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Process tracing is a single case-study method that allows students to use within-case evidence to explain a specific outcome that they are interested in and/or to test a theory for some general phenomenon or relationship in the social world. The method offers the tools to either test the explanatory value of a given causal theory or to develop a causal theory. The unique advantage of process tracing is that it enables the transparent and convincing development of a causal explanation, translate this explanation into expected empirical observations, and critically assess the explanatory value of empirical observations. These features of process tracing significantly increase the confidence that students can have in their case study work. Process tracing is a method that is increasingly used in qualitative social science research, especially in the fields of comparative politics, international relations and political economy. After having read this chapter, students should be able to: understand and discuss the objectives and key features of process tracing;• outline a basic process-tracing research design;• develop a causal mechanism for some outcome of interest; operationalize a causal mechanism into expected observations and tests; and• critically assess empirical observations.

It is a truism to state that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a politicized issue, yet the explanations that account for this politicization are mostly singular in nature. In this paper I add to this understanding theoretically and empirically by presenting a broad analytic framework that puts TTIP at the intersection of two evolutions. There is, firstly, a longer-term trend of increasing political authority of (European) trade policy that is (at least by several organizations and citizens) not considered legitimate. I argue that TTIP is an extension and an intensification of this perceived authority-without-legitimacy trend. Secondly, the particular explosive situation that has occurred since 2013 is furthermore the result of a specific combination of a favoring political opportunity structure, combined with pre-existing mobilization resources that have facilitated a large mobilization by civil society organizations. This explains the spike of politicization that is attached onto this longer term trend. Relying on several exploratory interviews, I try to uncover the determinants in the different categories.

In the past years we have seen a somewhat paradoxical evolution in EU trade politics. While the Lisbon Treaty was meant to facilitate the adoption of trade agreements by bolstering the exclusive supranational competence of the European Union, (sub-)national Parliaments have now become more involved in trade policy than ever before. We investigate this shift in involvement across the Belgian parliaments. In the past fifteen years, both the Federal, Flemish and Walloon parliament paid little attention to EU trade policy. This has changed since 2014, especially in Wallonia but also in the other assemblies. Combining a variety of sources, we conclude that several interacting factors have fuelled this increase in Parliamentary involvement. First, TTIP and CETA contain ‘deep trade’ provisions that have alerted MPs. Second, TTIP has generated an unseen amount of mobilisation and contestation, and this has led politicians (especially on the left and in the opposition) to join the fray as well. Finally, the asymmetry between the Walloon and federal governing coalitions have favoured a more activist opposition by Wallonia, while Flanders’ centre-right coalition has remained supportive.

As the most hotly debated trade topic in recent history, several observers have dubbed TTIP a ‘politicized’ issue. Yet in the trade literature, there has not been much attention to what the latter concept entails, nor what its drivers and consequences are. I argue that we need to explicitly link the scholarly fields of trade and politicization, not only to explain several societal features in the TTIP debate, but also because it carries constraining consequences for policymakers on national and European level, and because this link will be increasingly relevant in the future. Through a selected review of the politicization literature, I want to show that linking these fields is beneficial in both ways. This opens up a research agenda that maps, explains and investigates the consequences of the increasing societal contestation of trade policy, manifested through public debates, mobilization efforts and rising citizen awareness.

Récemment, une étude menée par des sociologues de l'Université de Gand révélait que des candidats locataires ayant un nom à consonance étrangère, ou s'exprimant avec un accent étranger, avait plus de mal à trouver un logement à Anvers et à Gand. De telles discriminations existent-elles aussi sur le marché de l'emploi ? C'est ce que ce numéro de Regards Economiques cherche à établir. Plus précisément, l'étude présentée dans ce numéro vise à déterminer si les employeurs flamands traitent de manière égale les candidatures à l'emploi des jeunes diplômés aux noms à consonance turque et à consonance flamande. Pour ce faire, les chercheurs ont répondu à des offres d'emploi réelles en envoyant des candidatures fictives dont la seule différence majeure était le nom du candidat (à consonance soit flamande soit turque, les Turcs représentant la plus importante minorité ethnique à Gand et la seconde à Anvers, les deux villes auxquelles les candidats fictifs étaient domiciliés). Il ressort de cette étude qu'une inégalité de traitement existe sur le marché du travail en Flandre. Les jeunes diplômés aux noms à consonance turque ont moins de chance d'être invités à un entretien d'embauche que les jeunes diplômés aux noms à consonance flamande : en moyenne, ils doivent envoyer 44 % de candidatures en plus s'il souhaite recevoir le même nombre de réponses positives. Ceci est particulièrement vrai s'ils sont peu qualifiés et candidats à des postes pour lesquels il n'existe pas de pénurie de main-d'œuvre. En revanche, la discrimination disparaît dans les secteurs où il y a pénurie de main d'œuvre. Une telle discrimination est non seulement inacceptable d'un point de vue éthique, mais elle a également d'importantes répercussions sur le plan économique. En raison des énormes défis posés par le vieillissement de la population, il est important de pouvoir compter sur tous les groupes de la population. En outre, ce type d'exclusion en début de carrière peut avoir des conséquences à long terme. Comment remédier à ce problème ? Plusieurs politiques sont proposées : (1) des campagnes de sensibilisation; (2) le recours à un système de candidatures anonymes; (3) faire respecter la loi par le contrôle plus systématique de la discrimination et par l'imposition de sanctions en cas de détection; (4) l'instauration de quotas de recrutement en faveur des personnes issues de l'immigration. Comme l'expliquent les auteurs de l'étude, aucune de ces politiques n'est exempte d'effets pervers. Il convient donc de les doser et de les combiner au mieux pour réduire la discrimination de façon effective sur le marché de l'emploi.

We empirically test the relationship between hiring discrimination and labour market tightness at the level of the occupation. To this end, we conduct a correspondence test in the youth labour market. In line with theoretical expectations, we find that, compared to natives, candidates with a foreign sounding name are equally often invited to a job interview if they apply for occupations for which vacancies are difficult to fill, but they have to send twice as many applications for occupations for which labour market tightness is low. Our findings are robust against various sensitivity checks.