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Social identity and capital income: a social psychological approach to identity economics using UK household data
Get PDFSocial identity research has yet to fully engage with identity economics. This article bridges the two by examining capital market participation and capital income inequality – a critical economic behaviour and a societal issue that remain understudied in social psychology. We integrate psychological concepts and metrics of social identity with large‐scale, representative UK data on household economics, encompassing 60,156 individuals and 130,598 observations from 2010 to 2023. Examining gender, ethnicity, education, occupation, politics, age and family as aspects of individuals' self‐concept, our findings show that between‐ and within‐person variations in these identities, beyond mere group memberships, were uniquely associated with both the presence and amount of capital income. Rather than reinforcing group membership effects, which could suggest adherence to group norms around capital market participation, our results highlight the importance of identity domains. Gender and ethnic identity were associated with lower capital income, whereas educational and political identity were linked to higher capital income. These patterns persisted across different groups and income strata. Importantly, the predictive power of social identities was comparable to traditional sociodemographic variables. This study extends social identity research to understudied economic behaviours and contributes to the emerging fields of identity economics and the psychology of inequality
Green extractivism in Colombia: a scoping review on indigenous rights and livelihood impacts, and policy and social movement responses
Get PDFWe examine the impacts arising from net-zero related extraction of metals, mineral and clean energy on indigenous rights and livelihoods in Colombia, and identify policy and social movement responses. A scoping review method combined database searches in SCOPUS, Policy Commons and Overton with a grey literature search. In total, we screened abstracts and titles of 1050 documents, assessed 95 full-text records for eligibility, and included 34 documents for final review. We identified two core themes: green dispossession and renewable energy extraction impacts in La Guajira, sub divided into cultural, socio-political and environmental impacts; and resistance strategies to green extractivism, sub-divided into self-provision as part of a popular energy transition and holistic critiques to transition narratives and plans. National social movement responses were directed towards the left-wing government of Gustavo Petro, elected in 2022. International responses focussed on the coloniality of critical raw material extraction. Two main policy responses by the Petro government aimed to expand community access to energy services and create a Just Energy Transition roadmap. We conclude that Global South calls for the Global North to reduce resource consumption are becoming more prominent. Furthermore, we found some conceptual inconsistencies in this literature based on a routinisation of case studies and an epistemic poverty of dualistic social science concepts which tend not to consider non human actors in extractivist dispossession/degradation, especially in indigenous territories. We recommend future research employ relational theoretical frameworks to develop cultural analyses of extractivist dispossession/degradation, and diversify the Colombian geographical focus beyond La Guajira
The EV transition: the impact of the EU battery directive on critical material supply, recycling and battery costs
Get PDFLithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are central to the European Union's (EU) Net Zero strategies. Yet, rising regulatory pressures and geopolitical tensions have increased the risk of supply chain bottlenecks for strategic and critical materials such as nickel and cobalt, posing threats not only to the EU's decarbonisation agenda but also to global Net Zero ambitions. In response, EU policymakers have accelerated efforts to develop local battery ecosystems including the recycling of end-of-life LIBs. However, the potential impact of these interventions on material dependencies and battery economics is not well understood. This paper introduces a novel policy-economic framework to assess the prospective evolution of the LIB recycling sector in response to policy changes introduced by the EU Battery Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542). In particular, drawing on an industry-led survey, the framework evaluates the impact of the mandated minimum recycled content on material flow and battery costs. The results reveal that the Battery Regulation may increase battery cell costs by up to 15 %. While this study is EU-specific, its findings carry broader relevance for international battery policy and market dynamics and provides new evidence on how international policies may impact the future of the battery sector
Promoting women to managerial roles in the Bangladeshi garment sector
No full textWomen remain disadvantaged in promotion to managerial positions. We conduct a field experiment with 24 large garment factories in Bangladesh to test for inefficient representation of women among line supervisors. We identify the marginal female and male candidates for supervisory positions and randomly assign them to manage production lines. We document four findings: (1) In contrast to widespread negative beliefs about women’s ability as supervisors at baseline, female candidates selected by the factories had similar skills to males; (2) during the trial, females performed worse than males, which we show is related to negative bias against them; (3) after the trial, however, many female candidates were retained as supervisors and, conditional on that, performed similarly to males; and (4) after the end of our intervention, factories permanently increased the share of women among newly appointed supervisors. A conceptual framework of experimentation over discrimination rationalizes all these facts and cautions against the standard logic to test for discrimination: when there is uncertainty about the performance of the discriminated group, equal – or even worse – performance of the marginal candidates of that group is no longer sufficient to rule out inefficient discrimination
Translating climate science into legal standards: lessons from the Milieudefensie v. Shell case
Get PDFAs the world struggles to meet the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals, climate litigation has become a powerful tool. The case Milieudefensie v. Shell (“the Milieudefensie case”) stands out not only for its ambitious claims and the initial landmark ruling by the Hague District Court, but also because its 2024 appeal judgment raises important questions about the future of corporate climate accountability. A central issue emerging from the ruling is that courts, despite having applied the results of integrated assessment models (IAMs) to governments, appear to struggle with applying them to individual companies. Understanding challenges in translating climate science into legal standards is critical for litigation but also for the broader development of regulatory norms and standards. By examining the scientific evidence, particularly the application of IAMs to corporate emissions pathways, we provide guidance for litigators, experts, courts, and policy-makers as they navigate the evolving legal landscape of corporate climate responsibility
'Quiet' and 'loud' elites: the visibility of economic power in the UK
Get PDFTo gain a better understanding of contemporary elite power, we examine the public, media, and online profiles of the 541 most economically powerful individuals in the UK. We demonstrate striking divergences in the extent of to which elites are consecrated and exposed to wider public interest. The most economically powerful Britons tend not to be consecrated by prestigious mechanisms (such as Who’s Who or through state honours) and are not subject to media scrutiny. However, although elites on the whole retreat from the public gaze and do not encourage a media profile, a few are subject to considerable online exposure. We show that a small number of ‘loud’ economic elites court publicity by cultivating a maverick and outsider image which puts them in opposition to the many more ‘quiet’ elites. We identify a ‘power pincer’ in which a small number of prominent, sometimes publicity seeking, elites stand in opposition to corporate and intermediary elites who are thus left to operate ‘under the radar’ in pursuing their strategic interests
What’s in a crisis? Taking contestation seriously in the study of Europe’s crisis politics
Get PDFThe study of European politics has taken a crisis-oriented turn. Yet despite a proliferation of new empirical research, crisis remains undertheorised as a unit of analysis in European studies. Part of the problem, we suggest, is an over-reliance on realist assumptions that treat crises as manifest threats, underestimating the extent to which they are also contingent political constructions. Systematically placing greater emphasis on the constructedness of crises, via an empirical focus on processes of contestation, would admit the potential for greater outcome-contingency and help European studies to reinterpret puzzling research questions.We make the case for a systematic focus on recurring phases and dimensions of crisis contestation, and outline a general scheme for analysing crisis cases, comprising four phased dimensions that recurrently and significantly determine outcomes: recognition, definition, attribution and remediation. These dimensions are illustrated with diverse examples of commonly-labelled crises from contemporary European politics. Reflecting on crisis as an analytical category, and placing greater emphasis on contestation, can also help structure comparisons across crises, moving beyond the notion of a ‘polycrisis’ toward more detailed consideration of the mechanisms linking crises
What are social norms?
No full textMany theorists tie social norms to attitudes, such as expectations on others, perhaps along with conforming practices. Challenging this view, we instead ground social norms in a social norming process, an often non-verbal social communication process that ‘makes’ the norm through mutual expressions of support. We present the process-based account of social norms and social normativity, and distinguish social norms from social pressures, social practices, and Lewisian conventions. The process-based view brings social norms closer to legal norms, by tying them to ‘expressive acts’, just as laws and contracts arise through acts of voting or signing, not through mere attitudes
Cleared derivatives and human rights in "disorderly" financial markets
No full textThis essay examines R (Elliott Associates, Elliott International, and Jane Street Global Trading) v. The London Metal Exchange and LME Clear [2023] EWHC 2969 (Admin). The case arose from the London Metal Exchange's decision to cancel $12 billion worth of nickel futures trades amidst extreme price volatility following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The essay discusses how the court approached the definition of an ‘orderly market’ and the human rights challenge under Article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights. Through comparative analysis with R (SRM Global and others) v. Her Majesty's Treasury [2009] EWHC 227 (Admin), the article discusses the claim of legitimate expectations in public law which arose in both cases. The essay (1) highlights the consistent theme of judicial deference to regulatory discretion during crises and (2) analyses the prospect of claims in human rights and legitimate expectations in financial markets involving sophisticated participants