Conventional animal farms often lead to suffering for animals. Since animal-friendly farming can reduce the negative situation for livestock, this research aims to explore the mechanisms behind...Show moreConventional animal farms often lead to suffering for animals. Since animal-friendly farming can reduce the negative situation for livestock, this research aims to explore the mechanisms behind choosing animal-friendly products. Evidence suggests people have more empathy for animals which are evolutionarily closer to us, so we aimed to see how empathy and evolutionary proximity affect animal-friendly choices. We first hypothesized that people would have more empathy for cows (mammals) rather than chickens (birds) due to their evolutionary distance from humans. Secondly, we hypothesized that the difference in empathy between the two animals would predict whether participants made a cow-friendly or chicken-friendly choice. After being informed of the conditions on conventional and animal-friendly farms, participants (N= 42) were given a questionnaire to assess their empathy levels for both animals, as well as a choice to choose either a cow-friendly or chicken-friendly product. As hypothesized, people possessed more empathy for cows rather than chickens. However, alogistic regression analysis revealed that empathy did not significantly predict this choice. While empathy was not a significant predictor, more participants chose the cow-friendly rather than chicken-friendly product. The current results show that empathy alone may not be enough to explain the mechanism behind what motivates people to make choices that are positive for the animals which are evolutionarily closer to us. Therefore, directions for future research are discussed.Show less
This thesis investigates the economic consequences of military coups. The sample consists of five case studies, namely: Gambia (1994), Cambodia (1997), Côte d’Ivoire (1999), Mali (1991), and...Show moreThis thesis investigates the economic consequences of military coups. The sample consists of five case studies, namely: Gambia (1994), Cambodia (1997), Côte d’Ivoire (1999), Mali (1991), and Pakistan (1999). The synthetic control method (SCM) is employed, which constructs a weighted combination of control countries that did not experience a successful coup to best represent the treated state had it not experienced a military overthrow. The results indicate that coup d’états do not necessarily bring economic consequences forth. Those that do are negative and take place on the African continent. Côte d’Ivoire presented the only significant and robust findings. The presence of an ‘Africa-effect’ could therefore not be statistically verified.Show less
There have been few studies conducted into the effect of victimisation in the context of the bystander effect, wherein one person is mistreated while onlookers take no action to help. Previous...Show moreThere have been few studies conducted into the effect of victimisation in the context of the bystander effect, wherein one person is mistreated while onlookers take no action to help. Previous research indicates that potential impacts may include a feeling of ostracism or an adjustment of perceived social norms. This study explored how participants would react in a dictator game wherein they are given less money than their peers, in circumstances where the peers do or do not try to help, measured by their retaliation against the perpetrator, their psychological needs evaluation and ratings of fairness and justifiedness. No significant differences were found between the two conditions. However, as some research previously suggested, there are differences in coping strategies and responses to mistreatment between individuals. This study found that retaliators also had poorer psychological needs scores for control and self-esteem, rating the perpetrator’s behaviour as unjustified whilst their own vengeful retaliation was, according to them, justified. Future avenues for research are explored.Show less
The analysis of the trends for industrial concentration, GDP growth per capita, and income inequality – based on data from IPUMS International, Maddison Project, Clio-Infra, and World Bank Open...Show moreThe analysis of the trends for industrial concentration, GDP growth per capita, and income inequality – based on data from IPUMS International, Maddison Project, Clio-Infra, and World Bank Open Data – in the context of the US, Canada and other selected countries from Europe, South America, and East Asia, has led to the following results: a) after a comparison between the Krugman Index values and the GINI coefficients for the historical series of US, UK, and Spain, I argue in the first place, that the 1970-2000 series for the group of East-Asian countries subject to the research is coherent with the presence of “displaced” Kuznets’ waves – where the latter is a theoretical tool (introduced by Milanovic) that revises the original Kuznets’ hypothesis by shifting the focus from the long-run to more limited period of times. Secondly, for the group of South American countries analysed, I confirm the results of Deinenger and Squire on the unidirectionality of the trends for economic growth and income inequality between the 1960s and the 2000s. Namely, that both trends are raising, instead of diverging at a certain point, as it would have been expected, according to the original Kuznets’ hypothesis. Nevertheless, the inversion of the income inequality levels for Brazil, and the extreme oscillatory nature of the trends for Argentina, seem to prospect a potential displacement of a Kuznets’s wave for the two countries in a subsequent period. Limitations in the available datasets for the years after 2000s hindered, though, a consistent verification of this hypothesis. b) I argue on the one hand, that, for the Western countries analysed, the series for industrial concentration and income inequality between 1860 and 1970 are fully compatible with a Kuznets’ wave. On the other, that the series after the 1970s are instead in contrast with Milanovic’s thesis of a second Kuznets’ wave starting during these years. Nevertheless, the value for industrial concentration that I found for the US in 2015 can have some relationship with the rising income inequality levels analysed by Milanovic. Further research should be 75 devoted to the analysis of this issue when the census datasets for the 2020s decade will be made available. c) I argue that a further theoretical insight, derived from my analysis, can be considered as a corollary of Krugman’s theory on industrial specialisation dynamics. Namely, that being equal the transportation costs and the level of technology/productivity, lighter economic shocks trigger increasing levels of industrial concentration, whereas highly disruptive shocks for the industrial tissue, such as wars and structural economic crises, produce instead decreasing levels of industrial concentration. Further research is necessary, though, in order to corroborate this theory.Show less
Internal migration in China has created a serious problem that has been identified by many scholars and policy makers for decades. The Chinese government attempts to restrict migration flow through...Show moreInternal migration in China has created a serious problem that has been identified by many scholars and policy makers for decades. The Chinese government attempts to restrict migration flow through a policy called ‘hukou’ that in its simplest form ties individuals to accessing public services only in one registered location meaning agricultural hukou type people can find moving to urban areas extremely difficult; ultimately creating a dualistic society within China and the policy has led to massive displacement and discrimination of one fifth of the population. Given the controversial and discriminatory nature of hukou, this paper will analyse why the Chinese government would choose to continue to implement such a policy and how through hukou’s implementation, the Chinese leadership is able to maintain domestic stability and have it contribute to their continued legitimacy through success in the fields of economic prosperity, social stability and national unity. The paper will examine both the economic and political benefits of hukou and the reasons why this may affect the decision to reform the policy.Show less
The prospective nationalization of privately owned hand holdings in Guatemala placed the democratically elected government of Jacob Arbenz on a collision course with the champions of liberal...Show moreThe prospective nationalization of privately owned hand holdings in Guatemala placed the democratically elected government of Jacob Arbenz on a collision course with the champions of liberal-capitalism; the United States. Using American Exceptionalism as a theoretical construct this paper argues that developments in Guatemala were viewed within the State Department and the CIA from a position that restated historical assumptions of American superiority. This paper looks at the CIA coup against Guatemalan President Jacob Arbenz through a unique analytical lens that seeks to move away from a strictly Cold War narrative. Contesting values of rule and governance came to the fore in conceptualising a fictitious communist threat and fostered the belief among policymakers that President Arbenz should be removed from office. This paper will address how these beliefs resonated in policy making through an appropriation of American Exceptionalism to the Guatemalan coup.Show less
