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Building on cornerstone traditions in historical sociology, as well as work in environmental sociology and political-economic sociology, we theorize and investigate with moderation analysis how and why national militaries shape the effect of economic growth on carbon pollution. Militaries exert a substantial influence on the production and consumption patterns of economies, and the environmental demands required to support their evolving infrastructure. As far-reaching and distinct characteristics of contemporary militarization, we suggest that both the size and capital intensiveness of the world’s militaries enlarge the effect of economic growth on nations’ carbon emissions. In particular, we posit that each increases the extent to which the other amplifies the effect of economic growth on carbon pollution. To test our arguments, we estimate longitudinal models of emissions for 106 nations from 1990 to 2016. Across various model specifications, robustness checks, a range of sensitivity analyses, and counterfactual analysis, the findings consistently support our propositions. Beyond advancing the environment and economic growth literature in sociology, this study makes significant contributions to sociological research on climate change and the climate crisis, and it underscores the importance of considering the military in scholarship across the discipline.

Will power plants emit less or more CO2 in anticipation of stronger climate policies that would strand fossil fuel reserves? Here, using a worldwide data source on individual power plants' CO2 emissions and the value of countries' at-risk fossil fuel assets, we show that between 2009 and 2018, plants emitted more CO2 in countries where more assets would be devalued under a 1.5 °C scenario, which we theorize is due to these countries' regulatory leniency and plants' vested interest in long-term fossil fuel contracts. Although the extra amount of carbon emitted each year trigged by imperiled assets is relatively small, it would exhaust a sizable portion of the electricity sector's remaining carbon budget when added up over time. This is especially true in the U.S. and Russia where up to 16% and 12% of their budgets, respectively, could be spent within ten years due solely to the stranded asset effect. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement, power plants have emitted more CO2 in countries where more fossil fuel assets would be stranded under this treaty. In the United States, 16% of its electricity sector's carbon budget could be spent within ten years due solely to the stranded asset effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing the carbon intensity of human well-being (CIWB) is a potential form of climate action. We conduct a preliminary analysis of the effects of economic growth and income inequality on the CIWB of Canada's provinces, and find that both increase CIWB in this sub-national context. We also find that their effects are symmetrical, meaning that positive and negative changes in economic growth and income inequality result in the same proportional changes in CIWB. Therefore, and while incredibly difficult to do, it is possible that efforts to reduce income inequality and economic growth are potential pathways to reducing CIWB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text discusses the Eastern Sociological Society's (ESS) 2024 Annual Meeting, which had a theme focused on the social aspects of the climate crisis. The conference featured various sessions and panels that explored sociological contributions to understanding and addressing the climate crisis. The text highlights the increasing integration of climate-related research and scholarship within the discipline of sociology, as well as the importance of building on prior work and fostering inclusivity within the field. The author encourages other professional associations to prioritize climate-related themes in their conferences and emphasizes the need for more diverse and accessible events. [Extracted from the article]

Nations attempt to attract major enterprises to their territories by implementing lower tax rates while simultaneously enhancing tax collection efficiency within their jurisdictional boundaries. In this study, we scrutinize the correlation between the Baltic countries' tax systems and the levels of the shadow economy inherent to their respective economic landscapes. Our analysis indicates that tax reform can substantially influence diminishing the corporate shadow economy within a society. More specifically, our research delves into how economic growth can mitigate the corporate shadow economy, primarily driven by shifts in tax collections within Lithuania. Utilizing quarterly data from 2002 to 2022, we use panel regression and causality analyses as the overall analytical approach. The analyses uncover a complex relationship between various effective taxes and the extent of the shadow economy. Notably, we find that while an increase in the effective income tax rate is associated with a growing shadow economy, an uptick in the effective corporate income tax rate has the opposite effect, reducing its scale. Additionally, a rise in the effective VAT rate is linked to an expanded shadow economy. However, the influence of these effective taxes on imports has limited significance in regulating the scope of the shadow economy, likely due to increased tax evasion incentives. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of how tax reform can impact the shadow economy and underscores the need for more comprehensive strategies to address this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses research that is designed to examine the historical trajectory of structural globalization as an attribute of the whole world-system. Did the globalized world economy arrive all at once in a rapid and recent transition from national to global economic networks? Or is the process of international integration a long-term trend that has been going up for centuries only to be noticed recently because it has reached such a high peak? Or, alternatively, is globalization a cyclical phenomenon in which the world-system alternates between periods of national autarchy followed by periods of international economic and political integration?

Abstract: Revised estimates of world GDP, population and GDP per capita published by Angus Maddison (2001) make possible a quantitative reexamination of the trajectory of the United States in world historical perspective and comparisons between the U.S. economic hegemony of the twentieth century with the Dutch hegemony of the seventeenth century and the British hegemony of the nineteenth century. We also track the trajectories of challengers to reflect on the future of hegemonic rivalry.

Bridging the areas of political-economic sociology, the sociology of agriculture and environmental sociology, this study tests two hypotheses derived from a refined theory of foreign investment dependence. The hypotheses state that pesticide and fertilizer use intensity in less-developed countries are both positively associated with foreign investment dependence in the primary sector. The use of such inputs in agriculture production is known to contribute to a variety of human health and environmental problems. Findings for random effects and static score panel regression analyses of 35 less-developed countries confirm the hypotheses, and point to the sociological relevance in assessing the potential social and environmental impacts of both the transnational organization and the relative scale of production in different sectors. (Contains 6 tables and 18 notes.)