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Sina news mentions my research

Sina news, one of China’s largest and most influential online financial news and data platforms, has recently cited my research:

“Tim Vlandas, Professor of Comparative Political Economy and Social Policy at Oxford University, points out that as the proportion of older voters rises, politicians have less direct electoral incentive to pursue long-term economic growth strategies. Safeguarding the interests of retirees is seen as safer than investing in green transitions, education, or childcare. This creates a vicious cycle: declining birth rates and a growing disinterest among young people in a political arena that fails to meet their own needs. Meanwhile, pensions are becoming increasingly difficult to fund, yet are becoming more crucial for retired voters.” (google translated from Chinese)

The full source in Chinese is here: https://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/2025-12-05/doc-infztcen7887280.shtml

New LSE blog: Even honest research results can flip – a new approach to assessing robustness in the social sciences

Reposted from LSE Blog. When academic studies get things wrong, it is often blamed on misconduct and fraud. Yet, as we argue in a recent post with Michael Ganslmeier , even good-faith research, conducted using standard methods and transparent data, can produce contradictory conclusions.

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Taking stock of Welfare State Determinants: A new approach to assessing robustness in quantitative comparative research

By Michael Ganslmeier (University of Exeter) and Tim Vlandas (University of Oxford). First posted at SPA blog

The growth of quantitative comparative social policy research

Since Wilensky’s seminal work in 1975, the comparative welfare state literature has seen hundreds of quantitative studies exploring why some countries have more generous welfare states than others. Over time, the list of proposed determinants has grown substantially: economic growth and development, partisanship and party politics, globalisation and migration, union strength and economic coordination, political institution and fiscal capacity, and public opinion; to name just a few.

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