Is there a selection bias in roll call votes? Evidence from the European Parliament

We examine the magnitude and significance of selection bias in roll call votes. Prior to 2009, all recorded (roll call) votes in the European Parliament had to be requested explicitly by European Political Groups. Since 2009, a roll call vote has been mandatory on all final legislative votes. We exploit that change in the rules and compare differences between final legislative votes, amendment votes and non-legislative votes before and after 2009, using a difference-in-differences approach with extensive controls. Using data from the Sixth (2004–2009) to Seventh (2009–2014) European Parliaments, we fail to find any large differences in voting cohesion for the main political groups. We find even less significance when we control for changes in parliamentary membership between those two periods. The results suggest that selection biases in the European Parliament associated with strategic choices are negligible.     

Socioeconomic analysis: A case of Tharparkar

Tharparkar is one of the arid zones of Sindh province which is highly affected due to its drought nature and the changes in climate. These changes are posing the serious threats to the life and livelihood of the surrounding community. This study aims to explore the social and economic conditions of the Tharparkar and the role of government and social enterprises and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to make the livelihood and socioeconomic conditions of the Tharparkar better and comfortable. The data was collected from the current literature, visits to the studied population, and interviews from the common people and some officials of government as well as social enterprises and NGOs.     

Ultimate Legality: Reading the Community of Law

This article is a contribution to the occasional series dealing with a major book that has influenced the author. Previous contributors include Stewart Macaulay, John Griffith, William Twining, Carol Harlow, Geoffrey Bindman, Harry Arthurs, André-Jean Arnaud, Alan Hunt, Michael Adler, Lawrence O. Gostin, John P. Heinz, Roger Brownsword, Roger Cotterrell, Nicola Lacey, Carol J. Greenhouse, and David Garland. An initial twist: several acute observers would consider the way I read to be the most influential effect of reading on me – a way of reading that extends beyond the specificity of the text yet, in so doing, connects integrally with it. Salvation of specificity is at hand, however. That way of reading is intimately reflective of Derridean deconstruction and a hugely influential reading becomes his ‘Force of Law’. A problem ensues. Other influential reading came before my love of Derrida – influential reading to do with law and society (of course), with decolonization and imperialism, with engaged anthropology, and with critical legal studies. A retrospective revelation then follows. Derridean deconstruction is found to haunt and inform these other readings. They can be read in a way that inherently anticipates deconstruction. Some culminating coherence is offered by the inescapable insistence of community and the mutually intrinsic fusion of community and law.     

Remittances and Happiness of Migrants and Their Home Households: Evidence Using Matched Samples

This paper explores how remittances influence happiness among migrants and their households of origin. It is based on a novel data set of matched samples of Bangladeshi migrant households (living in the UK and Malaysia) and their origin families in Bangladesh. Empirical findings suggest that remittances play a significant role in stimulating migrants’ happiness. We also find that the households of origin’s life satisfaction not only depends on receiving remittances from the emigrants, but also other factors such as number of migrants from the household living abroad and the migrants’ country of destination.     

The effect of some aspects of low temperature and radiation on the survival of Latheticus oryzae eggs

In an attempt to delay hatching without affecting their viability, the eggs ofLatheticus oryzae W. were subjected to cold treatment at 5° for varying periods and at different stages of their development. A small dose of 0.5 krad of gamma radiation was also given at each of those temperature treatments. Most of the eggs hatched at 30° following low-temperature exposures of 1 and 2 days. There was a significant decrease in hatch as the exposure period increased further (P<0.05). An egg exposure to 5° also led to an increase in egg period and the increase was nearly equal to the period of cold exposure. Radiation did not alter the situation.

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Zusammenfassung Kühllagerung ist eine der gebr?uchlichsten Methoden für die Aufbewahrung von Insekteneiern. Um die optimalen Bedingungen für eine Vorratshaltung zu bestimmen, wurden 0–1 d alte Eier vonL. oryzae Temperaturen von 5° w?hrend 1–7 d ausgesetzt, nachdem sie verschieden lange bei 30° gehalten waren. Eine kleine Dosis von 0.5 krad Gammabestrahlung wurde bei jeder Temperaturbehandlung ebenfalls gegeben. Alle Eiproben wurden nach den verschiedenen K?ltebehandlungen in 30° zurückgebracht und die Wirkung auf Schlüpfprozentsatz und Eidauer bestimmt. Die Eidauer nahm zu, wenn die Eier bei 5° gehalten wurden, was anzeigt, da? die Embryogenese bei 5° unterdrückt wurde. Die Lebensf?higkeit der Eier wurde nicht beeintr?chtigt bei einer 5°-Einwirkungsdauer von 2 d, nahm aber bei weiterer Verl?ngerung der Expositionsdauer ab. Nur etwa 37% der Eier schlüpften (44,1% der Kontrolleier) nach 7-t?giger K?ltebehandlung. Bestrahlung beeinflu?te weder das Schlüpfen noch die Entwicklungsdauer.

     

Reviews

AIDS in Africa: The Social and Policy Impact edited by Norman Miller and Richard C. Rockwell Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston (New York) and Queenston (Ontario), 1988. xxxi plus 336 pp. including map, tables, figures, notes, appendices and selected bibliographies. $110,00.

The Politics of Africa's Economic Stagnation by Richard Sandbrook Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985. xiii plus 180 pp. including map, tables, notes and index. R.25,50 paperback.

Imperialism and Dependency: Obstacles to African Development by Daniel A. Offiong Howard University Press, Washington, DC, 1982. 304 pp. including tables, bibliography and index. $6,95 paperback.

Early Field Recordings: A Catalogue of Cylinder Collections at the Indiana University Archives of Traditional Music edited by Anthony Seeger and Louise S. Spear Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1987. xviii plus 198 pp. $22,50.

Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War by Tony Hodges Lawrence Hill and Co., Westport (Connecticut), 1983. xii plus 388 pp. including maps, illustrations, tables, notes, appendix, bibliography and index. £6,95 paperback.

Somalia: Nation in Search of a State by David D. Laitin and Said S. Samatar Westview Press, Boulder (Colorado), and Gower, London, 1987. xvii plus 198 pp. including maps, illustrations, figures, tables, notes and index. $28,00.

Superpower Diplomacy in the Horn of Africa by Samuel M. Makinda Croom Helm, London and Sydney, 1987. 242 pp. including notes, appendices, select bibliography and index. £22,50.

Industrialization in West Africa by J.O.C. Onyemelukwe Croom Helm, London, 1984. v plus 226 pp. including tables, figures, bibliography and index. £17,95.

Modern Kongo Prophets: Religion in a Plural Society by Wyatt MacGaffey Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1983. xiii plus 285 pp. including tables, figures, illustrations, notes, references and index. $12,00 paperback.

Naissance du Mozambique: Résistance et Révoltes Anticoloniales, 1854–1918 (Two Volumes) by René Pélissier Editions Pélissier, Orgeval (France), 1984. 833 pp. including maps, tables, notes, bibliography and index. $45,00 paperback.

The Political Economy of Namibia: An Annotated, Critical Bibliography by Tore LinnÉ Eriksen with Richard Moorsom Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, 1985. 423 pp. including map and authors’ index. SEK 110.

The Bureaucratic Struggle for Control of US Foreign Aid: Diplomacy versus Development in Southern Africa by Caleb Rossiter Bowker Publishing Co., Epping (England), and Westview Press, Boulder (Colorado), 1985. xiii plus 250 pp. including figures, tables, notes, bibliography and index. $25,50 paperback.

The Politics of Economic Power in Southern Africa by Ronald T. Libby Princeton University Press, Princeton (New Jersey), 1987. xxiii plus 361 pp. including maps, tables, bibliography and index. $45,00. $14,50 paperback.

South Africa in Crisis edited by Jesmond Blumenfeld Croom Helm, London, 1987. x plus 207 pp. including tables, notes and index. £19,95.

Pass Controls and the Urban African Proletariat in South Africa By Doug Hindson Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1987. xii plus 121 pp. including notes, bibliography and index. R 14,00 paperback.

Hidden Struggles in Rural South Africa: Politics and Popular Movements in the Transkei and Eastern Cape, 1890–1930 by William Beinart and Colin Bundy Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1987. xxvi plus 326 pp. including illustrations, maps, notes and index. R24,00 paperback.     

Support for China–Pakistan Economic Corridor development in Pakistan: A local community perspective using the social exchange theory

China and Pakistan have initiated a mega project with the name of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This study examines how local residence support of CPEC is shaped in Pakistan. This study employs a social exchange theory to explain how perceived impacts affect an individual's level of support for CPEC development. Findings reveal that social exchange theory fits the data well by confirming that the more residents perceive impacts positively, the more they are likely to support CPEC. Data were collected online using the Google platform from 280 citizens, residing in all provinces of Pakistan. Findings of this study validate most of the hypothesis. Positive impact shows significant effect on personal benefit and support for CPEC development. Similarly, personal benefit also shows significant effect on support for CPEC development. However, negative impact shows insignificant effect on personal benefit and support for CPEC development. Findings of this study will guide the government officials and policymakers of CPEC about the perception of local people residence, both positive and negative impact. Policymakers can use the findings of this study to gain local citizen's support for the CPEC development projects and designs policies accordingly for the future projects.