POL S 522 A: International Political Economy

International Political Economy (POL S 522)

Aseem Prakash

Fall 2021

Class Time:               Monday, 1:30‐4:20 p.m.  

Class Location:         Smith 109

Office Hours:             By appointment 

Office:                        39 Gowen                                         

E‐mail:                       aseem@uw.edu 

Course Objective

This is a survey course for doctoral students interested in the study of International Political Economy (which is a subfield of both the International Relations field and the Political Economy fields and overlaps with Comparative Political Economy).  IPE covers a wide range of subjects. It includes studying how global markets and economic connections (via trade, FDI, capital flows, aid, and remittances) shape global politics or domestic politics/policy, or how global political arrangements such as inter-governmental and private regimes shape domestic politics and policy. Scholars also reverse the independent variables and dependent variables and study how domestic factors shape national-level responses to global/regional regimes, etc. And of course, we can throw in the interactions of domestic and international factors to explain the dependent variable of our choice. The range of issue areas covered by scholars is also impressive – from traditional suspects such as regimes, trade, finance, foreign aid to newer suspects such as policy, diffusion, environmental issues, labor, and human rights. Scholars increasingly (and thankfully) examine both state and nonstate actors in the study of IPE.  In terms of methods, while statistical techniques (specifically, cross-sectional time-series) tend to dominate, there are a fair number of case studies, survey work, formal models, and increasingly, and field experiments. Given the complexity of the field, my objective is to expose you to important concepts and themes in IPE. This would allow you to assess state of the art and identify specific issues you wish to examine in more depth and detail in your work. Importantly, this course seeks to prepare you for the IR and PE comprehensive exams.

Readings

Given the short duration of the quarter system and the relatively large array of topics covered by IPE scholars, designing a comprehensive syllabus is a challenge. I have decided to assign articles that cover important IPE debates, especially the new and emerging issues.  All readings are available on Canvas.  

Course Expectations

This doctoral seminar requires active student participation. I expect you to energetically and thoughtfully contribute to class discussions and the collective learning processes.

Student Presentations

For every session, students will present and critique the assigned articles. The discussant-presenter should prepare a two-page (single-spaced) summary and critique, and email it to me by Sunday 9:00 pm.

How to structure your memo? Assume a prominent journal has requested you to review the assigned article. How might you evaluate it? First, identify the big idea, the intuition behind and the motivation for the paper, and eventually the core research question. Situate this in the relevant literature. Then, evaluate the clarity of the key hypotheses, the appropriateness of the empirical methods, and the data employed to test them. Next, assess if the findings are interpreted correctly. Finally, ask yourself: did this paper move forward our understanding of IPE? If so, how? If not, why not?

The discussant-presenter should budget about 10 minutes for the in-class presentation. To minimize transaction and governance costs, I will assign the articles. You are free to “trade” (1 for one is the exchange ratio) among yourselves and arrive at an equilibrium that suits your intellectual tastes.

I strongly recommend that you save all the memos generated in this course because they will be very helpful in preparing for the IR or PE comprehensive exams.

Class Participation

To have a meaningful discussion, please review all readings prior to the class. Those not assigned to present any reading should email 2-3 discussion questions to me. I will forward them to the class. This one-page “Discussion Questions” memo should reach me by Monday, 900 am. Please provide a short discussion on how your questions relate to the theoretical or empirical issues raised in the assigned readings (you are not obliged to cover all). You are encouraged to relate these readings to articles you may have reviewed in other seminars. As scholars, you must learn to cumulate knowledge: drawing connections with readings across different seminars is, therefore, a very good exercise.

Research Proposal

A five-page (single-spaced) research proposal is due December 6. Treat this as a first cut for a grant proposal or your MA/PhD proposal. One-page proposal outlines are due November 8. The research proposal could be structured as follows:

Research Puzzle:      What is the central issue you want to study, and why is it theoretically important? It might be helpful to identify your dependent variable(s), the independent variable(s), and the logic connecting the two.

Research Context:   How does your topic speak to the IR literature? What are the relevant concepts or models? What are the research contributions?

Research Design:     What is the appropriate research strategy to examine your research puzzle? What are your hypotheses? Are they falsifiable? What are your data requirements? How would you analyze and interpret the data?

Contributions:          What new theoretical insights is your research expected to provide? What are the implications for future IR research?

Evaluation

Key questions memos                                             30 points

Article critique:                                                        30 points

Class Participation                                                  20 points

Research proposal:                                                  20 points

Religious Accommodation

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

Class Schedule

Session 1, October 4

Getting Started

1. Daniel L. Nielson and Michael J. Tiemey. 2003. Delegation to International Organizations: Agency Theory and World Bank Environmental Reform. International Organization, 57: 241-276

2 Murdie and A. Hicks. 2013. Can International Nongovernmental Organizations Boost Government Services? The Case of Health. International Organization, 67: 541-573.

3 Barry, C. Clay, and M. Flynn. 2013. Avoiding the Spotlight: Human Rights Shaming and Foreign Direct Investment. International Studies Quarterly, 57: 532–544.

4. Nils-Christian Bormann , Yannick I. Pengl , Lars-Erik Cederman, and Nils B. Weidmann. 2021. Globalization, Institutions, and Ethnic Inequality. International Organization, 75, 665 – 697.

5. Randall W. Stone, Yu Wang, and Shu Yu. 2021. Chinese Power and the State-Owned Enterprise, 2021, International Organization, 1-22

Session 2: October 11

Regimes and International Organizations

 6. Chwieroth. 2007. Testing and Measuring the Role of Ideas: The Case of Neoliberalism in the International Monetary Fund. International Studies Quarterly, 51: 5‐30.

7 Lall. 2017. Beyond Institutional Design: Explaining the Performance of International Organizations. International Organization, 71: 245-280.

8 Doshi, J. Kelleyand B. Simmons. 2019. The Power of Ranking: The Ease of Doing Business Indicator and Global Regulatory Behavior. International Organization, 73: 611-643.

9. Alexander, and B. Rooney. 2019. Vote-Buying by the United States in the United Nations, International Studies Quarterly, 63: 168–176.

10. Dellmuth L, Scholte J., Tallberg J., & Vwehegen S. (2021). The Elite–Citizen Gap in International Organization Legitimacy. American Political Science Review, 1-18

Session 3, October 18

Trade Regimes

11. Mansfield and E. Reinhardt. 2003. Multilateral Determinants of Regionalism: The Effects of GATT/WTO on the Formation of Preferential Trading Arrangements. International Organization, 57: 829‐62.

12. Hays, S. Ehrlich, and C. Peinhardt. 2005. Government Spending and Public Support for Trade in the OECD: An Empirical Test of the Embedded Liberalism Thesis. International Organization, 59: 473-94.

13. Mansfield and D. Mutz. 2009. Support for Free Trade: Self-Interest, Sociotropic Politics, and Out-Group Anxiety. International Organization, 63: 425-57.

14. Büthe and H. Milner. 2008. The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment into Developing Countries: Increasing FDI through International Trade Agreements? American Journal of Political Science, 52: 741‐762.

15. Sung Eun Kim, Krzysztof J Pelc, Trade Competition and Worker Compensation: Why Do Some Receive More than Others? 2021 International Studies Quarterly, 65, 1: 109–121.

Session 4, October 25

Trade Preferences and Attitudes

16. Hiscox. 2001. Class Versus Industry Cleavages: Inter‐Industry Factor Mobility and the Politics of Trade. International Organization, 55: 1‐46.

17. In Song Kim. 2017. Political Cleavages within Industry: Firm-level Lobbying for Trade Liberalization. American Political Science Review, 111: 1-20.

18. Ardanaz, V. Murillo, and P. Pinto. 2013. Sensitivity to Issue Framing on Trade Policy Preferences: Evidence from a Survey Experiment. International Organization, 67: 411–37.

19. Osgood, 2018. Globalizing the Supply Chain: Firm and Industrial Support for US Trade Agreements. International Organization, 72: 455-484.

20. Carter and P. Poast. 2020. Barriers to Trade: How Border Walls Affect Trade Relations, International Organization.

Session 5: November 1

Finance, Money, and Currency

21. Cordelli C and Levy, J. 2021. The Ethics of Global Capital Mobility. American Political Science Review, 1-14.

22. Pepinsky. 2012. Do Currency Crises Cause Capital Account Liberalization? International Studies Quarterly, 56: 544–559.

23. Oliver, R. Jablonski, and J. Hastings. 2017. The Tortuga Disease: The Perverse Effects of Illicit Foreign Capital, International Studies Quarterly, 61: 312–327.

24. Frantz. 2018. Elections and Capital Flight: Evidence from Africa, International Studies Quarterly, 62(1): 160–170.

25. Trung A Dang, Randall W Stone, Multinational Banks and IMF Conditionality. 2021. International Studies Quarterly, 65, 2: 375–386

1-page proposal is due

Session 6:  November 8

Financial Economy

26. Andrey Tomashevskiy, Economic Statecraft by Other Means: The Use and Abuse of Anti-Bribery Prosecution. 2021. International Studies Quarterly, 65, 2: 387–400.

27. O'Mahony 2013. Political Investment: Remittances and Elections. British Journal of Political Science, 43: 799-820.

28. Tertytchnaya, C De Vires, H. Solaz, and D. Doyle. 2018. When the Money Stops: Fluctuations in Financial Remittances and Incumbent Approval in Central Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. American Political Science Review, 112: 758-774.

29. Lipscyand H. Lee. 2019. The IMF As a Biased Global Insurance Mechanism: Asymmetrical Moral Hazard, Reserve Accumulation, and Financial Crises. International Organization, 73: 35-64

30. Jones and A. Zeitz, 2019. Regulatory Convergence in the Financial Periphery: How Interdependence Shapes Regulators’ Decisions, International Studies Quarterly, 63: 908–922.

Session 7, November 15

Policy Diffusion

31. Linos. 2011. Diffusion through Democracy. American Journal of Political Science, 55: 678–695.

32. Hyde. 2011. Catch Us If You Can: Election Monitoring and International Norm Diffusion. American Journal of Political Science, 55: 356–369.

33. Genovese, F. Kern, and C. Martin. 2017. Policy Alteration: Rethinking Diffusion Processes When Policies Have Alternatives, International Studies Quarterly, 61(2): 236–252.

34. Sommererand J. Tallberg. 2019. Diffusion Across International Organizations: Connectivity and Convergence. International Organization, 73: 399-433.

35. Holtmatt, C. Adolph, and A. Prakash. 2020. The Global Diffusion of Environmental Clubs: How Pressure from Importing Countries Supports the Chemical Industry’s Responsible Care® Program. World Development,2020, 127.

Session 8, November 22

Foreign Direct Investment

36. Elkins, A. Guzman, and B. Simmons. 2006. Competing for Capital: The Diffusion of Bilateral Investment Treaties, 1960-2000. International Organization, 60: 811-46.

37. Quintin H Beazer, Daniel J Blake, Risk Is Relative: Heterogeneous Responses to Institutional Risks for Foreign Investment, International Studies Quarterly. 2021. 65, 3: 594–605.

38. G Robertson and E Teitelbaum. 2011. Foreign Direct Investment, Regime Type, and Labor Protest in Developing Countries. American Journal of Political Science, 55: 665–677.

39. Gertz. 2018. Commercial Diplomacy and Political Risk, International Studies Quarterly, 62(1): 94–107.

40. Sung Eun Kim. 2018. Media Bias against Foreign Firms as a Veiled Trade Barrier: Evidence from Chinese Newspapers, American Political Science Review, 112: 954-970

Session 9: November 29

Foreign Aid

41. Patricia Bromley, Evan Schofer, Wesley Longhofer. 2019. Contentions over World Culture: The Rise of Legal Restrictions on Foreign Funding to NGOs, 1994–2015, Social Forces, forthcoming.

42. Findley, A. Harris, A., H. Milner, and D. Nielson. 2017. Who Controls Foreign Aid? Elite versus Public Perceptions of Donor Influence in Aid-Dependent Uganda. International Organization, 71: 633-66.

43. Desai and H. Kharas, 2018. What Motivates Private Foreign Aid? Evidence from Internet-Based Microlending, International Studies Quarterly, 62(3): 505–519.

44. Honig and C. Weaver. 2019. A Race to the Top? The Aid Transparency Index and the Social Power of Global Performance Indicators. International Organization, 73: 579-610.

45. A Burcu Bayram, Catarina P Thomson, Ignoring the Messenger? Limits of Populist Rhetoric on Public Support for Foreign Development Aid, International Studies Quarterly, 202

Project proposal turned in

Session 10, December 6

Environmental Issues

46. Prakash and M. Potoski. 2014. Global Private Regimes, Domestic Public Law: ISO 14001 and Pollution Reduction. Comparative Political Studies, 47: 369 – 394.

47. Meckling and L. Hughes. 2017. Globalizing Solar: Global Supply Chains and Trade Preferences, International Studies Quarterly, 61: 225–235.

48. Andonova, T. Hale, and C.. Roger. 2017. National Policy and Transnational Governance of Climate Change: Substitutes or Complements? International Studies Quarterly, 61: 253–268.

49. Genovese. 2019. Sectors, Pollution, and Trade: How Industrial Interests Shape Domestic Positions on Global Climate Agreements, International Studies Quarterly, 63: 819–836.

50. Matthew DiLorenzo, Talor Stone, Term Limits and Environmental Treaty Commitments, International Studies Quarterly, 2021