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In June 2016, UK chose to terminate the EU membership. The negotiation period for the exit (Brexit) has started at a time the UK economy has become increasingly dependent on the service sector as the main engine of job generation and a source of export demand. The purpose of this study is to give an overview of how Brexit possibly influences the service economy within the UK. The empiric data is collected from recent journal articles exposing issues regarding the service economy fallacies reasoned for regarding distribution of goods, user-financed services and tax-financed services. Findings revealed that a termination of the EU membership has led to market consternation and dramatic drop in the British Pound Sterling, which may affect the production costs, the wages, and the international trade that may lead to the fact that the competitiveness of the UK's service economy may be weaken. Besides, the sustainability of the pension system may be negatively affected due to the decreased immigration from other EU member states. Also, there is a need to reconstruction of the security and defence policies, which on the other hand may meet obstacles to remain the cost-efficiency.

While nationalism remains a vital element in the production of the political and economic landscape, it is often treated as a static container for other processes or neglected altogether. Rather, it must itself be treated as a process--a nationalizing project--emerging from a constellation of often contradictory social forces. One such process of nationalization is the development of large-scale transportation infrastructure, such as railroads. These projects produce both new spheres of circulation and new understandings critical to navigating these novel environments, which together radically transform the relation between people, government, and territory. In early twentieth century China, the complicated contest over railroad rights produced and was produced by a fractured political economic geography. Understandings of both identity and space remained fragmented, cohering only partially into a singular entity, thus demonstrating the intimate interrelation between state power, political identity, and territories both real and imagined.

This study examined the relationship between CARICOM governments and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The study focused on three research questions: (1) What do the CARICOM leadership and other stakeholders believe are the major reasons why they continue to rely on the financial assistance and intervention of the IMF? (2) Under which paradigm of development do these leaders and stake holders perceive their relationships with the IMF? (3) How do younger and older CARICOM citizens perceive the future growth of their countries, under the leadership of the IMF? Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in this study to analyze the research questions; therefore, this study used a mixed-methods design. Research question one was analyzed using a qualitative design, while the second and third research questions used a quantitative analysis in the form of descriptive statistics. The analysis, which was limited to six interviews, contained 13 questions. Thematic analysis explored themes such as unique crafting of policies to meet challenges; rationale to undergo IMF programs; ability to meet domestic and international payment obligations; and most applicable economic paradigm to CARICOM. This study also examined the economic paradigms undergirding CARICOM leaders’ decision to use the International Monetary Fund in addressing the socioeconomic and political development issue of the region. The sample consisted of 49 participants. The study concluded that the IMF policies are uniquely crafted to suit the specific CARICOM countries’ needs. These countries tend to invite the IMF interventions out of a sheer necessity and often are reluctant to do so. Yet, doing so provides access to additional funding and other resources that would likely have been otherwise unavailable. While the intent of the IMF programs is to eliminate the inefficient use of resources in these states, sometimes government spending can be impacted by its political nature and yield unintended consequences.

Rapid economic growth in emerging economies since the end of the Cold War has driven debate on American 'relative decline'; the relative diminution of US material capabilities with respect to other states. Such relative decline poses potential constraints on US power and has thus manifested itself in arguments over the economic merits of the United States' expansive military commitments. Contributing to this literature, my thesis answers the following question: does American military strategy generate economic benefits? I argue that that there is significant evidence to suggest that US military strategy has influenced international economic relationships in ways beneficial to US national interests. Principally, my analysis shows American military strategy acts as a 'underwriter' for the extant international economic system. I explore two logics associated with this. Firstly, a general 'status quo' logic which sees military power as both a guarantor and promoter of specific structural configurations of the international political economy. And secondly, a more specific 'utility' logic operating on other states either bilaterally or multilaterally. This pathway assumes that US military strategy, particularly its security guarantees, may alter the utility of other states decisions in America's favour. This thesis also shows that specific results often prove far more tentative and circumstantial than commonly articulated by scholars in the literature. Nearly all specific and 'utility' pathways through which the United States is hypothesized to derive economic benefit suffer from foundational generalisability issues, irrespective of methodology. This suggests that specific avenues and instances of US military strategy influencing international economic relationships are not likely to be a reliable or prudent source of future policy making. Rather, the principal political-economic influence to consider is the role US military power plays in underwriting the contemporary American centred international order, which is the prerequisite for other specific pathways to emerge.

The primary purpose of this research is to perform an empirical test using Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) in order to investigate the relationship between the Chinese stock market performance and domestic economic activity.China's stock market was established in early 1990s and has operated through a period of strong economic growth. Generally, it has been recognized that the development of a sound financial market is necessary to sustain and support a high growth economy. In turn, a growing economy will drive financial market growth. This research is designed to shed light on this unique relationship by investigating the links between China's booming national economy and the domestic stock returns.Using both time-series and cross-section regressions, several identified macro economic variables are shown to be significant in their influence on stock returns. These variables include the growth rate of industrial production, the growth rate of total social retail sales, the growth rate of terms of trade and the growth rate of total social saving deposits. Stock market indexes are found significantly related to the stock portfolio returns in time-series regressions.Overall, the empirical results suggest that the rapid growth of the Chinese economy is factored into stock returns by the market. It also indicates that the market index has strong explanatory power over, the time-series returns, providing empirical support for the market model Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). However, the explanations of cross-section returns need to be further explored.

<p>This thesis consists of three papers in dynamic political economy:</p><p>"Ideology and the Determination of Public Policy Over Time" investigates how public policy responds to persistent ideological shocks in dynamic politico-economic equilibrium. We develop a tractable model to analyse the dynamic interactions among ideology, public policy and individuals' intertemporal choice. Analytical solutions are obtained to characterize the Markov perfect equilibrium. Our main finding is that the relationship between ideology and the size of government turns out to be non-monotonic. In particular, a right-leaning ideological wave may lead to higher taxation, which makes the size of government much less distinctive under different political regimes. Incorporating ideological uncertainty per se has its theoretical relevance. Sufficient ideological uncertainty helps pin down a unique equilibrium. This is in contrast with recent works on dynamic political economy which feature multiple equilibria and have no sharp empirical predictions.</p><p>"Dynamic Inequality and Social Security" analyses the dynamic politico-economic equilibrium of a model where the repeated voting on social security and the evolution of household characteristics are mutually affected over time. Political decision-making is represented by probabilistic voting a la Lindbeck and Weibull (1987). We analytically characterize the unique Markov perfect equilibrium. The equilibrium social security tax rate are shown to be increasing in wealth inequality. The dynamic interaction between inequality and social security leads to growing social security programmes. The predictions of our model are broadly consistent with empirical evidence. We also perform some normative analysis, showing that the politico-economic mechanism tends to induce too large social security transfers in the long run.</p><p>"A Markovian Social Contract of Social Security" analyses the sustainability and evolution of the pay-as-you-go social security system in a majority voting framework with intra-cohort heterogeneity. We find that there exists a Markovian social contract through which the self-interested middle-aged median voter has incentives to support the system. This is in contrast with the approaches in the existing literature, which either resorts to the imperfect temporal separation of contributions and benefits, or builds the expectation of future social security benefits on variables that are payoff-irrelevant for future policymakers. Correspondingly, our model has a number of distinctive empirical implications. First, the social security tax rate converges along an increasing path to the steady state. Second, the growth of social security is negatively correlated with income inequality. Third, the impact of income inequality on the equilibrium social contract induces a non-monotonic relationship between income inequality and social security. These predictions are broadly consistent with the data from the OECD countries.</p>

This thesis consists of three papers in dynamic political economy: "Ideology and the Determination of Public Policy Over Time" investigates how public policy responds to persistent ideological shocks in dynamic politico-economic equilibrium. We develop a tractable model to analyse the dynamic interactions among ideology, public policy and individuals' intertemporal choice. Analytical solutions are obtained to characterize the Markov perfect equilibrium. Our main finding is that the relationship between ideology and the size of government turns out to be non-monotonic. In particular, a right-leaning ideological wave may lead to higher taxation, which makes the size of government much less distinctive under different political regimes. Incorporating ideological uncertainty per se has its theoretical relevance. Sufficient ideological uncertainty helps pin down a unique equilibrium. This is in contrast with recent works on dynamic political economy which feature multiple equilibria and have no sharp empirical predictions. "Dynamic Inequality and Social Security" analyses the dynamic politico-economic equilibrium of a model where the repeated voting on social security and the evolution of household characteristics are mutually affected over time. Political decision-making is represented by probabilistic voting a la Lindbeck and Weibull (1987). We analytically characterize the unique Markov perfect equilibrium. The equilibrium social security tax rate are shown to be increasing in wealth inequality. The dynamic interaction between inequality and social security leads to growing social security programmes. The predictions of our model are broadly consistent with empirical evidence. We also perform some normative analysis, showing that the politico-economic mechanism tends to induce too large social security transfers in the long run. "A Markovian Social Contract of Social Security" analyses the sustainability and evolution of the pay-as-you-go social security system in a majority voting framework with intra-cohort heterogeneity. We find that there exists a Markovian social contract through which the self-interested middle-aged median voter has incentives to support the system. This is in contrast with the approaches in the existing literature, which either resorts to the imperfect temporal separation of contributions and benefits, or builds the expectation of future social security benefits on variables that are payoff-irrelevant for future policymakers. Correspondingly, our model has a number of distinctive empirical implications. First, the social security tax rate converges along an increasing path to the steady state. Second, the growth of social security is negatively correlated with income inequality. Third, the impact of income inequality on the equilibrium social contract induces a non-monotonic relationship between income inequality and social security. These predictions are broadly consistent with the data from the OECD countries.

Thailand’s economy has gone through a quick development during the past two decades As a result of the economic crisis in 1997, His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej introduced the philosophy of sufficiency economy (SE). SE is built upon a model which can be used every day, notonly during crises, to strengthen the economy within the country and the society. Due to the worldwide attention on the philosophy it is interesting to research how applicable SE is in Sweden or generally worldwide.The aim of the field study and the thesis is to obtain a contemporary interpretation of the applicability of sufficiency economy.The approach of the field study consisted of four main steps; feasibility study, research tool, the field study procedure and evaluation. The study includes a literature study with a combination of interviews with key persons, a multinational company situated in Bangkok and Thai students. The intention of the selection was to obtain a conceptual interpretation of SE in relation to the interviewed people. The answers of the different groups were first put in their own context, and then a comparison was made in order to make the analysis.Several different opinions were uncovered regarding the interpretation of SE. It is necessary to interpret it at an individual level.The rational decision making and following the middle way is important to achieve a balanced life. However it is a knowledge gap within theThai society where it is important to have a stable government and the right spokesman of SE. / Mior Field Studies via SIDA

On May tenth, 2004 Monsanto announced that it would discontinue breeding and field level research of transgenic Roundup Ready (RR) wheat. This decision was heavily influenced by the widespread rejection of RR wheat by Canadian prairie producers who voiced their opposition through a diverse coalition of rural and urban organizations. With six of the nine member organizations representing rural and farm groups, this research departs from the most common representation of anti-GM movements as being urban and European-centred. This dissertation contrasts the general acceptance of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready canola just five years earlier (in the mid 90s) with the widespread opposition amongst prairie producers to RR wheat. It uses an updated version of the agrarian question and the production of nature thesis to show how capitalist relations are differentiated across place and commodities. The research finds that producer resistance to RR wheat hinged on the specificities of local histories and institutions, cultural conceptions of worth and economic fair treatment, and the character of wheat as a commodity with particular biophysical properties. The research is also concerned with the ways in which producers articulated their resistance with and through discourses of consumption, while at the same time rejecting the attempts made by proponents of RR wheat to relegate them to consuming subjects, who would best register their dissent by voting with their dollars on the market. For many prairie farm organizations, the fate of the family farm is tied up with the future of wheat farming and the capacity of farmers to collectively market their wheat in international markets. Monsanto’s vision for the future of prairie wheat crossed moral and cultural boundaries for producers and organizations that understood themselves as active subjects.