This story was originally published on the Faculty of Public Affairs website on Friday, September 20, 2019.
Seven Faculty of Public Affairs researchers have been awarded Insight Grants by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. According to SSHRC, the Insight Grant 鈥渆nables scholars to address complex issues pertaining to individuals and societies, and to further our collective understanding.鈥�
2019 SSHRC Insight Grant Winners
鈥淧rime Ministerial Leadership: A Collective Case Study of Canadian Prime Ministers since 1957鈥�
From Stephen Harper to Justin Trudeau, Canada鈥檚 prime ministers have displayed strikingly different governance styles over the years. Professor Stephen Azzi has won an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to delve into the history of prime ministerial leadership since 1957.
鈥淢uch of what is assumed about history is wrong,鈥� says Azzi, who is a faculty member in the Master of Political Management program at 杏吧原创. 鈥淚 will argue that Louis St. Laurent was not first among equals or chairman of the board鈥nd will show that Lester Pearson was not a weak leader.鈥�
Azzi intends to conduct extensive archival research and develop case studies on the leadership style of each prime minister.
鈥淎 more extensive study of Canadian prime ministers, grounded in archival research and interviews, promises to reveal more of these myths.鈥�
鈥淏ordering Old Age, Bordering Care: Comparing Welfare State Approaches鈥�
Older members of immigrant families are facing rapidly shifting restrictions on their movement. Social Work Professor Susan Braedley has received a $144,254 Insight Grant to look at this under-considered issue.
鈥淔eminist researchers have argued that these workers subsidize care in wealthy countries through low wage care, while contributing remittances and 鈥榗are drain鈥� to their countries of origin,鈥� says Braedley. 鈥淥ur research will ask what different policy choices are wealthy welfare states making for immigrants鈥� parents and grandparents, and what effect does that have on immigrant families? What are the implications for care?鈥�
Braedley鈥檚 team hopes to contribute to the policy debate by developing analyses of wealthy welfare state immigration, border control and social welfare policies affecting these older family members.
She will be collaborating with researchers from Universit茅 de Montr茅al, Universit茅 libre de Bruxelles, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, and York University.
鈥淧ost-Soviet Migrants and Changing Memory Regimes in Germany, 1987-2018鈥�
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Germany allowed entry to many migrants from the region, including 2.3 million Russian Germans and 215,000 Russian Jews. James Casteel, a Professor in the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS) has been granted $82,583 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to compare and contrast the experiences and memories of these two groups.
鈥淲e [are asking] what commonalities and differences there are in the ways that Russian Germans and Russian Jews remember the Soviet Union,鈥� explains Casteel. 鈥淎lthough vicitimization is a prominent framing strategy, to what extent do migrants鈥� narratives also convey nostalgia and identification with life in the Soviet Union?鈥�
Casteel and his collaborators will be researching memoirs, literature, publications by migrant organizations, migrant and mainstream German and Russian media, museum exhibits, archived oral history interviews and new interviews conducted by trained graduate students.
鈥淐onsumer Protection in the Age of Internet Commerce and Big Data鈥�
Last year, Canadians spent more than one billion dollars online. But along with that growth comes an increase in the commercial use of personal data and misleading pricing practices by Internet retailers.
Zhiqi Chen, a Professor in the Department of Economics, has received $72,950 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to look at consumer protections within the e-commerce marketplace.
鈥淭he academic literature has lagged behind the rapid developments in the marketplace and the ensuing policy debates,鈥� explained Chen. 鈥淏y enhancing our understanding about the trade-offs facing firms and the effects of various policy interventions, this research program will be a timely contribution to the literature and policy debates.鈥�
Chen intends to conduct an analysis of the interactions between the collection and use of personal data by Internet firms and consumer鈥檚 privacy concerns, with the assumption that 鈥減rivacy has intrinsic value which differs among consumers.鈥�
鈥淭he Reconfiguration of Canada-Europe Relations after Brexit鈥�
As the negotiations over Brexit continue, Professor Achim Hurrelmann鈥檚 research asks, 鈥淲hat impact will Brexit have on Canada and its relationship to Europe?鈥� Hurrelmann, a professor in the Department of Political Science and the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, has been awarded $299,673 to study this topic.
鈥淏rexit raises important challenges for Canadian foreign policy and the transatlantic relationship,鈥� said Hurrelmann. 鈥淭his project will enrich [policy and] public discourse by providing evidence that informs debates about the changing role of Europe as a reference point for Canadian policy and identity.鈥�
The project will be a collaboration between four Canadian experts of Canada-Europe relations. Hurrelmann will be working with Fr茅d茅ric Merand (Universit茅 de Montr茅al), Petra Dolata (University of Calgary), and Patrick Leblond (University of Ottawa).
鈥淪imulation-based inference on measures of financial risk鈥�
After the 2008 recession, a number of studies questioned the ability of inference on risk premiums in equilibrium-based asset pricing models and statistical tail risk assessments to be reliable tools for efficient capital allocation and policy analysis.
SSHRC has awarded $289,000 to Professor Lynda Khalaf in the Department of Economics to assess these frameworks.
鈥淐ritiques underscore various pitfalls pertaining to statistical identification, assumptions on subsidiary although consequential effects, handling of big data and parameter stability,鈥� explained Khalaf. 鈥淢otivated by these concerns, we seek to develop and implement improved tools that are informed by and will contribute to ongoing advances in econometrics.鈥�
In collaboration with Jean-Marie Dufour (McGill University) and Marie-Claude Beaulieu (Universit茅 Laval), Khalaf will consider 鈥渁sset pricing factor models including Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) motivated cross-sectional conditional and unconditional regressions, which imply that expected excess returns are determined solely and linearly by loadings on risk factors.鈥�
The second research stream 鈥渇ocuses on risk assessment techniques, which include defining, estimating and back-testing risk measures.鈥�
鈥淩oyal Prerogative Reform in the Westminster System鈥�
In recent decades, four Westminster states鈥擟anada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom鈥攈ave seen efforts to reform royal prerogative powers. These are common law authorities that once belonged to the monarch but are now exercised by the Prime Minister, Cabinet, and other members of the executive. These powers include authorities related to foreign and military affairs, appointments and the holding of elections. The reform of these powers has varied within and among Westminster states, though they have all been part of efforts to democratize their systems of government and tame executive power.
Philippe Lagass茅, an Associate Professor and Barton Chair at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, has been awarded a grant of $172,836 to study these reforms.
鈥淭his research will provide the first comparative analysis of prerogative power reform in these four states and make important and original contributions to the study of the Westminster system and democratic reform,鈥� explained Lagass茅.
The project will bring together an interdisciplinary team of political scientists and legal scholars from all four countries. These include: Leonid Sirota (New Zealand), Andrew Banfield (Australia), Robert Hazell (U.K.), Eric Adams (Canada), Sebastian Payne (U.K.), Anne Twomey (Australia).