key: cord-0068689-84mw1quz
authors: Reisch, Lucia A.; Doebbe, Friederike C.
title: Book Notes “Economics and Social Sciences” 4/2021
date: 2021-10-19
journal: J Consum Policy (Dordr)
DOI: 10.1007/s10603-021-09499-9
sha: 0ab64cdc25632ea9de55e93de5fedb6c40a21caf
doc_id: 68689
cord_uid: 84mw1quz

nan

The idea of a privatized state sounds like a contradiction. According to the author, the twentieth century was the age of the bureaucratization of the modern state, and the twentyfirst century has been so far the age of its privatization, at least in the USA. This holds many fundamental problems for democracy and society, particularly from the perspective of political philosophy. Today, many governmental functions in the USA (the focus of this book)-from the management of prisons and welfare offices to warfare and financial regulation-are outsourced to private entities. Education and health care are funded in part through private philanthropy rather than taxation. Can a privatized government rule legitimately? The Privatized State argues that it cannot. Ultimately, the author argues, privatization constitutes a regression to a pre-civil condition-what philosophers centuries ago called "a state of nature." Her main critical issues with privatization structure the book by covering: the problem of authorization, the problem of representative agency, and the delegated activity.

Diane Coyle: Markets, state, and people: Economics for public policy. Princeton University Press, 2020. ISBN 9780691179261. 376 pp., GBP 34.00. While economic research emphasizes the importance of governmental institutions for growth and progress, conventional public policy textbooks tend to focus on macroeconomic policies and tax-and-spend decisions. Markets, State, and People focuses on applied microeconomics and stresses the basics of welfare economics and the interplay between individual and collective choices. The core question is how should resources in society be allocated for the most economically efficient outcomes, and how does this sit with society's sense of fairness? The author, a Cambridge economist and former policymaker, illustrates the ways economic ideas are the product of their historical context and how events, in turn, shape economic thought. Doyle includes many real-world examples of policies from within and outside the UK. The textbook covers issues such as regulation and competition in digital markets, collective choice, environmental policy, regulatory assessments, public-private partnerships, nudge policies, universal basic income, and how to assess evidence in policies.

Sandra Eckert: Corporate power and regulation: Consumers and the environment in the European Union. International Series on Public Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. ISBN 9783030054625. 354 pp., EUR 80.24 .

Based on several case studies of consumer and environmental regulation in the European Union, this book analyzes the role of corporate power in regulatory processes. One of the central questions that the author poses is to what extent corporations are threatened by regulations and at the same time are themselves a threat to regulation. By analyzing this question, the book draws attention to the manifold ways in which private sector actors can influence and shape, but also circumvent or avoid regulations. A key finding of the book is that corporate actors in the regulatory process can step into the shoes of different actors as experts, innovators, or operators, where they mobilize different power resources of both structural and discursive nature. With this analysis, the book contributes to ongoing discussion in the governance and regulation literature, in international political economy scholarship, and in strands of policy analysis such as environmental and consumer policy.

Dennis Evans, Des Evans and Alistair Williamson: The road to zero emissions: The future of trucks, transport and automotive industry supply chains. KoganPage, 2020. ISBN 9781789665604. 312 pp., USD 160.00 .

The transport industry has an important role in addressing climate change and the environmental challenges facing governments, businesses, and individuals. Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 will require this sector, which is a significant contributor to emissions, to innovate, adapt, and drive positive change. New technologies, including batteries and alternative fuels, will all be significant, developing different approaches and outlooks. The Road to Zero Emissions is the comprehensive guide for those in the transport industry to understanding what can and is being done to tackle climate change. Specifically, its 14 chapters cover the threat of global warming and climate change; the fall of the diesel engine and the rise of the electric motor; climate change action and the Paris Agreement; infrastructure challenges and the role of government; the global battery market; alternative fuels; and financing the future.

Jessica Fanzo: Can fixing dinner fix the planet? John Hopkins University Press, 2021. ISBN 9781421441122. 240 pp., USD 16.95 .

The role of food and sustainability is a topic highly relevant in international policy debates, specifically as it connects a range of challenges ranging from health and nutrition, to environmental and climate concerns, to economic, social, and cultural debates. But can fixing our plates fix the environmental and social crises that food systems are facing? The book addresses and analyzes these complex challenges, drawing from the author's insights and research experiences in the field and prior literature on this topic. Central to the argument is that consumer choices matter for our planet, while also emphasizing the role of more sustainable production and food systems in making transitions to more sustainable food possible. Besides explaining reasons for why food systems are not sustainable and their interlinkages, the author also provides an insightful overview of possible policies to address these ranging from choice architecture to fiscal policies. Overall, the book provides an insightful and convincing overview for anyone interested in food and sustainability.

Walter Leal Filho and Daniela Jaco (Eds.): Handbook of climate services. Springer Nature, 2020. ISBN 9783030368777. 519 pp., Open Access.

Nature-based solutions and climate services have gained attention and relevance, not least with the recent changes in European climate policy and the Green New Deal. This handbook explores climate services, including projections, descriptive information, analyses, assessments, and an overview of current trends. Due to the pressures now being put on the world's climate, gathering and sharing reliable climate observation and projection data may be tailored for use by different groups. In other words, it is essential to offer climate services. Apart from presenting studies and the results of research projects, the book also offers an overview of the wide range of means available for providing and using climate services. In addition, it features case studies from all over the world that provide illustrative examples of how climate services can be optimally deployed.

Florentine Frentz: The pursuit of food well-being: The mechanisms behind consumers' food well-being, and their relevance for food retailing and marketing. Springer Gabler, 2020. ISBN 9783658303655. 220 pp., EUR 96.29 .

The abundance of (unhealthy) food is causing unprecedented overconsumption that endangers people's health, quality of life, productivity, and life expectancy. Against this backdrop, the author deals with the food well-being of modern consumers and how it can be strengthened. To this end, she defines and refines the concept of "food well-being" and creates an overarching model, which she applies to various studies and various phenomena. The book shows that the paradigm shift that has already begun must be vigorously pursued and that every stakeholder can and should contribute. About one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption goes lost or wasted every year. The problem is directly connected to hunger and global sustainability. This edited volume compiles the latest developments and research results on food loss and wastes along the production and consumption chain. The 13 chapters cover national and global issues such as the environmental impacts of food consumption and wasted food, wasted nutrients, raising awareness via collaborative networks and actions, the effect of food governance and policy in food losses, promotion of sustainable food consumption, food redistribution, optimizing agricultural practices, the concept of zero waste, food security and sustainable land management, optimizing food supply and cold chains, food safety in supply chain management, non-thermal food processing/preservation technologies, food waste prevention/reduction, and food waste valorization and recovery.

Jean-Christophe Graz: The power of standards: Hybrid authority and the globalisation of services. Cambridge University Press, 2019. ISBN 9781108759038. 268 pp., Open Access.

Standards are not bound any longer to the world of engineering and technical requirements. Instead, they shape a multiplicity of goods, services, and processes that we engage with in our mundane activities. In the context of sustainability and consumption, standards oftentimes stand behind labels and certifications to signal certain ways of production or quality criteria to consumers. This volume emphasizes the "power of standards" proposing that it can be understood as a transnational hybrid authority. Empirically, it draws from cases in the service industry, such as insurance and outsourcing processes of businesses in India. What the conceptualization of standards as transnational hybrid authority helps to emphasize is the ambiguity of standards with regard to their role in shaping the distribution of power across sovereign actors and spaces.

Stefan Choice is a key concept of our time. It is a foundational mechanism for every legal order in societies that are, politically, constituted as democracies and, economically, built on the market mechanism. Thus, choice can be understood as an atomic structure that grounds core societal processes. In recent years, however, the debate over the right way to theorize choice-for example, as a rational or a behavioural type of decision-making-has intensified. This collection provides an in-depth discussion of the promises and perils of specific types of theories of choice. Moreover, it shows how the selection of a specific theory of choice can make a difference for concrete legal questions, particularly in the regulation of the digital economy or choosing between market, firm, or network. The 14 chapters are grouped into four parts: an introduction (Foundations) and three parts on individual, collective, and organizational choice.

Rachel Hay, Lynne Eagle and Abhishek Bhati (Eds.): Broadening cultural horizons in social marketing: Comparing case studies from Asia-Pacific. Springer, 2021. ISBN 9789811585166. 293 pp., EUR 139.90. This edited volume presents a series of empirically based case studies conducted by social change scholars from Asia-Pacific, highlighting the latest social marketing approaches geared at improving societal well-being in the region. The goal of the editors is to compile recent ideas on social change from around the Asia-Pacific and present them to the social marketing community. The 13 chapters present real-world case studies covering aspects of public health and well-being and public environmental consciousness in terms of driving attitudes towards implementing improved sustainability in developing and developed countries of the region.

Robert G. Jones: The applied psychology of sustainability (2 nd ed.). Routledge, 2020. ISBN 9781138595248. 436 pp., EUR 44.99. This is the second edition of an introductory text on applied psychology of (un) sustainable behaviour. Why doesn't everyone see sustainability as a huge issue? Why don't people think more carefully before making choices? What will it take to make people change? The book answers these questions and provides practical guidance for approaches that have been used to stimulate change successfully. Each chapter applies elements from the core research areas of cognitive, social, and developmental psychology to the context of criteria specific to sustainability. The chapters cover, among other issues, heterogeneity between people; the influence of social contexts; development and motivation; learning and behaviour change; and interventions and capacities for change.

Mathew Lawrence and Laurie Laybourn-Langton: Planet on fire: A manifesto for the age of environmental breakdown. Verso, 2021. ISBN 9781788738774. 288 pp., GBP 12.99 .

The title of this book captures not only the unprecedented problems of the climate crisis, but it also points to the radical re-thinking of our economies and societies that this book engages with. The authors point out that the climate issue needs to be seen as a systemic issue in which the power of the fossil fuel industry and its support systems play a central role. In the absence of effective climate action, the need for meaningful change is emphasized. Taking the post-pandemic life as a starting point, the book tries to imagine a transition to a more sustainable and more equal global economy. The authors combine analytical chapters tracing what led to the current climate crisis with a manifesto, an outline of how the proposed transitions could be accomplished. Thereby the authors emphasize ideas such as: reorganizing the economy to be more equal, democratic, and sustainable while maintaining a growth objective; the role of central banks in steering such a transformation while reducing the power of private financial sector; putting greater emphasis on collectiveness, democratic governance mechanisms, living and working conditions; disentangling the link between energy and fossil fuels; and drawing attention to the historical responsibilities of wealthy nations as emitters.

Marta Lopes, Carlos Henggeler Antunes and Kathryn B. Janda (Eds.): Energy and behaviour: Towards a low carbon future. Academic Press, 2020. ISBN 9780128185674. 558 pp., USD 125.00.

Changes to energy behaviour-the role of people and organizations in energy production, use, and efficiency-are critical to supporting a societal transition towards a low carbon and more sustainable future. However, which changes need to be made, by whom, and with what technologies are still very much under discussion. This edited book provides a multidisciplinary view of this field; it encourages critical thinking about core theories, quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and policy challenges. The 18 chapters are grouped into four parts: understanding energy behaviour (with contributions from psychology and behavioural economics); energy behaviour across sectors (covering building and transport sectors as well as cities); modelling energy behaviour (modelling tools, agentbased modelling); and promoting behaviour change (the influence of context, field experiments), as well as EU and US demand-side energy policies. Scholarship Series, No. 11. Springer, 2021. ISBN 9783030705299. 320 pp., Open Access. Regulation today has grown into one of the main determinants of modern economies, and virtually every sector is subject to general laws and regulations and specific rules and standards. A typical rationale to justify regulatory interventions is the promotion of the public interest. Fixing markets that lack competition, balancing information asymmetries, internalizing externalities, mitigating systemic risks, and protecting consumers from irrational behaviour are frequently invoked to complement the invisible hand of the market with the visible hand of the state. Traditionally, law and economics literature has taken a sceptical stance towards state interventions and their justifications. This reader explores current issues regarding regulating various economic sectors, theoretically and empirically, discussing both neoclassical and behavioural economics approaches to regulation. Part 1 of this edited volume discusses in four chapters' various theoretical approaches to the economic analysis of regulations, while the ten contributions of Part 2 look at specific applications of the law and economics of regulation, such as the concept of regulatory arbitrage or the design of consumer protection legislation.

Klaus Mathis and Avishalom Tor (Eds.) : Consumer law and economics. Economic Analysis of Law in European Legal Scholarship Series, No. 9. Springer, 2021. ISBN 9783030490270. 326 pp., Open Access. This edited volume is the result of the 8th Law and Economics Conference in Lucerne. It covers the many challenges currently faced by consumer law in Europe and the USA, ranging from fundamental theoretical questions, such as what goals consumer law should pursue, to practical questions raised by disclosure requirements, the General Data Protection Regulation, and technology advancements. With governments around the world enacting robust new regulations concerning consumers, consumer law has become an essential topic in the economic analysis of law. Intended to protect consumers, these regulations typically seek to do so by giving them tools to make better decisions or by limiting the consequences of their bad decisions. The book is divided into four parts: Part 1 compiles three chapters on behavioural insights to consumer law (including a chapter on the target opportunity costs of nudges); Part 2 presents five papers on mandated disclosure in different fields; Part 3 focuses on EU and US data protection regulation; and Part 4 compiles other relevant topics such as "sustainability and civil law" and the case of EU alcohol labelling.

Matthias Meier: Verhaltenswissenschaftlich inspiriertes Verwaltungshandeln: Herausforderungen und Perspektiven zur Umsetzung staatlichen Nudgings in Deutschland (Behaviourally inspired administration: Challenges and perspectives of applying regulatory nudging in Germany). Nomos, 2021. ISBN 9783848778683. 396 pp., EUR 99.00. This is an in-depth exploration of regulatory nudging in Germany. The dissertation explores the challenges, determinants, barriers, and opportunities of regulatory nudging in Germany. The perspective is that of (German) public administration: What are the types of administrative decisions, and how can nudging instruments help? What are constitutional dimensions of nudging, and how do direct and indirect nudging relate to those? How does the German "Nudge Unit" in the Chancellery work?

Lukas Parker and Linda Brennan (Eds.): Social marketing and advertising in the age of social media. Edward Elgar, 2020. ISBN 9781786434661. 192 pp., GBP 80.00. This reader compiles nine chapters on social marketing and advertising in the digital age.

Reviewing and analyzing the most relevant concepts, theories, and strategies related to the field reveals what makes strong social marketing and social advertising campaigns. This is a guide on how to best exploit consumers and users for (social) marketing goals. Topics covered are ingredients of a successful social media campaign; social marketing with fear, guilt, and shame; the use of emotions in social marketing; and humour and telling stories as strategies. A glimpse of a more critical consumer policy perspective and ethical assessment is provided in the final chapter titled "ethical challenges associated with social marketing communication."

Richard M. Perloff: The dynamics of persuasion: Communication and attitudes in the twenty-first century (7 th ed.). Routledge, 2021. ISBN 9780367185794. 576 pp., GBP 84.99. In its seventh edition, this textbook provides an overview of the study and practice of persuasive communication. This new edition features updated definitions of critical terms in the field as they relate to present-day practice; an integration of persuasion theories and the ubiquity of online influence; and new examples and cases to illustrate persuasive communication's approach to health campaigns, attitudes, communicator appeals, dissonance, and ethics. Notably, it discusses dark digital falsehoods, propaganda, and digital misinformation, as well as the replication crisis in social psychology.

Kamila Pope: Global waste management: Models for tackling the international waste crisis. KoganPage, 2020. ISBN 9781789660777. 416 pp., GBP 49.99 .

Among other factors, rapid global population growth, our development model, and patterns of production and consumption have increased waste generation worldwide to unsustainable rates. This rise has led to crises in many countries where waste management practices are no longer sound. This book outlines the emerging global waste crisis considering the perspectives of developed and developing countries worldwide and the international relationships between them. First, the author scrutinizes existing international, European, and Brazilian regulations on waste to highlight the complexity of the subject and the weaknesses of the law. Then, using a critical and socio-ecological approach, she proposes an original model of governance to support a new system of global waste management that considers ecological sustainability and social justice to overcome the waste crisis. To create these models, a theoretical framework on socioecological justice is developed and combined with different discourses and theories described throughout the book.

Joseph Reagle and Jackie Koerner (Eds.): Wikipedia @20: Stories of incomplete revolutions. MIT Press, 2020. ISBN 9780262538176. 376 pp., USD 27.95. In this edited book, scholars, activists, and volunteers celebrate and reflect on Wikipedia's first twenty years, revealing connections across disciplines and borders, languages and data, and the professional and personal. The 22 essays look at, among other things, Wikipedia as "the most important laboratory for social scientific and computing research in history"; teaching with Wikipedia; Wiki and academics (and why the latter often do not like the former); and Wiki editors and the community. Overall, the book promotes a positive view of Wikipedia as an independent, free, and quality-focused encyclopedia. However, it falls short of digging into the dark sides (such as the immense yet faceless power of top editors), with only two chapters looking into the problem of systematic biases (such as gender) and paid editorship as potential-but seemingly easily solvable-problems.

Paul Roscoe and Cindy Isenhour (Eds.): Consumption, status, and sustainability: Ecological and anthropological perspectives. Cambridge University Press, 2021. ISBN 9781108836043. GBP 75.00. In this edited volume, contributions emphasize the role of status consumption and its interlinkages with sustainability or the lack thereof. Status can be traced historically to consumption and consumer societies. Examples range from rituals such as dancing to childbearing, to the role of consumption as a means to communicate living standards or specific identities. In contrast to the consumption of necessities, status consumption, however, is often insatiable. Given the manifold implications of overconsumption, this volume dives deeper into the interlinkages between status, consumption, and sustainability by drawing from archaeological insights as well as cross-cultural approaches. The volume consists of four parts each comprising several chapters; "Status Competition and Hierarchy in Human Societies"; "Variability in Status Consumption"; "Continuity and Discontinuity"; and "Bending the Curve." Overall, the authors not only draw attention to the relation between status consumption and sustainability and the negative environmental consequence thereof, but also explore how different variables affect this relation across different cultures, spaces, and time.

Marianne Ryghaug and Tomas Moe Skjølsvold: Pilot society and the energy transition: The co-shaping of innovation, participation and politics. Palgrave Pivot, 2021. ISBN 9783030611835. 130 pp., Open Access. This book examines the role of pilot and demonstration projects as crucial devices for conducting innovation in the context of the energy transition conceptually. Pilot projects can be key to deliver "proof of concept" to a sceptical public and policymakers and provide visibility and attention to innovations. The authors suggest that co-design, together with diverse actors of practice, will bring the best results. Bridging literature from sustainability transitions and Science and Technology Studies, the authors argue that such projects play a crucial role in shaping future energy and mobility systems and transforming societies more broadly. The book explores pilot projects as political entities, focusing on questions of how they gain their legitimacy, which resources are mobilized in their production, and how they can serve as sites of public participation and the production of energy citizenship.

Martin Sandbu: The economics of belonging: A radical plan to win back the left behind and achieve prosperity for all. Princeton University Press, 2020. ISBN 9780691204529. 296 pp., USD 24.95 .

The Economics of Belonging is a book about income distribution, fairness, and welfare-and how more innovative politics should change these. Martin Sandbu argues that economics remains at the heart of the widening inequality, and it is only by focusing on the right policies that we can address it. He proposes a detailed plan for creating a just economy where everyone can belong. He discusses how a more active macroeconomic policy, education for all, universal basic income, and better taxation of capital could work together for society's benefit.

Pablo Sendra and Richard Sennett: Designing disorder: Experiments and disruptions in the city. Verso, 2020. ISBN 9781788737807. 160 pp., GBP 14.99 .

Building on Sennett's ideas around the role of disorder for urban spaces, this essay discusses the potential of experimental and disruptive elements in cities. The book invites the reader to compare or even take sides between what is referred to as closed versus open cities. The prior is characterized by order of real estate-driven development that creates boundaries and possibly inequalities; the latter is seen as the more open, flexible alternative. By designing "infrastructures for disorder," including activism, politics, architectural development among others, the authors suggest transforming future cities and urban areas and thereby nourishing the flexibility that they envision public spaces should have.

Charlotte Sieber-Gasser and Alberto Ghibellini (Eds.): Democracy and globalization. Legal and political analysis on the eve of the 4 th industrial revolution. Economic Analysis of Law in European Legal Scholarship Series, No. 10. Springer Nature. ISBN 9783030691561. 295 pp., Open Access. A key element of the free trade theory is that globalization increases the welfare of the involved states. However, the increasing competitive pressure leads to a structural change that creates new jobs and destroys old ones. Today, not only the political left argues that there are not only winners but also losers of globalization everywhere. Moreover, the increasing internationalization of economies is accompanied by the internationalization of law. This book offers in-depth legal and political analysis concerning the compatibility of the Westphalian state model with globalization and the digital revolution. Its eleven chapters explore the concept of democracy in a globalized world, discuss the legitimacy of economic integration in the global market, and present three case studies (from Brazil, Taiwan, and Spain) on the impact of social media on elections. It further entails novel perspectives on the impact of digitalization on national borders and the role of citizens and experts in shaping globalization. A final chapter addresses the extent to which insights gained from

analysis of the abovementioned aspects will need to be considered in efforts to recover from the current global health and economic crisis

It is a product of the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission's science service. The resource book is dedicated to researchers and research organizations aiming to achieve policy impacts. It includes lessons learned along the way, advice on new skills, practices for individual researchers, elements necessary for institutional change, and knowledge areas and processes to invest in. It puts co-creation at the centre of what the JRC calls "Science for Policy 2.0," a more integrated model of knowledge-policy relationship. The 19 chapters, authored by JRC staff, cover, for instance, postnormal science; skills for co-creation

How much information is too much? Which information contributes to people's welfare, and which hampers it? Do we need to know how many calories are in the giant vat of popcorn that we bought on our way into the movie theatre? Do we want to know if we are genetically predisposed to a particular disease? Policymakers emphasize "the right to know," urging that consumers and employers have a right to information. Indeed, information disclosure is a crucial element of (consumer) policy. Yet, based on empirical studies, Sunstein argues that the information on warnings and mandatory labels is often confusing or irrelevant, yielding no benefit. He finds that people avoid information if they think it will make them sad and seek information they think will make them happy. Catherine Weetman: A circular economy handbook: How to build a more resilient, competitive and sustainable business