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Lost in translation? The Comprehensive Agreement on Investment and EU–China trade relations. EPC Discussion Paper June 2021.
Full text linkThis Discussion Paper analyses the scope and contents of the ambitious Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) between the EU and China following the cooling down of relations due to sanctions and countersanctions over human rights issues. Beyond that, it also explores the main challenges and opportunities for EU-China trade and investment relations in general.
It first dissects and discusses the key features of the CAI: provisions on market access and investment liberalisation, the level playing field, sustainable development, the institutional framework, and dispute settlement. Secondly, the CAI’s broader legal and political context is analysed, focusing on its lack of investor protection provisions, its potential to contribute to the World Trade Organization (WTO) reform process, and its role in the triangular EU–US–China trade and investment relationship. Thirdly, the CAI’s link with the EU’s new autonomous trade tools, sustainability and human rights dimension, and prospects for signature and ratification are studied.
The EU–China trade deal is not a revolutionary agreement that will break open the Chinese market for EU investors. Whether the CAI would make a significant difference for EU investors mainly depends on China’s implementation. Although its last Foreign Investment Law liberalised foreign investment further in several sectors, its recent adoption of a series of investment(-related) laws and policies targeting or restricting foreign investment does not bode well.
Regardless of whether the CAI will eventually be signed and ratified, the EU must continue to roll out and implement its autonomous trade tools to address China’s trade-distortive practices. It must also use its (new) trade defence and enforcement tools when necessary. Moreover, it must prioritise transatlantic cooperation on WTO reform, proposing new rules that address the concerns vis-à-vis China it shares with the US and other like-minded countries.
As long as China’s countersanctions against EU officials and entities are in place, the agreement should not be signed and ratified. However, if these diplomatic tensions cool down, the EU must fully leverage the CAI and its trade and investment powers more generally to address the human rights and forced labour issues in Chin
Risk and protective factors in adolescent behaviour: The role of family, school and neighbourhood characteristics in (mis)behaviour among young people. ESRI Research Series 119 May 2021.
Full text linkThis report uses data collected on Cohort ’98 of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study at 9, 13 and 171 years of age to examine the individual, family, peer, school and neighbourhood factors associated with adolescent behaviour patterns. The study adopts a multidimensional approach and draws on multiple informants, looking at six types of behaviour. Externalising behaviour relates to conduct
(‘acting out’) and concentration difficulties. Internalising behaviour relates to negativity directed towards the self (i.e. mood or emotional difficulties) and difficulties interacting with peers, while prosocial behaviour is an indicator of positive development, reflecting positive interaction with others. All three are measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), are based on
reports from the primary caregiver (usually, the mother2) and are therefore likely to capture behaviour within the family or home context. Behaviour at school is captured using information on school-based misbehaviour (such as ‘messing’ in class) and on truancy, reported by the young person themselves. Antisocial behaviour, also based on the young person’s report, reflects behaviour in the wider
community (such as graffiti or damaging property). The study addresses the following research questions:
1. What patterns of (mis)behaviour are found among young people at 9, 13 and 17 years of age? To what extent do these patterns relate to differences in family resources, namely, social class, parental education and household
income?
2. To what extent does adolescent behaviour reflect the social mix of the school, over and above the effects of individual family background (including parental
education, income and social class)?
3. To what extent does adolescent behaviour reflect the social composition of the neighbourhood, over and above the effects of individual family background?
4. What family, peer, school and neighbourhood factors help to reduce the incidence of behaviour difficulties among young people
Impacts of co‐payments for prescribed medicines on publicly‐insured children and older people in Ireland. ESRI Research Bulletin 202111 April 2021.
Full text linkThis bulletin examines the impact of the introduction, and subsequent increase in, prescription drug co-payments for medical cardholders in Ireland from October 2010, focusing on two population groups: children and older people
Evaluation of Enterprise Ireland Research, Development and Innovation Programme. ESRI General Papers March 2021.
Full text linkThis independent evaluation examined the impact of direct financial supports to firms through the Enterprise Ireland Research, Development and Innovation Programme on the innovation and economic performance of beneficiaries over the period 2007-2018
Online disclosures fail to make consumers aware of personalised pricing. ESRI Research Bulletin 202106 March 2021.
Full text linkOnline disclosures fail to make consumers aware of personalised pricing or protect them from paying more than they otherwise might, according to results from experiments conducted by the ESRI’s Behavioural Research Unit in Ireland and Chile
Public acceptance of new renewable electricity generation and transmission lines. ESRI Research Bulletin 202105 February 2021.
Full text linkThe research shows that the electricity system can accommodate the public's preferences for new wind farms and transmission lines but are subject to higher costs. With a policy target of 70 per cent renewable generation and growing electricity demand, electricity prices could dramatically escalate if there is a sharp deterioration in the public's acceptance of new energy infrastructure
The impact of the 2016 minimum wage increase on average labour costs, hours worked and employment in Irish firms. ESRI Research Series 118 February 2021.
Full text linkIn 2016, the Irish minimum wage increased from €8.65 to €9.15 per hour. A new ESRI study, funded by the Low Pay Commission, found that the 2016 minimum wage increase led to higher labour costs among firms with more than half of their employees on the minimum wage. However, these types of firms account for just 3 per cent of all firms. Compared to a firm with no minimum wage employees, a firm that pays all of their workers the minimum wage experienced a 5 per cent increase in their average weekly labour costs
Returning to employment following a diagnosis of cancer: An Irish survey. ESRI Survey and Statistical Report Series 103.
Full text linkAlmost half of people returning to work after a cancer diagnosis reported that their diagnosis had a negative impact on their career, a new study reveals. Females, younger workers, the self-employed and those working in the public sector were more likely to report a negative impact
What drove income inequality during the Great Recession? ESRI Research Bulletin 202102 February 2021.
Full text linkThis paper shows how tax and benefit policy shaped income inequality in European countries during the Great Recession
De kanarie in de koolmijn van onze nationale veiligheid. Egmont Commentary 1 June 2021.
Full text linkDe geloofwaardigheid van onze defensie kalft af. Los het gebrek aan werkingsmiddelen nu op en schuif het niet door naar een volgende regering