New Economics Papers
on Business, Economic and Financial History
Issue of 2007‒09‒16
25 papers chosen by



  1. Money for Nothing and Checks for Free: Recent Developments in U.S. Subprime Mortgage Markets By Paul S. Mills; John Kiff
  2. The Baring Crisis and the Great Latin American Meltdown of the 1890s By Kris James Mitchener; Marc D. Weidenmier
  3. Three great American disinflations By Michael Bordo; Christopher Erceg; Andrew Levin; Ryan Michaels
  4. The Knowledge Filter, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Growth By Bo Carlsson; Zoltan J. Acs; David B. Audretsch; Pontus Braunerhjelm
  5. Terrorist murder, cycles of violence, and attacks index for the City of Philadelphia during the last two centuries. By Gómez-sorzano, Gustavo
  6. Consolidation of Banks in Japan: Causes and Consequences By Kaoru Hosono; Koji Sakai; Kotaro Tsuru
  7. Setting the Scene: How did Services get to Bolkestein and Why? By Bruno de Witte
  8. The Macroeconomic Effects of Oil Price Shocks: Why are the 2000s so different from the 1970s? By Olivier J. Blanchard; Jordi Galí
  9. New Landscape, New Challenges: Structural Change and Regulation in the U.S. Financial Sector By Ashok Vir Bhatia
  10. Life Cycle Savings, Bequest, and the Diminishing Impact of Scale on Growth By Carl-Johan Dalgaard; Martin Kaae Jensen
  11. "The Continuing Legacy of John Maynard Keynes" By L. Randall Wray
  12. Development and Efficiency of the Banking Sector in a Transitional Economy: Hungarian Experience By Hasan, Iftekhar; Marton, Katherin
  13. Long-Term Effects Of The 1959-1961 China Famine: Mainland China and Hong Kong By Douglas Almond; Lena Edlund; Hongbin Li; Junsen Zhang
  14. Causes of repressed inflation in the Soviet consumer market: Retail price subsidies, the siphoning effect, and the budget deficit By Kim , Byung-Yeon
  15. Dollarization in Lithuania: An Econometric Approach By Vetlov , Igor
  16. Democratic Capitalism and Philanthropy in a Global Economy By Zoltan J. Acs; Sameeksha Desai
  17. Introducing Islamic Banks into Coventional Banking Systems By Juan Sole
  18. Que Sabemos, Que no Sabemos y Por Qué: Un intento de evaluación de la investigación sociológica en Colombia en la década de los ochenta By Alvaro Camacho Guizado; Jorge Hernández Lara
  19. The quest for a fiscal rule: Italy, 1861-1998 By Ricciuti, Roberto
  20. Financial sector development in transition economies: Lessons from the first decade By Bonin, John; Wachtel , Paul
  21. A forewarning indicator system for financial crises: the case of six Central and Eastern European countries By Irene Andreou; Gilles Dufrénot; Alain Sand; Aleksandra Zdzienicka-Durand
  22. Forensic Accounting: Hidden balance of payments of the Philippines By Beja, Jr., Edsel
  23. Nuevas empresas de base tecnológica: una revisión de la literatura reciente By Mayte Trenado; Elena Huergo
  24. L’agire economico tra efficienza ed equità: un breve excursus teorico By Mariantonietta Fiore
  25. The role of the new, entrepreneurial private sector in transition and economic performance in light of the successes in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary By Winiecki , Jan

  1. By: Paul S. Mills; John Kiff
    Abstract: After a number of warning signs, the U.S. "subprime mortgage crisis" became a headline issue in February 2007. Notwithstanding the bankruptcy of numerous mortgage companies, historically high delinquencies and foreclosures, and a significant tightening in subprime lending standards, the impact thus far on core U.S. financial institutions has been limited. This paper reviews the history and structure of the subprime market. The results suggest that new origination and funding technology appear to have made the financial system more stable at the expense of undermining the effectiveness of consumer protection regulation. Potential solutions to the management of this trade-off are then explored.
    Keywords: Working Paper , United States ,
    Date: 2007–08–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:07/188&r=his
  2. By: Kris James Mitchener; Marc D. Weidenmier
    Abstract: The Baring Crisis is the nineteenth century's most famous sovereign debt crisis. Few studies, however, have attempted to understand the extent to which the crisis mattered for countries other than Argentina and England. Using a new database consisting of more than 15,000 observations of weekly sovereign debt prices, we assess the extent to which the Barings Crisis affected other emerging market borrowers and find empirical evidence of a regional crisis. We find that Latin American yield spreads increased by more than 200 basis points during the crisis relative to the rest of the world, even after controlling for macroeconomic, trade, political-institutional factors, and other country-specific effects. Our evidence suggests that European investors may have sold off or reduced their holdings of Latin American securities in the wake of the Baring Crisis.
    JEL: F34 F4 G15 N2
    Date: 2007–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13403&r=his
  3. By: Michael Bordo; Christopher Erceg; Andrew Levin; Ryan Michaels
    Abstract: This paper analyzes the role of transparency and credibility in accounting for the widely divergent macroeconomic effects of three episodes of deliberate monetary contraction: the post-Civil War deflation, the post-WWI deflation, and the Volcker disinflation. Using a dynamic general equilibrium model in which private agents use optimal filtering to infer the central bank's nominal anchor, we demonstrate that the salient features of these three historical episodes can be explained by differences in the design and transparency of monetary policy, even without any time variation in economic structure or model parameters. For a policy regime with relatively high credibility, our analysis highlights the benefits of a gradualist approach (as in the 1870s) rather than a sudden change in policy (as in 1920-21). In contrast, for a policy institution with relatively low credibility (such as the Federal Reserve in late 1980), an aggressive policy stance can play an important signalling role by making the policy shift more evident to private agents.
    Keywords: Monetary policy - United States ; Deflation (Finance)
    Date: 2007
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgif:898&r=his
  4. By: Bo Carlsson (Case Western Reserve University); Zoltan J. Acs (University of Baltimore); David B. Audretsch (Max-Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany); Pontus Braunerhjelm (Royal Institute of Technology)
    Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between knowledge creation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth in the United States over the last 150 years. According to the "new growth theory", investments in knowledge and human capital generate economic growth via spillovers of knowledge. But the theory does not explain how or why spillovers occur, or why large investments in R+D do not always result in economic growth. What is missing is "the knowledge filter" - the distinction between general knowledge and economically useful knowledge. Also missing is a mechanism (such as entrepreneurship) converting economically relevant knowledge into economic activity. This paper shows that the unprecedented increase in R+D spending in the United States during and after World War II was converted into economic activity via incumbent firms in the early postwar period and increasingly via new ventures in the last few decades.
    Keywords: knowledge, economic growth, entrepreneurship, spillovers, history
    JEL: O14 O17 O30 N90
    Date: 2007–09–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2007-057&r=his
  5. By: Gómez-sorzano, Gustavo
    Abstract: I apply the Beveridge-Nelson business cycle decomposition method to the reconstructed time series of murder of the City of Philadelphia (1826-2004). Separating out “permanent” from “cyclical” murder, I hypothesize that the cyclical part coincides with documented waves of organized crime, internal tensions, breakdowns in social order, crime legislation, social, and political unrest, and recently with the periodic terrorist attacks in to the United States. The estimated cyclical terrorist murder component warns that terrorist attacks to the U.S, have affected Philadelphia City creating turning point dates marked by those attacks. This paper belongs to the series of papers helping the U.S, and Homeland Security identify the closeness of terrorist attacks, and constructs the attacks index for Philadelphia. Other indices constructed include the Index for the U.S. http://mpra.ub.uni-uenchen.de/1145/01/MPRA_paper_1145.pdf, New York State http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/3776/01/MPRA_paper_3776.pdf, New York City http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/4200/01/MPRA_paper_4200.pdf, Arizona State http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/4360/01/MPRA_paper_4360.pdf, Massachusetts State http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/4342/01/MPRA_paper_4342.pdf., California http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/4547/01/MPRA_paper_4547.pdf., Washington http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/4604/01/MPRA_paper_4604.pdf., Ohio http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/4605/01/MPRA_paper_4605.pdf, and Arkansas. http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/4606/01/MPRA_paper_4606.pdf. These indices must be used as dependent variables in structural models for terrorist attacks and in models assessing the effects of terrorism over the U.S. economy.
    Keywords: A model of cyclical terrorist murder in Colombia; 1950-2004. Forecasts 2005-2019; the econometrics of violence; terrorism; and scenarios for peace in Colombia from 1950 to 2019; scenarios for sustainable peace in Colombia by year 2019; decomposing violence: terrorist murder in the twentieth in the United States; using the Beveridge and Nelson decomposition of economic time series for pointing out the occurrence of terrorist attacks; terrorist murder; cycles of violence; and terrorist attacks in New York City during the last two centuries.
    JEL: C22 N42 K42 D74 O51 K14 H56
    Date: 2007–01–29
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:4783&r=his
  6. By: Kaoru Hosono; Koji Sakai; Kotaro Tsuru
    Abstract: We investigate the motives and consequences of the consolidation of banks in Japan during the period of fiscal year 1990-2004 using a comprehensive dataset. Our analysis suggests that the government's too-big-to-fail policy played an important role in the mergers and acquisitions (M&As), though its attempt does not seem to have been successful. The efficiency-improving motive also seems to have driven the M&As conducted by major banks and regional banks in the post-crisis period, while the market-power motive seems to have driven the M&As conducted by regional banks and corporative (shinkin) banks. We obtain no evidence that supports managerial motives for empire building.
    JEL: G21 G34
    Date: 2007–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13399&r=his
  7. By: Bruno de Witte
    Abstract: This paper traces the origins of the recently adopted general services directives of the European Union, and addresses the question why such an important piece of internal market legislation was adopted so recently, and anyway well after the 1992 deadline for the completion of the internal market. It argues that piecemeal liberalisation of services has occurred on a regular basis ever since 1992. For each of those specific service directives, the EU institutions decided on the appropriate regulatory mix between liberalisation and targeted harmonisation. This regulatory mix was largely abandoned in the Commission’s original proposal to introduce the country-of-origin principle across all services covered by the directive. It is argued in this paper that this regulatory shift was ill-advised and explains the strong political resistance which the original ‘Bolkestein’ draft encountered from the side of other political and civil society actors, leading to a rather different outcome in the final version of the directive.
    Keywords: harmonisation; provision of services; negative integration; positive integration; regulatory competition
    Date: 2007–07–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:euilaw:p0085&r=his
  8. By: Olivier J. Blanchard; Jordi Galí
    Abstract: We characterize the macroeconomic performance of a set of industrialized economies in the aftermath of the oil price shocks of the 1970s and of the last decade, focusing on the differences across episodes. We examine four different hypotheses for the mild effects on inflation and economic activity of the recent increase in the price of oil: (a) good luck (i.e. lack of concurrent adverse shocks), (b) smaller share of oil in production, (c) more flexible labor markets, and (d) improvements in monetary policy. We conclude that all four have played an important role.
    Keywords: Great moderation, supply shocks, stagflation, monetary policy, real wage rigidities
    JEL: E20 E32 E52
    Date: 2007–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1045&r=his
  9. By: Ashok Vir Bhatia
    Abstract: Given the rapid evolution of the U.S. financial sector and attendant regulatory challenges, this paper explores ways to fine-tune U.S. oversight arrangements. It surveys the financial landscape, separating a highly regulated, multi-business, and (in terms of relative asset holdings) shrinking “core†from a lightly regulated, more specialized, and rapidly expanding “peripheryâ€; explains the U.S. regulatory philosophy and structure, with its focus on core institutions and its jurisdictional complexity; highlights certain new challenges, without presuming to have all the solutions; draws out some broad policy implications, from the “30,000 foot levelâ€; and concludes by tabling and discussing one, specific, reform idea.
    Keywords: Financial sector , United States , Bank supervision , Structural adjustment , Working Paper ,
    Date: 2007–08–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:07/195&r=his
  10. By: Carl-Johan Dalgaard (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen); Martin Kaae Jensen (University of Birmingham)
    Abstract: There appears to be ample evidence that the size of population acted as a stimulus to growth in historical times; scale mattered. In the post World War II era, however, there is little evidence of such scale effects on growth. Where did the scale effect go? The present paper shows that the savings motive critically affects the size and sign of scale effects in standard endogenous growth models. If the bequest motive dominates, the scale effect is positive. If the life cycle motive dominates, the scale effect is ambiguous and may be negative. A declining importance of bequest in capital accumulation could therefore be one reason why scale seems to matter less today than in historical times.
    Keywords: overlapping generations; endogenous growth; scale effects
    JEL: O41 O57
    Date: 2007–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kuiedp:0717&r=his
  11. By: L. Randall Wray
    Abstract: This working paper examines the legacy of Keynes’s General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936), on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the publication of Keynes’s masterpiece and the 60th anniversary of his death. The paper incorporates some of the latest research by prominent followers of Keynes, presented at the 9th International Post Keynesian Conference in September 2006, and integrates this with other work that has come out of the Keynesian tradition since the 1940s. It is argued that Keynes’s contributions still provide important guidance for real-world policy formation.
    Date: 2007–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_514&r=his
  12. By: Hasan, Iftekhar (BOFIT); Marton, Katherin (BOFIT)
    Abstract: The paper analyzes the experiences and developments of Hungarian banking sector during the transitional process from a centralized economy to a market-oriented system. The paper identifies that early reorganization initiatives, flexible approaches to privatization, and liberal policies towards foreign banks’ involvement with the domestic institutions helped to build a relatively strong and increasingly efficient banking system. Banks with higher foreign bank ownership involvement were associated with lower inefficiency.
    Keywords: banking; transition; efficiency; privatisation; Hungary
    Date: 2007–09–13
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2000_007&r=his
  13. By: Douglas Almond; Lena Edlund; Hongbin Li; Junsen Zhang
    Abstract: This paper estimates the effects of maternal malnutrition exploiting the 1959-1961 Chinese famine as a natural experiment. In the 1% sample of the 2000 Chinese Census, we find that fetal exposure to acute maternal malnutrition had compromised a range of socioeconomic outcomes, including: literacy, labor market status, wealth and marriage market outcomes. Women married spouses with less education and later, as did men, if at all. In addition, maternal malnutrition reduced the sex ratio (males to females) in two generations -- those prenatally exposed and their children -- presumably through heightened male mortality. This tendency toward female offspring is interpretable in light of the Trivers-Willard (1973) hypothesis, according to which parents in poor condition should skew the offspring sex ratio toward daughters. Hong Kong natality micro data from 1984-2004 further confirm this pattern of female offspring among mainland-born residents exposed to malnutrition in utero.
    JEL: I10 I12 J12 J13 J16 J24 P2
    Date: 2007–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13384&r=his
  14. By: Kim , Byung-Yeon (BOFIT)
    Abstract: Using recently available Soviet material, this paper analyses the causes of repressed inflation in the Soviet consumer market during 1965-1989. We found that retail price subsidies, which rose from 4% of state budget expenditure in 1965 to 20% in the late 1980s, intensified consumer market disequilibrium. The provision of these subsidies had negative effects on the market by maintaining the purchasing power of households for consumer goods and by increasing the budget deficit. Furthermore, the demand of enterprises for consumer goods without legitimate permission tended to increase during 1965-1989.
    Keywords: repressed inflation; Soviet Union; retail price; subsidies; siphoning effect; budget deficit;
    Date: 2007–09–13
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2000_009&r=his
  15. By: Vetlov , Igor (BOFIT)
    Abstract: The paper analyses the factors driving dollarization in Lithuania during the period from December 1992 to August 2000. Starting with a brief overview of the major economic and political developments in Lithuania, the study attempts to model the process of dollarization by applying rigorous time series analysis. In particular, it investigates the long- and short-run properties of the relationship between the dollarization ratio and interest rates paid on domestic and foreign currency deposits. The study identifies a relatively stable cointegrating relationship between variables, whereby the dollarization ratio is negatively related to the interest rate spread. In the constructed vector error correction model, the deviations from the long-run relationship are found be significant for the dynamics of all three variables. Overall, the model explains the development of dollarization rather well. Simple specification of the model is possible when interest rates reflect the major economic and political events relevant to the process of dollarization.
    Keywords: dollarization; transition economy; currency board; unit roots; cointegration; vector error-correction
    JEL: C22 C51 C52
    Date: 2007–09–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2001_001&r=his
  16. By: Zoltan J. Acs (George Mason University and Max Planck Institute of Economics); Sameeksha Desai (Max Planck Institute of Economics and George Mason University)
    Abstract: Democratic capitalism has become the popular paradigm in the modern world, and it is spreading further through globalization. It is a model based on growth, expansion and constant innovation. However, it is accompanied by social problems which may worsen despite overall gains in wealth. In this paper, we suggest that democratic capitalist societies may benefit from the application of what has been a primarily American institution: Philanthropy. We present the Entrepreneurship-Philanthropy Cycle, which demonstrates the relationship between wealthy entrepreneurs, philanthropic contributions and economic opportunity. As a nonmarket and nonstate mechanism, philanthropy is unique in its structure and operations, and may offer the ideal approach to solving social problems. We suggest that both the internationalization of American foundations, and the growth of domestic philanthropy, can help developing countries offset social problems.
    Keywords: Philanthropy, entrepreneurship, democratic capitalism, foundation, social problems, India education, social innovation
    JEL: O10 P10 I30
    Date: 2007–09–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2007-056&r=his
  17. By: Juan Sole
    Abstract: Over the last decade, Islamic banking has experienced global growth rates of 10-15 percent per annum, and has been moving into an increasing number of conventional financial systems at such a rapid pace that Islamic financial institutions are present today in over 51 countries. Despite this consistent growth, many supervisory authorities and finance practitioners remain unfamiliar with the process by which Islamic banks are introduced into a conventional system. This paper attempts to shed some light in this area by describing the main phases in the process, and by flagging some of the main challenges that countries will face as Islamic banking develops alongside conventional institutions.
    Date: 2007–07–23
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:07/175&r=his
  18. By: Alvaro Camacho Guizado; Jorge Hernández Lara
    Date: 2007–09–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000149:003983&r=his
  19. By: Ricciuti, Roberto
    Abstract: The Italian fiscal history is characterised by a number of fiscal consolidations. In this paper we characterise fiscal policy in terms of non-linear deterministic processes. We find that government spending and taxes can be described as being non-linear trend stationary processes instead of unit roots. A long run equilibrium relationship - a non-linear co-trend - does exist between the two series, fulfilling the intertemporal government budget constraint. We interpret this result as evidence of a long run fiscal rule that different policy makers have adopted, putting public finance in balance.
    Keywords: taxes, government expenditure, intertemporal government budget constraint, non-linear trend stationarity, non-linear co-trending
    JEL: E62 H62 N10
    Date: 2007–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uca:ucapdv:86&r=his
  20. By: Bonin, John (BOFIT); Wachtel , Paul (BOFIT)
    Abstract: The first decade of transition witnessed rapid and tumultuous financial sector development. Although, few transition economies have reached the point where institutions and markets fulfill all the functions of market based financial intermediation, progress has been much more rapid than had been anticipated. In many countries, active market-oriented financial institutions function where there was only a state planning mechanism a decade ago. Initial experiences showed that bank privatization programs often failed to achieve independence from government control and from undesirable weak clients. It is now widely accepted that the participation of foreign strategic investors in banking is an effective way of meeting these goals Capital market development is complicated by the need to support the development of institutional infrastructure and regulatory mechanisms while at the same time avoid interfering in the markets. In many instances policy makers expected immature markets and institutions to accomplish unattainable goals. Equity markets cannot be effectively support mass privatization programs. There are still many missing pieces in virtually all of the transition country capital markets.
    Keywords: capital markets; financial sector; privatization; transition economies
    Date: 2007–09–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2002_009&r=his
  21. By: Irene Andreou (GATE CNRS); Gilles Dufrénot (Université Paris 12, GREQAM); Alain Sand (GATE CNRS); Aleksandra Zdzienicka-Durand (GATE CNRS)
    Abstract: We propose a measure of the probability of crises associated with an aggregate indicator, where the percentage of false alarms and the proportion of missed signals can be combined to give an appreciation of the vulnerability of an economy. In this perspective, the important issue is not only to determine whether a system produces true predictions of a crisis, but also whether there are forewarning signs of a forthcoming crisis prior to its actual occurrence. To this end, we adopt the approach initiated by Kaminsky, Lizondo and Reinhart (1998), analyzing each indicator and calculating each threshold separately. We depart from this approach in that each country is also analyzed separately, permitting the creation of a more “custom-made” early warning system for each one.
    Keywords: composite indicator, currency crisis, early warning system
    JEL: F31 F47
    Date: 2007–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:0709&r=his
  22. By: Beja, Jr., Edsel
    Abstract: An examination of the available data between 1990 and 2005 reveals that the balance of payments of the Philippines does not record large amounts of international transactions. Unrecorded international transactions for the 16-year period amount to US$ 192 billion (in 1995 prices). The results suggest a serious problem in the government’s macroeconomic management of the Philippines, and expose a weak or weakening capacity in the governance of international transactions.
    Keywords: Balance of Payments; Capital Flight; Trade Misinvoicing; Other Unrecorded Transactions; Philippines
    JEL: F40 B50 O53 C82 B40
    Date: 2006–11–25
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:4828&r=his
  23. By: Mayte Trenado (Dpto. de Estudios, CDTI – Madrid, Spain); Elena Huergo (Dpto. Fundamentos del Análisis Económico I Facultad de CC. Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad Complutense de Madrid – Madrid, Spain)
    Abstract: En la actualidad, existe unanimidad acerca de la importancia económica de las Nuevas Empresas de Base Tecnológica (NEBTs). A lo largo de este artículo se presentan los principales resultados que pueden encontrarse en la literatura reciente sobre su creación, las características de sus emprendedores, los efectos y condicionantes de sus decisiones de localización, así como el análisis de su crecimiento y supervivencia.
    Keywords: NEBTs, spinoffs, localizacion, supervivencia, crecimiento
    Date: 2007–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdt:wpaper:200703&r=his
  24. By: Mariantonietta Fiore
    Abstract: L’economia sebbene nasca ab origine come scienza sociale e branca dell’etica si è vista snaturare nei tempi della sua veste e delle sue radici; nell’ambito della filosofia teoretica medievale, il cui fine è la teoresi, la speculazione pura logico-razionale, l’etica, l’economia e la politica rappresentavano saperi inscindibili che orientavano l’agire individuale, nella casa e nella comunità. Il ruolo che l’etica gioca nell’economia è un tema molto dibattuto nelle discussioni odierne che indagano la portata dell’economia in quanto scienza sociale o in quanto Scienza sic et sempliciter. Dalla fine degli anni Sessanta ad oggi, la confusione intorno alle politiche keynesiane e le due crisi economiche del 1973 e 1979, l’incessante crescita da una parte e le contemporanee disuguaglianze distributive sempre più evidenti dall’altra hanno determinato una svolta nel pensiero economico: le teorie dominanti cambiano sostanza e apparenza, modificano obiettivi e assumono una rinnovata veste etica e deontologica orientata al processo, ai diritti e alle libertà e diventano espressione del contrattualismo contrapponendosi alle ormai superate teorie teleologiche o conseguenzialistiche orientate al risultato dove l’obiettivo prioritario era l'efficienza e, solo quello subordinato, l'equità. Di qui, infatti, stante da una parte le inefficienze nel funzionamento del mercato come asimmetrie informative, mercati incompleti, beni comuni, esternalità e non convessità etc., dall’altra l’inadeguatezza di azioni individuali per conseguire obiettivi personali e non, la ricerca di un ricongiungimento dell’etica all’economia attraverso un codice morale di valutazione più ampio che vada oltre l’efficienza e i risultati. La riflessione che si svolge in questa sede cerca, in prima istanza, di fare una ricognizione delle cause del distacco economia-etica e una disamina delle motivazioni alla base del rinnovato interesse per la rivalutazione dei valori etici dettato anche da un’insolita “responsabilità” (Jonas 1990) ontologica verso l’ambiente e verso le generazioni future. In secundis, si approfondiscono le nuove impostazioni dottrinali passando dall’approccio ugualitario di Rawls, teorico per eccellenza della giustizia e inviolabilità dell’individuo, a quello sostanziale di A. Sen, assertore convinto del ri-appropriamento dell’etica da parte dell’economia. Il lavoro si conclude con una rapida analisi dei Rapporti sullo Sviluppo Umano dell’ONU, nei quali si è cercato di ricongiungere dimensione socio-umana e dimensione economico-ambientale.
    Date: 2007–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ufg:qdsems:17-2007&r=his
  25. By: Winiecki , Jan (BOFIT)
    Abstract: The central theme of this paper is the role of the new, entrepreneurial private sector, established after the fall of communism, in output recovery, and, more generally, in economic expansion of post-communist economies. This role is considered specifically in the context of the successes in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. The author notes a substantial difference between the performance of the new private sector and the privatized sector in the short to medium run (3-7 years) from the start of privatization. New private firms typically enter the economic game with well-established de jure and de facto property rights and with industrial relations based on market economy rules. Unlike the public sector or privatized firms, the labor force of these firms is not demoralized by the change to market-economy rules. As a result, they often perform better and are quick to increasing their share of aggregate output. This also helps the economy as a whole emerge earlier from transitional recession. The author discusses two hypothetical paths of recovery and expansion; one with and one without a dynamic new private sector. The determinants for establishing and growth of new private firms are considered. In addition to the specific rules and general framework of transition, the study concludes that broad institutional fundamentals of political liberty, law and order, and trust contribute to the successful emergence of this new entrepreneurial sector.
    Keywords: new private sector; transition; growth; Poland
    Date: 2007–09–13
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2001_012&r=his

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