Volume 18, Issue 2

In this study, we examined the COVID-19 effect in the global scale on the global retail markets with the Event Study methodology. The sample used in the study consists of data from 10 developed and developing countries in six continents, which are obtained from Reuters DataStream. The top large-cap, blue-chip companies in the stock market for each economies were included in the study, which is totaled of 91 active retail sector shares and major indices. Based on our findings; the cumulative average of abnormal returns (CAAR) of the retailers in three Event Studies in question showed a distortion in the efficiency of the formation of the retail prices at the 0.01, 0.01, and 0.05 significance levels and the global retail stock prices overreacted more.

While much work has been completed analyzing the role of territory’s effect on conflict, less work has demonstrated how territory affects military budgets. I argue that a state’s defense spending is subsidized by clearly defined geographic focal points. Using geographic data, I show that states clearly defined by rivers and oceans spend less money on defense budgets as a proportion of GDP because the prospects of conflict are lower and internal social cohesion is higher, decreasing the need for large standing militaries for repression/expansion/defense. I contend that this effect is exogenous to threat. On the other hand, more mountainous states should spend more on defense due to increased costs of defense and decreased sense of identity among local populations. Situating this debate within the state development literature helps us answer important questions regarding state formation/consolidation and peaceful interactions with neighbors.

Literature discussing imperialism and neo-colonial practices focuses on the alleged power of the West and/or the United States, as well as global neoliberalism. This article argues that neo-colonial knowledge production in the autocratizing regimes of Hungary and Nicaragua reflects the rising importance of China. It shows how both governments seek to set forth new schools of thought suiting their worldview. The People’s Republic of China serves as a narrative fix point for legitimizing dissociative diplomatic agendas via comprador academics supported by their government. In what is presented as changing global orders, China joins Russia as a new counterweight to the presupposed U.S. hegemonic and liberal interests. Besides advocating for new partners in the East, compradors colonializing academia argue for the distinctive needs of their respective nations represented by the government. Interviews, publications, and news reports allow one to reconstruct their colonialization efforts to support such nationalist narratives on China’s rise as a global power.