Alexandra Guisinger
Biographic Data
| ID | 4379826 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alexandra Guisinger |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alexandra |
| FAMILY NAME | Guisinger |
| SIGNATURE | GUISINGER A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Temple University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5946-6863 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 465 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 11 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Framing Layoffs
Who is blamed when factories close or when there are mass layoffs? Whether it be the closing of an auto plant or the threatened off-shoring of the Carrier furnace factory, media reports frequently incorporate justifications—or frames—that provide context about the closure or layoffs. We conduct an analysis of media coverage of factory layoffs in the United States and Canada, and find that the most common frames often include foreign competition a…
The Unlevel Playing Field
The gender gap in support for trade is one of the most robust empirical findings to emerge from research on public opinion in international political economy. Even controlling for differences in education, skill level, industry affiliation, and other factors, women express consistently more protectionist views than men. Less frequently noted, and thus far unexplained, is that this gender gap varies cross-nationally. We advance an explanation that…
Labor Market Volatility, Gender, and Trade Preferences
What explains divides in the public’s support for trade protection? Traditional economic arguments primarily focus on individuals’ expectations for increased or decreased wages in the face of greater economic openness, yet studies testing such wage-based concerns identify a different divide as well: even after accounting for wage effects, women are typically more supportive of trade protection. We argue that trade-induced employment volatility an…
Could Positive Information Shift National-Level Beliefs?
Chapter 8 asks whether changing the types of information provided to voters would sufficiently move public opinion to make such a strategy viable for political actors. Three original survey experiments explore the role of positive factual information, partisan factual information, and simple altruistic framing in shaping opinions. In the first case, a randomly selected half of respondents watched a trade supportive political campaign ad narrated …
American Opinion on Trade
American Opinion on Trade: Preferences without Politics explains how American voters form opinions on trade policy and why those preferences can remain at odds with policy choices of political actors and parties who depend on their votes. The book shows that Americans weave together distinct and at times countervailing beliefs about trade’s effect on themselves, their communities, and the country. Initial chapters describe gender, race, and commu…
Mapping the Boundaries of Elite Cues
When and how do elite messages shape mass opinion on international issues? Do informational or partisan components of elite cues dominate? Recent survey experiments offer conflicting insights. We argue that issue context matters, and that the single-issue nature of most survey experiments masks systematic variation in how elite cues affect attitudes across international issues. These effects depend on the baseline distribution of mass opinion on …
Information, Gender, and Differences in Individual Preferences for Trade
Men and women consistently differ in their preferences for trade. Connecting standard (but nongendered) trade theory with American public opinion literature, this article develops three possible roles for knowledge and information processing. The gap may be driven by differing knowledge, how information affects perceptions of personal economic situations, and how information shapes perceptions of societal benefit. Observational survey data in com…
The Diffusion of Financial Liberalization in Developing Countries
Over the past three decades, many developing countries have liberalized their capital accounts. Recent studies suggest that these policy changes were interdependent and diffused through networks of peers. This article strengthens the literature on the diffusion of financial liberalization in several ways. Theoretically, we distinguish between concrete and more amorphous causal processes by which policies are diffused. We argue that networks vary …
Exchange Rate Proclamations and Inflation-Fighting Credibility
If governments choose economic policies that often run counter to their public commitments, are those commitments meaningless? We argue that government proclamations can be critical in signaling economic policy intentions. We focus on the realm of exchange rate policy, in which countries frequently implement an exchange rate regime that differs from the officially declared regime. We argue that the official exchange rate regime is one of the most…
Determining Trade Policy
Models of trade policy often depend on the efficient aggregation of individual preferences. While much of the recent empirical work on trade focuses on whether domestic coalitions form along class or sectoral lines, the process of preference aggregation itself remains understudied. In democratic countries, voting is typically assumed to be an unproblematic mechanism for aggregating preferences, but such an assumption may be misleading when the sa…
Honest Threats
Traditional arguments that link credibility to a reputation for resolve, power, or strength are contrasted with a model that posits that credibility arises from the expectation of future, continued gains from retaining an honest record. Diplomatic statements are believed only if a country's or leader's credibility is unmarred. Leaders keep their word so that they are believed in later crises. Two environments are contrasted: one in which a countr…
Mapping the Boundaries of Elite Cues
When and how do elite messages shape mass opinion on international issues? Do informational or partisan components of elite cues dominate? Recent survey experiments offer conflicting insights. We argue that issue context matters, and that the single-issue nature of most survey experiments masks systematic variation in how elite cues affect attitudes across international issues. These effects depend on the baseline distribution of mass opinion on …
Honest Threats
Traditional arguments that link credibility to a reputation for resolve, power, or strength are contrasted with a model that posits that credibility arises from the expectation of future, continued gains from retaining an honest record. Diplomatic statements are believed only if a country's or leader's credibility is unmarred. Leaders keep their word so that they are believed in later crises. Two environments are contrasted: one in which a countr…
Determining Trade Policy
Models of trade policy often depend on the efficient aggregation of individual preferences. While much of the recent empirical work on trade focuses on whether domestic coalitions form along class or sectoral lines, the process of preference aggregation itself remains understudied. In democratic countries, voting is typically assumed to be an unproblematic mechanism for aggregating preferences, but such an assumption may be misleading when the sa…
Information, Gender, and Differences in Individual Preferences for Trade
Men and women consistently differ in their preferences for trade. Connecting standard (but nongendered) trade theory with American public opinion literature, this article develops three possible roles for knowledge and information processing. The gap may be driven by differing knowledge, how information affects perceptions of personal economic situations, and how information shapes perceptions of societal benefit. Observational survey data in com…
Exchange Rate Proclamations and Inflation-Fighting Credibility
If governments choose economic policies that often run counter to their public commitments, are those commitments meaningless? We argue that government proclamations can be critical in signaling economic policy intentions. We focus on the realm of exchange rate policy, in which countries frequently implement an exchange rate regime that differs from the officially declared regime. We argue that the official exchange rate regime is one of the most…
Labor Market Volatility, Gender, and Trade Preferences
What explains divides in the public’s support for trade protection? Traditional economic arguments primarily focus on individuals’ expectations for increased or decreased wages in the face of greater economic openness, yet studies testing such wage-based concerns identify a different divide as well: even after accounting for wage effects, women are typically more supportive of trade protection. We argue that trade-induced employment volatility an…
The Unlevel Playing Field
The gender gap in support for trade is one of the most robust empirical findings to emerge from research on public opinion in international political economy. Even controlling for differences in education, skill level, industry affiliation, and other factors, women express consistently more protectionist views than men. Less frequently noted, and thus far unexplained, is that this gender gap varies cross-nationally. We advance an explanation that…
Framing Layoffs
Who is blamed when factories close or when there are mass layoffs? Whether it be the closing of an auto plant or the threatened off-shoring of the Carrier furnace factory, media reports frequently incorporate justifications—or frames—that provide context about the closure or layoffs. We conduct an analysis of media coverage of factory layoffs in the United States and Canada, and find that the most common frames often include foreign competition a…
Honest Threats
Traditional arguments that link credibility to a reputation for resolve, power, or strength are contrasted with a model that posits that credibility arises from the expectation of future, continued gains from retaining an honest record. Diplomatic statements are believed only if a country's or leader's credibility is unmarred. Leaders keep their word so that they are believed in later crises. Two environments are contrasted: one in which a countr…
Determining Trade Policy
Models of trade policy often depend on the efficient aggregation of individual preferences. While much of the recent empirical work on trade focuses on whether domestic coalitions form along class or sectoral lines, the process of preference aggregation itself remains understudied. In democratic countries, voting is typically assumed to be an unproblematic mechanism for aggregating preferences, but such an assumption may be misleading when the sa…
Exchange Rate Proclamations and Inflation-Fighting Credibility
If governments choose economic policies that often run counter to their public commitments, are those commitments meaningless? We argue that government proclamations can be critical in signaling economic policy intentions. We focus on the realm of exchange rate policy, in which countries frequently implement an exchange rate regime that differs from the officially declared regime. We argue that the official exchange rate regime is one of the most…
The Diffusion of Financial Liberalization in Developing Countries
Over the past three decades, many developing countries have liberalized their capital accounts. Recent studies suggest that these policy changes were interdependent and diffused through networks of peers. This article strengthens the literature on the diffusion of financial liberalization in several ways. Theoretically, we distinguish between concrete and more amorphous causal processes by which policies are diffused. We argue that networks vary …
Information, Gender, and Differences in Individual Preferences for Trade
Men and women consistently differ in their preferences for trade. Connecting standard (but nongendered) trade theory with American public opinion literature, this article develops three possible roles for knowledge and information processing. The gap may be driven by differing knowledge, how information affects perceptions of personal economic situations, and how information shapes perceptions of societal benefit. Observational survey data in com…
Could Positive Information Shift National-Level Beliefs?
Chapter 8 asks whether changing the types of information provided to voters would sufficiently move public opinion to make such a strategy viable for political actors. Three original survey experiments explore the role of positive factual information, partisan factual information, and simple altruistic framing in shaping opinions. In the first case, a randomly selected half of respondents watched a trade supportive political campaign ad narrated …
American Opinion on Trade
American Opinion on Trade: Preferences without Politics explains how American voters form opinions on trade policy and why those preferences can remain at odds with policy choices of political actors and parties who depend on their votes. The book shows that Americans weave together distinct and at times countervailing beliefs about trade’s effect on themselves, their communities, and the country. Initial chapters describe gender, race, and commu…
Mapping the Boundaries of Elite Cues
When and how do elite messages shape mass opinion on international issues? Do informational or partisan components of elite cues dominate? Recent survey experiments offer conflicting insights. We argue that issue context matters, and that the single-issue nature of most survey experiments masks systematic variation in how elite cues affect attitudes across international issues. These effects depend on the baseline distribution of mass opinion on …
Labor Market Volatility, Gender, and Trade Preferences
What explains divides in the public’s support for trade protection? Traditional economic arguments primarily focus on individuals’ expectations for increased or decreased wages in the face of greater economic openness, yet studies testing such wage-based concerns identify a different divide as well: even after accounting for wage effects, women are typically more supportive of trade protection. We argue that trade-induced employment volatility an…
The Unlevel Playing Field
The gender gap in support for trade is one of the most robust empirical findings to emerge from research on public opinion in international political economy. Even controlling for differences in education, skill level, industry affiliation, and other factors, women express consistently more protectionist views than men. Less frequently noted, and thus far unexplained, is that this gender gap varies cross-nationally. We advance an explanation that…
Framing Layoffs
Who is blamed when factories close or when there are mass layoffs? Whether it be the closing of an auto plant or the threatened off-shoring of the Carrier furnace factory, media reports frequently incorporate justifications—or frames—that provide context about the closure or layoffs. We conduct an analysis of media coverage of factory layoffs in the United States and Canada, and find that the most common frames often include foreign competition a…
Political science (10 works) · Economics (9 works) · Politics (9 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Global trade and economics (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Public opinion (4 works)