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The politics of voice in university finance
No full textHigher education trumpets the value of student voice and satisfaction surveys, but universities need genuine dialogue with a range of stakeholders, argues Moé Suzuk
AI and social care: how LLMs downplay women's health needs compared to men's
No full textAI tools are increasingly being used in the UK’s public services to help reduce paperwork and save time. But new research by Sam Rickman finds that language models can downplay women’s health needs compared to men’s in ways that could exacerbate inequality. As the UK weighs how far to regulate AI in the public sector, the results underline the value of evaluating not just whether AI is efficient, but whether it is fair
Why AI needs social science
No full textHumans are at the centre of the AI revolution. Helen Margetts and Cosmina Dorobantu make the case that AI needs to be shaped not just by computer science, but by social science – the study of humans and their systems of organisation. At the same time, AI can help revolutionise social science, much like it has the natural sciences
After recurring sleaze scandals, can Labour regain the public's lost trust?
No full textControversies over “malversation” and abuses of office have contributed to the Starmer government’s and the PM’s plunging unpopularity. Patrick Dunleavy outlines the never-ending sequences of “bad governance” crises during 2024-25, and proposes some feasible solutions
Status incentive and peer spillover effects on physical activity habits
No full textWe examine the impact of status-based threshold incentives on physical activity habits using a longitudinal data set from a private health and life insurance provider in the United Kingdom. We find that status-based incentives effectively foster sustained behavioral change, persisting even after the incentive is removed. We find variations in responses based on status goal levels and peer influence within member group sets. These findings suggest that status-driven incentives are particularly effective among individuals with weaker pre-existing habits, reinforcing the importance of social comparisons and goal gradient effects in shaping behavior. Our results contribute to the broader literature on threshold incentives, habit formation, and peer spillover effects in physical activity
The politics of 'green' finance as knowledge contestations
No full textThis essay argues for an integrative move in the investigation of the politics of ‘green’ finance. We suggest that approaching the politics of ‘green’ finance in the form of knowledge contestations can bring out complementarities and bridge divides between different levels of analysis and theoretical traditions. Our focus is motivated by the pivotal role of knowledge and ignorance in the organisation and governance of financial markets identified in economic sociology, political economy, and neighbouring disciplines. Drawing on this scholarship, we consider knowledge both a forum for and a means of politics. We then illustrate how this conceptualisation provides insights into the politics of ‘green’ finance on different levels of analysis and following different theoretical traditions: in the context of tracing elites in their dissemination of specific ideas shaping governance regimes; when following market devices which produce partial calculative representations of the world; in problematising how financial organisations both produce and accept certain types of knowledge to further their interests; and when examining the role of ideology and imaginative capture in stabilising financial capitalism during climate crisis. We conclude by identifying the connective tissue between these different analytical and theoretical approaches made visible by the integrative concept of politics as knowledge contestations
Anti-colonial science? The politics of indigenous knowledge inclusion in science-based policy
No full textAn aspect of the Indigenous struggle against colonial oppression is the struggle for the inclusion of their knowledge in policymaking. Perceived as epistemically inferior to science, Indigenous knowledge and subsequently interests are systematically excluded in science-based policy. This article advances an anti-colonial political philosophy of science. As Indigenous knowledge feeds into the necessary political value judgments in policy-relevant science, Indigenous knowledge inclusion, I contend, should be treated as a political, not solely epistemic, matter. I further argue that Indigenous peoples, not just scientists, should have the power to make such political value judgments given the politics of representation under coloniality
Blending experimental economics and living laboratories in water resource management
No full textThe increasing pressure on global water supplies from overexploitation, drought, and pollution necessitates efficient and sustainable water management. Integrated water resource management strategies have shown effectiveness in decision support, but a deeper integration of economic and participative methodologies is needed. This research reviews the core characteristics and directions of experimental economics and living labs (LLs) and aims to address three research questions, namely, how the participatory, real-world environment of living laboratories can be incorporated into the controlled, hypothesis-driven nature of experimental economics; what is the significance of behavioral insights that are derived from experimental economics in the design and implementation of living labs; and how these two approaches can be merged under one framework. The focus of this review is the improvement of water resource management through collaborative and stakeholder-driven innovation. LLs provide authentic environments for cocreation, allowing scientists and stakeholders to address water-related issues such as supply, demand, and shortage. These environments connect controlled experimental conditions with real applications, providing comprehensive insights into behavioral reactions and policy formulation. LLs can enhance and be strengthened by economic methodologies, particularly in water valuation through integrated frameworks accounting for environmental externalities and opportunity costs. Finally, this article shows that integrating behavioral insights and experimental approaches within LLs improves the external validity of experimental economics by putting interventions in real-world settings
Affective polarization around issues
No full textWhile most research on affective polarization has focused on divisions along party lines, partisanship is far from the only salient divide in Western democracies. This chapter examines affective polarization that is rooted in issue-based identities, that is, political identities defined by shared opinions on a specific issue. Examples of such issues include Catalan independence, Brexit, gun ownership, and COVID vaccination. When the sense of belonging with other people who share the same opinion is accompanied by out-group hostility towards people on the other side of the argument, it can lead to issue-based affective polarization. We discuss the conditions under which this type of polarization emerges, focusing on the degree of contestation and existing inter-group conflict associated with the issue (issue contestation), the level of individual expressive action and behavioural engagement (issue expression), and the degree to which the issue aligns or cuts across partisan identities (issue alignment). In conclusion, we argue that there is potential for greater issue-based polarization, especially in contexts where partisan attachments are weak or weakening
The limits of economic prediction: reassessing the Lin-Yang debate on China's dual-track reforms
No full textYang, drawing on his inframarginal economics framework, argued that China's dual-track reforms would fail without constitutional shock therapy, predicting that the absence of proper institutional transitions would lead to corruption and economic stagnation. Conversely, Lin's New Structural Economics advocated for gradual reform based on comparative advantages, arguing that late-comers could benefit by developing industries aligned with their factor endowments. This essay examines the 2002 to 2003 debate between economists Justin Yifu Lin and Xiaokai Yang regarding China's economic reforms and late-comer advantages. Through an analysis of recent empirical evidence (2020-2025), this essay demonstrates that Yang's predictions largely failed to materialize: China's dual-track system succeeded despite lacking constitutional transformation, with state-owned enterprises contributing positively to growth and anti-corruption campaigns improving productivity. However, Lin's framework also proves insufficient in explaining China's success. The paper concludes that economic forecasting necessarily sacrifices scientific rigor in favor of broad generalizations, suggesting that economics should focus on explaining existing phenomena rather than predicting uncertain futures