallel with an increase in the number of published papers, we observe an increase in the strength of herding in citation

Party cues and yardstick voting

Politicians within any given party generally exhibit a degree similarity in terms of (political) viewpoints. Moreover, they are often constrained to follow general party lines on certain policy issues. Finally, they may be more likely to mimic one another than politicians from another party. Hence, parties provide important cues on how politicians will act once elected. The present paper assesses the implications of such party cues for the traditional model of yardstick voting (where voters use what they observe in neighbouring jurisdictions to judge the performance of their incumbent). It is shown that the information content of what happens in neighbouring jurisdictions differs depending on whether or not the same party governs this jurisdiction. More specifically, we find that voters might still take neighbouring jurisdictions into account, but should distinguish between jurisdictions where the same or a different party is in power. The results of the model are in line with recent empirical observations in Sweden and the United States. -- Politiker einer beliebigen Partei zeigen gewöhnlich Ähnlichkeiten bezüglich (politischer) Ansichten. Zudem sind sie in bestimmten Politikfeldern oft abhängig von Grundsätzen ihrer Partei. Letztlich übernehmen sie Standpunkte eher untereinander als von Politikern anderer Parteien. Daher liefern Parteien wichtige Hinweise wie Politiker nach ihrer Wahl handeln werden. Das vorliegende Papier beurteilt die Auswirkungen solcher Informationen über die Partei auf das bekannte „Yardstick Voting“ Modell (Wähler nutzen ihre Beobachtungen aus benachbarten Regionen zur Beurteilung ihrer eigenen Regierung). Es wird gezeigt, dass der Informationsgehalt der Ereignisse in Nachbarregionen stark davon abhängt, ob dieselbe Partei die Regierung stellt. Genauer gesagt, Wähler können andere Regionen bei ihren Entscheidungen berücksichtigen, jedoch sollten sie zwischen solchen mit derselben und mit einer anderen Partei in der Regierungsverantwortung differenzieren. Die Ergebnisse des Modells decken sich mit jüngsten Beobachtungen in Schweden und den Vereinigten Staaten.Yardstick voting,spatial interaction,party labels,party cues

Assessing the what is beautiful is good stereotype and the influence of moderately attractive and less attractive advertising models on self-perception, ad attitudes, and purchase intentions of 8–13-year-old children

This paper investigates (1) whether the physical attractiveness stereotype applies to children, (2) whether children’s self-perception is influenced by the attractiveness of an advertising model, (3) whether children’s attitudes towards an ad and buying intentions for a non-beauty-related product are influenced by the attractiveness of an advertising model, and (4) whether age affects (1), (2), and (3). Results of two experimental studies with respectively 8–9-year-old (N = 75) and 12–13 year old (N = 57) girls and boys confirm the presence of the physical attractiveness stereotype in children. The presence of a moderately attractive (vs. less attractive) model has a negative influence on general self-worth for 8–9-year-old boys, but not for girls, nor for 12–13-year-old children. Exposure to a moderately attractive (vs. less attractive) model also has a positive influence on perceived physical appearance of 8–9-year-old girls, but this effect does not occur for boys, nor for 12–13-year-olds. The studies also show that moderately attractive (vs. less attractive) models increase attitudes and buying intentions for 8–9-year-olds, but not for 12–13-year-old boys and girls

Intention superiority as a mechanism of the question-behavior effect

This paper investigates the mere measurement effect from an intention superiority perspective. Relying on the dynamic processes that characterize intention-related information in memory, the first study shows that a brand tied to an intention remains in a heightened state of activation until choice, after which it becomes inhibited. Competitive brands that are distracting from intention completion are inhibited prior to the completion of the intention. These changes in brand activation drive the mere measurement effect. Two additional studies show that intention superiority can explain findings that cannot be accounted for by traditional theoretical explanations, such as increased choice of the preferred brand after activation of a negatively evaluated brand and decreased choice of the preferred brand when consumers make two subsequent choices