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We provide an econometric study of the adoption of internet banking, a case of a potentially disruptive digital technology which could devalue/replace an incumbent legacy. Our aim is to better understand the extent to which it disrupted the market structure where incumbents start with a strong customer base. We study both regional integration and national concentration dimensions of market structure in EU member states during the period of 1997–2018. We find that internet banking was initially introduced earlier in more concentrated markets. Although consumer uptake was slower over time than in less concentrated markets, the initial higher consumer penetration in more concentrated markets was sustained until market maturity. We further find a substantial de-concentrating effect of internet banking, and evidence of integration in previously regionalized markets following uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New brand launches are notoriously risky, with high failure rates. Yet, most research focuses on the out-of-store factors inherent to their success/failure, overlooking strategies that can be employed in-store. The present research addresses this oversight by examining the influence of two in-store factors, distraction and shelf position, and their impact on a new brand's visibility on the shelf. We draw on a unique data set featuring a real-life new brand entrant into the Australian market. Using an experimental design in a shopper laboratory, and mobile eye-tracking, we find that the new brand stands a greater chance of being noticed and visually attended to on the shelf when shoppers are distracted. This is attributed to shoppers dwelling longer in front of the fixture, being more open to new-to-the-consumer brands, and by negatively affecting the top-down processing of existing brands on the shelf. We also find that optimising shelf position, which is a common in-store marketing tactic for existing brands, may not produce the same return on investment for a new brand. The findings offer valuable theoretical and practical implications for improving the success rates of new brand launches, including selection of distribution channels, allocation of marketing resources, and the interplay between in-store and out-of-sore factors driving shopper behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital technology has injected new vitality into the development of enterprises, which is conducive to promoting the development of enterprises to improve quality and efficiency. Based on measuring the comprehensive index of enterprise digitisation and enterprise vitality, this paper discusses the influence and mechanism of digital transformation on enterprise vitality. It is found that digital transformation has a positive promoting effect on enterprise vitality, and with the improvement of the level of development vitality, it shows a marginal increasing trend, but with the evolution of the enterprise life cycle, it shows a marginal decreasing trend. Mechanism analysis shows that digital transformation promotes the vitality of enterprises mainly by improving productivity, alleviating information asymmetry and improving resource allocation. With the improvement of regional market integration, institutional quality, scientific and educational resources and industrial upgrading, digital transformation plays a more important role in promoting the vitality of enterprises. There exists obvious industry concentration, executive background and property right nature heterogeneity. The conclusion of this paper provides a series of empirical evidence for enterprises to digitally release their vitality and promote the high-quality development of enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of E-commerce and globalization, the logistics industry has become a new driving force for local economic development, with government-led logistics parks planned and constructed as a powerful policy instrument. Skeptical about whether logistics parks really take effect as expected, this paper investigates the local process of creative destruction in the logistics industry, focusing on how government-led logistics parks bridge between firm exit and firm entry during industrial renewal. Using firm-level data of third-party logistics firms in China from 2003 to 2021 and adopting system GMM estimator method, we verify that previous exit contributes to future entry but varies by the firm type and the city's importance in the regional transport network. Furthermore, we find two major roles of government-led logistics parks: (1) accelerating this process by providing the platform where various resources can be reused and reorganized into high-quality new logistics firms; and (2) prioritizing the rebirths from local existing firms over arrivals from other cities, though with some level of local protectionism. Government policies and planning decisions should maintain such function without inhibiting regional market integration. • The spatial and temporal dynamics of logistics firms are affected by government policies. • The previous exit of logistics firms in a city would affect the future entry of new logistics firms in the same city. • Heavy reliance on existing resources often leads to great multiplier effect. • Logistics parks encourage the firm entry indirectly by facilitating the resource transition from exiting firms. • What logistics parks provide is a place where complexity in the logistics system can be managed and developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After spending several years as net importer of natural gas, the development of unconventional gas reserves in Argentina can revert this scenario and change the dynamics of the Southern Cone regional gas integration. To assess the role of Argentine gas, this study utilised the TIMES-ConoSur optimisation model, which represents the regional integration of the gas and electricity systems. To improve the level of detail of the results, updates and modifications in different settings were made in the first version of the model. In addition, four scenarios were tested with two levels of LNG (liquefied natural gas) prices and including or not the interconnection between Argentina gas network and Brazil integrated network. The role of the Argentine gas was analysed based on its production potential and the export potential to the neighbour countries. Findings indicated that the development of the Argentine gas reserves can be a game changer, as it can affect directly the regional dynamics and the gas supply of the neighbour countries. The main future dynamics of the other countries in the region were also assessed, such as the role of Bolivian gas, the challenges to develop pre-salt gas and how will be the future of LNG in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the distinctive features of Latin American regionalism by examining its rhetorical justifications during the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic offered an exceptional opportunity to witness the professed role of regional organizations in the Global South as bridges between national and international systems: how this role is discursively constructed and the practical limitations it faces in times of disruption. We address different attempts to (self-)justify the relevance of regionalist visions, analyzing how three (inter-)regional organizations of the Americas reacted discursively to the global public health crisis: the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Ibero-American Summits (SEGIB). We examine three features that have traditionally shaped Latin American visions of regionalism: coping with world hegemony; striving for regional autonomy; and expressing transnational solidarity. The findings provide insights for further understanding the legitimation of regional and global governance under conditions of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) on the reshaping of value chains from both domestic and regional perspectives by using national-level data from the Belt and Road countries. The findings indicate that the depth of RTAs among Belt and Road countries can not only enhance regional integration characterized by regional value chain inter-connections and promote the value chain upgrading of trading partners in the regional production system, but also facilitates the construction of domestic value chains, thus forming a new pattern of bilateral value chain reshaping. The conclusions still hold after addressing the potential endogeneity and robustness concerns. Mechanism test results show that the effects of productivity enhancement and institutional quality improvement are important channels for RTAs-deepening to promote value chain reshaping. Heterogeneity test results indicate that ‘WTO-X’ provisions of RTAs are more conducive to promoting value chain reshaping, and the promoting effect of RTAs-deepening on value chain reshaping is more significant for the manufacturing industry. These findings have important policy implications to further expand high-level opening-up, deepen RTAs provisions and actively participate in global governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immediately after Brexit, the UK started negotiations to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The decision is puzzling. First, Brexiteers lauded regaining sovereignty as a key benefit of Brexit, yet the UK Government sought accession to another trade grouping (albeit one far more restrained in regulation and supranationalism). Secondly, CPTPP is a Trans-Pacific project, the UK is not located in that geographic region. UK accession to CPTPP symbolises an operationalisation of the spatial imaginaries of a ‘free-trading’ ‘Global Britain’ that emerged during Brexit. It represents an illustrative example of a state reshaping its boundaries within a ‘space of flows’ where economic interactions and the rules that order these transcend national territories and geographic proximity. This paper draws on UK government and CPTPP documents related to the accession process to establish how the parties understood the process and the reconfiguration of spatial dynamics and redefinition of the TP part of CPTPP to include the UK. It pays particular attention to the development in the discourses of imaginaries of communities of rules and norms as being more significant than geographic considerations in determining the geographic reach of a regional integration initiative like CPTPP. The paper argues that it was this imaginary of a community of standards and free-trade values that justified the recasting the UK as ‘belonging’ in this regional grouping and enabled this new spatial projection for the UK and CPTPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines export impact of Pakistan's integration into Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on its export's performance. We apply Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood (PPML) on augmented gravity model to estimate trade data from the period before and after permanent membership with Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2017. The study aims to explore changes in exports volume and analyze the key mechanism through which Shanghai Cooperation Organization promotes exports. The study assesses that after integration which key exports sector such as agriculture or manufacturing sectors are affected more significantly. The initial findings suggest that SCO integration positively affect and provide access to Central Asian markets, leading to modest but noticeable promotion in exports promotion. In heterogeneity analysis we find that exports of Pakistan are more significant with low and middle-income level countries compared to higher-income level countries. Additionally, exports in the manufacturing sector benefited more than in the agriculture sector. The significant and positive findings of mechanism analysis indicate that the belt and road (B&R) initiative and bilateral trade agreements are the key factors to enhanced exports. The overall impact remains moderated by structural changes in Pakistan economy, such as poor infrastructure, deficiency in energy sector and limited trade relations with its neighbors India and Iran. The study concludes that although the SCO integration has positively promoted exports of Pakistan however, it requires to address domestic economic constraints and capitalize more effectively the benefits of SCO membership through regional cooperation mechanism. For more potential benefits in the region SCO needs to expand B&R connectivity, encourage more trade agreements, and adopt favorable environment to attract high income countries in the organization. The study provides the base for future research in depth analysis of long-term impact of SCO integration on Pakistan exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impact of ideational elements on state efforts to achieve regional integration, with a specific focus on Morocco's pursuit of membership in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). This study investigates how shared cultural heritage, historical narratives, and common views on principles such as free trade and security partnerships foster a sense of collective identity among states, thereby promoting deeper cooperation and integration within regions. However, conflicting ideologies can create obstacles to meaningful integration by breeding distrust and friction among participating states. This study argues that constructivism provides valuable insights into regional integration processes by emphasizing the importance of shared norms, identities, and social interactions among states. The analysis reveals thatMorocco's aspiration to align with the interests of other African states in ECOWAS and promote economic integration serves as the ideological basis for its pursuit of ECOWAS membership, viewing it as a symbol of African resurgence and a means to strengthen its regional position. Although Morocco's history, laws, society, and politics align with ECOWAS norms, the absence of provisions for new members in the ECOWAS Treaty presents a hurdle for Moroccan accession. Nevertheless, this article suggests that the ECOWAS Authority of the Heads of State and Government could potentially address this issue by establishing a supplementary protocol to admit Morocco, underscoring the significance of ideological factors in shaping regional integration processes and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We test the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) in emerging markets by simultaneously considering gradual shifts and common factors. Findings indicate that (i) while the test with sharp breaks does not support EMH, the tests with gradual/smooth shifts and common factors support EMH in emerging markets; (ii) considering structural breaks as a gradual process within a common factor framework is important for emerging financial markets; and finally (iii) increasing time span sheds light more on EMH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global maritimization over the past half-century has heightened states vulnerability to maritime risks and threats, a situation particularly acute in the Wider Caribbean Region. This region, characterised by an important number of small and micro-states, faces a multitude of multiscalar maritime security challenges. In response, these states have increasingly adopted cooperative strategies, fostering close relationships to mitigate their shared vulnerabilities. Drawing on 98 interviews conducted between 2018 and 2023 with international, national, and local authorities, alongside extensive field observations, this article contributes to the scholarly discourse on regionalism. It demonstrates how a shared sense of vulnerability among these actors has fostered a ‘community of situation’, promoting intensified interactions that have led to notable advancements in regional integration and the diminishing of border effects. This study highlights the critical role of proximity-based cooperation in overcoming the geopolitical fragmentation that hampers security efforts in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the spillover effects of economic sanctions against Russia on research in neighbouring countries. The assumption of the paper is that such effects should take place given the high level of regional integration in the post‐Soviet area. The study uses bibliometric data retrieved from the Web of Science for analysis; more specifically, the data on publications during 2019, 2021 and 2023 from each of the four countries of interest – Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and graphs. The results clearly point to the potential presence of negative externalities of economic sanctions on research systems of neighbouring countries not directly involved in the war. The paper discusses implications of the effects and recommendations, which can be used by policy makers to alleviate the effects on the neighbouring countries and by scholars to further investigate the phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing body of literature exploring governance in regional value chains (RVCs) in Africa. Agro-processing RVCs are of particular interest, as this is where the manufacturing capabilities of most African countries lie. The research on RVCs in Africa highlights governance by lead firms and government actors as an important aspect in determining the structure and outcomes within these RVCs. Using the global value chain (GVC) analytical framework, this article analyses governance in the poultry RVC in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The paper finds that the poultry RVC is a bilateral oligopoly, where the lead firms are supermarkets and large poultry producers with exclusive rights to multi-territorial breeding rights. The article highlights that both large producers and the supermarkets play an important role in the formation and structure of the poultry RVC, with important implications for regional integration and industrialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing deployment of renewable energy resources, the scale of DC networks and renewable capacity continues to grow. System security is challenged by the decrease in inertia from traditional synchronous generators. In order to accommodate high‐penetration renewable energy, voltage stability should be considered in the renewable energy integration planning. Herein, first, a voltage stability‐constrained minimum startup index and algorithm for conventional thermal power plants are proposed. Then, based on time series production simulation, a renewable energy integration capacity analysis algorithm is designed considering voltage stability and peak shaving constraints. Finally, based on the boundary conditions of the "Fifteen‐Five Plan", the renewable energy capacity considering voltage stability and peak shaving constraints for Northwest and East China power grids are analysed to verify the effectiveness and engineering practicality of the proposed methodology. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can maintain the renewable energy integration goal outlined in the "Fifteen‐Five Plan" while maintaining the voltage stability in these regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This proposition paper introduces a novel curriculum designed to explore the trends of normalization and integration transforming the Middle East. The curriculum includes a comprehensive textbook and an accessible digital archive for scholars, students, and individuals seeking to deepen their understanding of this subject. The study investigates how academic politicization, biased content, and limited accessibility have contributed to a significant gap in comprehending Israel’s integration in the Middle East, particularly within US Middle East Studies. Our methodology involves a comparative analysis of the academic approaches of the Edward Said and Bernard Lewis “camps,” representing contrasting perspectives within US academia. Additionally, we assess the divergence between academic and state-led approaches to Middle Eastern integration in the United States. By identifying and analyzing six critical factors – impact on the field of Middle East Studies, impact on academic freedom, impact on religious tolerance, impact on regional stability, fresh research on the US Peace to Prosperity Plan and Arab Peace Initiative, and Israeli-Palestinian peace – this research underscores the necessity for the proposed curriculum and its resources. This curriculum aims to bridge the existing knowledge gap and provide a more balanced and comprehensive understanding of Middle Eastern dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores efforts at Arab-Israeli normalisation in Jordan. By mid-2011 the escalating violence in Syria had closed the overland trade route connecting Europe and the Arab Gulf. Despite the emergence of an alternative route via the Suez Canal, several (inter)national NGOs have since attempted to establish a transit trade route via Israel and Jordan. Due to the non-public nature of most attempts at normalisation, research on the topic is rarely empirically grounded. Exploring what happens when trade routes stop, this article offers an empirically-grounded discussion of attempts at normalisation via infrastructure as a means to bypass politics. It argues that such efforts are part of a deeply political project aimed at the selective regional integration of Israel, premised on the reinforcement of existing and the creation of new forms of violent containment. It explains infrastructure's popularity in efforts at normalisation by focusing on its spatial, temporal and material duality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are prominent regional organisations in the global South. However, their divergence becomes evident when considering variations in governance and institutional structures. This article attributes these differences to distinct approaches to national sovereignty by their members. Factors including historical colonial legacies, member states' experiences, and shared norms shape the construction of sovereignty in ASEAN and ECOWAS. ASEAN prioritises individual sovereignty and self-determination. In contrast, ECOWAS adopts a more flexible approach, emphasising collective action to address common challenges, even if it involves compromising some aspects of sovereignty. These trajectories continue with ASEAN Charter and ECOWAS Revised Treaty that transformed the organisation into a parliamentary structure with Court of Justice. By examining these dynamics, this paper sheds light on the nuanced relationship between sovereignty and regional integration, providing insights into governance and decision-making processes in ASEAN and ECOWAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ernst Haas was intrigued by the possibility that international governance could promote peace and stability. International human rights regimes are one such system of governance. Haas was the first political scientist to analyse closely, in his 1970 book, an international body for the adjudication of human rights claims. He concluded that the ILO mechanism for hearing claims was ineffective because states largely failed to implement its rulings. Today, three regional human rights courts receive a growing number of petitions and routinely find that states have violated rights contained in the applicable regional and international treaties. Integration in the domain of human rights courts can be tracked along three axes: vertical incorporation of international human rights into national law; horizontal integration as the regional courts pay attention to and cite each other; and effectiveness, evaluated here in terms of state compliance with judgments. The empirical discussion focuses on these dimensions and their development in three functioning regional human rights courts. Linkages across the regional courts have expanded, producing a global human rights commons. But as Haas might have predicted, the degree to which democracy has taken root in a region conditions the effectiveness of its human rights court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management of the COVID-19 crisis and, in particular, the Next Generation EU fund have shown that European leaders can find integrationist policy solutions despite increasing politicisation at home where democratic constraints may lead to a feared 'multilevel politics trap'. Therefore, we ask whether and how national governments can manage such constraints and thus spring or avoid the trap. Theoretically, we argue that the agency of governments is a crucial factor for understanding the varying dynamics of politicisation in regional integration, as governments can raise or lower domestic audience costs by strategically interacting with their parliament or media. Empirically, we probe the plausibility of our theoretical propositions by examining constraint management and position-taking in Austria and the Netherlands in the context of European fiscal solidarity. Our results show that there is no inevitably self-reinforcing multilevel politics trap but that the effects of domestic constraint are, to a considerable extent, contingent on the agency of national governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ernst B. Haas is a seminal figure in the study of International Relations whose work helps guide our understanding of twenty-first century politics as well. He was instrumental in developing many of the themes commonly used to understand world politics: regional integration, international regimes, science and institutions, and nationalism. He was also a founding father of Constructivism. This piece serves as an introduction to this special issue on Ernst B. Haas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Commission has pioneered the coercive regulation of artificial intelligence (AI), including a proposal of banning some applications altogether on moral grounds. Core to its regulatory strategy is a nominally "risk‐based" approach with interventions that are proportionate to risk levels. Yet, neither standard accounts of risk‐based regulation as rational problem‐solving endeavor nor theories of organizational legitimacy‐seeking, both prominently discussed in Regulation & Governance, fully explain the Commission's attraction to the risk heuristic. This article responds to this impasse with three contributions. First, it enrichens risk‐based regulation scholarship—beyond AI—with a firm foundation in constructivist and critical political economy accounts of emerging tech regulation to capture the performative politics of defining and enacting risk vis‐à‐vis global economic competitiveness. Second, it conceptualizes the role of risk analysis within a Cultural Political Economy framework: as a powerful epistemic tool for the discursive and regulatory differentiation of an uncertain regulatory terrain (semiosis and structuration) which the Commission wields in its pursuit of a future common European AI market. Thirdly, the paper offers an in‐depth empirical reconstruction of the Commission's risk‐based semiosis and structuration in AI regulation through qualitative analysis of a substantive sample of documents and expert interviews. This finds that the Commission's use of risk analysis, outlawing some AI uses as matters of deep value conflicts and tightly controlling (at least discursively) so‐called high‐risk AI systems, enables Brussels to fashion its desired trademark of European "cutting‐edge AI ... trusted throughout the world" in the first place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa appears to be an appealing investment destination, with African stock markets offering foreign investors the gateway to tap into the continent's potential growth opportunities. Despite the significant growth and development of stock markets on the continent in recent decades, however, there remain some obstacles to overcome. This paper aims to examine the challenges faced by African stock markets which diminish their appeal to foreign investors and assess regional integration as a potential solution. Key takeaways: (1) African stock markets are often inadequately regulated and exhibit limited size, depth and liquidity, compounded by high currency volatility, prohibitive trading costs and macroeconomic and political instability, making them less attractive to foreign investors; (2) policy makers and regulators in developing countries should focus on fostering the development of vibrant and liquid public equity markets that are well regulated by creating a favourable market ecosystem through legislation, tax incentives and other measures to encourage listings; (3) for financial markets to operate effectively, they must exist within a comprehensive supportive framework encompassing legal, economic and political elements and coordinated monetary policies, potentially through currency zones; (4) the regional integration of stock exchanges can facilitate global integration, and some progress has been made in this regard. African stock markets remain weakly integrated, however, and economic integration initiatives are still hampered by low intra-African trade and inadequate infrastructure; (5) while the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) lays a solid foundation for economic integration, African countries should allocate additional resources to implement the AfCFTA and ensure increased intra-Africa trade to assist in making its stock markets more attractive to foreign investors and potentially launching a continental exchange in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the challenges faced by disadvantaged individuals in the labor market and presents the empowerment model as a distinctive approach to justice. It discusses the virtues of equalizing bargaining power and promoting egalitarianism by addressing inequalities based on gender, race, disability, and social class. The article acknowledges practical limits to achieving equal bargaining power but suggests that governments should consider individuals' own views and preferences. It also discusses the goods of work model and argues that the empowerment model is more practical and effective in guiding policy decisions. The article emphasizes the importance of considering global and environmental challenges in discussions of justice in the labor market. [Extracted from the article]

This paper views China Production Network (CPN) as an integral component of the Global Production Network (GPN) and constructs null model (GIVCBN-I model) and the counterfactual model (GIVCBN-II or GIVCBN-III model) to identify and measure the potential industrial relocation risk exposure of CPN based on the Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) table. The main findings are as follows. Firstly, Altasia will induce more of China's industrial and supply chains to break compared with ASEAN, which also means that strong industrial complementarity exists between Japan, South Korea, India, Bangladesh and the ASEAN member countries, enabling Altasia to have a more significant substitution effect on China. Secondly, the counterfactual models' network-level characteristic indicators are worse than those of the null model in economic terms, suggesting that removing trade barriers for intermediate goods within Altasia could lead to the decoupling of industrial sectors in the CPN, thereby accelerating the trend of China's industrial and supply chains relocating offshore. Thirdly, according to the comparison results of node-level characteristic indicators, Altasia has weakened China's influence scope, profitability, and robustness of risk within the global industrial and supply chains, but mainly concentrating on its resource-intensive and labor-intensive sectors rather than capital-intensive and technology-intensive sectors, which indicates that some China's industrial sectors still maintain substantial competitive advantages in the GPN. In sum, this paper provides theoretical guidance for identifying and analyzing the trends of industrial relocation in the Asia-Pacific region and helps industrial policymakers deepen the understanding of regional economic integration and its impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration has become one of the most pronounced global issues of the twenty-first century. Migration has been recognised as an essential driver for accessing economic opportunities, development, social upward mobility and regional integration. Hence, under the aegis of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), concerted efforts have been directed to pursuing policies such as the Free Protocol Movement, visa-free and borderless economic communities towards deepened regional integration. However, despite ECOWAS laudable initiatives, migrants in West Africa are faced with migration securitisation and new nationalism from their host states. Securitisation of migration connotes that migration is perceived as an existential security threat to the host state and thus deserves at least some control and, at best, stopping. Also, a new form of nationalism has endangered immigrant (non-citizen) activities in their host countries, especially with the prism of "son of the soil" versus "immigrants or strangers." Both have resulted in the expulsion, deportation, and harassment of immigrants from their host countries to their countries of origin. Using the Nigeria-Ghana relations problem, the article explores the causes and crises attached to migration securitisation and new nationalism. The article also interrogates the ECOWAS migration framework within the context of its appropriateness for addressing immigrants' vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the construction of South American collective identities in Brazil, emphasizing regional integration and identity formation. Using a seven-scale model adapted from European identity research, it evaluates the psychological existence and identification with South America as a transnational imagined community among Brazilians. The findings highlight the complex interplay between national and regional identities, influenced by historical, cultural, and socio-political factors. The study contributes to the field of Comparative Regionalism by providing a nuanced understanding of identity dynamics in South America, underscoring the importance of elite-led integration efforts and their impact on citizens’ perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although foresight has played a central role in the history of European integration since its inception in the 1950s, it has not always had the same meaning, nor has it always been used in the same political way. This article looks at the genesis and development of foresight on a European scale between 1950 and 2020, analysing it as a specific public policy: such a perspective aims to highlight the differentiated relationships to time and future, the different conceptions of the respective roles of administration, politics and science, and the forms of competence on which successive foresight policies are based. It also enables us to identify the institutional and political factors that explain its development, and the particular forms it takes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the transborder activities of the Hmong people within the tri-state area of China, Vietnam, and Laos, which emphasises their adaptive strategies in the face of evolving geopolitical and economic contexts. Through comprehensive multisite ethnographic fieldwork and snowball sampling, this study captures a wide array of perspectives from individuals directly engaged in industries crucial to the borderlands' economy, such as tourism, hospitality, and trade. It highlights the Hmong's utilisation of cultural and linguistic capital to navigate opportunities within and across their transnational networks. Key to their adaptive strategies is the role of South-South cooperation, which fosters regional integration and offers new economic opportunities while also allowing ethnic locals to retain significant aspects of their livelihoods. This study provides insights into how the Hmong community utilises both traditional clan systems and modern entrepreneurial practices to enhance their economic standing and cultural engagement across borders, which contributes to a broader understanding of minority groups' roles in global and regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores how social gospelers in the U.S. South organized for relational power by building institutions for economic and political democracy in the 1930s and 1940s. In their organizing, Howard Kester and Claude Williams built relational power and institutions that fed the institutional ecology of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s. While it might be surprising to find a worthwhile analysis of power by social gospelers like Kester and Williams, they keenly understood the role of power in theology, the work of the church, and movement building, especially as they organized for the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU). Kester and Williams built relational power by building institutions through which grassroots people organized to build political and economic power to confront the ravages of racial capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russo–Ukraine War raises important questions on the dynamics of regional leadership and followership in what may be termed "Russian-led Eurasia." These questions, in particular, the strength of Russian leadership in the region is complicated by the ambiguity in existing literature and competing images of Russia's relations with long-standing allies—notably Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan—which are often portrayed in terms of a "community of fate" or partners destined for closer integration but also as a "community of fortune" or ad hoc, situational partners, loosely centered on Russia. This article offers an innovative theoretical and methodological exploration of Russia's relations with regional partner states by utilizing the English School of International Relations and regional integration organizations to assess Russia's regional leadership. As argued in this article, Russian-led Eurasia may be understood as an example of a regional interstate society with Russian hegemony serving as a socially conferred, binding institution. But this hegemony is inherently unstable owing to Russia's inability to balance hegemonic "rights" with "responsibilities." War in Ukraine did not create this problem, but it has created the conditions for leadership transition in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits core pieces of literature on EU foreign policy studies to gauge how far the endogenous institutional quality of EU foreign policy structures has matured by assessing its growth over time. In revisiting two foundational studies, it discusses whether the EU's foreign policy capabilities are still so unequivocally below the state level. First, it will return to the "capabilities-expectations gap" [Hill, C., 1993. The capability-expectations gap, or conceptualizing Europe's international role. Journal of Common Market Studies, 31 (3), 305–328] to investigate the quality of the institutional structure in foreign policy and in how far the EU's institutions fulfil general functions of foreign policy today. Second, it will explore whether "Who Speaks for Europe?" is still a pertinent question [Allen, D., 1998. Who speaks for Europe? The search for an effective and coherent external policy. In: J. Peterson, and H. Sjursen, eds. A common foreign policy for Europe? Competing visions of the CFSP. 41–58]. The results of this assessment allow a conceptualisation of foreign policy capabilities evolving in long-term, slow processes, yet resulting in differences in institutional quality that may otherwise be overlooked. The paper contributes to the overall assessment of the EU's maturation in foreign policy by providing assessments on institutional growth and developing a scale of foreign policy capabilities to capture these slow incremental developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of great significance to explore the causality between regional integration (RI) and PM2.5 pollution within urban agglomerations in the current pursuit of ecological civilization construction and high‐quality development. Using panel data of 285 prefecture‐level cities in China from 2003 to 2016, this study considers the expansion of the city economic coordination committee in Yangtze River Delta (YRDECC) as a quasi‐natural experiment of RI, and use a difference‐in difference method to explore the effect and inner mechanisms of RI on PM2.5 concentration. After a descriptive analysis of the spatial‐temporal variation trend of the PM2.5 concentration in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, the empirical results show that RI helps to alleviate 4.8% of the PM2.5 concentration overall. For the original cities, the reduction effect on the PM2.5 concentration is 5.2%, for the new cities, however, RI exacerbates 2.1% of the local PM2.5 concentration. A series of robustness tests confirm the validity of the baseline results, and further indicate that the effect of RI remains significant in the long term and starts to increase from the third year. Furthermore, the reduction effect of RI on PM2.5 concentration is more pronounced in cities with larger scales, more developed economies, and higher degrees of marketization. The mechanism analysis shows that industrial transfer, population migration and technological innovation are significant channels of RI that affect PM2.5 concentrations. The conclusions of this paper provide a new path to alleviate PM2.5 pollution and achieve ecological conservation and high‐quality development in the city cluster area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores challenges and possible ways to increase the level of BIMSTEC regional integration from a socio-cultural perspective. It also investigates member states' vision of BIMSTEC and of the Bay of Bengal, especially where they intertwine and divert from one another. The paper postulates that, for BIMSTEC to transform itself into a socio-politically relevant organisation, it must also be culturally more integrated. BIMSTEC should strive to promulgate a shared narrative of regional identity based on the idea of the Bay of Bengal as an interconnected geographical and historical region. Through popular public imagination of the Bay of Bengal and coherent visions shared by its member states and, BIMSTEC will be able to situate itself into public consciousness and mobilise public support for the organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent events on the Korean Peninsula have heightened tensions to what may be their most dangerous level since the 1950–53 Korean War. The breakdown of the 2018 Comprehensive Military Agreement and North Korea's abandonment of its longstanding unification policy have marked significant shifts in inter-Korean relations, amid a realignment of regional powers into opposing alliances. A historical survey of Korean reunification efforts reveals the cross-cutting implications of recent diplomatic and military developments, while an analysis of the derailed inter-Korean peace process—particularly after the failed 2019 Hanoi summit between North Korea and the United States—highlights lost opportunities for regional integration and peaceful interconnection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development corridors have become a key tool of economic policy in the Global South. Yet, it appears that many of these mega-projects already fail at the stage of implementation. The article deals with three problems that corridors face. Corresponding ideas are drawn from existing literature, and confirmed and expanded against the backdrop of a case study on the Bioceanic Corridor, which connects the central west of Brazil via Paraguay and Argentina to the north of Chile. First, there is a tendency to focus on opportunities and neglect challenges. Corridors often reflect unrealistic grand visions for the future. Second, these initiatives depend on territorial rescaling to sub- and supranational levels, but national governments bundle too much power. Third, being a means to facilitate integration into global value chains, corridors provoke disputes over gains. Each country – and even subnational entities – strives to maximise its benefits at the expense of others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the implications of Russia's aggression against Ukraine on the EU's policy in the Black Sea/Caucasus region. It highlights how Russia's actions, such as supporting de facto states and undermining pro-Western forces, have created a sense of threat and instability in the region. The article also introduces a collection of papers that examine different aspects of the EU's response to Russia's aggression, including its discourse on Ukraine, the relationship between the EU and NATO, the EU's neighborhood policy in Georgia, and Russian foreign policy positions regarding Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The article emphasizes the need for nuanced and insightful research on the region, taking into account Russia's cultural ties and the complexities of the situation. [Extracted from the article]

• This paper contributes to the structuralist growth literature, by studying the macroeconomics of GVCs. • We develop a typology of growth regimes associated with external integration, productive structure and income distribution. • Growth dynamics vary across geographical regions and globalisation has intensified processes of uneven development worldwide. • We employ causal econometric analysis to estimate the impact of the three regimes (integration, structure and distribution) on economic growth. • Industrial policy in developing countries should prioritise the combined effect of the three regimes on economic growth, not any one dimension in isolation. This study investigates the macroeconomic interactions between productive structure and income distribution in the context of Global Value Chains (GVC). Our research goes beyond the traditional scope by presenting a detailed typology that examines how globalisation has amplified uneven development processes on a global scale. This in-depth exploration provides valuable insights into the intricate interplay between global economic integration and regional development disparities, thereby contributing to the broader understanding of growth and distribution in the context of globalisation. We propose a theoretical framework inspired by the Structuralist literature to identify three distinct regimes in globalised production chains: (1) a structure/diversification regime based on the Balance of Payments Constrained Model (BPCM) literature, (2) an integration regime derived from the GVC literature, and (3) a functional income distribution regime in open economies. We use Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to create indices (proxies) for each regime to then identify country patterns within a structured typology. We then analyse growth trajectories and estimate the causal relationship between these regimes and per-capita growth using multiple regression models – fixed effects (FE), instrumental variables (IV), and generalised method of moments (GMM). Our dataset includes data from 60 countries between 1995 and 2018, sourced from the World Development Indicators (WDI), World Input-Output Database (WIOD), Trade in Value Added (TiVA), and the Penn World Tables (PWT). This study significantly enhances the understanding of structuralist growth models by offering a comprehensive and unified narrative on the variety of economic growth regimes within Global Value Chains (GVCs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europeanisation research (ER) focuses on the domestic effects of European integration. Despite the importance of capital and labour for the political economy of EU Member States, ER has paid little attention to the impact of Europeanisation on social classes. This article addresses this blind spot and asks how European integration affects the power relations between capital and labour. For this purpose, I propose to augment ER with a power resource perspective. The article analyses the effects of 'Europeanisation through law' and 'Europeanisation through monetary integration' on the distribution of power resources between employers and wage earners and their organisations. Four lessons can be drawn from the findings for ER: (1) in the selected integration fields, Europeanisation has asymmetric effects on social classes, weakening wage earners' power resources (2) more attention should be paid to the effects of integration on the relation between state and market; (3) integration through law and monetary integration are more powerful Europeanisation mechanisms than has been acknowledged; (4) the concept of power resources offers a fruitful approach for examining the effects of Europeanisation on social classes. Moreover, adopting a power resource perspective would make it better visible how European integration affects relations of power and domination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a decade of reforming and stabilising the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), it has been put to a triple test: the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the return of inflation have posed serious challenges to the eurozone that call for policy responses. Against the background of recent advances in European integration theory, we assess whether and how these challenges have led to a change in the EMU policy of the eurozone's most powerful member, Germany. We conceptualise three ideal-typical policy options for Germany to deal with EMU's challenges and we search for traces of policy learning from past eurozone crisis management. On the basis of semi-structured interviews with German political elites, we cannot identify any significant change in Germany's EMU policy. We conclude that the unwavering continuity of Germany's euro policy makes further substantial integration in EMU unlikely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European fiscal integration is highly controversial and is assumed to lead to a Eurosceptic backlash among the public. Yet, in a historical decision in July 2020, European governments agreed on the ambitious recovery package 'Next Generation EU', establishing an unprecedented fiscal stabilisation capacity to address the economic and healthcare challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. We study the mass politics of European fiscal integration in a survey experiment on public support for a European Pandemic Recovery Fund (PRF) in five European countries in 2020. We find remarkably high support for a joint European fiscal instrument, which, however, is sensitive to policy design. While cross-country differences reflect collective self-interest, citizens' left-right orientations, their EU positions, and perceived economic risk from COVID-19 structure differences within countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the effects of political instability on financial development in the West African Economic and Monetary Union region (WAEMU) countries. The results are obtained using the autoregressive staggered lag model (ARDL) over an analysis period from 2002 to 2021. The main reason for this analysis period is the availability of data. The results show that political instability reduces financial development by lowering financial efficiency. Moreover, inflation tends to increase the negative effects of political instability on financial development. On the other hand, the interest rate manages to mitigate the negative effects of political instability on financial development. The results therefore suggest that measures should be taken to mitigate the risks of political instability. Consequently, the results suggest the development of policies against rising inflation and for the revision of interest rates in order to influence the level of political instability and financial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The banking sector is vital to economic activity when it develops. Its development depends on the ability of banks to generate sufficient profits to meet their commitments. In this context, we set ourselves the objective of analyzing the effect of bank profitability on economic growth. The study covers the period from 1996 to 2023, and covers 7 WAEMU countries except Guinea-Bissau, for lack of data. Methodologically, we apply Bruno's (2005) Least Square Dummy Variable (LSDVC) bias correction approach to the dynamic unbalanced panel data model. The results indicate that bank profitability has a positive influence on economic growth in the WAEMU region, whatever the profitability index used. Inflation,Political stability and investment are not unrelated to economic growth in the union. It follows from these results that the union's authorities need to strengthen supervision of the banking sector to ensure that it remains profitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of EURE is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Recent research has suggested that unconditional convergence no longer exists. Thus, this study examined the income convergence among 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE-11) countries that joined the European Union in/after 2004 and Europe's four largest economies (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy) by using panel data from 1994 to 2019. For this purpose, it employed the beta (β) and sigma (σ) convergence approaches to analyze the dynamics of economic growth. Based on the findings, in 1996, the four largest European economies had a higher capital–labour ratio and GDP growth than CEE-11. However, by 2019, the patterns reversed. As for the regression results, there was strong evidence of unconditional β convergence between 1999 and 2019, at an annual rate of 11%, with the σ convergence and the fixed effect models further supporting income convergence. Moreover, although brief divergence occurred during various financial crises, the overall trend was a significant convergence of CEE-11 with Europe's four largest economies through higher relative GDP growth. This study contributes to the economic growth theory of income convergence across countries and highlights the importance of regional integration in enabling sustainable catch-up growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut Mitteilungen is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is an important organic substance that affects biogeochemical processes and underwater light conditions in aquatic ecosystems. To explore altitudinal variations in DOC components and water quality, 66 surface water samples were collected along an altitudinal gradient (10–1857 m) in three regions of central China, including a montane region (Enshi Prefecture) and two floodplain regions (Dongting Lake Basin and Wuhan City). DOC components were measured using a three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy, in conjunction with fluorescence regional integration (FRI) and fluorescence indices. Generally, lakes at high elevations (Enshi Prefecture) had higher DOC concentrations (a mean value of 6.43 mg L−1) than floodplain lakes in Dongting Basin (4.51 mg L−1) and Wuhan City (3.89 mg L−1). Fluorescence index (FI, a range of 1.37–1.92) and biological index (BIX, a range of 0.47–0.74) indicated that DOC mainly originated from allochthonous sources in the three regions. Enshi Prefecture had relatively lower FI and BIX values, suggestive of a larger contribution of allochthonous carbon in this montane region in comparison with the floodplain regions. Humic-like substances were more abundant than other four fluorescent components, including tyrosine-like, tryptophan-like, fulvic acid-like, microbial-like substances. Spearman rank correlation analyses showed that tryptophane-like substances were positively correlated with K+, Mg2+, and Na+, while humic-like substances were negatively correlated with these cations. Taken together, the results can improve our understanding on altitudinal variations in DOC components and potential driving forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the Summit of South American–Arab Countries (ASPA) created in 2005, UAE–South American relations have continued to develop based on a combination of pragmatism, threat perception, political support and expanding economic interests. We argue that the strength of UAE engagement in this region is consistent with its attempts to build, deploy and benefit from soft power globally through economic statecraft in a mutually reinforcing series of bilateral and multilateral relationships. These include forums such as the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and the expanding BRICS grouping (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The article draws on primary and secondary data in English, Portuguese and Spanish, focusing mainly on UAE relations with Brazil and Venezuela. We find that through a myriad of growing investment relations and first‐mover advantage on arms and industrial cooperation, the UAE is well positioned vis‐à‐vis other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states to benefit from the economic, diplomatic and security ties that could boost its relational autonomy in a competitive and uncertain regional and international environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is involved in many biogeochemical processes and plays an important role in aquatic ecosystems. This study integrated three-dimensional fluorescence excitation–emission matrix (EEM), fluorescence regional integration (FRI), and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) to better understand the distribution and component characteristics of DOM in the Yongding River and explore the response of DOM to natural and anthropogenic activities. The results showed that the relative abundance of fulvic-like materials of DOM in the river was the highest, with an average of 68.64%. PARAFAC identified three fluorescent components, namely, C1 (microbial humic-like components), C2 (terrestrial humic-like components), and C3 (protein-like components), and their changes with flow confirmed that the riverine DOM was generally influenced by microbial sources and terrestrial inputs. The upper reaches showed strong autochthonous characteristics and a high humification degree of DOM due to a fast flow rate, while the middle reaches showed biological or aquatic bacterial origin due to a moderate flow rate. The lower reaches of the river showed characteristics of biological and bacterial origin, most strongly influenced by human activities. The findings can help provide a basis for identifying DOM characteristics in the Yongding River basin and understanding the geochemical cycle of DOM at a regional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]