Reproducibility is held to be the gold standard for scientific research. The credibility of published work depends on being able to replicate the results. However, there are few incentives to conduct replication studies in political science. Replications are difficult to conduct, time-consuming, and hard to publish because of a presumed lack of originality. This article sees a solution in a profound change in graduate teaching. Universities should introduce replications as class assignments in methods training or invest in new stand-alone replication workshops to establish a culture of replication and reproducibility. This article will first discuss the benefits of conducting replications. The main part will focus on concrete steps in integrating replication in the classroom, from selecting a paper to final manuscripts. Drawing on the author's own teaching experience as well as that of others, particular emphasis will be on the pitfalls and challenges of letting students replicate work, as well as potential criticism. Only if universities nurture a reproducibility and replication culture can we ensure that the gold standard of reliable, credible, and valid research is not just an empty phrase.
Do public condemnations by the United Nations human rights bodies lead to foreign direct investment (FDI) loss for abusive regimes? The Human Rights Commission and later Council (UNHRCC) are internationally legitimized tools where member states shame repressive regimes for human rights violations in public resolutions. We argue that these resolutions can influence foreign investors in two main ways: (1) They signal that a state is an outcast, unable to secure alliances within the UN human rights bodies that protect it from being publicly shamed, with negative consequences for investment attractiveness ('outcast' effect). (2) They signal that a state is one of the most rogue, severe human rights violators because voting members of the UNHRCC may be aware of many human rights violations, but they pass resolutions only in the harshest cases ('bottleneck' effect). Any MNC associated with such a country risks severe reputational damage. Results from a panel data analysis of 165 countries (1977-2013) confirm that UNHRCC condemnations deter FDI. This effect is amplified by media reporting of human rights abuse, and stronger and more robust than a bad human rights record of a state itself. NGO shaming and milder UNHRCC sanctions (which do not reach resolution stage) have less strong effects, although the result on NGO shaming is to be seen with caution due to a reduced sample size.
The impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on repression in developing nations is still disputed. Some argue that FDI improves economic development and exports human rights values. Others criticise the exploitation of cheap labour and resources, which may lead to tensions and government oppression. Previous studies have employed aggregate FDI data, with conflicting results. Alternatively, I propose that the e↵ects depend on what kind of FDI enters a country. I build a sectoral framework to discuss how skills and technology levels, as well as the motivation for FDI, can mediate the impact. I then examine the link in a panel data analysis in 121 countries, integrating sectoral FDI in several resource, manufacturing and service industries. The results show that investment in high-skilled and -tech sectors has positive e↵ects. The results are robust across several measures for repression, and when accounting for sector size, regional and time e↵ects.
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